ernie6
06-21-07, 07:31 PM
PBS digital, channel 43.2, is running the John Wayne extended version of the Alamo. The movie clocks in at approximately 193 minutes vs 161 minutes for the DVD version. The movies is presented in "letterbox" with no commercials. It is highly recommended the movie be recorded from the OTA digital transmission decoded by an ATSC tuner.
I recorded the movie on the HD of the new WalMart Philips recorder. Afterwards, I used the recorders "divide program" editing feature to chop of the beginning and ending to end up with the movie only. The title was added using the remote "text" feature which was not a problem. I own a Panasonic 100gb HD and two Pioneer 80gb HD's that use the popular text board for adding titles.
The movie was recorded in the SP speed to come as close as possible to duplicating the PBS OTA broadcast. Dubbing was done in real time using the "auto" feature to obtain the highest bit rate for single side recording. (I discovered sometime ago recording in real time using "flexible recording" on the Panny and Pioneer units resulted in excellent reproduction with no playback problems.)
The recording to the Philips HD is excellent and the dubbing to the DVD-R came out very good. There is no jittering or simmering a softer picture compared to a dual layer DVD, but nevertheless very watch-able.
The Philips is a very good player/recorder with an excellent ATSC tuner. All 13 OTA channels stored in the memory during the first scan. (I am using a 10 foot outdoor Radio Schack antenna.) The remote is very easy to use and includes chapter skipping and fast forward/reverse that includes frame step to step.
Step to step or slow fast forward/reverse is used for deleting scenes (commercials). Just before the commercial begins, in the black area, select pause then "next or Prev" to step completely into the black area and press "ok". That is your first mark now proceed to place the ending mark using the pause step method. Then follow the instructions to delete the string of commercials.
I may transfer the file from the Philips HD to the Pioneer HD and re-dub in real time to a dual layer DVD-R. Unfortunately the Philips does not record dual layer.
For the price and features the Philips is a very good buy and the 3 year extended warranty is very reasonable. When added to the Philips warranty you end up with 4 years of coverage. You can't beat that for less than $25.00.
I recorded the movie on the HD of the new WalMart Philips recorder. Afterwards, I used the recorders "divide program" editing feature to chop of the beginning and ending to end up with the movie only. The title was added using the remote "text" feature which was not a problem. I own a Panasonic 100gb HD and two Pioneer 80gb HD's that use the popular text board for adding titles.
The movie was recorded in the SP speed to come as close as possible to duplicating the PBS OTA broadcast. Dubbing was done in real time using the "auto" feature to obtain the highest bit rate for single side recording. (I discovered sometime ago recording in real time using "flexible recording" on the Panny and Pioneer units resulted in excellent reproduction with no playback problems.)
The recording to the Philips HD is excellent and the dubbing to the DVD-R came out very good. There is no jittering or simmering a softer picture compared to a dual layer DVD, but nevertheless very watch-able.
The Philips is a very good player/recorder with an excellent ATSC tuner. All 13 OTA channels stored in the memory during the first scan. (I am using a 10 foot outdoor Radio Schack antenna.) The remote is very easy to use and includes chapter skipping and fast forward/reverse that includes frame step to step.
Step to step or slow fast forward/reverse is used for deleting scenes (commercials). Just before the commercial begins, in the black area, select pause then "next or Prev" to step completely into the black area and press "ok". That is your first mark now proceed to place the ending mark using the pause step method. Then follow the instructions to delete the string of commercials.
I may transfer the file from the Philips HD to the Pioneer HD and re-dub in real time to a dual layer DVD-R. Unfortunately the Philips does not record dual layer.
For the price and features the Philips is a very good buy and the 3 year extended warranty is very reasonable. When added to the Philips warranty you end up with 4 years of coverage. You can't beat that for less than $25.00.