Laptop to DVD/HDD Recorder (in Widescreen)

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hamisht

389 posts

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#80679 2-Apr-2011 19:47

Just to clarify.. my DVD/HDD Recorder only has Composite input, but i figured that if I go from the Laptop to my Receiver (onkyo 605), I have the ability to use a Component output device (into the receiver), then just composite output on the receiver, into the DVD Recorder.Hey everyone,

As some of you might know from my posts around the forum, I have a Laptop (HD DV5-1009tx), which has HDMI out (as well as a VGA port).

I also have a DVD/HDD Recorder.

What I would like to do, is to record what is showing on my laptop, in Widescreen format.

In the past, I bought a 'PC to TV' box, which used the VGA port on the Laptop, to the VGA Input on the box, and then from the box, it went to composite out into the Television... but doing it this way, only resulted in a 1024x768 resolution, which is a 4:3 aspect ratio. I know my DVD/HDD recorder can only record SD signals (in 16x9 or 4:3), which is fine, but I would like to be able to display a Widescreen signal from the laptop.

Hope this is easy to understand. What kind of cables/adapters/boxes would I need to accomplish this? Cheapest way if possible.

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sbiddle

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#454708 3-Apr-2011 08:08

To be completely honest I wouldn't even bother. The picture quality will be horrible and there is no way of avoiding this with the setup you want.

Your best bet is probably to find an app to output anamorphic widescreen in 4:3

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hamisht

389 posts

Ultimate Geek

#454721 3-Apr-2011 09:26

Are you sure about the quality? I thought it would atleast look like Freeview SD if I somehow got the resolution displaying correctly.

I just spent an hour trying various cables. I went from the HDMI Out to the HDMI In on the reciever like my normal setup, then tried using the 'Video Out' on the amp to go into the DVD recorder, but according to the manual of the Onkyo, it can't send the HDMI signal using the composite video out (can't down convert). so then I tried using the Component Out of the reciever, to the SCART input into the Recorder.. this didn't work, but I'm not sure if its the DSE adapter thats the problem, as the component cables I have are not long enough to plug them into the TV to check the HDMI signal is actually coming out.

The manual for the onkyo states if i select 'HDMI Monitor' to 'No', the component cable should carry the HDMI signal..

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sbiddle

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#454765 3-Apr-2011 11:38

Maybe you could explain what you're actually trying to achieve as the end goal? I don't understand why you want to connect a PC to a DVD recorder.

Composite is the bottom of the pack when it comes to video quality and suffers from artifacts and dot crawl which are horrible if you've got a LCD or Plasma - on a small CRT they weren't so obvious.

hamisht

389 posts

Ultimate Geek

#454774 3-Apr-2011 12:19

Basically I just want to record anything that is showing on the screen, so if I am playing a game or video, I can just hit REC on the DVD recorder and not have to worry about the whole encoding process (if I was to use a screencapture software), as I can just burn to disc in a matter of minutes after the bit of recording I have done is finished.

I would connect the sound seperatley just by using the headphone jack into the audio input on the dvd recorder.

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