LG RC7300 - dubbing from video to DVD

[Soulcharger]

Hi there everybody, this is my first post . I have an older LG RC7300 and want to transfer (dub) all my videos onto DVDs. When I insert a blank DVD I get the right question about initializing (formatting) do all the stuff that's in the owner's manual, press "Dub" and see some lights burning on the left hand side of the recorder so I'm assuming it's dubbing. When the video tape is finished it stops automatically, so far so good. When I try and finalize the DVD the screen snows over and I get a "please wait" message, this lasts for about 8 - 10 minutes then ejects DVD with a message that it's an unknown format. I don't get a chance to finalize. What am I doing wrong ? I can't find anything in the manual, maybe it could be that the videos are write-protected ?

HELP !!!

Chris

[sanlyn]

Probably copy protected. Are these retail VHS tapes? Tapes recorded from today's digital cable boxes with imbedded copy protection? If so, I'm surprised the LG started recording in the first place.

[jman98]

"Unknown format" is one of those generic error messages that literally could mean anything, but another possibility is that it doesn't like your media. Note that most media in the world is low quality, so whatever you are using is likely junk. The only consistently good media available anywhere in the world now is Taiyo Yuden/JVC (you will have to buy this online) or Verbatim (anything except their Life series is great). So it could be bad media. it could also be a +R (or +RW) vs. -R (or -RW) thing where the manual claims that both work equally well but in reality the recorder strongly prefers one over the other. I have seen this with a Toshiba DVD recorder my father owns. One last thing - DL media usually doesn't work in recorders so be sure you're not using that as that would also likely be a problem. Older recorders in particular showed that + vs. - issue and were fussy about media quality, so I'd look into those things.

[Soulcharger]

Probably copy protected. Are these retail VHS tapes? Tapes recorded from today's digital cable boxes with imbedded copy protection? If so, I'm surprised the LG started recording in the first place.

Yes retail tapes, dated 2000. Will try again in the morning with a home made video see if that helps. I just had another go, I even got to "finalizing" but had the long snow storn and ejection.

[hech54]

Plus....that is an OLD unit. It might just be dead.

[Soulcharger]

"Unknown format" is one of those generic error messages that literally could mean anything, but another possibility is that it doesn't like your media. Note that most media in the world is low quality, so whatever you are using is likely junk. The only consistently good media available anywhere in the world now is Taiyo Yuden/JVC (you will have to buy this online) or Verbatim (anything except their Life series is great). So it could be bad media. it could also be a +R (or +RW) vs. -R (or -RW) thing where the manual claims that both work equally well but in reality the recorder strongly prefers one over the other. I have seen this with a Toshiba DVD recorder my father owns. One last thing - DL media usually doesn't work in recorders so be sure you're not using that as that would also likely be a problem. Older recorders in particular showed that + vs. - issue and were fussy about media quality, so I'd look into those things.

I'm using TDK DVD+R blank discs, assume they're decent quality.

[DB83]

Maybe I am confused here but I seem to recall (as I do not use +R disks) that these are set-up differently to -R's.

For dubbing you must set up the disk for 'video mode' not 'video recording mode'. It's an easy enough mistake to make.

Just a thought.

PS assume nothing about disk quality. Very few firms actually make them. The rest are 'badged'

[jman98]

Everything TDK sells except possibly (it is unclear) stuff they sell in Japan is and has been low quality junk for many years now. Your discs are crap for sure.

TDK did at one time use the very best manufacturers for their media, but that hasn't been true for maybe 5 years, possibly longer. They were one of the first big names to ditch the good manufacturers for the cheap, crap production ones. For a while even after switching everywhere else, TDK was using Taiyo Yuden to make their Japanese market discs, but I have no idea if they still do that or not. They definitely don't do it anywhere else.

You may wish to try using DVD+RW discs until you get this figured out just to avoid most useless burns.

[jman98]

One more thing - if you do use RW discs, the ONLY manufacturer of good ones, both + and -, is Verbatim. Taiyo Yuden/JVC does NOT make re-writable discs. If you buy any other brand but Verbatim for RW discs, you wasted your money.

[Soulcharger]

Everything TDK sells except possibly (it is unclear) stuff they sell in Japan is and has been low quality junk for many years now. Your discs are crap for sure.

TDK did at one time use the very best manufacturers for their media, but that hasn't been true for maybe 5 years, possibly longer. They were one of the first big names to ditch the good manufacturers for the cheap, crap production ones. For a while even after switching everywhere else, TDK was using Taiyo Yuden to make their Japanese market discs, but I have no idea if they still do that or not. They definitely don't do it anywhere else.

You may wish to try using DVD+RW discs until you get this figured out just to avoid most useless burns.

So you say I should get Verbatim DVD+RW discs, right I'll give it a try. Will let you know.

[Soulcharger]

Maybe I am confused here but I seem to recall (as I do not use +R disks) that these are set-up differently to -R's. For dubbing you must set up the disk for 'video mode' not 'video recording mode'. It's an easy enough mistake to make. Just a thought.
PS assume nothing about disk quality. Very few firms actually make them. The rest are 'badged'

Will chack that out.

[hech54]

Just get quality write-once discs (Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden). They are CHEAP compared to the hassles of using RW discs.

[hech54]

When the video tape is finished it stops automatically, so far so good.

Oh...and NEVER let the recording stop "automatically". Take it from a long-time DVD recorder user....this is bad news.