Panasonic E55 - "Tint my Ride"

[Brent G.]

My Panasonic EM55 First Impressions.

I've had problems with my LiteOn 5101 for the past couple of months and after reading all of the praises for the E55, I decided to "upgrade" to an E55 yesterday. Overall it delivers a good bright picture with a some noticeable exceptions.

1) What is it with this green tint? Is it a requirement for all DVD recorders to "tint my ride"? The E55 is not nearly as bad as the LiteOn 5101, but with movies like Collateral, both Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx when they're in the cab look like they've eaten bad sushi. In dim scenes like this there is no "warmth" in their faces at all (lacks enough red) and the interior of the cab also has a definite green tint. If I bypass the recorder and send the satellite signal directly to the TV the green tint disappears so it is definitely coming out of the recorder signal. (The problem is with the signal being turned green as it goes through the recorder, a DVD does not have to be in the recorder).

I have the E55 set according to the post "Panasonic Tips and Tricks" which is how it was shipped. Is there a way to get rid of the green tint? I've taken the DVD (2 hr SP) and displayed it on another DVD player/TV and the green tint is definitely recorded on the DVD.

2) In scenes where there is not much contrast, even outdoor shots, I've noticed the flesh tones of people's faces tend to be blotchy, like there is not enough gradient levels for this particular color. It looks like they are wearing face cream that has 3 color levels. If I send the signal directly to the TV, the blotchiness disappears.

3) Others have reported that the picture has too much contrast and I must admit the recorder does lose quite a bit of information in the shadows. Actually most shadows instead of displaying shapes of objects like garbage cans in an alley, are just black shadows. It's not that unpleasant compared to the former problems.

I'm recording a signal from a satellite receiver using either AV cables or S-Video cables and they all exhibit the same problems. I'm recording to DVD-R if that matters.

Since there are a lot of people on this forum who use and like the Panasonic E55, are there any ways of solving these problems? TIA

Brent

[Captain Satellite]

I have the DMR-HS2 and the E80H and they both exhibit a slight greenish tint. It's only noticeable when compared side by side to the original source. I can't wait for the new generation so I can make it a threesome with lots of macro blocks to boot!

[FulciLives]

With all the posts about DVD recorders I am surprised you got a Panny and not a Pioneer or JVC.

Take it back while you still can and get one of the other two I just mentioned.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[ChachiFace]

Fulci,

You're right, but which models? Or, at least from your experience or knowledge from posts, what models seem to be the highest recomended?


Thanks,
Chachi

[FulciLives]

Fulci,

You're right, but which models? Or, at least from your experience or knowledge from posts, what models seem to be the highest recomended?


Thanks,
Chachi

If I were buying one today myself:

1.) Pioneer 200 series if you don't need an HDD or FireWire
2.) Pioneer 300 series if you don't need an HDD but need FireWire
3.) Pioneer 500 series if you want HDD and FireWire

Of course go with the newest model possible for that series.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[lordsmurf]

Pioneer, JVC .... two MUCH BETTER CHOICES.
The Panasonic have luma problems ... green tint. Among many other issues.

[ChachiFace]

Fulc, lord, or anybody else -

d'ya know where I could view a screen shot of a menu sample from a pioneer 200? I'm just curious if I've seen one of these discs before.

I may have to try one out, I been looking for a good dvd recorder for smaller projects.

regards,
chachi

[vhelp]

Here is some screen capture of my Pioneer DVR-220S model.
I used my ADVC-100 and S-Video feed, through firewire. I love how
clean the advc is on the source. (it truely does not add filtering to
it, and leaves the *detail* of the source alone - very important, in a
restoration project - pending source) Anyways.

The DVR-220S is truely a remarkable and feature-rich unit. You'll love it!!





-vhelp 3184

[Brent G.]

FulciLives,

With all the posts about DVD recorders I am surprised you got a Panny and not a Pioneer or JVC.

Take it back while you still can and get one of the other two I just mentioned.

I have about a month remaining on my LiteOn 5101 and Panny E55 return policy so I'll hang on to them a bit more.

I wish I knew who sold JVC in Canada but they aren't very popular here. In fact our selection of DVD recorders is quite pathetic up here. To give you an example, all Walmart stores in town only have the LiteOn 5101 and no other recorders. This recorder is not on display and usually hidden away on the top shelf somewhere.

To give you some idea what the prices are here:
LiteOn 5101 $195
Panasonic E55 $449 (sale price this week $349)
Toshiba DR2 $350
Toshiba RD-XS32 $700
Pioneer 520 $599

These prices are in Canadian dollars and $100 US is $123 Canadian. Even with the currency exchange, there is still a huge price difference between the US and Canadian prices. There is not much competition up here and most stores have exactly the same prices.

I don't want to order anything online because it is too hard to return it, especially with my track record.

