Toshiba D-R410 - Page 3

One thing i just noticed:

I just seen a LG-DR787T on Best Buy's site, which does everything the Panasonic does for $50 less cost.

Is the Panasonic the better recorder in case i choose one with a tuner built in?

If both are near the same in quality, this may be the best bang for the buck overall.

Also, i'm using a Sony 34" XBR960 which is a 1080i HDTV, so the need for 1080p is not there, and by the time it is(say 2 yrs or so), i'm sure there will be HD recorders flooding the market.

TIA

Don't know much about the LG other than it apparently lacks S-Video In (which would be a deal breaker for me), but does have an IR blaster to control other boxes. But, if you plan to do most of your recording from the tuner, the the lack of S-video wouldn't make much difference. I'm sure there are a couple of other threads about it here.

I cannot get my D-R410KU to record +R discs in any but VR mode. It will not allow me to manually format it to video! I've finalized the disc, but as it records in VR, it won't play anywhere but this recorder....

The manual is a bit of a brain-freeze, and obvious that it was a non-English speaking translation in my opinion.The lack of plural "s", and the word "thrice" (well, maybe that IS U.K. English, but still...)

But as usual, I digress. In short (too late!): Anyone know how to make the +R discs record in video, not VR?

The manual says -R is automatically formatted video mode, and +R is automatically formatted VR mode. So it looks like you're stuck unless you switch to -R's. However, I have no problems reading my finalized +R VR mode discs in other players, except for a really old, cheap APEX.

EDIT: Correction. +R's are formatted +VR (apparently VR is different), which is theoretically DVD-Video compliant. Which means it's supposed to be readable by any DVD Video player that can physically read the media. So maybe you have bad media?

then you are very lucky, because the Pioneer, Sony and HK DVD players will not play them, nor will the other two dvd recorders.

Yes, we do tend to go for overkill around here....

;-P

LYN

Does the 410 record to dual layer discs? I was looking at the manual and just couldn't be sure. Unless I missed something... BTW this thing records everything from my dvr flawlessy. Just want to know if I can squeeze more than two hours of sd recording on to one dual layer disc.

I've been doing some recording on my 410 this weekend, I did too notice how it formats +R discs in VR mode. However once I finalize them, I have no trouble playing the discs in my DVD player(Sony, circa 2005) or on my WinXP PC.

However when I go to open the disc in DVD Shrink, it barks at me saying the file structure is invalid. Same thing if I rip it first to the PC using DVD Decryptor. But if I use vobblanker(not changing/cutting anything), shrink can then read the files, and I can proceed to make copies. And once I get a copy made, making copies of the copy does not require me to do the vobblanker step again.

Since i can't record custom chapter marks on either +Rs or -Rs, once I burn through this spindle of +R's I'll go back to -R's, they read fine the first time in Shrink, and can do widescreen as well.


The manual makes NO mention of DL discs, so I'm assuming that is a no go with this model. There are probably some other model DVD recorders that at least read DL's, right?

Gents...Does anyone know if I do purchase a Toshiba D-R410 or R400 (primarily to record off my DVR)?....(1) Will I be able to use Component cables to my SHARP XR-10X Front Projector to get the upconverted signal or will that only work with HDMI cable (projector doesnt have HDMI input)?....AND ....Does either Toshiba DVD recorder have component INPUTS or am I gonna have to settle for RCA or S-Video Ins?...Thanks Rob B

AFAIK, No and No. Upconvert is only over HDMI. And S-vid input is as good as it gets on just about any DVD recorder. Does your TV have a DVI input? If so, you can get a HDMI/DVI cable pretty cheap from somewhere like monoprice.com and be able to use the HDMI out.

Agreed, no and no, unfortunetly. Good suggestion to get a HDMI/DVI cable, if your projector has a DVI input. Svideo is as good as you can get for recording, the quality isn't bad at all in SP mode, I can't really see any "blocking".

I don't have the other units mentioned, but I do have an "assortment" of recorders and players and, in general, the picture quality of all the Toshiba units is very good. I have several 400/KR10 units and I'm very satisfied with the PQ on all of them. For the money, these units are hard to beat.

What about recording speeds?
My understanding is the modes are 1hr/2hr/4hr/6hr/8hr, with no 21/2hr or 3hr mode.
Am I right that the next mode after the 2hr is the 4hr?

If so, how is the 4hr mode? Whats the res and bitrate?

