Polaroid DVD Recorder

[jjsc]

Originally Posted by grantsoo

As has been noted, this thread is obviously dying. I assume it's due to all the the issues being covered and many have moved on to the newer Polaroid.

I have a question:
I don't want to lose some specifics that were in this thread. Does anyone know how long the thread will stay around before it disappears?
Also, is there an easy way to save all of the messages onto my computer?

Thanks - Grant

Originally Posted by beekeeper

Top of page- thread tools- download this thread

I am a new owner of a refurb series B unit from UBid (recently they
were selling for $90 and free shipping). This thread has a wealth of
information, and I would like to download it.

In "Thread Tools" at the top of the page, I see only three choices:

1) Show printable
2) Email this thread
3) Unsubscribe

Has download been disabled recently? If not, please can you tell me
how to enable it? If it has been disabled, can someone who has downloaded
the thread email it to me?

Thanks!
-jjsc

[jjsc]

Originally Posted by joatmon711

Thanks all.

I am at a loss. Composite does work, but whoopee . (No disrespect intended beekeeper, except maybe toward Polaroid)

The remote will control the camera, but the recording stops at the copy protect warning.

I am using Sony miniDV tapes and am wondering if the onboard cassette IC chip is the culprit or the Elura 65. I have altered camera setups all with the same result. I experience no problems using the Elura with any computer capture software or, dare I say, the ILO that got replaced with the Pol.

Lemme know which tape brands ya'll use, please.

Joatmon

Joatmon, did you figure this one out yet?

I just bought a new (refurb) series B, and ran into this while
burning my first DVD.

I am using a Sony Digital8 camera (not miniDV). The funny thing
is that it captured the first 43 minutes and then complained
about copy protection for the remaining part of the tape (this is
just a home video, nothing out of the ordinary).

This leads me to believe that the polaroid might be getting
confused if it gets some error/noise/glitch in the signal on firewire.
Also, it is possible that the real error is something else, but
the software is outputting an incorrect error code.

I was usiing YESDVD in this try, I will try again in two more ways:
1) DV to HDD
2) DV to DVD+R (w/o YESDVD)

If someone has figured out how to disable macrovision on this machine,
it might help too. Anyone?

Also, I think the suggestion someone had about getting a DVD+RW
and burning all projects on it in the polaroid, and then copying over
onto other (non RW) media later, is very good. It can save some disks.

Thanks!
-jjsc

EDIT:

Found this in FAQ on Polaroid web site:

http://polaroid.custhelp.com/cgi-bin...i=&p_topview=1

It says:

Home Movie Recording - Copy Protect Error
Question
When I attempt to record a movie from my camcorder to the DRM-2001G using the front panel Digital Video (DV) input connection, the recording begins but very quickly pauses. The status message on the DVD recorder screen says that recording has been paused and next to it, in parentheses, it says "Copy Protect." From that point, it will not allow me to continue recording. I checked to make sure my movie tapes were not write-protected. These are all home videos. What's wrong?
Answer
The error message appears because the video file format of the recording from the camcorder is incompatible with the Polaroid Digital Video Recorder. You should be able to record your movies by using the front or rear "Composite" video connection between the camcorder and the digital video recorder.

[netstroller]

You might not be missing much by not being able to use Firewire on your Sony.

When I tried it with my Panasonic miniDV camcorder and a "K" series 2001g, I do not have any copy protect errors, but the picture has poor contrast. The composite has slightly lower resolution, but overall a better picture. And the Firewire input screens out the date imprint from the picture, that could be a good thing for those who don't want the date/time stamp in their video, but I happen to like it for reminding me when that recording occurred.

[netstroller]

I might have run into a recording limitation lately.

At first my 2001g quit recording without notice or error message, it just wouldn't record on schedule or timeshift. My 250GB (upgraded) drive had about 10% space left. I thought maybe it needed the free space for some design reason. I was able to record again after deleting some files.

