Mintek High Definition Personal Video Recorder manual Can I Record AN HD Program Using MY VCR?

FREQUENTLY

ASKED QUESTIONS

WHAT’S THE RESOLUTION ON VIDÉOTRON’S HD CHANNELS?

CAN I CHOOSE THE RESOLUTION OF THE SIGNAL I RECEIVE?

Television stations decide which format a program will be broadcast in – although this doesn’t mean all of a station’s programs will necessarily be broadcast in the same format.

It’s important to make the distinction between the image resolution you receive from a station, and the format your television displays it in. For example: if a station broadcasts a program at 480i and you have a 1080i TV, it will convert the image to a uniform 1080 on-screen lines by filling in the missing pixels. The program’s “real” resolution, however, stays unchanged at 480i.

CAN I RECORD AN HD PROGRAM USING MY VCR?

Some Vidéotron HD terminals let you record HD programs on your VCR. Of course, the VCR will have to decrease the resolution in order to record it, so the recording will be in standard format. To preserve image resolution when recording an HD program, it is suggested you use Vidéotron’s 8010 HD PVR.

I’VE NOTICED SEVERAL CAPTIONING OPTIONS IN MY HD TERMINAL’S GENERAL SETTINGS, SUCH AS FONT SIZE AND COLOUR. WHY ARE MY CAPTIONS ALWAYS IN BLACK AND WHITE?

Make sure the Captioning Options in your General Settings are set to Personalized. Custom font size and colour are only available for programs broadcast using the new digital captioning standard, EIA-708B. Programs broadcast using the old captioning standard, 608, do support captions, but only in black and white. A program’s captioning standard is decided by the television station.

WHAT DOES AN HDTV’S “NATIVE FORMAT” REFER TO?

As you know, digital television programs can be broadcast in a variety of formats (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, etc.)

–but TVs are designed and built to display images in only one of these formats. This format is the TV’s native format. This is why HDTVs must be equipped to convert the formats of the programs they receive.

HDTVs are often classified according to their native formats. Today’s models are designed to display images at either 720p or 1080i. If an LCD TV with a native format of 720p receives a signal from a television station at 480i, it converts it to its native format: 720p. To do this, it “fills in” the incoming image’s missing pixels, bringing it up to its display capacity. The resulting image will always be in the same format: your TV’s native format.

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