I currently have an vintage 2004 Toshiba projection television that has seen better days. Although viewing HD stuff through its component ports is fine, really fine (I use a Samsung DTBH260F tuner to get digital channels and I've stopped spending $$$ on DirecTV), the television has difficulties with input from standard analog sources (..the screen is distorted for several minutes until the television warms up and the situation is getting worse). At this moment I'm not really looking to buy a new television. But I still want to view old videotapes and, well, this television is no longer up to the task.

So what I am really looking some sort of device that will take analog video output as input and plop it out through a component video port (connected to my television). I am not looking for any sort of improvement in PQ, only a passthru.

I am posting this to the DVD Recorder forum in hopes that some sort of DVD Recorder device out there might be able to do what I want. If all this is to no avail I will simply hold off a couple of years until I kill off my Toshiba.

Thanks a bunch.


_Lazza

http://www.svideo.com/svc2ypbpr.html

Can't vouch for it.

Thanks for the fast response. But I see that gizmo costs $150(!). That is a bit rich for my needs. <sigh> I think it might be time to put my videotapes in storage until I buy a new television. :(


_Lazza

Thanks for the fast response. But I see that gizmo costs $150(!). That is a bit rich for my needs. <sigh> I think it might be time to put my videotapes in storage until I buy a new television. :(


_Lazza

I don't blame ya Lazza. They just keep raising the price on it (I think it was $140 last week). I hardly see how they can justify the price, but I guess some people also use it as a device to strip copy protection as well.

Wow...I can't believe a 2004 TV can be called "vintage" already. I don't wanna know what term you'd use to describe my MGA audio receiver from 1990.

I don't blame ya Lazza. They just keep raising the price on it (I think it was $140 last week). I hardly see how they can justify the price, but I guess some people also use it as a device to strip copy protection as well.

Wow...I can't believe a 2004 TV can be called "vintage" already. I don't wanna know what term you'd use to describe my MGA audio receiver from 1990.

In marketing speak your MGA audio receiver might referred to as "legacy" or heritage", as a polite way of saying "totally outdated" ;) My Toshiba is one of those beasts that is half way to being modern. It can do HD but it doesn't have a digital tuner, weighs a ton, and it doesn't have a HDMI port (..it does have a single DVI port though). It's kind to call it "vintage". But it is really a POS.

One last question related to what I want to do. I notice that both my VCR and Toshiba can handle S-Video. Are S-Video and composite inputs likely to be process by my television by the same internal circuitry, or is S-Video considerable different from composite ... like component video is completely different from composite video? If the answer is "maybe not" then I might spend a few bucks and try out my VCR connected to my Toshiba with an S-Video cable. But if the answer is "probably yes" then, well, I focus my attention on better things ... like buying a DVD recorder! :)


_Lazza

Thanks for the fast response. But I see that gizmo costs $150(!). That is a bit rich for my needs. <sigh> I think it might be time to put my videotapes in storage until I buy a new television. :(


_Lazza

Well, the alternative might be to get a DVDR that does RAM (Panasonics do), and record and view while inputting on composite and outputting on component. It allows chase play, so you shouldn't have to wait for it to finish recording. And you can reuse the disc over and over. And it plays DVDs.

I don't know if a DVDR will just pass through from composite to component.

Or get one with a hard drive, like a Philips 3576 or a Magnavox 2160. There you could dub some of your tapes to the hard drive and watch them later at any time.

Well, the alternative might be to get a DVDR that does RAM (Panasonics do), and record and view while inputting on composite and outputting on component. It allows chase play, so you shouldn't have to wait for it to finish recording. And you can reuse the disc over and over. And it plays DVDs.

I don't know if a DVDR will just pass through from composite to component.

Or get one with a hard drive, like a Philips 3576 or a Magnavox 2160. There you could dub some of your tapes to the hard drive and watch them later at any time.

The Philips (and I assume the Magnavox) will take a composite or S-Video input and output on component with or without recording on its HD.

...One last question related to what I want to do. I notice that both my VCR and Toshiba can handle S-Video. Are S-Video and composite inputs likely to be process by my television by the same internal circuitry, or is S-Video considerable different from composite ... like component video is completely different from composite video?...

Ahh...you've got a S-VHS VCR - nice! That's some primo vintage stuff there...hehe. I've been doing a lot of digging around the internet lately and I stumbled upon something interesting. S-Video is actually a low quality form of component video. If you had to lump it into a category with either composite or component...it's component. Keep in mind, though, there are also basically two forms of component video: analog (Y/Pb/Pr) and digital (Y/Cb/Cr). To be precise, S-Video is a poor quality analog component video signal.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Component_video#S-Video_analog_component_video

txrose wrote:

The Philips (and I assume the Magnavox) will take a composite or S-Video input and output on component with or without recording on its HD.

That is correct. Ideally, you would input to S-Video (480i)...and the unit will output 480p from component cables. It can also upscale to 720p/1080i/1080p via HDMI, but I realize that is not an option for Lazza.

Wajo has noted that upscaling to near-HD through these recorders is not necessarily going to yield a better picture, depending on your HDTV. He uses HDMI, but passes the signal along at just 480p to allow the upscaling to take place inside his TV's circuitry which gives him a better picture. Again, your mileage may vary, but I just wanted to point this out for Lazza (you might not be missing out just because you don't have HDMI input to your TV...as far as the Philips/Magnavox DVDR's are concerned).

Thanks guys. So it sounds like trying out S-Video is worth the few bucks to pay for a cable. But I am also indeed interested in buying the Magnavox 2160 (if Wal-Mart can get it back in stock), and so that sounds to be the more permanent solution until I buy a new television.


_Lazza

But I am also indeed interested in buying the Magnavox 2160 (if Wal-Mart can get it back in stock),

Walmart.com has the Philips 3576 clone for sale now. It's slightly pricier, but otherwise would do the same thing as the Maggy.