Burn from DVR to DVD burner?

[sm100378]

I have an HDTV and an HD-DVD DVR. If I dont have an external hard drive to attach to the SATA out on the DVR, how can I burn my recorded shows from DvR to DVD burner if my computer is connected to the TV?

Thx.

[sgtspector]

I use the analog video and audio out jacks and connect them to my digital camcorder in passthrough mode which digitizes the signal and records it on my computer. A digitizer card or usb device will do the same thing. Granted there is some quality lost but I can then edit the video and add titles or whatever i want to it and make a dvd.

[Hi Ho]

What kind of DVR do you have? Is it from your cable/satellite company? Is it a Tivo?

[sm100378]

I re-read my posting and have made it easier to understand:


UPDATE: *Corrected Terminology* I have an HDTV (referring to either HD content or regular content) and an DVR. If I dont have an external hard drive to attach to the SATA-out on the DVR (which is one of the options of saving shows from DVR to external SATA), how can I burn or save my recorded shows from DvR to DVD burner or at least to my C: drive (or have visibility to DVR hard drive) on computer if I am able to connect my CPU to my TV via VGA cable (meaning I can use my TV as the monitor and having my desktop attached to the VGA cable, and I can surf internet, etc)

I do have audio/video out on the DVR as well as firewire(but my mobo does not support it since it came with the case), sata, s-video, and VGA. I dont have a digital camcorder to use. What type of usb device are you referring to? I use Nero and hopfully will be able to edit out commercials, etc.

I have Comcast cable and use a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD


Thank you.

[sgtspector]

I have Time warner with the exact same converter box. I have been unable to find any info on using a direct connection from the box to the pc in order to copy the recorded content over to dvd. What you would is a video capture device. They can be pci (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815116633) or usb (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815116613). Keep in mind these are just examples. I am not recommending either device as I have no experince with them.

[glc]

If the DVR has Firewire, can't you just put a cheap Firewire PCI card in the computer?

[sgtspector]

I cant find anything definitive on it but i think the firewire port is an "inny" not an "outy".

[Hi Ho]

If you have a DVR from your cable company then you are out of luck as far as digital copies go. You will have to use a capture card on a PC or a set-top DVD recorder. My personal recommendation would be a set-top DVD recorder. They are very simple to use and much less time consuming than doing the same with a PC. Panasonic makes some very nice ones.

Tivo DVR's have a function that allows one to copy recorded programs to a PC over a network and then burn them to DVD. I have done that and it worked well but it was rather time consuming as well.

[sm100378]

So, do you think this is more difficult that one would think because it might have to do with copyright issues? Frustrating....

[sgtspector]

I believe they don't want you to be able to digitally get the video over to your pc. From what I understand the video on the dvr is in a proprietary format to boot, so even if you could get it over there you would have to convert it to something the pc would be able to decode. The answer is analog back to digital if you want the content off of your dvr. Or get a Tivo or a dvd recorder, I guess.