dat@hpcnoe.UUCP (dat) (12/03/84)
I am interested in purchasing a VCR (VHS format, I guess...Beta seems less popular...besides all my friends have VHS...) and, since I don't have a TV yet, I have been thinking of alternatives to just going out and buying a TV AND a VCR (mucho dinero!). Anyway, I was reading the userguide (term used loosly) for a friends new VCR, and it said that the output of the 'video' line, fed into a monitor, was of a far higher quality than modulating/demodulating through a regular TV... My though then: why not buy a GOOD VCR (top-of-the-line type) and a decent color MONITOR rather than a TV? The logic being that the main difference between the monitor and a regular television is that the monitor wouldn't have a redundant tuner section (which a VCR has anyway). Any comments? Anyone actually done this? Better yet, will it work? Thanks! Dave Taylor HP - Colorado Networks Op. Any suggestions on high quality VCR's would also be appreciated!
don@oakhill.UUCP (Don Weiss) (12/07/84)
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Here are some points to ponder when considering a VCR + monitor, as opposed
to a VCR + tuner/monitor, approach.
1. In my experience, a direct (no mod/demod) hookup is better than the RF
feed from the VCR, but just BARELY.
2. You might wish to watch one program while you tape another. This implies
a tuner/monitor (these of course are at least as widely available as
straight monitors).
3. Once again in my experience, my monitor receiver combos (built by Sharp
for Montgomery Wards) have built-in tuners which produce a substantially
quieter (less grainy) picture than the tuner from either of my VCRs
(a middle-of-the line Quasar and a top-of-the-line GE, both made by
Matsushita). The impact of this is that when I want to do any critical
taping off the air, I route the demodulated video from the RECEIVER to
the VCR, rather than the other way around.
4. If you buy a combo tuner/monitor (and I guess I'm recommending it!), you
might investigate exactly what audio and video signals go into it and
come out of it in exactly what operating modes. For instance, when I
put my tuner/monitor in 'direct video' mode, it for some reason disables
the tuner, so I can't get the tuner audio/video outputs at the same time
I want to monitor composite video input. Not hardly civilized behavior,
but I suspect the internal switching (a quad CMOS transmission gate!)
may not have had enough isolation between video sources to allow the
more logical operation.
Yet another aspect is: what kind of audio outputs does the tuner/monitor
have? Stereo, or stereo ready? Outputs which follow the volume control
or are independent? (both of these are handy.)
--Living inside of a little glass room..........Don Weissrivers@seismo.UUCP (Wilmer Rivers) (12/08/84)
Sorry to post this, but my mail went undelivered. I have a 25" color monitor (Pioneer brand, manufactured by NEC) and use a VCR for a tuner. It has been my experience with each of my 3 VCR's (all near top of the line for their generation, all having electronic tuners, and all made by Matsushita) that their tuners were as good as, or better than, the tuners on any TV set I owned. This is especially true of the newest one, which has digital tuning. I endorse the approach of using the VCR's tuner for reception and viewing the "video out" on a monitor. Converting from video to RF in the VCR and then back to video in a receiver's tuner is in fact noisier. There's no point in having 2 tuners and always leaving one of them set on channel 3; it just degrades the signal quality.
kevin@voder.UUCP (The Last Bugfighter) (12/11/84)
> I endorse the approach of using the VCR's tuner for reception and > viewing the "video out" on a monitor. Converting from video to RF > in the VCR and then back to video in a receiver's tuner is in fact > noisier. There's no point in having 2 tuners and always leaving one > of them set on channel 3; it just degrades the signal quality. The only problem with this is that your VCR is going to consume more power and generate more heat than a tuner in your TV. Also, many early VCRs and some late model ones have the video drum rotating all the time, not just when the machine is put into play or record and this can cause unecessary wear on belts (I think the direct drive models stop drum rotation when not in play or record). -- Kevin Thompson {ucbvax,ihnp4!nsc}!voder!kevin "It's sort of a threat, you see. I've never been very good at them myself but I'm told they can be very effective."
kek@mgweed.UUCP (Kit Kimes) (12/14/84)
There is one good reason to consider buying a TV with the ability to take a composite video signal in. You may want to watch a TV program on one channel and tape a show on another channel for later viewing. In addition, you may want to move the TV temporarily to another location for viewing. Getting a Monitor/TV would probably be cheaper than buying a Monitor and later adding a TV tuner and a separate unit. On the other hand, you might want to add a tuner with a build-in Stereo decoder. I'm not sure that there are any Monitor/TV's available that way yet. Best bet: read some Video magazines and all the ads, then visit some local Video specialist stores and ask to see what you are interested in buying. Kit Kimes AT&T Consumer Products Montgomery Works Montgomery, Il. 60538-0305 ..!ihnp4!mgweed!kek
ron@brl-tgr.ARPA (12/17/84)
Sure, it will work. A friend of mine did this to team his Profeel monitor with a Panasonic VCR. It works just fine except for the following drawbacks: You can't record and watch another channel at the same time. You can't adjust the volume with the remote control (which runs the VCR not the monitor) -Ron
kevin@voder.UUCP (12/17/84)
> On the other hand, you might > want to add a tuner with a build-in Stereo decoder. I'm not sure that > there are any Monitor/TV's available that way yet. *** No, that's no good. Try a little more to the right *** Both RCA and Panasonic have monitor/recievers which can recieve broad- cast stereo. -- Kevin Thompson {ucbvax,ihnp4!nsc}!voder!kevin "It's sort of a threat, you see. I've never been very good at them myself but I'm told they can be very effective."