2009 Digital TV Transition

madmax

appadv wrote: »

Thanks!

So - from what I'm understanding, these tuners don't have the ability to output HDTV. But my dorm room TV, a 13" Zenith, only has an antenna connection and nothing else. Would I be able to tune into HD channels with one of the converter boxes?

I believe so because I see two RF connections on the box. One is for the antenna so I'm thinking the other has to be output to a standard tv.

Serendipity

madmax wrote: »

I believe so because I see two RF connections on the box. One is for the antenna so I'm thinking the other has to be output to a standard tv.

Now the million dollar question is...

Can these boxes tune high-def channels and then output them to the RF connection?

madmax

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8624081&productCategoryId=abcat0104000&type=product&tab=7&id=1199495190393#productdetail

Here is one version of the adaptor.
madmax

Serendipity

Aha, I see. So it can tune high-def channels and allow you to watch them on a regular analog TV.

Serendipity

madmax wrote: »

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8624081&productCategoryId=abcat0104000&type=product&tab=7&id=1199495190393#productdetail

Here is one version of the adaptor.
madmax

Now would it be possible to mod one of these so that it would have an HDMI and component output? I'm pretty sure that the manufacturer doesn't want you to do this, but is it illegal to modify the box?

madmax

There is no law against you receiving HDTV.
madmax

Serendipity

Thanks for all your help in this thread. I recently sent out for the DTV coupons and should get them sometime within the next month. I'm planning to use one tuner in my dorm room and another with a VCR.

From what I gather, with a coupon-eligible DTV tuner you can watch HDTV programming on *any* TV set, regardless of if it is HD or not, since the DTV tuner can output to Ch. 3 or through a composite video cable. That's a good thing, since I wanted to watch HD programming even on my lowly 13" TV set.

Now, would it be possible to use two boxes for timer recording? I see that the DTV tuners can output on Channel 3 and Channel 4, so if I set one box's RF out to Ch. 3 and the other to Ch. 4, and set the VCR's timer to record one program on Ch. 3 and the other on 4, wouldn't this be a solution? I'd think this would allow me to record two different programs on different channels, at least the way I see it. Do you see any problems with this method?