HD TV set can't record in HD?

[funnyesq]

Okay I'm not that technologically adept.

I'm thinking about getting a new HD tv either LCD or Plasma....I know most broadcasts are HD yet but eventually? Anyway a friend told me that tivos do not record HD. Is this true? If so, is there something I can do? In other words if a movie is being broadcast in HD, can tivo capture that quality as it records? In plain english please? Thanks.

[LifeIsABeach]

No current TiVo can record HD. However, if you wait a few months the TiVo Series 3 will be able to do so.

[bud8man]

No SA (Stand Alone) TiVo can. Their were DirecTiVo's that could. Now DirecTV has their own PVR's and not TiVo's. If you want to record HD you would need either your cable co's DVR or the DirecTV unit that they have or the one from Dish.
My inlaws have standard TiVo Service from Direct with 2 different TV's. A Mitsubishi, projection, HD unit, 54 or 60 inches. Looks awful with out HD programming.
They also have Samsung Plasma Enhanced Def (not High Def), 42 inch unit. Standard TiVo from Direct looks much better on that unit.
At their other home they have a Hitachi HD projection TV that does not look as bad. It has cable. We gave them a SA TiVo and it looks pretty good. They opted for cable visions PVR as an add on.

[stevel]

Another correction. There still are DirecTiVos that can record HD and they are still sold. In fact, it's the only HD DVR that DirecTV has on the market.

Please understand that simply buying a HDTV does not mean that everything you watch will now be in HD. If you have a proper antenna and can get local digital TV channels, some of the content will be HD. But if you have cable or satellite, you'll have to upgrade service to get HD. The type of TV you have doesn't matter as the DVR (TiVo) doesn't get its signal from the TV.

[JKay]

One added note! It is my understanding that cable companies are required by the FCC to provide the local networks HD channels and deliver them unscrambled in your basic cable package. Of course you need a digital tuner to access these channels. If an HD TV has this digital tuner then you should be able to receive the local HD networks.

Cable companies general don’t make this information readily available to the public, because they want you to subscribe to their digital package with a STB.

[stevel]

Cable companies would not simply relay the ATSC digital broadcast signal on the cable. They might provide access to such signals through a HD cable box without making you buy a premium package, but you would not be able to simply connect the cable to the TV and expect it to work.

[Stephen Tu]

Cable companies would not simply relay the ATSC digital broadcast signal on the cable. They might provide access to such signals through a HD cable box without making you buy a premium package, but you would not be able to simply connect the cable to the TV and expect it to work

Sure you could. Just have to have a TV with a QAM tuner, which most HDTVs w/ digital tuner have these days. The cable companies mostly are passing on the local digital broadcasts unencrypted, just using QAM modulation rather than the 8VSB of ATSC.

But if you can get the display you want without the HD tuner, I'd save the money. You'll be wanting to rent the cable companies HD-DVR if available (at least until Tivo series 3 comes out, and maybe even then because of the price), and won't use the TV's tuner much at all. Watching live HD is horrible compared to being able to record & watch DVR style.

[JKay]

Cable companies would not simply relay the ATSC digital broadcast signal on the cable. They might provide access to such signals through a HD cable box without making you buy a premium package, but you would not be able to simply connect the cable to the TV and expect it to work.

Well without a STB I get the five major networks and the local PBS in HD with the Comcast’s Cables Basic Package, plus about 70 other worthless digital channels. You have hunt them down to find them.

Stephen Tu is right, without a HD recorder I don’t spend much time there.

[TiVo Troll]

HD flat panel sets are getting cheap enough to be reasonable. By Christmas some midsize sets (32" to 42") will probably be routinely available below $1000. Even the Holy Grail of HD, 1080p, is becoming affordable! Westinghouse (http://www.westinghousedigital.com/c-7-1080p-monitors.aspx) has become a price leader by releasing a line of 37" to 47" monitors without NTSC/ATSC tuners to use with outboard cable or satellite boxes and/or OTA tuners at prices well below $2500.

[TiVo Troll]

Watching live HD is horrible compared to being able to record & watch DVR style.

As horrible as watching a flaming Zeppelin in B&W?

Oh, the humanity!

[TiVo Troll]

HD flat panel sets are getting cheap enough to be reasonable. By Christmas some midsize sets (32" to 42") will probably be routinely available below $1000. Even the Holy Grail of HD, 1080p, is becoming affordable! Westinghouse (http://www.westinghousedigital.com/c-7-1080p-monitors.aspx) has become a price leader by releasing a line of 37" to 47" monitors without NTSC/ATSC tuners to use with outboard cable or satellite boxes and/or OTA tuners at prices well below $2500.

Actually, the 37" monitor is available (http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=18577153/) for under $1600, including shipping, and comes with a 1 year mfr's warranty for parts and labor! I'm gettin' interested. :)