Taping Time In our collective rush to sift through the $5 DVD bins at Wal- Mart, it’s easy to overlook the good ol’ VCR that sits precariously atop many of our TV sets at home. DVDs are cooler, packed with more data, and they’re . . . well . . . digital. But almost all of us have a lot of investment in the VCR — ranging from the scores of VHS files purchased over the years, to the recorded broadcast and home movies that make up our VHS collections. It may not be a big investment, dollarwise, but we often have an emotional investment in those old tapes! Even in the face of several generations of higher-quality video options — laser disc, DVDs, satellite, and now HDTV and DVRs — it’s hard to part with our dependable VHS VCR. That’s because the venerable VCR is simply a useful device — and it has even been remaking itself for this new, high-definition world. In this article, we talk about how to get your old VCR hooked up to your HDTV so you can dust off those old taped episodes of LA Law (you ’80s fan, you!); we also discuss some of the (few) new digital VCR models hitting the market that you might want to investigate to upgrade your taping capabilities. Checking Out Your Digital Options If you stroll into your neighborhood electronics store, or surf for VCRs online, you’ll see three kinds of VCRs available today:

-  VHS VCRs: Familiar to all, these are the standard VCRs you’ve seen in stores for almost 30 years. These VCRs use VHS videocassettes and record a low-resolution TV signal — about 240 lines of resolution (a third of the 720 lines you get with HDTV!). These VHS VCRs can come cheap (less than $50) or expensive (more than $800); most include stereo audio capabilities (if so, they’re labeled HiFi) and analog Dolby surround-sound capabilities.

-  S-VHS VCRs: The S-VHS (or Super VHS) VCR provides a higher-quality, higher-resolution image — 400 lines, instead of about 240. In the midst of the craze for more resolution, you’d be forgiven for guessing that film buffs would have jumped at the first S-VHS VCRs back when they were introduced, but they’ve been slow to take off, for several reasons:

• With the early models, you had to buy more expensive (and harder-to-find), specialized tapes to record in S-VHS mode.

• You can’t play an S-VHS tape in a regular VCR (but you can do the reverse).

• S-VHS VCRs themselves have been significantly pricier than the standard-format VCRs on the market.

• There were very few prerecorded movies available in the S-VHS format. Lately, however, S-VHS VCRs have made a bit of a comeback, driven by lower equipment pricing — S-VHS VCRs start off at around $120 — and a new technology boost in the form of S-VHS-ET (Expansion Technology), introduced by JVC. S-VHS-ET allows an S-VHS VCR to record a full S-VHS signal on regular VHS tape. There’s also the fact that higher-resolution source material from camcorders, satellite and digital cable transmission — and the ensuing display of recorded tapes on higher-definition displays — have raised the bar for video recorders as well. (You really notice poor resolution when it’s 50 inches and 1280 x 720 in front of you!) There’s very little difference in pricing between a high-quality VHS VCR and an S-VHS VCR (really cheap VHS VCRs are a lot cheaper, of course). If you’re already spending 100 bucks or so for a hi-fi VCR, we think you should find the extra $20 to get into an S-VHS model. You’ll also find a few VCRs on the market that are labled “Quasi-SVHS”. These units will play back S-VHS tapes, but only at the lower VHS resolution. They’re handy if you don’t care about the higher resolution, but have some S-VHS (or S-VHS-C camcorder) tapes that you want to watch.

-  D-VHS VCRs: If you’re going whole-hog high-def, then you want to look at a high-definition VCR — specifically, the D-VHS VCR. D-VHS VCRs can play and record standard VHS and S-VHS formats. More importantly D-VHS VCRs can also record and play back in all the HDTV formats (discussed in Article 21), including 1080i, 720p, 480p, and 480i. To record and play back HDTV, the D-VHS system needs an FireWire (also called i.LINK or IEEE 1394) connector to connect to an HDTV TV or a standalone HDTV tuner. Many HDTVs and HDTV tuners don’t have a FireWire connection, however, because broadcasters and movie studios don’t want you to be able to record HDTV programs. So be sure of your connection options before plunking down the cash for a D-VHS VCR. The D-VHS VCR sounds like a great idea — and indeed, if you tape a lot, this might be the VCR for you. However, you’re probably going to be disappointed with its use on a day-to-day basis, for a couple of reasons:

• D-VHS would be pretty cool, if many people weren’t restricted from using it for its intended purpose — recording HDTV shows for later playback. Unfortunately, there’s a fundemental disconnect between the HDTV connection provided on D-VHS decks (FireWire), and that found on the majority of HDTV tuners/set-top boxes (DVI).

