D* HR20 topic - Page 8  

I'm guessing that the SF stands for San Francisco. How does one living in the bay area go about getting either of the receivers for "free"?

Actually i think they are talking about superfan for NFL sunday ticket..

Does anyone know whether the output from HDMI, component, S-Video. or RCA on the D* HR20 is user selectable between 16:9 or 4:3 format. Or are the outputs from HDMI and componet (16:9) and S-Video and RCA (4:3) already defined by default. Earlier posts in the DVD Recorder section implied that the output from the HR10-250 could be selected between the two to help address format issues when copying material using a DVD Recorder.

There were also other comments that the D* Tivo recorder did not pass a widescreen flag along with its anamorphic output requiring the use of a DVD recorder that manually forced the flag.

1) Does the D* HR 20 allow one to select the format (16:9 4:3) of the output for each type of connection?

2) Does the D* HR 20 paas the widescreen flag with its anamorphic output?

I'm planning to pull the trigger on an HR-20 and have been following this thread in ernest as owners have been reporting in on their new units. The biggest shortfall seems the absence of the double-buffer functionality. I have read about the "work-arounds" but they don't seem compatible with my viewing habits. Double-buffer is critical to NFL, multi-game viewing.

Is the double-buffer a software issue that might be resolved at a later time? Any plausible rationale for leaving it out of the initial release of this unit? Any insight on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe I'm not understanding the whole "double buffer" concept, but when I want to watch two NFL games I simply record both and toggle back and forth between them. This stops where I'm watching the one game while I keep watching the other and vice versa.

Is that something I'm not going to be able to do with the D* DVR?

Paul

You have to select the aspect ratio in the video setup menu. If you have 16:9 selected, and you use s-video or composite to a 4:3 screen, the picture will be "squished" horizontally.

I don't know about the widescreen flag.

Does the HR20 allow for output resolution change(480i-480p-720p-1080i) with a remote button push like the HR10-250 does?

gp4rts and others......

Regarding the output screen ratio when archiving to DVD....I have the same question as others in regards to the HR20. I have 16:9 selected in the video setup menu on the HR20 and am using an s-video connection to my Sony DVD recorder (also set at 16x9).

In the past, with my old Sony HD-100, the receiver downrezzed HD content to 480i, passed it to the DVD recorder via s-video, and the DVD recorder recorded a letter-boxed (could have been anamorphic) image in the correct proportions. Using the exact same connection with the HR20, HD content is recording vertically stretched on the DVD without black bars on the top or bottom of the image. What am I doing wrong?

This is important to me because I plan on archiving materials from the HR20, and want the source of the programming to be HD in order to get a really good 480i DVD recording. I thought about just pressing the format button on the HR20 remote while watching the resulting picture on the DVD recorder but haven't attempted this yet. Any advice would be appreciated.

Which Sony DVD Recorder are you using and are you trying to view the recorded image on a widescreen or 4:3 TV?

Posts in the DVD recorder forum (top sticky) seemed to indicate that setting the HR 10-250 output to 16:9 and a Sony GX 300 (and other later models with a selectable input) to 16:9 enabled anamorphic recording. One could view HD content as widescreen on a HDTV and unsquished with sidebars on 4:3 monitor.

This suggested that the recording could be anamorphic EVEN through a composite S-VHS connection. One issue that was unresolved was whether various set-top boxes including the HR 10-250 passed the widescreen flag so that if you viewed the recording on a 4:3 TV you would automatically get letterbox rather than a squished image.

gp4rt stated that any output from the S-VHS from the HR 20 would be compressed. If so, this would be a downgrade from the observations about the HR10-250 in the DVD recorder forum. Can anyone else confirm this observation?

DeanS does your Sony DVD recorder allow you to set the input to 16:9? I believe most of the newer ones do (unlike the Panasonics which I just bought and will return shortly)?

There is some excellent discussion regarding this subject in the top sticky in the DVD Recorder forum but I was trying to get some specific information as it relates to the HR 20. Thanks.

Yes...

And Earl, if you are reading this and can pass this along to your peeps

I am still unable to get a picture via HDMI when I turn on my set... I have to go up to the unit and toggle the resolutions using the front panel button.. the remote resolution button doesn't do anything until there is a picture using the above method....