This might be a problem for me, as I record sporting events, many of which are over 2hrs.

You'd probably be better off with something like a panasonic, since it has a flexible recording (FR) mode which uses the highest possible bitrate for any arbitrary time. For example a 2.5 hr recording would only have a slightly lower bitrate than a 2 hr one, not half the rate, as is the case for 4 hr mode. 4hr mode on the toshiba is ok, but not great. You can definitely tell a difference between 2 and 4 hr modes. The only drawback with FR mode is you have to tell it the length before you start recording, which could be a problem with sports. Other makes have FR mode, including some toshibas, but I don't know which one off hand.

I'm actually doing a lot of transferring of basketball games from VHS to DVD, 2hr is the perfect length because I just edit out the commercials/halftime. Without halftime/commercials/some timeouts, a game is usually cut down to 90 minutes. This leaves some room for a possible OT, or if I had some postgame reports or sportscenter highlights or something, I can throw them on there.

That being said I did a DVD in 4hr mode, and fit 2 games on it. I had enough space to record the 2nd half of the 2nd game in SP(2hr), the difference is noticable. LP(4hr) looks "ok" I would say. You can definetly see some blocking, but it is not too bad. SLP(6hr) the blocking is bad, by then it's definetly making the picture look downright blurry. I can't imagine how bad EP(8hr) must be.

I think for some games that weren't as exciting/important in the regular season, I might do 2 games to a DVD in 4hr mode, but for most I'll probably stick with the 2hr mode. Blank DVDS are dirt cheap anyway, and a 50 spindle takes up about as much room in a media organizer as maybe 6 regular DVD cases.

The process for recording current games is made MUCH easier by having a DVR, I'll just DVR the game and then record it over to a DVD(using a -R for a widescreen SD recording if the game was originally in HD). Of course I can edit out commercials very easily this way too, and fit games well under 2hrs.

The fact that DVDs are dirt cheap and take up a fraction of space as VHS tapes on the shelf, just about counters the fact that you need to use 2hr mode to 100% preserve VHS quality. At least with the D-R410.

If you are recording live events though and/or not using a DVR, I guess you don't have much choice but to use 4hr mode... or if you are recording football(~3hrs). If you need more flexibility you might wanna go with a different model as suggested above.

I just bought this model because it has a good repore with my Regza tv, but I can't seem to view or record from cable. It plays dvds fine. When I try to record, I get a message saying that "DVI/HDMi is blocked. Please exit" This box claims to be copy protection and I could see that on some channels, but I get it on EVERY SINGLE CHANNEL.

Is it possible that the cable company is blocking ALL the channels???

If not, what do you think I'm doing wrong?
Thank you!

Have you connected s-vid from your cable box to the 410 and tried that input instead?

That's the thing. It IS connected with S-video. There's no HDMI In on the machine. I have the HDMI OUT to the tv and when I play a dvd it works fine.
I also have the S-video set to ON.

Thank you for responding!

Try connecting to your TV with component cables if you can. The fact that the box saying DVI/HDMI in the error, maybe it doesn't like you outputting via HDMI when you record?

Ok. Do you mean I need to use component from the cable box to the 410, or from the 410 to the tv?

I'm sorry. I can build a pc from scratch but AV is greek to me!

I think he means 410 to TV. It's a good test to see if the message goes away, but not a long term solution, because I don't think the 410 upconverts over component, IIRC.

I have seen a message similar to your's if I try to output Dolby 5.1 to my TV over HDMI, because my TV can't decode it. Try setting the sound output over HDMI to PCM downconvert (or something like that) in the 410 setup.

If that doesn't work, give us some more details. What cable box and cable provider do you have? When exactly do you get the message, when you just look at anything coming from cable or just when you hit record? What happens if you connect s-vid from cable box to TV (leaving the 410 out of it), any messages on your TV then?

I purchased a D-R410KU last week and got it all setup and working great, but am having a slight problem. According to the manual, if you have a cable box, etc. plugged into the input, it should "pass through" even with the 410 turned off. I'm not using it for HD or anything at this point... I simply have a cable box plugged in via S-Video and the basic audio L/R jacks and then output to the TV via S-Video and audio L/R, and when I turn off the 410, I still get sound on the TV but no picture. With the 410 on it works great. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

Unfortunately, I think the 'pass thru' feature only works with the composite (RCA) outputs. Try those and it should work for you. The manual is not very clear on this point, but on several that I've tested, composite works, but no other outputs as far as 'pass thru'. For casual TV viewing you may find the quality of the composites is good enough. Everyone has their opinon, some are fine with it, some prefer the S-Video. Just try it and see.