• There are only limited number of movies available on prerecorded D-VHS videocassettes — truly a small number (less than a hundred) compared to what you can get on DVD (tens of thousands). Many people who used to use VCRs a lot are focusing on DVRs (see Article 12) or are using DVDs, particularly as HDTV-capable DVD formats are being announced and heading to market (see Article 11). As a result, D-VHS VCRs have not really taken the market by storm — and really dropped in price recently as a result (they can be had for about $600). The D-VHS VCR category is largely heading for Laserdisc status (that is, dead), or at least confined to a niche market of D-VHS enthusiasts. What will really nail the coffin of the D-VHS system is the advent of HDTV-capable DVD systems — particularly when these offer recording capability to users. Combine a high-def DVR with a recordable Blu-ray DVD system and you have the best of all worlds. No tapes to mess with, just pure, digital, skip-right-towhere- you-want-to-be-without-rewinding bliss. Given that this is a article on HDTV and not on VCRs (and that the main high-definition angle to VCRs is D-VHS), we’re going to spend the rest of this article talking about how to hook up your VCR into your HDTV system for best viewing. We also look at one of the only D-VHS products actually on the market as we write. If you want to know more about VCRs in general, try checking out http://hometheater.about.com. Connecting VCRs to HDTVs You often have a choice of connections/cable types to use when connecting source devices (such as VCRs) to your HDTV (Article 3 covers the details). Choosing which of these connections to use can be (initially) a bit confusing, but they fall into a hierarchy — and when you get a handle on that, matters get easier: Just pick the best connection option available on both ends of the connection. When it comes to VCR connection options, we can make it even easier for you. You have three choices, depending on what kind of VCR you own:

-  Connecting VHS VCRs: If you have a VHS VCR (not an S-VHS model), you have only two choices — you can connect using a composite video cable (and a pair of audio cables), or you can use the coaxial cable output of the VCR. We recommend that you use the composite video cable — it delivers a much better picture than coaxial cable.

-  Connecting S-VHS VCRs: These VCRs add an S-video connector (that’s where the name came from originally — even though S-video connections are now found on DVD players, set-top boxes, game consoles, and other source devices). S-video provides a much better picture than composite video, so use this connection (and a pair of audio cables) to connect your S-VHS videocassette recorder.

-  Connecting a D-VHS VCR: You need to use component video cables to get HDTV signals into an HDTV display. So it should come as no surprise that the preferred connection method for the HDTV-capable D-VHS VCR is a triumvirate (yep, there’s a troika — three — of them) of component video cables. You’ll also want to use a digital audio cable (optical or coaxial) to take advantage of the digital surround-sound signals recorded on D-VHS high-definition recordings. If you don’t use the component video cable, you can’t view HDTV recordings in high definition. In addition to these “playback” connections, which enable you to view videocassettes played on your VCR, you’ll also want to make a “recording” connection between your TV source and your VCR. Your options are many, and depend greatly on a whole host of variables regarding what else you’ve connected to your HDTV (and how it’s connected). Here are some general rules to follow: -  If you have a D-VHS deck, and you want to record in HDTV, the answer is simple. You need to connect your HDTV tuner to the D-VHS using the FireWire (or iLINK) cable. There is no other option — which severely limits the usefulness of the D-VHS, as few HDTV tuners have functioning FireWire connections that will make this work. -  For a non-HDTV VCR recording, your options depend on two things: whether you’ve connected a home-theater receiver as part of your overall HDTV home-theater system, and whether you require a set-top box or satellite receiver for non-DTV TV channels.

• If you’re using a home-theater receiver (discussed in Article 19), take advantage of this device’s videoswitching capabilities. You can connect all your video source devices (such as DVD players, cable set-top boxes, and satellite receivers) into a set of inputs on the receiver. Then you can use the outputs on the back of the receiver to connect both your HDTV (for viewing) and your VCR (for recording). This is the best, and most flexible, way of connecting your VCR for recording.

• If you don’t have a home-theater receiver, you have to connect your VCR inline between your TV source and your HDTV. This could be as simple as plugging an antenna cable into the back of your VCR (to the TV In connection) and then using another antenna cable (coaxial cable) to connect the TV Out jack on your VCR to the Antenna input on your VCR. If you have a set-top box or satellite receiver, you need an extra set of S-video or composite-video cables to make this connection.

