[jomap]

We are not technically minded so simple answers please if you can help.

We have bought a Sony DVD recorder and have ti connected as follows:

Scart lead from Sony DVD box to Ferguson television M6322U or could be ZMO148247
Scart lead from Sony DVD box to Sky Pace box
Scart lead from Sky to TV

We can use freeview channels from DVD remote control, unable to find tv or sky.

We can view sky if we use TV control and then Sky control.
We can not record from sky.

We used to have a LG home cinema system also with hard drive set up with only two scart leads, no freeview, but could watch analogue tv and sky through this and record from them.

Questions
We are unable to switch tv on from Sony remote, as we do not have a code, can I find one anywhere else.

How do I reset the tv, so I can record from freeview but watch sky or analogue tv?

How can I record from sky to HD?

Thanks for any help

[hardeep]

I have the slightly older Sony 860 but operationally it is much the same as yours.

Ensure the scart leads are connected as follows: Sky's TV scart is connected to the Sony's Scart/Line 3; the Sony's Scart/Line 1 is connected to the TV.

With the Sony in standby you should see Sky on your TV. Turning the Sony on will automatically switch what you see to the Sony's output.

Pressing the Input Select button on the Sony remote will cycle through the Sony's outputs. (This also sets the input that the Sony records from.) Eg Freeview, Line 1, 2, 3. Line 3 should be what is outputted by the Sky box.

To switch between the Sony or Sky "controlling" the TV output press the TV/DVD button on your Sony's remote.

To record from Sky you will need to set the Sony to Line 3.

You can also use the Sony to record Freeview whilst watching Sky - just press the TV/DVD button on the remote. If you set the timer on the 870 to record Freeview in standby your Sky box viewing will be unaffected.

You cannot record or see "normal" TV as the 870 only has a digital tuner. For the same reason the analogue signal produced by a Sky box through the aerial cannot be seen by the Sony.

(A word of warning - when recording Freeview any aspect changes are recorded properly. However the 860 would not recognise a widescreen signal from my Sky+. I had to manually switch the 860 from automatic to 16:9 if I wanted to record a widescreen show. The 870 may have the same issue.)

[jomap]

That was brilliant thank you, so easy to follow and it worked perfectly.

[Scorpio]

If you are like millions of other 'non-technical' folk who think they need a DVD recorder think again.

As a Sky subscriber, by far the easiect option for timeshifting and dual recording is to upgrade to Sky+.

This is FAR less complicated (and much cheaper) than messing about DVDs (although I guess most of your recordings will go to HDD. However, you have no dual record facility or series link capability (all perfect for recording those repeating soaps).

Rgds,
Scorp

[bobcar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scorpio

If you are like millions of other 'non-technical' folk who think they need a DVD recorder think again.

As a Sky subscriber, by far the easiect option for timeshifting and dual recording is to upgrade to Sky+.

This is FAR less complicated (and much cheaper) than messing about DVDs (although I guess most of your recordings will go to HDD. However, you have no dual record facility or series link capability (all perfect for recording those repeating soaps).

Rgds,
Scorp

Absolutely, this comes up all the time. People have had a VCR and think the next stage is a DVDR when what they really need is Sky+ or a Freeview PVR. This is especially the case for non technically minded people who frankly should give DVDRs a wide berth because they are complicated (unlike Sky+/PVRs which are simple).

[Gilson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobcar

Absolutely, this comes up all the time. People have had a VCR and think the next stage is a DVDR when what they really need is Sky+ or a Freeview PVR. This is especially the case for non technically minded people who frankly should give DVDRs a wide berth because they are complicated (unlike Sky+/PVRs which are simple).

Fully agree but to equalise the commercial market would point out that Virgin VM+ on cable does the same as Sky+/SkyHD

[Scorpio]

true, it's horses for courses (or platforms, actually) but either way, a PVR on the respective platform is a much better bet than the 'obvious' upgrade to DVDR.

In actual fact, notwithstanding PVRs' ease of use, the picture quality on a DVDR varies with the amount of data stored, whereas, the HDD on a PVR reproduces the original image faithfully.

Rgds,
Scorp

[Gilson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobcar

Absolutely, this comes up all the time. People have had a VCR and think the next stage is a DVDR when what they really need is Sky+ or a Freeview PVR. This is especially the case for non technically minded people who frankly should give DVDRs a wide berth because they are complicated (unlike Sky+/PVRs which are simple).

If folk do not have access to sky or cable with HDD support then rather than a PVR I would recommend that they look at either the Sony HXD770/870/970/1070 series or the Panasonic DMR-EX77/87 series of hard disc drive backed DVD recorder.

You can then record and replay short term "time shifts" to hard drive and if you want to keep a favourite film or show then you can copy it to DVD at your leisure.

[Gilson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scorpio

true, it's horses for courses (or platforms, actually) but either way, a PVR on the respective platform is a much better bet than the 'obvious' upgrade to DVDR.

In actual fact, notwithstanding PVRs' ease of use, the picture quality on a DVDR varies with the amount of data stored, whereas, the HDD on a PVR reproduces the original image faithfully.

Rgds,
Scorp

Not sure I fully agree. On my Sony HXD I chose optimum quality for length of recording e.g. HSP = 1.5 hrs is < HQ but > SP

If I get this right I can drop a recording I want to keep to a DVD virtually instantly. Whereas any recording you make that you want to keep you will have to tranpose probably less ideally in real time to a DVD+/-R that may have errors?

