newbie question re PVRs and DVD copy

Hi,

I'm think of buying a hard drive Freeview box. On occasions I want a
DVD copy of a program - but I don't wish to buy a DVD recorder unless
there is no alternative. Which leads me to:

Are there any hard drive recorders with a digital output, eg USB that
I can take to the PC and then burn a DVD ???

On a related note, I read that some hard drive/ DVD recorder combo
units do an inferior job (loss of quality) of recording onto the hard
drive because the Freeview signal is domodulated to analogue, then
re-encoded before being written onto the hard drive vs a hard drive
only unit which can select the desired digital video from the Freeview
multiplex and write it directly onto the hard drive.
Any truth in this ???

Thanks in advance.

Rusty

Rusty wrote:

Are there any hard drive recorders with a digital output, eg USB
that I can take to the PC and then burn a DVD ???

Yes. The Topfield 5800 (which may now be difficult to find) and the Topfield
5810 (easy to find but the native firmware is dodgy - get an update at
www.toppy.org.uk). There is/was a Humax PVR which also has a USB output but
I think it may be an obsolete model; I'm not up to date with the Humax
range, but someone who is will be along in a minute ...

On a related note, I read that some hard drive/ DVD recorder combo
units do an inferior job (loss of quality) of recording onto the
hard drive because the Freeview signal is domodulated to analogue,
then re-encoded before being written onto the hard drive vs a hard
drive only unit which can select the desired digital video from the
Freeview multiplex and write it directly onto the hard drive.
Any truth in this ???

Could be. But that won't matter if you go down the Topfield (possibly Humax)
route. It's digital all the way to your DVD - depending on what you use to
author the DVD. But that's another story and another learning curve. It's
all at www.toppy.org.uk.

André Coutanche

On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:12:37 -0000, "André Coutanche"
wrote:

Rusty wrote:

Are there any hard drive recorders with a digital output, eg USB
that I can take to the PC and then burn a DVD ???

Yes. The Topfield 5800 (which may now be difficult to find) and the Topfield
5810 (easy to find but the native firmware is dodgy - get an update at
www.toppy.org.uk). There is/was a Humax PVR which also has a USB output but
I think it may be an obsolete model; I'm not up to date with the Humax
range, but someone who is will be along in a minute ...

The Humax (Freeview) PVR-9200T has a USB output for connecting directly
to a PC. It requires special software on the PC to manage transfers from
the PVR to the PC. S/W is supplied with the box but there is better
third-party S/W available (free). The performance of the transfer is
erratic. It may require several attempts to finally get a TV programme
transferred successfully. It is not a rapid process. Humax have "cured"
this problem in later models by not providing a USB socket.

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

"Rusty" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm think of buying a hard drive Freeview box. On occasions I want a
DVD copy of a program - but I don't wish to buy a DVD recorder unless
there is no alternative. Which leads me to:

Are there any hard drive recorders with a digital output, eg USB that
I can take to the PC and then burn a DVD ???

On a related note, I read that some hard drive/ DVD recorder combo
units do an inferior job (loss of quality) of recording onto the hard
drive because the Freeview signal is domodulated to analogue, then
re-encoded before being written onto the hard drive vs a hard drive
only unit which can select the desired digital video from the Freeview
multiplex and write it directly onto the hard drive.
Any truth in this ???

Thanks in advance.



The route I've recently gone down is to purchase a Grundig Gigo USB flash
memory/external USB hard drive recorder, this enables me to easily transfer
the mpeg/.ts files to my computer, where I can use a simple editor (such as
Streamclip) to trim and merge the files and then burn them onto a DVD.
However don't rely on it as your main recorder, as the thing is pretty
basic, single (tuner, fat 32, no SD card slot, Mpeg 4/Divx facility or
upscaled HDMI output etc) which seems a pity, especially as all of the
technology to make flash memory recording a viable and superior replacement
for VHS has been around for a number of years.

"Rusty" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm think of buying a hard drive Freeview box. On occasions I want a
DVD copy of a program - but I don't wish to buy a DVD recorder unless
there is no alternative. Which leads me to:

Are there any hard drive recorders with a digital output, eg USB that
I can take to the PC and then burn a DVD ???

