My son, who is in a town about 15 miles away and will be having a class tonight asked me if we would record a hockey game, which is on VS for him. We have DISH HD DVR but he he has a SD television and would playback through a gaming system.

My question is: If we record it in HD will he get a real good quality playback or should we just record it off the SD version of the channel for his better playback quality? (I thought I've heard that playing back a HD recording on a SD television the quality suffers)

If it's in HD then it's better to record it in HD, as far as the PQ goes.

What you heard is the exact opposite of the truth.

Of course, if it's 16:9, unless his TV or player has a zoom mode, he'll get a letterboxed picture (black bars at the top and bottom) - assuming his SD TV is 4:3. So that may enter into your decision. (But the PQ will be definitely be better).

Thanks for the confusion

Then just ignore the last paragraph.

Bottom line - yes - recording from the HD broadcast will give you better picture quality.