Setting up a VCR with HDTV box (1 Viewer)

[peterVa]

Hopefully someone can give some guidance here.
I just got my new hd set and will be getting my hd cable receiver from rogers this week. I'm curious as to how i will have to set it up. In the past I had to run the coax out from the cable rec. into the vcr and then output the vcr to the tv in order to be able to record shows. If i were to use the same setup now, wouldn't i lose the hd ? If so, how do i get around this? My new tv has 2 hdmi inputs, 2 composite, 1 component, 1 svideo.

Do i need to buy a theater receiver as well?
Any help for this newb would be much appreciated.

 

[mylan]

You would lose HD even if you went through a regular TIVO box as well as both it and a vcr are analog devices. The only way to record in HD in your case would be to see if your cable company has an HD box with a built in DVR. The best connection would be the HDMI from the cable box directly to the new tv but many HD boxes have a communication problem that is the fault of the cable box so the workable solution is to use component cables and an audio cable straight from the box and into the tv.
You will need a receiver if you wish to hear surround sound from your sources, otherwise you will be limited to stereo sound from the tv. You will also need five speakers and a subwoofer.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

The HD-PVR is your best bet. (Mine is gathering dust in favor of these hard-disk wonders).

I suspect you might have to split the coax and feed the VCR and the HD Cable box from 2 separate wires so the VCR can record standard-definition shows.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Note that some HD cable boxes do output a downconverted letterbox version of the HD signal thru the s-video and/or composite video outs. I know mine does (Motorola 5500, Comcast Boston). I record some HD only programs via my DVD-Recorder this way. It may be a configuration thing or a cable company thing, I don't know. But it is worth trying on your box.