811 and anamorphic 16:9 output options...

[shanewalker]

So I'm looking to hook a Sony DVD recorder up to my bedroom 811 reciever, with hopes of recording 16:9 material to either its HDD or straight-to-disc. I've read elsewhere that while the 942 allows for user defined output of anamorphic on all its outputs, which I've been using (with good results, btw), the 811 will NOT do so over, say it's S-Video output. Is the 811 indeed limited in this regard, only pushing 16:9 over component? Are there workarounds?

Thanks.

 

[dfergie]

All my 811 will do is normal and full zoom...which I archive(normal) - to a Replay box.

 

[shanewalker]

Wow, that stinks. I was really hoping to have an elegantly simple 16:9 view/record option. So, if the box is limited by design/nature (I assume this is more than software upgradable or no--if no, HEY DISH!) is there any workaround possible? An inexpensive component splitter perhaps, or is this innately crazy/costly/problematic?

 

[Edgar_in_Indy]

I bought and returned three different models of DVD recorders in an effort to record 16:9 from my 811. There were a few times when, for no reason I could figure out, it seemed to record 16:9 properly, but 95% of the time it did not. Very frustrating and an unforgivable design oversight in my opinion. Maybe intentional to help lure people towards a pricy DVR?
Edgar in Indy
Go Colts!

 

[Edgar_in_Indy]

Oh, and as far as whether it's fixable with a software upgrade....I don't know, maybe. Even if it is, I wouldn't hold your breath. They haven't even bothered to get the program guide into a 16:9 format yet. I mean, how hard can that really be? If nothing else, just stretch the thing.
Edgar in Indy
Go Colts!

 

[shanewalker]

It looks like I might need to forego DVI and move to component, get an Inday component splitter/powered distribution box. I'm hoping I don't take a PQ hit overall in the switch. Anyone know what the real qualitative difference is between component vs. DVI-to-HDMI out of the 811? My bedroom TV is a 30" Sammy TX-R3075WH CRT. It seemed the component looked good coming from a progressive DVD player...HDMI looks nice, too. Hmmm.

I agree w/ those expressing frustration about the long-remaining 'features' of the 811...seems there's a lot of wasted potential in these little silver babies, if only some folks would make it happen.

 

[dfergie]

I have not hooked my 811 to my Samsung 27" yet, but it is component in only...

 

[toto]

I have an 811 hooked to a 16:9 set with DVI, Component, and S-video. All send 16:9 to my set in HD normal mode. And I have aspect ratio adjust mode for all outputs and channels.

 

[shanewalker]

Thanks for the tip, toto, I'll have to check it out. According to the 811's documentation, it shuts off the component HD output if DVI is active, so you can't view on two devices simultaneously. Correct or no? And if so, will it send S-Video anamorphic at the same time DVI is active I wonder? Just curious.

Would love to see simultaneous DVI/component, of course.

 

[Shawn95GT]

What are you getting from the 811 on the S-video or RCA outputs? Is it letterboxed? Is it zoomed? is it the 16x9 frame jammed into 4x3?
I don't have an 811 to play with, but in playing with down-rezzed HD I've found that the down-rezzed outputs output 4:3, reguardless. The difference is what you shove in that 4:3 frame.
Hook up a 4:3 set, describe what you see.
Is the picture letterboxed? I'll call this letterbox.
Is the picture zoomed in to fill the 4:3 frame, cropping off the left and right sides of the picture? I'll call this Crop.
Is the picture distorted so that the picture looks stretched vertically? - I call this squish.
I'm currently Tivoing 4:3 squish of HD from my old Voom box. On the 4:3 set it look stretched vertically. On my 16x9 HD set I set it to stretch the 4:3 frame out to 16x9 and this un-distorts the picture. The Picture quality obviously isn't as nice as HD, but it looks a LOT better than anything coming in SD, and it's 16x9 full frame when I play it back.
The ex-Voom box lets me pick Letterbox / crop / squish on the downconvert outputs. I'm curous if the 811 or the new MPG4 receivers will offer the same. It isn't looking good so far .

 

[bizzyvtb]

does your tv have video outputs if so try hooking that up to your DVD recorder and it should be sent however the tv is displaying it right...stretch on your tv..etc..just a thought

 

[shanewalker]

Question I need answering is, will the 811 output anamorphic out of the s-video at 480i in a way that can be recorded in good PQ. Seems the DVD recorder is not going to accept anything over the component above 480i and I don't really want to down-rez the output to my TV, do I?

 

[dfergie]

I get very good results from my 921 to my Panny recorder and the same from my 921, 811 and Samsung T360 D*HD box to Replay box's...

 

[Shawn95GT]

Same here down-rezzing to my Tivo. It looks pretty darn good!

Shawn

 

[shanewalker]

dfergie and shawn95gt...just want to confirm, you're getting good anamorphic PQ out of the s-video of the 811?

 

[Shawn95GT]

Sorry, no 811 here.

I am however recording down-rezzed HD on my Stand Alone SD Tivo, and it looks good.

Shawn

 

[dfergie]

Letterbox out of mine on standard setting... looks good on all the display devices I use... an X1 pj, my Hitachi 43'" and my 27"samsung in my camper all networked with pc's and Replays...

 

[shanewalker]

Gotcha.

So does anyone know or can confirm...does the 811 put out 1) anamorphic HD-downrezzed video simultaneously out of the S-Video when you have the component/DVI set to HD 16:9, and 2) does anyone know if this anamorphic output looks alright burned anamorphic-flagged to DVD?

In short, I can do this no prob w/ my 942. I've not gotten or read anything concrete on whether its possible w/ the 811.

Ideally, I'd set the component to anamorphic down-rezzed and it would output 480i (this is what the Sony DVD recorders accept and can then flag anamorphic for proper widescreen playback, NOT letterboxed) at the same time an HD 16:9 is coming out of the DVI to my set. Again, this is possible w/ the 942 and is how I'm used to recording.

 

[rocatman]

To clear one point up. The 811 has all outputs active. I have DVI hooked up to a DLP projector and component hooked up to LCD rear projector and both produce a picture simultaneously. Prior to buying my LCD rear projector, I was using both DVI and s-video at the same time.
When I had the 811 outputing to a 4:3 television via s-video, I would get a letterboxed picture. I should be picking up a DVD recorder this weekend and feeding it s-video and outputing to my LCD rear projector via component.

 

[shanewalker]

rocatman, thanks. I figured that the outputs were active (DVI and s-video), but wasn't sure whether the 811, if you had it set to 16:9 1080i for the main display, would be shooting anamorphic or letterbox out the s-video and whether, then, it would get recorded for correct playback on DVD. If you can check on this, please let us know.