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Can a DTV>Analog converter box be run along with your HDTV?

B

brian65

I miss the OTA EPG guide info that was offered by the converter boxes. Many newer HDTV's do not have any EPG info, other than the show you are currently watching. (Legal problems, I heard)

I was wondering if there would be a way to route an OTA antenna signal through the DTV box and then send it to the TV so it's OTA EPG info could be pulled up?

It seems that if you would insert the DTV box between the OTA antenna and the TV there would probably be an issue between the TV's tuner and the DTV box's tuner. Could the DTV box be routed into the TV using another 'Input' and used when needed as just another Input device?

Thanks
 
brian65 said:
I miss the OTA EPG guide info that was offered by the converter boxes. Many newer HDTV's do not have any EPG info, other than the show you are currently watching. (Legal problems, I heard)

I was wondering if there would be a way to route an OTA antenna signal through the DTV box and then send it to the TV so it's OTA EPG info could be pulled up?

It seems that if you would insert the DTV box between the OTA antenna and the TV there would probably be an issue between the TV's tuner and the DTV box's tuner. Could the DTV box be routed into the TV using another 'Input' and used when needed as just another Input device?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Nothing stops you from hooking up a DTV Converter box like you would a XBOX or DVD Player etc.. However you would have to tune to that INPUT on your HDTV and then change channels etc via the DTV Converter box remote.. ALSO you would likely loose quality as most DTV Converters do not put out true HD Signals but down res them to Composite output.
 
I hooked up a converter box (set in widescreen mode) to a VCR, which was connected to my HDTV. It worked, but the picture is crap, since the DTV converter box is standard definition. I installed the TV Droid app for my phone to compensate for loss of EPG.
 
I wouldn't use the dtv box to actually watch the ota program, I just want to view it's epg guide for upcoming programs. I currently use the TV's tuner to watch the local sub-channels (using my ota antenna feed to the tv using it's Ant/Coax input).

The vcr method might work, but I'd rather have the DTV box input through some other Input directly into the TV. My sat tv is using an HDMI input. My OTA sub-channels are using the TV's Ant/Coax input.

Wi-Fi, smart phones, or anything using the internet are not options. I'm only looking for a fix using the DTV box.
 
brian65 said:
I wouldn't use the dtv box to actually watch the ota program, I just want to view it's epg guide for upcoming programs. I currently use the TV's tuner to watch the local sub-channels (using my ota antenna feed to the tv using it's Ant/Coax input).

The vcr method might work, but I'd rather have the DTV box input through some other Input directly into the TV. My sat tv is using an HDMI input. My OTA sub-channels are using the TV's Ant/Coax input.

Wi-Fi, smart phones, or anything using the internet are not options. I'm only looking for a fix using the DTV box.
Click to expand...

Hook the DTV box up to one of your inputs on your TV -- What you do to get antenna into the DTV box and the HD TV is Get a splitter.. feed the Antenna into the Splitter then from each output on the splitter, feed one output to the HDTV's RF input for the built in tuner then the other output from the splitter to the DTV Box so it gets the antenna signal...

You then would flip to the TV to the input you have your "DTV BOX" on and check the guide -- find what you want to watch and then flip back to your TV's built in tuner to "watch"
 
I use a Channel Master CM-7000PAL OTA DVR which has a schedule capability. It is a bit different than the better known Tivo in that it schedules recording by time and not title. Therefore, if a program begins late or runs over it will cut off those minutes but that is a rare occurrence. This DVR records in source format, that is either HD or SD according to the broadcast format and either digital or analog.

I also use Channel Master CM-7000 OTA converter box on several analog sets (not to be confused with the DVR of similar name). It also has a program schedule feature. This converter box outputs only analog format.
 
Yeah, broadcasters are legally required to transmit a full, accurate Electronic Program Guide, but the TV set makers can ignore them. And, since you can't "test drive" a TV set, hooked to an antenna in a store, you get stuck with something less than what you wanted. ::)
 
xmusicmatt said:
brian65 said:
I wouldn't use the dtv box to actually watch the ota program, I just want to view it's epg guide for upcoming programs. I currently use the TV's tuner to watch the local sub-channels (using my ota antenna feed to the tv using it's Ant/Coax input).

The vcr method might work, but I'd rather have the DTV box input through some other Input directly into the TV. My sat tv is using an HDMI input. My OTA sub-channels are using the TV's Ant/Coax input.

Wi-Fi, smart phones, or anything using the internet are not options. I'm only looking for a fix using the DTV box.
Click to expand...

Hook the DTV box up to one of your inputs on your TV -- What you do to get antenna into the DTV box and the HD TV is Get a splitter.. feed the Antenna into the Splitter then from each output on the splitter, feed one output to the HDTV's RF input for the built in tuner then the other output from the splitter to the DTV Box so it gets the antenna signal...

You then would flip to the TV to the input you have your "DTV BOX" on and check the guide -- find what you want to watch and then flip back to your TV's built in tuner to "watch"
Click to expand...

xmusicmatt.

That's the solution (in theory, so far) I came up with after looking at the available connections on the TV (and the DTV box). The one DTV box I looked at also had three rca outputs (2-audio, 1-video) in addition to the standard ant-coax outlet. I figured I might be able to just use the rca-video outlet and connect that to one of the tv's rca inputs.

Of the three boxes we bought, the one from Radio Shack had the best EPG, but I can't find it (yet). I'll use that one once I find it (I cant recall it's brand name). It was definitely better than the Motorola and Insignia boxes.

kenglish....Yeah. My TCL hdtv has a decent enough epg. It was bought two years ago. I wish you could 'test drive' the epg's the tv's have but when I asked the sales people about the tv's epg's I just got an "uhhhh".

I eventually found a very good chart of each DTV box's epg capabilities on wikipedia.

Thanks for helping me figure this out.

My new tv that lacks epg is a Vizio. It looks like there are several other brands out there now that lack it so I don't feel quite so bad.
 
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