Does a vcr/dvd player need a digital tuner in order to record from a tv with a digital tuner?

Question

i can not program the new digital channels into my vcr/dvd ,the vcr dvd manual shows it has a NTSC output signal only.

Answer 1

You need to purchase a digital tuner dedicated to your VCR/DVD recorder, attach the video out from the tuner to the video in of the recorder, and always preset the tuner to the channel to want to record, unless the tuner has a timer on it.

Your VCR/DVD recorder only has an analog tuner, so you can't  set it to program digital channels.

Answer 2

Also, the VCR/DVD doesn't record FROM a TV.  It simply records one of the signals it receives -- it is like a TV, except that it doesn't display the images, it records them to media.

It would record without being hooked up to any TV.  Of course, you couldn't view the results until it was hooked up or you took the recording to another unit that was hooked up.

Try it -- unplug it completely from the TV (but keep the antenna or cable connected to the recorder) and press record.  Hook it back up and play back the recording.  Ta-da! A recording without being connected to a TV, so it clearly didn't record FROM the TV...

And yes, you'll need a digital tuner that converts to NTSC in order for your recorder to capture the digital channels.  The cheap tuners that you can get with the gov't $40 coupons will only tune over-the-air (OTA) channels, not cable channels.  You'll need a much more expensive unit to record those -- one that can tune ATSC and QAM signals.