Once finalized, "you can record [add] and edit even after finalizing, although the title menu will disappear if you do so." Pg 50 of manual.Ah, I was not aware of that, thanks for the correction!

It's too bad, because I always thought of finalization as a kind of equivalent to the old VHS tape "write protect" tabs...

I just got a Costco Canada summer savings coupon book and it has a $60 off coupon for an upconverting (1080p) Pio 160G DVR/HDD (model # not listed) that is valid July 16-22. The picture on the coupon is different from the 640 series although the remote looks the same. Not sure how valid this is but I will use it as a glimmer of hope that new models will be available this summer.
If you see a 640 in Costco be sure to let us know...my local Costcos are clearing out their 53x's for cheap...including the displays...no sign of anything to replace it though.

Matrix

Hi all,

In reading through this thread, I've seen a number of posts discussing the unclear font of the 640. But I haven't seen any definitive answers. This might help.

When I first got mine, I also thought the font was terrible, and then a few weeks ago I noticed suddenly it seemed much more readable. I checked my TV settings and found I had inadvertenly changed them.

I have a Sony Wega, and the main thing to make the font easier to read seems to be a setting called Dynablack, and the help for this setting says "improved contrast and sharper detail". Changing this helps greatly. Another setting is called Clear edge, which the help calls "edge enhancement". Playing with this setting also has an affect.

So if your screen is hard to read, try changing some of your TV picture settings.

Quick question... if I finalize a DVD -RW, can I later go back and unfinalize it, and then delete everything from the disc and re-record on it?

Thanks. :)

There should be a simple answer, but unfortunately there isn't!

For DVD-RW(Video), you can unfinalize finalized DVD-RW(V) with some recorders, but you cannot unfinalize them with others. I believe the Pioneer in question can unfinalize but a Pio user should verify that.

For DVD-RW(VR mode), finalization is not needed, although you can still do it. I do not know what happens when unfinalizing -RW(VR).

For DVD-RW(Video), you can unfinalize finalized DVD-RW(V) with some recorders, but you cannot unfinalize them with others. I believe the Pioneer in question can unfinalize but a Pio user should verify that.
The Pio 640 can "Undo Finalize" on a -RW(Video) disc, but that's only needed if you want to add to or edit stuff already on the disc. -RW(VR) and +RW discs don't need this step to add or edit. (-RW discs are auto-formatted for VR mode, unless you change the setting in the Initial Setup > Recording menu.)

For DVD-RW(VR), finalization is not needed, although you can still do it. I do not know what happens when unfinalizing -RW(VR).
Undoing finalization on a -RW just allows more recording or editing.

Both -RW and +RW can be erased in one Initialize step...no "undo finalize" reqd.

The Pio 640 can "Undo Finalize" on a -RW(Video) disc, but that's only needed if you want to add to or edit stuff already on the disc. -RW(VR) and +RW discs don't need this step to add or edit. (-RW discs are auto-formatted for VR mode, unless you change the setting in the Initial Setup > Recording menu.)


Undoing finalization on a -RW just allows more recording or editing.

Both -RW and +RW can be erased in one Initialize step...no "undo finalize" reqd.

Thanks for all the details on this, which remains #1 in my "future purchase" list :-)

Thanks for all the details on this, which remains #1 in my "future purchase" list

If you're planning to buy, you'd better buy now -- if you can find one. Most places are already out of stock, and it doesn't seem that Pioneer will be making any more of this model. Rumors are that Pioneer won't be making *any* more HDD DVDRs for the North American market.

If you're planning to buy, you'd better buy now -- if you can find one. Most places are already out of stock, and it doesn't seem that Pioneer will be making any more of this model. Rumors are that Pioneer won't be making *any* more HDD DVDRs for the North American market.

I know, but for me there are too many unknowns at the moment (analog/digital tuners, analog/digital cable broadcasts, HD-DVD vs BluRay & media soup, cable card mandate, dual tuners, prices, etc) , so I am waiting for more things to become known before I buy an expensive HDD recorder.

In reading through this thread, I've seen a number of posts discussing the unclear font of the 640. But I haven't seen any definitive answers. This might help. [...]

I have a Sony Wega, and the main thing to make the font easier to read seems to be a setting called Dynablack, and the help for this setting says "improved contrast and sharper detail". Changing this helps greatly. Another setting is called Clear edge, which the help calls "edge enhancement". Playing with this setting also has an affect.

So if your screen is hard to read, try changing some of your TV picture settings.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have a Panasonic TV, so the settings are rather different from yours, but experimenting with "Sharpness" did the trick. I've always had it at the middle setting, but reducing it to about half that makes the Pioneer's onscreen font much more readable. I can't see any difference in quality of pictures, which kind of surprises me.

The unreadable fonts have been a problem for me since Day 1 with my Pioneer 640, so I'm very grateful that you've found the key. I don't understand why the Pioneer 640 uses such a very different font from my old 633, which was just fine with my TV settings, but obviously there's some difference. I'll be watching to see if I've lost anything in PQ from commercial DVDs, but I suppose I can always adjust the Sharpness setting up and down as needed. :)

This is a perfect use for "Genres."

In the Timer Rec menu, assign a Genre to all of your programs. You can use one of the 10 Genres...one for all of your programs, one for all of hers. Don't assign a Genre to things you both like or decide to record on the spur?


Works perfectly wabjxo - thanks very much!

Rob

Works perfectly wabjxo - thanks very much!

Rob
Glad to help and happy it worked out for you! :)

Hello, I accidentally, stupidly hit erase instead of edit and even more stupidly said yes without thinking.
Is there any way to recover, undelete, unerase this recording ?

Rodney

Gone bye-bye. :eek:

If you had access to the Pioneer designers and could afford to pay them exorbitant hourly rates, then there might possibly be come chance of data recovery. Otherwise, as wabjxo said, you're out of luck.

If you had access to the Pioneer designers and could afford to pay them exorbitant hourly rates, then there might possibly be come chance of data recovery. Otherwise, as wabjxo said, you're out of luck.
I just saw this,
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/CD_Roller
don't know anything about it, so it may have no relevance here. There are also programs like IsoBuster, though for any such possible solution, I suspect you would have to take the drive out and connect it to a PC. This is a job you would probably only take on in the case of some deleted material that was of maximum importance.

I just saw this,
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/CD_RollerThis program, as well as ISOBuster, are for recovering data from CD or DVD discs. Those discs are in a standard format, so recovering the data is really easy once you've managed to physically read it from the media.

The problem with getting the data off the internal hard drive is that it's in a non-standard, proprietary format that's (probably) exclusive to Pioneer. So there are two obstacles to overcome - first (and hardest) is to determine exactly what format it's stored in, second is to find or write some software to read that particular data format and convert it into something more standard so it can be used.

EDIT - I see that it was just an assumption of mine that the Rodney9 erased the program from his hard drive. If in fact it was a DVD-RW that he erased, then ISOBuster may indeed do the trick.

Hi guys,

I just got my 640 and instead of the displaying the Setup Navigator on powering up, I get a black screen asking me to input the Recorder Model Setting (ie: enter the numbers 0306 via remote for 640H or 0206 for a 541H).

Should I get this screen at all? This is fresh out of the box and although the remote seems to work (eject, power) nothing else funtions - gues I have to get beyod the model setup screen. I tried entering the numbers 0306, but it was non responsive.

I cannot get the Home Menu for the typical setup screen.

Pioneer is closed for the weekend, so I'm stuck unless someone can help me out.

TIA!

I just got my 640 and instead of the displaying the Setup Navigator on powering up, I get a black screen asking me to input the Recorder Model Setting (ie: enter the numbers 0306 via remote for 640H or 0206 for a 541H).

Should I get this screen at all? This is fresh out of the box and although the remote seems to work (eject, power) nothing else funtions - gues I have to get beyod the model setup screen. I tried entering the numbers 0306, but it was non responsive.
Hi ccw8:

No, although it sounds like you may have an "international" 640, I doubt you're supposed to be seeing that. It sounds like maybe the HDD has been replaced and not yet initialized...just a guess.

Was it an open box? I wonder if the remote isn't working because it was previously set on a remote code other than number 1. Try changing the remote code back to 1. Here's instructions (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9599517&&#post9599517) for the North American 640's remote.

Hi ACPewty,

Thanks for the quick respnse!

Yeah, I think you're right - the screen actually says to input the numbers with the remote Service. I suspect it means a special remote that is used y the Pioneer service guys. It's also strange that a consumer product expects a prompt from the enduser to indicate which model they just bought!

The box is sealed, so I don;t know how this got thru' their QC.

Let's hope I don't get ay trash from Pinoeer aout this - maybe they'll accuse me of changing the harddisk!

Thanks for the remote link as well - I didn't know I could change the freqs. I tried all 3 freqs, but ony the default 'works'.

Have a good weekend,

I need major help in making installation connections, here's my setup, I have a 37" LCD TV set(Sharp 37GP1U), a Directv Tivo-based receiver, a Pioneer DVD recorder(DVR640HS), a Pioneer DVD player(DV656A), a VCR, and a Pioneer Home Theater System, the following Inputs/Outputs is as follows,

1-Sharp LCD>>3 HDMI Inputs, 1 Component Input, 1 Audio/Video/S-Video Input
1 Digital Audio Output(Optical), 1 Audio Output(L/R)

2-Directv Receiver>>2 Audio/Video Outputs, 1 S-Video Output, 1 Digital Audio
Output(Optical)

3-DVD Recorder>>2 Audio/Video/S-Video Inputs
2 Audio/Video/S-Video Outputs, 1 Component Output, 1 Digital
Audio Output(Coaxial)

4-DVD Player>>1 Audio/Video/S-Video Output, 1 Component Output, 1 Digital
Audio Output(Coaxial), 1 Digital Audio Output(Optical)

5-VCR>>2 Audio/Video Inputs
1 Audio/Video Output

6-Home Theater>>1 CD Input(L/R), 1 DVR/VCR Input(L/R/V), 1 TV/SAT Input(L/R/V)
1 DVD/LD Input(L/R/V), 1 CD-R/Tape/MD Input(L/R), 1 Digital
Input(TV/SAT)-Optical, 1 Digital Audio Input(CD)-Coaxial
1 Digital Audio Input(DVD/LD)-Coaxial
1 DVR/VCR Output(L/R/V), 1 Monitor Video Output

how do I make the connections? do I connect everything to the Home Theater System then use the Monitor Video Output to the LCD? will the Home Theater System transfer all the Video signalsthat I connected from those components to the LCD? also, I want to connect the VCR, the DVD player and the Directv Receiver to the DVD recorder, how can I do that? thank you for all the help here

bnm81002: There's more that would be helpful to understand, I feel. Do you want the VCR as playback only? The DVD player to only feed the DVDR, or to have its own playback through the receiver, as well? What types of activities do you want (playback and record) to be related vs. autonomous?

I see at least one I/O missing from the above list: your Pioneer DVDR does passthrough across the RF IN and RF OUT connectors. I'm sure your VCR does cable signal in/out differently, though.

- ooofest

Just an update: Pioneer sent a guy over. Didn't explain anything - just pop in a CD and keyed in some numbers from a 'service' remote. Just they 'updated' the firmware and initialised the DVR.

Still - it should have worked right out of the box. The call center didn't seem surprised with the complaint, so it must have happened several times before...

Thanks.

Just an update: Pioneer sent a guy over. Didn't explain anything - just pop in a CD and keyed in some numbers from a 'service' remote. Just they 'updated' the firmware and initialised the DVR.

Still - it should have worked right out of the box. The call center didn't seem surprised with the complaint, so it must have happened several times before...

A house call ? In this day and age ? Now that's an earth-shaking headline !

Somewhere back in the early pages of the "Wanna Fix" thread, I think someone posted saying that Pioneer obviously cares little about its customers. This would seem to stand that notion on its head.

Yeah, I know... I was pretty sure I had to bring it in. :)

Bump!

all

just wonder if purpose is to archiving at highest quality, should I be skipping all the video mode related and speed copy settings ? I'm only dealing with PAL TV resolutions, what would be good choices in terms of audio and video ? LPCM should be overkill right ?

thanks

Hi, I just purchased an open box 640 from Best Buy and got a great deal at $269 Cdn. But I have one question. I know when you are using the HDD the blue display light comes on and for the DVD the orange one comes on. However, when I made a Timer Recording on a DVD-RW the blue light was lit up while recording. Is this correct? I thought since it is recording to a DVD the orange light should be on. The DVD by the way was recorded with no problems. I phoned Tech. support at Pioneer Canada and at first they said this was not correct , but after a couple of minutes they put me on hold and said it was normal for the Blue light to be on even if you are recording to a DVD. I was wondering what do you guys think? For a Timer recorder for DVD should the orange light be on or the blue for (HDD)?

Thanks

I have the 420h, and I am sure that the blue light = dvd, and the orange light = hdd.

Thanks for your reply. But I'm sure it's blue light =HDD and orange light = DVD for the 640H. I made a Timer Recording on the HDD and the blue light was lit up while recording so I would assume if you are making a Timer Recording to DVD the orange light would be lit up. Any 640 owners know the correct answer? When doing a Timer Recording to DVD should the orange light be lit up?

Nope. Blue light (HDD) stays lit even tho timer rec. to DVD...unless you manually change it to DVD side. This assumes you load the DVD, then turn 640 off to await timer rec. When it starts up, it light HDD side and doesn't change while rec. to DVD.

Nope. Blue light (HDD) stays lit even tho timer rec. to DVD...unless you manually change it to DVD side. This assumes you load the DVD, then turn 640 off to await timer rec. When it starts up, it light HDD side and doesn't change while rec. to DVD.


Wow thanks for your reply! These AV forums are great. It's still weird to me why the orange light doesn't come on for DVD but now that I know I won't sweat it.

:) Thanks again!

Wow thanks for your reply! These AV forums are great. It's still weird to me why the orange light doesn't come on for DVD but now that I know I won't sweat it.

:) Thanks again!
I knew the answer to the timer rec blue/yellow light question cause I often rec to DVD and originally thought I was rec to HDD cause the blue light was on. That's just the way the machine operates: when the 640 turns itself on, as in a timer rec, the light auto-switches to Blue (HDD) even tho the yellow light was on when you loaded the DVD and turned it off.

However, you can switch to DVD/yellow light, turn unit off, and it will return to DVD/yellow when YOU turn it on manually.

I knew the answer to the timer rec blue/yellow light question cause I often rec to DVD and originally thought I was rec to HDD cause the blue light was on. That's just the way the machine operates: when the 640 turns itself on, as in a timer rec, the light auto-switches to Blue (HDD) even tho the yellow light was on when you loaded the DVD and turned it off.

However, you can switch to DVD/yellow light, turn unit off, and it will return to DVD/yellow when YOU turn it on manually.


Too bad the manual doesn't explain this but it's no deal. The DVD recorded properly. Thanks again, and I look forward to playing with my new toy! I'm glad I don't have to use my VHS machine to record -- those tapes took up so much space! :p

However, when I made a Timer Recording on a DVD-RW the blue light was lit up while recording. Is this correct?The blue/orange light shows you what device is currently selected as far as viewing is concerned. It's normal for the HDD to be selected for viewing even while you're recording on the DVD, this is because the unit can record one thing and view another at the same time.

For example, if you press the "Disc Navi" button when the blue light is on while recording to a DVD, you'll see a listing of the titles on the hard drive. The blue light is telling you that you're working with the hard drive at that point, not the DVD (even though it's recording to DVD in the background).

I have the 420h, and I am sure that the blue light = dvd, and the orange light = hdd.
You are absolutely right as I was confused by my new 640 whose blue right is HDD and orange light is dvd. My older 520 is as same as your 420h though :)

Hi, I just purchased an open box 640 from Best Buy and got a great deal at $269 Cdn. But I have one question. I know when you are using the HDD the blue display light comes on and for the DVD the orange one comes on. However, when I made a Timer Recording on a DVD-RW the blue light was lit up while recording. Is this correct? I thought since it is recording to a DVD the orange light should be on. The DVD by the way was recorded with no problems. I phoned Tech. support at Pioneer Canada and at first they said this was not correct , but after a couple of minutes they put me on hold and said it was normal for the Blue light to be on even if you are recording to a DVD. I was wondering what do you guys think? For a Timer recorder for DVD should the orange light be on or the blue for (HDD)?

Thanks
May I ask where did you purchase your open box 640? I saw one @ bestbuy on cambie a couple of weeks ago. Not sure if they have any new units @ bestbuy though. Some futureshops here in Vancouver actually had both the 550 (with 1080P) & 640, and 550 surprisingly cost cheaper as recently as last week, albeit for just 2 or 3 loonies @ $470:D

By the way, does the old remote control from 520 work PROPERLY with my 640?
Does the old R/C damage the recorder which has a different R/C as we all know?

