[HDTVMARTY]

I am interested: if anybody has bought the new JVC SR-HD1500us Blu-ray Recorder or the JVC SR-HD1250us?

If so, what can the machine do and what features does it have?

Since jvc has introduced the new Blu-ray Recorders, does anyone expect panasonic to do the same and when?

Thanks for any information.

 

[ti-triodes]

Are these even released in the US?

 

[nextoo]

Yes they are available:

Blu-ray recorders shipping in the USA

 

[7558037]



$1895 at J&R... no tuners mentioned.

 

[Tulpa]

Hoo, that price is a little bit of a heartstopper.

 

[nextoo]

My response is simple. Hauppauge HD PVR. Around $200. Works great.

 

[jjeff]

And no inputs other than DV(from camcorders) and S-video/composite

Well I guess the SD card slot could be considered a input but nothing to record from say a HD tuner etc. Hollywood must be very happy

Just about what we all expected from a BR recorder

A BR burner in a PC along with a tuner would be cheaper and much more flexible.

 

[CitiBear]



Quote:
Originally Posted by HDTVMARTY /forum/post/18250603


Since jvc has introduced the new Blu-ray Recorders, does anyone expect panasonic to do the same and when?

Panasonic has already produced BD/HDD recorders with tuners, but only for the Australian market so far. The JVCs announced for North America are the typical useless fart-in-the-dark overpriced "prosumer" nonsense, with DRM galore and camcorders as the only possible hi def source material. Perhaps handy for wealthy dilletantes who simply must have their camcorder footage burned to BD, and maybe a few event videographers, but pointless as general-purpose home recorders. Any television/broadcast/cable/satellite input would be standard-def only, not much to be gained burning that on expensive BD media.


Regular ole DVD/HDD recorders may be boring and old hat nowadays, but they're a hell of a lot cheaper and way more suitable for consumer program sources. If you really need high def capability, a home theater PC or a TiVO networked to your PC is miles ahead of any expensive standalone BD recorder. Mfrs are in no hurry to repeat the mistakes they made trying to push DVD recorders at consumers: they've had ample evidence there's no market for a disc recorder in US/Canada at any price, so don't expect affordable BD recorders with tuners anytime soon. HDTV recording is almost certainly going to be limited to cable/satellite PVRs, TiVO and PCs here, while PAL countries may eventually get a few more standalone options.

 

[Dartman]

I've been using my Dvico HDTV card for several years now in my PC with many DVD burners and a Blu Ray and it works great.

I usually burn the keepers to AVCHD DVD disks as the blanks are dirt cheap and will hold about 43 minutes of full 1080i/5.1 sound goodness.

I've also added a Western Digital HDTV live media player so I don't have to burn every capture to disk just to watch it.

Now I can hardly wait for the new crop of Cable card PC and settop media boxes so I can continue capturing the TV I'm paying for if I want.

I'd say only people with more money then they know what to do with and no concept of what can be done now would want that thing without any kind of HD tuner in it for that kind of money.

 

[jjeff]

Dartman since you burn AVCHD to a standard DVD and get ~43 min.(I've heard than number before) have you ever burned that format to a BR disc? If I do my math correct I figure you should get ~3hrs 50 minutes of the same format on a 25GB SL BR blank. How much time can one record on a standard 25GB SL BR blank using the standard BR format(what's used on a commercial disc)? I assume less(because many commercial discs $1 it might be cheaper to burn on BR vs DVD DL.

 

[nextoo]

My Hauppauge HD PVR records in h.264. This is an extremely efficient codec that produces excellent quality with relatively small file sizes.


I can get 2+ hours of HD video and 5.1 AC3 audio on a DL DVD. The recording is indistinguishable from the original.

 

[Dartman]

I only have one disk here that came with the burner and I think I did try it and was able to get about 4 1 hour shows on it. Each one is about 4 gig give or take of course and I usually use VideoRedo to edit the down, then MultiAVCHD with Image burn to burn the disks.

I think sometimes my player didn't like the BD-RE disk I made but happily played the single DVD copies of one edited show I made. I have done them to cheap DL disk as well and those also play great.

IF you have the burner and things I'd try a RE disk to make sure your doing it right and your player works with them then you can burn all the native BD disks you want after that but for me DVD blanks are still way cheaper for now, plus I haven't really burned any caps to disk since I got the media player and a 1.5 Terabyte USB external drive

I got tired of all these damned disks laying around and trying to figure out where to store them and whats on them.

 

[HDTVMARTY]

Could someone explain more about the Hauppauge 1212 HD PVR. I understand that it has component inputs to it.

I have some questions about this machine.

1) Can I hook this up directly to my satellite receiver and get High Definition recordings?

2) What are the features and fuctions of what this machine can do?

3) Do I need a computer to use this machine?

4) What can I expect for this machine?


