DVRplayground - D-I-Y DVRs

Best Tip Ever

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 08:33:54 CST

Don't let Jeff "fix" your computer!

Improved Cables = Improved Performance

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 14:00:53 CST

If you're using the cables that came in the same box with your A/V device, you probably haven't realized how much better your stuff can be. You can quickly improve the performance of your existing equipment by replacing the included low quality cables with better ones.

How To Improve A/V Performance By Using the Best Connections

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 13:46:13 CST

-syndicated from TechLore.com

In the world of today's consumer electronics, you have a wide variety of connection choices. If you're somewhat with the times, you abandoned the screw-type RF connection years ago, and went to a line level "composite video connection."

Composite video is the yellow jack, typically paired with accompanying red and white audio jacks. Though once a staple of performance for hooking up your gear, its fallen to the wayside as better connections that yield better video and audio performance have become more common.

As a general rule of thumb, you want to use the best connection your device offers. On many older products like first generation VCRs, composite is still the best connection you can make. However, newer products like SVHS-VCRs, DVD players, satellite boxes, digital video recorders, and surround receivers provide you with the means to maximize your performance through better A/V connections.

Examine the back of your components, TV, and surround receiver (if you use one). Picking the best connection is easy when you know what to look for. For example, if your TV only offers composite, then that is the best connection you can make. Here are the different connections you should look for, ordered ...

Do It Yourself HDTV

Thu, 23 Feb 2006 13:27:20 CST

While it's great that high definition-capable displays are getting so cheap nowadays, there still seems to be a lingering problem with most of them: if you actually want to watch anything in HDTV, it's still going to cost you an arm and a leg for a tuner. And forget about recording it unless you're a DirecTV subscriber and you feel like dropping a grand for a hi-def Tivo. No thanks. So about a year ago, I decided to conduct an experiment and see if I could find a way to watch and record HDTV for a more reasonable price.

I'd had a 42" Toshiba rear projection TV for a couple of years and the only way I'd been able to take advantage its increased resolution was by hooking up my home theater PC to it. This was nice for movies but it didn't make regular TV look any better - on the contrary, I've found that an off-the-shelf Tivo box will almost always beat a PC when it comes to television recording, both in terms of quality and reliability. This is usually due to the fact that when a PC records an analog TV signal, it must encode that signal into ...