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In the beginning, there was the VCR. People would often use it to record their favourite shows to watch again (and again), and some more-technically inclined even mastered its ability to timer record shows when they weren’t around. The picture was wobbly, the tapes quickly piled up, but it was all we had. Mostly though, people were slaves to the networks, and rarely did the VCR feature prominently in day-to-day TV viewing. Then came the Personal Video Recorder (PVR). Mums and wives and other double-X-chromosomed individuals could now program it to record TV with the touch of a button. We could watch what we wanted, when we wanted. We could pause and rewind live TV. We could even do away with all those piles of tapes. Or could we? Sooner or later, as I found out, every PVR (even Foxtel’s very capable iQ) is going to want to be married to a DVD recorder. If you’re starting out on this journey, read on to find out the least painful way to go about it.

Quick Links

• Disclaimer (Why Foxtel iQ?)
• Why a DVD Recorder?
• Choosing the Right Recorder
• Getting to Know Your Cables
• Connecting It Up
• Summary

Disclaimer (Why Foxtel iQ?)

Before going any further, let me say that this guide is directed particularly at Foxtel iQ owners (or “lenders” as it were). The reason for this is that I have an iQ, and this article is about my experience. I am not qualified to tell you how to hook up your Topfield or Sky+ or any other PVR. There is a lot of misinformation in forums around the net, mainly from people who mean well but know little. I do not wish to add to the confusion by talking about hardware I haven’t personally used.That said, much of this article is generalisable to other PVRs and set top boxes, including the myriad of non-iQ Foxtel and Austar receivers. If you skip the iQ specific stuff, you may still find what you are looking for here.

Why a DVD Recorder?

Back when all I had was regular Foxtel and a VCR, the VCR served mainly to record shows I couldn’t watch at the aired time. In fact, this is almost exclusively what it did. Upgrading to the iQ PVR replaced this function with what is probably the most elegant way available in Australia. No other service offers such comprehensive TV listings or ensures better picture and sound quality from Foxtel and some free-to-air stations. The trade-off was that I could no longer permanently archive shows or movies I particularly wanted to keep, or share with family and friends. Of course you can transfer video from your PVR to a VCR, but this seemed awfully sacrilegious. Enter the DVD Recorder.

Choosing the Right Recorder

When I finally decided the time was right to spend some money, I set my sights on the non-hard disk recorders. I figured I already had a hard disk inside iQ, and by far the most useful benefit of a HDD was for time shifting and temporary recordings. This is true, however two problems emerge: one is the rapidly dwindling range of HDD-less recorders, and second is their limited editing ability.

“Limited editing ability?”, I hear you say, “Why do I need editing ability?” To a degree you are correct. If all you need to do is transfer video to a more permanent location and you aren’t fussed with making it absolutely perfect, this may well suit. Additionally, if you’re after the simplest push-button option, this is again a good choice. However, with a HDD your archiving becomes much more flexible. For example, you can leave the recorder and PVR to talk to each other while you’re at work, and come home to all your shows backed up. Without a HDD, you’d be disc-swapping every hour or so. Secondly, you have more control in fine-tuning which bits get recorded and which don’t, to save precious disc space. Finally, if your PVR fills up, you can use the HDD recorder as additional temporary storage, without burning the contents to DVD.

Another consideration is whether to pay a few hundred dollars more for a digital tuner. The benefits of digital over analogue are obvious - clearer picture, no ghosting, widescreen, EPG support, and of course, future-proofing. In most developed countries, analogue TV is due to be switched off in the near future. If we were talking about the DVD Recorder being your primary access to TV, the choice would be a no-brainer. We are however, discussing the mating of a PVR (or other set top box) to the recorder. In this case, all you really need is the Line-In function of the DVD recorder, and chances are you can ignore its tuner entirely. There is of course an exception. If you have no other access to free-to-air TV (as is the case for Foxtel Satellite subscribers), then you will definitely want the best possible tuner inside your recorder.

Getting to Know Your Cables

A number of options exist for connecting A/V equipment, and any discussion would be incomplete without a short explanation of the cable types involved. Of relevance to Foxtel iQ users are the following:

Component. The native signal of DVD, component uses 3 RCA connectors (green, blue and red) over 75 ohm coaxial cables. Contrary to popular belief, it does not transmit the colours red, green and blue, but rather divides the signal into a black-and-white component (luminance, Y), and two colour difference components (Pb and Pr). Using component connections wherever possible will maximise picture quality.

To confuse matters, there is a connection type which does in fact transmit red, green and blue channels (RGB), and it uses the same cables as component. Foxtel iQ is capable of transmitting this signal, but many TVs are not capable of receiving it.

S-Video. This connection transmits two channels of data: brightness (Y) and colour (chrominance, C). Because it combines the colour signals of component into one channel, it is a slight compromise in colour reproduction while still ensuring sharp edges. The connector is a 4-pin Mini-DIN type. S-Video is typically the best input available on DVD recorders.

Composite. The grandfather of the group, composite, as the name suggests, combines the three signals of component into one channel. While this was more than adequate in the days of low-resolution VHS, this connection doesn’t have sufficient bandwidth to faithfully carry high quality DVD or digital TV images. The result is often tolerable, but hardly optimal.

