Recording In HD

[jcool26]

Hello how are you all? I want to record a tv show from a high definition channel. I have a DVD recorder but it just records in standard form. Are there devices out there that records in hd?

[usually_quiet]

There are HD recording devices, but without knowing anything about what kind of HD channel you want to record (cable, satellite, over-the-air TV), your location (the country), and your budget, it is hard to make a recommendation.

[jcool26]

Cable or either satellite and the USA

[usually_quiet]

Cable or either satellite and the USA

So, you probably need to record HDMI-out from your cable box or satellite receiver. It is possible to record HD channels via HDMI, but it is not as easy as using a DVD recorder. Most of the devices you could use require a computer. There are only a handful that don't need to be conneted to a PC, but they still do not offer the convenience of a DVD recorder. In addition to a recording device, you'll need an HDMI splitter able to remove HDCP copy protection from the signal to record from HDMI. The problem is that most HDMI splitters don't remove HDCP, so you cannot pick one at random.

Also, the vast majority of HD channels in the US are 1080i. Just a few of the channels you receive are likely to be 720p. There are only two devices able to record 1080i video without using a PC which don't discard half the video information that they receive at 1080i resoution. The AVerMedia EZ Recorder 130 and the AVerMedia Game Capture HD II. They have just one programmable timer, but that is one more than most others have.

[Krispy Kritter]

HDHomeRun Prime with a cable card to tune the channel(s) and then record on a PC. You can do this easily (with DVR type ease) using Win7/8 and WMC.

[usually_quiet]

HDHomeRun Prime with a cable card to tune the channel(s) and then record on a PC. You can do this easily (with DVR type ease) using Win7/8 and WMC.

That is what I do for recording cable TV now. My cable service provider doesn't copy-once protect most channels at present, so a CableCARD tuner was a good choice for me. However, most of the cable TV providers in the USA copy-once protect everything other than local channels and recordings from copy-once protected channels are encrypted and tied to the PC that made them, which makes a CableCARD tuner a less than ideal solution for those who want their recordings to be portable.

Previously I recorded the HDMI output of my cable box using an HDMI capture device which required a PC. That is a better option for a lot of people with a traditional cable TV service which has many copy-once protected channels, and its the only option for those with satellite service or AT&T UVerse because nothing like a CableCARD tuner exists for those services.