Sony RDR-HX900 DVD recorder

[Rick]

Looks like this unit is now available in Canada. (Previously I only saw it in Europe.) It has a 160GB hard drive, and will record on either DVD+R or DVD-R. (I want +R since that's what my computer DVD recorder uses.)

Does anyone know anything about this unit? Any problems I should watch out for?

[Rick]

I have had this unit now for some time and it has some things that drive me nuts. One I recently discovered is the "picture size" setting. This is in the "record settings" and you can set it to either 9:16 or 3:4. I usually use 3:4 but I did record one program from my SA8000HD in the vertically "stretched" mode so used 9:16 which flags the DVD so that it gets letterboxed properly by a DVD player attached to a 4:3 TV. However, I forgot to change it and recorded another program from the 8000HD which was not stretched. Now I cannot change it!! However I try to dub it to a DVD, it comes out stretched when it should not be. Unfortunately I deleted the program on the 8000 already. Very irritating!!

[Caliope]

So here I am with my new RDR-HX900 DVD recorder. Watched the OTA for a couple months before getting a Starchoice dish. In that time I fell in love with the "TV Guide" on screen programming. The recorder pulls in and updates the programming a couple times a day for two weeks in advance. Slices and dices the programs into categories and serves up movies, series, sports, whatever. Record what you want and never watch live TV again.

Then I bought the dish. The "TV guide" software will not download from the DSR500. The best I can do is hook up the DSR 500 as a slave to the Recorder with the external IR changer, similar to how a cable box is treated. Then manually program the recorder with the start time, finish time and channel. Hope that the times are correct and the station does not run the movie 5 minutes over the finish time. I was doing that 25 years ago with my VCR.

On the bright side, 25 years of technology means that I don't have to change a tape.

[Q]

all of the recorders are geared towards cable.

i wish they would recognize the huge amount of people on satellite and make accomdations for that.

[DVDguy]

Help,

Friend has a new RDR-HX900 dvd recorder.. and he would like to use it with Rogers Digital Cable.

Has anyone had success using the Rogers Box and the Sony TV Guide?

[brainer]

I just bought one of these a week ago too.

While I don't have it downloading TVGOS data from digital cable yet,
you may want to PM me about this later. I have calls in with a second level
support tech. at Sony, a supervisor, and someone at CTV, (who allegedly
are the TVGOS data host station on digital cable.) Basically, I've done a lot of
research on this issue.

In my case, what's really bizarre is that one of the menu items in the TVGOS
setup menu isn't there on my machine. It may require a firmware upgrade, or
some kind of other update to work.

Brainer

[SonyPVR]

Rick:

I have the same unit...recently, the TV Guide listings have stopped appearing on this unit (and others I have found out). Cogeco tells me that the TV guide listings are gone due to the analogue/digital conversion (which has not happened in Canada yet).

I have contacted Sony, and they can offer no solutions. Cogeco has offered me no solutions.

Save your $1000.00 and buy a digital PVR. Sony RDR-HX900 will not work as intended without the TV Guide listings.

What I have discovered through my research is that the TV Guide signals are "piggybacked" over regular cable signals by a couple of US broadcasters. The local cable company does not support this signal.


I am at a loss as to who exactly sends these signals for the TV Guide, and I am at a loss as to how to fix this problem. Any suggestions or expert help would of course be duly appreciated.

[57]

Do a search of this forum for TVGOS (TV Guide On Screen). These threads will enlighten you as to what is happening in this regard. I believe there's a recent one in the Cogeco forum.

Edit - the "how to connect" has is provided in the post 24 link.

[springle]

As SF author Robert Heinlein wrote, "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch".

In this case you can easily do what you wish to do, but you may have to buy another piece of equipment (No Free Lunch).

First of all you don't explain to what you are connecting your DVD recorder and how you are making connections.

For example, I have never used TVGOS as I don't use the tuner in the DVD recorders I have. I input to the DVD recorders via S-video cable from a satellite receiver or two. My tuners are in the satellite receivers or in my Shaw boxes.

Recording is a bit more complicated, but I have maximized my video quality by using S-Video cables.

From you description it appears that you are using coaxial cable to input to your DVD recorder. This is the worst connectivity from a quality perspective.

If you have a cable box, it likely has some choices for video output. However, if your box has a single tuner, then you are stuck. If it is a dual tuner box, then simply connect one output to the DVD recorder and the other to your TV (or whatever). Output from the DVD recorder to a different input on your TV set.

If your box has only a single tuner, then all you can do is to watch a video while recording something else to the Hard Drive, or watch something on the HDD while recording something onto a blank DVD.

An alternative procedure would be to purchase an amplified splitter and put it between the wall jack and the set top box. One output goes to the STB and the other goes to your TV set. This setup would allow you to watch analogue channels on your TV while your STB is sending a different channel to your DVD recorder.

My own signal path is more complicated. I have 4 DVD recorders in the Living Room as wel as a satellite tuner and a Shaw STB. All my DVD recorders have multiple inputs and this allows me to connect both program sources to each DVD recorder. So, for example, I route my Shaw STB output (for SD programs) first to a device for removing the anticopy crap that Shaw puts on some channels, then to an ampified video distributor, then out from the distributor to each DVD recorder, then from the DVD recorders to an Audio Video Receiver which upconverts everything to 1080p, then to my TV set. I use the best quality of connection available for each connection - S-Video from the STB right through to the DVD recorders, then Component Video from the DVD recorders to the AVR, then HDMI from the AVR to the TV set.

If I haven't covered your particular setup, then precisely describe what you have and how everything is connected together.

[brainer]

I think that it might help to reduce confusion if we all understand the signal chain and where the TVGOS signal is inserted.

I find this article from dvdwplus.org particularly helpful.
Most notably, the diagram.

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/Article.asp...&sid=-1&aid=79
This may be too technical for some.

It helps to know that the inserter for the TVGOS signal is usually at the station's HQ, but it can sometimes be at the Cable provider's location (though expect them to deny, deny, deny that or be clueless about it).
Also helpful is knowing that generally, you must at least connect your cable provider's coaxial cable to a TVGOS compatible device, as the signal is not transmitted through other interfaces. You can record through any compatible interface, but if you want guide data, you must use coax. This is why sometimes others recommend attaching an antenna, as well as cable, so that you can try getting the TVGOS data from an over-the-air antenna signal. Of course, many stations are s going digital now, so your experience may differ.

For something a little more understandable, see here:
Macrovision's TVGOS Support page:

http://www.macrovision.com/support/9464.htm


TVGOS Technical FAQ:
http://home1.gte.net/res18h39/tvgos....m/techfaq.html

I hope this helps clarify things for some of you.

Brainer