I have been out of the mainstream on equipment for 5-6 years now. Am upgrading systems at home. Would appreciate some info or search help on finding existing threads on these questions. I'm sure there will be more. Is there an upconverting DVD player that outputs 1080i through component connections? One of my TV's is a pre DVI Mitsubishi. Is there significant picture quality loss from using a DVD recorder for playback? At what price point is this really noticeable, if at all? Is there hope for a DVD recorder with the ability to use digital audio input on the horizon? Is it true that I can only record stereo through the analog inputs on any DVD's I produce with a recorder? That's all the input I have seen. Better stop there for now. Thanks for any direction.
I can answer your last question re digital audio input. Currently, you can only connect any recording equipment with analogue audio inputs, be it scart, composite, s-video or component. Analogue can only transmit 2 -channel stereo. If you add the capability of digital co-axial or optical input, you will need a source such as a SKY+ or SKY HD box that transmiits the bitsteam multi-channel ouput. Also add to the equation that even if you have the above, the particular transmission you are recording needs to be broadcast in dolby 5.1 or DTS otherwise it will be in stereo. I believe only pay-per view channels offer the 5.1 surround sound.