Today it quit recording again, but I noticed the file count at 254. It occurred to me that's close to the jump (256) in quantity in the hexidicimal system used in digital data. After testing with small recordings, so that I know file size is not a factor, it does appear that the Polaroid DRM-2001g has a file number limit of 254, at least in my "K" series unit.

[rba46]

Anybody got any ideas about the best place to buy one of the DRM-2001G's right now? Only thing I've been able to find is refurbs and I would really like the ability to pass through HD content via component inputs/outputs. Anybody got a good source for buying a unit that will definately allow this?

Thanks,

Ryan

[z3scott]

Anyone running their Polaroid 2100G on a Slingbox?

The Sling website for supported devices doesn't list the 2100G specifically but does have some of Polaroid's DVDP's listed.

[grantsoo]

Originally Posted by jjsc

.....
In "Thread Tools" at the top of the page, I see only three choices:

1) Show printable
2) Email this thread
3) Unsubscribe

Has download been disabled recently? If not, please can you tell me
how to enable it? If it has been disabled, can someone who has downloaded
the thread email it to me?

Thanks!
-jjsc

I would like to update my download, but only see the same choices. Does anyone know how to do this now?

Grant

[grantsoo]

Originally Posted by grantsoo

I would like to update my download, but only see the same choices. Does anyone know how to do this now?
Grant

The "Download this thread" option is now back on the thread tools.

Grant

[jostarr]

After carefully reading over 1000+ posts here on AVS about this recorder, I decided to bite the bullet and get one to play with. I ordered mine on ubid.com.

It arrived last week and seems to be a B model.....no component pass through
when turned off. And, it has the typical loud fan and a poor remote led. I'm sure I can replace the fan and remote led. And, for my purposes, I probably can live with no component pass through. But, the component input and\or output on the Polaroid seem defective. I get lots of noise like interference on my Panasonic 50" plasma when feeding the Polaroid with a component signal from my H20 DTV set top box. The pic is filled with lines and is unusable. But, if I go from the H20 directly to the Panny with a component signal, the picture is perfect...so the cables don't seem to be the issue.

Does anyone have any suggestions or other tests I should make before sending it back under warranty? Nextoo??

[z3scott]

Originally Posted by jostarr

After carefully reading over 1000+ posts here on AVS about this recorder, I decided to bite the bullet and get one to play with. I ordered mine on ubid.com. But, the component input and\or output on the Polaroid seem defective. I get lots of noise like interference on my Panasonic 50" plasma when feeding the Polaroid with a component signal from my H20 DTV set top box. The pic is filled with lines and is unusable. But, if I go from the H20 directly to the Panny with a component signal, the picture is perfect...so the cables don't seem to be the issue.

Does anyone have any suggestions or other tests I should make before sending it back under warranty? Nextoo??

Hello jostar welcome to the polo club.

You need to set the output of the H20 to 480i. You can't send higher res signals that the H20 will output, like 720p & 1080i. I have two of the Polariods running with my direct tv H20 and HR20. That is likely the problem you are seeing.

[jostarr]

Thanks, I'll try that later today or tomorrow and let you know. Other than the
pass through issue, and other correctable issues with a B model, is there any other reason not to keep the B?

[frantic1049]

I seem to have problems with the dvds i make on my polaroid. When I replay them, I can't do a fast fast forward or rewind. If I try to, it goes right to the end of the program. I've tried recording with and without chapters. And I've tried +r, +rw and -r so far & that doesn't seem to make a difference. It's worse when I try to play them in other dvd players, but it also happens when I play them back in the Polaroid. We usually end up watching off the hard drive, but my intent was to be able to watch them in another room in the house.

Does anybody know what I'm doing wrong?

[jostarr]

z3scott.....if I change the H20 output to 480I as you suggest, will that also effect the signal going to my panny via HDMI?

[z3scott]

Originally Posted by jostarr

z3scott.....if I change the H20 output to 480I as you suggest, will that also effect the signal going to my panny via HDMI?