Also, I have diabled all but 1080i on the HR 20, but using the front button still cycles through all resolutions...

I think some people are talking about watching 4-5 games at the same time on Sunday. While they can only watch two at a time, each time they chanege to a new game on a tuner, they want that game buffered automatically.

Watch game A on tuner 1, and also buffering game B on tuner 2.
Change from game A to game C on tuner 1, still buffering game B on tuner 2.
Switch to tuner 2 to watch game B starting back in the buffer, still buffering C on tuner 1.
Change from game B to game D, still buffering game C on tuner 1.
Switch to tuner 1 to watch game C back in the buffer, still buffering D on tuner 2.
Change from game C back to A, start buffering A again, still buffering D on tuner 2.
....

One can still record each game each time you switch to it (start new buffer), but it's quite an PITA.

Thanks, I find that very handy when switching between viewing HD and SD material as I use a DVDO VP30 to adjust the image size and quality. What would be even better would be a native output function.

You have that too

grabbed this from Earls review on dbstalk....

EDIT: I know it's not a "TiVo" screen shot.... old habits die hard I'll have to rename the picture when I am able...

Highheater.....

Thanks for responding to my inquiry.

My DVD recorder is a Sony RDRGX7. I have set the recording options (rec screen size) on this recorder to 16x9. The documentation that comes with the recorder states that the rec screen size "function works with DVD-R's and DVD-RWs (video mode) when the recording mode is set to HQ, HSP or SP. For all other recording modes, the screen size is fixed at 4:3. For DVD-RWs (VR Mode), the actual picture size is recorded regardlesss of the setting. For instance, if a 16:9 size picutre is received the disc records the picture as 16:9 even if "Rec Streen Size" is set to 4:3. For DVD+Rs, th screen size is fixed at 4:3."

My monitor is an older 4:3 Sony HDTV that displays 1080i and 480p in a 16x9 frame. I have the HR20 set up as follows:

T.V. Type: Widescreen 16:9
T.V. Resolution:
480i checked
480p checked
1080i checked
Native: On
Screen Format: stretch

What settings or adjustments do I have to make (either to the DVD recorder or the HR20) to get HD material (downrezzed to 480i) and inputed into the s-video connection of the RDRGX7 to get a propertly adjusted image?

Maybe this message should be posted in the DVD Recorder forum......thanks.

I'm sorry, but someone who needs to watch 4 football games simultaneously REALLy needs to pick a team and stop being such a bandwagoner.

Personally, I have 1 overall favorite team (AFC) and an NFC favorite team, whom I root for except when playing my overall favorite team. Doing the dual recording thing would work fine in that case.

I can POSSIBLY see having a #3 favorite team, but in such a case, the team should take a distant third to the 2 favorites, and should only be watched in the event that BOTH team #1 and team #2 are at commercial break/halftime OR you see from the ticker that team #3 is all tied up in OT.

To put it short... if you're trying to watch 4 games at once, you need to become a real fan and pick a team!

Fantasy Football.

Excellent, now if DirecTV gets their MPEG4 issues resolved up here I'll be very tempted to get a HR20 when it's available in this market. Hopefully the OTA tuners will be active by then as well.

"TiVo Native Screen.jpg?"

That does not look like any of my DirecTV TiVo screens.

There are two time slots for multiple games on Sundays, and your favorite team can only play in one of them. Watching four games during the other is called getting your money's worth.

I'm sorry too, but there are other reasons to watch football than rooting for a single team. Living in the Detroit area, I gave up on the Lions years ago. I've been watching football for years just to see good teams and good games, regardless of who is playing.

Amen, Ken.

There is an excellent post in the DVD Recorder forum under the top sticky - message # 13-Recording help for 16:9 4:3 format. The post basically covers every combination of inputs for both a Sony GX 300 recorder and a HR 10-250 and viewing on 16:9 or 4:3 displays. The author also goes on to say that the Sony GX 7 performs identically as the GX 300 in allowing, as you have observed, anamorphic recording and playback from the HR 10-250.

Perhaps the problem is that you have an HDTV with a 4:3 format. I'm sure others more qualified could answer that question in the DVD Recorder forum. I also recall something about scheduled recording in 16:9 is limited to a certain time length (2 hours) and that exceeding that time length will cause a default to 4:3.

