Can I connect non-HD DirecTV to HDTV?

I'll be receiving my 61" Samsung 1080p HDTV this week.
My DirecTV satellite and receiver/DVR are not scheduled
to be upgraded for several weeks afterward. I'd like
to put the new TV in place prior to the equipment upgrade.
Then I could at least watch HD movies on my HD player.
Can I connect the non-HD cable to the new HDTV? Will it
handle the non-HD signal and simply display all channels
in non-HD? Will the non-HD DVR work?


-Thanks

On Sun, 11 Mar 2007 14:14:15 -0400, James Egan wrote:

Can I connect the non-HD cable to the new HDTV?


Will it handle the non-HD signal and simply display all channels
in non-HD?

Yes, but some don't display an SD signal real good.

Will the non-HD DVR work?

For what? If you mean can you hook it to your TV and playback, then yes.
If you mean record HD, then no.

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James Egan wrote:
I'll be receiving my 61" Samsung 1080p HDTV this week.
My DirecTV satellite and receiver/DVR are not scheduled
to be upgraded for several weeks afterward. I'd like
to put the new TV in place prior to the equipment upgrade.
Then I could at least watch HD movies on my HD player.
Can I connect the non-HD cable to the new HDTV? Will it
handle the non-HD signal and simply display all channels
in non-HD? Will the non-HD DVR work?


-Thanks


If your TV has S-Video or RCA video inputs, it will work fine. I used
mine that way while waiting for the new dish to be installed. I already
had the HD receiver and the SD signals looked slightly better on that
(using HEMI) than on the old SD receiver with S-video.

On Sun, 11 Mar 2007 13:33:57 -0700, Bob Nielsen wrote:

If your TV has S-Video or RCA video inputs, it will work fine. I used
mine that way while waiting for the new dish to be installed. I already
had the HD receiver and the SD signals looked slightly better on that
(using HEMI) than on the old SD receiver with S-video.


I'm referring to connecting the SD coaxial Directv cable
to the Samsung HDTV. I'm not sure what you mean by the
S-Video or RCA references. Of course the HTDV will have
S-Video and RCA connections. What are you saying to
connect to them?

-Thanks

James Egan wrote:
On Sun, 11 Mar 2007 13:33:57 -0700, Bob Nielsen wrote:

If your TV has S-Video or RCA video inputs, it will work fine. I used
mine that way while waiting for the new dish to be installed. I already
had the HD receiver and the SD signals looked slightly better on that
(using HEMI) than on the old SD receiver with S-video.


I'm referring to connecting the SD coaxial Directv cable
to the Samsung HDTV. I'm not sure what you mean by the
S-Video or RCA references. Of course the HTDV will have
S-Video and RCA connections. What are you saying to
connect to them?

-Thanks


Well, you don't connect the cable from the dish directly to your TV.
The Directv receivers have audio and composite outputs which use RCA
connectors. They also have a S-video connector. There are
corresponding inputs on practically all television sets. The Directv SD
receivers also have a RF coaxial output which can connect to the
television using channel 3 or 4. You may be able to connect to your
HDTV that way, if it has a NTSC tuner in addition to the ATSC (HD)
tuner, although the picture quality is generally poorer than using
S-video or composite (HD receivers don't have the RF connection at all).

On Sun, 11 Mar 2007 23:00:14 -0700, Bob Nielsen wrote:
Well, you don't connect the cable from the dish directly to your TV.
The Directv receivers have audio and composite outputs which use RCA
connectors. They also have a S-video connector. There are
corresponding inputs on practically all television sets. The Directv SD
receivers also have a RF coaxial output which can connect to the
television using channel 3 or 4. You may be able to connect to your
HDTV that way, if it has a NTSC tuner in addition to the ATSC (HD)
tuner, although the picture quality is generally poorer than using
S-video or composite (HD receivers don't have the RF connection at all).


I was thinking that only the coaxial cable from the satellite dish was
connected to the receiver/DVR. I just checked the back -- It's ugly!
There's coax, S-video (I think) and RCA cables. Thanks for the advice,
I'll give it a try. At lease I can play an HD-DVD in my XBox HD player,
until the satellite equipment upgrade.

-Thanks