Good luck!

(P.S. Since you already have the audio hooked up, you just need to hook up the yellow video out to your TV's video in and you should be good to go.)

ak3883,

Thanks for your valuable input on this unit. I too am transferring a bunch of B-ball games from vhs/dvr to dvd. Time is of the essence, because the dvr is full and there is another playoff game tonight.

I was hoping that you could answer a few Qs before I begin to tackle this monstrous task...

1. How are you setting up the motorola 3416/d-r410 to be sure that a widescreen format is being sent? (I have the DVD-Rs)

2. Also, are you set up with an s-video cable and an L-R cable going from the 3416 to the 410? Component from vhs to 410?

3. When recording the games, you must watch in real-time. Is that correct?

4. By editing out commercials/half-time, do you mean that you are stopping then restarting the recording? If so, how is the transition when you rewatch the game. (flickering, stuttering, etc.)

5. If you choose not to edit out the commercials on the original recording, then you can rip the finished dvd to the computer, then edit/author them afterward? What software can you use in addition to shrink.

I know that you may have answered a few of these Qs before, but can you re-iterate just to be sure. Thanks a million.

4:3 override is set to "off" or disabled. Basically the box doesn't stretch 480i(all SD) channels. I have pillars on my TV at all times when watching SD channels. Doesnt' bother me, I'd rather not have everything stretched and distorted.

The D-R410 aspect ratio is set to "auto", meaning it records on the DVD in widescreen if the output from the box is 16:9(any HD channel) and records in regular 4:3 for any SD channel. Of course you need to be using a DVD-R to be able to record in 16:9 widescreen...

I'm assuming your games are in HD on the DVR... and since the box cannot output anamorphic widescreen, the picture is just plain widescreen, when watching even on a widescreen TV, there are black bars on the top and bottom. Kinda sucks but i'd rather have that than have stuff cut off on the sides.


Yes, svideo and L-R cables from the 3416 to the 410. I use the HDMI output from the 410 to my AV receiver which switches all my inputs and outputs to my display. You could use component as well, wouldn't matter.


Yes.


Exactly, I'm pausing the recording(hit pause on the remote), then restarting it(hit record on the remote). Do NOT hit "stop" every time, or you will create new titles. I do hit stop after the 1st half though, so I have 2 titles on the disc, one for the 1st half and one for the 2nd half(or quarters, or whatever)There is no flicker or studdering, odds are you won't get it exactly right every time, so in the recording there will probably be a split second image of the first commercial, then a cut right back to the game. It's seemless though, no flickering, studdering, etc. Other DVD models can be set to insert chapter marks when you pause the recording, unfortunetly the D-R410 cannot.


Others can answer this better, I have not purchased DVD authoring software. I have used a somewhat stripped down version of Sonic MyDVD that came with my older DVD burner, it worked ok. I made a DVD of MPEG movie files already on my PC. Obviously you can custom make a menu background, add music, do chapter marks, etc and it makes thumbnail images for the DVD menu. But for recording a game straight from VHS, it's not worth the hassle of recording to the PC first, getting the quality settings perfect, etc etc. This would be better for making a compilation of several smaller clips or shows from multiple tapes.

Thanks for the response ak3883.

Now about the DVD+Rs. You can insert chapter marks manually. They just can't be seen on other DVD players? Is that right?

Correct.

So for me it's a trade-off: chapter marks in only my DVD player, or widescreen(if the source is HD). Widescreen wins hands down, IMO. You can still create chapter marks at a specified interval with +Rs and -rs, which is what I settled with.

How does this unit perform upconverting?

for all of u using a dvdr for playback also.
the more u use any of these machines the faster the motors and other moving parts wear out, 'specially as these are mostly low cost parts.

what ive done 4 the last 4 yrs is get a seperate player for just that reason-dvd playback. if $ is an issue, get a cheapo upscaler, $40-$50? for now, and upgrade down the road.

your dvd recorder will thank you!
by lasting a lot longer.

i recorded a bunch of dvd's on the toshiba dr410 and none of them play on pc. any ideas??
they play fine on the toshiba itself but other dvd players dont acknowledge it at all.

You have to finalize them on the Toshiba.