bobby12 0 Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 Anyone got a HDD or DVD recorder? I want one, but I have a high vision antenna/TV, so I'm not sure if I need a high vision version or not. The high vision ones are much more pricey, and I'm not bothered about recording in high vision, lower quality is fine for me. The problem is non-high vision dvd recorders obviously don't have a high vision tuner in them, so I would connect my antenna to the TV (with its tuner) then output the signal to the basic DVD recorder. I need to know if the basic DVD recorder would be able to handle that signal or not. The one Im looking is region free and can read DIVX movies downloaded from PC and burnt onto DVD-R or usb drive: zto-4102 Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 Hi bobby12 I have a hi-def plasma and a hdd recorder. Got them both 3 years ago now (I think it's 3 years). The hdd doesn't record in hi-def as that wasn't out then, but it does pretty good enough for me. Not sure if that goes any way to giving you any info you want. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted November 30, 2006 Author Share Posted November 30, 2006 I think it does - presumably you provide the signal to the HDD recorder from your TV rather than directly from the antenna? Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 Er, not sure but I guess so. I'll check tonight. Link to post Share on other sites
nzlegend 1 Posted November 30, 2006 Share Posted November 30, 2006 I have Sharp HDD/DVD recorder, its brilliant, so easy to use. I wouldnt buy a hi-vis recorder yet as there arent enough hi channels. Get a regular one and in the future when more hi channels come out and prices drop get a Hi-vision one Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted November 30, 2006 Author Share Posted November 30, 2006 yeah sounds resonable. I just wanna be sure before I buy it that if I put a high vision channel's signal from my TV into my hdd recorder it will be able to handle it despite not having a high vision tuner. I know I definitely can't put my antenna straight into the HDD recorder, but if the signal has been through the TVs tuner first then I'm hoping it will be OK. Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 bobby, it will handle it, and you'll get a better quality recording patching via digital HD TV than you will by plugging antenna directly into the recorder (which usually have analogue tuners), but unless you have a HD or Blu-Ray DVD recorder and media, you won't be able to record in HD. That make any sense? Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 BTW, mine's a Panasonic, with 200Gb hard drive as well Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 How many hours can you stuff on that then? Must be a lot. Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Filled up quicker than I thought, but I had recording mode set to high quality. Can fit 89 hours of regular quality recording (OK for analogue reception), up to 355 hours if you don't mind the pic looking a bit scratchy... I've transferred all the "Iron Chef" episodes to DVD, though. Link to post Share on other sites
nzlegend 1 Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 HDD with DVD recorders are interesting. The recording to DVD mode has DVD-VR an advanced and editable format or regular old DVD-Video. If you record to DVD-VR and then finalize the disc it wont play on other stand-alone DVD players - only your DVD recorder and if try to put it in your computer your computer might have coniptions and 'pack a sad' like mine does. Maybe I havent figured out my player properly given the lack of an English manual but for some reason if I put a DVD-R in the player and record it wont allow me the option of choosing to make the DVD a DVD-Video it seems to allow only format as the VR format which is most annoying. It will though allow DVD-RW to be formatted as either VR or Video, but seeing as they are much more expensive than regular DVD-R discs , its make for expensive burning. Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 No, if I finalise my DVD+R discs to DVD-V they play fine on other players, title menu and thumbnails as well. But if I didn't have a manual, it would have been just about impossible to work it out from the on-screen menus. My main beef is that even if you input widescreen digital video, via set-top box, it will still only record 4:3 picture to disc... who thinks up this stuff? It makes no sense to me. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted December 2, 2006 Author Share Posted December 2, 2006 well i am gonna get that one i linked to earlier and ill let u know how i get on. Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 I know this is a no-brainer, but just in case, make sure you use the component outputs and optical digital audio, if your TV allows it, S-Video if not, but never use the composite out if you can avoid it. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted December 4, 2006 Author Share Posted December 4, 2006 I think my TV has DVI output (D4 or something) so I'll use that. I ordered the thing yesterday so will be setting it up shortly. Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 The one you linked to doesn't appear to have DVI output, may need to settle for component (little difference in quality). Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted December 4, 2006 Author Share Posted December 4, 2006 Mmm, thats ok. Not so bothered about the quality of the recordings/playback as its just for recording late night football and playing downloaded movies. In a few years I'll get a proper HD one when the prices come down. On that subject my old DVD player is for sale for 3000yen. Its multi-region, plays PAL or NTSC and MP3/audio cds: http://www.bydsign.co.jp/d1070.html Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted December 7, 2006 Author Share Posted December 7, 2006 OK I got my HDD/DVD-RW recorder and set it up. Everything is OK except I cant get it to record from the TV. ie. I cant get it to record Skyperfectv (the recorder has no sky tuner so the signal must come from the TV after it has been decoded by the tuner in the TV). I'm connecting the TV output to the DVD recorder but the dvd recorder wont recognise it. At first I thought it was because I had created a loop (TV->DVD->TV->DVD...so no signal), so I removed the DVD->TV cable and tried to record 'blind' but still nothing. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Good luck bobby. When I got my gear it took the denki shop people best part of 5 hours to get it all working. They didn't seem to know much about it, but I knew even less! So many cables back there I daren't look. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted December 7, 2006 Author Share Posted December 7, 2006 its not so complicated, just i dont see how i can record from the TV and also display back onto it at the same time. that seems to be messing it up. yet i remove the dvd->tv connection and still it wont work Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 How's the divx playback on that thing Bobby? Can you update the firmware with new codecs? I'm looking for a DVD/divx/xvid/whatever player, if anyone knows a good one in Japan. PAL playback on NTSC tv a must. A modded xbox/htpc is probably best, but I'd like something easy for my missus to understand. Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 You shouldn't use any of the "Outputs" from the TV. Pretend it's just a monitor i.e. end of the chain, input only. Plug your Sky set top box (assuming it is a set-top box) output to one of the inputs on the HDD/DVD, then output from that to your TV. That way, your HDD/DVD intercepts the signal on its way from your set top box to the monitor. That way you should be able to record Sky programming. That make any sense? It's how I've got my system set up at home, and it works. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted December 8, 2006 Author Share Posted December 8, 2006 keba: I dont have a settop box tuner. Its CS110, the tuners are built into the TV, unlike regular CS which has a settop tuner. So I think u need a tuner in the HDD recorder too maybe. I asked the missus to call the manufacturer but she couldnt even understand the problem, never mind be able to deal with the solution. If I cant record from the CS110 then its totally pointless having a recorder as I will never want to record anything from the bogstandard terrestrial antenna. mr wiggs: there are not many divx players available in japan. I posted some questions about it on a japanese website and got some reccomendations though - look here - I am sony_is_rubbish. the divx playback is great. so far i have tried to play 3 files - an old dogtanian cartoon (random), and 3 episodes of survivor. they all played fine, and the quality was suprisingly good. One complaint is it only reads divx files on cd-rw not dvd-rws. however it has a USB port so im gonna get a 40gb portable HDD drive to store files on. Similarly it doesnt read mp3 files on DVDRW, only CDRW. The remote is crap but maybe with new batteries itd be better. The interface is not so intuitive but that seems to be the norm with a dvd-recorder. overall id reccomend my one for the 27000yen i paid for it. I used to have a modded XBOX and that was pretty sweet but it was very picky about what CD it reads. even original CDs it often rejected. So you gotta put in a new HDD with the files pre-installed, or a new DVD drive which is a hassle. That was 3 years ago though so it may be easier to do stuff now on it. That was my power media centre for a while but, yep, my missus didnt know how to use it. Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Bummer, dude. I suppose that's their way of making sure no-one can record copyrighted content. Can you post a photo of the back of your TV? Maybe we will see a possibilty that you might have missed... no offence, but sometimes you just need a fresh pair of eyes to look at a problem. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 That lot doesn't sound complicated?! I'm using the 'normal' (?) Sky Perfect (ie not 110) and using a top box so I really am lost with your setup bobby. Link to post Share on other sites
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