One of the problems I have is obtaining objective information about how the recorders compress video, either from the manufacturers or from forums like this one.

So let me get the ball rolling with what I've learned about the Toshiba D-KR2 DVD video recorder. Toshiba makes it easy for the user to select the video bitrate (which can be varied from 1.4Mbps to 9.2Mbps) and the audio encoding scheme, but do not give the user the ability to select the resolution. In fact, they do not document anywhere what resolution is used for any of the settings. I made a series of tests and have learned that for bitrates of 4.0Mbps and above the resolution is 720x480, but at any bitrate below 4.0Mbps the resolution falls to 352x480 (or perhaps worse -- I didn't test any bitrate below 3.4Mbps).

The result is that in order to get the resolution of 720x480, the maximum recording time on a DVD is as follows:

- 1hr 45min with L-PCM audio
- 2hr 13min with D/M2 Dolby (384kbps)
- 2hr 19min with D/M1 Dolby (192kbps)

Personally, I find 352x480 unacceptable, no matter how well encoded, so for me these are the maximum recording times I can get from this recorder.

Other Comments:

This recorder does have a fan, so it stays reasonably cool. There are two consequences, one is fan noise, and the other is that the inlet vents are on the left side of the case. I cannot install this recorder in my AV cabinet because the cabinet wall is too close to the inlet vents.

This recorder does have some input filtering/manipulation controls:

- 5 levels of brightness (1 darker, 3 lighter)
- separate audio level controls for the left and right channels
- 3D digital noise reduction (DNR) (off, "normal", and "expanded")
- 3D Y/C separation

I feel this recorder is attractively priced ($250 at Costco) and it is quite happy using the TDK 4x DVD-Rs I get there ($20 for 25). I connect my digital video camera to the IEEE-1394 port on the front panel and the mpegs I am getting from this recorder are at least as good as anything I ever got from TMPGEnc (as long as I don't let the bitrate go below 4.0Mbps), and it is much faster and more convenient to use. It also lets me encode the audio using Dolby, something I cannot do with TMPGEnc because my production computer is not connected to the Internet, and never will be.