Does the old R/C damage the recorder which has a different R/C as we all know?There's no way the old remote could damage the recorder - if that were possible then you'd be taking it's life in your hands every time you used the remote for your TV or other equipment.

I believe the 520 remote works fine with the 640, although the 640 may not be able to do not all the functions on the remote. For example, IIRC the 520 has a "Chapter Mark" function that doesn't work on the 640.

Has anyone asked here how to get video recorded on a 640 to look sharp and less soft? My video from my P 533 looks very sharp picture wise. Plus, people's skin color looks good. My P 640 is not like that. The video is softer and weaker looking. I went into the settings and noticed that the P 640 dropped the "detail" or edge sharpness detail setting from the video input adjustments that the older Pioneers had. Plus, they dropped the virtual noise reduction setting too. I wonder if Pioneer turned that thing on, then got rid of the VNR and Detail settings so you couldn't mess with them and that's why I got a soft picture that is not sharp with details.

Plus, the people's skin color is orange sort of on mine. White people have a orangish tan some times and black people have a black/orange skin tone. I think I got a similar thing when I turned the VNR on and off on an older unit. On make them a different color than off. I turned down the color saturation level by one and that helped I think but I think it make the whole picture in general lack some color as well. I can't do much about the color thing unless I turn the color or hue up or down. What bothers me is my older Pioneer units had great sharp video quality while the P 640 has a softer, less sharp picture and there is no way I can see to incease the sharpness of the recorded video seeing how they took out the "detail" setting out of the video input and only keeping it in the video playback output settings.

I'm wondering if Pioneer did this on purpose because of all the new HD sets that are able to pick up blocking, noise and other flaws better. I wonder if they made it soft on purpose so that when you watch something upconverted to an HD set the video would then look sharper and not show any of the video mpeg flaws?

JT,

What "speed" are you recording at?

May I ask where did you purchase your open box 640? I saw one @ bestbuy on cambie a couple of weeks ago. Not sure if they have any new units @ bestbuy though. Some futureshops here in Vancouver actually had both the 550 (with 1080P) & 640, and 550 surprisingly cost cheaper as recently as last week, albeit for just 2 or 3 loonies @ $470:D


I bought it at BestBuy on Cambie last Saturday or Friday (my memory is foggy). I was surprised it was there to tell you the truth! I was going to buy a DVD player without a harddrive but I couldn't resist the price.

You are absolutely right as I was confused by my new 640 whose blue right is HDD and orange light is dvd. My older 520 is as same as your 420h though :)
Yes, they reversed the color LED assignments at some point between the 520 and 640 models. As I've had the 520 for a couple years longer, and so am much more used to it, this does lead to some momentary confusion.

all

just wonder if purpose is to archiving at highest quality, should I be skipping all the video mode related and speed copy settings ? I'm only dealing with PAL TV resolutions, what would be good choices in terms of audio and video ? LPCM should be overkill right ?
I haven't seen that reference to "bit perfect archiving", but then I've barely glanced at the 640 manual, since I was quite familiar with the earlier model and it seemed like I could figure most things out. LPCM setting is what I would use if I was recording a broadcast concert and wanted to get the best possible sound quality. But then, I'm basing that on the assumption (which may be wrong) that these Pioneers support Hi-Fi Stereo, much as the higher-end VCRs did. (I'm not where I can confirm or disprove this right now.) In any case, I have some pretty rare concerts from PBS that were recorded to videotape at the max speed in Hi-Fi Stereo, which I've been planning to transfer to DVD with the Pioneer, and I was thinking I would do that in LPCM.

Please, could we have more reports about how these stack up in regular use (features, build quality, performance results), as compared to the 640 ? Or is that being spun off as a separate thread ?

I finally got around to trying to copy some CDs on my 640. I was surprised to find that once they are transfered to the HDD, you cannot burn them to a DVD. So, I played the four CDs on another DVD player, recorded them to the 640's HDD, and burned them to disc.

Since I had a four volume set, I wanted to put them on two DVDs. Recording them all in LPCM would not fit, so I recorded one in LPCM, and SP. I then did A/B listening tests between the two HDD recordings, and the CD. I was amazed at the audio quality! Any difference between the three was pretty much impossible to hear. The LPCM recording sounded perhaps just a tiny bit brighter than the SP or the CD. In future, I think I will use LPCM for recordings that will fit on a single disc that way, especially from vinyl LPs, but won't worry about using SP, or a higher MN, to record when necessary to fit.

I haven't tried recording with the video line disconnected, because I haven't needed to try and cram in more on a disc. I may try that in the future. But for now, I set the display on the DVD player to show the remaining time of each track, and record that on the HDD, with the audio. I also use that to quickly and easily place chapter marks between songs. So far, I am happy! But, I'll admit it would be nice to record a CD as quickly as the "Disc Backup" feature will do a DVD.

I finally got around to trying to copy some CDs on my 640. I was surprised to find that once they are transfered to the HDD, you cannot burn them to a DVD. kjbawc,

I read in the book that you can not burn the CD's copied to HDD to a disc but I wanted to try that feature out. It worked fine but I found it to be a waste to me, as I can't see playing the music on the TV with a dead screen or even if you could watch something?

So, I played the four CDs on another DVD player, recorded them to the 640's HDD, and burned them to disc.
I am confused here?
Did you feed the DVD player into the 640 to record to the HDD. Then from the HDD to a DVD?

Urlee

kjbawc,

I read in the book that you can not burn the CD's copied to HDD to a disc but I wanted to try that feature out. It worked fine but I found it to be a waste to me, as I can't see playing the music on the TV with a dead screen or even if you could watch something?


I am confused here?
Did you feed the DVD player into the 640 to record to the HDD. Then from the HDD to a DVD?

Urlee
If you use an external player and copy music/audio to the HDD thru the line inputs, with or without video line connected, each copy will be on the HDD as a normal title that you can copy to a DVD in the normal manner. If you disconnect the video line while copying to the HDD, you can get about twice the music in the same file size (MB), except for XP and LPCM. At SP, the music copies at ~0.6 Mbps with no video line vs ~1.4 Mbps with video line connected (but no video content)...stats below.

Making music/audio DVDs is a "neat" idea but of little practical value since DVDs won't play in your car unless you have a DVD system for videos, or in your (non-attached) stereo system.

They can play in your laptop/computer DVD burner, so they're good to take "on the road," small space, lots of music/audio!. Audio DVDs can also be useful as a secondary source of storage, or for playing from the Jukebox or HDD, wherever you choose to store them...they take up the same HDD space in either location...HDD titles are better if you want to make DVD copies in the future since the Jukebox won't allow copying to DVD.

Here are some stats I compiled on copying audio to the HDD:

Audio DVD Rates, Mbps
Mode.....Vid On*...Vid Off.....Full Video Rate
MN1........0.4........0.24..........--
SEP........0.35.......0.24..........--
SLP........--..........0.29..........--
EP..........0.42.......0.29..........1.75
LP...........--..........0.55..........2.5
SP..........1.4.........0.6............5
XP..........9.72.......9.72..........--
LPCM......9.72.......9.72..........9.75

*No video source, just left connected.

Okay, the manual and wabjxo say you can't copy a CD from the HDD to disc, but Urlee says no problem. Guess I'll just have to try that myself! I did play the CDs on one DVD player, and record from that player to the HDD of my 640. As I said, it sounded great.

Wabjxo, thanks for the chart, it will prove helpful. I am especially glad to learn that disconnecting the video input doesn't gain me any recording time in LPCM. I won't waste my time trying that.

For me, there are several attractions in putting music on DVDs, even with no video content. I have access to a huge library of CDs, which I can borrow, and put on DVD, to play later on my home system. I have about 1,000 vinyl LPs, which I can record in LPCM, and then use the DVDs for most playbacks of that content. I used to use my SVHS VCR for recording music, as it produces near-digital quality. I can transfer these tapes to DVD for playback, and find different tracks much more easily. Also, I can record the odd FM radio show I want to save.

Now, I realize that many people would do much of this on a computer, producing CDs, instead of DVDs, which would then play back in the car, and boom box. I wouldn't mind that, but I do most of my listening at home, only have a computer at work, and minimal computer skills.

Okay, the manual and wabjxo say you can't copy a CD from the HDD to disc, but Urlee says no problem. Guess I'll just have to try that myself! I did play the CDs on one DVD player, and record from that player to the HDD of my 640. As I said, it sounded great.
If you copy a CD to the HDD as a title, like copying a VHS tape to the HDD, you CAN then make DVD copies just like a normal title. You can also rename the tracks, use approp. edit features, etc. like you can for a video title.

Only if you copy a CD to the Jukebox will you NOT be able to copy back to a DVD later.

Two different approaches.

I didn't realize there was a difference. So, I start the CD playing, then hit "One Touch Copy," is that it?

I didn't realize there was a difference. So, I start the CD playing, then hit "One Touch Copy," is that it?
No, one-touch only works with a DVD in the tray (blank or otherwise, depending)...ALTHOUGH I never tried it that way...a good experiment, huh!?

You copy the same way you would with a VHS tape, except with music, you'll be able to delay the recorder REC button cause the music will usually have a short intro time that you can coordinate nicely to start recording just on time.

Obviously with a VHS tape, I would use a separate piece of equipment to provide the signal recorded to the 640's HDD, just as I did with the 4 CDs. That's what I did. Urlee seems to be saying that you can put the CD in the 640, record to the HDD, and burn it to disc. I thought you were saying there was some way to record the CD to the HDD, in the 640, but NOT to the Jukebox. Otherwise, you were just telling me to do what I already said I did. Guess I'll try that experiment anyway... :D

On a related subject, you, and others have said that you use up less GB by recording with the Video input disconnected. I haven't tried that. I have, on several occasions, set up my 640 to record something from the HDD of my Moto STB DVR, to the HDD of the 640, but forgotten and turned the receiver off, so the 640 got NO signal, audio, or video. I noticed on those occasions that the Disc Navigator display showed that the blank recording took up just as many GB as if it had gotten a normal signal. I'm not doubting that what you and several others have said IS true, but I find my experience hard to reconcile with with that.

kjbawc,

I read in the book that you can not burn the CD's copied to HDD to a disc but I wanted to try that feature out. It worked fine but I found it to be a waste to me, as I can't see playing the music on the TV with a dead screen or even if you could watch something?


I am confused here?
Did you feed the DVD player into the 640 to record to the HDD. Then from the HDD to a DVD?

Urlee

Yep, I fed the signal from a separate player. Are you saying you put a CD into your 640, transfered it to the HDD, and burned it to disc? If so, HOW?

Obviously with a VHS tape, I would use a separate piece of equipment to provide the signal recorded to the 640's HDD, just as I did with the 4 CDs. That's what I did. Urlee seems to be saying that you can put the CD in the 640, record to the HDD, and burn it to disc. I thought you were saying there was some way to record the CD to the HDD, in the 640, but NOT to the Jukebox. Otherwise, you were just telling me to do what I already said I did. Guess I'll try that experiment anyway... :D

On a related subject, you, and others have said that you use up less GB by recording with the Video input disconnected. I haven't tried that. I have, on several occasions, set up my 640 to record something from the HDD of my Moto STB DVR, to the HDD of the 640, but forgotten and turned the receiver off, so the 640 got NO signal, audio, or video. I noticed on those occasions that the Disc Navigator display showed that the blank recording took up just as many GB as if it had gotten a normal signal. I'm not doubting that what you and several others have said IS true, but I find my experience hard to reconcile with with that.
Don't know how it got confused on your end, but the way you copied the CDs...using an external player...is the way I did all my tests.

As far as no video cable, my results are posted above, believe it or not. Just disconnecting the video cable gets the lower Mbps result.

I tried the one-touch with a CD and it DOES copy BUT it copies to the Jukebox, from which you can't make any DVD copies.

Guess we'll just have to wait for Urlee to explain. Thanks for trying, anyway.

Okay, the manual and wabjxo say you can't copy a CD from the HDD to disc, but Urlee says no problem.


No no no no,

So sorry for my poor reply that was not very clear and misleading.
I am good at that. I have in my head what I am thinking and reply as if you can read my mind?

I meant, I read in the manual that you could not burn to a disc, a CD that you copied to the HDD but I had no problem copying a CD to the HDD.

Hope this clears up the chaos I started. :o

Urlee

Are you saying you put a CD into your 640, transfered it to the HDD, and burned it to disc? If so, HOW?


QUOTE:I read in the book that you can not burn the CD's copied to HDD to a disc but I wanted to try that feature out.
It worked fine but I found it to be a waste to me, as I can't see playing the music on the TV with a dead screen or even if you could watch something?

but I wanted to try that feature out.

That is the troublesome statement which meant: But I wanted to try the feature of copying a CD to the HDD out.
Then, as you can see, the rest of my sentence matched this. Meaning, while you listen to the music you put on the HDD, you can't watch TV etc. What is the sense to that when you can put it in your CD player to listen?

Urlee

Anyone having 'copy error' problems?

My older 630H is crapping out on me. It used to be real picky about the blanks disks. Some brands work better than others. I would seldom be able to record close to 90% on disk.

Lately it's been getting worse, sometimes the machine would only handle 50% capacity of a disk. Now, it's more like 20% - and I still get 'disk errors'.

Any advice?

An easy thing to try:

1. Set clock manually.
2. Turn DST OFF.

If that doesn't help, try resetting the 640 before making the clock changes.

There is a "DST Bug" (aka Y2K7 Problem) that affects some machines and depends a lot on system config...esp. having an STB that service provider uploads the new DST Rules to and they conflict with the FW rules in your machine, cable provider updates his DST Rules sent in the signal your receive, etc.).

More info here. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=846731)

Anyone having 'copy error' problems?

My older 630H is crapping out on me. It used to be real picky about the blanks disks. Some brands work better than others. I would seldom be able to record close to 90% on disk.

Lately it's been getting worse, sometimes the machine would only handle 50% capacity of a disk. Now, it's more like 20% - and I still get 'disk errors'.

Any advice?

How old is the unit, and how heavy a use has it seen ? Is the location affected by dusty conditions, smokers, pets ? Does this model burn just -Rs, or is it more like the 640 that burns just about everything ?

I have seen a Copy Err on occasion with my older 520 model. So far, it has not been reliably repeatable or persistent in a way that would tend to rule out choice of media or the odd bad disk. (I have found that the chances of this go up considerably with more than 3 items to copy &/or heavily edited material.) We may get to a point where only 16x media is readily available, and the write strategies for the burner firmware regarding never-anticipated media gets to be an issue -- but I'm far from sure about this, as in theory it should still drop down to a conservative 4x burn speed.

Some regard trying to clean the burner lens (with one of those CD/DVD drive cleaner kits) as a fairly drastic step, and one not without risk. But replacing the burner is clearly a more drastic step, so by that point you may have little to lose. If the laser is actually starting to fail, you may have little choice. Whether the unit is important enough to you to justify the trouble (a non-trivial Do It Yourself project) or the expense (unless you had an extended warranty), is something you will have to determine.

Before you get that far, I would suggest that you rule out a media problem by testing a couple varieties of known-good media, like Verbatim or TY. Too much of what is being sold these days in blank media is junk.

There is a "DST Bug" (aka Y2K7 Problem) that affects some machines and depends a lot on system config...esp. having an STB that service provider uploads the new DST Rules to and they conflict with the FW rules in your machine, cable provider updates his DST Rules sent in the signal your receive, etc.).

I could be mistaken, but I thought we discussed daylight saving time DST a while back and agreed that the 640 doesn't make the switch in any event, that the DST setting on the setup screen doesn't actually do anything.

I could be mistaken, but I thought we discussed daylight saving time DST a while back and agreed that the 640 doesn't make the switch in any event, that the DST setting on the setup screen doesn't actually do anything.

I didn't have any DST problems with my 640, which gets its time signal from a PBS station, via Comcast unconverted coax.

Sorry for the late reply.

The machine has seen quite a bit of use, but I've opened it and cleaned it a little. I think the head alignment or laser is kaput.

I use mainly Imation and Maxell disks. Sometimes I get incompatible disk when a fresh disk is loaded, but the same disk is ok on the 640.

I think I'll have to bring it in and see how much they'll charge to replace the burner.

Has any one seen these for sale anywhere lately? They seem to have disappeared off of the face of the internet. Any help would be appreciated.

Could Pioneer be getting ready to release an new DVD recorder?

Pioneer and most of the other HDD DVD recorder makers have not released models with digital tuners, and because of this they cannot sell their current models in the US. New models have been released in Canada, check this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=858403) for information.

Anyone having 'copy error' problems?

My older 630H is crapping out on me. It used to be real picky about the blanks disks. Some brands work better than others. I would seldom be able to record close to 90% on disk.

