Sony RDR HXD-710 PVR with NTL?

boardtc

We are having the basic NTL tv package connected next week. We have opted not to go for the dvr as we have our own - Sony RDR HXD-710.

Can anyone confirm that this pvr will work with ntl?

Thanks a lot,

Tom.

pizzahead77

You wont get any of the NTL DVR EPG etc on this Sony but I do believe it is possible to set up GuidePlus on a Sony if its available - you need to fool it into thinking that its in the UK and the host is either UTV or Eurosport.

There should be threads in this forum on setting this up

boardtc

pizzahead77 wrote: »

There should be threads in this forum on setting this up

Thanks for the info. I found this setup information at. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055206869
Will try it out next week.

murpho999

May I ask why would you have a high tech machine like a pvr and then only use a low quality analogue connection? You will have about 18 channels and to be honest I find the picture quality very poor with NTL basic.

Digital TV would be the way to go if I were you, and if you did that then you might as well get their DVR, which will be guaranteed to work.

boardtc

murpho999 wrote: »

May I ask why would you have a high tech machine like a pvr and then only use a low quality analogue connection? You will have about 18 channels and to be honest I find the picture quality very poor with NTL basic.

Digital TV would be the way to go if I were you, and if you did that then you might as well get their DVR, which will be guaranteed to work.

This is news to me to be honest. I thought all NTL packages were digital? I just rang NTL to confirm and the said theri basic 18 channel packahe (with 80 extra channels i think she said) is digital. Can you clarify what you mean?

We spent a lot of money on the PVR a couple of years ago, so would be reluctant to not get more use from it....

pizzahead77

UPC offer both analogue and digital cable TV.

If you have just a normal coax cable connected to you TV etc without a NTL set top box then you have the "basic" analogue service which is now quite poor in quality.

The idea being that UPC are trying switch everyone over to the digital service where you use a STB - whether it is a normal digital or the DVR offering.

boardtc

So If I have the NTL STB/DVR I will get digital. Surely I can get digital if I run the coaxial through my PVR? I can hook into guideplus, etc as described.

pizzahead77

boardtc wrote: »

So If I have the NTL STB/DVR I will get digital. Surely I can get digital if I run the coaxial through my PVR? I can hook into guideplus, etc as decribed.

No, you will not get digital through your own PVR as the Digital signal is encrypted and you need a subscription and card to unencrypt it which will only work with UPC's boxes they own the boxes and cards

boardtc

Ta. My understanding now is that via the analogue signal I should be able to get teletext and guideplus working on my pvr using the described steps but the quality will not be as good [only advantage to STB/DVR over using one's own DVR] as if the digital signal was unscrambled.

Exploring the options...My pvr is my dvd player as well. Is it possible to split the ntl input and connect both my pvr and their dvr so I could record 2 different channels at the same time (in the same place) ?

pizzahead77

Yes, it is possible to record 2 separate programs at the same time using this setup but your own PVR will only be able to record one of the Analogue channels while the UPC DVR can record one of the Digital channels (which could be the digital version of the same analogue channel if you so wish)

boardtc

Good to know, thanks for taking the time to clear things for me. I get the impression the picture quality difference is big. Might be worth the £5 a month for their pvr, maybe I'll call and add that. I would need some kind of splitter I guess to hook both pvrs? NTL would hardly do that at installation...