Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

Rather than pay an ongoing monthly fee for a DVR from my cable company
(which isn;t even offering a DVR in my area yet) or Tivo I'd like to
purchase my own DVR unit. But so far all the DVR's I've seen are
capable of recording only regular TV, not HDTV.

Are there any DVR's available on the market that can record HDTV?
--
Birk Binnard
http://www.birkbinnard.com

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

http://www.hometheatermag.com/pvr/704lg/

Do some research before you consider buying.


"Birk Binnard" <birkb@nospambirkbinnard.com> wrote in message
news:rQsce.889$UY.685@fed1read01...
> Rather than pay an ongoing monthly fee for a DVR from my cable company
> (which isn;t even offering a DVR in my area yet) or Tivo I'd like to
> purchase my own DVR unit. But so far all the DVR's I've seen are capable
> of recording only regular TV, not HDTV.
>
> Are there any DVR's available on the market that can record HDTV?
> --
> Birk Binnard
> http://www.birkbinnard.com

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a standalone HDTV DVR that will
work with cable or satellite. The only models available are for OTA
reception with an antenna.

The reason being, the cable and satellite companies have encrypted their
data so you have to have THEIR DVR to record TV. OTA is not encrypted, so
you can buy a unit to record HDTV from OTA. Regular uncompressed HDTV
(component, DVI) from your cable or satellite box has such high data rates
that a consumer unit can not possibly keep up in real time recording. You
are limited to recording compressed, OTA HDTV.

--Dan

"Birk Binnard" <birkb@nospambirkbinnard.com> wrote in message
news:rQsce.889$UY.685@fed1read01...
> Rather than pay an ongoing monthly fee for a DVR from my cable company
> (which isn;t even offering a DVR in my area yet) or Tivo I'd like to
> purchase my own DVR unit. But so far all the DVR's I've seen are capable
> of recording only regular TV, not HDTV.
>
> Are there any DVR's available on the market that can record HDTV?
> --
> Birk Binnard
> http://www.birkbinnard.com

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 08:59:32 -0700, in article
<rQsce.889$UY.685@fed1read01>, Birk Binnard
<birkb@nospambirkbinnard.com> wrote:

>Rather than pay an ongoing monthly fee for a DVR from my cable company
>(which isn;t even offering a DVR in my area yet) or Tivo I'd like to
>purchase my own DVR unit. But so far all the DVR's I've seen are
>capable of recording only regular TV, not HDTV.
>
>Are there any DVR's available on the market that can record HDTV?

There's the LG LST-3410A, but it will only record unencrypted channels
(on many cable systems, local channels are unencrypted, so you would be
able to record ABC/NBC/CBS, but probably not HBO/ESPN). It is also has
a rather crippling drawback of not being able to view previously
recorded programs while recording something new. That alone makes it a
reject in my book, since the idea of a DVR is watch what you want, when
you want it; with this one you have to wait until the machine is idle or
watch what's currently recording.

The Sony DHG-HDD250/500 are due at the end of May, and can deal with
encrypted channels as they utilize CableCARD. But they are very
expensive, list ~$800 for the smaller one; I wouldn't pay so much for a
single tuner unit when many cable company's are renting dual tuner units
for $10-15 a month.

I'd advise you to wait for your cable company to offer a DVR, or for
Tivo's offering next year.
--
Stephen Tu
stephtu_news@comcast.net

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

Thanks for your informative response. I found the LG unit on the web
and agree with your assessment -- the fact that it is essentially a
single-thread machine makes one wonder how it even came to market. Plus
the user reviews on it are far from stellar.

The Sony unit specs look better, and I've always had a favorable view of
Sony products. (I owned a Beta-Max VCR.) But the CableCARD thing is
something with which I am totally unfamiliar and have been able to find
virtually no info on.

dg's post pointed out that there really is no consumer oriented device
capable of decoding cable HDTV signals. My guess is this is what the
CableCARD thingy does....essentially modulates (if that's the right
term) the cable signal down to a set of frequencies that normal
electroinics can handle.

