Hi Can anyone help me!!

I have a Sony Bravia KDL40W2000 which is connected to SKY HD box I am using the HDMI connection. I also have an old JVC TH-A30R DVD Cinema Syestem which I would like to connect via the skart connection on the HD box.

When I connect the HD box and the DVD via the skart conection nothing happens but if I connect the DVD to the smart link on the TV I get my picture. My problem is that my HD box is located within a cupburd and the TV is mounted on a wall making the smart connection unsitable for use.

Can anyone advise me if it is posable to connect the DVD through the HD box into the TV via the HDMI lead as I am not technically minded.

Regards

Probably not possible.

HDMI is a digital connection. SCART is analogue. therefore to pass on the signal from the SCART to the HDMI the Sky box will have to convert the SCART feed to digital. Something I doubt it can do.

Thanks does this mean my only option would be to get a Blue Ray player and utilise the HDMI connection.

P.S. If you cannot link a DVD via the skart why would Sky incorporate a DVD/VHS input on the bach of the HD Box?

Regards

I am no expert on Sky HD as I do not have one. However I cannot see what is wrong with what you are trying to do.

Firstly I imagine the scart DVD/VHS connection is so you can input from these sources to record on the HDD of the Sky box, or to enable you to download from the HDD to an external DVD/VCR. So why cant you watch material from these sources as upscaled SD via the HDMI to your TV??

Since a Sky HD box will upscale Sky SD (and very well in one relatives demo to me!) why can it not do the same for a DVD input via scart?

Since I am beginning to wonder whether to go to Sky from my current VM package because of HD availability these sort of questions are important to me.

The HD box is a PVR, this means it's a purely digital recorder, recording the digital data stream directly from the satellite - which is why there's no loss of quality at all. As it's not an analogue recorder, theres no analogue to digital conversion and MPEG encoder inside, so it can't convert an analogue signal to digital HDMI.

The reason for the VCR SCART is exactly the same reason it's always been there on a Sky box, so that if you've only got a single SCART on your TV you can connect the VCR through the Sky box on the same SCART socket on the TV. It has no connection to HD, and only works as SD.

It is unusual for a PVR type device to have the necessary analogue to digital converters and MPEG encoders to allow it to record from an external source. Most operate by recording the digital stream from the transmission direct to hard disk.

The "VCR" SCART on such boxes is primarily so that you can daisy chain the Sky box (or Freeview PVR as the principle applies equally) between VCR and TV. It will provide an analogue output that can be recorded onto the VCR (or DVD recorder). But rarely if ever allows recording from the VCR/DVD.

The only reason it has the input wired on the "VCR" SCART is to pass on the signal to the TV. But only via the "TV" SCART. As I said above the box does not have the necessary circuits to allow it to pass the signal onto the HDMI connection. If it did then it would also be able to record from the SCART to it's hard disk. But few PVR's allow this and I am fairly certain the Sky box falls into this category.

The fact that Sky HD can upscale Sky SD to HD has absolutely no bearing on it's ability to do the same for a DVD connected via SCART. The Sky SD signal is digital from the start as is a true HD signal so is relatively easy to manipulate. The SCART inputs are analogue so require conversion to digital first. It is the lack of any facility to perform this conversion that makes it impossible to connect SCART to HDMI.