Hello. I have 3 feeds in my residential unit. Building antenna with coaxial jack, and 2 active CATV Feeds. One the building pays for with our maintanence fees, but unfortunately I had analog channels with them and they took away all the analogs and they said I needed a box to continue getting TV through them and they wanted to provide a non working HDTV Box which I had previously which kept freezing and pay for the box each month.

The other CableTV Feed comes in because I have Cablemodem service with them and some channels come in on analog but I dont know what will come in on unencrypted QAM.

I was almost ready to purchase a Toshiba DR570 locally which has a DVD Recorder but I heard that these boxes downconvert even though it has a built in HDTV tuner with HDMI.

Which boxes can I buy which will suit my needs and provide the best HDTV picture and sound quality for a Panasonic 26LX50 LCD TV?

Thank you.

Hello. I have 3 feeds in my residential unit. Building antenna with coaxial jack, and 2 active CATV Feeds. One the building pays for with our maintanence fees, but unfortunately I had analog channels with them and they took away all the analogs and they said I needed a box to continue getting TV through them and they wanted to provide a non working HDTV Box which I had previously which kept freezing and pay for the box each month.

The other CableTV Feed comes in because I have Cablemodem service with them and some channels come in on analog but I dont know what will come in on unencrypted QAM.

I was almost ready to purchase a Toshiba DR570 locally which has a DVD Recorder but I heard that these boxes downconvert even though it has a built in HDTV tuner with HDMI.

Which boxes can I buy which will suit my needs and provide the best HDTV picture and sound quality for a Panasonic 26LX50 LCD TV?

Thank you.
In multi residence buildings, it's hard to say exactly what you need, because situations vary widely.

Three options:

1) Try a Digital TV tuner with HD output and the antenna feed from the building. Does your Panasonic have a DTV tuner? If so, connect the antenna directly to the Panasonic. If not, get a DTV tuner to try.

2) Try a QAM tuner with HD output and the building supplied cable(s). QAM is the system cable uses for the unencrypted local HD they carry, and a Clear QAM tuner would receive the local HD that your cableco carries. This assumes (big assumption) the cable signal is not altered for use in your specific building, which can and does happen. The only way to know for sure, is to try it.

3) Try a DTV tuner and antenna. Depending on where you're located and where the broadcast towers are, you may be able to receive local DTV stations. You'll have to check TV Fool to learn what band your local stations are on, UHF, VHF or both, to know what type of antenna to try. Again, if the Panasoinc has a DTV tuner, try it.

Currently available DTV & Clear QAM tuners with HD output are listed in this topic: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=179095

In multi residence buildings, it's hard to say exactly what you need, because situations vary widely.

Three options:

1) Try a Digital TV tuner (with HD output) and the antenna feed from the building. Does your Panasonic have a DTV tuner? If so, connect the antenna directly to the Panasonic. If not, get a DTV tuner to try.

2) Try a QAM tuner with HD output and the building supplied cable. QAM is the system cable uses for the unencrypted local HD they carry, and a Clear QAM tuner would receive the local HD that your cableco carries. This assumes (big assumption) the cable signal is not altered for use in your specific building, which can and does happen. The only way to know for sure, is to try it.

3) Try a DTV tuner and antenna. Depending on where you're located and where the broadcast towers are, you may be able to receive local DTV stations. You'll have to check TV Fool to learn what band your local stations are on, UHF, VHF or both, to know what type of antenna to try.

Currently available DTV & Clear QAM tuners with HD output are listed in this topic: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=179095

Thanks for the response but it wasn't really what I was looking for since I knew all this. Also my Panasonic 26LX50 is a LCD HDTV without HDTV Tuner.

I read in the forums here that DVD Recorders upconvert and therefore even when using HDTV these boxes were no good.

I was going to go to the local store to buy a HDTV Tuner but the only one they seem to carry now is the Toshiba Digital Video Recorder with QAM tuner, but the problem is the upconversion on regular mode.

Mail order, it looks like there are a few choices on the list but unfortunately none of the local vendors seem to carry them and they only have the regular SDTV converter boxes not the full frills models with full HDTV and true HDMI with the better audio.

Doesn't look like there are many choices here locally unfortunately.

I read in the forums here that DVD Recorders upconvert and therefore even when using HDTV these boxes were no good. That is correct. None of the DVD recorders have HD output.

The list in the link I posted above has all the known DTV tuners with HD output.

If you want HD and be able to record it, check out the DTVPal HD DVR. It's available at Sears: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1099071

That is correct. None of the DVD recorders have HD output.

The list in the link I posted above has all the known DTV tuners with HD output.

If you want HD and be able to record it, check out the DTVPal HD DVR. It's available at Sears: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1099071

Ken you know your stuff. Faqs are excellent here.

Satellite and cable (QAM) are not supported unfortunately with the DTVPal.

Looks like I'll probably just wait it out or be forced into mail ordering the box. My cable provider said they planned on having TIVO boxes but only in 2010.

So I guess right now its wait and see what comes out and if I really need a clearqam box, I have to mail order it.

Ken you know your stuff. Faqs are excellent here.

Satellite and cable (QAM) are not supported unfortunately with the DTVPal.

Looks like I'll probably just wait it out or be forced into mail ordering the box. My cable provider said they planned on having TIVO boxes but only in 2010.

So I guess right now its wait and see what comes out and if I really need a clearqam box, I have to mail order it.

You can buy a TiVo HD or Moxi, if you want an HD DVR for cable. But, your cableco would have to provide a CableCARD for all channels except local HD.

I know the TiVo can be used for just cable local HD (clear QAM). Not sure about the Moxi, but unfortunatly it doesn't have a opening FAQ, so you may have to post a question in the topic.

Also, here is a chart compairing the Tivo, Moxi, DTVPal: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=17063966&postcount=6

TiVo HD - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=879469

Moxi - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1095015&highlight=moxi

Unless those clear QAM locals are being PSIP mapped to their virtual channel numbers, you won't be able to do without the CableCARD for the TiVo (you can't re-map the channel numbers in the guide).

You won't be able to set guide recordings, and there are no timers. You'll only be able to press the record button and record something "live".

I don't know anything about the Moxi, though.

You shouldn't have any problem recording clear QAM from a DVD recorder's QAM tuner - you don't need the channels to be mapped to their virtual numbers. The refurbished Magnavox H2160A from http://www.jr.com/magnavox/pe/MAG_H2160MW9_hy_RB/ for only $159.99 is a great deal. It has a 160 GB hard drive. But as Ken said, like all DVD recorders, it will only output in SD (480i - although you can "upscale" it over HDMI).