Yes, for example the (obsolete but still obtainable) Humax PVR-9200T.

However, creating DVDs on your PC from such files is rather a black art. I
think that a DVD recorder is a better bet, and doubles as a DVD player as
well.

You could get a combined PVR/DVDR, but they invariably have only a single
digital tuner, so you can't freely record two programmes at once - however
copying to DVD is relatively straightforward.

Or get a twin tuner PVR and connect it to a DVDR with a SCART cable for
occasional recording/transfer.

On a related note, I read that some hard drive/ DVD recorder combo
units do an inferior job (loss of quality) of recording onto the hard
drive because the Freeview signal is domodulated to analogue, then
re-encoded before being written onto the hard drive vs a hard drive
only unit which can select the desired digital video from the Freeview
multiplex and write it directly onto the hard drive.

I think that combined PVR/DVDRs still record the Freeview signal directly to
HDD.

I don't think that a loss of quality is inevitable. I have a Freeview DVD
recorder (and a separate PVR), and haven't experienced a significant loss of
quality, even in LP mode.

--
Max Demian

Thanks for all the responses.
Very interesting.
Suddenly the best approach (for me) becomes clear.

I will buy a cheap Freeview PVR.
Also my parents have a surplus old DVDR (without Freeview tuner), but
I can connect it to the PVR via Scart for the occasional DVD need; and
it serves as the DVD player !

No computer needed !

Cheers,
Rusty

On Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:15:17 GMT, Rusty wrote:

Thanks for all the responses.
Very interesting.
Suddenly the best approach (for me) becomes clear.

I will buy a cheap Freeview PVR.
Also my parents have a surplus old DVDR (without Freeview tuner), but
I can connect it to the PVR via Scart for the occasional DVD need; and
it serves as the DVD player !

No computer needed !

Exactly.

That still leaves you the possibility of reading a DVD (a recorded disc)
on the computer and creating a new tidied-up version of its content
without ads, etc. and writing that to a new DVD.

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

"Rusty" wrote in message
...

I will buy a cheap Freeview PVR.
Also my parents have a surplus old DVDR (without Freeview tuner), but
I can connect it to the PVR via Scart for the occasional DVD need; and
it serves as the DVD player !

The only thing to observe is that you will need to transfer the recorded
programme in real time, and while that is happening you can't use your
Freeview box or your DVD player/recorder for anything else.

Also, you need to make sure you've set the right level of compression on the
DVDR based upon how long the programme lasts, so that the resultant file on
the DVD is as big as it can be without exceeding the 4.7G DVD limit (8.5G if
your DVDR supports dual layer).

My mum uses this system, and whilst it's OK, there is some hassle involved.

SteveT

On Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:26:26 -0000, "Steve Thackery"
wrote:

"Rusty" wrote in message
.. .

I will buy a cheap Freeview PVR.
Also my parents have a surplus old DVDR (without Freeview tuner), but
I can connect it to the PVR via Scart for the occasional DVD need; and
it serves as the DVD player !

The only thing to observe is that you will need to transfer the recorded
programme in real time, and while that is happening you can't use your
Freeview box or your DVD player/recorder for anything else.

Also, you need to make sure you've set the right level of compression on the
DVDR based upon how long the programme lasts, so that the resultant file on
the DVD is as big as it can be without exceeding the 4.7G DVD limit (8.5G if
your DVDR supports dual layer).

My mum uses this system, and whilst it's OK, there is some hassle involved.

There can be slightly more hassle if the programme exceeds what can be
copied to the DVDR without unacceptable compression. It is possible to
copy the first half of a long programme to one DVD and the second half
to another.

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

On Jan 25, 11:15*am, Rusty wrote:
Thanks for all the responses.
Very interesting.
Suddenly the best approach (for me) becomes clear.

I will buy a cheap Freeview PVR.
Also my parents have a surplus old DVDR (without Freeview tuner), but
I can connect it to the PVR via Scart for the occasional DVD need; and
it serves as the DVD player !

No computer needed !

Cheers,
Rusty

And for that "perfect bitstream copy" (should that matter to you!) a
DTT PC card would be the ideal option. No faffing about with
extracting files from the PVR!

Matt