Is old equipment compatible with new?

[msienkowski@att.net]

Nothing like the death of my 15 year old CRTV to force me into buying a new TV; and I just purchased a tv convertor. Oh well! I have read several good reviews, about the Panasonic TH50PZ800U plasma tv. I am also thinking of getting the Panasonic DMP-BD55 blu ray player. I don't think blu ray is going to replace standard dvd anytime soon but I think it is here to stay.

We have a rooftop antenna. We record tv shows with a 10 year old dvd/vcr combo player. Will the dvd/vcr work with the above mentioned equipment? Will it work after February 17, 2009? Will my 10 tear old av receiver, HK AVR330, be compatible with the new equipment? Thanks!

[MrBoylan]

Nothing like the death of my 15 year old CRTV to force me into buying a new TV; and I just purchased a tv convertor. Oh well! I have read several good reviews, about the Panasonic TH50PZ800U plasma tv. I am also thinking of getting the Panasonic DMP-BD55 blu ray player. I don't think blu ray is going to replace standard dvd anytime soon but I think it is here to stay.

Hi, Mike,

The PZ800 series of plasmas is excellent. I just wrapped up a review of the 46-inch TH-46PZ800U and I was sorry to have to send it back. It's available on Amazon right now for $1499 (free white glove shipping). Great deal on an excellent set. The 50-inch and 58-inch models are also great but a bit more expensive. Try places like Amazon.com, Vanns.com and Abt Electronics for the best deals from authorized dealers. There's sometimes an offer on a free or discounted Blu-ray player with it.

And as for Blu-ray replacing DVD, it may happen some day, but the better BD players make even standard def DVDs look better than they normally do, by upconverting the 480i content to 1080p.

We have a rooftop antenna. We record tv shows with a 10 year old dvd/vcr combo player. Will the dvd/vcr work with the above mentioned equipment? Will it work after February 17, 2009? Will my 10 tear old av receiver, HK AVR330, be compatible with the new equipment? Thanks!

The DVD/VCR will work with the new equipment but not particularly well. The problem with older standard definition sources is they start to look pretty bad when blown up onto a large screen HDTV. And standard def TV broadcasts that you can record with the VCR will look particularly bad since they're not widescreen.

The PZ800 series HDTVs do have built-in ATSC antennas which means you can plug in your roof antenna and pick up all the free digital broadcasts in your area. These are the digital broadcasts that will continue to be on the air after February 17th. Depending where you are in the country and how close you are to a major broadcast tower you may get a great selection of channels. Here in New York City we get all the broadcast networks in HD including PBS (Channel 13). In all there are around 25-30 free digital channels in our area, mostly Standard Def sub-bands on the major networks, but 9 or 10 of the channels are in high definition.

If you don't want to pay for cable or satellite, but still want to record shows in high def to watch later, then you should also check out Dish Networks' brand new DTVPal DVR. It is made by DISH Network but it's not a satellite tuner - it's actually a two-tuner DVR (similar to a Tivo or cable DVR) with a built-in program guide, that works with free over-the-air broadcast signals and comes with no monthly fees. It can record up to 30 hours of HD material or over 150 hours of SD. It is going on sale beginning next week for $249.

And your receiver does have a 7.1-channel analog input so it will work great with the Panasonic DMP-BD55 Blu-ray player which has a 7.1-channel analog output. If you get the BD35 instead, or any other Blu-ray Disc player without multi-channel analog outputs, then you can still use the old fiberoptic (S/PDIF) digital outputs, but these are not ideal as they don't take full advantage of the new surround sound formats available on Blu-ray Disc.

Anyway... hope this helps. And let us know if you have any other questions.

-CB

[msienkowski@att.net]

Thanks Chris for your reply. I was greatly surprised to read about the DTVPal DVR. It seems like the perfect solution for an over the air holdout like myself. We live in Chicago so I believe we will have access to a lot of HD programming. My post analog world seems to be shaping up. The DTVPal will be perfect for my wife; she is a reality tv junkie. The Panasonic BD player will be perfect for me because I am more into movies and pre-recorded stuff. Although I would prefer a one box does it all solution, I haven't seen or read anything about dvd recorders that really excites me. Keep up the good work. I enjoy reading TBPBS.

Mike