Panny E30 Question

[bachip]

While recording to a DVD R I've erased the program (quick test with a 15 minute record), I then regained the full 2 hours of SP capability.

Subsequent record of about 90 minutes that was watched then erased resulted in the loss of that space!!!

Anyone have ideas or experiences with this, I understood it that until finalized the DVD R could be recorded over multiple times.

[asylum]

Everything that I've read and experienced with my E30 is that with DVD-R, once you record and erase, the disc space is no longer usable. With DVD-RAM, you can record and erase and re-use the space.

Was your 15 minute test done with a DVD-R?

[Eug]

Anyone have ideas or experiences with this, I understood it that until finalized the DVD R could be recorded over multiple times.

Nope. DVD-R is a write-once medium.

While recording to a DVD R I've erased the program (quick test with a 15 minute record), I then regained the full 2 hours of SP capability.

The time remaining cannot be 100% accurate, since it is a variable bit rate type of encoding. However, it seems that the E30 usually gives you a few extra minutes than it actually says in the number listed. ie. "Time Remaining" is a conservative estimate. On an empty disc it says 2 hours in SP mode, but in reality it might be something like 2 hours and 3 minutes.

I do know that people who have recorded 5 mins have had the same result as you, and getting another full 2 hours available according to the machine. However, 5 mins is within the limits of the conservative estimate. I'm a bit surprised it said the same thing for a 15 minute recording. Perhaps you recorded that 15 minutes in a different mode? In any case, the bottom line is that 15 minutes of space WAS lost. The data is still on the disc actually, but the disc is now set up in such a way that the data is invisible to you.

Why would you want to do this? Because say you were making a series of 15 minute recordings on a single disc, and flubbed one of them. Then you could just "erase" it and still continue using the disc. You've lost 15 minutes of disc space, but that's better than throwing out the whole disc and starting from scratch again.

If you want to watch and erase repeatedly, then use DVD-RAM.