Lately it's been getting worse, sometimes the machine would only handle 50% capacity of a disk. Now, it's more like 20% - and I still get 'disk errors'.

Any advice?

I had the same problem with a lite on and my pio 531..switched over to Taiyo Yuden and my coaster ratio went from 30 bad disks per 100 to only 2 coasters per 100!

You can get 300 Taiyos with 300 free paper sleeves shipped free for only 72 bucks online!

I swear by them!

Maxell, TDK, philips & everthing else are over priced junk that make many erros when burning.
Taiyos are made in Japan and are much more higher quality but at a much lower cost...i didnt believe it until i bought my first pack 3 years ago...i have never bought anything else since then..best "bang for your buck" and most "reliable" DVD media period!

I had the same problem with a lite on and my pio 531..switched over to Taiyo Yuden and my coaster ratio went from 30 bad disks per 100 to only 2 coasters per 100!

You can get 300 Taiyos with 300 free paper sleeves shipped free for only 72 bucks online!

I swear by them!

Maxell, TDK, philips & everthing else are over priced junk that make many erros when burning.
Taiyos are made in Japan and are much more higher quality but at a much lower cost...i didnt believe it until i bought my first pack 3 years ago...i have never bought anything else since then..best "bang for your buck" and most "reliable" DVD media period!

I second the TY. I had been buying Verbatim -R and TY +R for my 640. The Verbatim seem to be more sensitive for recognition in my standalone DVD players, and have had a few fail in burning at the outer limits. Neither situation has occurred on my TY.

I second the TY. I had been buying Verbatim -R and TY +R for my 640. The Verbatim seem to be more sensitive for recognition in my standalone DVD players, and have had a few fail in burning at the outer limits. Neither situation has occurred on my TY.

Whats funny is that the "value line" TY blank DVDS are still 20 times better than what you can get at any store here in the US.

I can't find any difference in the great quality in the TY "value line" from the TY "premium line" TY's which is still a lot cheaper than the sold called name brands...those Japanese REALLY have HIGH standards!

Every day i bow to the "rising sun" for ending my "error and recording problems!" ;-)

Pioneer and most of the other HDD DVD recorder makers have not released models with digital tuners, and because of this they cannot sell their current models in the US. New models have been released in Canada, check "link" for information.

OK, now it makes sense. Thanks for the link. A digital tuner is a waste on me, I get no OTA signals. Oh well, guess it will drive the HD content.

Great! I'll look for the TY disks. Thanks!

Regarding the burner on the older 630, Pioneer wants $170 to replace it. I don't want to fork out this amount and find out that I need to fork out some more to replace the HD later. I'll be better off with a new unit w/warranty.

The 640HS has been replaced by the 650HS. Pretty similar except for "1080p upscaling with HDMI output". Price is about the same as the 640HS

I second the TY. I had been buying Verbatim -R and TY +R for my 640. The Verbatim seem to be more sensitive for recognition in my standalone DVD players, and have had a few fail in burning at the outer limits. Neither situation has occurred on my TY.
If you used Verbatim +Rs, your failure rate would prob. be the same as the TY +Rs... by design, +Rs have an inherently better error-correction scheme than -Rs.

...and, for the "boo-birds," no, I'm not referring to the "DVD+MRW standard (Mt Rainier for DVD+RW)" (a hardware defect-management system), just the plain-vanilla DVD+Rs.

If you used Verbatim +Rs, your failure rate would prob. be the same as the TY +Rs... +Rs have an inherently better error-correction scheme than -Rs.

While I agree that the +R tech is better than -R in that regard, based on postings at cdrinfo and cdfreaks forums, I thought that when buying Verbatim, their higher quality product was the -R over the +R. Just last night, I had to burn a Verbatim 16x -R three times, before the Pioneer 640 or my Toshiba test box would recognize the disk. On the other hand, both "coasters" were read fine by my Pioneer DVD R/W computer drive. Go figure. In any case, I am 3 disks closer to the end of that spindle of Verbatims.

While I agree that the +R tech is better than -R in that regard, based on postings at cdrinfo and cdfreaks forums, I thought that when buying Verbatim, their higher quality product was the -R over the +R. Just last night, I had to burn a Verbatim 16x -R three times, before the Pioneer 640 or my Toshiba test box would recognize the disk. On the other hand, both "coasters" were read fine by my Pioneer DVD R/W computer drive. Go figure. In any case, I am 3 disks closer to the end of that spindle of Verbatims.
Like all media, depends on which Verbatim +R you use.

CDFreaks rates Verbatim +R 8X (MCC003) White-Top Hub Printable media a solid 100%, while the 16X (MCC004) gets a 94%. On the bottom is the Light scribe 16X made in India at 68%.

My reading of anecdotal reports suggests 8X might be better tolerated in most DVDRs than 16X. When Verbatim announced their "new" 16X media, they mentioned how they "extended" their 8X formula to the faster rate...not that they developed a "new" formula...maybe like oil they used an "additive"??? :) (joke)

CDfreaks data here. (http://www.cdfreaks.com/media/DVD+R/Verbatim/)

Like all media, depends on which Verbatim +R you use.

CDFreaks rates Verbatim +R 8X (MCC003) White-Top Hub Printable media a solid 100%, while the 16X (MCC004) gets a 94%. On the bottom is the Light scribe 16X made in India at 68%.

My reading of anecdotal reports suggests 8X might be better tolerated in most DVDRs than 16X. When Verbatim announced their "new" 16X media, they mentioned how they "extended" their 8X formula to the faster rate...not that they developed a "new" formula...maybe like oil they used an "additive"??? :) (joke)

CDfreaks data here. (http://www.cdfreaks.com/media/DVD+R/Verbatim/)
Interesting. I've used a few spindles of Verb 16X -Rs in both my 520 and my 640. In the case of the former, it was at times when I had a temporary shortage of 8x media. The 16X discs burn at 4x in the 520, because it seriously lacks the proper write strategies for 16x media. But they worked very well in the 640, with high speed burns. No coasters I can recall, in either case. But I've tried to reserve more 8x for the 520. (It does not do +R at all, for recording purposes.)

As you said, know just WHICH Verbs -- or whatever -- the media really happens to be. It is now even more important NOT to blindly go by the label. There have been sightings of Verbatim DLs that were Made in India, and I wouldn't touch those with a very long bargepole. Verbatim could be on the verge of ruining their reputation. The days when you could still find good Made in Japan media on store shelves seem to be long gone. As with so many other things, manufactuerers keep chasing the bottom on price, and quality does not seem to matter, as most buyers neither know nor care.

My stupid question is
Does optimization mean my previous recordings will disappear and never be recovered?
I try to look up the word "optimization" in previous pages, but I cannot get the answers I'm looking for. :P
Any feedbacks would be greatly appreciated. :)

My stupid question is
Does optimization mean my previous recordings will disappear and never be recovered?
I try to look up the word "optimization" in previous pages, but I cannot get the answers I'm looking for. :P
Any feedbacks would be greatly appreciated. :)

It is a euphemism for "defragment the harddrive". No data will be lost. And, if you don't have much free space, it won't do much other than say it needs to be run again.

It is a euphemism for "defragment the harddrive". No data will be lost. And, if you don't have much free space, it won't do much other than say it needs to be run again.
Thx for your reply Geordon. I do have around 30-40G left. My question now is
Are the 30-40G (12-15Hr in SP mode I assume) enough for the optimization? I read in previous threads that "Some recordings may need to be deleted in order for the optimization to be run" as you suggested.

Thx for your reply Geordon. I do have around 30-40G left. My question now is
Are the 30-40G (12-15Hr in SP mode I assume) enough for the optimization? I read in previous threads that "Some recordings may need to be deleted in order for the optimization to be run" as you suggested.

Sounds like you have plenty. It doesn't hurt to try. Worst case -- it doesn't do much of a defrag. If that happens, just wait until you have more free space later, then try again.

I tried searching this thread/board, but wasn't able to find an answer, so...

I've had my Pio-640 for a year and a half.

Recently, I converted to digital cable. (I've never had a cable box before.)After some trial and error, I ended up with this configuration---

Cable amplifier feeds into a splitter, which feeds the TV and the cable box. The cable box feeds the Pio-640.

This setup works great and behaves as I expected. (PQ is great and I can watch an analog channel while recording either an analog or digital channel, but, as expected, I can't watch a digital channel while recording a different digital channel.)

Two questions -

1. Is there a better setup ?

2. I can control the TV and cable box from the cable box remote, but I can't find what device code that I need to use to control the Pio-640 from the cable remote.

(The cable box is a Motorola DCT2244 with a DRC800 remote.)
http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/drc800/

Does your STB have a DVR in it? I'm not familiar with that model of Moto. Mine is a Moto 6412, which is a two tuner DVR. Here's how I hook-up/handle things:

First, since the RF (coax) out on the Pioneer is just a pass-through, you don't really need a splitter for the Pio. You can run the cable directly from the wall, or your amp, if you really need one, to the Pio, and then the RF out from the Pio to the Moto STB. But, it would help to have a splitter, to give more flexibility.

You don't say if you have an AVR, so I will assume you don't. If you did, I would run outs from the STB to the AVR, and ins and outs from the Pio to the AVR.

Run coax from the splitter to the STB, and to the Pio seperately.

Run coax from the Pio to the TV.

Run the S-Vid and R/L audio line outs from the STB to the Pio.

Run HDMI from the STB to the TV.

Run component video and R/L audio outs from the Pio to the TV.

Now you can record and/or watch any analog channel using the Pio and its RF input. You can record any digital channel on the Pio, using the S-Vid line input. You can also watch any analog channel on the TV, using the RF(coax) input coming from the Pio., regardless of what the Pio is recording, or what is on the STB.

If you have a two tuner DVR, you can watch and record one digital, or analog, channel, while recording another. Later, you can transfer one you recorded to the Pio. I set one up to transfer when I leave for work, or go to bed.

Sorry, but even with a two tuner STB, there is NO way to watch one digital program, while sending another digital program to your Pio to record. With the setup above, you can watch any analog program, while recording any analog or digital program, and watch any digital program, while recording analog program. That's the best you can do without a second STB.

I have a similar setup. and have not been able to come up with anything better. I have encountered a problem that you may experience down the line. I was using a cheap splitter/amplifier combo and things seemed to work fine for months. And then my cable box lost all video signal or dropped some key channels and required resetting (unplugging it and then plugging it back in). I noticed that this happened every Monday a.m. A call to the cable company told me that the splitter was the problem and that I couldn't use it. So I took it out and that resolved the issue BUT I needed a splitter, and why was it happening every Monday? It seems that there is 2 way communication between the cable company and my cable box once a week and the cheap splitter interferes with that, resulting in signal loss. Why it should work for months and then manifest itself is beyond me. So I bought a better quality splitter (no amplification required) made by Monster and that seems to have stabilize my system. I use a Harmony Universal remote control and recommend it highly.

I will study your suggestions for the next round of hookups. In the meantime, I have a similar setup in two rooms: the cable comes in and is split, one side going to a STB (digital cable service, but will have to check the Motorola model when I get home), the other to the TV. In one setup the STB then feeds a Pio 520, in the other a 640 -- so that premium channels can be unscrambled before the signal path goes any further. THEN


Run the S-Vid and R/L audio line outs from the STB to the Pio.
Run HDMI from the STB to the TV.

Run component video and R/L audio outs from the Pio to the TV.

Well, I'm doing the first, but apparently there is no component or HDMI Out option in the STBs (at least with my provider), until you step up to their High Def service -- at significantly greater cost of course. And there have hardly ever been any DVDRs on the market that offer component INs.

So far, I've been satisfied with the viewing options available in my setup. (Changes will need to be made whenever I replace the tv with something much more up to date, which will have other connection requirements or possibilities.) The problem I've been seeing is when I try to record concerts or music programs. In the 520 setup, it seems to only record as Mono, whereas I think in the room with the 640, I can record the same sources as Stereo. And I'm not seeing what's different that might account for that.

...The problem I've been seeing is when I try to record concerts or music programs. In the 520 setup, it seems to only record as Mono, whereas I think in the room with the 640, I can record the same sources as Stereo. And I'm not seeing what's different that might account for that.I don't have a 520 but if it's like the 640, (and assuming your STB outputs stereo (have you checked settings?) and you don't have a Y adapter in your audio cabling that would be causing the mono from stereo,) I would check the 520's Initial Setup...Audio In...External Audio to make sure it is set to stereo. Does it have that setting?

Other than that, maybe try different cables or swap the 520 and the 640 to narrow down the possibilities.

Seeker47,

I have a 520, but not a 640. All of my recordings on the 520 are using S-video and stereo audio inputs, in my case from an HR10-250 high-definition TiVo (DirecTV variety). I have not had any problem with audio being mono. All of my recordings are stereo and playback nicely with Dolby Pro Logic II.

If there are no option settings problems in the 520, perhaps there is a problem with the cable STB feeding into the 520. Could you swap the cable boxes between the 520 and 640 for a test to isolate the source of the problem?

Hi there, can anybody tell me if this DVD player is multi-zoned? I live in Australia (zone 4). If I buy a DVD from the States (Zone 1?) will it play on my machine. So best way to put my question I guess is can any of you in the USA play a different zone's? Or does it perhaps depend on the country. Maybe different models manufactured in different countries can/cant do this I'm not sure, I think I recall hearing something in the media about Australia stopping machines being multi-zoned so we couldn't buy stuff online overseas cheaper. Is there a way to find out without going to the expense of buying a different zone DVD? apologise in advance if this subject has been done. I did do a quick search on zones but couldn't see anything.

DVDRs imported to and sold in a country are supposed to be single-zoned for that country, so if you buy a 640 in the U.S., it will only play Zone 1 DVDs.

There are "international" versions sold online that are ANY zone and ANY signal (NTSC/PAL/SECAM), but they are a couple-hundred $ more expensive and don't usually carry the mfgr's warranty, only the modifier's warranty. You can find these international units online.

There are also "hacks" to make some players and DVDRs zone-free, but any such hacks "discovered" by the mfgr will prob. void the warranty. I don't think there is such a hack for the 640.

ah okay, thank you very much, I'll play it safe and only buy Zone4. It's a shame we aren't all one the same zone.

Hi there, can anybody tell me if this DVD player is multi-zoned?There are several versions of the 640 including an international version which is advertised as multi-zone, and the one this thread mostly refers to, the DVR-640H-S which is the North American model. I believe it is also multi-zone although oddly it isn't mentioned in the manual.

I have the latter model and of course I have played lots of zone 1 DVDs in mine, but also successfully played an Australian DVD which I believe was zone 4 (PAL). (It would not play in another stand-alone player that only plays zone 1 DVDs.)

I just double-checked and that Australian DVD was indeed recorded in PAL format and plays fine on the 640.

I think I read all 640s are multi-region for playback. I know the international versions are capable of recording in both NTSC and PAL format, but I think any 640 can play both. I believe there is no hack to make the 640 a multi-region player because it isn't necessary, but that may only apply to the international version. Is that what you are looking at purchasing?

EDIT: When checked on my computer the Australian DVD was indeed PAL format, but was coded as region 1 so it doesn't confirm the 640 is multi-region. There is an "Incompatible region number." error listed in the manual.

I think I only have region 1 DVDs. Can anyone else with a region 4 (or non-region 1) DVD chime in?

OK I actually have the 540H-S, and it would be considered an international version as I live in Australia. The manual I have is for the 640H-S & 540H-S but it is different to your manual as the references I have seen her about something on page xx is actually on a different page in the Australian manual, so obviously there is a difference somewhere.

Do you think there is anyway I can download a clip or something from the Internet to my PC (I have a burner) and am I able to make a DVD in Zone1 format to see if my 540 will play it? I use Nero and/or DVD Shrink. But from memory I dont select zones or anything, it just seems to automatically do it so it works. Maybe it is more hardware related to do with the burner. I'm not sure how these things work :confused:

I am in North America, I have domestically purchased the DVR-531, 640 and 650 and they are all R1. They will play PAL discs as long as they are R0. They will not play my R2 discs. The signal is not converted to NTSC. To watch the disc one must use a TV that can accept the PAL signal (i.e. HDTV's)

Homemade discs are all R0. It is the commercially produced discs that have region restrictions. You will have to use a commercially made R1 disc to know for sure if your player is multi-regional.

OK thanks,

I would like to know if the Harmony 880 universal remote control will work with the 640 recorder before I purchase it? thanks

Yes the Harmony 880 does work for me. You may want to tweek the delays and repeats (under device options choose adjust delays; not sure where you go to directly change the repeats, you could try troubleshooting option)

Mine are set at the following and everything works fine:

Power On 15000
Interkey 100
Input 300
Interdevice 100
Repeats 3

I am in North America, I have domestically purchased the DVR-531, 640 and 650 and they are all R1. They will play PAL discs as long as they are R0. They will not play my R2 discs. The signal is not converted to NTSC. To watch the disc one must use a TV that can accept the PAL signal (i.e. HDTV's)

Homemade discs are all R0. It is the commercially produced discs that have region restrictions. You will have to use a commercially made R1 disc to know for sure if your player is multi-regional.