Thanks in advance for any information

 

[Kelson]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jjeff /forum/post/18260057


Dartman since you burn AVCHD to a standard DVD and get ~43 min.(I've heard than number before) have you ever burned that format to a BR disc? If I do my math correct I figure you should get ~3hrs 50 minutes of the same format on a 25GB SL BR blank. How much time can one record on a standard 25GB SL BR blank using the standard BR format(what's used on a commercial disc)? I assume less(because many commercial discs $1 it might be cheaper to burn on BR vs DVD DL.

jjeff, it's the same concept as with DVD-R -- bitrate rules as far as how much you can put on a given disk. AVCHD is a format which has a similar but different file structure compared to BD. It was originally designed for HD camcorders and uses the MPEG-4/ H264 codec, the same as most BluRay movies. It's the file structure that is the difference. Most BD players will play AVCHD on DVD or SD memory card, but expect to see BD format when a BD-R is put in.


Putting ~40 min of HD/5.1 on a DVD-R pretty much applies when you leave the bitrate the same as what comes over the air (or cable, etc.). If you ever get your TiVo connected to your PC you'll see a 1 hr OTA HD show has a file size of 4.5-6.5 GB. Original file size depends a lot on the network -- i.e. ABC and FOX broadcast in 720p with subchannels, so their filesize is generally 6GB with commercials.


Bottom line is you can always use a program like video ReDo to transcode and lower the bitrate to fit however much you want on whatever media you want. The same concerns of bitrate vs. quality apply as they always have. People who recode BluRay movies generally say they don't see much difference when they take a 35GB BD movie and recode to fit on a $3 BD-R (25GB). Eventually I'll find out for myself.

 

[doswonk1]

Back in 2004 when I shelled out $650 for my first Panny HDD DVDR, the media capabilities of PCs were (to my informed but non-poweruser mind) questionable. Now, I stick with the "old" DVDR technology because I'm comfortable with it, I know how to get exactly what I want from it, the financial investment is already made etc. But ~$1,500-1,800 for an HDD Blu-Ray recorder?? NO WAY! You can get a *really* nice Media PC for that.....and with later-generation software, not to mention support from a place like AVS Forum, taking the Media/HTPC dive makes sense now.


A friend of mine is considering just such a move. He's thinking of investing in a dedicated laptop for his A/V needs. I encouraged him to go for it: think of it as a dedicated music source that can also be used for e-mail, word processing, and surfing the web on the side.

 

[Kelson]



Quote:
Originally Posted by doswonk1 /forum/post/18266621


Back in 2004 when I shelled out $650 for my first Panny HDD DVDR, the media capabilities of PCs were (to my informed but non-poweruser mind) questionable. Now, I stick with the "old" DVDR technology because I'm comfortable with it, I know how to get exactly what I want from it, the financial investment is already made etc.

You may not have to put out too much investment to move to HD. I have the same computer now that I had back in 2004-5 when I bought my Panasonic E-85. It's been fine all these years for editing and burning DVD Video. Now I have a TiVo HD and transfer HD recordings over my network to the same PC. Doing HD editing will tax it quite a bit more, but I have never had a problem letting it run all night and all day, while I'm at work, to do it's thing. There was this one time where I had 7 copies of DVD Shrink simultaneously running, compressing an entire season of a TV series. I started it at 8:00pm and it ran for 22 hr straight. The only investment I really need to make at this point is for a BluRay player and a BD burner. Maybe soon, like this summer.

 

[Dartman]

Well just about ANY quad core CPU will half your decoding and crunching time.

I'm using my old AMD 7600 quad and it halved the time it took with my old 4600 dual core, plus it doesn't tax the machine as hard to do it and things just work better and smoother.

If you just don't have the budget but it works slowly and your fine with that more power to you but I think you can find combo mother board and CPU deals pretty cheap and build a new dedicated home theater box.

I usually stay a generation behind the latest cutting edge stuff and get good deals on upgrades that still work great that way.

 

[ak3883]



Quote:
Originally Posted by HDTVMARTY /forum/post/18260873


Could someone explain more about the Hauppauge 1212 HD PVR. I understand that it has component inputs to it.

I have some questions about this machine.

1) Can I hook this up directly to my satellite receiver and get High Definition recordings?

2) What are the features and fuctions of what this machine can do?

3) Do I need a computer to use this machine?

4) What can I expect for this machine?


Thanks in advance for any information

There are a couple threads about the HDPVR in the HTPC section.

I'll try to answer your questions:


1. Yes, but you need to use a PC. It's just a video capture device, it does not have a tuner.

2. Hauppauge isn't the best company in the world for driver support/buggy free software, but it does work(I use Win7 x64). Basically you can capture 720p or 1080i video via component video output and 5.1/AC3 audio via optical. It converts the analog HD video(after all, component is analog) to digital, in the H.264 format. There are considerable space savings with H.264/MPEG4 over MPEG2. However there is a little quality loss from the analog to digital conversion. The quality that you capture in is adjustable in the software, the highest quality is pretty close to original, usually it looks a little bit soft. For what it does and it's price point, I find it to be acceptable.

3. See answers to above. Yes you do need a computer.

4. It's one of(if not the only) consumer level/priced devices that can capture 720p/1080i HD(along with the 6 channel audio) via component INPUT. It does have software, you cannot WRITE to Blu-Ray discs without purchasing the full version(Arcsoft Total Media). You can write to regular DVDs and make discs that are compadible with XBOX360 or PS3, or just plain AVCHD discs that play in most BluRay players.


