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Digital Home DIY: Step-by-step guides that make home tech projects easy
Record high-definition television
You have an HDTV, and it's playing a high-def show, but you want to record it. Well, partner, you don't have as many options as you do with good ol' standard-def, but there are a few solutions. We'll walk you through. What the editors say
1
Because you can't.
That's right: unless you want to use D-VHS, there's no convenient way to record full-resolution HDTV onto removable media. Sure, you can fill your HD-DVR with beautiful high-def shows, but unless you're willing to spend on one of the unproven dueling next-gen video formats (Blu-ray or HD-DVD), they're stuck on the hard drive.2
For now, the DVR is king.
A high-def DVR can do everything a standard-def unit can, including schedule recordings of every episode of a show, search by director or keyword, pause and rewind live TV, and so on. The main difference? With HD, the hard disk fills up a lot faster.3
Downconversion is looking up.
If your HD DVR is full of shows and you want to archive a few, you can also record downconverted HD to DVD or even VHS--we highly recommend the former. Downconverted high-def can still look very good, and as a bonus, it's already wide-screen. What you say
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- Print labels on CDs and DVDs
- Video chat with your DV camcorder
Digital imaging
- Home automation (whole house)
Home control