My USA model of the 640 will NOT play R0 PAL discs. I have tried several home burnt ones, and none played. They play fine in a Toshiba, and an old Philips that has been hacked.

My USA model of the 640 will NOT play R0 PAL discs. I have tried several home burnt ones, and none played. They play fine in a Toshiba, and an old Philips that has been hacked.

That is strange, I would have expected that the 640's in Canada and the US would be identical. What happends when you try to play a R0 PAL disc? Does the 640 give you an error message?

I haven't tried since last fall, so I don't remember the message for certain, but it was the same message for all I tried, and I believe different from the one R4 PAL commercial disc I tried, which I believe did say wrong region. I'm not really surprised. In the US they seem anxious to keep us from playing anything but R1, or R0 NTSC. Even the players that will play PAL don't even mention it in their manuals, in my experience. I have a Sony 400 disc changer that won't play most R0 NTSC discs! It just says "Cannot Play."

I bought a Pioneer DVD Recorder DVR-640H-S new from Harvey Norman (Australian major chain) in November 2006 and have had heaps of problems with what the manual complains to do and what it actually will do. Is it just my model?
For instance, I find no way to make it actually change to video mode, whatever I set it for in the Set Up/Recording menus. Secondly it won't play most (but not all!!) +R DVDs, even those recorded on an earlier Pioneer DVD recorder I owned before this current one! (In fact on two discs I recorded onto one after the other on that older recorder, it plays one and won't play the second one, yet they were recorded - and finalized of course etc - one after the other!). Thirdly, when I put in a new +R disc (Imation and TDK both now tried) to record onto, it rejects it saying it is the wrong disc-type and has to be
-R/RW, but that's not what the manual claims in the very first paragraph on Recording! 4thly, where and how do you get a "DVD-R disc with CPRM for recording from"?
Any comments and advice much appreciated, I have wasted hours these last months over this machine's shortcomings or worse as I see it, given the claims of the manual!

Some short answers, assuming AU and US versions are the same functionally.

1. Set the HDD to Video Mode in the Initial Setup > Recording > HDD Recording Format menu.

2. Not sure why it will play one +R and not another. Could be bad media and/or a marginal burn to start with and the recording has aged poorly,... ?

3. Wrong disc type usually appears when making a Backup Copy (must use same disc type as the original) or possibly something involving VR-Mode (recording on HDD might be a Copy-Once program?), ... ? If your HDD was set for VR-mode, that may be why you're into a CPRM situation...the VR-mode HDD allowed you to record a Copy-Once program and now it's looking for a VR-mode disc to copy to.. big maybe...???

4. For CPRM items, just guessing, VR-mode is involved and may be what the recording needs to see before it lets you make a DVD copy. You can insert a DVD-R and Initialize it as VR-mode and see if that solves whatever problem you're encountering. If you can then copy to a VR-mode DVD, you'll only be able to use that as archive or high-speed copying back to the HDD (even if the disc is finalized). Most other machines won't play it.

Hope some of this helps?

I have set up the 640 as well.. I don't have the TV Guide set up on it, but am going through the cable box with normal AV cables into the DVR.

When i burn programs from the Cable DVR to the Pioneer DVD HDD, there are spots where it just goes black and there is no picture, but I can hear the sound, then the picture resumes..

Has anyone ever had a problem like this??? Any thoughts?

The Pioneer 640 doesn't have the TV Guide on Screen.

I talked to the Pioneer rep, she had me reset it to factory settings, let's hope that solves it.

I have set up the 640 as well.. I don't have the TV Guide set up on it, but am going through the cable box with normal AV cables into the DVR.

When i burn programs from the Cable DVR to the Pioneer DVD HDD, there are spots where it just goes black and there is no picture, but I can hear the sound, then the picture resumes..

Has anyone ever had a problem like this??? Any thoughts?

I've had that problem while recording on my 640 a few times. I get a message on the screen that says "poor signal," or something like, that when it happens. I think that has only happened when recording from the RF input, but I am not sure, it is rare.

If you can check the recording on the cable DVR, do that, and see if the blank is there, as I have seen that with Comcast. If you don't see the blank screen on the DVR too, I would suspect a bad video connection, either the cable is loose, or needs replacing.

When i burn programs from the Cable DVR to the Pioneer DVD HDD, there are spots where it just goes black and there is no picture, but I can hear the sound, then the picture resumes..

Has anyone ever had a problem like this??? Any thoughts?
I had one instance of intermittent black screen. I was watching the recording in progress and saw a message several times about "cannot copy ..." found it was commercials that had copy protection on them, then it picked back up with the program...prob. mistakes but nevertheless hard to believe... I wanted MORE copy-protected commercials! :D

Apparently, the 640 will continue to record a program that might have a section that can't be copied/recorded due to copy protection, and it will black out the screen during those times, yet continue to record. Not sure if my occurrences were in a timer program, but that would explain why it didn't just stop recording altogether... they were just sections of an otherwise open program.

I have a similar setup. and have not been able to come up with anything better. I have encountered a problem that you may experience down the line. I was using a cheap splitter/amplifier combo and things seemed to work fine for months. And then my cable box lost all video signal or dropped some key channels and required resetting (unplugging it and then plugging it back in). I noticed that this happened every Monday a.m. A call to the cable company told me that the splitter was the problem and that I couldn't use it. So I took it out and that resolved the issue BUT I needed a splitter, and why was it happening every Monday? It seems that there is 2 way communication between the cable company and my cable box once a week and the cheap splitter interferes with that, resulting in signal loss. Why it should work for months and then manifest itself is beyond me. So I bought a better quality splitter (no amplification required) made by Monster and that seems to have stabilize my system. I use a Harmony Universal remote control and recommend it highly.


I had the EXACT same problem with my cable company. I wasn't using a splitter though - I just ran the cable from the wall into the 640 and then through the digital box. That worked for 6 months, and that's when the cable co. flags you and turns off your box due to lack of return communication. I was told the same thing happens with cheap splitters. I changed my set-up to a cheap splitter, and the problem went away. I was FREAKING OUT though, thinking I couldn't run my cable through the 640 first (which is essential for being able to tape my analog channels). Phew!

Anyone been having any trouble with playing regular bought DVDs on their 640? I just bought a BRAND NEW Disney DVD and it played fine in my bedroom DVD player but stopped playing in the 640 each time I tried (like the DVD had a big scratch on it or something). I am wondering if this feature is starting to fail...if any feature were to fail, I supposed I would be the least upset about this one. I couldn't handle my HDD or DVD recorder failing! I've still got waaaay too much left to record on this machine!

Thanks in advance!

I LOVE my Pioneer 640 and I've been trying to convince hubby to get one for the bedroom. What's this I hear that the HDD models are getting hard to find in the USA? Are they phasing them out because of HDTV? Or is it because most people are buying PVRs / TIVO?

We have the 550H and 650H in stock at our local Future Shop. Should I scoop one of these up while I still can?

thanks!

pokee99, I'd try a laser lens cleaning disc, ~$8 at Wal-Mart, hanging above the blank CD/DVDs.

It's about long enough for 640s to have accumulated lots of dust on the outer edges of the DVD opening, just behind the door...I was surprised at how much had built up on the top edge of mine. That disc whirling around in the tray is like a vacuum, sucking up smoke, dander and dust mites (one of which can block the laser from >400 tracks of a DVD).

Might be worth a try before major component replacement?

We have the 550H and 650H in stock at our local Future Shop. Should I scoop one of these up while I still can?It sounds like you're in Canada - if that's true then there's no panic - those are this year's models and they'll probably be around for about 6 or 7 more months, hopefully to be replaced by newer 2008 models next year. The HDD-DVDR shortage in the states isn't affecting us as much here in Canada (fortunately!).

I have entered 7 of my favorite 1 hour programs to be recorded weekly. Now I see at the end of each event as an example "Until 11/14".
Is the recoder anticipating when the hard drive will be filled? I have had my recorder for 1 year now and have never seen this before.

Thank you in advance.

Is the recoder anticipating when the hard drive will be filled? I have had my recorder for 1 year now and have never seen this before.
Thank you in advance.

It is anticipating. Both my Pioneer and Panasonic recorders display this when recurring timer settings are programmed.

It is anticipating. Both my Pioneer and Panasonic recorders display this when recurring timer settings are programmed.

So long as there is ample free capacity left on the HDD, I think you will find that that "Until X/Y/Z" date keeps resetting / advancing, all by itself. At least, that is what happened on the Pio 520s I've used. (I have not as yet set any recurring recordings on the 640.)

pokee99, I'd try a laser lens cleaning disc, ~$8 at Wal-Mart, hanging above the blank CD/DVDs.

It's about long enough for 640s to have accumulated lots of dust on the outer edges of the DVD opening, just behind the door...I was surprised at how much had built up on the top edge of mine. That disc whirling around in the tray is like a vacuum, sucking up smoke, dander and dust mites (one of which can block the laser from >400 tracks of a DVD).

Might be worth a try before major component replacement?

Wabjxo,

A relative has a model 520 in a house that was in the Calif. fires zone. The house survived o.k., but an as yet unknown amount of sooty air did get inside. I'm still waiting on a more detailed report, but it was apparently enough that they were talking about needing to have furniture, drapes, and carpeting cleaned. I don't know yet if there is actual discoloration of these things, or if it is just a matter of the smoke smell.

Anyway, it occurred to me that anything electronic in the house could be affected as well. For computers, I guess one could just open the case and even if it's not visibly obvious, a small swipe with a white rag might tell the tale. Things like DVD burners -- such as the one in the 520 -- could be more problematical. I don't know if one of those laser cleaning kits would be sufficient. Even just for those houses where there are pets or smokers, I've heard advice that one might need to get access and clean the lens directly with a swab.

Hard drives (the platters, at least) are supposed to be sealed from the outside environment, so they may not be an issue.

Would you or anyone else here have direct experience with a situation like this ? And are there other issues to be on the lookout for, in regard to electronics + smoky air, in general ?

And then there is the matter of the whole DVD collection, whether in jewel cases or not, plus all the blanks on hand.

I was about to do another couple of small edits on some already edited material on the HDD. Called up the Edit Window, and was about to specify the Start position, but everything froze up. The remote became totally non-responsive, for anything. Couldn't even open the tray or shut the unit Off. The first thing I did was to check the remote's batteries. They were just over the line into the Green area, and should have been good enough to keep using for awhile, but I exchanged them for fresh and tested- good ones anyway. No change. I pulled the power plug out for a minute or two, then reconnected it. Back in business; finished the Edits, and some other small tasks. But I've never seen this before -- with the 520 (which I've had for nearly 3 years), or with the 640. I hope it is not a sign of some problem to come.

Seeker, no direct experience with methods of cleaning, etc., but the laser lens cleaner brush might be something to try first, except...

If the lens has some "gritty" stuff on it, not sure if the little brush whirling around and actually touching the lens surface for a few sec. might cause the grit to scratch the lens?

For a severe case like those fires, maybe a better approach would be to remove the top and clean the lens with air, then soft cloth, etc.?

I guess the most conservative approach would be to start with cleaning the edges of the DVD opening (with tray open), where I found all my dust accumulation. Then see if it still reads discs. If it does, don't do anything yet. If not, not sure whether to use the cleaning disc or open it up?

Sort of between a rock and a hard place in deciding which method to use???

I was about to do another couple of small edits on some already edited material on the HDD. Called up the Edit Window, and was about to specify the Start position, but everything froze up. The remote became totally non-responsive, for anything. Couldn't even open the tray or shut the unit Off. The first thing I did was to check the remote's batteries. They were just over the line into the Green area, and should have been good enough to keep using for awhile, but I exchanged them for fresh and tested- good ones anyway. No change. I pulled the power plug out for a minute or two, then reconnected it. Back in business; finished the Edits, and some other small tasks. But I've never seen this before -- with the 520 (which I've had for nearly 3 years), or with the 640. I hope it is not a sign of some problem to come.
I had a similar experience with my Philips 3575. I think my problem was caused by "colliding/interfering" chapter marks...too close together...since I had 5-min. chapter marks on the HDD original, where I was editing. Mine froze up when I set a new chapter mark by deleting a section, and the new mark was within a few sec./frames of a 5-min. auto-chapter mark.

If the 520 sets chapter marks on the HDD (640 doesn't), maybe that's one possibility. If not, I'm no help...

Can anybody confirm whether or not the 640H-S does or doesn't have DV/Firewire input or not? Only according to a Pioneer spec sheet i found, it says both the 541H-S & the 640H-S do have DV inputs.

http://www.pioneer.com.sg/storefront/static/images/DVD_Recorder_Spec.jpg

I'm trying to find a HDD-DVD Recorder with DV input & Dual-Layer Recording, and i'm finding it pretty difficult!

While on the subject, do the 550H or 645H models have DV input?

Thanks for the help

The newly announced Toshiba HD-DVD recorders take HDMI input and can burn HD to standard DVDs.

The US 640, no longer available, does NOT have DV or firewire inputs.

Thank you for the clarification kjbawc.

Can anybody clarify whether or not the 550H or 645H have DV inputs?

Thanks a million,
Disco_Al

Hi all!! I have the Pioneer DVR-640H for about a year and love it. I recently purchased Bell Express Vu, and now I have no idea on how to set it up to tape my shows anymore :( or even watch DVDs on it anymore. I am not tech savvy, and am lost now. can anyone give me a step by step instruction on where I should be plugging in these wires.
The Bell receiver they gave me is the 3100 model. It didnt come with instructions in box, and the installer wouldnt take time to help me
If you need any more info, let me know. I will be so grateful

Jenny

Hi Jenny:

I use Star Choice but should be the same:

Run an s-video cable + audio cables from the 3100 into the L1 input on the 640, and then switch the 640's input to L1 and leave it there permanently.

Assuming you are not using an A/V receiver (since you didn't mention it,) if your TV has it, run component (red, green, blue) cable from the 640 to the TV. Otherwise, use s-video if available, and if not use composite (RCA).

For sound, run standard analog (RCA - red and white) audio cables from the 640 to the same input you used for video on the TV. I recommend also running the audio cables into your stereo especially if you have a stereo capable of dolby surround, but even if you don't. Which cable(s) you use for that depends on the inputs on the stereo. If you have it, use digital coax. Otherwise, use the standard analog audio. (For the digital audio, you can use any single RCA patch cable as typically used for analog audio...don't waste money on expensive "digital audio" coax cables.)

Use the TV's input select to switch between the input for the 640 and the input for the 3100 depending on which you are watching. Of course if you are using the stereo too, you'll have to select the correct input source for audio too.

With this setup, you can record a show from the 3100 to the 640 while listening to CDs etc on the stereo just by selecting the desired input. (You don't have to leave the stereo or TV on to record.)

If you don't have all the cables you need, I recommend using Monoprice's (link at top of this page) premium cables which are very reasonably priced for the quality, and shipping is pretty fast even to Canada. You'll get cables pretty much equivalent to Monster but much less expensive.

Good luck.

I've been searching this thread for 2 hours now and can't find an answer to this question:
Can I burn video (from my digital camcorder) and still pictures (from my digital camera) to the same DVD?

Our family went to NZ last year for three weeks and I came home with about 4 hours of video and 700 pictures!! I would like to combine them onto a single (or 2) DVD with perhaps 50 pics followed by 20 minute video, followed by 50 pics, etc.....

My questions are as follows:

1- Can it be done? ie. will my 640 burn 2 different formats to the same DVD?

2- How should I load the pics and videos onto the HDD? Should each segment ( 50 pics and 20 min video) be loaded seperately? ie as it's own folder/video?

3- Would I need to use a specific blank DVD type? (-R, +R, RW, etc...)

4- Should I take everything to a pro photo shop and spend $??? to have it done?

5- Do I need to have 2 copies done in PAL format to send back to our friends in NZ? While there, we had most of our digital pics burned to CD's in NTSC format so we could empty our memory cards and keep on shooting. Our friends were able to view these CD's on their DVD players in NZ.

6- Am I better off to get a DVD burner for my PC and use their software?

Enough questions
rrcool

I've been searching this thread for 2 hours now and can't find an answer to this question:
Can I burn video (from my digital camcorder) and still pictures (from my digital camera) to the same DVD?

Our family went to NZ last year for three weeks and I came home with about 4 hours of video and 700 pictures!! I would like to combine them onto a single (or 2) DVD with perhaps 50 pics followed by 20 minute video, followed by 50 pics, etc.....

My questions are as follows:

1- Can it be done? ie. will my 640 burn 2 different formats to the same DVD?

