DVD recorder presets (Freeview)

I've had a look at some Freeview HDD+DVD recorders from various
manufacturers. Most of them seem to have just five recording presets,
as was typical in the days of DVD recorders with analogue tuners:

XP - 1 hour per DVD
SP - 2 hours, at 720x576 pixels
LP - 4 hours, at 352x576 pixels
EP - 6 hours
SLP - 8 hours.

Sony's Freeview DVD recorder has three additional presets:

HSP - 1.5 hours, at 720x576
LSP - 2.5 hours, at 720x576
ESP - 3 hours, at 720x576.

I've found these extra presets are quite useful for recording
Freeview, as only BBC1 is broadcast at a bit rate matching that of SP.
BBC2 and a few other BBC channels match the bit rate of LSP, and most
of the rest match ESP.

FilmFour is an example of a channel whose bit rate matches LP, but
it's broadcast at 720x576 on a good day, 528x576 otherwise, which
makes it a bit of a shame to downsample it to 352x576.

Of course, the sensible thing would be to have a mode that records the
raw Freeview stream without uncompressing and recompressing it, but I
haven't found anything that will do that, other than a DVD-less PVR,
or a PC.

Sony's new HDD+DVD boxes go a bit silly, with 32 recording presets
once you've enabled the advanced options.

Could someone recommend a HDD+DVD recorder that provides a useful but
sensible range of recording presets, say 8-10 in total?

In article
,
A. J. Moss wrote:
I've had a look at some Freeview HDD+DVD recorders from various
manufacturers. Most of them seem to have just five recording presets,
as was typical in the days of DVD recorders with analogue tuners:

XP - 1 hour per DVD
SP - 2 hours, at 720x576 pixels
LP - 4 hours, at 352x576 pixels
EP - 6 hours
SLP - 8 hours.
[snip]

Could someone recommend a HDD+DVD recorder that provides a useful but
sensible range of recording presets, say 8-10 in total?

The Panasonic DVD recorder I use provides a 'flexible' rate. i.e. you can
set the time in hours and mins which would fill the available blank DVD
space. I assume their DVD+HDD recorders also do this. You could then match
the recording length/quality to the source as you prefer.

Slainte,

Jim

--
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Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
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On 20 May, 09:04, Jim Lesurf wrote:
A. J. Moss wrote:
Could someone recommend a HDD+DVD recorder that provides a useful but
sensible range of recording presets, say 8-10 in total?

The Panasonic DVD recorder I use provides a 'flexible' rate. i.e. you can
set the time in hours and mins which would fill the available blank DVD
space. I assume their DVD+HDD recorders also do this. You could then match
the recording length/quality to the source as you prefer.

The intention is to have something as simple as possible to use,
for my parents.

I've had a look at the DMR-EX78 and 88 PDF manual. It mentions
that Flexible Rate is only offered for timed recordings, i.e.
when the machine is told the recording time in advance. This
lacks the convenience of leaving it on a three-hour preset,
ready to record, on a set-and-forget basis.

One this that interests me greatly is that the manual states
that the presets are recorded on VBR, so you should expect the
available recording time to vary. The extent of this effect
isn't stated.

What would be absolutely perfect would be for the SP VBR preset
to correspond to the native bit-rate of the Freeview channel
being recorded. In other words, if you're recording BBC4, you
would ordinarily get about *three* hours' recording time on a
single-layer DVDR, even though you're only promised two hours.

If your Panasonic DVD recorder has a Freeview tuner, would
you mind recording something from any non-BBC channel in SP,
and letting me know how big the recording is? Thirty minutes
will do -- if it occupies 0.8GB or less of DVD space, that
means the SP setting is "intelligent", as I'd have hoped.

Thanks.

In article
,
A. J.
Moss wrote:
On 20 May, 09:04, Jim Lesurf wrote:
A. J. Moss wrote:
Could someone recommend a HDD+DVD recorder that provides a useful
but sensible range of recording presets, say 8-10 in total?

The Panasonic DVD recorder I use provides a 'flexible' rate. i.e. you
can set the time in hours and mins which would fill the available
blank DVD space. I assume their DVD+HDD recorders also do this. You
could then match the recording length/quality to the source as you
prefer.

The intention is to have something as simple as possible to use, for my
parents.

I've had a look at the DMR-EX78 and 88 PDF manual. It mentions that
Flexible Rate is only offered for timed recordings, i.e. when the
machine is told the recording time in advance. This lacks the
convenience of leaving it on a three-hour preset, ready to record, on a
set-and-forget basis.

OK. Yes, the one I have also requires you to specify the 'flexible' rate
each time when you start/program the recording. I'd agree it would be nicer
if the preset rates could be user-altered. I never use the ultra-long
rates.

One this that interests me greatly is that the manual states that the
presets are recorded on VBR, so you should expect the available
recording time to vary. The extent of this effect isn't stated.

With my machine what seems to happen is that the rate adapts as you
progress. Maybe it does some kind of stats averaging as it records.
Normally this means you get a slight rim of disc unusued when the recording
ends and the disc is nominally 'full'. Never had the recording 'run out of
disc' before the pre-declared time.

However, the machine does act oddly for 'sound radio' recordings from
something like R3. If you record a 'disc full' in terms of the set rate and
look at the disc, only the inner portion has actually been recorded. The
absence of video allows it so save space on the disc, but the saved space
is then 'lost'. Weird. But presumably a consequence of the VBR and the
machine not really taking it into account in extreme circumstances.

If your Panasonic DVD recorder has a Freeview tuner, would you mind
recording something from any non-BBC channel in SP, and letting me know
how big the recording is? Thirty minutes will do -- if it occupies 0.8GB
or less of DVD space, that means the SP setting is "intelligent", as I'd
have hoped.

I will if I remember to do so! :-)

BTW One of the main reasons I chose the Panasonic is that - unlike the
other brands I tried - it does *not* have a fan that makes as much noise as
a helicopter! :-)

Slainte,

Jim

--
Change 'noise' to 'jcgl' if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html