[John Palmer]

I'm in the rather odd position of having a V+ HD box with a non-HD TV in our living room, plus a second ordinary STB with an HD Ready TV in my office.

This may sound odd but I'm afraid my wife likes it that way.

The V+ HD box has been set up and tried with the HD Ready TV but I've then returned it to the non HD one.

So my question is, if I record an HD programme while connected to the non HD TV, will it record in SD or HD?
i.e. can I playback in SD on the non HD TV but in HD if I move the V+ HD box to the HD ready one?

(Some will say I should get a second V+ HD box but I'm not yet impressed with the current scope of HD programmes on offer)

[Harry, it sucks]

Yes, if you record one of the HD channels it will record in HD, but be aware that it will take a lot more space than an SD recording.
I think its 4 times the space but someone will be able to confirm.

[The-OC]

yeah you can still record HD without the V+ being hooked up to a HD TV.

I recorded True Blood on FXHD rather than FX even though I watched it in SD because it was only broadcast in widescreen on the HD channel.

[John Palmer]

Originally Posted by Harry, it sucks

Yes, if you record one of the HD channels it will record in HD, but be aware that it will take a lot more space than an SD recording.
I think its 4 times the space but someone will be able to confirm.

Thanks (I'd expected a dusty answer!)
I'll try the programme I recorded last night now.
I note that on the non HD TV I get no HD/SD warning so you are probably right.

[Deacon1972]

Originally Posted by John Palmer

Thanks (I'd expected a dusty answer!)
I'll try the programme I recorded last night now.
I note that on the non HD TV I get no HD/SD warning so you are probably right.

Though not in HD, you should get a better quality picture than the SD counterpart, basically because it will be a HD copy and transmitted at a higher bitrate.

Recording the HD linear channels should be no problem, but I think you will be out of luck if you wanted to view certain HD VOD, especially the content that's copyrighted, you have to have the box in HD mode to be able to view this material, basically because it's protected by HDCP.

[tm009f0737@blue]

Originally Posted by John Palmer

I'm in the rather odd position of having a V+ HD box with a non-HD TV in our living room, plus a second ordinary STB with an HD Ready TV in my office.

This may sound odd but I'm afraid my wife likes it that way.

The V+ HD box has been set up and tried with the HD Ready TV but I've then returned it to the non HD one.

So my question is, if I record an HD programme while connected to the non HD TV, will it record in SD or HD?
i.e. can I playback in SD on the non HD TV but in HD if I move the V+ HD box to the HD ready one?

(Some will say I should get a second V+ HD box but I'm not yet impressed with the current scope of HD programmes on offer)

Why not just buy an (Argos) £500 H.D. t.v. i.e. (42" bush) for xmas and use your existing t.v for another room with freeview.

The picture quality is exelent.
Esecialy with 6 H.D. channels and more on the way including i.t.v, five,history,eurosprt news,discovery not to mention the h.d. catch up & H.D. ondemand ,it could be the best money you've spent in a long time.

There was also a virgin email questionare that was asking how much people would be willing to spend for 4 pagage's in H.D. for £3-£6 each selection,that would add over 20 more channel's for say £10-£12 for the lot (maybe),big year for virgin in 2010.
It's money you can see,not to mention free E.S.P.N. in H.D. for xl pagage.

If your on XL it's a must have, wiat for prices to far big time after january,but to increase when virgin start adding load's of H.D. content,i'd buy febuary or march.

Have the 2year old £550 bush 42" (at that time) with £120 extra 4 yeary's on top of first one included insered with half price stand £75, believe it now between £475 -£500, plus you can get L.G. better quality 37" for same price now.

Next year you'l have your pick for the price range and quality you want.
If your paying Xl t.v. package ,go for it.

[John Palmer]

Originally Posted by tm009f0737@blue

Why not just buy an (Argos) £500 HD TV i.e. (42" Bush) for Xmas and use your existing TV for another room with Freeview.

The picture quality is excellent.
Especially with 6 HD channels and more on the way, including ITV, five, History, Eurosport news and Discovery, not to mention the HD Catchup & HD On Demand, it could be the best money you've spent in a long time.

There was also a virgin email questionnaire that asked how much people would be willing to pay for HD packages of £3-£6 for each selection. That would add over 20 more channel's for, say, £10-£12 the lot (maybe) - big year for Virgin in 2010.
It's money you can see - not to mention free ESPN in HD for the XL package.