The fact that I am paying to receive these signals in my home and for
whatever reason can't record them (except by using a box from the cable
company that I have to pay even more money for) seems somehow illogical
to me.

Am i issing something here?
--
Birk Binnard
http://www.birkbinnard.com

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"Birk Binnard" <birkb@nospambirkbinnard.com> wrote

> The Sony unit specs look better, and I've always had a favorable view of
> Sony products. (I owned a Beta-Max VCR.) But the CableCARD thing is
> something with which I am totally unfamiliar and have been able to find
> virtually no info on.

There's a lot of information and first-person experiences about CableCard on
the net. Suggest you use Google and Google Groups to do a search. Also see
what you can find on http://www.avsforum.com/ .

With Time-Warner here in Austin, we used their basic HD digital cable box,
then a CC, now an SA 8300 HD DVR. Of the 3, the 8300 is the far-superior
way to go, IMO, if you have that option. I imagine that when CC becomes
2-way, so that the cable companies can sell you PPV and VOD over it, they
will get a lot more interested in making it work right.

For now, though, service levels are a problem and apparently vary widely
from cable company to company. From TW here, CC reception was excellent,
both HD and SD, but there were frequent signal drop-outs, plus no program
guide information for the guide built into the TV set. We finally gave up
on it and went to the 8300 -- with which, after a month or so, we are very
happy.

mack
austin

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

"Birk Binnard" <birkb@nospambirkbinnard.com> wrote in message
news:I8Gce.376$D91.105@fed1read01...
> dg's post pointed out that there really is no consumer oriented device
> capable of decoding cable HDTV signals. My guess is this is what the
> CableCARD thingy does....essentially modulates (if that's the right term)
> the cable signal down to a set of frequencies that normal electroinics can
> handle.

I looked at the Sony unit with the cable card slot. I looked over the specs
but I couldn't tell exactly if the unit could record HD through the cable
card. See cable cards are very much like a cable box you rent from your
local cable company only they integrate into the TV so you don't need a box.
With a box, the only HD outputs are uncompressed data which is WAY too high
of a rate to record. With a cable card, I am not so sure about the outputs.
If the card can decrypt the HD programming per the cable companies method,
and then record the stream BEFORE IT GETS UNCOMPRESSED then that Sony device
is SWEET. OR, it could record the transport stream for the particular
channel you want to record, and decrypt upon playback. That way the data
would not exist on a HD in an unencrypted state-which should make the MPAA
happy. That would be the first HD DVR capable of recording encrypted HD,
BIG NEWS IF INDEED TRUE.

> The fact that I am paying to receive these signals in my home and for
> whatever reason can't record them (except by using a box from the cable
> company that I have to pay even more money for) seems somehow illogical to
> me.
>
> Am i issing something here?

You aren't missing anything, just realizing the limits of current
technology. The technology just isn't there for a guy to record HD from
satellite or cable. Perhaps with DVRS with built in cablecard slots this
will change, but until then there really isn't anything you can do besides
record the shows in standard definition. I am looking forward to a review
on the Sony unit!

By the way, recording HD in standard def isn't so bad. Set your cable box
to output squished HD on the svideo output (squishes widescreen to 4:3).
Then when you playback over svideo you set your widescreen TV to stretch the
picture. Its just like an anamorphic DVD, the quality is quite good really.

--Dan

Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

That is why I jump on the DVR bandwagon after Comcast had come out
with a cable box with HDTV and DVR. I love the features (mostly I like
being able to record HDTV), but it does cost $5 extra for the DVR
service (I think of that as "rent" for the box). I think I read that
if you had a PC with firewire connection, you could somehow transfer
the files from the DVR to your PC for archiving. That sounded really
cool, but I have not tried this.
I think there are some TV cards for a PC which will handle a HDTV
signal, but not sure what sources you can connect to this type of
device, maybe only antennas or satellites?