Hi Fellow Outlaws,

I'm now getting into the 21st century: I just had to replace my circa 2002 Toshiba 36HF12 36" CRT television with a new Samsung UN65H7150 65" flat panel HDTV.

I'm currently using an Outlaw 990 and sending Component video to the HDTV. Looks OK, but I was told — and agree — that I need an AV Preamp with HDMI, so I'm probably going to buy an Outlaw 975.

I also have Verizon FIOS HD service and use a Toshiba DVR620KU to record programs to DVD. Basically, I've got the analog outputs from the FIOS box going to the 990 and have analog output running from the 990 to the Toshiba on Video 1 for recording, according to the 990 manual. Works fine.

I want to continue recording programs from my FIOS box on my Toshiba DVD recorder and run everything through the 975.

Is that possible? The Page 43 of the 975 manual discusses recording audio sources, but there's nothing about recording video sources.

So now I read the 975 manual and it looks like I'm going to have to do something like the following to continue to record:

Connect FIOS Box up to 975 using both an HDMI input and analog inputs on the 975. Question: which analog inputs should I use on the 975? I suppose these will be Composite video and the L & R Audio, but which set on the 975?

Connect Toshiba DVD Recorder HDMI output to 975 and connect some analog outputs from the 975 to the Toshiba's inputs.
Question again: which analog outputs on the 975? On the 990, only the Video 1 outputs allow full AV recording, but I can't find anything about this in the 975 manual.

I presume with the FIOS box connected to the 975 with both HDMI and Analog, I'd use the 975 menu to select which input source to use, e.g. HDMI when I want to watch TV, analog when I want to watch and record?

Anyone done this and have any advice?

Many thanks in advance!

;-) G

You could use the 990 to send DVI video to the TV via DVI/HDMI adapter. You would have to input to the 990 using HDMI/DVI adapter from the FIOS box. That would get you 1080P video to the TV. As far as audio goes an optical or coax input to the 990 from the FIOS box would get you the best audio in your current setup. I use an OPPO BDP-83 to feed my 990 1080P video and the 7.1 outputs to the 990 analog inputs which gets me all the high end codecs.

You are correct that the best solution is probably a new processor like the 975 however no new processor or disc player will allow video quality above 480P to be output on analog connection so the best video recording will be limited.

As far as the connections to the DVD recorder, I think your logic holds up but,(there's always a but)you may run into issues with HDCP connection protocols. The HDCP is the roadblock to allowing digital recording of programs and movies in the high quality formats. As long as the two paths don't cross somewhere in the video path I think it will work, but who knows. If you are happy with the current audio setup and just want to get better video to your TV use the DVI connections through the 990, or go straight to the TV with HDMI from FIOS and audio to the 990 for processing.

Hi XenonMan!

Thanks for taking the time to review my post and to reply. I appreciate your input.

You are correct that the recording is always going to be a problem, meaning that playback to my new 1080P HDTV is also going to be problematic with respect to quality. Upscaling can only do so much.

I also tweaked some settings on the HDTV that have vastly improved the picture from the FIOS cable box. It's really quite awesome: I was watching the F1 Practice sessions for the Australian Grand Prix on NBCSN last night and it was like being there. I also tried some commercial DVDs on my older Samsung DVD player and they look phenomenal: it's using a Component video connection from to the 900.

I had a chat with Ben from Outlaw today: Ben's a great pre-sales technical support guy. It was educational for me and also helped to clarify my thinking on this topic.

One thing I did not know that Ben told me was that both HDMI and Component Video support 1080p, hence why my commercial DVDs look so good. Therefore I probably won't get any better picture from my Samsung DVD player by going to a 975.

I just checked and my Toshiba DVD Recorder's output is also connected to my 990 with Component video cables. The 480p "analog" DVD-RW recordings I'm making with the Toshiba look OK on the HDTV, but nowhere near as good as commercial DVDs on my Samsung DVD player. Therefore, I have to find out if the 480p recording is being upscaled by either the Toshiba DVD recorder or the TV, or if there's some "upscale" setting I need to check in one of those places to see if I can get them looking a bit better. The Toshiba may only upscale on its HDMI out port: I'll need to check the manual. If not the Toshiba, then I'd think the TV would upscale the signal, but again I don't know and have to check the manual.

Worst case, I can live with the way my Toshiba DVD recordings look.

The 975 does have some advantages: HDMI simplifies cabling it is a lighter, smaller box than the 990, perhaps even more energy efficient (I can check the latter in the manuals). It's also a bit "future proof" and gives me more options, e.g. HDMI ARC if I enabled the Smart TV features of my new HDTV for Netflix.

The big remaining question is how to record from the FIOS cable box with the 975. Per my discussion with Ben, the answer seems to be:

1. Connect the FIOS box to the 975 via HDMI.
2. Connect the analog outputs of the FIOS box to the analog inputs of the Toshiba DVD recorder.
3. Connect the Toshiba DVD recorder output to the 975 via HDMI.

The question is if the FIOS cable box cuts off its analog outputs when its HDMI output port is used.

- If both the HDMI and analog outputs of the FIOS box work simultaneously, then the setup above would permit me to continue to record, it's just that the signal I'm recording would go directly from the FIOS box to the DVD recorder; today it travels FIOS > 990 > DVD recorder.

- If the FIOS box cuts off its analog outputs when it's connected via HDMI, then I'm either sunk or have to find some kind of HDMI splitter solution.

I can download the manual for the FIOS cable box to see if it has the answer. If I find it, I'll post it back here. If someone else knows, it would be great if they'd post it here. I might also try the FIOS forums.

Again, many thanks!

It may be that the TV can upscale the video but in most cases the TVs don't have the necessary processing power. A new processor will simplify some things but may limit your ability to record. In any case you won't be any worse or better off.