Crt To Lcd To High Def

[scrutchfield]

I'm sure this as been asked before but here goes....

currently I have a 21" CRT, and obviously TIVO looks fine. I want to buy a widescreen LCD or plasma that is high def ready etc. I know TIVO does widescreen and I assume this step will not give me any issues, can anyone confirm please?!

next, what happens when high def becomes mainstream, ok, I know it is awhile, particularly if you don't have Sky, but can TIVO record this and play it back?

?????help!

[sanderton]

Widescreen, no problem.

TiVo can't record HD. (Neither can anything else).

[JonMace]

Originally Posted by sanderton

Widescreen, no problem.

TiVo can't record HD. (Neither can anything else).

Not strightly true - I thought that the new TW PVR could record HD?

[fade2grey]

Yup, Tivo can't do HiDef but then again it's gonna be a while before HiDef is main stream - I recently bought a HiDef Plasma & the closest I can get to HiDef at the moment is upscaled DVD's (virtually no difference) without running MCE.

[Andy Leitch]

I've been watching Hi-Def TV content for over 2 years now. It's quite interesting to compare the same content via TiVo and then the HD version on the same screen via the split screen/input facility.

[classicsat]

Originally Posted by JonMace

Not strightly true - I thought that the new TW PVR could record HD?

No, exaxtly true. The TiVo can only record SD, since that is what its encoder is capable of.
The TW PVR probably directly records the digital stream from the provider, like the cable and satellite DVRs do hre in NA.

[Sneals2000]

Originally Posted by sanderton

Widescreen, no problem.

TiVo can't record HD. (Neither can anything else).

Not strictly true on the HD recording front.

There are HD DirecTivos in the US, along with HD OTA Windows MCE PCs and Cable DVRs. None of these have HD encoders though - they record the digital MPEG2 broadcast (as MCE does in the UK with a Freeview capture card, and Freeview PVRs and Sky + devices also do)

There are also D-VHS VCRs that will record the same datastream

The only solution for recording analogue HD aimed close to the domestic market was W-VHS - though this was 60Hz only and not lossless - as D-VHS is.

[sanderton]

Go buy me an HD recorder (of any description) in the British shops!

Sky+HD is not available yet. The cable version is AFAIK on a limited trial and is not aavilable to buy. There are no standalone HD recorders outside of Japan. D-VHS has been and gone.

[Automan]

I suppose the Sony 1080i Camcorder HDR-HC1 comes close but has no record in other than from its CCD

£1400.00 from your local Sony Center.

Automan.

Originally Posted by sanderton

Go buy me an HD recorder (of any description) in the British shops!

Sky+HD is not available yet. The cable version is AFAIK on a limited trial and is not aavilable to buy. There are no standalone HD recorders outside of Japan. D-VHS has been and gone.

[stephen93]

I've just bought a Humax 32" LCD, TiVo seems a little grainy even through the scart on RGB, anything I can do to improve it anyone know please?

[blindlemon]

What's your programme source?

[Major dude]

I have just installed a new HD ready 32" LCD in my bedroom and use a videosender as a souce for relaying my two TiVos/DVD recorder from downstairs and........the pq is not bad at all......much better than I expected in fact.

[lor]

I can record HDTV from Europe on my Dreambox built in DVR. It plays back perfectly by streaming it to my PC LCD HiDef monitor. Cannot view it on the TV as the Dreambox processor is not fast enough to decode the stream.

Also HDTV programmes from America can be downloaded via Internet Newsgroups and played via a PC to a HDTV ready receiver. Or if you are on the BBC iMP trials you can download BBC HDTV programmes now!

As far as Tivo goes then when HDTV becomes standard you will have to put up with a lower picture quality from the Tivo. However the mode 0 available now is just as good as the standard digital Sky boxes.

Chris

[GarySargent]

Why won't Sky's HDTV box have a SCART output which converts the High Def signal into normal PAL for use with VCR's and older televisions?

Having a high bandwidth signal such as HDTV down sampled will be much better quality than the compressed signal from a normal Digibox.

Is there some technical reason why this won't be possible?

[sanderton]

AFAIK, the Sky HD channels will be simulcasts of SD channels, so if you want SD on the SCART just tune to those.

Downsampling the HD signal would require hardware to do that for no advantage.

[GarySargent]

The advantage to downsampling is higher quality picture as the bitrate is much higher. The picture would look less compressed than one of Sky's standard SD channels.

Aren't the HD channels also going to have 5.1 sound or did I dream that up?

[Sneals2000]

Sorry - where was the announcement that Sky's HD receiver wouldn't output a downconversion in SD? I haven't seen this reported anywhere else yet.

This is a major issue. It means that you won't be able to archive HD recordings to SD DVD or VCR, nor will you be able to watch them in SD on other TVs (say a bedroom TV fed via an RF2 type arrangement)

This is a major issue. AIUI most HD boxes sold in the US offered simultaneous 480i outputs for just this reason.

[Sneals2000]

Originally Posted by sanderton

AFAIK, the Sky HD channels will be simulcasts of SD channels, so if you want SD on the SCART just tune to those.

Downsampling the HD signal would require hardware to do that for no advantage.

There are quite a few major advantages. Massive reduction in compression artefacts (HD compression artefacts will be in HD not SD, so when downconverted will be far less visible), and the ability to archive HD recordings to SD DVD recorders and VCRs.

Unless Sky sell a box with a huge hard drive, or have some means of archiving in HD, the inability to record HD programmes externally (even in SD) is a major issue I would imagine.

[Sneals2000]

Originally Posted by sanderton

Go buy me an HD recorder (of any description) in the British shops!

Sky+HD is not available yet. The cable version is AFAIK on a limited trial and is not aavilable to buy. There are no standalone HD recorders outside of Japan. D-VHS has been and gone.

Well as there are no real HD sources in the UK, then HD recorders in Britain are not widespread... However you can certainly record Euro1080 on a PC - and archive it to D-VHS if you want to (it will record and replay via iLink, though it won't play back nicely through an internal MPEG2 decoder - as these are 60Hz only)

D-VHS may not be an amazing success in the US - but new models are still being launched. (I worked on a project with one in the US in June - where an HD live camera needed a recorded backup - and we were able to buy a brand new JVC model in a US AV store. Cheap as well!)

[sanderton]

I was told by someone at Sky in the HD team that the box would not downconvert HD to output on the SD outputs. That was a while ago and things may have changed of course.