How good is the ATSC tuner in Toshiba DR570 DVD recorder ?

[SingSing]

My old dvd recorder has only ntsc tuner.

I am leaning to Toshiba DR570 for replacement. I would like to find out how good is it's ATSC tuner ?

[kennywally]

I only heard that toshiba is decent, but that is no proof.

On the other hand, I do own a philips because panasonic stopped making them, and the philips tuner overheats and shuts off!

I've also had an issue with the date...I suppose I should start a thread on that.

Philips stopped making these, probably not as a favor to consumers, but for other corporate reasons

[kennywally]

don't forget, you can buy two digital broadcast tuners and use channel L1 and L2 to record, instead of going with another recorder

[edDV]

IMO the most important tuner-DVD recorder issue is ability to record 16:9 TV broadcasts to 720x480 (wide) instead of letterbox.

[jjeff]

The only DVDR I know of that does that(from it's digital tuner) was the old Polaroid 01601A with HDD, which is just beginning to show up on the refurbished market. Otherwise all DVDRs will record what they are fed, if it's a letterboxed source(say from a STB) that's all the DVDR will be able to record, letter boxed 16:9. If your tuner or STB is capable of outputting anamorphic WS then your DVDR will record it in the same format. Without the WS bit you'll have to set your DVD player(or TV) to stretch the anamorphic format back to full screen 16:9.
All standard WS DVDs are recorded anamorphic, the DVD format only supports 4:3 in it's native format. You can store a 16:9 image in a 4:3 frame by recording it anamorphic and then stretching it back out when playing.
It's a misconception that DVDs are stored in true Wide Screen, Blu Ray discs are true 16:9 but not DVDs. When the DVD format was being developed 16:9 TVs weren't around or were just coming out so they didn't think full screen 16:9 would be needed.
The mentioned Polaroid DVDR would record a anamorphic frame if fed from a external source, but it's built in digital tuner only outputted 16:9 letterbox which was a major flaw IMO. Users of the Polo can record from a external tuner to get anamorphic recordings.
Panasonic DVDRs with a digital tuner(EZ line) letterbox the tuner output only IF you have it setup for 4:3 in the setup. A tip for EZ users that have 4:3 TVs now but plan on getting a WS TV in the near future, set the output for 16:9 now, otherwise all your DVDs will be letter boxed 16:9 and you won't be too happy playing those DVDs on your 16:9 TV when you get one. It makes a big difference if you're recording 16:9 from a HD channel.

[edDV]

I had an LG D787 that had wide 16:9 record modes from either the internal ATSC tuner or S-Video but had many other issues. I wouldn't recommend it but you might look at other LG recorders.

[edDV]

...
It's a misconception that DVDs are stored in true Wide Screen, Blu Ray discs are true 16:9 but not DVDs. When the DVD format was being developed 16:9 TVs weren't around or were just coming out so they didn't think full screen 16:9 would be needed.

DVD follows the same 4:3 vs "wide" 16:9 aspect ratio conventions used for all Rec-601 based SD formats including uncompressed, DV, DVCPro, DigiBeta, MPeg2, MPeg4, h.264, ATSC, DVB, etc.

They all have constant 704x480* or 720x480* storage resolution. The "wide" flag tells the player to play with 4:3 pixel aspect ratio (PAR) or 16:9 PAR.

SD 16:9 TV sets also follow the wide flag to display 16:9 or pillarbox. Digital 4:3 TV sets also use the flag to display full screen 4:3 or letterbox.


* 576 for "PAL".

[SingSing]

don't forget, you can buy two digital broadcast tuners and use channel L1 and L2 to record, instead of going with another recorder

Where can I get digital broadcast tuner ?

I can't find them anywhere !

[edDV]

These were the subsidized ATSC "coupon tuners" from last year. They are no longer subsidized but widely available used.

The Channel Master CM7000 had S-Video out (480i letterbox only)
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=CM-7000&d=Channel-Master-CM7000-ATSC--Dig...r%20Boxes&sku=

An HD capable ATSC tuner will run about $125 used.
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SIR-T451-Definition-Terrestrial-Tuner/dp/B00064L1AI

[joecass]

I have a Toshiba DR-660, which is similar to the 570 except it's a DVD/VHS unit. The digital tuner is very good, it's able to
pull in all the ATSC digital channels in my area, and also QAM stations from my cable line. The recorded pic is quite good,
maybe just a bit dark and slightly softer than other DVD recorders I have, but all in all it's a pretty decent unit.
There is only one 'quirk' I dislike about the Toshiba..... most all other machines, after you program a timer event, you just
shut it off to set the timer. Not so on the Toshiba 660, there's a dedicated button on the remote to "set timer".... if you
forget to hit this button and just turn it off, your timer won't record.....

[kennywally]

don't forget, you can buy two digital broadcast tuners and use channel L1 and L2 to record, instead of going with another recorder

Where can I get digital broadcast tuner ?

I can't find them anywhere !

=============
in addition to the above answer, best buy and target and walmart have them

[jjeff]

These were the subsidized ATSC "coupon tuners" from last year. They are no longer subsidized but widely available used.

The Channel Master CM7000 had S-Video out (480i letterbox only)
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=CM-7000&d=Channel-Master-CM7000-ATSC--Dig...r%20Boxes&sku=

AFAIK the CM is still available new, but no $40 govt. discount coupons anymore. Also I'm not sure what you mean by "480i letterbox only" but the CM like most all CECBs output 16:9 anamorphic for wide screen recording on a DVDR. I used several CMs along with DVDRs and they made excellent WS recordings. The CM is nice because it has the higher quality S-video output, for DVDRs with S-video inputs.
I had 2 CMs feeding one DVDRs 2 line inputs so I could record from 2 separate channels while away.
For my other DVDR w/TVGOS and IR blaster I was able to have my DVDR automatically change the CMs channel by sending out the correct IR code to change the channel. The CM uses a older Pioneer IR code.