Here are some price links:
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/subclass.asp?search=KWS&Keyword=dvd+recorder&catid=&C...ngid=EN&dept=0
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/dept.asp?logon=&langid=EN&dept=0&catid=20206

[Laddydaddy]

vhelp

How is the playback quality of your Pioneer? Does it do PAL the NTSC conversions during playback?

TIA

[Brent G.]

lordsmurf,
I noticed the "blockiness" of the panny signal is quite apparent. Also I noticed the Panny EP mode shifts the pixes left and right about every second or two and is really annoying to the point it's probably not useable. The LiteOn 5101 EP mode however randomizes the pixel shift and has a much smoother background, and for non-critical movies, is quite useable. A lot of times I can't tell the difference (from a distance) between the EP and SP mode of the LiteOn. Of course they still have to fix the green tint problem, hopefully in the next firmware release.

With all that I've learned about DVD recorders in the past 2 months, I think I'll go and hug my Sony VCR. It delivers more realistic colors than either the Panny or LiteOn and hey, there's no blockiness.

[vhelp]

@ laddydaddy

I was posting two pies in one oven, (and at least a slice went to fulci)
No. I don't know about this, because I'm still very wet behind the ears
with this unit. But, I'm sooo quickly falling in love with it (over the
iLO that I do have also) I still working out some kinks, but the roses look
sweet so far

@ Brent G.

I hope that you haven't given up just yet. I too, fight huge battles, and
I don't give up easily. If anything, I always try another brand. Sounds
like you might need this benefit. Pioneer.

Have you considered finding one ? I know you said that wal-mart only has
one brand ..but, how about CC ?? They have a 14 day return (here in NY)
and you only need to see if this blastit green shows up or not

-vhelp 3188

[Brent G.]

I hope that you haven't given up just yet. I too, fight huge battles, and
I don't give up easily. If anything, I always try another brand. Sounds
like you might need this benefit. Pioneer.

Have you considered finding one ? I know you said that wal-mart only has
one brand sad.gif ..but, how about CC ?? They have a 14 day return (here in NY)
and you only need to see if this blastit green shows up or not rolleyes.gif

By CC you mean CostCo? They only have a DayTek listed on their site, but I don't recall seeing a Pioneer in their store. I expect the price for a Pioneer 220 would be around $450 Canadian compared to $349 for the Panny E55 (on sale) or $195 for the Liten 5101. I'll take a look for a Pioneer the next time I'm at CostCo. If I don't see one I'll end up waiting a month or two for the new recorders. I'm really surprised how blocky the Panny is and is something I'd expect to see on first generation recorders. It will likely be going back to the store at the end of the month.

http://www.costco.ca/en-CA/Browse/Product.aspx?prodid=10284149&whse=&topnav=&cat=

[vhelp]

No. I ment Circuit City (CC)
-vhelp 3191

[Captain Satellite]

I hope that you haven't given up just yet. I too, fight huge battles, and
I don't give up easily. If anything, I always try another brand. Sounds
like you might need this benefit. Pioneer.

Have you considered finding one ? I know you said that wal-mart only has
one brand sad.gif ..but, how about CC ?? They have a 14 day return (here in NY)
and you only need to see if this blastit green shows up or not rolleyes.gif

By CC you mean CostCo? They only have a DayTek listed on their site, but I don't recall seeing a Pioneer in their store. I expect the price for a Pioneer 220 would be around $450 Canadian compared to $349 for the Panny E55 (on sale) or $195 for the Liten 5101. I'll take a look for a Pioneer the next time I'm at CostCo. If I don't see one I'll end up waiting a month or two for the new recorders. I'm really surprised how blocky the Panny is and is something I'd expect to see on first generation recorders. It will likely be going back to the store at the end of the month.

http://www.costco.ca/en-CA/Browse/Product.aspx?prodid=10284149&whse=&topnav=&cat=

At what speed are you seing the blocks at? Even its critics have said they aren't apparent at anything below 2 hour mode.

[vhelp]

I'm really surprised how blocky the Panny is and is something I'd expect to see on first generation recorders.

What is your source, and what mode are you refering these blocks on ??
(ie, EP / LP / SP / HQ for instance)

Just curious

-vhelp 3192

[ChachiFace]

vhelp,

Very nice screenshots! Thanks! But actually I was asking about the menu that appears on the completed DVDR. In other words if you made a DVDR, what does the menu screen look like or what are your options?

thanks- chachi

[vhelp]

One of the nice features I like w/ the 220 is the 'undo finalize'.
I just poped in my prev. done disk, and UF'ed it. ..now runing it
through my ADVC again, for ya.
.
Again, from my Pioneer DVR-220S screen, captured by my ADVC-100 device
through s-video. Gota love that clean source (another slice for fulci)

The steps I took:

* menu / disk setup
* undo finalize = 1 minute (or less)
.
* menu / disk setup
* finalize / next screen
* etc etc, done.

And the results:





I'm getting use to it, I'm getting use to it
-vhelp 3193

[gshelley61]

The Pioneer 220 does a real nice job as a DVD player. The playback image quality is very good, and there are a variety of output signal adjustments for tweaking the picture.

