I've been searching everywhere online to get some help with my home tv connections and found this site. I'm hoping someone will be able to help. I'll try to be as clear as possible, but I'm afraid I don't know a lot of the technical language involved in these type of things so please bear with me.
I have a large screen projection tv (it's about 9 years old) with 2 antennae inputs and 3 video inputs - 2 in the rear, 1 in front (occasionally used for PlayStation). I have a Comcast digital cable box, VCR, and DVD player (not recorder).
The current configuration was done by the Comcast cable installer. Right now I have the cable that comes into the house run into a splitter with one cable going to the digital cable box and one to the VCR. There is a cable from the VCR to the Ant. A input on the TV. There is an S-Video cable from the DVD player to the Video 1 input on the TV. There is a cable (the three pronged, red, yellow, white one - see told you I didn't know the lingo ) from the cable box to the Video 2 input on the TV.
Anyway, my main question/problem is with the VCR run to the Ant. A input on the TV, I can only record the analog(?) signal TV stations and not all of the stations I recieve. Is there anyway to hook everything together so I can record any station I recieve through digital cable. I would like to do this without having to watch what I'm recording.
Also, does this in general sound like the best way to have everything connected or is there a better way to do it?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
The problem you have is wanting to record something while watching something else. No splitter and cable going directly to the cable box then to the VCR then to the TV you can record all stations you recieve. If you leave it the way it is you can run composite video cable (yellow,red ,and white) from the cable box to the VCR then composite to the TV. You will have to change the input on the VCR to line input so the signal will enter the VCR through those composite inputs.With this set up you will have the option to record the analog station and not watch them as you do now. By changing the VCR to line input you can record all station but you must watch what you record.
Is there anyway to hook everything together so I can record any station I recieve through digital cable. I would like to do this without having to watch what I'm recording.
Casey is right. With the composite video and stereo audio line outputs from the cable box feeding the VCR's line inputs, you would be able to record any channel your cable box will tune in. The bonus here is that you will get a slightly better recorded video signal by bypassing the tuner in your VCR (channel 3 or 4, depending on what the cable box outputs). Plus the recorded audio would be in stereo, which it is not if you record on the VCR's channel 3 or 4.
But that also means you can disconnect the cable from the VCR and run it into either Ant A or B on your TV. Once you have set up your specific program to be recorded by tuning in the appropriate channel on the cable box, you can record on the VCR's line input. You can then switch to the Antenna input on the TV and watch any regular unencrypted channel the tuner in your TV can receive.
For example, you can record The Sopranos on HBO while watching Desperate Housewives via your ABC station on basic cable. But since HBO is most likely encrypted, you would not be able to do the opposite. The only way to have full freedom of choice on what you watch and record is to have two cable boxes.