Video question

[skeith]

I currently have cable but do not use the cable box- I just hooked the wire up to my DVD recorder and then hooked that to the TV. I may have to get a cable box and am being told that by using the cable box I will be unable to record a program while watching another.

Is this true (and if so, why can I do it wihtout the box) or is it a way to get me to buy their TIVO?

[erhodes]

I currently have cable but do not use the cable box- I just hooked the wire up to my DVD recorder and then hooked that to the TV. I may have to get a cable box and am being told that by using the cable box I will be unable to record a program while watching another.

Is this true (and if so, why can I do it wihtout the box) or is it a way to get me to buy their TIVO?

The ability to record one program and watch another has nothing directly to do with TIVO.

A cable box only feeds one channel at a time to your tv (or vcr, dvd, etc., if you have such a device in the loop). The cable box accepts the signal from the cable provider, which has all of the channels to which you subscribe, but it only puts out the channel you select to watch. So there is no choice of a second channel to watch while you record the first. Similarly, there is no choice of a second channel for picture-in-picture. Cable companies used to get around these limitations by providing subscribers with A/B switches, where the "B" input could accept another feed, either from a second box or from the regular antenna. There may be additional options available but, bottom line, you need at least two distinct channel outputs or you need the composite signal directly from you cable line...which is what you are using now.

TIVO is just a particular kind of video recording device. It would only allow you to record one program and watch another...assuming you are using a conventional cable box...if it could record and playback two separate programs simultaneosly. I have no experience with TIVO but I don't know of it being able to do this. It would be quite a trick.

[skeith]

Thanks Ed

what is interesting to me is that with my current set up without the cable box, I am able to record a program while watching a different one.

[J Larsen]

The cable carries all the channels at once, just like the air around you carries all radio stations at once. In principal, the TV can pick out any number of stations at once. So in principal you can watch one channel and record another or have picture in picture, even without an external switch, depending on the limitations of the equipment you own.

[Peter Friedman]

I have a Comcast cable box that combines digital, high definition and their version of TIVO (it is has a Motorola label on it). This box allows me to record two separate programs simultaneously.