My major concern is whether the HR 20 will perform in the same manner as the HR10 with regards to passing a widescreen picture through all of its ports (including S-VHS composite) when the 16:9 is selected in the HR 20 setup. If not, one would need a DVD recorder with component inputs (few available) to use with the HR 20. Besides just passing the widescreen image, it would be nice if the HR 20 also passed the flag that would allow later displays on 4:3 TVs to appear properly letterboxed.

Your observations and earlier comments by gp4rts have me concerned.

I'll check the sticky on the DVD recorder forum. But thinking about it last night, I think I just have the settings wrong on the HR 20 and that is the cause of my problem. There would be no need, for instance, to have "stretch" enabled for my Sony monitor, I believe since I'm not seeking to stretch a 4x3 image to fill a 16x9 frame. This is what I prefer (and have it set that way) for my 16x9 LCD in the bedroom. I plan on changing the settings this evening and doing a little experimenting. I don't think there is really a call for alarm at this juncture. Surely this new DVR can send a downrezzed 16x9 signal to a DVD recorder and have it display properly on either a 16x9 or 4:3 display......

What would be the point of sports (and competition in general), if not to root for a particular party to be victorious over another? Love of flashy colors? You can watch the Teletubbies and get that. Love of Matt Millen's moustache? You can watch Magnum PI.

Is the double buffer feature a software issue that could be activated at a later date? I was unsuccessful in searching the forum for an answer to this so if anyone has insight please let me know.

We can debate the double buffer's usefulness (beyond bandwagon NFL fans who watch 5 games simultaneously) but I'm more interested in learning if the current machine has the ability to add this feature at a later date.

For those of you unfamiliar with the DB feature here is a scenario for the average channel surfer:

Turn on the live TV with the intent of surfing for something interesting:
1. Start surfing with Tuner 1 and find something mildly interesting on Channel A. At this point I don't know if I am going to watch Channel A so I don't want to hassel with starting a recording. Tuner 1 has automatically started building a 30-min recording buffer so I can simply press pause to "freeze time" on Channel A.
2. I now switch to Tuner 2 and start surfing, ultimately deciding on Channel B. Tuner 2 now starts it's own 30-min buffer automatically. I press pause and switch back to Tuner 1 on Channel A that is now 10 minutes "in the past".
3. I now decided I don't really want to watch Channel A so I continue surfing with Tuner 1. Notice I didn't have to cancel recording and delete partial recording. I land on Channel C and start a new 30-min buffer on Tuner 1.
4. Repeat these steps until your wife leaves room or you ultimately find something watchable on at least one tuner.

Does anyone remember when DB was introduced on the Series 1 machines? There was an outrage at a nuance of this feature that if you scroll through Channel A with Tuner 2 (in the above example) it blew out your buffer on Channel A. Similarly there was a lot of debate on whether the 30-min buffer should be variable, allowing users to set the buffer for different lengths (I think Replay TV had a 1-hr buffer). Are we now simply doing away with this feature?

I've read about the work-around but I would rather not have to manually start/stop/delete recordings on a channel each time I change a tuner. While this feature is not a deal-killer, in an era of hundreds of channels with nothing on, and the proliferation of ADD, DB is a channel surfers' most powerful tool.

What MPEG4 issues do they have in the SF Bay Area?

From what I've read they've been having stuttering video and audio-sync problems, not on all channels and not all the time either. Very similar to the sort of problems Dish was having although Dish appears to have overcome the issues, maybe DirecTV has as well, you would have to ask someone who has the H20 in the bay area.

Assuming you read beyond the sentence you quoted, Ken says his reason is to watch games that are well played. He records several games in hopes of finding at least one worth watching.

I need help from some of the other 'beta testers' out here.
I had a Hughes 360 receiver hooked up to my Denon 3803 via component video and Toslink digital audio.
All DirecTV channels broadcasting Dolby Dital automatically showed up on my receiver as such.

Yetserday evening, I hooked up my new HR20-700 in exactly the same way and made sure to turn Dolby Digital on the Hr20 to 'ON'.
Yet, I still get regular stereo, even on the High Def channels (HBO, SHO, HDNet, etc.)

Any ideas / tips / clues?

thanks.

I watch the games of teams that are in the same division as my favorite team, in hopes of them losing.