Yes unfortunately it does. You'll have to see how much it will effect the pic on the Panny (and how it handles upscaling the 480i if it can take 480i my Sharp doesn't over HDMI). I use the HR20 saved recordings and dump them over to the Polaroid when my wife isn't using that system. Then I swap the drive out and put it in the other Polo that's hooked up to H20 and my home theater setup for editing and burning dvd's. I'm planning on picking up another HR20 to to replace the H20.

You have a couple options.
1) you can use the component in only part time when you definitely want something recorded

2) you can also feed the S vid to the Polo for use all the time and let the H20 run "native" or at a preselected higher res if you like You can still have the component in to the polaroid and select it and drop the H20 res when and if you desire

I feel the component gives the best results but the S vid works too. You'll have to play with it and see what you like. Depends on what your usage requirements are. Archiving content? Using it to pause "live" tv? Maybe a little of both?

As for the question on drawbacks regarding the 'B' I think your assessment of things is correct. IIRC the 'B' actually might have the most lax copy protection.

[z3scott]

Originally Posted by frantic1049

I seem to have problems with the dvds i make on my polaroid. When I replay them, I can't do a fast fast forward or rewind. If I try to, it goes right to the end of the program. I've tried recording with and without chapters. And I've tried +r, +rw and -r so far & that doesn't seem to make a difference. It's worse when I try to play them in other dvd players, but it also happens when I play them back in the Polaroid. We usually end up watching off the hard drive, but my intent was to be able to watch them in another room in the house.

Does anybody know what I'm doing wrong?

It happens on the 2100G? Other players it is a known issue. I think you can get them to go 2x usually but any faster and they'll zip to the end. Some players handle the disks the Polo makes better than others I think. My Oppo 971H does. There is some discussion buried in the thread about it.

[jostarr]

z3scott, thanks. I'm home now and have changed the resolution out on my 2, H20's by
uncheking all resolutions except 480i in: settings\tv type\resolutions on the H20's. I
have looked at the results on the Panny using HDMI direct from the H20 and component
out from the other H20 to my Vizio 37 LCD. With both H20's tuned to Ch 267HD, the results look the same to me on both sets....no diffenece when all the resolutions are checked. The Polo is not in the loop with these tests. Did I do this correctly? So with the Polo in the loop with component in and out, the results should look the same??

My end goal is for my wife to be able to record sporting events, prime time shows, etc.
I will then try to edit them and burn DVD's so she can watch them at a later date. So, the recording part has to be as simple and easy as possible.....switching inputs, etc might be too complicated.

Has anyone found a way to copy recorded files from the Polo to a PC without frist burning a DVD?

[z3scott]

Originally Posted by jostarr

z3scott, thanks. I'm home now and have changed the resolution out on my 2, H20's by
uncheking all resolutions except 480i in: settings\tv type\resolutions on the H20's. I
have looked at the results on the Panny using HDMI direct from the H20 and component
out from the other H20 to my Vizio 37 LCD. With both H20's tuned to Ch 267HD, the results look the same to me on both sets....no diffenece when all the resolutions are checked. The Polo is not in the loop with these tests. Did I do this correctly? So with the Polo in the loop with component in and out, the results should look the same??

My end goal is for my wife to be able to record sporting events, prime time shows, etc.
I will then try to edit them and burn DVD's so she can watch them at a later date. So, the recording part has to be as simple and easy as possible.....switching inputs, etc might be too complicated.

Has anyone found a way to copy recorded files from the Polo to a PC without frist burning a DVD?

You will have to try it with the Polaroid in the loop receiving 480i from the H20 compared to HDMI output at 1080i or 720p on the same tv. See if it introduces any objectional change in pq for you versus your tests directly connecting hdmi or component at 480i. You are adding additional circuitry with the potential for noise and color shifting but just test it and see how it looks for you and your wife.

