Thread: DVD for HGTV?

I can answer (or at least try to)all your geology and paleontology questions but haven't paid any attention to TVs and such since I saved up and bought my 12 inch B&W in 1973 (who needs food when a student?)

I went into Walmart. There is a flat screen 19" HDTV for $249. I think it is HDTV or HDTV ready whatever that means.

Some questions. Please excuse the simplicity but when I google I'm swamped with commercial sites.

Can a regular DVD player or VCR be used with a HDTV? These are for sale for $26 and $45 each (I think the VCR my wife bought back in 1981 was $600)....or does one need special machines?

Also, what is a recordable DVD player? does it record a television show on to a disc like a VCR does on a tape? Are these discs reusable? Is a VCR redundant with a recordable DVD player?

Thanks for any help. Also does anyone have a level 101 'for dummies' forum or message board they could recomend for learning the basics.

Oh my !! Where did you get that black and white television of your's ? Found it in a pre-cambrian dig ?? :wink:

Yes you can still use a VCR with high defenition TV.
If you are thinking of purchasing a HD-TV, one important thing to know: Ask the retialer: "Is it 1080p?" If it isnt then dont bother getting it because its not TRUE high definition.

As for DVD-Recorders, yes you record the shows on-to disc as you would a tape, some of them take "DVD-RW" in which case that means that you can use "DVD-RW" discs. The "RW" means you can re-write to them rather like a VCR.

There are also "Hard-drive recorders" available out there. they are great for recording stuff that you are going to miss and want to watch but naff for storing any programmes / films that you wish to keep and watch over and over again as they get filled up rather quickly, although they do have the added benefit of letting you pause live television, although when you resume it, its not so live anymore

As for High-Definition DVD players, the war is on between HD-DVD and Blue-Ray. Rather like the old VHS/Betamax war. I hope Blue-ray wins, because it has a higer sotrage capacity. I hope we dont end up being stuck with TWO different media formats; that cant be good. Everyone is BOUND to end up buying at least one movie in the wrong format at some point. :?

I prefer Hard-drive recorders.Its graphic quality is better.

Also, some dvd recorders support DVD-RAM, on which you can rerecord 100 000 times, instead of 10 000 for DVD-RW. As for quality, it all depends on what you choose the quality to be. Of course though, higher quality means your space will get filled up quickly. As for for High def; only a Blue-Ray or HD-DVD disk can produce true high deifinition. I agree, rather go with Blue-Ray as I think it should win the race, although you can buy Players that support both.

Also, and perhaps someone else can confirm this, HD TVs are 'backward compatible', which is why some of them are being called "HD ready". It means they'll play normal TV and video, but are ready to play hi-def as and when you plug that medium in.

I was quite impressed with a large HD TV in a shop and then the bloke told me it wasn't a HD prog at the time.

As HD requires much more bandwidth it means any material on a DVD will be much shorter than with standard material.