Q: Do you know of a device that can transfer vinyl records to iTunes so it can be loaded to an iPod? Also, is there a similar device for cassette tapes?
— Garry Kearnes, Tinley Park
A: Ion Audio (ion-audio.com) makes USB turntables that may look like basic LP spinners but also transfer vinyl records directly to your computer. The LP Dock, one of their latest, also includes a dock so you can copy directly from the LP to your iPod.
Of course, it also transfers LPs to a PC or Mac via a USB connection. The LP Dock (about $300) includes software that eliminates pops and clicks and, when connected to the Internet via a computer, accesses the Gracenote database so it automatically picks up album, artist and song information.
To turn your music on cassettes into digital music, connect the cassette player’s Line Output to a computer’s Line Input. Download the free Audacity recording-editing software (audacity.sourceforge.net), then follow the instructions.
Q: I have been looking for an HD digital video recorder with an HD digital tuner (and preferably a hard drive) that can be used to record off-the-air HD antenna channels. I do not want to subscribe to any services just to record programs. Is there any equipment that you could suggest?
— Wayne Bartl, Orland Park
A: I haven’t seen anything lately that fits the description. Humax and Sony used to make HD DVRs, but TiVo now rules the market. A few others tantalize, but ultimately fail. The $350 Philips DVDR3575H, for instance, is a DVD recorder with a 160-gigabyte hard drive and a digital tuner but it cannot record HD programming.
Unfortunately, you can’t make a manual recording on a TiVo HD DVR without subscribing to TiVo’s monthly service.
Q: 1. Why do some HD broadcasts have full screen and others have bars on the side?
2. Why would a cable or satellite provider not broadcast in HD a station that is broadcasting in HD? In my case, I know the local Chicago PBS station (WTTW) does broadcast in HD. DirecTV doesn’t carry the HD.
3. Will a Blu-ray player show my current DVDs, which are in letterbox format on the full screen of my HDTV set? My current player shows them in letterbox.
— George L. C. Chiang, Joliet
A: Here are some answers:
1. The shows with the bars on them were not shot in HD, so they retain the size of a 4:3 analog picture. That’s why those bars are needed.
2. Because of bandwidth-satellite limitations, DirecTV can carry only so many HD channels. It decided not to carry PBS. Robert Mercer, a company spokesman, said DirecTV hopes to add PBS and other hi-def channels but could offer no timeline.
3. It depends how the movie was shot. If it was shot in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, it will be letterboxed on your HDTV. If it was shot in 1.85:1, it will fill your HDTV screen.
Q: In a recent column, you mentioned a site (tinyurl.com/2alor9) for determining seating distance for HD TV. If I’m reading it right, with a 50-inch HDTV set, the optimum seating distance is 78.43 inches for 1080p, which is about 6.5 feet. But it just does not make any sense to me. Please help!
— Lou Grespan, Kildeer
A: That sounds right — you can sit much closer to a 1080p screen because of the enhanced resolution. If you sit much farther away, your eyes won’t detect that enhanced resolution. So if you’re, say, 9 feet from the screen, you might as well get a 720p set and save some money.
The pixels in a 720p image are bigger, simply because there are fewer pixels covering the same amount of space. So if you get close enough to a 720p set, you might actually see pixels.
Q: I have noticed that it is very difficult to make good comparisons of HDTV sets if you go to the average big-box retail store. Almost always, a wide-screen TV will be set so that it stretches all video to fit the screen.
Here is a helpful Web site: hdtvinfoport .com.
A: You’re right. Consumers should rely more on independent specialty stores, professional reviews and user comments and less on what they see in big-box retail stores. And thanks for the link.
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