No one has reported being able to manipulate the files yet on a pc in the thread. I know some have tried.

[Dartman]

You can look at the threads about adding external hard drives to the unit but I also don't know whether you can edit anything from the Hard drive of it.
It would need to be in a format your OS can see and I'm not sure it does that.
I havent used mine in months since I tried the European FW from the Packard Bell units available over there. I do have a nice Pal tuner now and it thinks it has Scart inputs now. It still can tune manually and takes in most of the inputs fine though

[grantsoo]

Originally Posted by frantic1049

I seem to have problems with the dvds i make on my polaroid. When I replay them, I can't do a fast fast forward or rewind. If I try to, it goes right to the end of the program. I've tried recording with and without chapters. And I've tried +r, +rw and -r so far & that doesn't seem to make a difference. It's worse when I try to play them in other dvd players, but it also happens when I play them back in the Polaroid. We usually end up watching off the hard drive, but my intent was to be able to watch them in another room in the house.

Does anybody know what I'm doing wrong?

You are doing nothing wrong. This is a limitation of the Polo.
I've never been able to FF more the 2x on another player with a Polo DVD, but I have never had the problem with the Polo itself. I regularly FF up to 32X on the Polo on a burned DVD.

Because of this FF issue, I now use the segment option to remove all commercials before I burn the DVD. That way I do not have to FF as much. Once you get used to segmenting, you can do it pretty quick. Segmenting also allows you to record in better quality as most movies come in at under 2 hours if you remove the commercials.

I've posted before that if you play them on a PC (I travel a lot and play them on my laptop) that Cyberlink PowerDVD will handle all FF options ok.

Glad to see the forum come to life!!

Grant

[grantsoo]

Originally Posted by jostarr

Thanks, I'll try that later today or tomorrow and let you know. Other than the
pass through issue, and other correctable issues with a B model, is there any other reason not to keep the B?

I've had my "B" model for over a year and have only seen the limitations you noted. I can live with them. (I also have a "K" unit hooked up elsewhere.)
For the price, this has been a great machine!

Grant

[frantic1049]

Originally Posted by grantsoo

You are doing nothing wrong. This is a limitation of the Polo.
I've never been able to FF more the 2x on another player with a Polo DVD, but I have never had the problem with the Polo itself. I regularly FF up to 32X on the Polo on a burned DVD.

Because of this FF issue, I now use the segment option to remove all commercials before I burn the DVD. That way I do not have to FF as much. Once you get used to segmenting, you can do it pretty quick. Segmenting also allows you to record in better quality as most movies come in at under 2 hours if you remove the commercials.

I've posted before that if you play them on a PC (I travel a lot and play them on my laptop) that Cyberlink PowerDVD will handle all FF options ok.

Glad to see the forum come to life!!

Grant

Thanks for the reply. I thought maybe a different media, but I guess not. I try to record off of On Demand when I can, then no commercials. Well, less commercials. But I do still have the problem on playback on the Polaroid. When I finish putting a show on a DVD, I like to play it to the end to make sure it all was there before I delete it from the hard drive.

I had stopped recording with chapters, thinking that would help, but it hasn't. I think I'll turn that option back on. On other machines, if you hit next, it might skip right over a chapter or two!

I'll have to try that PowerDVD b/c they really freeze up on my laptop - unwatchable!

I still wouldn't give up my Polo though!

[HoustonGuy]

I have a Polo- ONLY reason to buy one is the component inputs(and if you have a settop box that it is compatible with it at 480i WS)- with its LSI chip it does give a very good record quality- Do not buy one for playback, dv functionality, etc. They can still be bought on Ebay refurbed by Polo from $110-150. My personal take is that the Polo refurbs are light years better than the originals. The burned dvds(taiyo yuden only ) have played back well on 3 different dvd players except that , yes, FF is slow.

[beekeeper]

It also has, IMO, very good chase play for live shows, since it multi-tasks nicely. You can change channels, schedule, and watch recorded programs while recording live.

