[suplex]

I'm sitting around waiting for the Polaroid or Philips DVD/HDD (Digital Tuner) Recorders to come out, and something just dawned on me.


Does anyone know if they make a converter so that any of our NTSC Tuner equipt DVD Recorders, will be able to record an ATSC or QAM signal?


I know I can record from a Line Input so my Recorder will record from whatever the Cable Box has tuned in, but I imagine there must be something out there that would allow me to record using the tuner in the DVD Recorder as long as I have the "converter" connected however it would need to be set up.


Even to look at this situation as total greed, look at how much money someone would make if they created such a device that would allow you to still use your Analog Tuner DVD Recorder the same way you always used it, with your new Digital Cable.


This way, if you have a program you want to record...let's say on channel 100...instead of setting your Cable Box to channel 100 and setting your DVD Recorder to Line 1 and recording it that way, you could just set your DVD Recorder to channel 100 and be done.


Unless it's "yet to be released", I just can't imagine that someone hasn't...or won't...come up with such a device.


If anyone knows a site that may very well sell this, or knows why we may not ever see one, please reply to this post and let us all know.


Thanks.

 

[Kelson]

Someone else (can't remember who) asked this very question in another thread. The answer was no to a full spectrum converter.

 

[ncaahoops]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelson /forum/post/0


Someone else (can't remember who) asked this very question in another thread. The answer was no to a full spectrum converter.

Yes! I asked in another thread and I was told that the price of such a device would be very high, so high that it wouldn't make sense to make it. I'll post a link when i find that particular thread!

 

[kjbawc]

Full spectrum converters, no. But, ATSC/QAM tuners, with analog outputs, that you can use to record on your DVDR should become pretty common. Question is, will there be any that are programmable, to change channels, so you can program more than one recording? Or, perhaps tuners that respond to IR blasters. That would suffice.

 

[suplex]

I would certainly understand the cost factor (be cheaper to get a unit with a Digital Tuner), but it just stands to reason that they would create something. However, we may not see such an invention until February of 2009.

 

[Kelson]

I think the answer to what you are proposing is already a resounding no. Come 2/09 every NTSC TV in the land will be in the same position -- in far greater numbers than analog DVD recorders. The gov't sanctioned (i.e. subsidized) solution is for the sale of basic function SD STB's (converter boxes). That is what the chinese will make for us.


On second thought, I believe the device you are proposing may actually be illegal under FCC rules which would prohibit the conversion of ATSC digital broadcasts to NTSC analog. I'm a bit fuzzy on that one.

 

[sgm26]

An important question here is what will the cable company send down the pipe? If they send a full spectrum analog signal, everything will be the sane as it is now. Otherwise, they will send out a digital signal and gladly rent us as many STB as we have analog tuners. I'm sure that the $40 STB for OTA will not be full spectrum.

 

[Sean Nelson]



Quote:
Originally Posted by suplex /forum/post/0


This way, if you have a program you want to record...let's say on channel 100...instead of setting your Cable Box to channel 100 and setting your DVD Recorder to Line 1 and recording it that way, you could just set your DVD Recorder to channel 100 and be done.

The problem with this is that the converter box, having no way of knowing which channel you actually want, must continuously receive and convert every possible digital channel to analogue. So, for example, if you live in an area that has 10 digital channels, you'd need the equivalent tuning and decoding capacity of 10 digital tuners. To be completely general purpose, the device would require the capacity for whatever the maximum possible number of digital broadcast channels are, which would be enormously expensive.

 

[Kelson]

Also, remember the important fact that right now, as of 3/07, all analog tuner technology is obsolete. No more new devices, with tuners, are being made without digital tuners. As 2 yrs ticks by, think of all the old analog TVs that have run their useful lifetime and are trashed -- they are being replaced with TVs that have digital tuners.


The market for analog converter boxes is limited and declining every day. There is no upside to this market, only a guaranteed downside. So how much technology development do you think any manufacturer is going to put into this. I'll answer that -- as little as possible because the guys in there first will make the sales and use up the customer base. Anyone coming in last might as well stay home. So, who do we know that will come in fast, first & cheap with a minimally functional design?

 

[suplex]

Someone pointed this out to me, would this be what I am looking for?

http://www.rjtech.net/desc_RJ-1000ATSC.htm

 

[Sean Nelson]

That's an analogue/digital tuner which you could feed into the Line input of your recorder. You can record digital channels, but you have to make sure the tuner is set to the correct channel when you record. If the tuner has it's own built-in scheduling ability then you could record multiple shows on multiple channels (one after the other) by setting up matching schedules on your recorder and in the tuner.

 

[suplex]

Oh, so basically it would be the same thing as me using the STB that Verizon Fios provides me with, and it wouldn't allow me to use my DVD Recorders Tuner in a converted fashion (I would still be recording from the Line Input instead of using the Tuner).


With the box that Verizon Fios gave me (Motorola QIP 2500) there is a feature when you look up a program called: "Set Reminder". When you select that it will change the channel of the box to the program you wanted to be reminded of.


So let's say at 2:00pm I look ahead and find a show I want to record that starts at 4:00pm on Channel 150. I set the reminder for that program and right before 4:00pm it changes the channel to 150, then if there was also something on at 6:00pm on channel 170, it would change the channel to 170 right before 6:00pm (as long as "Set reminder" was used for the next program as well).

 

[Rammitinski]



Quote:
Originally Posted by suplex /forum/post/0


Oh, so basically it would be the same thing as me using the STB that Verizon Fios provides me with..

Well, yeah, except that the only digital channels you could pick up would be the unencrypted ones - usually just the locals. That's what is meant by "clear QAM". It might incidently pick up some of the ones from the digital tier, sans the audio (as that happens sometimes).


But, yeah, it would be recorded from through a line input, just as their cable box would be. It just wouldn't descramble all of the digital channels, as theirs' would.

 

[Sean Nelson]



Quote:
Originally Posted by suplex /forum/post/0


...and right before 4:00pm it changes the channel to 150, then if there was also something on at 6:00pm on channel 170, it would change the channel to 170 right before 6:00pm...

Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking was when I mentioned entering a schedule on the tuner box. On my cable box the features is called "Record to VCR". I'd be surprised if stand-alone ATSC tuners didn't have this feature.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rammitinski /forum/post/0


Well, yeah, except that the only digital channels you could pick up would be the unencrypted ones - usually just the locals.

This comment applies to recording from cable, but of course any OTA signals Suplex could also receive with an antenna would be free and clear.

 

[ncaahoops]



Quote:
Originally Posted by sgm26 /forum/post/0


An important question here is what will the cable company send down the pipe? If they send a full spectrum analog signal, everything will be the sane as it is now. Otherwise, they will send out a digital signal and gladly rent us as many STB as we have analog tuners. I'm sure that the $40 STB for OTA will not be full spectrum.

There was a recent post that the FCC wanted to keep the OTA equivalent channels for basic cable subscribers still available as analog after the 09 deadline, so that people wouldn't have to unnecessarily buy/rent cable boxes/converters...


It woudl be nice if cable companies kept all analog channels as is, but given the rush to offer HD and other high-bandwidth pay-to-use services, I doubt they'll keep more than they have to.


So perhaps all the analog recorders and old VCRs can still be used to tune the broadcast networks, PBS and whatever local channels are covered in those agreements.