Blu ray recorder

cunnijo

Hi

I just found this info from the website http://www.saortv.info.

"From 2013 all Saorview equipment certified must have DVB-T2 like Freeview HD has"

It might be useful as the 720 already has a DVB-T2 tuner installed and could possibly be a solution to the Saorview recording issue.

Regards

tmull

Maybe,and hopefully so,but Panasonic dont send their recorders to be Saorview certified.No dough because it costs I believe about 25000 Euro to do so.The Rip-off section of the Celtic tiger is still with us.TMULL

newleaf

I presume no further news on sound issue with Saorview recordings on BWT 720? Do you know if BWT 700 had the same problem?
And I wonder if the upcoming 735 model will have it sorted. Any sign of Panasonic releasing a Saorview recorder?

tmull

NEWLEAF, There are no sound problems on the 720 that I am aware of. The initial problems that I had with 720 are fully covered in my posts on this section of the forum.It took a few of us members here to sort out the problems with the sound. The Panasonic outfit ,based in the UK did not want to know and offered no help what-so -ever.Their attitude is that we have your money and if you bought crap from us then tough luck.However the Panasonic store in Limerick were amazing in the help they offered me.We eventually found that the problem was in the conversion process.Basically the recorder records in DR mode which has to be converted to Sp mode so it can be recorded from HHD to dvd disk. The converted file usually had no sound hence you could not make a dvd disk that was playable. But we found a way around it and I have now since I got the box last July have made approx 200 dvd,mostly films or music concerts and no problems of any kind.With the help of a fellow member on here I can now successfully transfer the files from my 720 to my nas drive using software freely available on the internet. I seriously dough there is a better Blu-ray recorder on the market.I would highly recommend it. TMULL

tmull

I have received a PM from a member asking if a firmware upgrade released in Feb had any improvement of the 720. Apparently that firmware was No.1.12. As my box is on permanent standby and set-up for automatic firmware downloads it is something I never check. Having checked this morning my box is upgraded to No 1.14. I have never noticed any change in the operation of the box which I use quite a lot most days so am at a loss to see what these firmware upgrades mean. In replying to the members PM I told him I would check out the system and report here on the open forum. As reported in some of my earlier posts once I discovered that the conversion system was corrupting the files as regards the sound I have never converted a file since. It is not neccessary as the original Saorview file,in DR ,will successfully transfer to a dvd disk. However,this morning I did convert a DR file to Sp and the original problem is still there. The SP file has great picture quality but silent. Whatever the firmware upgrades did it did not fix the conversion problem. TMULL

tomasdeb

Hi. Was looking at acquiring the 720 as a replacement for my Sony RDR1095 which is on its last legs (and cannot record Irish tv since the digital switchover). The lack of RGB input is disappointing. Has anyone tried the 800 in Ireland? I'm wondering whether to try looking for one somewhere rather than the 720.

tomasdeb

Update. 720 is now withdrawn and 735 expected in May. Spec sheet available in a week or so. Will be interesting to see what's new. RGB would be great but on the other hand they might do away with the scart input altogether!

tmull

I have come across the RGB problem mentioned on a few forums i am a member of,but really do not understand the lack of same. Could you give a brief description of same as I am sure that there is a lack of understanding of what it is.
Panasonic are the only major outfit that were still putting AV inputs on their boxes and a decent recorder without such inputs are not much use.Once Panasonic announced early last year that they were ceasing production of their Freesat bluray recorders I immediatly placed an order for one of them.I had extensively researched what was on the market at that time and in my opinion no major outfit came near the Panny recorders.Shortly after that I was one of the first buyers of the 720.The Freesat 750 has more AV inputs than the 720,though the 720 is not bad in that department. I have a motorized sat system connected to two HD sat receivers and do a lot of recording to my two recorders. If the new 730 has limited inputs you should not disregard the 720 if you can get your hands on one. TMULL

Peter Rhea

tmull wrote: »

I have come across the RGB problem mentioned on a few forums i am a member of,but really do not understand the lack of same. Could you give a brief description of same as I am sure that there is a lack of understanding of what it is.

You mean why is the facility lacking, or why someone would have a problem with it not being present?

Anyhow, the AV2 ext. scart socket doesn't do anything with RGB signals, only PAL/NTSC composite video or s-video.