I use it for SD time shift for watch-once-shows, like sports and weather. It would have been nice if the follow-up digital version was actually an upgrade rather than a new machine. the digital one has loads of problems.

[ConradWS]

I have to agree that the Polo has some nice features for view-once programming. But for doing that I would rather watch 1080i high definition content. Right now I'm using a SA8300HD with external eSATA hard drive. Being able to archive to DVD is my concern.

Does anybody know if swapping out the burner solves the Polo FF - RW skip issue?

It doesn't look like it would be hard to clip that little connector and solder on a proper 4 pin molex jack and I know some of you guys are running burners with external power.

Later, Conrad

[jostarr]

I have had some time now to play with my Polo B series. Yes, it must be on to have component pass thru, and yes, the fan is noisy and the remote problem does exist. I can fix those 2 problems as discussed in this forum and I can live with the B model pass thru limitations.

This may sound like a dumb question, but when I record to the hard drive, all
the record info remains displayed on my screen. I have not found a way to
turn that message off and to be able to see the full screen while I am recording.

What button on the remote do I push to clear the screen?

[z3scott]

Originally Posted by jostarr

What button on the remote do I push to clear the screen?

Bottom of remote; display button will cycle through info

[slr_65]

Originally Posted by ConradWS

I have to agree that the Polo has some nice features for view-once programming. But for doing that I would rather watch 1080i high definition content. Right now I'm using a SA8300HD with external eSATA hard drive. Being able to archive to DVD is my concern.

Does anybody know if swapping out the burner solves the Polo FF - RW skip issue?

It doesn't look like it would be hard to clip that little connector and solder on a proper 4 pin molex jack and I know some of you guys are running burners with external power.

Later, Conrad

Hi Conradt,

It's not a problem of the burner, it's a problem of the firmware that controls the burner. I think the problem comes from the fact they are using a variation of the DVD_VR format which is a non-complaint format used by several DVD Recorders. If I recall correctly I think the reason for using the VR format is that it allows things to be added to the disc later. The problem is that it's a non-compliant format so some (most) older DVD players have some issues with DVD_VR format discs, but most will play them - just fast forward and rewind seem to get funky.

To compound the issues, the Polaroid seems to be using a variant of the DVD_VR format because there are some utilities out there that will fix a VR format disc and make it a complaint format. Unfortunately these utilities don't seem to work on the Polaroid created discs. I even corresponded with the author of one of the programs and he looked at a Polaroid disc but didn't immeadiately see the problem and unfortunately was honest and said it wasn't worth his time to fix this bug for just the Polaroid players (and I don't blame him, how many of us really have "spare" time?!).

This bug has been a big disappointment to me - we use our Polaroid a lot for time shifting but when there's something we want to archive I have to hook the polaroid up to another recorder and make a disc from there.

If this bug wasn't present this would be the bargain of the century to me . . . check out what a HTPC would run ya to build!!!

As far as play back quality issues from Polaroid discs - you must use good media, but that's true of any recorder. Beyond that, the Polaroids are burning the discs slower than they are rated for and slower burning doesn't mean a better burn. Also, since these burners are in the polaroid and the drive's firmware can't be easily updated as time goes on we'll probably be feeding it media that the drive doesn't have a write strategy for so it'll use a generic write strategy that probably wont give an optimal burn. What to do? Well, I don't burn much on my unit because of the VR bug, but if I do I usually take that disc over to my PC and make a backup of it with my PC as I know it's drive is a much better burner and will a higher quality and hopefully longer lasting disc.

I really wish someone would figure a way around that darn VR bug!

[ConradWS]

slr_65,

Thanks for the reply and explanation. Those are pretty much my experiences as well. I've picked up Ulead DVD Movie Factory that someone else reported using to edit the disks on computer. If it works with DVD-RWs from the Polo then I may experiment some more. If not I'll just use the passthru feature and leave the advanced editing and burning to a Toshiba SX32.

