Is it possible to take a recording off of DVR and burn it on a DVD?

Question

I am trying to take my boyfriend out to a Timberwolves game for his 21st birthday, I am also trying to get a message on the score board for him that wishes him a happy birthday. Is it possible if I have someone record the game for me with DVR and some how get it on to a DVD for him for memories?

If that doesnt work, is it possible to take a VHS and record that onto a DVD?

Answer 1

The easiest way is if you have a DVD set-top box.  You can output from your DRV to the set-top DVD burner.

If you don't have a DVD burner set-top box, but have a DVD burner on your computer, some DVRs (like Tivo) have the ability to transfer the shows to your computer.  From there you can use software to record to DVD.  

Answer 2

Yes. It's possible.

Just hook up the DVD recorder to the DVR and play the game on the DVR and record it on the DVD recorder at the same time.

Answer 3

Yes, it is possible to record/burn content from a DVR for some types of DVR.  The details completely depends on the model.   There are at least 3 cases.

1. For non-hi-def (non-HDTV) recorders, you can always play back the video into an attached computer or burner at a later date, so long as it doesn't get erased.  This is pretty simple for a person whose computer has a video card, or for a person with a stand-alone DVD burner, but it does not provide the best quality and it's a slight pain in the neck to hook things together.  Some people already have gear set up like this though.

2. Some fancy DVD burners (e.g. Panasonic E500) can both record shows and/or burn them to as well.  Likewise, for some DVRs, especially those built from home computers like MythTV.  This is the best option by far, but not as many people have this gear.

3. In some cases if the recording is from a pay-per-view shown, and the DVR only has HDTV output, it might be impossible to record the show at all.  This is a rare case since most devices with HDTV-out also provide at least a lower quality output that can be connected to an analog recorder like in case 1.

4. Recording from VHS to DVD is exactly the same as case 1.  Generally the quality from a DVD will be similar or better than from VHS IF the DVR is set to record at a high quality.

In short, if you are not a technical person get as many people as possible to record the show (in my experience, some people forget or make a mistake of some kind).  Then figure out the details afterwards.  It sounds like a great birthday gift; your boyfriend is lucky.