As you're probably aware, RGB is better quality than either of the latter.

tomasdeb

tmull wrote: »

I have come across the RGB problem mentioned on a few forums i am a member of,but really do not understand the lack of same. Could you give a brief description of same as I am sure that there is a lack of understanding of what it is.
Panasonic are the only major outfit that were still putting AV inputs on their boxes and a decent recorder without such inputs are not much use.Once Panasonic announced early last year that they were ceasing production of their Freesat bluray recorders I immediatly placed an order for one of them.I had extensively researched what was on the market at that time and in my opinion no major outfit came near the Panny recorders.Shortly after that I was one of the first buyers of the 720.The Freesat 750 has more AV inputs than the 720,though the 720 is not bad in that department. I have a motorized sat system connected to two HD sat receivers and do a lot of recording to my two recorders. If the new 730 has limited inputs you should not disregard the 720 if you can get your hands on one. TMULL

The RGB issue as I understand it is that the AV input on the 720 does not support RGB. So any recording from a sky box will be of a lower quality as a result. Recording off air would be unaffected of course. (I find saorview inconsistent at the moment but I'm using a set top box. Perhaps it would be better through the 720 provided my aerial setup isn't at fault - but all that's a different subject).

If you're asking why RGB has been omitted, I can only guess that its something to do with commercial pressures to restrict copying. If so, its unlikely that the RGB will be reinstated on the new model.

Going back to my original question, would trying to source the older BWT800 be an option? It would probably have to be imported and would therefore come with no guarantee or comeback regarding compatibility with Irish digital. But it does have RGB and the recording technology should be the same....

So next step is to wait and see the spec for the new 735 and decide then.

A final thought.... Why is this not a bigger issue? Is nobody interested in making their own DVDs anymore?

Peter Rhea

tomasdeb wrote: »

A final thought.... Why is this not a bigger issue? Is nobody interested in making their own DVDs anymore?

It is an issue to those who understand the differences between composite, s-video (YC) & component signals (RGB & YCbCr), or are even just aware of the better quality inherent with separate channels.

A search of this thread for 'RGB' shows that it was yourself who raised the issue, just now on the last page, so the other posters either don't understand, don't care about quality, or just don't care about recording from an external analogue input.

tmull

I make a lot of dvds and am always striving for best quality.I now understand that had my recorders been suitably fitted that I could have had better results.I packed up my Sly package due to their crappy programming and the frequent ad breaks.I never believed that their Hd content was true HD as I can compare so many HD programmes on many satellites. But I do a lot of recording from the freesat package.Thank you all for the information.
Spoke to the Panasonic store this morning and informed that more information on the specs of the new 735 are expected in the next two weeks. Expected price to be 599 Euro. TMULL

newleaf

Will the new 735 be designed for the Irish market I wonder. And darn, it's silver, hope they produce a black version to go with my other gear.

tmull

I would seriously dough if any thing that is that expensive would be specifically designed for the Irish market.The market for these boxes is small. The best we can hope for is after all the negative publicity the received from the release of the 720 last July is that they surely addressed the problems in the new 735. They may be daft but hopefully they are not stupid. TMULL

tomasdeb

tmull wrote: »

As I said in previous posts I have given up testing the 720. The problem is in the machine and no playing around with settings will cure the problem.However after all the testing ,and owning the recorder since mid July I can finally make a dvd from the machine.All recordings in DR mode are perfect and it is only on converting that the sound disappears.The logical conclusion then is that the conversion process is at fault.Solution is to permantely turn off the conversion on the machine and record all files in DR mode.Now to make the dvd.
Put a blank disk into the tray.Select the hhd drive and start to play the file you want to burn to disk.Now press the option button (Not the function menu button).A menu appears and one of the options is .Copy Media Playing, highlight this and press OK.Burning starts in realtime and as you are watching it you can hear it.My first attempt was a one hour long file which recorded perfectly,but as I attempted to put another file on the disk the machine told me there was not enough space on the disk.The DR quality had used up all the disk and I thought that was not a great deal of use if I wanted to burn a two hour film. But I tried and succeded on two films, Apparently the machine compresses the file to fit on the disk.It is now well worth considering the 720 as a decent Saorview PVR. TMULL

Hi tmull. A quick question on this post. What happens if you try to copy something longer than 2 hours to DVD (without conversion because of the sound problem)? Will say 2.5 hours fit on a DVD?

