AVS › AVS Forum › Video Components › DVD Recorders (Standard Def) › Panasonic DMR-EH69 connection issues
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Panasonic DMR-EH69 connection issues

post #1 of 7
5/19/10 at 4:36am
Thread Starter 
Hi,

I recently bought a Panasonic DMR-EH69 and have been facing issues in its setup and recording tv programs. I have a satellite stb which has its component output connected to my Vizio 47" tv. The RF out of the STB is connected to the RF in of EH69 and the HDMI out of EH69 to HDMI in of the tv. I have done automatic tuning on EH69 and other initial setup steps required.

The first issue I'm facing is that while watching the tv signal (PAL) through EH69, I cannot switch channels on EH69 and have to use the stb remote. Switching channels through the EH69 remote, simply goes through the the various AV inputs. Is there some simple mistake I'm making?

The second issue is that I had assumed that the tv picture quality through HDMI output of EH69 would be upscaled and would be better than the component signal going directly from the stb to the tv. However, that is not the case and while the component signal is not very good, it is significantly better than the hdmi signal. Please tell me if I'm missing a trick here.

The third issue is that when I try to record a tv program on the HDD of EH69, I get the error "Copy-protect signal detected ... cannot proceed". This happens for all tv programs and either I've got the connections mixed up or indeed all tv programs from my satellite provider (Big TV from Reliance, India) are copy protected.

Would appreciate if someone could provide solutions to these problems.

Thanks,
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 7
5/19/10 at 5:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ikaz View Post

Hi,

I recently bought a Panasonic DMR-EH69 and have been facing issues in its setup and recording tv programs. I have a satellite stb which has its component output connected to my Vizio 47" tv. The RF out of the STB is connected to the RF in of EH69 and the HDMI out of EH69 to HDMI in of the tv. I have done automatic tuning on EH69 and other initial setup steps required.

The first issue I'm facing is that while watching the tv signal (PAL) through EH69, I cannot switch channels on EH69 and have to use the stb remote. Switching channels through the EH69 remote, simply goes through the the various AV inputs. Is there some simple mistake I'm making?

The second issue is that I had assumed that the tv picture quality through HDMI output of EH69 would be upscaled and would be better than the component signal going directly from the stb to the tv. However, that is not the case and while the component signal is not very good, it is significantly better than the hdmi signal. Please tell me if I'm missing a trick here.

The third issue is that when I try to record a tv program on the HDD of EH69, I get the error "Copy-protect signal detected ... cannot proceed". This happens for all tv programs and either I've got the connections mixed up or indeed all tv programs from my satellite provider (Big TV from Reliance, India) are copy protected.

Would appreciate if someone could provide solutions to these problems.

Thanks,

I've wanted one of these for a while and toyed around with ordering one. I have an old EH85 that I repaired (bad electrolytic caps), but I'd like a HDD recorder with upscaling capability, DL disc support, and the much larger hard drive.

The one thing I may can help you with is the image quality of upconversion. The component from the STB to TV is better than the HDMI from the EH-69 possibly because of the inherent limitation that DVD recorders have, they operate in the 480i realm. So you may be experiencing the EH-69 processing the signal to 480i, then upconverting to 1080p and are losing some resolution in the process. My advice is to use the STB component for watching TV and leave the EH-69 for recording or watching DVDs. The 1080i signal direct from the STB via component will always be better than the EH-69 upconverted 480i to 1080p signal.

Also note that not all machines ability to upconvert to 1080p are equal. Some do a much better job of it than others. Some of the best upconverters are BD players with better video processing capabilities. I have a panny DMR-EZ27k for DL support and it does a fair job a DVD upconversion, nothing to write home about. I also have the Oppo BDP83 which does upconversion so well it almost alleviates the need to by the BD disc buy just use the DVD disc.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 7
5/19/10 at 7:29am
Thread Starter 
@glangford: Thanks for your input. It does seem that using the component connection from stb to tv is the best option, as I've tried all possible hdmi settings on the dvr - 480, 576, 720, 1080 and automatic and the signal quality remains the same.

As for the other two issues, I can live with changing channels on the stb, but if I can't record tv programs, then I've just bought a very expensive dvd player... ;o)
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 7
5/19/10 at 10:40am
If you are indeed in India, then you are really outside my "comfort zone" of giving advice. The EH69 is, as glangford said, a standard definition machine. The component output of your box is an HD signal, and should look like an HD signal. The quality will be down-scaled by the tuner in the EH69, and then up-scaled only for the HDMI output. This upscaling will in no way be able to compensate for the LOSS of information in the picture that was done by the down-scaling.

As far as the machine refusing to record due to content protection, I think you are not going to get around this using the configuration you describe. All I can recommend is for you to pull the RF cable and get rid of it. Your satellite box has component outputs, so I assume it must have composite or S-Video outputs. Use those instead. If the unit still won't record, then you will need to place some kind of filter inline to remove the copy inhibit signal. I'm sure a PAL version exists somewhere.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 7
5/19/10 at 3:24pm
Church AV Guy is correct. With my panny dmr-EZ27k I have the set top box hooked directly to the TV. My STB also has an S-video and composite (red yellow white) connection for going to the panny. I can record what I am watching (or what I have set up to record later) or I can transfer from the DVR portion of the STB directly to the recorder via s-video/audio connections while watching something else (record to VCR function on a SA 8300HD). Either way, your STB should have at least composite (red, white, yellow) for recording to a device.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 7
5/22/10 at 10:40pm
Thread Starter 
Unfortunately, my STD does not have an S-video connection. I removed the RF cable and then tried to record programs using the composite (RWY) connection with the same problem as before. Looks like I will have to get a filter or change my satellite tv provider. Thanks for your help.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 7
5/24/10 at 10:51am
Really, no S-Video or composite connection? That's harsh. Is it possible that your satellite TV provider has other STBs availab le? Maybe would could trade the one you have for one with all the connections you really need. The RF connection is always thought to be the lowest quality available.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: DVD Recorders (Standard Def)

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Video Components › DVD Recorders (Standard Def) › Panasonic DMR-EH69 connection issues