mahidarkhak

Hi,
I was wonderring whether any of you has figured this out or not:

1) I have a 32" sony HDTV. It has SEVEN (7) Video INPUT (line in ) options:
Inputs: 2 component video, 4 composite, HDMI, 3 S-video; outputs: audio.

2) I got a DVR/HDTV digial cable box from cox cable company.
they connected my digital cable to VIDEO# 5 via component cables!
So unlike old days the cable is connected directly from cable box to TV.

I asked how I should be able to record programs on VCR. They told me I should use VIDEO OUT and extra video IN audio directly to sony VCR. As you might imagine it did not work.

They charged me an installation fee, while they were simply not enough informed of what they need to do!. it took them 3 hrs to install it while i could do it in 5 minute.


My questions are:

A) Regarding HDTV:


A1)Is it normal that the screen type and height keep changing ? ( Like for late late night show on NBC, most of the scenes are shown in widescreen format but keep changing the hight while commercials are in Full Screen (regular format). This happened even when i was getting NBC program from a regular old Antena!


A2) I checked my HD channels and one of them If I do not use the "Picture" Zoom option on my TV remote, i would get it in a much smaller size than my whole screen like 20" while my screen is 32".
Is Itr problem with my setup?

A3) Could I be able to to connect my DVD player to video lines 1-4 (which instruction manual says are for VCR) via composite cables (1 Video , 2 Audio cables), and use the "Video Out for video editing) on the back of my TV, to transfer some of the family DVDs that were send to me by my siblings and convert them to VCR tapes? The problem is the IInstruction manual says: Video editing can be used only when the Input lines are Channels "Video Ins 1-3", and based on the manual these are only for VCR input lines and For DVD player connections they say I need to use componenbt connections (channels video inm 5 - 7, which cannot be used as the input lines in conjuction with "video edition" out connections.!

Any suggestion?

B) Regarding the Digital DVr/HDTV Box:

The Cable componey used the component cable (video line 5) as input to my TV.

Is there any way that I can use my VCR to tape TV programs by somehow connecting it to the digital boc rather than using the DVR feature? my problem is I wanna be able to watch the recorded shows with my other TV which has no DVR box connected to. Is it legal and doable?
If it is legal can I do this:

Try to use a split on my audio out connection on the box.
while the components (Yb) Ya etc.. video out lines (3)
and audio out lines (2) directly will be connected to TV?

I wanna use Video out (VCR) connection and split of Audio outs to VCR and try see if it records anything!.
But do I need to set My VCR to channel 3 or 4 ? in old days # 4 was for cable, # 3 was for antena.
BTW i configured my TV with no cable so only channel i get on TV is # 3! I guess I should change it again somehow. right?
But when i set TV in video # 5, i get all cable channels!



But with my new TV and setup i have had no lucks to records even TV (none HD channels programs) on my VCR at all. it would not show any thing except like when there is no connection. I do not get even a fuzzy or mixed-coloured picture!


Any recommendation is appreciated !


My last question is: how simple is it to connect the DVR/HD digital box to computer to either add to DVR storage lcapacity or use the DVR box as a coinnection to watch some of the computer video files on my TV?


BTW the DVR IMHO is useless. I was out the weekend and tried to record some sport programs! When i came back i found only 3 most recent ones were recorded and it seems the space limit on the DVR box aint as much as the claim its and programs kept been recorded on each other.

Anybody experienced same problem or am I doing something wrong?



thanks again.
and I really appreciate it.

BTW again I want to emphacise I do not want to do anything illegal, so if any of the subjects I asked is an illegal task please let me know as I dont want to go through headache. I even never downloaded mp3 musics.

For me it is not worth the hassles.


Regards