Technology Wars

[billroper]

Older technology appears to have declared war on our ability to watch Scrubs. First, the VCR upstairs decided that it wasn't going to do any timer-based recording -- or, upon further examination, any recording at all. So I bought a new Samsung VCR/DVD combo unit, which had to be swapped for a different one, since the first one wouldn't accept a tape.

Since then, the replacement unit has snapped one tape, which I attributed to a power outage problem. But last night, with a brand-new tape, it recorded only the audio for Scrubs and plenty of static where the video should have been. Since pressing the record button in a test later that evening recorded the same source in a perfectly normal way, I'm now a bit annoyed and trying to figure out if this unit is going back as well.

Then I read today in the newspaper that Comcast will be "upgrading" us to digital cable at "no cost" within the next year, which means that none of our cable-ready devices that record programs for us will work worth a damn going forward. *sigh*

So I'm getting a bit annoyed...

Comments

[mia-mcdavid.livejournal.com]

Then I read today in the newspaper that Comcast will be "upgrading" us to digital cable at "no cost" within the next year, which means that none of our cable-ready devices that record programs for us will work worth a damn going forward. *sigh*

Damn. I was liking my primitive, wood-and-stone based technology just fine. We have Comcast, too.

All together, now:

Back when Fortran was not even Two-tran
And the mainframe was only a toy
And we did our computing by torchlight
When I was a boy.

Thank you, Frank Hayes

[unkbar.livejournal.com]

Don't be too sure. Here in Rochester, Time Warner cable offers digital cable, but the analog signal is still on the cable too. Put a coax splitter before your new digital cable box and your cable-ready TVs and VCRs can still receive the normal non-encrypted analog channels. I can't speak for Comcast, but that's how it works here. We've never had a cable box, analog or digital, but the digital signal is there.

[billroper]

The article that I read said they were going to remove the analog signals from the wire to make room for more digital signals. So the splitter trick will apparently stop working at some point in the future.

You may be OK for a while

[hvideo.livejournal.com]

Comcast upgraded us to digital service a while back - but we have not subscribed to digital programming. We still get all the old stations in analog, so the TVs, VCRs and such can all work as needed using regular cable splitters (no converters needed).

We do get a minimal amount of digital service on this "beginners digital" package - 7 Encore channels, which use extremely heavy data compression. The digital artifacts are very noticeable - I much prefer the analog channels.

This is not to say that High Definition TV and service isn't in our future soon - that's another kettle of fish entirely. We =may= even go that route this year. But for now we stick to analog.

[qnofhrt.livejournal.com]

Admittedly I'm not the one who connected the VCR to the cable box but our not new VCR and even not newer tv work just fine with digital cable. And it's been happily recording shows from NBC that appear to be broadcast in HD.

[billroper]

The problem is that you need a way to change channels on the digital tuner box if you want to record shows on more than one channel -- which may be problematic.

[jerusha.livejournal.com]

The digital service now allows you to program the box to record (i.e. change channels to what you want to record.) It's not perfect (it pops up messages that obscure almost half the screen to announce that your recording is starting/ending - but you can set it to change channels a minute early/late so it doesn't do that during your show), but it does make it possible. The biggest problem is that you can't watch one channel and record another. All the tuning happens at the cable box - you tell your VCR to record on channel 3.

(I have Comcast Digital Cable and a very old VCR; they work together with no problem.)

Comcrap Digital

[dave-ifversen.livejournal.com]

We have the basic digital service (no Sci-Fi channel; I'm bummed, because I thought that was included). The basic digital box also has NO component or HD outputs (just outputs for RF/ANT and A/V RCA jacks). We got that setup because it came bundled with broadband internet (we can't get DSL here yet - AT&T installed fiber to the neighborhood, but can't use it yet; they are currently going 'round and 'round in the courts about it for some reason). For a while, the digital artifacts were noticable and annoying. The artifacts have mostly gone away now (maybe something to do with the new run of cable I put in - I'm told the digital cable service is real sensitive to cable/signal quality). They haven't said anything about the analog signals going away here, so our old cable-ready devices still work fine (they just won't deal with the digital-only channels/services unless you go through the digital box). I put a splitter in the line just before the digital box, and ran a line to the VCR. I also ran all the A/V outputs from everything (digital cable box, VCR, DVD player) into an A/V switch. The output of the switch goes to the A/V input of the TV. So far, it works fine. I'm going to be really ticked off if they dump the analog signals...

Re: Comcrap Digital

[billroper]

Prepare to be annoyed.

[kevinnickerson.livejournal.com]

One word: DirecTivo.

[billroper]

On my list of things to consider. Once Comcast renders all my devices obsolete, there's no reason not to consider a different provider.

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

Get the DVR from Comcast. I have one and swear by it. I haven't looked at a VCR tape in ages.

[billroper]

Well, yes, but that's another monthly rental fee...

[billroper]

Oh, and I already own a perfectly fine Toshiba DVR, which is part of the reason that I'm annoyed that it will no longer be able to tune cable. *sigh*