Re:How do you receive the signals tho? Antenna? Last I heard you could only get HDTV with an antenna setup.
I have an antenna mounted in my attic, but Direct TV and dishnetwork have limited HDTV programing as well(very limited).
I wonder if they'd have a setup at Best Buy that I could watch to check it out…
All the DTV's were displaying HD at Best Buy when I went shopping for my display.
By the way, what format does it record in? MPEG2? Cuz at that resolution the file sizes must be enormous
Its a type of MPEG-2, the datarate is ~ 18 MB/sec so files are pretty big. The bonus is they are exact copies of the original stream, so your "captures" are the same as the broadcast. They also convert to MPEG-2 easily, and compress extremely well due to the clean video. I DID pick up a 200GB WD Hardrive a couple days ago to supplement my storage needs however:D
Re:That's awesome…
How do you receive the signals tho? Antenna? Last I heard you could only get HDTV with an antenna setup.
Here in Toronto the first Canadian HDTV broadcast was Mission Impossible 2 on CityTV…I'm sure it was DVD quality. I would LOVE to see a hockey game on HDTV, but the CBC is always behind when it comes to technology…it took them until just a few years ago to start broadcasting in stereo…
I'm sure everything will eventually be high definition…I'm definately looking forward to it. I wonder if they'd have a setup at Best Buy that I could watch to check it out…
By the way, what format does it record in? MPEG2? Cuz at that resolution the file sizes must be enormous…
Re:Yeah but $298US? That's a ton of money
Yea, not exactly cheap, but in the grand scheme of things, it made the purchase of a widescreen display "more" worth it. Much cheaper than a STB, no subscription for HDTV broadcasts and the ability to record/playback the shows in full 1080i resolution made it worth it to me.
Not to mention last Sunday's Titans\Raiders game in its full HDTV glory…absolutely breathtaking. My first HDTV broadcast game that I've enjoyed since setting my rig up. I just can't say how much better it makes the whole experience of sports viewing. Next up….HDTV Superbowl via ABC, yea baby!
Re:Yeah but $298US? That's a ton of money. Personally I'm waiting until it becomes mainstream. Once they start putting those tuners in all TVs that are sold the price will have to come down. It looks like a very cool card tho. I wish I had that kind of money burning a hole in my pocket…
Re:I can't wait until someone comes up with an HDTV tuner for my PC…
They have! (see my "rig" link) HDTV looks great on a monitor, but even better on a widescreen display.
Re:Here in Toronto when you plug digital cable into an analog set, it automatically goes into analog mode. The only way to directly get digital cable is through the digital box, as far as I know anyway. Like people have said though, there's nothing stopping you from inputting an S-video cable into your 8500; the results should be pretty good.
I can't wait until someone comes up with an HDTV tuner for my PC…that would be sweet. Monitors are more than capable of handling that sort of picture.
Re:I record digital cable all the time. You just need to use the cable box as your tuner and use the s-video (or composite(rca) if you have to)output of the cable box connected to the S-video input of your AIW.
I wonder about the 8500's claim to be a tv-tuner with 125 channels… this *must* be a reference to being able to handle only analog signals, and the answer you already provided me
There claim is as valid as every VCR or analog TV set. When you plug the cable into the back of your TV without the decoder box, exactly how many of the digital channels can you tune in?
Re:Thanks for the quick reply
Do you think if I placed a splitter on the digital cable box's output it would allow me to record the channel it is tuned to? Or more channels, like the 'watch 1 channel, record another' function on the vcr?
Ex:
cable from outside line —> digi-cable box —> (Splitter)—> Regular tv/dvd/vcr etc.
____________________________________________—> 8500dv tv-tuner catv input
I did call at&t digital cable, and apparently the analog channels are 1-99 (well, it doesnt go to 99, but whatever's less than 100), and the digital cable channels are 100+. I wonder about the 8500's claim to be a tv-tuner with 125 channels… this *must* be a reference to being able to handle only analog signals, and the answer you already provided me
Thanks again, and any other input on the 8500dv is welcome & appreciated. I guess at worst I can record Iron Chef to my heart's content, though (channel 35)… anandtech
Re:AFAIK, you will NOT get the digital channels. If your cable provider is anything like mine (TW) you will only get the analog channels (2-68)
Edit: there's new legislation in effect that forces cable providers to offer HBO even if you only have basic cable (digital package is unnecessary). This must mean the HBO will come in via analog (channel 2 or 14 in my area). You may be able to get Sopranos this way. But then again, if your analog signal is too crappy…
Btw, if you are going to put a splitter AFTER the cable box, might as well split the low freq (RCA) signal. You should get much better picture/sound quality.
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