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picture quality
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Posted by: Splunk

I'm looking into Tivo. What is the pic quality as compared to my VHS at SP or better?

I've read that the conversion to add more drive space is fairly simple if you're technically inclined and computer literate. T or F?

What size drives can be added and how much time do they add/drive or /G?
Can a Tivo have mixed "quality" recordings on it?

Posted by: mdscott

1) TiVo at "Best" played through S-Video is significantly better (IMO) than VHS at SP.

2) T -- look at the materials in the TiVo Upgrade Center forum; Read the sticky threads at the top.

2) TiVo can use about 137 GB per drive (more with hacking the kernel); My 80+120 SA reports 249 hrs at Basic.

mds

Posted by: ccwf

You can select a quality setting for each recording. They do not have to be all the same.

In general, video quality should be as good as to or even better than (but different than) an S-VHS system.

Posted by: NikonMac

I'm new to Tivo(receiving a unit tomorrow in conjunction with digital cable), and new to the forum, and I appreciate the small amount of info on this particular post(s). I'm picture quality "picky" and record programs on SVHS for the same reason, and I had been wondering how the playback quality on the "best" setting compares to SVHS. Thanks for the info.

Posted by: Sopranoman

I would like to ask all the TiVo SA people users how is the channel hopping? I mean with the TiVo going thru the Cable Box, is it slower?

Posted by: gfb107

Channel surfing with a TiVo is definitely slower that just using a cable box. However, most TiVo users quickly stop channel surfing. Once you've got your TiVo setup to record the shows you want, you quickly find you only watch recorded shows, and never watch live anymore.

Posted by: gfb107

quote:
Originally posted by NikonMac
I'm new to Tivo(receiving a unit tomorrow in conjunction with digital cable), and new to the forum, and I appreciate the small amount of info on this particular post(s). I'm picture quality "picky" and record programs on SVHS for the same reason, and I had been wondering how the playback quality on the "best" setting compares to SVHS. Thanks for the info.

Most people feel that Best is better than SVHS, but that is subjective, and you'll have to make your own decision. Note that because of the difference in technology, the recording quality is different than SVHS.

Posted by: Nauticus

I recently compared all 4 picture qualities of Tivo and find that the 3 highest quality recording modes are, even when scrutinizing the picture, basically indistinguishable. With the lowest quality I discerned a faint “checkerboard” pattern, sometimes, when the image changed, but even images viewed on Pause were still, basically, excellent. In a pinch I wouldn’t hesitate to use either of the 2 lowest recording modes.

Subjectively I would say that the 2 highest recording modes are Perfect (the same as the TV picture), and the 3rd highest being “almost perfect”. I.E., Tivo has pretty good picture quality! (I’m on Comcast cable.)

Since there is therefore no advantage to using the highest level of recording quality, using the 2nd highest as the default recording mode generously extends the recording capacity of the machine beyond what one might expect.

Posted by: coldtoes

quote:
Originally posted by Nauticus
Subjectively I would say that the 2 highest recording modes are Perfect (the same as the TV picture), and the 3rd highest being “almost perfect”.

I would say the accuracy of this statement depends on what you're watching. For the majority of my TV watching (dramas), I can't tell the difference between High and Best. (Also using Comcast digital.) But for sports; high-action, fast movement shots; or anything with lots of flashing lights (although I don't watch music videos or WWE), I see a lot more pixellization at High than Best. We use High as our default, but record all sports on Best.

Posted by: devdogaz

Anything animated will also bring out the worst in video compression. If you record animated shows, you will want to do this on a fairly high setting.

Posted by: Splunk

what is the ratio of the 4 speeds. if I buy an 80 hour, what would I get, time wise, at each speed? Mostly we record L&O and cable movies. Currently on a year old Tosh VHS, which we find quite acceptable.

I also note discussion about a USB port on the newer versions.
I don't see that on the one at Overstock.
So that means I'd need to get a phone line to the TiVo, correct?
hmmmmmmmmm............

Posted by: ccwf

quote:
Originally posted by Splunk
what is the ratio of the 4 speeds.

The four quality settings for the standalone, non-combo TiVos w/o VBR (including UK TiVos and Series 2 TiVos) are 1630000, 2760000, 3660000, and 5960000bps. TiVos with the VBR feature use less space than this at the non-Basic quality settings.

Posted by: coldtoes

quote:
Originally posted by Splunk
I also note discussion about a USB port on the newer versions.
I don't see that on the one at Overstock.
So that means I'd need to get a phone line to the TiVo, correct?

That appears to be correct. The TiVos at Overstock are Philips, and Philips hasn't made any Series 2 TiVos (with the USB port) AFAIK. A Series 1 TiVo will do most of the same things as a newer model, but you will not be able to purchase the Home Media Option (which includes web scheduling, mp3 playing, photo viewing, and transferring shows to/from other series 2 TiVos in your home). It will also not have the most recent version of the TiVo software, which includes the ability to group episodes of a show together in folders. TiVo has not indicated whether or not there will be any future software updates for the series 1s, but I wouldn't count on it.

That said, there are many people who prefer the Series 1s. There are backdoor codes to enable some advanced features that don't work with the newer software, and I believe there are other hacks that don't work with series 2s. You can check the Underground forum for more information and opinions on this.