the dvd recorders with built in hard drive with hdmi upconvert. before you set to record them can you watch shows in upconvert mode before recording or during a chase mode or during playback mode on the dvr. i have a older toshiba dvd recorder that only lets you watch or record in 480p :(

I have my Panasonic EH75 hooked up through HDMI, and it allows me to upscale anything coming out of it to 1080i, 720p or 480p, including just the straight, "live" 480i signal from my satellite tuner, anything recorded on the hard drive, and of course, anything on DVD.

I can't really speak for all other, HDMI-capable recorders, though, but I would think that most of 'em do that.

im mainly interested in using the dvd recorder to send my svid cable from the cable box to the dvd recorder and use the dvd recorder to upscale the resolution since i have a crt tv. the cable box lets you choose the resolution for your tv to set it at just 1 resolution or have it set at native resolution like regular digital cable channels broadcast at 480i then if i change to a hd channel the screen will flicker to 1080i or 720p. if i have box just set at 1080i or 720p to make the regular channels look better live events like news sports late shows snl make the screen shake and the screen jitters like a streaming movie on dialup on the web. i know when i record cable shows on dvd and use my other dvd player to upconvert it it makes it look 100x better on any channel not including hd channels. would using a dvd recorder as a scaler work better then my cable box?

would using a dvd recorder as a scaler work better then my cable box?That I don't know for sure. But chances are it might be at least a bit better. I don't think that the scalers they build into cable boxes are anything particularly exceptional, just based on what I've read around here, so I'm guessing that a DVD recorder's scaler will be a bit better.

I guess it depends on the specific tuner and DVD recorder you'd be using. But I wouldn't think that any recorder would give you an upscaled picture that shakes and jitters like you say.

All I can say is that my Panny EH75VS actually does a bit better job of upscaling to my Elite 1140 than the display does itself (believe it or not), and the Elites are known for having good scalers in them.

But I can't say if any newer model recorder does as well. Maybe somebody else here could give you more information.

Just so people know, what model is your cable box?

cable box model is the scientific atlanta 3250hd

im not looking for anything special id like to at least scale without the jittering

You could always buy one locally and try it. If it doesn't improve it, you can just return it.

Are there Panasonics with HDMI output prior to the most recent 2007 models? I've sort of become lost in the amount of DVDr models out there, but I thought the only Panny's with HDMI are the last iterations - the EZ series that have the ATSC tuners.

If there are pre-2007 HDMI capable DVDrs, what are the model numbers?

EDIT: I retract that question...as I said, I've read through way too many features, models, etc lately...and my head is spinning!

The 2006 DMR-EH55 has HDMI.

So does the 2006 DMR-EH75V.