Recording Digital TV Programs With Existing Equipment

Over the past few months several people have asked me how they might be able to continue to record TV programs on a VCR or PVR (Personal Video Recorder) after the analog broadcasts are shut off in February. The short answer is that if you are a cable or satellite subscriber nothing will change. You will be able to continue to record and playback just as you do now. If, on the other hand, you receive your TV channels over the air using an antenna, you will need to make some changes.

The simplest solution for over the air households is to get a video recorder that has a built in digital (ATSC) tuner. You can connect it to an antenna and to your analog TV set and record just as you do now using the controls and auto-programming features of the recorder. The least expensive of these recorders uses a DVD disc to record. There are two types of DVD discs. One type can be recorded to only once. The other can be erased just like a VHS tape and reused. Be sure that the DVD recorder you buy can record to both types of discs. I have seen several models that will work just fine with prices beginning at $170.00. Also your analog TV must have input jacks for either S-Video or composite video signals. You should not use the antenna input on your TV for this set up.

For those who choose to use a Set Top DTV Converter, it gets a bit more complicated. You can use your analog VHS VCR or DVD recorder with your DTV converter. Connect the antenna to the DTV converter and connect the DTV converter to the analog TV. You can use either the composite video input or the antenna input on the TV. The composite video input is best.

While this is the least expensive option, there is one big drawback. You can not use the auto-programming features on the VCR. You can set the VCR to record a program in the future by setting the day and time. You cannot auto-program a channel change.

So if you decide to record a program on Channel 48 on Monday evening and you want to set the system to record the program before you go to work on Monday morning you will need to set the video recorder’s timer to the time the program begins. This is the same process that you do now. However, instead of programming the channel on the video recorder to Channel 48 it needs to be set to “line” or “video” input if that is the connection between the DTV Converter and the video recorder or set to Channel #3. Channel 3 is the channel that the video recorder uses to receive the signal from the DTV Converter. Finally, you need to make sure that the DTV Converter is turned on and set to Channel 48. As you can see this is a bit of a hassle and does not allow you to record several programs from different channels without manually changing the channel on the DTV Converter.

As more and more of us get digital sets and analog equipment is phased out, things will get a bit simpler.

Recording Digital TV Programs With Existing Equipment

Over the past few months several people have asked me how they might be able to continue to record TV programs on a VCR or PVR (Personal Video Recorder) after the analog broadcasts are shut off in February. The short answer is that if you are a cable or satellite subscriber nothing will change. You will be able to continue to record and playback just as you do now. If, on the other hand, you receive your TV channels over the air using an antenna, you will need to make some changes.

The simplest solution for over the air households is to get a video recorder that has a built in digital (ATSC) tuner. You can connect it to an antenna and to your analog TV set and record just as you do now using the controls and auto-programming features of the recorder. The least expensive of these recorders uses a DVD disc to record. There are two types of DVD discs. One type can be recorded to only once. The other can be erased just like a VHS tape and reused. Be sure that the DVD recorder you buy can record to both types of discs. I have seen several models that will work just fine with prices beginning at $170.00. Also your analog TV must have input jacks for either S-Video or composite video signals. You should not use the antenna input on your TV for this set up.

For those who choose to use a Set Top DTV Converter, it gets a bit more complicated. You can use your analog VHS VCR or DVD recorder with your DTV converter. Connect the antenna to the DTV converter and connect the DTV converter to the analog TV. You can use either the composite video input or the antenna input on the TV. The composite video input is best.

While this is the least expensive option, there is one big drawback. You can not use the auto-programming features on the VCR. You can set the VCR to record a program in the future by setting the day and time. You cannot auto-program a channel change.

So if you decide to record a program on Channel 48 on Monday evening and you want to set the system to record the program before you go to work on Monday morning you will need to set the video recorder’s timer to the time the program begins. This is the same process that you do now. However, instead of programming the channel on the video recorder to Channel 48 it needs to be set to “line” or “video” input if that is the connection between the DTV Converter and the video recorder or set to Channel #3. Channel 3 is the channel that the video recorder uses to receive the signal from the DTV Converter. Finally, you need to make sure that the DTV Converter is turned on and set to Channel 48. As you can see this is a bit of a hassle and does not allow you to record several programs from different channels without manually changing the channel on the DTV Converter.

As more and more of us get digital sets and analog equipment is phased out, things will get a bit simpler.

Saving old tapes and films

Earlier this month in his My World of Dreams column in the Harrison Press, Bill Baird posed some questions to me. Most of them center on assuring that his old films and tapes will be usable in this digital environment and for many years to come. These questions may seem simple but Bill actually has touched on one of the biggest conundrums resulting from this new digital age of “continuous technology improvement.”

Simply put, Bill asked about transferring his library of films and tapes to media that will be “playable” in the future. This same question has been the topic of great concern on a national and even international level for years. Here in the United States at the Library of Congress and the National Archives, archivists and librarians are huddling with technicians to decide how to preserve the collection of thousands of hours of films, tapes, discs and other media for the future. Unlike paper, which can be saved and read as long as it exists, the myriad formats of film, tape and digital media do degrade over time and all require the existence of a player.

Audio and Video tapes, which are basically long ribbons of plastic covered with rust, are prone to degrade as the glue breaks down and the “rust” falls off. This can happen over as few as ten years. Film, even when it is kept in a cool dry environment, also degrades. We don’t yet know how long CDs and DVDs will last.

