11/25/07
Accessories: VCRs, TiVo, etc.
The motion picture studios are releasing
high definition films only to media that can make piracy very difficult. The studios prefer only DVDs with copy
prevention features and DVRs with non-dismountable disks.
There
will likely never be a VCR that can record HD from DVI, HDMI, VGA, or component
video.
D-VHS
recorders are available from JVC, Marantz, and possibly others. These units can record OTA hi-def programs or
play purchased hi-def tapes. All accept
hi-def input only from an IEEE 1394 connector and output hi-def video through
that connector. Most also have component
video outputs.
Most
of these units support D-Theater, a format for purchased movies on
tape. Not very many movie titles are
presently available, and the long-term prospects for this format are
gloomy. D-Theater tapes can have a data
rate of 28 Mbits/second. This is
superior to ATSC, which has a top rate of 19 Mbits/second. This allows D-Theater to portray fast action
more realistically than ATSC can.
Presently,
Hollywood does not want any satellite or cable set-top-box to have a 1394
connector. The FCC has issued a
requirement that cable and satellite STBs with 1394 ports be made available to
customers who want them. To date,
DirecTV has refused to comply, but most cable and satellite providers are
providing units that will work with D-VHS recorders. Be prepared for some hassles if you go this
route. Users have reported buggy
software and poor technical assistance.
When you call your programming provider, the first person you talk to
will probably claim there is no such thing.
This category is also called Digital Video Recorder (DVR) or Personal Video Recorder (PVR). Most of these units are older products that will not work with HDTV. Do not consider a unit unless it is stated clearly that it is for HD.
A DVR with a 250 Gigabyte capacity will record about 25 hours of HD or 250 hours of SD. If you find a unit with less than 120 gigabytes it is probably an older design. Those older designs tended to be buggy, and this author recommends avoiding them.
If the DVR is integrated with the satellite or cable box, the cabling and operation will be greatly simplified. Although many types are available, you are restricted to using types that will work with your cable or satellite provider. Call them to find out what you can use.
This author presently uses two DirecTV HR20 DVRs, one for ABC and CBS, and one for NBC, HBO, and others. A single 300 Gigabyte DVR was found to be too easy to fill up, and some wanted programs were missed. But with 600 GB, this is not much of a problem. HD can quickly fill up any disk if you are not careful, but 600 GB does not require much diligence. There are ways to expand a 300 GB DVR to something larger, but with two DVRs four programs can be recorded at once.
Unfortunately
a format war is taking place, similar to the VHS-Betamax wars of old. Many consumers (this author included) are
waiting to see who the winner will be before buying. Hollywood studios representing 45% of that
industry have stated their films will use the HD-DVD format, while other
studios representing 47% have chosen Blu-ray.
Only Warner Brothers is releasing films to both formats. The data capacity for a dual-layer disk is 30
Gbytes for HD-DVD and 50 Gbytes for Blu-ray.
However the Blu-ray disks are slightly harder to make. Presently the only unit that will play both
types costs $1000.
While all of the disks are encrypted, the disabling of analog HD output
is a separate flag, called the “Image Constraint Token” (ICT). Thus far, all of the available movies have
the token turned OFF, so analog HD output is allowed for these movies. How long movies will be introduced with the
token OFF is unknown. The state of the
token is supposed to be printed on the packaging. (If the token is ON, the image on component
video output will be down-converted to 540p.)
(Blu-ray seems smarter to me. It
has greater capacity and is more adaptable to future needs. But if cost is all that matters, HD-DVD might
win.)
The audio standard for ATSC is Dolby Digital 5.1, which is also called AC-3. It allows for 5 speakers plus a sub-woofer. The TV set will probably allow you to outboard some or all of these speakers, or it may provide a digital output line that you can connect to a power amplifier that has an AC-3 decoder. It is unlikely that the set provides more than 20 watts per channel. But if you decide to use an outboard amplifier, the TV system may be complicated and possibly hard to operate, especially if some STB audio goes to the amplifier without going through the TV.
This page is part of “An HDTV Primer”, which
starts at www.hdtvprimer.com