Is my Pioneer 220 recorder dying?

[budz]

I just found out the tv series that I've been recording from my digital box to my Pioneer 220 recorder the video is in BLACK & WHITE. WTH????? As a back up I also record the same tv series on my digital dvr box. Anyone know why all of a sudden my video recording is in BLACK & WHITE? On the dvr box the video is in color which is how it's suppose to be. Is this some copy protection courteousy of Time Warner or is my PIONEER 220 recorder dying a slow death of some sort? I'd appreciate any comments! Thanks in advance.

[Epicurus8a]

Try recording from another source and from the other inputs. Then report your findings.

[budz]

Try recording from another source and from the other inputs. Then report your findings.

Thanks for replying! I'll try recording from to one of my dvd players by using a burned dvd disc and will report my findings.

[budz]

I was able to record from one of my dvd players to the PIONEER 220S recorder perfectly fine. No BLACK & WHITE video. So I guess Time Warner has some copy protection scheme on their digital boxes. WTH!!!! This must have started just 2 weeks ago because prior to that my recordings were fine. Anyway to get around this? Thanks.

[FulciLives]

I was able to record from one of my dvd players to the PIONEER 220S recorder perfectly fine. No BLACK & WHITE video. So I guess Time Warner has some copy protection scheme on their digital boxes. WTH!!!! This must have started just 2 weeks ago because prior to that my recordings were fine. Anyway to get around this? Thanks.

Are you using S-Video from the cable box to the DVD recorder? If so have you "played around" with the connections at all?

I have easily ruined S-Video cables in the past by plugging and un-plugging them ... how? ... those damn mini-pins can bend very easily when attempting to re-plug a S-Video plug and you can push or crush a pin "out of the way" so it doesn't make a connection. Every time this has happened to me the result has been a B/W image.

So in short check the cable (no matter what the kind) ... maybe swap with another etc. but just make sure that it is NOT a cable issue of some sort.

Also my own cable box (I have Comcast with a Motorola box) will often "act up" and do all kinds of strange stuff. I have to (more often than I would like) un-plug the power from the cable box and then plug it back in as this "resets" the cable box and usually solves whatever oddity it is having. Perhaps you could try this with your cable box.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[budz]

Yup, I'm using a S-VIDEO cable from the cable box to the Dvd recorder. I'll check the S-VIDEO cable. Thanks FulciLives!