BTW, if you are in Canada... you might want to buy a 220 from Wal Mart USA online. The price is right - even with the exchange rate and import duty it would probably still be a good deal.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2598467

Edit - I see, they don't currently ship to Canada. Are you near the US border? You could get one of those US mailboxes and get stuff that way...

Another alternative would be to get a used one from eBay. That's what I did... mine was about $150 US and works just fine. eBayers have no problem shipping to Canada.

[Brent G.]

What is your source, and what mode are you refering these blocks on ??
(ie, EP / LP / SP / HQ for instance)

Maybe I'm using the wrong terminology here. By blocking I mean the color blotches that appears in the signal (no DVD in recorder is needed). In low contrast scenes, people's faces look like their makeup was done with a pain roller. 8) The colors look like large blocks.

This is coming from the signal that passes through the Panny recorder. If I bypass the recorder and send the signal straight to the TV, the blotches disappear. This only happens in low contrast scenes. High contrast scenes like outdoors, is fine. I've tried AV and S-Video cables. If I take the DVD and play it on a computer, the blotches aren't that noticeable.

[Brent G.]

gshelley61,

The Pioneer 220 does a real nice job as a DVD player. The playback image quality is very good, and there are a variety of output signal adjustments for tweaking the picture.

BTW, if you are in Canada... you might want to buy a 220 from Wal Mart USA online. The price is right - even with the exchange rate and import duty it would probably still be a good deal.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2598467

Edit - I see, they don't currently ship to Canada. Are you near the US border? You could get one of those US mailboxes and get stuff that way...

Seems like a lot of work getting a mailbox. This means going down to US to apply for the mailbox, supplying ID, paying for mailbox, paying for shipping from Walmart to the mailbox, then phoning long distance each day to see if the package has arrived. Wouldn't it just be simpler driving to a US Walmart (which is probably next to the mailboxes) and buying it directly from the store? :P

Another alternative would be to get a used one from eBay. That's what I did... mine was about $150 US and works just fine. eBayers have no problem shipping to Canada.

Sure, but if I don't like the shade of green on the people's faces, I can't return it. I prefer to buy it locally from a store that has a 30 day return policy. (Maybe that's why the prices are so high!) :P

[handyguy]

The panny you are using (At least mine does) has adjustments for picture quality, I suggest you use them to get rid of that green tint. They are described in the manual.

Also, on my tv, I have to adjust picture quality at the tv for each input that I use, s-video, component, etc.

[ChachiFace]

Sweet! Thanks vhelp!

One more question, I found a pioneer 225s at best buy, is this the equal to or better than the 220s? Or, should I just try and stick to the 220s, if im' shopping around?

thx, chachi

[vhelp]

Hay, what happend to your old "chachi" avator ??
(or am I misplaying you w/ someone else - I remember seeing
a Chachi a while back)

In answer to your question, no. I don't know
-vhelp 3196

[gshelley61]

The 225 is identical to the 220. The 225 is sold in Best Buy, the 220 in Wal Mart.

[vhelp]

wow. I wonder what the catch is
Sure doesn't make any sense - -

-vhelp 3198

[Brent G.]

@handyguy

The panny you are using (At least mine does) has adjustments for picture quality, I suggest you use them to get rid of that green tint. They are described in the manual.

I didn't find an option that said "Remove the #@$! green tint". But I did find an option to lighten the black level for the Input Level and Output Level (Component) and this did make quite a bit of difference. Thanks. There is hope for the panny after all. :P Why they don't ship it this way to begin with is beyond me. The difference was like between night and day.

@vhelp

wow. I wonder what the catch is rolleyes.gif
Sure doesn't make any sense rolleyes.gif - dizzy.gif - rolleyes.gif

Actually this makes a lot of sense. It prevents people from price shopping between different major retailers. Each retailer gets an "exclusive model" with a distinctive model number. This is done with a lot of products, especially electronics and appliances. This technique is used to prevent bargain hunting and will also prevent one store from being forced to price match against another store. Some stores like Future Shop will price match against a competitor plus 10% of the difference. However if the model numbers are different, they don't have to match it, even though it is the virtually same product. Clever, eh?

[handyguy]

". But I did find an option to lighten the black level for the Input Level and Output Level (Component) and this did make quite a bit of difference."

I can control a green tint on my tv component input quality setting menu.

If you want to do it on you Panny too, I suppose you can.

[Brent G.]

I can control a green tint on my tv component input quality setting menu.

If you want to do it on you Panny too, I suppose you can.

Sure I prefer to do it on the Panny because the green tint gets written to the DVD. (I played the DVD on another TV/player). My feelings is if you adjust the TV to compensate, what happens when your TV breaks down and you need to replace it? You'd need to get one with the same controls. It's simpler if the image is written correctly to the DVD in the first place.

[handyguy]

Well, my tv, a panasonic tv too, needs adjusting for each input because the factory setting is too weird for me.