If you're on XL, it's a must have. Wait for prices to fall big time after January, but to increase when Virgin start adding load's of HD content. I'd buy in February or March.

Have the 2 year old (at that time) £550 bush 42" with £120 extra 4 year's guarantee on top of first year included with half price stand £75, believe it now between £475 -£500, plus you can get L.G. better quality 37" for same price now.

Next year you'l have your pick for the price range and quality you want.
If your paying XL TV package, go for it.

Thanks for your contribution, which I've tidied up to help me respond - hope you don't mind!

I thought I might get responses about what to buy - however:

1. I've just bought a new HD Ready TV
2. I have a good quality CRT TV with built in PVR capabilities
3. I have another 4:3 TV in the guest bedroom
4. I have 3 Freeview STBs, a V+ HD box and a second VM STB
3. I'd never buy anything with a Bush label on it - sorry!

4. XL TV provides me with many more stations than I need - I only have it for ESPN and the live Premiership games (so my ESPN is not really "free")
5. I find the existing 5 HD channels underwhelming - I'll get keen when there are HD equivalents for regular channels.

6. I don't see TV prices dropping anytime soon. The digital switchover panic is well underway here in the Granada area. The shops are full of customers and this will take a while to work through the whole country.

[Gilson]

There are seven HD channels on VM not 6 as quoted by tm009f0737@blue or 5 as posed by John Palmer.

I agree that whilst once Bush produced probably the best TV's the brand is now sadly just a label for Vestel products in the UK.

I have to say also that whilst I respect and agree with the OP's sentiments that you can get a far better TV for £550.

[JethroUK]

Originally Posted by John Palmer

... if I record an HD programme while connected to the non HD TV, will it record in SD or HD?...

It will record in HD even if it's not connected to a TV at all - as per any recorder

But i do wonder why you might want to record in HD (use up 4 times space) if you can only watch SD

[Timotei75]

Actually reading his post may shed some light on that.

[The Exiled Dub]

Originally Posted by JethroUK

It will record in HD even if it's not connected to a TV at all - as per any recorder

But i do wonder why you might want to record in HD (use up 4 times space) if you can only watch SD

Although I do have a HD telly, I do do this for programmes that I want to put on dvd (like Private Practice). I haven't started the 2nd series yet, so I record it from Living HD and then output it to my dvd recorder without ever having watched it. I do it like this because the finished quality is quite significantly better than if I recorded it off the Living channel.

[JethroUK]

Originally Posted by The Exiled Dub

... I record it from Living HD and then output it to my dvd recorder without ever having watched it. I do it like this because the finished quality is quite significantly better than if I recorded it off the Living channel.

Whilst direct playback would be in HD - your recording thro scart lead wont be - neither will it be if you're recording to std SD DVD recorder

Unless you're recording via HDMI lead to High Def recorder you wont benefit at all from recording in HD - any benefit you see would be purely psychological

.

[Deacon1972]

Originally Posted by JethroUK

Whilst direct playback would be in HD - your recording thro scart lead wont be - neither will it be if you're recording to std SD DVD recorder

Unless you're recording via HDMI lead to High Def recorder you wont benefit at all from recording in HD - any benefit you see would be purely psychological

.

Though they are only viewing the downscaled images (SD), they should benefit from a better PQ due to the higher bitrates used on the HD channels.

[The Exiled Dub]

Originally Posted by JethroUK

Whilst direct playback would be in HD - your recording thro scart lead wont be - neither will it be if you're recording to std SD DVD recorder

Unless you're recording via HDMI lead to High Def recorder you wont benefit at all from recording in HD - any benefit you see would be purely psychological

.

Actually I disagree. I know that I will only be watching the eventual dvds in SD, but my point is that the recorded HD programme provides a better quality SD recording. I have tried it in both SD and HD, and the SD recordings had more shimmer around the edges and more artifacting. The HD programmes provided a much clearer, crisper recording in SD, presumably because the source material is higher quality.

[jong]

Yes, there is no question that HD recording makes more superior SD playback. Most visible compression artifacts, especially those visible during fast scene changes, disappear.

The benefit is amplified with FX, where for widescreen shows the SD channel uses letterboxing. For these shows showing fullscreen requires zooming adding further degradation to the PQ.