Unless you have an old TV, there should be no reason to use this connection in your set up.

Analogue Audio (L and R). Sound is transmitted via the ubiquitous red and white RCA cables. Because no DVD recorders currently support digital sound input, this will be the connection of choice for sound.

SCART. I’ve left this connector to last because it alone causes more confusion that just about any other issue when wiring up Foxtel to a DVD recorder. SCART is a 21-pin connector which solves much of the mess involved in A/V installations by combining left and right audio and all of the above video outputs into one rather large cable. It is widely used in Europe but not particularly well-known in Australia. The standard SCART specification is intended to carry RGB and composite video only, but various unofficial (but widely supported) modifications have also allowed S-Video (Y/C) and component (YPbPr). As a result, you may come across a combination of cable adapters to connect SCART to any one of composite, S-Video, component, RGB and audio left and right.

Because the unofficial modifications use SCART’s RGB pins to transmit composite and S-Video, only one of these outputs can work at any one time. Foxtel iQ (and many other set top boxes and PVRs) give you a choice in their system menu as to which of SCARTs outputs you wish to use. More on this later.

The only way to extract component signals out of Foxtel iQ is through its SCART connector. As such, the most important (and expensive) piece of cabling will be a SCART to Component and Audio adapter. Note that SCART is directional, which means that both SCART to A/V and A/V to SCART cables exist, and are not interchangeable. Be sure to ask the salesman if in doubt. Another thing to realise is that while component (YPbPr) and RGB are different and incompatible, they share the same pins on the SCART connector. As such, either a SCART to RGB or SCART to Component cable will work.

Connecting It Up

There are three connections that need to be considered when hooking up Foxtel iQ and your DVD recorder:

1. Foxtel to TV
2. DVD recorder to TV
3. Foxtel to DVD recorder

Let’s take these one step at a time.

Foxtel to TV. Because most of your TV viewing will be directly from Foxtel (live or recorded on iQ), this is the connection that will be most important in terms of picture quality. As such, you will want to use the best possible connection that your TV will accept - on a new TV, this will be COMPONENT. To get component out of Foxtel, you will need to purchase a SCART to A/V cable which has 5 RCA connectors (3 for video, 2 for audio). You may use a video only cable (SCART to 3 RCA) if you use a digital sound output to an A/V Receiver. If your TV only has S-Video inputs, then you will need to find a SCART to S-Video and Audio cable.

If you need to use composite to connect Foxtel to your TV, then I suggest buying a new TV.

To make the SCART connector work, you will need to change a setting on your Foxtel box. Press “Setup” on the remote, and go to:

System Setup > System Settings > Picture Settings


and change “Video Output” to YUV (for component) or S-Video.

Note that this is best done by connecting Foxtel to your TV temporarily via S-Video or composite to make the changes, and then switching back to your TV’s component input.

Chatter on internet forums suggests that not all Foxtel boxes support outputting video as component (YUV). I have used both a standard (non-iQ) cable box, and an iQ with this configuration and have had no problems. As I said in the disclaimer, I cannot guarantee that this will work on your specific box. My iQ is manufactured by Pace, and carries a “Hardware version” of TDC460NF.4.2. If you cannot get a component signal out of your Foxtel box, you still have options to optimise your picture quality:

• RGB to Component converters can be purchased for a reasonable sum, and will give you the best outcome
• A SCART to S-Video and Audio cable will come a close second

DVD recorder to TV. To get the most out of your DVD recorder, you should connect it to your TV via COMPONENT cables. If you have no free component inputs on your TV after connecting Foxtel, S-Video is an acceptable compromise. Despite what salesmen will say, the picture quality difference between component and S-Video is not great. An alternative is to use a component video switcher, which will allow you to connect multiple component sources into one TV input. Many of these come with remote controls and are a more than adequate solution.

Foxtel to DVD recorder. Now for the fun part. Most DVD recorders will only accept S-Video or composite inputs, and if you’ve been following so far, you will know which one I’d go for. S-Video is really the only choice here, and will produce the best-possible recordings. Foxtel iQ has a dedicated S-Video connector which is on all of the time. In other words, a signal is being sent concurrently through the SCART connector, the S-Video connector and the less-significant composite connector. This is an important concept to realise and one that many people are not aware of.

Summary

Foxtel iQ (or any PVR for that matter) is the best thing to happen to TV since Nikola Tesla, but most people will want to combine it with a DVD recorder. Unless you are on a tight budget, a hard-disk DVD recorder will give you the most flexibility, even if you seldom record directly to it from live TV.

For the best result

1. Connect Foxtel to your TV via a SCART to A/V cable (or digital audio to a receiver if you prefer)
2. Connect DVD recorder to your TV via a Component cable
3. Connect Foxtel to your DVD recorder via S-Video and left and right audio

This will give you the freedom to watch Foxtel without turning on the DVD recorder, and will give you the sharpest possible image. When you decide to store a show from your PVR onto DVD (or just shift it to the DVD recorder’s HDD to free up space), simply fire up your DVD recorder, set it to the S-Video Line 1 channel, and press record.