HDTV on Kauai, HI

[MrBoylan]

What I meant by "as well as the other channels" was before I got the new TV I just got what the basic expanded cable package was down here which was like 78 channels and all analog. With the new TV got the extra versions of the Big 4 networks (listing on my TV from 480i to 720p and 1080i the original channels are listing as NTSC which will go away I assume as the conversion completes in the mainland) plus the others which I have been referring to as the QAM channels.

The DVD recorder's cable tuner will pick up digital and analog cable channels. Don't be surprised if many of the analog cable channels remain beyond February as it's up to the cable provider (not the government) to determine what they continue to broadcast in analog and for how long.

I think I will end up taking your recommendation and getting the Panasonic. Before I do that though just need to pick your brain a bit more. Since there are going to be more upgrades on the horizon for recorders I might just wait until they appear and see what you recommend at that time.

DVD recording is a mature technology. I wouldn't expect any major enhancements to DVD recorders. The next major enhancement will probably be Blu-ray recorders but not until there is some kind of agreement as to how this will work from a content protection standpoint. I wouldn't expect to see Blu-ray recorders in the US until late this year at the earliest. Possibly not until 2010. And they won't be cheap until long after that.

Until then I do need a player of some sort. I do have a pretty basic laptop (Acer Aspire 5610Z) that has a DVI-D Port, 4 USB 2.0 Ports, RF (S-video-in) (NTSC/PAL) Port, S-video/TV-out (NTSC/PAL) Port, AV-in Port and a VGA Port. Would I be able to hook up my Laptop to the TV and use it as a player?

You should be able to hook up the PC to the HDMI input on your TV using a DVI-D to HDMI adapter or cable. These are not very expensive (less than $10 for the adapter, less than $20 for a complete DVI-D to HDMI cable). Assuming you have a DVD drive and DVD player software, this would allow you to use the laptop as a DVD player.

You could also look for a QAM tuner card or an external QAM tuner box and use your computer as a cable tuner/DVR. But that might get a little tricky. You do need a pretty good laptop to render and record high definition TV channels. Without the QAM tuner card you really won't be able to record anything in HD. The "AV in port" on your laptop is probably just basic s-video or composite video and it would still need an external tuner of some sort in ordr to work.

If you think (and I have my doubts) I could use my laptop to burn movies/shows off of the TV please let me know. I would love to explore what my TV viewing options could be using my laptop which (if it make a difference to you) I also use Verizon Broadband as my connector to the internet. Maybe not a topic for this particular thread...

Again, if you put a tuner card into your PC or can find an external (USB-based) QAM tuner, then you could conceivably use your PC to record TV shows to the built in hard drive, then (if you have a DVD burner) you could burn these to DVD. But that's a long way to go for something you could do more simply on a standalone DVD recorder.

Also, if I just can't wait...a) I will have to get HDMI Cables, what do you recommend, b) same for what disks to use to tape to...I would prefer to use something that is rewriteable and, Lord knows the only disks I have seen on Kauai are pretty basic and, c) I have a pretty basic cable from the wall jack to the tv that I would like to upgrade or do you think that I don't need to?

Probably no need to upgrade the coax cable unless you're getting drop-outs. For HDMI cable, you don't need to spend a lot to get decent cables. I'll include a link to one that I use - it sells for around $11 for a 2-meter length. For blank DVDs, if you get the Panasonic, you can use DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW or DVD-RAM (including the dual layer versions). DVD-RAM give you the most flexibility in terms of chase playback, etc., but these discs will only play back on other Panasonic DVD players or on the recorder itself, of course. They probably will NOT play back on your laptop.

DVD+R and DVD-R tend to be the most compatible with standalone DVD players but they are not rewriteable. Your best bet is probably to try a few brands and disc types and see which ones work best on that recorder and with other players. If you stick to name brand blank DVDs then you should be OK as far as compatibility. I use mostly Sony and Memorex DVD-Rs in my older Panasonic DVD recorder and these have been fine for me.

Lastly, seems to me that if you are taking your time and effort answering dumb questions like mine that the least I can do is purchase the items that will support you and the good work you do!

Thanks for the consideration. If you use any of the links on our online shopping page, the site will make a small referral fee for the purchase. These two links have our affiliate code embedded as well so the same applies:

• Panasonic DMR-EZ28K DVD recorder (Amazon.com)
• Cables to Go 2 meter HDMI cable (Amazon.com)

Mahalo again for all the help...

Aloha, Malina

You're welcome and good luck.

-CB

[Kauai1800]

Aloha!

I too am on Kauai and am wanting to hook up a Tivo Series 3 to Oceanic Time Warner Cable (aka OTWC), and I found out some things relevant to this thread (but completely irrelevant to almost everyone else ).

Right now, as I understand it, the Tivo Series 3 needs a Cablecard to operate. However, OTWC service is such that you can't receive ANY of the HD channels on their Cablecards at the moment. (I'm sure most of the folks on the Mainland would be going "no way this is possible", but here in Kauai, it definitely IS possible.)

