Home audio & video: Help with digital antenna signals and older components

Help with digital antenna signals and older components

Hi. I just purchased and set up a new HDTV and a new digital antenna for over-the-air programming. (I don’t want cable or satellite.) Anyway, the TV images are terrific, same with playing DVDs. But the VCR image quality stinks.

I use an older VCR to record on occasion (that’s AV1 for the new TV) and I have a good DVD player (that’s COMP 1.) I added a splitter to the antenna cable, with one coaxial cable going to the VCR and another to the TV.

The VCR/TV connection is via composite cables since that’s the best available output on the VCR. I used component cables for the DVD/TV connection since that’s the best available on the DVD player.

I programmed the TV for the digital version of all channels, skipping the analog versions. It appears that the VCR is recording the analog signals; quality is not good at all. Will a converter box connected to the VCR improve the picture and keep the old VCR operating after Feb. 17th? Or have I connected things incorrectly?

Alternatively, if I replace the VCR with a new DVR or DVD recorder, I can think of 2 options: use a unit with a digital tuner and connect it to the antenna in the same way (via the splitter) OR use a non-tuner DVR with a converter box attached to it. Anything else?

(I’m posting this as a new thread because adding it to existing threads that I thought were on topic didn’t pan out. I just can’t find much to clarify how to use older components with over-the-air reception after the digital transition. All the hype about converter boxes focuses on the TV aspect!)
Thanks.