I want to connect an optical digital audio calbe from the DVR to the AVR. Is the green interface labeled Optical spdif the right connection? It is hard to see what would be inserted into that. Thanks.

I want to connect an optical digital audio calbe from the DVR to the AVR. Is the green interface labeled Optical spdif the right connection? It is hard to see what would be inserted into that. Thanks.
OK. I have been told that the green thing I referred to is a "dust cover" so to speak and can be either pulled off (which I cannot seem to do) or pushed in (which does not make sense to me). Any thoughts? Or am I on the wrong forum? Thanks.

It's been awhile since I've used a DCT3412, but I believe its just typical "dust cover." Just push the optical cable into the connector.

Thank you. I just confirmed that. It is also called shutter tht indeed is just pushed in.

I have this dvr but am not subscribed to comcast, can I use the HDTV tuner in this box as a stand alone HDTV tuner to tune into local HDTV or is this a cable box requireing a subscription to comcast before I can use the HDTV tuner for HD programing.

The Motorola DCT-3412 is indeed a cable box. It does not have ATSC tuners, so you cannot use it to tune into local HDTV channels, whether the box is activated or not. The Motorola DCT-3412 was never made available for sale to the public in the United States, so generally MSOs won't activate it. You'll need to get a DVR that supports CableCARD.