Panasonic DMR-E80H not able to record sub stations

[chrisincent]

I have owned my Panasonic DMR-E80H for over 4 years and gotten great use out of it putting family videos to DVD (and editing them) and recording TV shows.

With the switch to digital TV will I be able to record the sub stations? I am pretty sure this unit does not have a digital tuner.

Currently I have the cheapest comcast cable package and no converter box.

If I can not record these stations, I would appreciate a recommendation on a comparable unit that can also record in HD.

My big qualifier is budget, I can't go too high end this time.


Thank you very much for your time.

Chris

[usually_quiet]

First, you will not be able to record any digital channels in high-definition using a DVD recorder, not even one with a digtal tuner, because the DVD standard only supports standard defintition. The best they can do is record HD channels with the picture down-converted to standard definition.

Second, there are no DVD recorders with hard drives and digital tuners currently being made for the US market. Philips and Magnavox had a couple of models each last year, but have ceased production. If you are very lucky you may find one of them for sale online.

If your reception is good enough you can record local channels from an antenna using one of the coupon-elegible digital converter boxes and your current recorder. However, they are unable to tune any analog channels or digital cable. I am using a Channel Master CM-7000 for recording over the air broadcasts. It lacks timers, but the S-video connection provides a superior picture for recording. Other good alternatives are the Zinwell 950A (has a timer function) and the Zenith DTT901A.

[buckethead]

If you are attached to the dmr-e80 and burn from the harddrive to dvd-r, you can pick up one of the newer Panasonic non-harddrive units (I use a dmr-ez27), record on that via the ATSC tuner to a dvd-ram and import the dvd-ram to the e80. Of course, you will need a decent local signal via the airways (be it indoor or rooftop antenna) and the signal will be downconverted to SD, but the results can still be fairly impressive. I use this method for PBS subchannel recording and it is a huge improvement over DirecTV feeds of the same PBS channels.

Hope this helps.

[handyguy]

If you have basic Comcast you won't be getting HD stuff. It should carry analog for a long time, however.

[chrisincent]

Thank you all very much for your help. I am surprised that HD channels have to be down converted to standard definition. I thought that if Dish TV and direct tv offered DVR's that can record in HD other companies would want to compete with them with stand alone units. Or I could be mis- informed about the technology they are using. I don't want to pay for their services.
Thank you for dmr-ez27 advice also.
When I attached a new HD TV to the cable it tuned in several digital substations and showed them coming in at 1080i. They looked like they were in HD to me, but it may have just been a far superior picture than my old analog tv.

[usually_quiet]

Comcast basic analog cable includes most, if not all, local digital channels and whatever digital locals they carry are in their original broadcast format, be it 480i, 720p or 1080i. These are the bulk of what is available as clear QAM.

There are fewer DVD recorders of any kind available in the US thaan there were a four years ago. Most cable subscribers prefer a DVR and nobody but TiVo is interested in competing with the cable/satellite DVRs in the US. There are not many people who are interested in a third-party DVR for recording only analog and unencrypted QAM cable channels. Recording anything else requires a service provider's DVR, or renting a cable card for a cable-card ready recording device, which are not plentiful.

A new non-hard drive DVD recorder with an ATSC/clear QAM tuner could simply be used as an external tuner, and the DMR-E80H would record directly using its line outputs. There would still need to be a recordable DVD of some kind in the new recorder to use its timers. Another alternative would be to rent a cable box from Comcast and use its line outputs and timer function to record using the DMR-E80H.

There are also non-government-coupon-elegible converter boxes. These devices can tune both ATSC over-the air signals and clear QAM (unencrypted) digital cable channels. They offer 480i via composite output and sometimes S-video, which a DVD recorder could use, but don't alway include timers. I hesitated to mention them because decent ones normally cost over $100 and some models have a high rate of failure.

[chrisincent]

Thank you again usually_quiet. I appreciate your clear answers to my questions. You spell out the options nicely; I had not thought of using a new non-hard drive DVD recorder as an external recorder. That may be the ticket. Recording in HD might not be a priority yet.

It would be great if people did not have to pay for the right to record HD TV shows (in HD).

I'll make a list of options for my family including broadcast format, recordable format, price of equipment, and price of service.

[usually_quiet]

There is a technique for recording HD channels that may interest you. If you can use it, you may not miss the ability to record true HD as much.

Some converter boxes/external tuners include an option to display HD channels in anamorphic mode. (Displayed on a 4:3 screen, an anamorphic mode picture shows no letterboxing, and looks slightly squeezed from side-to-side). When anamorphic output is recorded using a DVD recorder, and displayed on digital TV set to 16:9 mode, it provides a better picture than zooming a standard SD recording to get rid of the letterboxing, partcularly when using an upscaling DVD player.

As a side note, the Panasonic DMR-EZ28K DVD Recorder is supposedly a more reliable model than the DMR-EZ27.

[handyguy]

Just use your computer as a dvd reocreder: byopvr.com

[usually_quiet]

Its certainly possible to use a computer as a PVR and even record in HD, but recording HD program streams requires a large hard drive for storage, as well as a newish computer to meet the system requirements for an HD capture card, plus special software for PVR-like scheduling.

If you enjoy tinkering with computers as a hobby, you may find it a fun project, but building your own home theater PC or refitting an existing PC is not inexpensive. Expect to spend close to what you spent on your HDD DVD recorder to refit a suitable computer you already have, up to well over $1000 for a new system.

If you want to investigate HD TV recording, it would also be a good idea to find souces of information other than byopvr.com. Its guides have not been updated for a while, and PCAlchemy, its main sponsor, is out of business.