2- How should I load the pics and videos onto the HDD? Should each segment ( 50 pics and 20 min video) be loaded seperately? ie as it's own folder/video?

3- Would I need to use a specific blank DVD type? (-R, +R, RW, etc...)

4- Should I take everything to a pro photo shop and spend $??? to have it done?

5- Do I need to have 2 copies done in PAL format to send back to our friends in NZ? While there, we had most of our digital pics burned to CD's in NTSC format so we could empty our memory cards and keep on shooting. Our friends were able to view these CD's on their DVD players in NZ.

6- Am I better off to get a DVD burner for my PC and use their software?

Enough questions
rrcool
I've done a similar thing with Christmas video and stills taken with my Casio Exilim video/still camera.

My camera allows me to play a "Slideshow" thru the TV using internal menus. It lets me set on-screen time, transition effects (wipes, etc.), and number of repeat play loops.

I set my camera Slideshow controls, reviewed it in the camera first, rotated any pics that needed it, hooked the camera up to the 640 with composite cables, set it to play the stills first, and pressed REC (to HDD) on the 640.

Since my camera plays stills and video from different menu options, I paused the 640 after the stills were recorded, then started the video Slideshow in the camera and pressed Pause again to continue recording...all in one title on the HDD.

I then copied that single title, with still and videos, to DVDs for the family... no problem.

If you end up with multiple titles from separate recordings and want to Combine them, just put them in a Copylist and go to 2nd page of edit menu and select Combine.

I'm pretty sure your camera has an option to also play a slideshow on your TV, and it prob. has connections that will fit the 640.

Needing just certain pics and in a certain order complicates things some, but I think if I had wanted a certain order of pics, I could have reordered them in the camera...haven't tried that tho. :)


P.S. Don't worry about filenames like "jpeg" etc. cuz copying the way I described above records video (pictures...like playing a VHS tape), already "packaged" as a Slideshow created by your camera. "Filenames" and the 640 Slideshow only come into play if you use the Jukebox like the manual instructions starting on pg 95.

The unreadable fonts have been a problem for me since Day 1 with my Pioneer 640 :)

. . . and I had posted threads here on how fuzzy and unreadable mine was (can't find them just now), to the point where someone said 'Whoa, that bad, huh ?" Well, I'm glad to report that after switching to Component Out connections, for a new LCD display, it all seems to be looking quite good and reasonably sharp. I have not needed to make any sharpness type adjustments to the 640 (if that was even possible, buried somewhere in a submenu), or to the LCD tv. So -- in my case at least -- it had to either be the very old CRT &/or the lesser cabling. This still begs the question of why the fonts were quite readable on the 520 in another room, hooked up to a ten year old CRT with either S-Vid or composite cabling.

rrcool, I did a lot of work with j-pegs on the 640, and posted my findings on the 640 tips thread. Putting j-pegs on disc will produce both j-peg files, and a "DVD slideshow" file, for DVD players that won't play j-pegs.

I did not combine video with j-pegs, but I think it possible that if you recorded video to a disc, did not finalize, then recorded j-pegs to it, then finalized, it might work, but I wouldn't want to place any money on it. You could try it. The most you would lose is a disc.

Hey, all,

Just found this forum, so my apologies if my question has been asked before --

I've had the 640 model for a year now but can't seem to get the auto-chapter function or the auto thumbnail functions to work. The auto chapter worked briefly for about a month but not since and I really don't have any idea what I did that might have changed it. I have the auto functions in the menu set to 10 minutes (for the chapters, and yes, I'm recording in Video mode) and 3 minutes for the thumbnail, but no luck. Any suggestions?

-- huskylives

Hey, all,

Just found this forum, so my apologies if my question has been asked before --

I've had the 640 model for a year now but can't seem to get the auto-chapter function or the auto thumbnail functions to work. The auto chapter worked briefly for about a month but not since and I really don't have any idea what I did that might have changed it. I have the auto functions in the menu set to 10 minutes (for the chapters, and yes, I'm recording in Video mode) and 3 minutes for the thumbnail, but no luck. Any suggestions?

-- huskylives

I think...if I am not mistaken...that the Auto Chapter button only works if you are recording directly to DVD. If you record your content to the HDD it doesn't set the chapter marks. I always record to the HDD first, and with my chapter marks set to 5 minutes it doesn't put them in.

I am assuming this must also apply to thumbnail marks as well.

I think autochapter only works when recording in real time, to DVD. You can use your skip ahead button to put in chapter marks at 5 or 10 minute intervals. It's pretty quick and easy to do in the HDD.

The newly announced Toshiba HD-DVD recorders take HDMI input and can burn HD to standard DVDs.
I've been trying to get some idea of when these HD recorders will be available, and/or whether the Japanese-released models are NTSC (U.S.) compliant. Being priced (yen-dollar) the same as the Pio750 it would be a huge upgrade to get the HD DVD recorder. But I don't have more than a month to wait to order... any intel on when one could order one?

I've been trying to get some idea of when these HD recorders will be available, and/or whether the Japanese-released models are NTSC (U.S.) compliant. Being priced (yen-dollar) the same as the Pio750 it would be a huge upgrade to get the HD DVD recorder. But I don't have more than a month to wait to order... any intel on when one could order one?

December availability in Japan, according to Toshiba's press release. Beyond that, I don't know any specifics.

RD-A301 (http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2007_10/pr3101.htm)

Never did see the previous models make it to the US.

RD-A300 and RD-A600 (http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/07/01/toshiba-new-vardia-series-hard-disk-recorder/)

Ok, I have ready the first nine pages of this topic in the forum and just realized that there are like 98 pages.

I think I will just ask my question and await a reply. I'm sure it has already been asked somewhere, but it would take me a lifetime to find it.

Here goes! This is my first ever DVD Recorder. This is all new to me. Closest thing for me was the old VCR's, so you can imagine how lost i am.

Anyways, for now I just have a simple question. I have a digital cable STB. We hooked up the DVDR as described on page 20 of the manual. On this page it says that this is the way to hook it up to watch one channel while recording another.

Here's the great part, it doesn't give you any clue as to how to watch a different channel than the one you are recording. We have tried and have had no luck.

Can someone please help? I'm sure I will have other questions as time passes.

Has anyone try to use DV in to playback DVDs stored externally (e.g. from a computer, DVHS or DV tapes, or hard discs movie box) ? It would be quite convenient if it works this way with good fidelity ... :confused:

(none of the sources I mention has HDMI or digital inputs into the TV)

I thought there was no DV input on this Pioneer machine.

I thought there was no DV input on this Pioneer machine.

No, there isn't on the US model, but according to the specs I've read, some other models do have DV in.

Hello:) Can anyone tell me if this is possible:

Record a 4 hour boxing card which includes 3 fights.
Edit that recorded file so I can burn the 1st fight onto a single DVD.
Then edit out another fight so I can burn the 2nd fight onto DVD.
Then finally edit out the last fight so I can burn it to DVD.

Rather than having to burn the entire 4 hours at lesser quality in order to have it fit on DVD?

Thanks!

If you use a DVDR with a hard disk drive (HDD), you can record in 1-hr-HQ mode, the very best for quality, then edit each fight down to its 1-hr or less time, then dub to a DVD at high-speed for a lossless copy.

Using a HDD to record to gives you max. flexibility in recording for as long as needed at even the 1-hr-HQ mode since the physical medium, the HDD, is not limited to a certain file size like DVDs are. If using DVDs directly, you'd only be able to record 1-hr at a time.

Your use is ideal for a HDD DVDR!

Hi :) Actually, the thing is, I'm not recording each fight at 1hr mode. I'm actually recording the full 4 hour card in 1 shot as I won't be home to stop the file from recording and restart it at the beginning of the next fight. So when I get home I'll have a 4 hour video at MN30 on my hard drive. I wanted to then find a way to get each fight off of that card at the same MN30 quality and burn them each to a seperate DVD. Thing is, If I edit out say 2 fights and burn the 1 I am left with after the edit...the rest of the card will be erased so I won't be able to burn those fights after.

Am I making sense? :)

Easily done on a 640. You can even record at a better speed that SP, since presumably you will have less than two hours on each DVD.

1. Make an estimate of how long the longest recording will be on a single DVD.
2. Look up, on p. 125 of the user's manual, the MN setting for that recording time.
3. Program your 4 hour event at that speed, with some bracketing of the stop and start times, to record on the HDD.
4. When the recording is done, go to chapter edit in the edit menu. use this to insert chapter marks, and its delete function to delete the match you don't want, any commercials, excess time before start, and after start, etc.
5. Go back to the edit menu, and select title divide. Divide the matches up into separate titles.
6. Burn each match to separate DVDs.

Hi :) Actually, the thing is, I'm not recording each fight at 1hr mode. I'm actually recording the full 4 hour card in 1 shot as I won't be home to stop the file from recording and restart it at the beginning of the next fight. So when I get home I'll have a 4 hour video at MN30 on my hard drive. I wanted to then find a way to get each fight off of that card at the same MN30 quality and burn them each to a seperate DVD. Thing is, If I edit out say 2 fights and burn the 1 I am left with after the edit...the rest of the card will be erased so I won't be able to burn those fights after.

Am I making sense? :)

Read this after I posted my answer. Doesn't make sense to me. Are you using a DVDR with a HDD? If so, why can't you divide the 4 hour program into separate titles, without losing things you want?

Hello:) Can anyone tell me if this is possible:
Record a 4 hour boxing card which includes 3 fights.
Edit that recorded file so I can burn the 1st fight onto a single DVD.
Then edit out another fight so I can burn the 2nd fight onto DVD.
Then finally edit out the last fight so I can burn it to DVD.
Rather than having to burn the entire 4 hours at lesser quality in order to have it fit on DVD?

The answer is Yes. My basic approach is not to edit out fights from the big file, but to split the big file into four and then work with each one individually.

In other words, I assume that either you intend to delete from the hard drive after burning the DVDs, or you don't mind if the four fights end up as four programs on the hard drive.

(Why does it matter? You can edit in copy list to leave the original program unchanged, but I don't like to do that because if there's a problem with the burn I have to start over with the editing. So I edit the original once and for all. This also makes it *much* easier to preview the program as it will appear on the burned DVD.)

1. Record your four-hour program.

2. Open Disc Navigator, go to the big file, select Edit then Divide. Don't worrk about any commercials or other filler -- you'll get rid of that in step 4.

3. Select the division point and confirm. You'll be thrown back into Disc Navigator, only now there's one file for the first fight and one file for the other three. Repeat step 2 to split that second file twice more.

4. Still in Disc Navigator, select Edit, then Chapter Edit. Put a chapter stop before and after each block of commercials. (I don't know how much editing you've done, but I find it easier to Pause near the right spot, then use the slow-back and slow-forward buttons to get to the right spot, then Select to insert the chapter mark.) Then, on the same screen select Erase and select each commercial block for erasure. Notice with Erase that you get a preview of the selected block so you can make sure you erase the right thing. When done, select Exit.

5. (Optional but recommended) Again select Edit, and this time Title. The title of up to 40 characters will appear on your burned DVD, stacked:
first 20 characters
second 20 characters

6. You can also set a thumbnail via the Edit menu. This appears as a preview in the Pioneer's Disc Navigator menu, but as a static frame in the menu of the burned DVD.

7. Burn your DVD from the first title. (Make sure to select Finalize on the last screen; otherwise the DVD won't play on other players.) When you've tested it on another player, you can delete it from the Pioneer's Disc Navigator.

8. Repeat steps 4-7 for each of the other three fights.

Cheers,
Stan

Stan's got the anwser for you. The only thing I'd change is that to remove the commercials it's really not necessary to first set chapter marks around the commercials and then delete the chapters that contain them - instead you can use the "Erase Section" function to simply select the start and end point of each commercial, hit Enter, watch the preview of what the cut is going to look like, and then hit "OK" to confirm the deletion.

Thank you so much guys!! :) Easy to follow steps!!
Cheers!!

What Stan said is what I said, except I put in chapter marks first, then use them to divide into separate titles, as well as delete commercials. I think that is quicker and easier.

Also, I disagree with Sean, I think deleting commercials in the chapter edit mode (at the same time as chapter marking between titles) is much clearer, as to what you are actually deleting, and also quicker. I find it hard to tell what I am actually deleting, when I use the "erase section" function. In "chapter edit," it is very clear.

But, what seems best to you, and works, is what you should do. :D

A word about titling. If there is some portion of the title that will be common to all the titles you divide the original title into, it is best to enter that part before dividing into separate titles, so you only have to do it once.

I disagree with Sean, I think deleting commercials in the chapter edit mode is much clearer, as to what you are actually deleting, and also quicker.It's always puzzled me why people use chapter mode for deleting commercials. In "erase section" mode you use the play / scan / skip / frame forward/reverse controls to select the start point of the section (the same way that you do for marking a chapter), then you do it again to mark the end point of the section. When you've selected the end point you automatically get a preview of what the cut is going to look like and you can when select "OK" or "Cancel" right away without having to go to a different editing function to do the work.

I don't understand why doing this by marking two chapter points and then having to choose the delete chapter function is any easier or clearer....

Probably the best explanation of this is different strokes for different folks.

I have used "erase section" a couple of times, and it wasn't too clear to me what I was deleting. When you are in "chapter edit" mode, you get a window that plays the section you are deleting, and it is highlighted. Also, when in chapter edit mode, you don't really have to change modes to delete, it is on the same screen. You can also set chapter marks for use as thumbnails, and to mark where you want to divide titles. You can't do those things in "erase section." Doing everything in "chapter edit" means you only have to scan through the whole recording once. So, I find that way easier. But, like I said, what ever suits you best, is what you should use. I'm happy to have a machine that is so versatile and easy to use.

My manuals are packed (groan--in another state) so I can not flip through it myself to get instructions on setting my remote for use with a Sony TV.

Would someone with a /420520H, 533/633H, or 640H please tell me how to set the remote? Actually, the remote I have to set is the one that came with the 420/520, but the same instructions (and code for a Sony TV) to set the remote for one's TV hold for at least the 533/633, too.

To be honest, I do not even know where the remote that came with the 640H is, but I assume it can control one's TV as well as the recorder. It was _not_ as good as the ones that came with earlier model Pioneers so I ordered a 533/633 remote from Pioneer.

I started a new thread, but think I shall have better luck posting my request here.

BTW, downloading the .pdf user manual is not really an option given my current slow dial-up speed.

ngohit,

The 640 remote does not have the "TV Control" Section like the 520H.

Here are the setup instructions for the TV Control section of the 520H remote:

1. Press and hold down the CLEAR button, then enter the two-digit maker code for your TV. (use the list below)

2. Press the orange TV POWER button (labeled with a symbol, not the word) to check that the remote works with your TV.

Here is the list of codes:

Aiwa - 38
Funai - 36
GE - 11, 28
General - 34
Goldstar - 10, 23
Grandient - 30
Hitachi - 06, 24, 25, 32
Magnavox - 12, 29
Mitsubishi - 09
NEC - 37
Panasonic - 08, 22, 41
Philips - 07
Pioneer - 00, 35, 40, 44
RCA - 01, 15, 16, 17, 18
Sanyo - 14, 21
Sharp - 02, 19, 27
Sony - 04
Toshiba - 05, 26, 31, 43
Victor - 13, 33, 42
Zenith - 03, 20

--------------------
Here are the setup instructions for setting the remote for more than one recorder in the same room:

Remote Control Mode
Recorder 1–3
(default: Recorder 1)
If you are using more than one recorder in the same
room, set them to different IDs. A setup menu setting sets the
recorder ID; to change the remote controller ID, press
and hold RETURN, then press 1, 2 or 3 to set. The
remote will only control a recorder with the same ID.

The 640 remote does not have the "TV Control" Section like the 520H.

Here are the setup instructions for the TV Control section of the 520H remote:..


That's probably part of the reason I misplaced/lost (without even unpacking) the remotes for my 640Hs.

Your adding instructions for how to set the remote to use with recorder 1-3 was nice. Although I occasionally have to do the 'Return' number 1 (or 2), it is only when I have to quickly locate the remote for either the 520H or 640H I have in the same room. Usually I just use the 520H remote with the 520H and 533/633H remote ordered from Pioneer for the 640H. It is easy to tell these two remotes apart because the 533/633H remote has a red square with 'TV Guide' near the bottom, left where the 520H remote reads (outlined in black) 'VCR plus+.'

It's always puzzled me why people use chapter mode for deleting commercials. In "erase section" mode you use the play / scan / skip / frame forward/reverse controls to select the start point of the section (the same way that you do for marking a chapter), then you do it again to mark the end point of the section.

I don't understand why doing this by marking two chapter points and then having to choose the delete chapter function is any easier or clearer....

This is a matter of personal taste, I think, like entering a title from the keyboard versus cursoring around the on-screen grid of letters and punctuation.

