Recorder for use with tunerless lcd

[Michael33]

I have been having a very difficult time finding a DVD recorder which will allow me to use its built in ATSC tuner to view digital broadcasts in real-time on my tunerless lcd display. I am looking for the least expensive unit that will accomplish this feat. Any and all suggestions much appreciated.

[jjeff]

When you say tunerless LCD, do you mean computer monitor? If so, I would think you need one with at least a HDMI input, if you have that, then you just need a DVDR w/hd upconverting. It will have a HDMI out, which I believe you can hook up to your monitor. Note if the LCD has a DVI input, there are DVI to HDMI converters available, that don't cost too much. If your monitor only has RGB input.......I think you're out of luck. I haven't heard of any DVDR's that output RGB. I would think you could find a cheap upconverting DVDR from Wal Mart, for around $100.

[oldandinthe way]

You can buy a upconverting Toshiba DVDrecorder at Costco for $100.

[Michael33]

It is a "smallish" 27 inch LCD with HDMI. It is not a computer monitor. The reason I can not be certain that a particular model will route the signal through is that I have contacted several manufacturers (and Magnavox in particular) and their customer service reps tell me the signal is not routed through, it is only available to record. Maybe they are misinformed. I'd sure like to be certain how these units typically work. Do Toshibas (upsampling models?) normally route the signal through? Thanks for the info.

[jjeff]

Yes the models with a tuner do most defiantly route the tuner signal through. How else would you know what the signal looks like, that you are trying to record.
So minimally you would need a DVDR with a tuner, and upconverting(has HDMI out). I think Philips makes one for ~$100, available at Walmart. It also looks like a toshiba is available also. According to a previous post.
Just make sure it has a TUNER and UPCONVERTING w/HDMI out.
Note with all the current DVDR's w/digital tuners, you will not be viewing HD through the DVDR. Only SD is outputted. Some people speculate the next generation of DVDR's will have HD out. In you situation you would need to find a seperate HD tuner with HDMI out, to watch true HD on your monitor.

[edDV]

Current DVD recorder models that I've seen only output 480i even over analog component. You may find that tuner output is lacking over HDMI.

A separate ATSC/QAM tuner may be your answer. Expect these to drop in price next year as Feb 17, 2009 approaches.

[jjeff]

Ed, I cant imagine that they would block tuner out, through the HDMI. In the case of my Philips DVDR(3575) it is just down converted to SD. Otherwise if you only used HDMI, how would you be able to see what you were recording with the built in tuner? Not saying they couldn't, but doesn't sound plausible, and as far as Feb 09, I was told that the tuners that the govt. was subsidizing would NOT have HDMI out, there for no HD out. So keep that in mind also.

[edDV]

Ed, I cant imagine that they would block tuner out, through the HDMI. In the case of my Philips DVDR(3575) it is just down converted to SD. Otherwise if you only used HDMI, how would you be able to see what you were recording with the built in tuner? Not saying they couldn't, but doesn't sound plausible, and as far as Feb 09, I was told that the tuners that the govt. was subsidizing would NOT have HDMI out, there for no HD out. So keep that in mind also.

I agree it should be there but these early models have strange behavior over HDMI especially when the unit is powered down. The good news is some models support wide mode at 480i which gets rid of 16:9 letterbox. I don't have one here, I've just been helping some friends get their's connected.