Cheap HD

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by kx250rider

Is that an off-the-air digital receiver like Eric shows, or just satellite? It has a DirecTV card. I'd pick one up as a collectible if I could actually use it, but not a DSS receiver. I have a stack of those waiting 'til I need to cut a cord off them for some other purpose

Charles

The RCA DTC-100 is a combination DirecTV and over-the-air receiver. You can ignore the satellite part of it and just set it up for broadcast use. It has a few unusual features:

-You can turn off the PSIP "virtual channel" feature, so it displays the true channel numbers of digital stations.
-Unlike many other HD tuners, this one has full control of aspect ratios and zoom settings, independent of resolution. (You can set it for 1080i 4:3 mode, for example, good on a few older HD-ready displays.)
-It has one odd feature: It converts 480p signals to 540p, that most HD displays (CRT-type at least) treat the same as 1080i.

If you look for one, try hard to get one with the original remote control. There is one button on it ("fetch", I think) that is useful for switching from HD to SD output, that is not on universal remote controls, nor even on the remote control RCA sells as a replacement for the box.

[OvenMaster]

I just noticed something.

I'm looking at the owner's manual for Eric's tuner box. On the rear panel are some plain old standard definition Video Out RCA jacks, and a pair of L+R Audio Output jacks. The manual says "Use this output for conventional TV sets that do not have S-video or component video inputs. This output port supports the only SD output.'

So, my two questions are:

1. Can these outputs be fed to the Line Input jacks on my conventional VCR and then enable me to use the VCR's NTSC channel 4 RF modulated output?

2. If I can feed these signals to the VCR's Line In successfully, would it be possible to record the picture and audio onto standard video tape and replay the tape on any NTSC VCR?

If this worked, not only would I be able to use the VCR as my RF modulator for my present standard-def TV, but I'd be able to make analog recordings of any broadcast.

Thoughts?

Tom

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by OvenMaster

I just noticed something.

I'm looking at the owner's manual for Eric's tuner box. On the rear panel are some plain old standard definition Video Out RCA jacks, and a pair of L+R Audio Output jacks. The manual says "Use this output for conventional TV sets that do not have S-video or component video inputs. This output port supports the only SD output.'

So, my two questions are:

1. Can these outputs be fed to the Line Input jacks on my conventional VCR and then enable me to use the VCR's NTSC channel 4 RF modulated output?

2. If I can feed these signals to the VCR's Line In successfully, would it be possible to record the picture and audio onto standard video tape and replay the tape on any NTSC VCR?

If this worked, not only would I be able to use the VCR as my RF modulator for my present standard-def TV, but I'd be able to make analog recordings of any broadcast.

Thoughts?

Tom

I see no reason why this wouldn't work. I've used the standard line out jacks on a DVD player to feed a VCR and it worked fine. The DTV set top box should work just as well.

One question I have is will I be able to get rid of the black borders at the top and bottom of the screen when useing a DTV converter with an old SDTV? Those borders are very annoying now and I hope there's a way to get rid of them once things go 100% digital. Also, I plan to buy a few of the cheap low end converters (the "Gov't coupon" converters) that are supposed to be available early in '08. I wonder if these have an RF output or will I need to use the VCR or buy a modulator?

[OvenMaster]

My guess would be that the bars would stay because the DTV signal would perhaps be 16:9. I'd rather see the bars than have the sides cut off, personally.
I have no idea what the coupon converters will have for an output.
Thanks for the insight
Tom

[andy]

DTV can be 16:9, or 4:3 depending on the broadcast. We're likely to see more and more 16:9 as time goes by, but there are a lot of 4:3 digital broadcasts right now. Most channels do 4:3 when broadcasting programs that aren't in HD (most channles only have a few hours of HD at the moment).

All the DTV tuners I've used allow you to either stretch the picture vertically, or cut off the sides if you want it to fill the screen.

The NTSC output is plain old 1950's NTSC and can be recorded, or modulated like any other NTSC signal. Think of it as being like the output of a satellite receiver. If you want to feed the signal to a B/W set, you can modulate only the luma signal (from the S-video, or Y component video jack) and you'll see the best B/W picture ever.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by OvenMaster

1. Can these outputs be fed to the Line Input jacks on my conventional VCR and then enable me to use the VCR's NTSC channel 4 RF modulated output?

2. If I can feed these signals to the VCR's Line In successfully, would it be possible to record the picture and audio onto standard video tape and replay the tape on any NTSC VCR?

Yes, the two devices should work fine, precisely as you have described.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

One question I have is will I be able to get rid of the black borders at the top and bottom of the screen when useing a DTV converter with an old SDTV? Those borders are very annoying now and I hope there's a way to get rid of them once things go 100% digital. Also, I plan to buy a few of the cheap low end converters (the "Gov't coupon" converters) that are supposed to be available early in '08. I wonder if these have an RF output or will I need to use the VCR or buy a modulator?

Some converter boxes have a "zoom" mode that can fill the normally black area of a 16:9 show displayed on a 4:3 TV; this mode will also chop off some of the content of the show's left and right sides, of course. Purists (like me) would never, ever use such a feature, but it is available on some tuners.

The "government design" converters will most likely have RF modulators built in; their whole point is to work with older TV sets, and there are plenty of RF-input-only TVs around, not just in we collectors' homes either.

[radiotvnut]

...And I've seen a fair amount of RF only TV's made since 2000....

Oh, I just had a thought. Cheap HD? That would be a digital tuner connected to a properly working Zenith Chromacolor II!!!