Local digital signal conversion?

[hiramelu]

Does anyone know if a local OTA digital signal conversion box is or will be available for home-wide distribution? Currently I have a setup that includes a 922, dvdr/vcr combo, 50" hdtv. The hdtv is receiving 9 local OTA digital signals that are crystal clear. Can these signals be recorded without having to acquire a an HD recorder? I would like receive these signals throughout the entire house, but have no desire for needing 5 converter boxes for 5 older televisions. This is probably wishful thinking. Any comments would be appreciated.

hiramelu
east-central Kansas

[edDV]

You want the same channel on 5 TV sets? Are these HD, digital SD or standard analog TV sets?

[otaota]

Does anyone know if a local OTA digital signal conversion box is or will be available for home-wide distribution? Currently I have a setup that includes a 922, dvdr/vcr combo, 50" hdtv. The hdtv is receiving 9 local OTA digital signals that are crystal clear. Can these signals be recorded without having to acquire a an HD recorder? I would like receive these signals throughout the entire house, but have no desire for needing 5 converter boxes for 5 older televisions. This is probably wishful thinking. Any comments would be appreciated.

1) If you get an HD DVR like a TiVo Series 3, then you can record the OTA digital signals directly to disk (direct MPEG2 storage without any conversion). This means that playback should have exactly the same quality as if it were being watched live. You should be able to play the recorded shows on your HDTV with all of the original detail and sound.



2) Alternatively, you can use your existing recording devices (e.g., DVD-R, VCR) to record programs that have already been converted to component video, S-Video, or component video by a "converter" box or similar ATSC capable tuning device. With this kind of conversion, any HD content will be down-converted to standard definition resolutions because that is all that your old equipment knows how to handle. These will still have excellent picture quality (similar to a DVD), but will no longer be high definition.

In other words, yes you can record the new signals on your old equipment, but you won't be preserving all of the HD qualities. For some people, that's good enough.



3) I don't think you'll find any ATSC converter boxes that are designed for multi-room distribution (at least I've haven't seen any), so chances are, you'll probably need a converter box for each TV that needs to receive OTA programming. I believe you can qualify for up to two $40 coupons toward the purchase of converter boxes, if that helps.

Most TVs built over the last year or so have built in ATSC tuners and all future TVs will include them as well, so if any of your TVs are due for a replacement, then they will eliminate the need for a convert box.

Also note that your 50" HDTV is displaying the OTA content at a resolution higher than your old TVs are capable of. Even if you had converter boxes or a way to distribute the HD video, your older TVs will never look quite as good as your HDTV. You can still get DVD quality video out of your older TVs, but that's still a step down from the quality you can get out of your HDTV.

Cheers,