Later, Conrad.

[nextoo]

Originally Posted by slr_65

Hi Conradt,

It's not a problem of the burner, it's a problem of the firmware that controls the burner. I think the problem comes from the fact they are using a variation of the DVD_VR format which is a non-complaint format used by several DVD Recorders. If I recall correctly I think the reason for using the VR format is that it allows things to be added to the disc later. The problem is that it's a non-compliant format so some (most) older DVD players have some issues with DVD_VR format discs, but most will play them - just fast forward and rewind seem to get funky.

To compound the issues, the Polaroid seems to be using a variant of the DVD_VR format because there are some utilities out there that will fix a VR format disc and make it a complaint format. Unfortunately these utilities don't seem to work on the Polaroid created discs. I even corresponded with the author of one of the programs and he looked at a Polaroid disc but didn't immeadiately see the problem and unfortunately was honest and said it wasn't worth his time to fix this bug for just the Polaroid players (and I don't blame him, how many of us really have "spare" time?!).

This bug has been a big disappointment to me - we use our Polaroid a lot for time shifting but when there's something we want to archive I have to hook the polaroid up to another recorder and make a disc from there.

If this bug wasn't present this would be the bargain of the century to me . . . check out what a HTPC would run ya to build!!!

As far as play back quality issues from Polaroid discs - you must use good media, but that's true of any recorder. Beyond that, the Polaroids are burning the discs slower than they are rated for and slower burning doesn't mean a better burn. Also, since these burners are in the polaroid and the drive's firmware can't be easily updated as time goes on we'll probably be feeding it media that the drive doesn't have a write strategy for so it'll use a generic write strategy that probably wont give an optimal burn. What to do? Well, I don't burn much on my unit because of the VR bug, but if I do I usually take that disc over to my PC and make a backup of it with my PC as I know it's drive is a much better burner and will a higher quality and hopefully longer lasting disc.

I really wish someone would figure a way around that darn VR bug!

Yes you are right. It seems to be pretty common with machines like the Polaroid. Couple of things. The format is +VR and yes because you can edit on the optical disc as one of the features of +VR it can hose up the finalized video_ts file as a result.

It's been about a year since we last discussed this but if I remember correctly I was able to convert the +VR disc to a Video Mode disc.

Try this:

1. Copy the disc to your PC using DVD Decrypter in ISO mode.

2. Open the ISO using DVD Shrink. Set Shrink to no compression (100%). Run Shrink. The result will be a Video Mode DVD. The video_ts folder is rewritten as a result of running it through Shrink in the Video Mode format. For example there will no longer be a Video_RM folder - which is a byproduct of the +VR format.

This may be tougher if you have done a lot of on disc editing but if you did all of your editing on the HDD and then burned the disc it should work fine. But like i said it has been a while.

Both DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink are free tools which can be found online.

[ConradWS]

Thanks Nextoo.

I remember about 9 months ago being able to make exact copies of -R polo recordings with Shrink, Decryptor or CloneDVD which of course had the same VR bug.

Just a few weeks ago I pulled the Polo off my spare parts pile and put it back together using the tips and tricks you guys posted here. Now I've got it all fixed up. 160GB hdd, remote led fix, replaced the fan with a Silenx (14dbA). Quiet as a mouse. This FF, RW bug is the last hurdle.

I want to use a -RW to transfer the polo recordings to computer or SX32-SX54 and do the editing there. By-pass that last dub thru svhs out. Which I know you've heard before.

Last night using a +RW then rip to Decryptor ISO and writing back to disc with cloneDVD got me an unreadable disc. I probably screwed up by witing it back to an RW.

OK...I've got days off. One more try using Decryptor and Shrink. This time I'll do the final write to -R or +R.

Maybe I won't have to learn IFOedit or DVD Movie Factory 6....yet.

Thanks for dropping in.
Conrad