On another point, I found the spec for the 735 and can confirm that its AV2 input is PAL/NTSC only (as expected).

tmull

Tomasdeb, Not a problem. I have recorded a fair number of dvds that exceed two hours. In the Record Mode menu that shows itself when you select Copy you have a good few choices.For a file shorter than two hours I can sometimes make the dvd in High Speed mode.If the machine tells me that This file cannot be copied in high speed then I select SP mode. If the file is longer than two hours I select the FR mode. Both SP and FR are copied in real time rather than high speed. I have made films as long as three hours, And I copied four one hour documentries on to one dvd for my son in Mexico.As I said in previous posts this is an admazing machine. TMULL

tmull

Members may be interested in a fairly decent review released yesterday on AVforums.com. As I suspected before the release, the AV inputs are reduced again. Only one scart input against two on the 720.I think Panasonic is slowly giving in to the pressure from the American film and music industry to limit the availability of being able to copy their content.Apparently little things that I would find less important are tweaked in the 735 but if I had a choice between the two,ie the 735 or the 720 I would stick with the one I have. I could not manage two HD satellite receivers with a box that has only one AV input. I cannot imagine how this box has a recommended price of 100 Euro more than the 720. My advice is get hold of a 720 while you can.
One point raised here recently. Members on the review forum are already asking the RGB question. Has it or hasent it. Most likely not or surely Panasonic would have advertised the fact. TMULL

tomasdeb

tmull wrote: »

Members may be interested in a fairly decent review released yesterday on AVforums.com. As I suspected before the release, the AV inputs are reduced again. Only one scart input against two on the 720.I think Panasonic is slowly giving in to the pressure from the American film and music industry to limit the availability of being able to copy their content.Apparently little things that I would find less important are tweaked in the 735 but if I had a choice between the two,ie the 735 or the 720 I would stick with the one I have. I could not manage two HD satellite receivers with a box that has only one AV input. I cannot imagine how this box has a recommended price of 100 Euro more than the 720. My advice is get hold of a 720 while you can.
One point raised here recently. Members on the review forum are already asking the RGB question. Has it or hasent it. Most likely not or surely Panasonic would have advertised the fact. TMULL

Spec for 735 as follows: http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/Products/Home+Entertainment/Blu-ray+Recorders/DMR-BWT735/Specification/12549158/index.html?trackInfo=true

Under "terminal" note that there's one scart input (PAL/NTSC). So no RGB.

tomasdeb

tmull wrote: »

Tomasdeb, Not a problem. I have recorded a fair number of dvds that exceed two hours. In the Record Mode menu that shows itself when you select Copy you have a good few choices.For a file shorter than two hours I can sometimes make the dvd in High Speed mode.If the machine tells me that This file cannot be copied in high speed then I select SP mode. If the file is longer than two hours I select the FR mode. Both SP and FR are copied in real time rather than high speed. I have made films as long as three hours, And I copied four one hour documentries on to one dvd for my son in Mexico.As I said in previous posts this is an admazing machine. TMULL

Tmull. I didn't put my question very clearly. I know that there are various quality modes available when copying to DVD - when operating normally. However, your workaround to deal with the sound problem (post #85) seems to involve recording on the fly and one file at a time.
So, for example, say I want to make a DVD consisting of three 60 min programmes recorder via Saorview. With my old recorder, I would make a playlist and the machine would select the apprpriate mode to fit the 3 hours on the disk. My concern after reading your post on the workaround is that the disk would be full after the first programme.
In short, is it possible to make a DVD consisting of more than one Saorview file?
Does the above make sense?

tmull

Tomasdeb,Yes it makes perfect sense. On first reading your post this morning I knew what you meant but could not remember doing it. I now have very few files of the 120 or so that I have on the 720 that are Saorview. I do have a few films and a few music programmes either from Rte 1&2,Tv3 and Tng.I spent a few hours this afternoon trying to achive what you wanted but failed each time.Being used to putting a few programmes on to dvds for my son in Mexico in the FR mode only to realise that I made them all in my 750 Freesat recorder.I lined up four Saorview files on the 720 and picked FR as the mode and started recording only to find that as you can both see and hear the recordings as they are made in real time that file no.1 was recording but without sound.I cancelled it straight away and then tried both Sp& Ep but with the same result. So to my limited experience what you want cannot be done.
On the list of files on the 720 I was surprised to find that I had one Rte 1 file recorded back in August and the same file recorded in Jan on a repeat broadcast. The file from Aug is recorded in SP mode and the Jan one is in DR. I dont know how that happened but if all the files would record in SP it should fix the problem. One other thing I discovered to day was that a program I recorded on timer ,The Fall on last Sunday evening is completely unwatchable.Massive pixlation and seems to have parts of some other files intertwined with it.Being repeated tonight so shall try again. TMULL

