Hi there.
I have to back up waaaay too much stuff, because the audio outputs of my dvd recorder broke - there is now just this loud electronic humming but no sound. However, I am able to record things okay, so I have been backing up tons of stuff from my hdd that i had recorded from my tv/roger's pvr and I was also backing stuff up directly from my Roger's pvr, so that my pvr wouldn't fill up while my dvd recorder is being fixed.
But after backing almost everything up and erasing the originals, i realized that for some reason: (note: and i don't know why cuz i didn't change the settings... it just seems to change back itself, i think..is that possible?)...
THE VIDEO SETTINGS FOR WHAT I AM WATCHING ARE ON VCR NOT TUNER! This means that it is recording on that setting.
Ack!
I dunno if i see a difference really in the video quality - but as some of you may recall i have a tube tv.
How is it going to differ? Will it present a problem in video quality, etc?
Thanks.
-Scissorshands

It shouldn't be a big deal. I use primarily tube CRT displays as well, and on those screens its almost impossible to detect a difference between the various video input "flavors" you can select on a Pioneer. When I check my Pio recordings on a larger flat screen LCD, once in a while I think I can see a very slight difference between the tuner, VCR and laserdisc settings, but its so minor as to be insignificant. Don't worry about it, although technically the recorder should supposedly be set to either "tuner" or "laserdisc" for best results.

I think I can see a very slight difference between the tuner, VCR and laserdisc settings, but its so minor as to be insignificant.

They must have changed the settings a bit as I don’t have a laserdisc setting on my deck. My settings are as follows:
Tuner – VCR - DTV - Memory1 - Memory2 -Memory3 with the last three being customizable.

Here is a tip to see the non- customizable pre-set settings.
Say you want to record analog Ch-9.
Hit “picture adjustment” on the remote. If the setting is in the default position - the on-screen pop-up should state:

on the first row “9ch”

on the second row “TUNER” with the arrows allowing you to change the setting to VCR, etc.

On third row “DETAILED SETTINGS” grayed out.

If you want to see the pre-set detailed settings – hit “display” on your remote and the settings will display on screen.

You can’t adjust but you can compare the pre-set settings of “Tuner” VCR” “DTV” using this method. Just change the default ‘tuner” position to VCR, etc and follow the above steps.

BTW, as citibear stated, the differences between the tuner and vcr presets are very minimal, at least on my machine. On the VCR preset the YNR setting is a couple notches up as on the tuner preset the YNR setting is all the way off. On the VCR preset the chroma level is half way up , on the tuner preset the chroma level is three quarters up. All other settings are the same. Hardly noticeable.

You're correct, Super Eye: the choices in the current models read TUNER>VCR>DTV/LDP. Older models read TUNER>VCR>LDP. (LDP meaning LaserDiscPlayer). I constantly switch operation between a 531, a 540, and a 460, each of which has slightly different menu selections. I lose track sometimes.:D

If you are doing transfers, use memory settings for each piece of equipment you will use for a signal source in transferring. Use a VHS tape with standard SEMPTE test bars and pluge on it to adjust the memory settings. If you have different VCRs, and maybe a LD player, use other memory settings for them. Then, just select the appropriate memory (1, 2, or 3) when doing a transfer. This can help a lot, especially if color correction is needed.

Sorry, I hadn't been online much lately. But thank you all for your help. It is much appreciated.
SuperEye: I will try that. Thanks.

If you are doing transfers, use memory settings for each piece of equipment you will use for a signal source in transferring. Use a VHS tape with standard SEMPTE test bars and pluge on it to adjust the memory settings. If you have different VCRs, and maybe a LD player, use other memory settings for them. Then, just select the appropriate memory (1, 2, or 3) when doing a transfer. This can help a lot, especially if color correction is needed.

I actually have:

-INPUT-1 set to MEM-1 and I have my Motorola Digital Tuner hooked to it.

-INPUT-2 set to MEM-2 and I have my Betamax hooked to it.

-INPUT-3 set to MEM-3 and I have my SVHS hooked to it.

I also have the built in analog tuner on MEM-1, same setting as my Motorola Digital Tuner setting.

The reason I use the MEM settings is because I find my recorder records better by turning blacks up one notch and turning whites down one notch- for both Tuner rec and VCR rec. So I copied the default VCR setting to MEM-3 and slightly tweaked for over-all quality. If I insert a tape with really low blacks, etc, I may tweak the setting for that tape but its too much work trying to tweak the MEM settings for each tape. Same MO for Tuner Recordings using MEM-1 and Beta recordings using MEM-2.

The problem is that many of the VHS tapes output different signal levels thus having one MEM SETTING for all VHS tapes don’t help much. Same thing with TV channels outputting different signal levels and using one MEM setting for all TV channels.

The problem is that many of the VHS tapes output different signal levels thus having one MEM SETTING for all VHS tapes don’t help much. Same thing with TV channels outputting different signal levels and using one MEM setting for all TV channels.

This is of course true. That is why some good VHS tapes include a colorbar test pattern at the start, so you can adjust for the specific tape. I guess whether you go to the trouble to adjust for each tape depends on how much help the tqpe needs, and how important it is to you.