This devices exploits what is called the "analog hole" in that current cable companies/sat providers do not have to encrypt analog outputs on customer devices. HD component output is analog, thus it does not have to be protected, like DVI/HDMI which is protected and cannot be recorded. Hollywood wants nothing more than to shut this hole, and has offered cable companies access to new releases nearly a week after being put in theaters, in exchange for them enabling copy protection on analog outputs of set top boxes. This would render every single HDTV without an HDMI input obsolete, and cause a HUGE uproar.

 

[nextoo]



Quote:
Originally Posted by ak3883 /forum/post/18271805


There are a couple threads about the HDPVR in the HTPC section.

I'll try to answer your questions:


1. Yes, but you need to use a PC. It's just a video capture device, it does not have a tuner.

2. Hauppauge isn't the best company in the world for driver support/buggy free software, but it does work(I use Win7 x64). Basically you can capture 720p or 1080i video via component video output and 5.1/AC3 audio via optical. It converts the analog HD video(after all, component is analog) to digital, in the H.264 format. There are considerable space savings with H.264/MPEG4 over MPEG2. However there is a little quality loss from the analog to digital conversion. The quality that you capture in is adjustable in the software, the highest quality is pretty close to original, usually it looks a little bit soft. For what it does and it's price point, I find it to be acceptable.

3. See answers to above. Yes you do need a computer.

4. It's one of(if not the only) consumer level/priced devices that can capture 720p/1080i HD(along with the 6 channel audio) via component INPUT. It does have software, you cannot WRITE to Blu-Ray discs without purchasing the full version(Arcsoft Total Media). You can write to regular DVDs and make discs that are compadible with XBOX360 or PS3, or just plain AVCHD discs that play in most BluRay players.


This devices exploits what is called the "analog hole" in that current cable companies/sat providers do not have to encrypt analog outputs on customer devices. HD component output is analog, thus it does not have to be protected, like DVI/HDMI which is protected and cannot be recorded. Hollywood wants nothing more than to shut this hole, and has offered cable companies access to new releases nearly a week after being put in theaters, in exchange for them enabling copy protection on analog outputs of set top boxes. This would render every single HDTV without an HDMI input obsolete, and cause a HUGE uproar.

Good explanation. But allow me to expand a bit.


The Hauppauge HD PVR records to mp4, .ts, or .m2ts files using the h.264 codec. These files can be authored as Blu-ray without purchasing the commercial version of the TME included software. There are a couple of ways to do this. One is to simply use TSmuxer to author. TSmuxer is freeware for non-commercial purposes. You can also use the included TME software and save the project to your hard drive and then use IMGburn to burn to a Blu-ray disc. IMGburn is also freeware. These are just a couple of ways.


In my opinion using a DL DVD works fine. I use my HD PVR to offload HD movies from my satco DVR in real time - there is no subsequent post process timely encoding - it's real time. Most of the files that are saved to my satco DVR are less in file size that what a DL DVD offers. So it is a good fit. Recording at around 8mps constant bit rate produces high quality recordings that at least in my mind are indistinguishable from the original. And they include 5.1 AC3 audio if the source is 5.1 with 2 hours HD video and 5.1 surround fitting fine on a DL DVD.


I use my HD PVR in a very limited way. Simply to record content and I don't use the PVR features. So my approach is very simple and works fine. The threads here on AVS that discuss the HD PVR can be found here:

HD PVR link 1

HD PVR link 2

 

[Vlad Theimpaler]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Dartman /forum/post/18259437


I've been using my Dvico HDTV card for several years now in my PC with many DVD burners and a Blu Ray and it works great.

I usually burn the keepers to AVCHD DVD disks as the blanks are dirt cheap and will hold about 43 minutes of full 1080i/5.1 sound goodness.

I've also added a Western Digital HDTV live media player so I don't have to burn every capture to disk just to watch it.

Now I can hardly wait for the new crop of Cable card PC and settop media boxes so I can continue capturing the TV I'm paying for if I want.

I'd say only people with more money then they know what to do with and no concept of what can be done now would want that thing without any kind of HD tuner in it for that kind of money.

This grabbed my attention. I too have tons of recorded 720p/1080i TS files (via HTPC), and also have some D/L'd 1080p M2TS trailers and clips (M2TS clips contain muxed H264 video and 640kbps Dolby Digital 5.1). I want to be able to play these on my standalone Blu-ray player (Panny DMP-BD35) for viewing on a 50-inch Kuro Elite, but thought I'd have to get a Blu-ray burner to get it done.


I don't mean to hijack this thread, but Dartman, since your AVCHD DVD burns play on your standalone player, I'd like to try this myself. Could you elaborate a bit more on your workflow? I too have Videoredo and Imgburn, but will have to acquire and learn MultiAVCHD. Also, does it matter if you use DVD+R versus DVD-R? Thanks in advance for any additional insight!