What are options for saving a DVR recording?

[Max_Gator]

I've got a couple of events (football/basketball games) saved on the HDDVR that I want to save to some other media - do I have any options other than to a vcr?

I think vcr is the only option available on the dvr box and let me tell you - the quality is so bad it may not even be worth it.

If I recall correctly, I shouldn't be able to transfer anything that is in HD because of copy protection (assuming I had some other method to record HD). But, even if I don't get the HD that's ok I guess.

Would a dvd recorder in line to the TV work?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Max_Gator]

Apparently sci-atlanta makes a box that includes the dvd recorder. This is an excerpt from an april 2005 release. Not that it really helps me . . .


Scientific-Atlanta Introduces New MCP-100 Media Center with Built-in DVD Burner
Scientific-Atlanta will expand its set-top leadership position with innovative new DVR with DVD
SAN FRANCISCO – THE NATIONAL SHOW - Building upon its award-winning Explorer® 8300™ digital video recorder (DVR) platform, Scientific-Atlanta today announced its new MCP-100™ Media Center DVR with a built-in DVD burner. This market-leading product will combine all of the great features of the current Explorer 8300 platform, including multi-tuner DVR, optional high definition DVR, DOCSIS (DSG) and Multi-Room™ DVR capability, with a new built-in DVD player and burner.

“Our new MCP-100 Media Center will completely change the way consumers think about cable television,” said Dave Davies, vice president, strategy and product marketing for Subscriber Networks at Scientific-Atlanta. “Consumers will be able to easily record their favorite programs on DVDs to watch in the mini-van, on the train, on the bus or on an airplane. Cable television has always been about entertainment in the home. We will make it easy for cable consumers to enjoy their favorite television programs wherever they choose.”

The new MCP-100 Media Center will add DVD burning functionality for standard and high definition content that will give consumers the ability to simply and securely record their favorite shows and movies onto writeable DVDs. The MCP-100 Media Center will support the majority of writeable DVD formats and will also play off-the-shelf DVDs and CDs. In addition, the product is being designed to respect key content protection flags including ‘copy freely’, ‘copy once’, and ‘copy never’ tags.

“The combination of DVR with a DVD burner in our new MCP-100 Media Center will help create exciting new revenue opportunities for cable operators, including the potential for future DVD video downloads and the distribution of other content,” added Davies. The MCP-100 Media Center is currently scheduled to be available Q4 CY2005.

[gdcoxjr]

I have connected a DVD recorder to my DVR and have burned several programs, both SD and Digital recordings. I have not tried to burn an HD recording.

[CANDY76MAN]

for sd you can just send the composite or svideo output to a capture card on your computer and record, encode and burn it....you can do that to record the downconverted hd too but I don't know of a way to record the hd at its native res from the cable box unless there is a capture card with component video inputs that can accept hd resolutions...but I've never seen one.

[tampahank]

There's essentially 3 options on saving a DVR'd program.

#1> Standard outputs. Connect a VCR, dvd recorder, other DVR, etc.

#2> Save it forever on the DVR itself. Let the program become a permanent fixture in your life. Kinda like your dog. It's always there for you.

#3> .. external storage. Keep in mind, last time I checked this isn't officially supported by Brighthouse Networks... so if it fails, you can't call and complain.. but I know some 8300 boxes (perhaps just the HD's) have ports to plug in external SATA drives. Again, not supported by BHN.. and another warning, I believe the drive's recordings are tagged in a way that the recording is only viewable on the DVR that it was recorded on (for copyright purposes). I'd call around to confirm it's supported by BHN's code rev, but I'm pretty-dang-sure it is... (cough again not supported by BHN)

here's a thread about it, might just be 8300hd:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/printthread.php?t=516559&page=54&pp=30


As for the SA DVR-DVD box. I haven't seen it for about 2 months, but I'll just say this. #1> Whenever you see press releases, keep in mind.. that doesn't mean the product is 100% quite yet. It's got some bugs to work out (again, it's been a few months, so they may have sorted out the issues).. #2> Like the mention of the SATA drive above.. I know for a FACT.. that dvds recorded on a dvr can only be replayed on THAT dvr.

[gmclaughlin]

The SATA drives DO work on 8300 HD-DVR's running the SARA resapp. I know this to be true because I've had a 160 gb drive running on the 8300 in my office since a year ago January.

The interface is pretty transparent, in that you can't control what content goes to what drive (well, without some tricks). The box just treats the drive as additional storage space on what appears to be one large drive. The content on the external drive IS encrypted to that particular DVR. (Blame the MPAA, not us). But the good news is that something copied to your drive is treated as having never been copied for purposes of "copy once/never/freely".

I also have a DVD recorder that I burn to from the 8300 and it works fine. Just select the recorded content in the "List", arrow up once to "Copy to VCR" (it doesn't know if it's a VCR or a DVD-R). But it is a "composite" (baseband) 480-line analog output, so you can't get it to do HD.

Greg

[Max_Gator]

That's kinda what I thought. Thanks for the input.

As for the external drive - you confirmed what I understood - that it is good only as long as you have the actual 8300 box on which the show was recorded. If you change boxes - see ya.

[gmclaughlin]

There is a development effort underway with SA to be able to transfer the encryption key to a replacement box, should the initial unit fail. But the certification process is a nightmare.

Greg

[WAFlowers]

The SATA drives DO work on 8300 HD-DVR's running the SARA resapp. I know this to be true because I've had a 160 gb drive running on the 8300 in my office since a year ago January.
So when I get my 8300HD at the end of the month here in N. Pinellas will it have SARA and support the SATA port?

I've been searching all the forums I could find today then finally found this one. The only thing they agree on is that no one can give a straight answer!

My first HDTV is on order (Samsung HL-S5688 ) and am eagerly awaiting its arrival, along with HD programming. But my wife was complaining that our SD-DVR is always full and wanted to know if this new one would be able to hold more.

I still don't know what answer to give her.:confused:

[pilotbob]

So when I get my 8300HD at the end of the month here in N. Pinellas will it have SARA and support the SATA port?

I've been searching all the forums I could find today then finally found this one. The only thing they agree on is that no one can give a straight answer!

My first HDTV is on order (Samsung HL-S5688 ) and am eagerly awaiting its arrival, along with HD programming. But my wife was complaining that our SD-DVR is always full and wanted to know if this new one would be able to hold more.

I still don't know what answer to give her.:confused:

The answer is NO it will hold alot less... Assuming you record HD programs. SD seems to be about an hour per GIG, HD is about an hour per 10 gig.

BOb

[WAFlowers]

The answer is NO it will hold alot less... Assuming you record HD programs. SD seems to be about an hour per GIG, HD is about an hour per 10 gig.
Thanks Bob. I knew that, but didn't explain myself very well.

I want to know if the SATA port works so I can plug in an external 300Gig drive and have the DVR hold a lot more.

I know video takes up a lot of room. With my video editting hobby I've got over 500G of video online that I'm working on at any given time ... not counting anything recorded on our DVR. I'm always running out of disk space. Good thing it keeps getting cheaper! (300G for $100 these days.)

[pilotbob]

I want to know if the SATA port works so I can plug in an external 300Gig drive and have the DVR hold a lot more.


With BHN's I haven't tried it but I have seen some online that have done it. I thing someone here.

I am hoping I can add an additional drive to the Motorola that Verizon rents us... the 160gig just isn't enough. Although if they get the multi-room stuff working I may just get a second unit for the bedroom.

BOb