Why do I do it from chapter edit? Well, anything where I delete commercials is something I intend to burn to DVD, so I will be inserting permanent chapter marks anyway. For me, therefore, it's quite easy to mark the start and end of commercials at the same time as I mark chapters -- it's one pass through the recording rather than two. (Even so, I usuallu need about 20 minutes to do the editing for a two-hour title.) Then I go back to the beginning, press the down arrow for Erase, and cursor forward, deleting each commercial block as I come to it. YMMV, but for me that's fastest rather than have to get into a completely separate function to erase section.

The 640 remote does not have the "TV Control" Section like the 520H.


I was about to write "sure it does", but then I remembered: I had read here about the loss of functionality in the 640's remote versus earlier ones. So when I sent back my 540 (533?) recorder I kept the remote, and I'm not actually using the 640's remote.

A few pages back in this thread is information about ordering an older remote, for folks who might want to do that.

A few pages back in this thread is information about ordering an older remote, for folks who might want to do that.

I am not going to try and find that earlier section on discussion over the remote. For people interested in ordering one, however, the parts numbers are:

420/520H (VCR plus+): VXX2932
533/633 and all permutations (TV Guide): VXX2967

Both work with the 640H. The TV Guide button on the 533H/etc. model does not work on the 640H and the CHP MARK button on the 420/520H remote does not work either.

This is a matter of personal taste, I think, like entering a title from the keyboard versus cursoring around the on-screen grid of letters and punctuation.

Why do I do it from chapter edit? Well, anything where I delete commercials is something I intend to burn to DVD, so I will be inserting permanent chapter marks anyway. For me, therefore, it's quite easy to mark the start and end of commercials at the same time as I mark chapters -- it's one pass through the recording rather than two...

I agree, it really is a matter of personal taste. Since I find editing out commercials on the 640H far more cumbersome than on my 520Hs, I do find I delete commercials more via marking then deleting chapters: watch something, stop watching at the start of a commercial, go to chapter editing, mark then delete the chapter, stop editing and resume watching until the next commercial.

For certain programs where there is very little to nonexistent 'black' between the program and the commercial (mainly FoodTV and some BBC America things), I do the two step chapter editing then delete section (using the chapter marked areas for tweaking) on the 640H.

On my 520Hs I always do the two step, chapter mark then delete section, but on the 520H, all one has to do is push the CHP MARK button while watching. Why Pioneer decided to omit functionality of a CHP MARK button on their post 420/520H models is a mystery to me.

Is anybody out there w/ a 640H using it to record DirecTv or Time Warner Cable? I just moved to an area w/ terrible OTA and need to pick one or the other. I'm leaning towards DirecTv because its cheaper, but just want to make sure that it won't be too difficult to record with the 640H.

Thanks!

Works great with TW cable!

wabjxo,

I have TWC too but can't record the digital channels unless I set the 640 channel to 3 and feed the 640 from the cable box's internal tuner. Would have been nice if the 640 had its own digital tuner!:mad:

I've been using the 640 with Directv for a year with no trouble. I go from the cable box's S-video to Line 1 on the 640. I've never been blocked from recording a station: I've had HBO, but not other premium or pay per view.

About half of the recordings are automatically named.

wabjxo,

I have TWC too but can't record the digital channels unless I set the 640 channel to 3 and feed the 640 from the cable box's internal tuner. Would have been nice if the 640 had its own digital tuner!:mad:
Do you do it that way cuz the cable box doesn't have composite or S-video outputs?

I just read about someone else who didn't have the "normal" line outputs on their box and someone who used that same provider advised them to get the new box that did have line outputs.

DVD+R DL: As stated elsewhere, Verbatim works every time.
Memorex DVD+R DL will NOT work!
I just returned a stack of 50 Memorex because they would not work on the 640H.
They would however work on my laptop NEC ND-6750A drive.

Do we need a dedicated thread to post compatible media for the DVR-640H?

This thread is so large it takes quite a bit of time and/or mental effort to sort through it for results.
Personally, I would like to know if there is a DVD+R DL disc I can by cheaper (per disc) than the 20pk spindles of Verbatim. The 200(+) packs are too expensive for me. Has anyone tried RiTek RiData? TDK?

Does anyone know any merchant that sells Verbatim DVD+R DL on 50 pk spindles?


George Carlin: "Isn’t it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do “practice”?"

Edit 2/16/08: Don't know if the Memorex would have worked on the Plextor PX-800A after all, as previously stated, found a setting that was causing that problem in my wife's computer.

Hi,

This thread is a wealth of information, but despite several searches, I've been unable to find any direct discussion of this. Closest I found was this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8491130#post8491130) (#971), but it isn't quite the question I'm looking for.

I've recorded a 4 hour show at sufficient quality to nearly fill a DL DVD. So I'd like to copy it off to a VR mode DL DVD. I can't seem to find any way to do this. When I put a blank DL DVD in the machine, the option to initialize is not available. When I just try to copy the program to the DL disk, it does so in Video Mode.

Is there any way to make a DL VR DVD?

I'm using Verbatim DVD+R DLs.

Thanks!

Theron

If you have gone to "Disc Setup," and could not use VR mode initialize, I would say that is conclusive proof that you can only record in Video Mode on +R DL discs. I have never tried that, or to initialize a SL +R disc. I don't think VR is available with +R discs. Now, if you could get a hold of that most elusive of discs, the -R DL disc, I think you could probably initialize it.

If you have gone to "Disc Setup," and could not use VR mode initialize, I would say that is conclusive proof that you can only record in Video Mode on +R DL discs. I have never tried that, or to initialize a SL +R disc. I don't think VR is available with +R discs. Now, if you could get a hold of that most elusive of discs, the -R DL disc, I think you could probably initialize it.
Well as expensive and rare as those are... Perhaps I am better off splitting the program in two and saving it to two single layer DVDs. There is an intermission in the movie that I recorded... so I guess that would be OK... :)

Thanks,

Theron

my first post here, hope you guys can help:) been scouring the pages for the answer to this problem but couldnt find it so if it has been answered before, my apologies.

anyway, i've been connecting my laptop to the dvr via s-video for quite some time now and recording videos that way. it was only when i got an lcd tv that i noticed that the laptop image going through the DVR to the lcd tv does not cover the full wide screen of the lcd tv. the image that appears looks 4:3 still. ive tried various settings but still could not get my pc image to fill up the whole lcd tv. my laptop is also widescreen so i assume the signal coming through is also widescreen but it's not. any assistance is appreciated!

is there pal or ntsc setting on tv? or 16:10 setting?

yes the TV has been set to 16:9.

been searching other sites and it seems the problem is with my PC and the fact that S-video cannot output widescreen from PC. oh well.

I tried searching this thread to find my answer but couldn't locate any answers, so here's my questions, I have USB 2.0 2GB removable flash drives that have movies copied on them, can I use the flash drives on the 640 recorder to either play them or copy the movies onto the hard drive? I tried it using the jukebox method and no go, thanks for the help

USB input is only for still photos, jpg.

Also, I disagree with Sean, I find it hard to tell what I am actually deleting, when I use the "erase section" function. In "chapter edit," it is very clear.

I have never used the chapter edit but can vouch for Sean that doing it using the erase section is so slick and easy as I have it down pact!
I can tell exactly what I am deleting etc. I can stop it on a dime either way, frontwards or back.
I FF through the commercial to where I want to stop. Then I use the pause button to either back it up or forward it to the "black" spot and mine turn out seamless when played back. There is lots of "black" to play with as to where you want the cut.
If there is no black, then cut where you wish.

Urlee :)

Hi all
my first post, I got this DVR a few weeks ago, after hooking it up, I was able to pick up the SD channels through the DVR and record these channels as well, however, I'm not sure why, I cannot get to the HD channels that I've subscribed. I meant, the channel only goes up to #105 for all the SD channels, and when I tried to enter eg. channel 503 (HD TSN), after pressing 50, if I press the 3, it'll go the channel 3 instead of giving me channel 503. I tried using the channel up button as well, it only goes to 105 and no more.

Does anyone know what the problem is? I assume we can record HD programs with this DVR, isn't it? Did I miss some steps at the initial setup? or there's something wrong with my connections? I used the Rogers HD Box.

p.s. I just checked again, my DVR model is 650H, not sure if there's any difference.
please help.
thank you
Louis

...I'm not sure why, I cannot get to the HD channels that I've subscribed. I meant, the channel only goes up to #105 for all the SD channels...Hi Louis. All the Pioneer's to date only have analog tuners, and I believe only tune analog channels up to 125. To record the additional channels use an S-Video cable + audio cables from your Rogers tuner to the L1 input on your 650, and select L1 on the 650 rather than a tuner channel.

Of course, HD channels can only be recorded in SD resolution.

Hi Louis. All the Pioneer's to date only have analog tuners, and I believe only tune analog channels up to 125. To record the additional channels use an S-Video cable + audio cables from your Rogers tuner to the L1 input on your 650, and select L1 on the 650 rather than a tuner channel.

Of course, HD channels can only be recorded in SD resolution.

okay, I'll give it a try. Thank You.

but sorry for my ignorance, I thought this DVR has 1080P capabilities and doesn't that mean HD picture qualities?

No, it means it can take a 480i (SD) resolution program and "upscale" it to 1080p, rather than letting your TV do that. It is just making its best bet as to what to do with the extra pixels, which will never be anywhere close to a true HD picture.

No, it means it can take a 480i (SD) resolution program and "upscale" it to 1080p, rather than letting your TV do that. It is just making its best bet as to what to do with the extra pixels, which will never be anywhere close to a true HD picture.

oh I see, I'm really clueless sometimes
thank you again.

oh I see, I'm really clueless sometimes
thank you again.
We all have to start the learning process sometime and somewhere. This forum is a very good place to learn and share.

You won't feel clueless for long if you hang around here for a while.

Question:

I copied some shows from HD to dvd and now I watched some on the dvd. I want to recopy from dvd to HD and reorganize my dvd files so there are no gaps.

When I copy from dvd to HD it mostly defaults to a real time copy. This means something recorded on MN2 speed is converted to SP on the HD. How do I prevent this?

I accidentally achieved what I wanted today by copying a whole bunch of programs at MN2 speed from DVD to HD and they resulted in the same programs at MN2 speed in my HD. I thought it was going to be a real time copy and I aborted it but to my surprise the HD programs were in MN2 speed!

I tried again to copy the remaining program after deleting the rest on the dvd and I could not get the same results.

What is going on?

Update: I was told that I have to set the recording speed on the initial menu to match the speed on the dvd programs in order to do a high speed copy with thsame speed ie. MN2. I tried it but it doesn't work. Perhaps the reason is I have other shows at diferent speeds mixed in my DVD?

I must be doing something wrong, I am trying to copy a movie from a DVD-RW disc onto the 640's hard drive but I get the error message that this disc cannot be used for copying, so I can only use non RW discs for copying to the hard drive? is it possible to copy the RW disc to the hard drive, if so, how do I go about it? I found out the movie is copyrighted, is there a way to override it so I can copy the movie? thanks for the help

I found out the movie is copyrighted, is there a way to override it so I can copy the movie? thanks for the helpThere aren't any consumer electronic units that will permit you to copy a DVD. Your best option for a lossless copy would be to use a computer (assuming that you're not in the US where circumventing the encryption is illegal).

I must be doing something wrong, I am trying to copy a movie from a DVD-RW disc onto the 640's hard drive but I get the error message that this disc cannot be used for copying, so I can only use non RW discs for copying to the hard drive? is it possible to copy the RW disc to the hard drive, if so, how do I go about it?

It seems that you problem was one of copy protection, but to answer the rest of your question:
The 640 will high-speed copy VR mode discs to the HDD, let you edit them, and then HS burn them to disc in either VR or Video mode.
Unless you changed the settings in your set-up menu, the default for -RW discs is to initialize them in VR mode, so you can copy those back at HS to the HDD. If you want to do this with a -R disc, you will have to initialize it to VR mode first, before recording anything on it.

Video mode -R and +R discs can be HS copied using the "disc backup" feature, which will first HS copy the disc to the HDD, (but NOT allow editing, or viewing,) and then let you burn it to a like disc at HS, making a bit-for-bit copy of the original, already finalized.

I have read many of the prior posts (I admit, not all 98 pages!) and I have a question I have not seen addressed. How can I find out the exact bit rate of all the manual recording speeds? I am dubbing DV camcorder footage and want to make sure that I record it on the hard drive (and born to DVD) at the same bit rate. In advance, thanks for anyone's help.

George

While recording or playing a rec back, press Display button twice to bring up an info screen that shows the running bit rate in Mbps in blue info screen at top.

Wow, very cool, thank you!!

As a follow-up, I assume this is the video (not total) bit rate in mega bits per second. Also, it seems that the recorder is in the variable bit mode, whether the Video mode or the VR mode is set. If so, what is the advantage of the VR mode (with regard to quality, not editing features), especially since it seems to pose more compatibility issues with other DVD players? Once again, thenks for letting me pick your brain about this! It's clear that you really know your stuff. Glad I joined.

George

I've watched that bit-rate meter lots and, since is a VBR, you can only watch and make your best judgement on where the "centerpoint" of the rate is. You'll also be able to see that motion is not as big a factor in bit-rate increases as are scene changes. I've seen 4Mbps jump to 10 Mbps at many scene changes, but stay eerily flat at 2.5 Mbps for all camera shots of a car race, even those shots of cars zipping by the wall-camera. Very interesting stuff for a vidiot like me!

One of the primary advantages of VR-mode is the ability to offload from the HDD at high speed (HS) lossless copy, then HS copy back to the HDD whether the VR-mode disc is finalized or not. People use this for offloading shows in a series they want to edit and compile later... so stuff that will stay within that one system until they make a final Video-mode final copy.

VR-mode is also the mode that allows "frame-accurate" edits, so when you go to edit something, the machine will ask if you want to do Video- or Frame-accurate edits, which would be in VR mode.

Even tho the manual says something about not being able to HS copy from HDD to disc in VR mode, that's wrong, and prob. only applies to some low-quality rec modes (MN9-15/LP) which can't be HS copied in VR mode.

There is no quality advantage to VR mode. I ran my Pio 531 with VR-mode (Video Mode Off) HDD for months as a test, with no problems since I never used MN9-15/LP modes, so HS copy was always possible from VR-mode HDD to DVD. That's how I found out about the VR-mode HS copy from DVD to HDD... during one of my tests.

Couldn't you use simple math to calculate an average bit rate, knowing the capacity of a disc, and how much time one will hold at a specific recording 'speed?'

GMK000, to add just a bit to what wajo said, the default setting is to initialize -RW discs to VR mode. Consider -RW VR mode discs an addition to your HDD capacity. You can dump things on them, until you are ready to use them, then rewrite them once you have used them to make your final Video mode disc.

Wajo, thanks for pointing out one advantage of the VR mode that was not immediately obvious. Off-loading things for storage and the ablity to copy to and from hard drive in high speed mode is indeed a major advantage.

Kjbawc, yes, I have indeed done such a calculation, and that brings me to why I started to ask questions in the first place. Let me clarify:

I am trying to copy footage to the Pioneer (I have both the DVR 640 and the 633) from a Digital 8 camcorder and I want it to stay within the digital domain all the way to DVD burn, with no loss of quality, but also no waste of DVD space. So, I calculated the following:

My Sony Digital-8 uses the DV codec, and outputs at 115.2 kbps (as per manual). Since the compression is estimated to be 5:1, this means that after decompression, we are talking about a bit rate of 576 kilo bytes per second, or 4.6 Mega bits per second (the bit rate after decompression done by Pioneer at the DV input). That is the total bit rate (audio and video combined). Since I believe that the audio codec used by DV format is a 2-channel linear PCM, and that has a constant bit rate of 192 kilo bytes per second, that leaves the maximum constant bit rate for the video portion to be 384 kilo bytes per second, or approximately 3.07 Mega bits per second. Am I right so far?

Now, for the reverse calculation - figuring out the manual recording mode on the Pioneer that will pose no loss of video quality but will also maximize DVD space with as little waste as possible. To start, it seems that the Pioneer will allow for a maximum recording length of 4.4 GB on a blank DVD-R (the rest is set aside for menus and appears fixed-length, regardless of the content and number of ontries in the menu).

If the footage uses Dolby Digital 2-channel constant bit rate (which the Pioneer uses for all manual modes except the Linear PCM audio mode), that bit rate is 24 kilo bytes per second, or 192 kilo bits per second. So, doing the calculations, to keep the video at a constant maximum bit rate of about 3.07 Mega bits per second (the quality of the original), one would use the MN 15 manual recording mode? It seems that everything higher than that poses no advantage in video quality (since the DVD bit rate would exceed the bit rate of the original), and would waste DVD space.