So right now, I run the HD cable box. If I switch to Tivo Series 3 and Cablecard set up, I would not only not be able to Tivo the HD channels, I won't even receive them anymore. I just confirmed this on the phone with OTWC. However in the next 2 months or so, OTWC will be getting "Tivo adapters" as she called them, which will rectify this problem. If you go to the OTWC website, you can follow some link that will ask your zip code and show a Listing of all the channels...on this you can see how all the HD channels are not Cablecard compatible.

Hope this helps..I joined just to pass this along.

Mahalo nui,
John

[MrBoylan]

Aloha!

I too am on Kauai and am wanting to hook up a Tivo Series 3 to Oceanic Time Warner Cable (aka OTWC), and I found out some things relevant to this thread (but completely irrelevant to almost everyone else ).

Right now, as I understand it, the Tivo Series 3 needs a Cablecard to operate. However, OTWC service is such that you can't receive ANY of the HD channels on their Cablecards at the moment. (I'm sure most of the folks on the Mainland would be going "no way this is possible", but here in Kauai, it definitely IS possible.)

So right now, I run the HD cable box. If I switch to Tivo Series 3 and Cablecard set up, I would not only not be able to Tivo the HD channels, I won't even receive them anymore. I just confirmed this on the phone with OTWC. However in the next 2 months or so, OTWC will be getting "Tivo adapters" as she called them, which will rectify this problem. If you go to the OTWC website, you can follow some link that will ask your zip code and show a Listing of all the channels...on this you can see how all the HD channels are not Cablecard compatible.

Hope this helps..I joined just to pass this along.

Mahalo nui,
John

Hi, John,

Thanks for the post. I'm not surprised by the lack of CableCard support by OTWC. Even here on the mainland big providers like CableVision and Time Warner provide very limited CableCard support and those friends of mine who are trying to use a CableCard have had many problems. Cable operators also have been moving many of their channels over to "Switched Digital" delivery, which effectively shares bandwidth among many "lesser used" channels (what defines a "less used" channel seems to be entirely up to the cable operator to decide). Anyway, the switched digital delivery method is also incompatible with CableCard in its current form.

If we had a high definition connectivity format that supported recording, then it wouldn't be as much of a problem as you could then have DVD recorders and DVRs that could interface with a Cable Box and you wouldn't be locked into using the cable companies' DVR boxes for recordings. And while it is *possible* to record high definition programs over HDMI (as we confirmed in our review of the Gefen HD DVR), this is something that most CE manufacturers are hesitant to get involved with, due to the legality and content protection issues associated with recording and archiving content in the United States. Also, the Gefen implementation is flawed as it only supports stereo audio (no discrete surround), nor does it allow you to record "protected" content onto any kind of transportable media.

I for one will be very eager to check out Blu-ray Recorders when they finally make it to these shores, but they will most likely either be limited to recording shows that can be directly tuned in via the NTSC/QAM tuners, or they will potentially work with the new Tru2way cable card format (assuming that becomes more viable than the current CableCard format).

Wouldn't it be great if satellite or cable providers offered a DVD or Blu-ray burner option on their DVRs? DISH Network came close with a feature that allows you to move recorded shows over to an external USB hard drive when your on-board storage starts filling up. But shows on this external drive can only be viewed when attached to a DVR or DISH receiver licensed to the same household where the recording was made. This limits its usefulness as far as transportability is concerned (and it effectively locks you into DISH for life if you want to be able to continue viewing your library of recordings).

The technology for archivable, transportable high definition recording of broadcast television shows exists today (as we've seen in Japan with their plethora of standalone Blu-ray recorders), but once the content providers (and their lawyers) get involved, things inevitably get more complicated.

Regards,

-Chris

[Kauai1800]

Aloha Chris,

OK well that makes me feel better. Glad to know we're not as far behind as I thought.

And yes, a BluRay burner option would be great - if nothing else so I could archive the kids shows my little ones like. I have a Blu ray player in my Ps3 and I love it. Also I've noticed that the Ps3 has a good upsampling feature so my regular DVDs look maybe 80% as good as a Blu Ray.

Completely off topic - but slightly related to being so remote. As someone who plays online racing games on the Ps3, and living here in Kauai where we are ~3000 miles from anyone else, I routinely play against folks in Europe who are fully 12,000 miles from me. I am connected to the rest of the world via several transoceanic fiber optic connections, and of course the data has to get from my house into the fiber optic cable and back out again. I'm sure this involves several electro-optical devices. The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second, but in glass fiber it is more like 120,000 miles per sec. and thus there's at least a ~10 ms delay due just to the speed of light factor. Still with all this, it appears to be less than a 100ms total delay between us as we race, and as I say, 5-10ms of that is just due to the speed of light - so I find it amazing that these delays can be so short when one considers all the conversions and switches the data must go through.
I'm sure the online sites for these games have some types of "time averaging" software to integrate the delays and create a cohesive race, but they can claim to call races as close as .001, which is 1ms.

I'm sure IT people know all this stuff, but generally I consider the speed of light something that is instantaneous, not something that can cause a delay or that I need to think about. But no matter what you do, it will take 2.5 ms for a piece of data to flow through that fiber to Hawaii from LA. Pretty cool.