TIVO picture quality? (1 Viewer)

[Terry H]

Considering replacing VCR as recording (timeshifting) device. How would you rate Tivo's best record quality against the best quality of a standard VCR? Better? Much better? About the same?
I also wonder about PQ of various PVR units. I've heard it said that Replay is better than Tivo.

Honestly, I intended to skip the standard PVR's as I thought at this point in time I'd be looking for a HD PVR but the tech is moving much slower than I anticipated. :frowning:

So I'd like to hear your opinion of current PVR's. Viewing on a 65" RPTV.

 

[MannyE]

At the "best" setting, I would rate my series 1 Tivo units as equal to my JVC S-VHS deck.

I am viewing on a 56 inch RPTV and the signal goes through a B&K Ref 30.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

At best quality, my Philips HDR212 Series 1 TiVo is superior to my JVC HR-S9500U at SP. TiVo is a very high quality NTSC video recorder in my opinion. I have only 25" and 27" analog monitors to compare the picture. My HDTV has never seen SVHS. I use W-VHS and D-VHS in addition to a DirecTV DVR with TiVo with my HDTV.

Chris

 

[Terry H]

Thanks for the info but I've decided to build a HTPC instead. A bit more but waaaaay more useful.

 

[MikeHerbst]

Manny and Chrisopher, could you elaborate some on PQ of the TiVo into an HDTV?

I'm on the cusp of purchasing a 44" RPTV right now, but my major concern is that we still watch A TON of Standard-Def source from our TiVos.

I've got a SA Series2 in the living room and a DirecTiVo in the bedroom. If I go ahead and get the HDTV, I'd probably move the DirecTiVo for use with the HDTV, (since the PQ is a bit better than the SA TiVo) but I'm still concerned that the PQ will not stand up to regular viewing on such a large screen.

Any comments on this? We watch a lot of DVDs (hence the drive for a bigger/better screen), but I don't see us converting to full-HD watching for quite some time. Will we be seriously bummed by a TiVo into an HDTV?

Thanks.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

Mike,

Standard definition DirecTV doesn't look very good on 44" RPTV in my opinion. The DirecTV DVR with TiVo doesn't make it any worse but it can't improve it any. HDTV and progressive scan DVD looks great on a 44" HDTV so if you are going to get one, I recommend you feed it an HDTV signal as often as possible. Your SA TiVo would need a great signal to improve on DirecTV, although it is possible, so I expect your SA TiVo to look worse than DirecTV.

Chris

 

[MikeHerbst]

I guess I need to see it for myself.

In my living room, I sit 12' from the screen (not negotiable, due to room layout), so I'm optimistic that the 44" screen with DirecTiVo input will be "good enough" to suit our current viewing habits.

Coming from a 32" curved-screen tube tv, the 4:3 viewing on the 44" RPTV will only be ~25% bigger, so I'm hoping that the image won't be so huge as to look nasty.

I'm fully aware that it will look TERRIBLE compared to DVD or HD signals, but all I really care about is that it isn't DRAMATICALLY WORSE than the statis quo (SA Tivo into 32" panasonic direct-view).

Thanks guys.

 

[liana]

I use TiVO on a 47 inch WS HDTV. The quality at the best setting is about equal to analog cable. Really doesnt bother me at all, and once you go TiVO, you will seriously wonder how you ever lived without it.

 

[MannyE]

The TV that I have is not HDTV, just regular ol' NTSC (The BEST ntsc RPTV ever made IMO, but still just NTSC).

The PQ is fine for everyday TV watching except, when used at maximum capacity, the PQ degrades significantly. It does not really bother me, however, because I like the 140 hours I get out of it.