Tivo=poor resolution vs DVD recorder!

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

lolajoker@webtv.net wrote:

> Is there a reason why a program would have a grainier picture when
> recorded on a tivo in best quality than a programe recorded on a DVD
> recorder at HQ?

Because that DVD recorder didn't cost $100.

-Eric

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

Different recorders will have different encoders. Apparently the one in
your DVD recorder does a "better" job that the one in the Tivo.

It's a trade off between convenience and technical purity. It's certainly
technically possible for a DVR to have better encoders but those would come
at a higher unit cost as well as reduction in available recording time.
Higher quality recording would take up a LOT more disk space and thus reduce
the number of storable hours.

-Bill Kearney

<lolajoker@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:23453-421DB5CC-34@storefull-3214.bay.webtv.net...
> Is there a reason why a program would have a grainier picture when
> recorded on a tivo in best quality than a programe recorded on a DVD
> recorder at HQ? These are hooked up using the same cables and wires so
> it isn't the hook up. Is there some kind of filter or processer on the
> tivo that would cause a small loss of signal that a DVD recorder doesn't
> have? This difference is evident even when recording an external source
> like a camcorder.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

<lolajoker@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:23453-421DB5CC-34@storefull-3214.bay.webtv.net...
> Is there a reason why a program would have a grainier picture when
> recorded on a tivo in best quality than a programe recorded on a DVD
> recorder at HQ? These are hooked up using the same cables and wires so
> it isn't the hook up. Is there some kind of filter or processer on the
> tivo that would cause a small loss of signal that a DVD recorder doesn't
> have? This difference is evident even when recording an external source
> like a camcorder.

The video signals may actually be grainy but the DVDR has a smoothing filter
whereas the TiVo doesn't really except for the RF in smoothing option. You
could try TiVo on HIGH instead of BEST. Also, VBR (save disk space) option
reduces some video noise. The early days of digital video produced very
grainy pictures that were eventually fixed not with higher resolution but
with smoothing filters because a blurry picture is more natural to humans
than a digitally noisy picture.

Also, when captureing previously compressed signals (miniDV, cable, digital
cable) there can be nasty interactions between the errors produced by the
multiple MPEG encoders involved. Digital cable is especially bad this way
because it gets recompressed 3x or 4x by the time you watch it (producer
analong or digital > sat distro > cable recode > TiVo recode > watching).
Not to mention the scaleing and rescaleing if you have an HDTV. Depending
on the settings used some combinations of encoders will produce more noise
than others. This doesn't automatically mean that each encoder is better or
worse but that the combination is bad. You can see the effect for yourself
if you take a high quality digital photo and decompress and recompress it 4x
and then rescale it a couple of times and then compare it to the orginal.
The TV, especially HDTV that we see is nowhere near the quality possible
because the distrabution channel is not well designed.


X

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

lolajoker@webtv.net wrote:
> Is there a reason why a program would have a grainier picture when
> recorded on a tivo in best quality than a programe recorded on a DVD
> recorder at HQ? These are hooked up using the same cables and wires so
> it isn't the hook up. Is there some kind of filter or processer on the
> tivo that would cause a small loss of signal that a DVD recorder doesn't
> have? This difference is evident even when recording an external source
> like a camcorder.
>
When Tivo was introduced, the only competition was the VCR. Design-wise,
the video quality only had to be as good as or somewhat better than your
tapes that were recorded on EP to be 'good enough'. I get much better
quality recordings than TIVO with my ADVC100 but it also takes 6G of
disk space to record an episode of the Simpsons as an AVI. That kind of
quality would have meant less than one hour of capacity on the original
Tivos at a much higher cost.


Jim

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

<lolajoker@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:23453-421DB5CC-34@storefull-3214.bay.webtv.net...
> Is there a reason why a program would have a grainier picture when
> recorded on a tivo in best quality than a programe recorded on a DVD
> recorder at HQ? These are hooked up using the same cables and wires so
> it isn't the hook up. Is there some kind of filter or processer on the
> tivo that would cause a small loss of signal that a DVD recorder doesn't
> have? This difference is evident even when recording an external source
> like a camcorder.
>
Could be a cable issue if you are using different cables for your
connections. Worth a look.

Rick

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

"Rick S." <rsemo51@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:AOidnSB8TulKiIPfRVn-ow@centurytel.net...
>
> <lolajoker@webtv.net> wrote in message
> news:23453-421DB5CC-34@storefull-3214.bay.webtv.net...
>> Is there a reason why a program would have a grainier picture when
>> recorded on a tivo in best quality than a programe recorded on a DVD
>> recorder at HQ? These are hooked up using the same cables and wires so
>> it isn't the hook up. Is there some kind of filter or processer on the
>> tivo that would cause a small loss of signal that a DVD recorder doesn't
>> have? This difference is evident even when recording an external source
>> like a camcorder.
>>
> Could be a cable issue if you are using different cables for your
> connections. Worth a look.
>
> Rick
>
Oops, I shouldd read your post better, sorry.