My TV system gets ever more complicated and I’m trying to work out the best way to set everything up. The current system was initially set up by a Sky engineer and I’ve added to it since.

The equipment is as follows:

Toshiba LCD TV soon to be replaced by Panasonic TX-L42ET5B;
Sky+ HD Box - Samsung;
Toshiba VCR/DVD recorder combo D-VR18DTKB (I do use it to record off TV/Sky);
LG Blu-ray Home Cinema BH6220S.

The current connections:

Aerial into VCR/DVD then from there to Sky using RF connections;
Sky HD into box;
Sky box connected to VCR/DVD with scart and to TV by HDMI;
VCR/DVD connected to TV with scart (plan to change this to HDMI);
Blu-ray connected to Sky with audio and to TV by HDMI;
Blu-ray will be connected to router – just haven’t done it yet!

In addition there is an RF out from Sky box to another room so we can watch Sky and TV there.

As there is a new TV on the way it seemed like a good time to look at the connections to see if they can be improved/simplified.

Any suggestion?

Thanks.

I am amazed no one has responded to this - a couple of the guys here always respond! Perhaps it is too complicated even for them..........

Sun is shining and the beer is cold. Cheers

I would connect......

Aerial to TV.

Sky HD, Bluray and VCR/DVD to TV via HDMI.

Optical from Sky to LG Bluray

Scart from Sky (AV1) to VCR/DVD (AV1/AV2)

Thanks.

I have made some changes today and managed to get rid of one scart and one RF lead.

I think I now match Deacon1972's suggestions except for the aerial. I now have it plugged into Sky with the RF from Sky to TV. If I don't have it connected to Sky there won't be a Freeview signal going to the other room.

See what I did there..........cast the rod and nibbles ensued!

Well, you deserve a day or 2 off from helping people here. Cheers!

Just realised there was one problem with my set-up. No sound to the speakers from the VCR/DVD recorder. I've now connected that to the Blu-ray using AUX and it seems to be fine.

To test everything, I recorded some of the cricket and then played back the DVD. Never realised just how poor the picture was compared to just watching it on Sky!

I guess it's the limitations of the recorder?

All recordings will be SD because they are recorded via the Scart lead which doesn't support HD,

Yes, thanks. It's just seeing the recorded cricket while watching the live broadcast just made me realise just how bad the SD recording looked now!!!

I may have to save up for one of the Panasonic Blu-ray recorders! very expensive though!

And all that will allow you to do is record SD onto Blu-Ray disks from external sources such as your Sky box. It would only allow you to record HD from it's built in tuner.

The recorder has a HDMI input and the Sky box has a HDMI output (usually used to connect to TV). If you connected the Sky to the recorder using HDMI couldn't you record off Sky in HD???

SORRY. I JUST NOTICED THE RECORDER HDMI SAYS OUTPUT. SO I GUESS NOT!

Technology improves. Customer convenience declines!!
Last edited by davidge62 : 03-06-2013 at 15:46

The problem is HD has such a good quality of picture owners want to protect it, that's why it is difficult to copy/archive on media other than what it is originally recorded on, ie Sky HD box.

You can copy/record content in HD but it leads to more expense, for example, you could purchase HD Fury 2/3 and a Hauppauge HD recorder, then providing your PC is up to spec you could then copy/record HD, either on a hard drive or bluray.

Even if the recorder had a HDMI input you still are very unlikely to be able to record anything. HDCP copy protection would undoubtedly kick in to throw a major toolkit (not just a spanner ) in the works.

Basically the Sky box would see that it is connected to a copying device not a viewing device and most likely tell you to go forth and multiply and refuse to output anything over HDMI.

I seem to recall that one or two Panasonic recorders had a digital input capable of HD but was designed for camcorders so was not in the HDMI format.