Using DVD recorder with HDMI

[oramac82]

My cable company recently changed their cable boxes to where they now only use HDMI. Previously, I was able to use my magnavox hard drive dvd recorder to record tv.

Is it possible to continue to record off the tv with an adapter? I purchased an HDMI to AV converter but can't seem to get a tv picture through the recorder. I'm connecting the HDMI cable to the HDMI input on the converter and then the other end of the HDMI cable to the ouput on the dvd recorder. I'm then connecting the AV cables to the outputs on the dvd recorder and then the other ends of the cables to the TV.

Am I missing something? does the cable box also need to be directly connected to the dvd recorder?

[usually_quiet]

I'm connecting the HDMI cable to the HDMI input on the converter and then the other end of the HDMI cable to the ouput on the dvd recorder. I'm then connecting the AV cables to the outputs on the dvd recorder and then the other ends of the cables to the TV.

Am I missing something? does the cable box also need to be directly connected to the dvd recorder?

I think you are missing something. You need 4 HDMI cables, an AV cable and an HDMI splitter. That way you can watch cable TV in HD using one leg of the split and feed the HDMI to AV converter with the other leg of the split.

Splitter: https://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Powered-Splitter-1080P-Model/dp/B004F9LVXC/

Use HDMI cable A to connect HDMI-out on the cable box to HDMI-in on the HDMI splitter.
Use HDMI cable B to connect one HDMI-out on the HDMI splitter to HDMI-in on the HDMI to AV converter.
Use an AV cable to connect the AV-out on the HDMI to AV converter to the Magnavox DVD recorder AV-in.
Use HDMI cable C to connect the other HDMI-out on the HDMI splitter to HDMI-in on the TV.
Use HDMI cable D to connect HDMI-out on the Magnavox DVD recorder to the TV.

Note that HDMI to AV converters don't always provide a great picture.

[jagabo]

Beware that not all HDMI splitters remove HDCP encryption -- which is what you really need. The one linked to by usually_quiet will do so. Others may not.

[jjeff]

If your cable box is only SD then the simplest would be:
HDMI output cable box to HDMI input converter.
line output converter to line input DVDR.
DVDR output to TV.
If your cable box is HD then UQ's solution will give you HD to your TV but also allow you to record SD.

[Chopmeister]

That will work, provided the splitter is one that can cope with HDCP.

However, the picture quality won't be great. Unless you really have a pressing reason to continue with the DVD recorder, or are very budget constrained, you should consider a technology update. Get the splitter and connect it up (the same one as per above). Connect one output to the TV. Connect the other to an HDMI capture device (the Hauppauge HD PVR2 or similar) and a cheap computer or old laptop.

The quality should be markedly higher, even for SD captures.

[oramac82]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I was able to record based on usually quiet's post. At first the picture looked like it was a little squished but forgot what I did to fix it.

[theewizard]

I'm then connecting the AV cables to the outputs on the dvd recorder and then the other ends of the cables to the TV.

shouldn't that say av out of converter to av input of recorder,
then if you wish
Output of recoder toav input of TV