Grass Valley ADVC HD50 to record DirecTV over HDMI to JVC D-VHS?
 

Hey everyone, I am one of the few people to own a JVC HM DT100U DVHS deck with the Integrated Tuner built into it. The integrated tuner can only record basic channels from 2 - 68. However, I have been reading up on a device, known as the Grass Valley ADVC HD50 which can convert an HDMI signal and send it out as a firewire. I happen to have a Direct TV box, and was wondering if it was possible if I could send the HDMI output of my Direct TV box into the ADVC HD50 and send the firewire output into my DVHS deck.

Also, I know that there are other alternatives using computers, and capture cards, however, I have had bad experiences in the past with Hard drives failing on me, and I still think that video tape is still a good back up. Does anyone think this can be done? I am willing to spend the money on the Grass Valley ADVC HD50 instead of going the route of getting Verizon Fios or getting a 169 time mod. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciative.

Will it work? Maybe. Or maybe not.

Satellite and cable providers generally push out HD video that comes equipped with HDCP over HDMI.
"HDCP" = HD copy protection.

If your DirecTV satellite box outputs unencrypted HDMI video, then maybe it could be captured (recorded), and save as a video file somehow. Or in this case, pushed through an analog capturing setup.

Full specs of the Grass Valley Canopus ADVC HD50 are here: http://www.grassvalley.com/products/advc-hd50
It supports the following output specs:

• HDV Mode-1 (720p): 1280x720/59.94p, 1280x720/50p
• HDV Mode-2 (1080i): 1440x1080/59.94i, 1440x1080/50i
• IEC61883-4 MPEG Transport Stream

Your proposed workflow is as follows:

• Satellite HDMI (digital) @ HD resolutions >
  • Canopus ADVC HD50, with output @ HDV HD resolutions
    • JVC D-VHS recorder .... that can accept HDV resolutions? The 720p50 is valid, maybe?

I'm not sure if this is going to work. What input specs can the JVC accept?

And again, this assumes lack of copy protection on the HDMI output. It can go both ways.

The JVC HM DT100U has a integrated tuner and a firewire input. If it can accept an input from a Fios receiver, shouldn't it accept the HDMI signal that is sent out through the firewire?

Maybe. I don't really know. That's a somewhat exotic workflow, and it's compounded by the potential for copyright protection, as well as the potential issues with HDV native resolutions vs the native "true" HD resolutions of the source/destination video. This is one of those things where you probably won't know until you give it a try.

And let us know how it works. Or doesn't, if that's the case.