Looking Closer at D-VHS So if you have high-definition leanings (and why else would you be reading HDTV For Dummies?), you at least owe it to yourself to consider whether a D-VHS will work for you. So . . . -  Here’s what you can expect to do with it:

• Record over-the-air broadcasts

• Watch D-VHS prerecorded tapes

• Store HDTV camcorder content to D-VHS -  Here’s what you may not be able to do with it:

• Record cable or satellite broadcasts (many set-top boxes lack a FireWire port to send digital signals to the D-VHS, due to copyright concerns — and some that do have the capability don’t have it enabled by software, so it’s a useless connection that won’t work).

-  Here’s what you can’t do with it:

• Make tapes of your favorite Hollywood DVD movies. (A copy-protection system called Macrovision keeps you from doing so, and it’s built into all DVDs and all VCRs. Even if you want to copy your favorite movie from DVD to VHS to play back on a VCR in your vacation home or somewhere else, you’re just plain out of luck.) If these benefits and limitations seem reasonable to you, then consider getting a D-VHS VCR. When it comes to playing and recording high-def signals, you have to go D-VHS or you’re simply not getting all you can out of your HDTV lifestyle! No other format can match those high-res images, baby . . . . . . at least not yet. When high-def DVD discs and players hit the market (and they’ve been announced as we write, but can’t be bought in stores yet), their resolutions will equal those of D-VHS. The D-VHS VCRs use high-capacity D-VHS tapes to record HDTV broadcasts at their full resolution. They can upconvert or downconvert HD recordings on playback to match your TV’s display rate (even when connected to a regular analog TV). D-VHS VCRs typically can do some other hand things: -  Record/play Digital VHS, Super VHS, Super VHS ET, and standard VHS formats -  Store (on one DF-420 D-VHS tape) up to 3.5 hours of material in HS mode (28.2 Mbps), 7 hours in STD mode (14.1 Mbps), 21 hours in LS3 mode (4.7 Mbps) or 35 hours in LS5 mode (2.8 Mbps) The higher the bit rate (the preceding Mbps numbers) the less compressed the video is, and the better it looks. -  Record/play at 1080i, 720p, 480p, and 480i resolutions -  Record/play 5.1-channel Dolby Digital and DTS HDTV broadcasts for surround sound -  Play HiFi stereo VHS and S-VHS for Dolby Pro Logic surround sound You’ll find some other VCR features from regular VHS/S-VHS VCRs that you might recognize. For example, you might find VCR Plus+, which allows an average human being to record a certain show at a certain time more easily. With this system, all you have to do is punch in a special code that is listed next to the show you want to record in your paper’s TV listings (or in TV Guide). More advanced versions of VCR Plus+ (called Silver and Gold) allow you to localize your VCR Plus+ settings for your area. VCR Plus+ is handy, but once you’ve used a slick DVR interface (such as TiVo’s), you’ll never want to go back to using even the finest VCR system! Of course, you can only record HDTV on a TiVo if you buy a $1,000 DirecTV TiVo system. At the time of this writing, we could only find one or two D-VHS products left on the market (and we looked a lot!). The most popular and prominent is JVC’s HM-DH4000U. As an indication of the market acceptance of D-VHS thus far, the list price for JVC’s only D-VHS model (and JVC invented/promoted the D-VHS!) is $999.95, but you can get it at Crutchfield (which has competitive but not hugely discounted prices) for $599.99 — 40 percent off! So if you want one, we’d advise you to move quickly, because these might not be around much longer. Monitor Madness Who said HDTVs had to be all about watching DVDs and high-definition satellite signals? We sure didn’t. In fact, there are all sorts of other ways to get high-definition signals on and off your HD system — so many that we created this special part to talk about them. We’ll discuss all the high-definition implications of your PS2, Xbox, Nintendo, or other gaming console, including noting which consoles allow you to play DVDs on your HDTV. (Now, that’s double duty.) For example, we’ll talk about what to do with your camcorder if you want to view your home movies in 1280-x- 720-pixel mode (and what to think about when you crave a new high-definition camcorder for those really fine-looking shots of your kids in pumpkin-head Halloween outfits). Then the fun really begins, as we discuss the wide range of gadgets that are popping up to accentuate your HDTV purchase. We’ll talk about souped-up PCs designed to support your HDTV-powered home theater, video jukeboxes that make watching another movie truly point-and-click, and how to take a bath with your HDTV (shocking isn’t it . . . oh, bad pun!). We wrap with a discussion of how to take advantage of your HDTV from all over the home, with tips, tricks and guidance on home networking. Pat and Danny wrote the article on this, well, actually two articles — Smart Homes For Dummies and Wireless Home Networking For Dummies — so you get a great introduction to how to access HDTV in a whole-home way.