Any suggestions?

[William Eng]

Now that I have a high def TV in my family room and enjoying all the free OTA digital content, I have a dilemma about how to record this content for later viewing. I realized that neither the VCR nor the DVD recorder picks up the digital signal going through it. What are the alternatives? TiVO?, high def DVD recorder? Digital to analog converter box?

[wejones]

Now that I have a high def TV in my family room and enjoying all the free OTA digital content, I have a dilemma about how to record this content for later viewing. I realized that neither the VCR nor the DVD recorder picks up the digital signal going through it. What are the alternatives? TiVO?, high def DVD recorder? Digital to analog converter box?

You can record easily if you get a PCI card, like a Twinhan 1020a, or perhaps one of the more available new versions. However playing it back to your TV then becomes the problem. If you can find a used Roku HD1000, that is a great solution. I record HD stuff on the computer, and play it back through the Roku via a network connection. The Roku has been discontinued, but you can still find them on EBAY. I've read posts about a couple new devices that do similar things though, so there may soon be some other options.

If you have a VERY fast computer, and the right video card, with an HD output, you can play back some HD directly from your computer to the TV. However it has to be REALLY fast, like up in the 3 GHz range, and you need a good motherboard with a lot of a certain kind of cache ram, which I can't remember the name of.

[be236]

I take it there are no standalone DVD records in the market that has a ATSC (HD) tuner so you can record HD OTA into DVD?

Or that matter, do these DVD records have regular NTSC RF coax input at all?

[WarraWarra]

If you need to record a lot you will need a huge hard drive in any device that can do it.
250gb / 500gb / 750gb or even a SAN storage area network as this can hold plenty hard drives and connects to the pc's network cable / usb . 3TB or 3000gb or more but expensive.
1 hour hd = something like 4gb at 720x??? resl. not sure or 1 hour = 1 dvd not sure might be more.
Look for maybe a 16mb cache hd and 7200rpm min in SATA or SCSI for best playback or similar.

Windows or Linux. Windows = $$$ , Linux = No $$$ just time and reading a few pages.

If you go the computer route here is some links to linux mythtv but is not limited to linux only.

These 2 links make it look very difficult but pclinuxos = so easy like running a sat receiver box. Even my mother can use pclinuxos.com

Pc Hardware
Installing and using MythTV: Checking prerequisites.

General terms / wiki for DVB
Main Page - LinuxTVWiki

I just got a copy of pclinuxos.com and it has all / most of the software to do this and it is for free.
Similar is Videolinux.net also based on pclinux but also extremely easy to use and if other software is needed you can just download it or get it from mandriva.

If you just want to do a hardware / all in one box you are likely looking at about min. $399+ and only limited amount of space.

Viewsat pvr 7000 , Dreambox etc. google for "satellite pvr"

Some of the pc cards I have seen like wintv pvr has a s-video out and normal cable out but not HD

Most new video card for pc's has the DVI ?? out maybe this can help or have a connector from that to what can be used on your tv.
A nvidia 6800 gtx/ultra top of the range can drive 2 Apple 32" LCD's at 23??x16?? insane resolution.

Ati X850 goes for about $150 on ebay and is extremely good bang for the bucks , next up from that is the x1800 / x1900 or better.
XFX 6800 extreme in pci 16x or agp 2 HD out and about $123 + shipping

Nvidia any of the ?800 versions 6800 / 7800 / 8800 maybe gtx as this is default and all others gets build from this as their base and modified.

Estimated cost of new pc + needed hardware = about $ 500 and then pclinux = free or windows MCE = $120+ ? extra.

Hope this helps.

[WarraWarra]

If you go the pc route you can plug the HD TV directly into the computer if I remember correctly. LCD ones you can.

Have to go do some research.

[wejones]

If you go the pc route you can plug the HD TV directly into the computer if I remember correctly. LCD ones you can.

Have to go do some research.

You need a very fast computer to do this.

[slotzero]

Now that I have a high def TV in my family room and enjoying all the free OTA digital content, I have a dilemma about how to record this content for later viewing. I realized that neither the VCR nor the DVD recorder picks up the digital signal going through it. What are the alternatives? TiVO?, high def DVD recorder? Digital to analog converter box?

I'm working on a MythTV box for this very thing - seems that other folks are getting it to work quite nicely with the Twinhan cards. I'm using KnoppMyth (My Settop Box) latest release - it's coming together but I don't have it complete yet, waiting on my tuner card to come in to use with my VHF/UHF setup.

I'll get the FTA stuff setup with it later this year so I'll let everyone know how it goes!

And yes... I did say VHF/UHF - I parted ways with my cable company this month due to outlandish price increases for 2007... unbelievable what they want you to pay. I can't wait until I can order my FTA setup!!

[wejones]

If you need to record a lot you will need a huge hard drive in any device that can do it.
250gb / 500gb / 750gb or even a SAN storage area network as this can hold plenty hard drives and connects to the pc's network cable / usb . 3TB or 3000gb or more but expensive.
1 hour hd = something like 4gb at 720x??? resl. not sure or 1 hour = 1 dvd not sure might be more.
Look for maybe a 16mb cache hd and 7200rpm min in SATA or SCSI for best playback or similar.

How much space depends on the bitrate, etc. I regularly record some low bitrate HD that requires about 10 GB for a normal movie. Stuff on PBS is a medium bitrate, and requires more space. If you find one of the high bitrate feeds on satellite, it can use up 60 GB in a couple hours. I tried recording the superbowl last year, pausing at each commercial to save space, and I still used up something like 40 GB. So yes, it can take a lot of space, but it depends on what feed you're looking at.

Most new video card for pc's has the DVI ?? out maybe this can help or have a connector from that to what can be used on your tv.
...

The DVI port is what you can use to go to a TV, however before this is of any use, the computer has to be fast enough to display the HD. Most computers can't. I use about a 2 GHz computer, and have a good graphics card with a DVI output. Low bitrate HD will work fairly well, but medium or high speed HD won't work, because the computer can't keep up with it. Some people have had OK results with a 3 GHz computer but other people can't even get a 3 GHz computer to work. Some people say that the amount of L2 cache memory is important. I don't know.

[vj9999]

LG used to make a HD DVR. I'm not sure if it is produce/sold anymore. Maybe ebay?

LG LST-4200A HD Receiver/DVR

[WarraWarra]

If you go the pc route you can plug the HD TV directly into the computer if I remember correctly. LCD ones you can.

Have to go do some research.

Just found a DVI to HDMI cable sells for about From $0.99 to about $10.00 or pc to HD tv

Google.com using "dvi to hdmi cable" to search and then select more and froogle on top of page.