04-07-2006, 03:04 AM
mikebw Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> About the aspect ratio- Only the component cables
> will carry the full bandwidth of an HD signal, and
> even though your TV cannot resolve this at full
> resolution, it can still work with it as you have
> figured out.
Right, though I'm going to try the S-vid cable again, just in case (it might have been something I did in the setup, rather than using the component video cables per se).
Every TV program coming in through
> your HD tuner will be in either SD or HD format.
> SD is not widescreen, but since you are working in
> widescreen mode everything will be made to fit
> that, so the SD square gets stuck in the middle of
> the screen, effectively making your TV about 20%
> smaller. Sucks, but this will get better with the
> transition to more HD programming. There is a
> ratio button on your remote you can play with,
> also try out the zoom.
Yup, just tried that, it works pretty well...
SD = what? Standard definition?
> OK, so the real road block here is the fact that
> your TV has only one set of composite video
> inputs. This, as you say, will force you to
> decide between the HD tuner and the DVD recorder
> as sources for the TV.
I assume you mean component, not composite...
> Given that the HD tuner is the only true HD
> source, and that you can also use it for
> progressive scan DVD playback, it should be the
> source to use the component input on the TV.
Right, or again if I can hook it up via S-vid, that would probably be fine...
> The DVD recorder is unfortunately limited with
> composite as the highest quality video input
> offered.
That's component again, not composite, and it's the component OUT, not component IN... so it would be a choice of which to hook up to the TV via component, the tuner or the DVD recorder. (Unless you are referring to the DVD recorder's composite in, and I'm not following what you mean...) As for how to hook up the tuner directly to the recorder...
Did you hope to record the HDTV signal
> with your DVD recorder? I think the best you can
> do here is to hook up an antenna to the DVD
> recorder, then use the composite out to the TV.
Yes, I was hoping to use the HDTV tuner as input to the DVD recorder-- not to record in HDTV (since obviously the recorder won't capture the HDTV-level quality) but just to get a clear picture. The only way I can think to do it, since the recorder has composite in, is to have the tuner have the composite out go both to the DVD recorder and the AlchemyTV card. That's doable with a set of Y-cables.
> All of these devices should have an antenna input
> and pass-through (except maybe for the alchemy) so
> hook up your antenna to one device first, say the
> HD tuner, then pass that through to the DVD
> recorder, VCR or whatever, then to the TV then to
> the Alchemy.
Just tried this; unfortunately the pass-through is only of the antenna signal (which in my case is apparently crappy), NOT of the HDTV tuner output.
In this way all devices will be able
> to use a regular OTA TV signal. As long as you
> use a decent well shielded coax you can make a
> pretty long chain and not lose quality. Splitters
> can cause problems, especially with an HD signal.
THAT is useful info for me to know, because I do have a number of splitters/combiners in the chain (splitting the antenna signal between the tuner, the Alchemy card, the VCR, etc.) I can redo this chain...
> I think that's everything. Oh, the HD tuner has
> two composite outputs, so you can run one to your
> Alchemy and one to something else.
No, it only has one (that I can see-- it has one each component output, S-video, and composite), so I would need those Y-cables...
-------------------------------------------------------
> About the aspect ratio- Only the component cables
> will carry the full bandwidth of an HD signal, and
> even though your TV cannot resolve this at full
> resolution, it can still work with it as you have
> figured out.
Right, though I'm going to try the S-vid cable again, just in case (it might have been something I did in the setup, rather than using the component video cables per se).
Every TV program coming in through
> your HD tuner will be in either SD or HD format.
> SD is not widescreen, but since you are working in
> widescreen mode everything will be made to fit
> that, so the SD square gets stuck in the middle of
> the screen, effectively making your TV about 20%
> smaller. Sucks, but this will get better with the
> transition to more HD programming. There is a
> ratio button on your remote you can play with,
> also try out the zoom.
Yup, just tried that, it works pretty well...
SD = what? Standard definition?
> OK, so the real road block here is the fact that
> your TV has only one set of composite video
> inputs. This, as you say, will force you to
> decide between the HD tuner and the DVD recorder
> as sources for the TV.
I assume you mean component, not composite...
> Given that the HD tuner is the only true HD
> source, and that you can also use it for
> progressive scan DVD playback, it should be the
> source to use the component input on the TV.
Right, or again if I can hook it up via S-vid, that would probably be fine...
> The DVD recorder is unfortunately limited with
> composite as the highest quality video input
> offered.
That's component again, not composite, and it's the component OUT, not component IN... so it would be a choice of which to hook up to the TV via component, the tuner or the DVD recorder. (Unless you are referring to the DVD recorder's composite in, and I'm not following what you mean...) As for how to hook up the tuner directly to the recorder...
Did you hope to record the HDTV signal
> with your DVD recorder? I think the best you can
> do here is to hook up an antenna to the DVD
> recorder, then use the composite out to the TV.
Yes, I was hoping to use the HDTV tuner as input to the DVD recorder-- not to record in HDTV (since obviously the recorder won't capture the HDTV-level quality) but just to get a clear picture. The only way I can think to do it, since the recorder has composite in, is to have the tuner have the composite out go both to the DVD recorder and the AlchemyTV card. That's doable with a set of Y-cables.
> All of these devices should have an antenna input
> and pass-through (except maybe for the alchemy) so
> hook up your antenna to one device first, say the
> HD tuner, then pass that through to the DVD
> recorder, VCR or whatever, then to the TV then to
> the Alchemy.
Just tried this; unfortunately the pass-through is only of the antenna signal (which in my case is apparently crappy), NOT of the HDTV tuner output.
In this way all devices will be able
> to use a regular OTA TV signal. As long as you
> use a decent well shielded coax you can make a
> pretty long chain and not lose quality. Splitters
> can cause problems, especially with an HD signal.
THAT is useful info for me to know, because I do have a number of splitters/combiners in the chain (splitting the antenna signal between the tuner, the Alchemy card, the VCR, etc.) I can redo this chain...
> I think that's everything. Oh, the HD tuner has
> two composite outputs, so you can run one to your
> Alchemy and one to something else.
No, it only has one (that I can see-- it has one each component output, S-video, and composite), so I would need those Y-cables...