Recording problem with Liteon DVR

[Midlife]

I have a LiteOn LVW-5115 DVR set up through a Denon AVR-2105 Receiver to a Mitsubishi projection TV (WS-65819). Not sure how or why, but I am now unable to record programming that has been stored on my DVR Cable Box. Playing DVDs with this set-up is working fine.

To record with the LiteOn I would set the TV to the input that shows a picture at the DVR, then turn on the LiteOn and set the Receiver to VCR1 (which is the input/output for the DVR to the Receiver). The LiteOn "Guider" should show the DTV or recorded picture as played through the DVR, but it now just shows the DTV picture that is my standard DTV viewing source through cable or recorded cable box shows. >>>>> When I switch to the input that shows the DVR image (same as the DTV image) that picture is there but rolls constantly), and (as I said) is not showing in the Guider window no matter what LiteOn input I choose.

I did have a repair guy out here several months ago for something speaker related and he fixed this too (it was happening at that time too). It's apparently a setting somewhere, because I didn't change any cabling.

Any ideas appreciated. I'm happy to provide any further information as best I can.

[Midlife]

First................ sorry for posting dupes. Not really sure how that happened.

I'm reading another topic here topic called "Hook DVD recorder up to record from satellite?" It appears the response may be of use to me since the poster is trying to record to a DVR from a DVR cable box (same as me). My cable box is digital (aren't they all now?)

In my situation, though, the VCR is connected to the digital cable box THROUGH a Denon receiver and only RCA cables are used. This works for playing DVDs but it may be part or all of the problem with recording (although............. I do believe this system worked earlier with RCAs). Anyway............... the LiteOn unit does not have an S-Video capacity but it does have COMPOSITE 'in' jacks. The receiver does NOT appear to have separate composite ins or outs, but I could be missing something on that.

Should the connection from the receiver back to the DVR be ONLY S-Video or COMPOSITE and NOT RCA???? In the case of composite - can I use the RCA cable in the composite inputs, or is that a different type of cable altogether?

I'll try anything.

Thanks.

[admin]

You almost need a control -- a constant for an experiment. Another DVD recorder would be good to have around, for testing what's wrong.

It may even be an issue with the receiver's distribution, or the cables themselves.

I see posts in various forums, where people like to guess that it's copy protection. However, I'm not aware of any cable or satellite provider that is actually using the broadcast flags. You can read more about that at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_flag. For one thing, it would go against the spirit of the Sony v Universal "Betamax case" where the Supreme Court upheld the consumer's right to record and timeshift TV programs. EFF has been at the forefront of fighting any limitations of this: http://www.eff.org/issues/broadcast-flag. The flag was tossed out in the ruling discussed at http://www.eff.org/cases/ala-v-fcc

So copy protection is out.

Some devices are easily confused -- Toshiba and Sony DVD recorders, for example -- thinking they see broadcast flags or analog copy protection where non exists. But this is a LiteOn, and I doubt that's the case here either. However, the received may be mucking the signal up a bit, which could cause issues.

"RCA" is a misnomer. The red/white audio cables are indeed called "RCA audio cables", but "stereo audio cables" is more common since RCA is a trademarked name. The name "RCA" comes the company that invented the socket and wire type: RCA. But the video cable is not RCA -- it's a "composite" cable, as it carries composite luma+chroma together on a single carrier. This is the yellow wire. While some cheap cables are the same wiring for all 3 cables, better ones may have stronger shielding or wire quality of the video cable.

Component is the RGB connector, three wires that also connect with an RCA-style connector, but the wires are generally much higher grade (or at least, they should be).

You generally cannot "crossover" your connection. In other words, s-video in must be s-video out, or composite in must be composite out. Most devices give unstable signals if a different output is used from the input. A receiver is a dumb device, so it will most likely screw up the video signal on a crossover connection.

Not sure if I answered you, but hopefully that helped?

[kpmedia]

Quote:

I've been trying to figure this out but still do not see a source picture in the LiteOn Guider window that used to show the picture coming through to the TV Monitor. The LiteOn is hooked up to the Receiver through the VCR2 loop (their manual says any VCR loop is all you need). My guess is I have an input set incorrectly but can't figure out which one or where or how to fix it.

Can you sketch a diagram of the COMPLETE a/v setup you have? Then post it as an attached image to a new post in this thread. That might help.

Quote:

Neighbors are all computer geeks, not A/V guys

Hey, at least you're wise enough to know that knowing something about computers doesn't mean a person knows everything about computers -- i.e., a C++ programmer isn't the same as a InDesign page layout artist or CAD expert, even though all of them use computers in their daily jobs!

In the same line of thought, just because a computer is a technical gadget/doodad, it doesn't mean that they'll know about a video gadget/doodad, such as this DVR issue you're having.

I've had people ask me silly things like: "Hey, you know about all that technical stuff, what do you know about computers in cars?"
Really? You ask a writer/photographer/videographer about the internal engine and workings of a car? Seriously? Yes, I use computers, but who doesn't?
You may as well ask a random person!

Sorry, hand to rant.

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