mikestock wrote:
gdetrailer wrote:
DVD is NOT in any way shape or form "near HD quality", period.
PLEASE EXCUSE MY SUBJECTIVITY. I know it isn't HD quality but on my 32" tv, the quality from an OTA recording is much better than the a-v transferred recording I get by the best method I currently use.
Jeeze, lighten up..
The reason you see a "difference" in quality between OTA and composite input is due to your DVD recorder having an internal OTA tuner (I am assuming it is ATSC/QAM digital tuner).
The OTA broadcasts is downscaled to SD (480i) DIGITALLY internally in the DVD recorder and is converted to DVD format all without going through any DIGITAL (OTA or sat) to analog (composite) back to digital (recorder composite input must do analog to digital conversion.
Personally, I think in your case your DVD recorder has a "weak" Analog to Digital conversion section.. Which would explain why you notice a huge difference in quality.
DVD recorders over the years have been made cheaper and cheaper so it is within the realm of possibility that the analog to digital section was not made very well..
I have an older DVD recorder, makes top notch DVDs from the analog composite input, it also has the S-Video in which I never used but could have since I have a Sony HI8 deck also.. The composite input looked great so I never bothered with S-video in.. But My DVD recorder IS one of the "first generations" of standalone DVD recorders which did not have a tuner nor did it have a ch3/4 modulator..
The problem now days is every manufacturer but one has abandoned DVD recorders for the USA.. I believe only Funia which makes Magnavox is pretty much it.. And that name really doesn't "ooze" quality..
You can find European DVRs with Hard drive and DVD recorder but you do need to be aware that they most likely will be PAL only (not compatible with NTSC or ATSC USA standards).
There also used to be some real neat stand alone "media players" you could buy which also had composite inputs and record to MPEG2 (DVD compliant) files to a internal hard drive or USB flash drive.. But alas those also have dried up (I bought two Argosy media play/record units before they jumped out of that market and they work great).
Your ONLY choices if you want better captures are the few "capture" cards which will require a PC to operate.. Only a couple capture cards have HDMI inputs but do be aware that they are not made or marketed to the USA AND they WILL "honor" do not copy flag in the HDMI data stream..
While there are a few ways around the that but finding the item that does work will take a while of buying and testing until you find one that ignores the flag.
You are simply not going to find a DVD recorder built for USA market which has component (HD) or HDMI inputs..