tmull

Tomasdeb, Reviewing your questions on the last few posts I may have given you wrong information.The answer I gave you on recording a file longer than two hours is correct in that is how I do it on the 750.To record a longer file than than two hours on the 720 just record it as posted by me on the workaround.That is just start to play the file,then press the Option button and a new menu appears. Just press the option that says ;Copy Media Playing. That is assuming you have a blank dvd in the tray.the 720 somehow fits the whole file on the disk. Sorry for any confusion but as a pensioner and working with two different recorders and slight memory problems led me to a wrong answer.TMULL

cunnijo

The magazine What Satellite & Digital TV has a full test review on the Panasonc DMR-BWT735 in the June issue, which is available at newsagents now. Worth a read.

tomasdeb

cunnijo wrote: »

The magazine What Satellite & Digital TV has a full test review on the Panasonc DMR-BWT735 in the June issue, which is available at newsagents now. Worth a read.

Just checked out the June issue but couldn't find the review. Could you confirm the issue (and page if possible)? Thanks...

The Cush

tomasdeb wrote: »

Just checked out the June issue but couldn't find the review. Could you confirm the issue (and page if possible)? Thanks...

It's in the July issue which came out in early June, page 44.

tomasdeb

The Cush wrote: »

It's in the July issue which came out in early June, page 44.

Thanks for that - got it.

tmull

Tomasdeb, there is a fairly good section and a lot of posts on the 735 in the AVforums recorder section of that site. The only one scart is a problem for a lot of the people and the fact that it is not RGB seems to be an issue.Well worth a look but I dought it is any better than the 720. TMULL

tomasdeb

tmull wrote: »

Tomasdeb, there is a fairly good section and a lot of posts on the 735 in the AVforums recorder section of that site. The only one scart is a problem for a lot of the people and the fact that it is not RGB seems to be an issue.Well worth a look but I dought it is any better than the 720. TMULL

Thanks tmull. By the way, after reading through various posts, I decided to source the older BWT800 model because of its RGB input. It does appear as if RGB input is not going to feature on newer models and, further, that the scart input could also disappear soon.
Initial reaction is that the editing features are disappointing compared with my old Sony RDR HXD-1095 which is about to die on me (and cannot record Saorview). No preview for A-B editing and poor choice of top menus for DVDs.
I'm running a trial recording as I speak to see if the 800 has the Saorview sound problems that you have found with the 720. It will also be interesting to watch if this is an issue with the new 735.

newleaf

@TMull or anyone else that might know!
Any chance you know if the BWT 700 has the same sound problems with Saorview archiving as the BWT 720 has?

tomasdeb

newleaf wrote: »

@TMull or anyone else that might know!
Any chance you know if the BWT 700 has the same sound problems with Saorview archiving as the BWT 720 has?

I have being using the BWT800 for the last few weeks and the sound from Saorview is ok.
One minor observation: I have observed that it can take a few seconds for the sound to kick in in DR mode so its best to edit after rather than before conversion. Editing features generally not as good as my old Sony.
Not sure if that helps. I believe that the 700 and 800 are of similar vintage. The 720 is newer and the 735 is the latest.

newleaf

Thanks for that. What I'd really need to know is - if you record from a Saorview channel on the BWT800 hard disk, and then archive the recording to DVD (not Bluray) is the sound still there?
With the BWT 720 TMull found the sound was gone after archiving. So I didn't get the 720. After Trojan work (see many earlier posts) TMUll found a workaround but it didn't convince me to buy. If this isn't a problem with the 800, maybe the 700 will be OK too. Not sure what happens with 735, but it's only available in silver, and expensive!

How many scarts on 800 , if any?

Is the DR recording then later conversion to SP awkward?

Are you happy with BWT 800? Does it get Saorview OK? Does it put Saorview channels in the 800 range?

Any problems with ads in the EPG? Does the EPG include Saorview?

Sorry for the interrogation! All help welcome. Thanks in advance.