[bobcar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gilson

If folk do not have access to sky or cable with HDD support then rather than a PVR I would recommend that they look at either the Sony HXD770/870/970/1070 series or the Panasonic DMR-EX77/87 series of hard disc drive backed DVD recorder.

You can then record and replay short term "time shifts" to hard drive and if you want to keep a favourite film or show then you can copy it to DVD at your leisure.

I have the Panny DVDR (the slightly older EX75 actually) but I rarely record directly to it, I just use it for archiving off of my Sky+ or Freeview PVR which are both more convenient to use. I do sometimes record straight off its Freeview tuner if I know I'm going to keep it, however if I want to do fast copy (no reencoding) then the Panny loses aspect mode switching making it less convenient as a PVR.

I would never recommend a DVD recorder to anyone who's a technophobe (my parents for example) because they are more complicated to use.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gilson

Not sure I fully agree. On my Sony HXD I chose optimum quality for length of recording e.g. HSP = 1.5 hrs is < HQ but > SP

That's because your Sony isn't a PVR - a PVR doesn't have a DVD recorder in it, as it simply records the incoming digital datastream directly to the HDD - so you get EXACTLY the same quality as the original broadcast.

Your HXD decodes the incoming signal to a video signal, then re-encodes it, with adjustable quality settings for the different times - but in all cases will be inferior to a PVR, as it's always undergone two extra conversions.

However, there are some substantial advantages as well, such as you can record external video sources - because it's essentially an analogue recorder.

[Gilson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

That's because your Sony isn't a PVR - a PVR doesn't have a DVD recorder in it, as it simply records the incoming digital datastream directly to the HDD - so you get EXACTLY the same quality as the original broadcast.

Your HXD decodes the incoming signal to a video signal, then re-encodes it, with adjustable quality settings for the different times - but in all cases will be inferior to a PVR, as it's always undergone two extra conversions.

However, there are some substantial advantages as well, such as you can record external video sources - because it's essentially an analogue recorder.

I am perfectly aware of the different recording methods of a PVR and a HDD based DVDR such as the Sony being discussed. However I find your "double conversion" explanation interesting. Is this why I am not very happy with DVD recordings made from Freeview. Does it explain why I seem to get better results using S-VHS from Freeview in some instances. Dont get me wrong I like the ease of use and versatility of the Sony HXD 870 but it doesn't seem to produce as good recordings as my older Akai DVDR(Which is highly user unfreindly!)connected to a Freeview box.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gilson

I am perfectly aware of the different recording methods of a PVR and a HDD based DVDR such as the Sony being discussed. However I find your "double conversion" explanation interesting. Is this why I am not very happy with DVD recordings made from Freeview. Does it explain why I seem to get better results using S-VHS from Freeview in some instances. Dont get me wrong I like the ease of use and versatility of the Sony HXD 870 but it doesn't seem to produce as good recordings as my older Akai DVDR(Which is highly user unfreindly!)connected to a Freeview box.

Presumably it's down to the quality of the MPEG conversion?, and of the chip that does the conversion?.

[bobcar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gilson

I am perfectly aware of the different recording methods of a PVR and a HDD based DVDR such as the Sony being discussed. However I find your "double conversion" explanation interesting. Is this why I am not very happy with DVD recordings made from Freeview. Does it explain why I seem to get better results using S-VHS from Freeview in some instances. Dont get me wrong I like the ease of use and versatility of the Sony HXD 870 but it doesn't seem to produce as good recordings as my older Akai DVDR(Which is highly user unfreindly!)connected to a Freeview box.

I don't know about your Sony DVDR but on my Panny you can set it to record in "high speed copy mode", in this mode it will re-encode the signal to whatever level you have set but will not re-encode when copying to DVDR (as long as you don't change the quality). Obviously this is not as good as not re-encoding at all but is as good as you can get for blowing a DVD.

"High speed copy mode" has the disadvantage on the Panny that it loses the widescreen flag so is not as convenient when used as a PVR in "normal" mode.

[Gilson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobcar

I don't know about your Sony DVDR but on my Panny you can set it to record in "high speed copy mode", in this mode it will re-encode the signal to whatever level you have set but will not re-encode when copying to DVDR (as long as you don't change the quality). Obviously this is not as good as not re-encoding at all but is as good as you can get for blowing a DVD.

"High speed copy mode" has the disadvantage on the Panny that it loses the widescreen flag so is not as convenient when used as a PVR in "normal" mode.

Thanks Bobcar for your interest but unfortunately am not quite sure what you are saying.

On the Sony I can high speed dub a HDD recording to DVD providing that the recording is 4.7 GB or less (for a single layer disc). I.e. I have set the recording quality to match the recorded time. However thumbing through the manual I note I can also set "Auto" which seems to offer something similar to the Panny FR mode. Not tried it but will. I have no aspect ratio issues (yet!) with the Sony

[jomap]

Now we have correctly linked up our machine, we are delighted with it. I have recorded direct to a DVD RW and also to the Hard Drive.

[Scorpio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jomap

Now we have correctly linked up our machine, we are delighted with it. I have recorded direct to a DVD RW and also to the Hard Drive.

Well done on getting this far......I know it's not easy to pick this stuff up - but be aware of the limitations of a DVDR when you look to record a couple of 'clashing' programs when you are out, or when you want to record a whole series like Corrie which screens on different days of the week......

This is where a real PVR comes into its own, leaving DVDRs to do what they are great at - archiving programs, not recording in real time, too much hassle.

Anyway, you're on the road to 'geekdom', well done!

Rgds,
Scorp