Am I missing anything? I would really appreciate careful scrutiny of my calculations, of both the camcorder footage, the DV port out/in bit rates, and the Pioneer recording modes.

Thanks much!!

I sort of got lost when you went from 115.2 kilobits (Kbps) per sec to 576 kilobytes (KBps) per sec at 5:1 decompression. 576 KBps works out to 4.5 Mbps, which should be MN20 on the Pio... but then I'm still lost?

Anyway, here's a high-speed dub description that might help when you go to HS copy from the HDD to a DVD. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=12298490&postcount=19) It gives some total TIMES that can fit on a std DVD at various rec modes... you can fit more TIME on a DVD using HS copy.

The chart of HSD Times (middle of page) aren't fully tested (some still calculated) and the rec modes are for a Philips 3575, so check the HOURS for your different modes. I don't know how the Philips 3575 HSD times correlate to a Pioneer specifically, but they should be close I would think... same encoding std?

In any case, you might want to consider the added minutes for HSD since they might change your calculations in selecting your "ideal" rec mode.

Just as a general point to consider when transferring MiniDV camera footage, be aware that more than a few iLink-equipped DVD recorders do not necessarily pass a full digital signal thru their "digital" camera ports. Its enough of a muddled issue that even Pioneerfaq has a special linked page concerning this: the authors wanted to steer people away from obsessing over the iLink socket as a "required feature".

On a Pioneer DVD recorder (and possibly units from several other mfrs), the iLink camera port does NOT stream digital bits from your camera direct to the recorders encoder circuit while remaining completely in the digital domain. Instead, the iLink is fed into a D/A converter which decodes your camera footage back into analog BEFORE it ever gets to the recorders MPEG2 encoder. In essence, you don't actually gain any quality over simply using an analog SVHS cable between your camera and your DVD recorder, because the signal chain is not really 100% digital.

So before you overpay for a DVD recorder just because it has an iLink camera socket, think for a minute. And if you already have such a DVD recorder, do some test recordings: you may be surprised to find the D/A converter in your camera feeds a cleaner signal to the DVD recorder. Before you commit to all-FireWire-all-the-time, make sure there is a visible benefit for your efforts.

Wajo, I was under the impression that 115.2 kbps meant kilo bytes per second (I think port speeds are in kilo bytes/sec, not kilo bits/sec). If that's the case, than decompressing that would results in 115.2 x 5 = 576 kilo bytes/sec, and x8 would give 4.60 Mega bits/sec. And that's total bandwith, including video and audio, After subtracting the audio bit rate, I thought what I had left was the video bit rate.

CitiBear, your point is well taken. So, how does one estimate the actual video bit rate (since the audio bit rate is a predictable constant) of a video signal coming through the DV port or the SVHS port?

It's just the notation you used... Kbps is for kilobits per sec, KBps is for kliobytes. If your specs show "115.2 kbps" it prob. means kilobits?

Anyway, try this converter for bits and bytes. (http://www.matisse.net/bitcalc/)

Have not posted in awhile but just want to let everyone know that the Pioneer 640 recorder is one fine machine. I record alot of classic movies off TCM and the machine works great. The only problem I had was making the mistake of transferring a movie from HD to DVD-RW VR mode -- the disk would not play in my other machine. So now I stick strictly to Video mode when recording. I'm not a sophisticated user, just record movies but it's much better than a VCR. It's been very reliable so far. Bye now!

Hellp, wajo. THanks for the calculator. However, one correction is necessary. Through my research, I discovered that while in the storage industry the byte/MB/GB conversion is based on the nexadecimal kB=1024 bytes conversion, in the bit rate calculation, it appears to me that most actually use the metric converion of 1 kilo = 1000 (not 1024). So the calculator would not apply to that. As to the port speed, I also noticed that although the correct notation would be kb for kilo bits and kB for kilo bytes, I have noticed many sources referring to both bits and bytes with the small "b." In addition, is you calculate the DV port speed as being in kilo bits, after taking into account the compression ratio, the original pre-compression bit rate of the material would be way too low. So, I think that despite the notation it is bytes, not bits, per second. However, I look forward to others' posts about this.

Also, I would love to hear from someone about the approximate bit rate (video or total) of material coming in via the DV port of the SVHS port. In advance, thanks!!

I almost put a note in my post on the calculator to notice the Notation box on the right where you can change the calcs for either 1024 or 1000... I didn't think you could miss it.

Oops, I guess I looked at it too quick. Thanks, wajo!

Back to the port issue. Does anyone how any suggestions how I can estimate the bit rate (video or total) of the DV and/or SVHS input port?

As I understand it, DV has a constant bit rate of 25 Mbps, but every frame is a full frame, unlike MPEG-2 where selected frames are full frames and others contain only delta information.

Here is some info on DV:
http://www.adamwilt.com/DV-tech.html#Details
http://www.experiencefestival.com/dv_-_technical_standards

FWIW, I have found, on my Pioneer 520H DVD recorder with DV input/output, that the resolution appeared slightly better using DV over S-video but the color saturation was better with S-video. Those differences could be caused by my JVC mini-DV camcorder. I have not tested with any other camcorder.

OTOH, I have sent DV from my camcorder to my computer (Mac), edited in iMovie, and sent the output DV to the DVD recorder for real-time encoding. These results were very good for resolution and color, but not as good as when I render and encode the results all on the Mac (which takes a LOT more time).

We are dealing with lots of variables here, so anecdotal findings like mine cannot be generalized to apply to anyone else unless their components are identical to mine.

Regarding the use of VR (frame-accurate editing) vs Video mode and recording to -R and +R discs: (informational post)

I often edit my recordings on the HD before copying to the discs. Most of my chapter edits result when I have erased some (commercials) of the recording. Other times I have set chapter-edits. Chapter edits are important in long recordings (>2 hr) such as football games because the fastest FF takes a long time over hours of recording.
I tried both modes over months of use, and the main difference I can see is:
When you use VR ("frame-accurate editing") mode to record a disc, your chapter edits are transferred to the disc, and if you wait to "finalize" you can then edit your thumbnails before finalizing. Otherwise, you often end up with black - blank - thumbnails on your disc menu. I regularly use -R single-layer discs, and +R dual-layer discs, and I see no differences between the recordings between these (+/-) formats.

But when I record in "Video mode" on a -R or +R disc I cannot end up with chapter edits in there. Therefore, if you do not have another reason otherwise, I would recommend using VR mode as a standard. When using an RW, you probably could then go back into the disc and edit the chapters. But RWs are not (always?) compatible with other DVD players, and more costly.

This is a reply to TPKeller2 regarding the use of Initialize & VR mode dics:

Sorry I took so long to reply, but our satellite internet is unreliable this time of the year due to weather conditions. It has been out-of-service for two weeks straight, as well as other outages.

Your problem results, in part, from a setting in the menu:
Initial Setup > Recording > HDD recording format > Video mode off
And when this is set, and you set a timer recording; in the "Set detailed" portion, it should default to either "Video mode off" or "VR mode". You would need to adjust this in all previously set timer recordings. Then when you copy the recording to the DVD it will copy in VR. I do it all the time. See my other post posted today:
"Regarding the use of VR (frame-accurate editing) vs Video mode and recording to -R and +R discs: (informational post)"

About initializing: You should not try to initialize a -R or +R disc! You just put it in and it becomes ready for recording to (after a minute or two). Just record to it and finalize after all your tweaks & additions (see the other post). Initializing is only for use with RW discs.

Sean wrote,

"It is possible to replace the hard drive, but you need a special remote (or a remote that you can download codes to from the Internet) and a firmware disk."

Where can I find the service remote for these Pioneer DVR's? I have two, and maybe acquiring a third.

Also, what is he difference between the H-S and H-K model units designation? I need to act fast to get one of these and I have a choice between these two models (the 650's) and knowing what the differences are would be most helpful. Once again, thanks for all your help and guidance.

Where can I find the service remote for these Pioneer DVR's? I have two, and maybe acquiring a third.I bought mine from my local authorized Pioneer service depot, which I found by looking at the Pioneer Canada web site. If I recall correctly the cost was about Cdn$60 or $65, back when the Canadian dollar was worth about 0.85 American. The model number I ordered was GGF1381, but the remote that they actually received was GGF1595 - this appears to be a replacement for the older service remotes. It seems to work just fine with my Pioneer 533, 633 and 640 machines.


what is he difference between the H-S and H-K model units designation?Sorry, that I don't know...

I bought mine from my local authorized Pioneer service depot, which I found by looking at the Pioneer Canada web site. If I recall correctly the cost was about Cdn$60 or $65, back when the Canadian dollar was worth about 0.85 American. The model number I ordered was GGF1381, but the remote that they actually received was GGF1595 - this appears to be a replacement for the older service remotes. It seems to work just fine with my Pioneer 533, 633 and 640 machines.



Sean,
so all I need is this service remote to change to a larger hard drive for my 640 recorder as well as follow the specific instructions that I found in here? how large of a hard drive can I put in the 640? thanks

DVR 640H-S:
The "S" stands for Silver.

all I need is this service remote to change to a larger hard drive for my 640 recorder as well as follow the specific instructions that I found in here? how large of a hard drive can I put in the 640? thanksI don't know the maximum size of hard drive you can use. You also need a firmware disk - check the PioneerFAQ web site for a more detailed description.

I searched & searched but can't find the post about someone having trouble with "Rolling"?
Well, yesterday I put a DVD into my Pio640 that somebody made that was sent to me and the picture is not viewable cause it ROLLS.
I can play that same DVD in my computer and portable DVD player with no problem at all???? :confused:

THANKS to marlon71usa's inquiry, I just found out what my problem to this was/is (solution to) by using info I learned since then.
READY?



I have the same problem and have been looking for a solution for quite a while.

Hi Marlon,
I just dug out that disk and found what MY problem is! At least I think I did.
That disk shows it is of a PAL format when I look at it using my Nero Info Tool.
THANK you so much for opening up an "old wound" which caused me to look into it now that I know and have learned more to find the solution.
Urlee

I don't know the maximum size of hard drive you can use. You also need a firmware disk - check the PioneerFAQ web site for a more detailed description.


Sean,
is there a way to find out what firmware version that I have now? what happens if I did something wrong doing the upgrade, can I just reinstall the original hard drive and the recorder be back to normal just like it was before? thanks

Sean, is there a way to find out what firmware version that I have now? what happens if I did something wrong doing the upgrade, can I just reinstall the original hard drive and the recorder be back to normal just like it was before? thanksI'm not an expert on this. I've collected everything I need to change the hard drive, but I haven't actually had to do it (yet). What you should do is to go to the PioneerFAQ web site and download the PDF file that contains the information on swapping drives. I don't think you need a firmware disc to re-install the original hard drive, but I couldn't swear to it. What you WILL have to do is to re-enter the CPRM number of the machine using the service remote.

To get the firmware versions, do the following using the regular remote:

- Press the [Home Menu] button
- Highlight "Initial Setup" and press Enter
- Select "Audio Out"
- Select "Digital Out"
- Select the "On" choice and then press the [Angle] button

I'm starting to feel like a newbie again. :(

I recorded a 3 hour move from TV to HDD in video mode at MN15. Initialized a DVD-R to VR Mode, then copied said movie to VR Mode DVD-R, nearly filling DVD. (This was successfully done with a High Speed copy, btw.)

Deleted movie from HDD.

Now I would like to High Speed copy the movie back to HDD, and ultimately create a Video Mode copy on another DVD-R.

However:

Despite following the directions very carefully on pages 85-87 of the user manual ("Copying from DVD to HDD"), when I get to step 7, which then refers to page 87, "Recording Mode"", there is no "High-Speed Copy" option available at that step. All I see are the options listed in bullet 2, XP, SP, LP, ..., MN.

When I press the Start Copy menu item, it begins a real-time copy. It does this even if I select MN15, to match the original recording quality setting.

I normally keep my HDD recording mode in Video ON, but turned it off to see if that made a difference, and it did not.

What am I missing? Everyone raves that the ability to transfer VR Mode recordings back to the HDD is one of the greatest things about this DVR, and I agree, if I could only get it to work!

Thanks,

Theron

Unfortunately, you used one of the rec modes that can't be HS copied when using VR-mode.

Look at the notes at bottom of pg 83 in the manual for info on those modes that can't be HS copied: LP/MN9-15 plus some others if widescreen or low res.

Unfortunately, you used one of the rec modes that can't be HS copied when using VR-mode.

Look at the notes at bottom of pg 83 in the manual for info on those modes that can't be HS copied: LP/MN9-15 plus some others if widescreen or low res.
Hmm... well I didn't see that note, mainly because it is written in the section for copying from HDD to DVD, which is not what I am trying to do.

I would think if it is true for copying from DVD to HDD, they would also say something about it in the appropriate section of the manual. The notes at the bottom of the page for setting the Recording Mode (p.87) don't mention anything about this restriction.

Although... there is a similar note at the bottom of p.85, but it is a note referring back again to copying the other direction... I guess it's another case of the manual being just not quite right.

Well, hopefully, if I slow-speed copy the title at the same MN level, it will at least let me High Speed copy it back to another DVD later.

Theron

Well, hopefully, if I slow-speed copy the title at the same MN level, it will at least let me High Speed copy it back to another DVD later...
... as long as your HDD is set to Video Mode On.

Unfortunately, you used one of the rec modes that can't be HS copied when using VR-mode.

Look at the notes at bottom of pg 83 in the manual for info on those modes that can't be HS copied: LP/MN9-15 plus some others if widescreen or low res.
Well that seems to be it... I threw another title in that was at a higher record level, and the HIGH SPEED option was right there!

Thanks for the help...

Theron

Pehaps the reason is that in VR mode videos recorded at MN15 have the non-standard resolution of 544x480. Try MN16, which has the standard resolution of 720x480 in VR mode.

Just a guess.

Pehaps the reason is that in VR mode videos recorded at MN15 have the non-standard resolution of 544x480. Try MN16, which has the standard resolution of 720x480 in VR mode.

Just a guess.
That could very well be. At the time I made the original recording, I don't think the movie would have quite fit on a single DVD at MN16 though. It's definitely something I will keep in mind in the future!

Theron

I made a recording for a friend of mine where the first half showed fine on their DVD player viewing through the TV and the last half was screwed up??????

The part that played OK was done at SP speed and the non viewable was done at MN26.
Does that mean what we record and burn at the MN speeds are non viewable on other DVD players?

Urlee

The part that played OK was done at SP speed and the non viewable was done at MN26.
Does that mean what we record and burn at the MN speeds are non viewable on other DVD players?

Urlee

I make MN speed recordings for friends all the time, and all have been able to play them. My guess is a problem with the disc, or a quirk of your friend's player.

I make MN speed recordings for friends all the time, and all have been able to play them. My guess is a problem with the disc, or a quirk of your friend's player.


Thanks kjbawc,
First chance I get, I am going to get that disk back to try on my Pio as I did not play it all the way through B4 I gave it to her.
She said about an hour of it was OK and you may be right cause only 20 minutes was at SP and the rest was at MN26.

Urlee

That could very well be. At the time I made the original recording, I don't think the movie would have quite fit on a single DVD at MN16 though. It's definitely something I will keep in mind in the future!

Theron

You might want to run a test, to check it out.

Did you guys know you can play AVI format video on this unit? My friend has a newer recorder that supports this and he gave me his disk to try.
I does indeed work and was surprised how easy to use. Just burn video AVI to DVD in standard data format. The Video Guide volume label appears as a folder and to the right is a list of the video files you have burned. Hitting play on the folder will play all files or tabbing to the right you can select individual files. Sorry no preview or thumbnail. If you use a -R media skip feature also works.
Many web based video is already in this format and this makes it easy and quick to watch much more content of video rather than converting and authorizing a DVD. Just burn and close the disk.... what could be easier!
Doug

Did you guys know you can play AVI format video on this unit?
AFAIK, AVI is a general description of a container type, and the video inside it can actually be a number of different things. This seems to be consistent with what I've observed on my 640: some AVIs will show up in the directory and others won't. If they are detected and you can see them in the directory, you will most likely be able to play them. How good they look if they do play is apt to vary, and this is probably a reflection of the quality of the source material. A lot of the AVIs you may pull down off of the internet will be of rather poor quality.

The manual says this about .avi in the DivX compatibility section:

"File extensions: .avi and .divx (these must be used for the recorder to recognize DivX video files). Note that all files with the .avi extension are recognized as MPEG4, but not all of these are necessarily DivX video files and therefore may not be playable on this recorder."

I bought mine from my local authorized Pioneer service depot, which I found by looking at the Pioneer Canada web site. If I recall correctly the cost was about Cdn$60 or $65, back when the Canadian dollar was worth about 0.85 American. The model number I ordered was GGF1381, but the remote that they actually received was GGF1595 - this appears to be a replacement for the older service remotes. It seems to work just fine with my Pioneer 533, 633 and 640 machines.


