Can you record tv with only an HDMI cable?

Answer 1

In theory if your recording device has an HDMI input port, then it could because High Definition Media Interconect (HDMI) is a high speed digital link that carries both audio and video data. In practice, as far as I know, no TiVo, DVD, or BluRay recorder has an HDMI input. In every case the HDMI port is for output only. The very few recording devices that have an HDMI input impose restrictions that limit the usefulness of the connection. The consortium that created and licenses HDMI also imposes High Definition Content Protection (HDCP) on all HDMI devices. Video players, Cable TV, and Satellite TV Boxes boxes that output over HDMI all respect content protection requests from the source media by activating HDCP on the HDMI output. When HDCP is active, some devices refuse to record, some record only internally and only for playback, and some degrade HD video to SD. It has been asserted that some HDMI repeaters do not properly manage HDCP and have the effect of removing it. Since the tone of the question implies a quest for simpler cabling, it should be noted that a repeater adds complexity rather than reducing it.