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Problems with recording DVB, etc.
Sideburns57
Posts: 2,060 Forum Member
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Apologies if I am putting this in the wrong place, and/or this has been raised before - I will accept a red card with no fuss! I have a HD ready Panasonic TV and have just bought (I thought) a state of the art Samsung HDD/DVD recorder (model SH893M). I can watch on the TV an excellent quality picture via DVB, but I can’t record from it. Additionally, when I record DTV it automatically records in FR mode and not at my preferred HQ mode. Further, it won’t give me an option to record on timer at anything other than LP. Please help!
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http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/200903/20090319082944656/SH893,895,897M-XEU-ENG-BOOKMARK.pdf
It's not that clear exactly whether that is why it only gives you LP when recording via the timer.
Is recording subscription content what you mean?
Whether you can record something you are watching on the TV is dependent on two things. How you have the TV connected to the recorder and what signals the TV is capable of outputting.
If you have the recorder connected to the TV only via HDMI then you will not be able to record anything from the TV. HDMI is uni-directional. It will carry a signal from the recorder TO the TV but not vice versa.
If you want to record from the TV you have to use SCART. You need to connect from whichever socket on the back of the telly carries an OUTPUT signal to whichever socket on the recorder carries an INPUT (usually both though the icons on the Samsung imply only AV2 SCART is wired for input). You would also need to set the TV up to output either everything it displays or the digital tuner to SCART.
Once you've done that you select AV2 on the Samsung as the recording source. And dial up whatever channel you want to record on the TV. If the TV can send the tuner independently to SCART then you should be able to watch something else from another HDMI or SCART input while recording. Otherwise you are stuck with having to watch whatever it is you are recording.
If you want to record subscription content on a regular basis you might consider a PVR rather then the Samsung. Or in addition to. A PVR won't have the DVD recorder bit but most decent models have the CI slot you need for the subscription card. For example the Humax I've got does. That would let you record subscription channels directly without having to faff around trying to get the TV to output to the recorder.
Does mean that if you have to share the house with a Corrie/EastEnders fan you can record the footie at the same time as watching Corrie/EastEnders and earning a few brownie points, not to mention some domestic harmony into the bargain
DVB = Digital Video Broadcasting
DTV = Digital Television
See the problem?
So without knowing what you actually mean by DVB it is difficult to give precise advice.
As for recording on the Samsung. It sounds like it is converting the digital TV streams to a DVD friendly format even when recording to the hard drive. Although Freeview and DVD are both digital they use subtly different methods to encode the pictures. Converting one into the other will always degrade the image quality to some degree. More so if it is converting to the lowest quality DVD spec.
Reading the manual for the Samsung it does seem to want to make all the choices for you. The fact that it does not appear to give you any choice over what quality you can record Freeview in is poor frankly. It should be YOUR choice not its.
A PVR records the digital stream directly with no conversion. So playback will be to all intents and purposes identical to if you had watched it live. And if you buy a PVR with a CI slot you can also record subscription channels (with the appropriate card obviously) which the Samsung cannot do directly. Only downside is you lose the DVD facility. Whether that matters depends on you. Bearing in mind that legally you cannot record a copyright broadcast TV programme to DVD and keep it for repeated watching as part of a collection (just in case an lawyers are reading this
Which goes against what almost everybody else thinks...
However reading the manual for the Samsung I am not impressed by it. It seems to give you no choice about how you record from the internal Freeview tuner. You have to use it's Auto Quality mode or nothing. And it sounds like it is converting the DTV stream to the lowest quality DVD compatible format it has.
As far as I can see there is no option, even when recording to hard drive, to make it record the DTV stream without conversion. And if it is forcing a conversion to LP DVD format then I can well see how you might think it was inferior. If it is anything like my old Panasonic DVD recorder was in LP it will be just about VHS quality at best!
The EPG takes ages to populate when you switch it on. You really need to leave it tuned to BBC1 or 2 for a good ten minutes before you can start setting up a recording schedule using it. Or never switch the thing off!
The remote hides some of the useful buttons under a sliding cover which is a bit of a pain when you want to watch something back. The shortcut button to the recorded programmes list is one of the hidden buttons. The visible LIST button will get you to the same place but only after five other button presses!
If you can live with that though it is a good box. Bit dearer than the run of the mill boxes the likes of Currys, Comet and Argos sell admittedly. I see online that Currys do the 9300 but not the 9150 while Comet do both. The 9300 has a few extra gizmos including a HDMI socket compared to the 9150 but does cost a bit more.
Thompson are another make to consider. They seem to have a loyal fan base certainly. Not used one so can't comment further. If the modern TVonics range is as good as the old one I had then they are worth a look as well.
If you really want HD and HD recording then you don't have that many options at the moment though.
And you only need a CI card for subscription services like TopUp TV. For the rest no card is needed. That includes the Freeview HD services. And on the subject of HD you need to check if HD is available in your area. Not much point getting a HD recorder if there is no HD to record. May as well save a shed load of cash and buy an "ordinary" one. There is a postcode checker on the Freeview website for HD coverage.
http://www.freeview.co.uk/HD
If XP or SP, you will not be able to fit three hours on a single disc. You will either have to split the recording up into shorter lengths (max of 1 hour or 2 hour respectively), or you will have to transfer to DVD disc in a lower quality - which cannot be done at high speed, only in real time.