Sean,

I'm a bit surprised that you can buy those in Canada. I just ordered a Harmony remote, in large part to take the easy way out re Pioneer Service remotes, because they are said to be represented in the Harmony online database. If not, it will be disappointing, and I might want to look into what might be orderable from Canada.

Much earlier, I did get a Palm and the programming files for it, but I've never used a Palm Pilot before, and there is only so much time and trouble I can allot to the learning curve for so many devices. A Harmony seemed the much easier shortcut.

As far as I can tell, you don't get access to the Harmony remotes database until you register your unit (?). Someone may have posted a direct link or two here, in the past. If I can find them, after registering the handset, perhaps I can re-post them here.

From what you mentioned above, it sounds like Pioneer must use a lot of the same control codes, for all of their DVDR models. Since I also have the older 520, I should soon know the answer to that as well.

I did four tests on recording widescreen (WS) programs that might be interesting to Pio 53x/63x/640 users. The tests involved recording a WS program on the Pio 640 delivered by a Philips DVDR3575H/37 with digital tuner.

This might be important if people want to record digital channel WS programs on their 640s from either another DVDR with digital tuner or one of the new converter boxes, which will deliver digital WS channels OTA to the 640.

In summary, the Pio 640 will record full WS when the signal is delivered thru its Line Input (Composite to L1 in my tests).

Some nuances of that recording function are described in this post. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1016350)

Of even more interest is I mistakenly found that the 640's Playback TV Aspect setting AFFECTS THE 640'S COPYING FUNCTION. We know it controls aspect of commercial anamorphic WS movies when played back, but at least I didn't know it also can affect the aspect when copying a DIGITAL WS title (something we don't normally work with on a Pio)... whatever aspect the 640's set on is the aspect the digital WS copy will be on the DVD... AND IT'LL BE UNCHANGEABLE with the normal Playback aspect controls, at least on the Panny player I used for playback! See Test #4 in the link above.

As more people delve into digital channels and recording WS material thru another DVDR or a digital converter box, this might be some useful info?

I'm having a problem getting OnDemand when I insert the DVR between the cable in and my Time Warner cable box.

If I remove the 640, no OnDemand problem.

I installed an Electroline amp, but no joy.

So, does the 640 block two-way communication? Or is something else happening?

Thanks,

pj

VERY likely blocking the return path to the provider for ordering thru the coax. Some services use tel. line just for that purpose. You might have to use a high-quality bidirectional splitter, balanced on both outputs for not more than -3dB signal loss (look for marking on outer housing).

I did four tests on recording widescreen (WS) programs that might be interesting to Pio 53x/63x/640 users. The tests involved recording a WS program on the Pio 640 delivered by a Philips DVDR3575H/37 with digital tuner.

This might be important if people want to record digital channel WS programs on their 640s from either another DVDR with digital tuner or one of the new converter boxes, which will deliver digital WS channels OTA to the 640.

In summary, the Pio 640 will record full WS when the signal is delivered thru its Line Input (Composite to L1 in my tests).

Some nuances of that recording function are described in this post. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1016350)

As more people delve into digital channels and recording WS material thru another DVDR or a digital converter box, this might be some useful info?
Following up: I just realized the Pio 640 has an auto-record on L1 that can't be used w/normal cable cuz signal is always there, BUT the record from digital-tunered DVDR to the Pio's L1 is one way to use that feature!!!

I think also those converter boxes that don't passthru analog or any other signal when off might also be able to use the auto-record on L1 if they have an "On" timer.

I'm having a problem getting OnDemand when I insert the DVR between the cable in and my Time Warner cable box.

If I remove the 640, no OnDemand problem.

I installed an Electroline amp, but no joy.

So, does the 640 block two-way communication? Or is something else happening?

Thanks,

pj

I have a TWC digital cable box + 640 setup. (No splitter.) The difference is that the cable box comes first, and is the "channel cop" for all devices receiving an input signal. It is a cable jungle back there, but I think the way that I have it is the main cable box connection (HDMI) goes to the digital tv, and an aux S-Video out feeds the 640. (S-Video is the best quality signal you can send into the 640.) But a SVHS is also served from some other connection. That is why I went for the next-to-top-of-the-line cable box: more connection options, with multiple live outputs. Their best available box for this market is their high-def capable DVR model. (I do my DVR-ing with the 640, and don't feel like I need to record in high-def.)

Anyway, with this setup I don't have any problem receiving (or recording) On Demand content. This also indicates that there is no Broadcast Flag or CGMS constraint on recording the OD -- at least not from this provider in this service area. I don't order any PPV, so I don't really know, but my guess is they would have some block on recording that.

There is another setup in another room, based around an older, much less fancy model of their cable box, and a Pioneer 520. I generally don't bother with OD over there, but I don't think there is any problem should I choose to do so. In that location, the cable box is also first in the chain.

[EDIT: In contrast to Wajo, I use L3 on the 640, but have made no deliberate effort to record in WS. I would have to load up a lot of recorded DVDs to know whether any recorded as WS, but from what Wajo was saying it sounds unlikely.]

Well on my setup with this recorder and a cable box, it has the annoying deal where widescreen programs show up on the recorder as having black bars on all 4 sides.

And by the way I just noticed when I turned my recorder on it said "hd repair complete". What in the world??? I ahve no clue what it was "repairinhg".

By the way is there now ay for me to record from HDD to HDD? I recorded a lot of shows in XP early on and don't want them taking up so much space. Is my only option to record them to disc then back to HDD in the new speed? That would be annoying.

I want to upgrade my Harddrive and did search around here and at videohelp. Based on my search, I would need "Pioneer DVD Recorder Data Disc GGV1274 Type2"

does anyone know where I can get this disc?

thanks,

does anyone know where I can get this disc?Go to the www.pioneerfaq.com web site and send an e-mail to HKan.

Go to the www.pioneerfaq.com web site and send an e-mail to HKan.
That should be www.pioneerfaq.info (http://pioneerfaq.info/).

Thanks. I just sent an email to "support at pioneerfaq info"

do they sell this disc?

I think he works on a donation basis... PayPal, etc. He provides an extremely valuable service to Pioneer users worldwide. He obtained and posted the latest Pio 640 FW update for the "title problem" last year while Pio was requiring users to send their machines in and be w/o them for ~2 weeks.

there are many people will need this service world wide. How long it would take him to repond to the email?

Sorry, no idea, never sent one myself.

I think he works on a donation basis... PayPal, etc. He provides an extremely valuable service to Pioneer users worldwide. He obtained and posted the latest Pio 640 FW update for the "title problem" last year while Pio was requiring users to send their machines in and be w/o them for ~2 weeks.

I saw a new FW 2.62 posted on April 2007 on pioneer site. should I upgrade to this FW even though I dont have any issues with my recorder? I bought mine in Nov 2006.

I saw a new FW 2.62 posted on April 2007 on pioneer site. should I upgrade to this FW even though I dont have any issues with my recorder? I bought mine in Nov 2006.
NO! That's for the EU version. It will KILL a Canada/U.S. Pio 640!

If you're in Canada or U.S., scroll down that page a little farrther until you see a RED Canada/US and V6.20. That's for the U.S. version and gives your 640 the ability to pick program titles off air and to transfer titles from your timer list to the actual recording... something they "forgot" to put in the original FW. It's an extremely valuable update.

NO! That's for the EU version. It will KILL a Canada/U.S. Pio 640!

If you're in Canada or U.S., scroll down that page a little farrther until you see a RED Canada/US and V6.20. That's for the U.S. version and gives your 640 the ability to pick program titles off air and to transfer titles from your timer list to the actual recording... something they "forgot" to put in the original FW. It's an extremely valuable update.

would this feature stop working in 2009? I checked my machine's current version and it is 6.2. I bought it in Nov2006, how can it got the latest one?

would this feature stop working in 2009? I checked my machine's current version and it is 6.2. I bought it in Nov2006, how can it got the latest one?
Sounds like you have the most current FW. If you can title a Timer Rec program and that title transfers to the recording, you're OK. Or even if you don't title a Timer Rec program, if you get some or most of your recordings with off-air titles, you're OK. The most reliable way to know is via the Timer Rec title transfer since not all programs are aired with their titles.

You can easily test this by setting up a short Timer Rec program with a crazy title, then see if the recorded title has that crazy name.

If you still need the FW update, just scroll down that page you found to the RED Canada/US FW V6.20 and click it to download the zip file. Move the zip file on your computer to get it to expand, make a DATA disc (CD) of it, etc.

Instructions come with the download.

Thanks, Wajo, we all appreciate your input to this forum. I (we) wish you a happy day, and life.

I am about to buy a Maxtor 500GB HHD. Are there anyone with a successful 500GB upgrade

I've read in another forum a poster who fixes Pioneers saying nothing over 320GB and, in fact, he reccomends 250GB as playing nice with the FW... he said he's done many 250GB upgrades.

Ref. one of his posts here. (http://forum.videohelp.com/topic339809.html#1836596) (In a later post, he corrects his "99 title" statement to "999 entries".)

Many install 500Gb successfully in a Pioneer, the point is the recorder operating system will run out of file slots long before you fill up 500Gb. If you are installing 500GB because you want a bigger drive and 500GB is just easier to find on sale in stores, no problem. But if you expect to fill every last gig with programs, you'll be disappointed. Also remember the hard drive software in these recorders is very basic, there are no complex manual inputs you can make to repair a drive when it starts to tank.

The average lifespan of a DVD recorder HDD is about two-three years before an unrecoverable crash: believe me you don't want to lose 500Gb of video on a bad day. The HDD in the recorder is meant for *temporary* storage of long unattended recordings and as a place to make edits. It is NOT a "video jukebox" (despite what some mfrs say on their packaging). If you want massive long-term storage to electronically access a huge video library, you need a Home Theater PC or turn-key library solution.

BTW, a polite suggestion to member foxnews: please try to use more discreet language in your posts, the pioneerfaq site provides a great service to the Pioneer user community but depends upon Pioneer "overlooking" a few things they could easily take issue with. When you make "obvious" remarks in a forum thread, it threatens Hakans ability to keep the site going. Look at how other members phrase certain things and follow their lead. Many thanks!:)

Thanks, Wajo, we all appreciate your input to this forum. I (we) wish you a happy day, and life.
Thank YOU for the compliment!

would this feature stop working in 2009? I checked my machine's current version and it is 6.2. I bought it in Nov2006, how can it got the latest one?The feature (transferring titles from the entry in the scheduled recordings list to the recorded shows in "Disc Navigator") has nothing to do with the US digital switchover - it doesn't depend on recording shows from OTA or the RF input and works for recordings from the line inputs too. So no, it won't stop working in 2009.

BTW, you should be aware that you also need a special service remote (or a programmable remote with the correct codes) to replace the hard drive in addition to the firmware.

I am having trouble burning the recordings off the hard drive to a DVD, I made up my copy list and selected high speed copy then I finalize the DVD but when I put it into my computer, the DVD is not recognized at all, what am I doing wrong? it's a DVD-RW disc that I am using, I want to make sure I burn it correctly to the DVD, this is the 1st time I am using the copy and burn to DVD procedure, any help is much appreciated, thank you

Not sure if your computer likes -RW discs in VR-mode, but that's what the Pio is set to intitialize DVD-RWs for, unless you change it to Video-mode in the Disc Setup menu. (Pg 51 of manual for a one-time Video-mode initialize, or you can set for always in Video-mode in Recording menu... one-time is prob. better?)

Not sure if your computer likes -RW discs in VR-mode... If you were asked for your choice of menu styles when you finalized the DVD then it's in Video mode and your computer should be able to read it. But if it didn't ask then it's probably in VR-mode and there's a pretty good chance that's the problem.

You can also tell if your disk is in VR mode by putting it into your Pioneer, switching to DVD (ie, the orange light on the front panel) and hitting the "Disc Navigator" button. If the list of titles has the same style as the list of titles on the hard disk, then it's in VR-mode.

Just to add to the computer part of the 2 previous posts. If the disk is indeed -VR mode then it is formatted in UDF 2. Win-XP SP-2 is the lowest MS/OS that has native UDF-2 read capability. Anything lower and you will need a separate driver, or use their advice and make sure the disk is burned in DVD-Video mode.

ok I got it to video mode and my computer can now read/display the dvd but how can I re-record it to a DVD? I have a DVD that has some recordings on it but I want to add new recordings onto it before making my final burn to a DVD but the files are VOB type, how do I change it different type of files? also, I try to copy the original DVD to the 640 but it says that it can't read this type of disc(DVD-RW) so I can't copy it to the hard drive, I still need more help please? thanks very much

ok I got it to video mode and my computer can now read/display the dvd but how can I re-record it to a DVD? I have a DVD that has some recordings on it but I want to add new recordings onto it before making my final burn to a DVD but the files are VOB type, how do I change it different type of files? also, I try to copy the original DVD to the 640 but it says that it can't read this type of disc(DVD-RW) so I can't copy it to the hard drive, I still need more help please? thanks very muchWhat exactly are you trying to do? If you've still got the shows on the Pioneer then you can just burn the DVD from there. If you've got stuff on your PC you'll need some DVD authoring software to create a standard Video-mode DVD with menus, etc.

Standard DVDs use ".VOB" as the file type, that's the correct name for a movie on a DVD disc.

You can't copy movies from a DVD onto your Pioneer in real time unless they're in VR mode and (I think) the disc is unfinalized.

ok I got it to video mode and my computer can now read/display the dvd but how can I re-record it to a DVD? I have a DVD that has some recordings on it but I want to add new recordings onto it before making my final burn to a DVD but the files are VOB type, how do I change it different type of files? also, I try to copy the original DVD to the 640 but it says that it can't read this type of disc(DVD-RW) so I can't copy it to the hard drive, I still need more help please? thanks very much

You might want to consider opening a new thread to get assistance. Your question is not one merely Pioneer 640H people can answer. People who own other brands might be able to help, too.

Sorry, but I can not help you. I actually found your posting hard to understand (writing style?).

You can't copy movies from a DVD onto your Pioneer in real time unless they're in VR mode and (I think) the disc is unfinalized.
You can copy non-CP stuff to the Pio HDD in high speed if the disc is in VR-mode and doesn't matter if finalized or unfinalized.

See this post for details. (http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=691617&highlight=Pio+VR)

For finalized Video-mode discs w/o CP, One-Touch Copy copies those in real-time.

What exactly are you trying to do? If you've still got the shows on the Pioneer then you can just burn the DVD from there. If you've got stuff on your PC you'll need some DVD authoring software to create a standard Video-mode DVD with menus, etc.

Standard DVDs use ".VOB" as the file type, that's the correct name for a movie on a DVD disc.

You can't copy movies from a DVD onto your Pioneer in real time unless they're in VR mode and (I think) the disc is unfinalized.


Sean,
here's what I want to do, I downloaded some movies onto my PC, I also copied some recordings off my Directv receiver to the 640 hard drive, I want to combine both the movies and the recordings onto 1 single DVD, I did burn the movies and recordings onto a DVD-RW disc but the recordings are not so clear in picture when I viewed them through a DVD player, how can I convert the recordings which are in VOB mode to a different mode so the picture would be much more clearer? thanks

I downloaded some movies onto my PCDo you mean you downloaded them from the Internet?


I also copied some recordings off my Directv receiver to the 640 hard drive, I want to combine both the movies and the recordings onto 1 single DVD

It sounds like you want to burn the recordings on the 640 to a finalized video mode DVD (doesn't matter if it's a DVD-RW or DVD-R) so that you can read them on your computer.

You'll then need to use DVD authoring software on the PC to combine the movies from the 640-burned DVD and the ones you downloaded onto a single DVD disc. What you'll probably need to do (unless you have two DVD drives) is to copy the ones from the 640-burned DVD to your PC's hard drive, then burn them plus the downloaded movies to a fresh DVD. If the movies you downloaded aren't in VOB format then you'll probably need authoring software that's capable of converting them.

This is all really beyond the scope of the DVD recorder forum - if you don't understand how to author a DVD you'll probably need to seek help in a forum that specializes in it.


I did burn the movies and recordings onto a DVD-RW disc but the recordings are not so clear in picture when I viewed them through a DVD player, how can I convert the recordings which are in VOB mode to a different mode so the picture would be much more clearer? thanksVOB files are the standard file type for DVDs. If the picture isn't "clear" then it's not because the files are "VOB" - it's likely that either the original that you recorded from had quality issues, or you didn't record at a high enough speed (ie, "XP" is the highest speed and gives the best quality).

DVDs have very specific requirements for the file formats, directories and names. If you don't use authoring software, or if you change the file names (for example, from "VOB" to "MPG"), then your DVD players won't be able to play them.