I just bought my first DVD recorder and, after wasting a lot of time trying to hook it up to the antenna on an old TV, found out that it (Samsung R120) only provides a video pass-through on the antenna out (channel 3 only or whatever signal a cable box might provide). The tuner, DVD functions, and menus do not work through antenna out, but can only be accessed by hooking up to a TV with AV inputs. Is this just a dumb design for the Samsung unit or is it a common design approach for DVD recorders? If it's a bad design issue, I'll return the recorder and buy another. If they all operate this way, I'm screwed and either need to buy an adaptor or a new inexpensive TV. It kind of makes me want to stick with video till the HiDef recorders come out.
DVD recorders don't output through the RF, you need an RF modulator. It's wasting the capability of the recorder using an RF connection. RF converters are 330 lines max resolution, with the quality of the converter varying greatly from one manufacterer to another. DVD recorders are about 525 lines.