It is not practical to keep a “player” for all the various formats that have been and will be created in the future. For example, if you have been to the store recently, you may have noticed that VHS machines are as scarce as buggy whips. They are no longer manufactured. If you have a collection of VHS tapes, what do you do when your machine dies? This is precisely the crux of Bill’s question and our friends in Washington, DC.

Bill noted that he has a library of films and tapes in a variety of formats, i.e. 8mm, super 8mm film, VHS, 8mm and Hi 8 mm tape. The first thing he should do is get them copied into some sort of digital form. Right now the best and most inexpensive option is to get a DVD recorder. While we don’t know the lifespan of the DVD media, at least it is a digital medium allowing for copying to another digital medium in the future without any quality loss. There are DVD recorders on the market with a VHS deck built in making the VHS to DVD copying easy.

The films pose a different and more complex problem. You can’t just project them on a screen and use a video camera to record them. The quality of the images will be unacceptable since the camera can’t capture the film image well and the 8mm “frame rate”, i.e. the number of frames that are projected on the screen each second, is non-compatible with the frame rate of the DVD or tape. So making copies at home could be a challenge without the investment of some pricy technology. An option is to have the films made into digital files by a professional. This costs an average of 10 cents per foot, so this can get expensive. There are several companies that offer this. Two examples are: www.mymovietransfer.com and www.homemoviedepot.com . I have NOT used either of these services, so I can not recommend them.

Once the files are created, they can be stored on DVD or even kept on a hard drive. The latter requires regular back up however.

Bill also asked about getting parts for his old 8mm and Super 8 mm projectors. This is actually not too hard. There are several companies on the Internet that have stocked up on parts. EBay is also a great place to find used VHS and High 8 video players. If you have a working player for the various tape formats, they can be easily copied on to DVD.

Gone are the days when technology was backward compatible. When color TV came out it did not render your black and white model unusable. In ancient times when vinyl records morphed from mono to stereo, you could still play them on the old machine. Unfortunately, too often our new technology changes faster and faster and does not concern itself with the impact of obsolescence and the archiving of media. This may be a steep price to pay for progress.

Saving old tapes and films

Earlier this month in his My World of Dreams column in the Harrison Press, Bill Baird posed some questions to me. Most of them center on assuring that his old films and tapes will be usable in this digital environment and for many years to come. These questions may seem simple but Bill actually has touched on one of the biggest conundrums resulting from this new digital age of “continuous technology improvement.”

Simply put, Bill asked about transferring his library of films and tapes to media that will be “playable” in the future. This same question has been the topic of great concern on a national and even international level for years. Here in the United States at the Library of Congress and the National Archives, archivists and librarians are huddling with technicians to decide how to preserve the collection of thousands of hours of films, tapes, discs and other media for the future. Unlike paper, which can be saved and read as long as it exists, the myriad formats of film, tape and digital media do degrade over time and all require the existence of a player.

Audio and Video tapes, which are basically long ribbons of plastic covered with rust, are prone to degrade as the glue breaks down and the “rust” falls off. This can happen over as few as ten years. Film, even when it is kept in a cool dry environment, also degrades. We don’t yet know how long CDs and DVDs will last.

It is not practical to keep a “player” for all the various formats that have been and will be created in the future. For example, if you have been to the store recently, you may have noticed that VHS machines are as scarce as buggy whips. They are no longer manufactured. If you have a collection of VHS tapes, what do you do when your machine dies? This is precisely the crux of Bill’s question and our friends in Washington, DC.

Bill noted that he has a library of films and tapes in a variety of formats, i.e. 8mm, super 8mm film, VHS, 8mm and Hi 8 mm tape. The first thing he should do is get them copied into some sort of digital form. Right now the best and most inexpensive option is to get a DVD recorder. While we don’t know the lifespan of the DVD media, at least it is a digital medium allowing for copying to another digital medium in the future without any quality loss. There are DVD recorders on the market with a VHS deck built in making the VHS to DVD copying easy.

The films pose a different and more complex problem. You can’t just project them on a screen and use a video camera to record them. The quality of the images will be unacceptable since the camera can’t capture the film image well and the 8mm “frame rate”, i.e. the number of frames that are projected on the screen each second, is non-compatible with the frame rate of the DVD or tape. So making copies at home could be a challenge without the investment of some pricy technology. An option is to have the films made into digital files by a professional. This costs an average of 10 cents per foot, so this can get expensive. There are several companies that offer this. Two examples are: www.mymovietransfer.com and www.homemoviedepot.com . I have NOT used either of these services, so I can not recommend them.

Once the files are created, they can be stored on DVD or even kept on a hard drive. The latter requires regular back up however.

Bill also asked about getting parts for his old 8mm and Super 8 mm projectors. This is actually not too hard. There are several companies on the Internet that have stocked up on parts. EBay is also a great place to find used VHS and High 8 video players. If you have a working player for the various tape formats, they can be easily copied on to DVD.

Gone are the days when technology was backward compatible. When color TV came out it did not render your black and white model unusable. In ancient times when vinyl records morphed from mono to stereo, you could still play them on the old machine. Unfortunately, too often our new technology changes faster and faster and does not concern itself with the impact of obsolescence and the archiving of media. This may be a steep price to pay for progress.