Got myself a blu-ray recorder

[L7dra7]

(As English is not my first language, I apologize in advance for any mistake I might make.)

I finally got myself what I had been dreaming of for a long time : a blu-ray standalone dvd recorder, direct from Japan. It's the BDZ-V9 from Sony. Since those blu-ray or hd-dvd recorders are available only in Japan (with apparently no plans to release them here in North America any time soon), information about them on the Internet, as far as I can tell, is scarce so I thought it might be a good idea to share my experience here.

One the main reasons why I wanted one was to be able to transfer my HD home videos (taken with an HDRHC1 camcorder, also by Sony) on blu-ray recordable discs. It's funny to think HD camcorders came out in North America two years ago already and yet HD videos taken with them still can't be transferred or kept on anything else than mini-DV tapes that can only be played with the camcorder itself (so if you wanted to send your HD video to someone who hasn't one, you're stuck, unless you send the camcorder with it; plus you can't make a copy of your video). I'm not sure but I think it's possible to transfer the video from the camcorder to a computer if you have the appropriate firewire input and software, plus a blu-ray dvd burner of course (which we are just beginning to see on the market and still cost a respectable third of the price of the standalone recorder). But it seems more complicated than just plugging the camcorder into a recorder.

Of course, it would also be great to be able to record HDTV programs on blu-ray discs but I already knew before I got it that it would probably not be possible : no HD recorder that I know of has a component input and my Starchoice DVR530 from Motorola only output HDTV through component or DVI output.

At least, its great capacity (500 GB, half a terabyte) makes it something akin to a super-TIVO for standard definition TV. That's always useful if like me you always manage to run out of disc space.

So I got it and I am in the process of setting it up. Not too difficult since all dvd recorders work along the same principles (component, S-video I/O, conventional symbols for play, pause, record, etc.) The main difficulty is, of course, that the manual is only in Japanese and no english version exist. And I am not fluent in Japanese (although I do know the katakana and hiragana plus quite a few kanji from my two years studying chinese, so I can decipher a phrase here and there). So there are things I really can't figure out if I am doing them correctly or why it doesn't work.

First, after connecting it's component output to the TV (an Hitachi Ultravision 51UWX20B) I tried it as a blu-ray player (with a commercial blu-ray disc). Works fine as a player. (Fortunately, Japan and North America, are the same region - 1 - for blu-ray discs, unlike for ordinary DVDs). At any time, you can access all the different setup menus (which have an interface very similar to that of a PSP or a PS3) by pressing a home button on the remote and then you use the joystick on the remote to navigate them.

After that, I tried dubbing my HD home video from my camcorder. As expected (they are both Sony HD products), they got along very well : there is a firewire port on the front you can access by pressing to up/down button (which makes the glass front door slide down) and then opening a small door. It's fairly easy to find the DV to HDD dubbing menu and figuring out how the feature works. After adjusting some settings on the camcorder (which output DV instead of HD by default) so that it would output HD, it was just like dubbing with any other DVD recorder. And lo and behold : I finally got my HD video of the local botanical garden in gorgeous high definition on the hard drive of the recorder! I was very happy with the result.

After that of course, I tried to dub my video on a blank recordable blu-ray disc. It's then I hit a snag : when I inserted the disc (a Philips BD-R, 1X, 2X), I got some sort of error message (which I can't read). I suppose it must mean either that the disc is not compatible or not properly formatted (it doesn't ask me if I want to format it, but it asks me to do something, as I can tell by the word 'kudasai' at the end). When I press the HDD/DVD button on the remote, the display for the HDD (capacity used and remaining, etc.) is normal but the one for the blu-ray disc only has dashed lines (apparently, it can't read it). It also won't record on the blu-ray disc (error message when I press record).

On to setting it up to record television : apparently, digital TV in Japan doesn't works quite as it does here as there is the possibility to record HD over the air (while we can only receive HDTV through a cable or satellite receiver with the appropriate decoder). So some settings and input probably don't apply here. I did try to see if I could get it to properly receive the signal from the DVR530 (channel 3) through coaxial cable. There are two inputs for this labeled BS/CS and 'terrestrial digital' (in Japanese). I wasn't sure which was the right one to use so I tried both (at least, knowing the kanji, I can recognize the output from the input). It did not work. Maybe it's not possible at all or maybe the solution is somewhere in the manual. Fortunately, it's not that important : you get better picture and recording quality by connecting the satellite receiver to the dvd recorder through S-video anyway. So I did. At first, I was only getting a blank white screen but a little paragraph in the manual gave me the solution : I had to go to one of the set-up menus and change the default composite input for Input 1 to S-video. After that, it worked fine.
One thing does bug me : whenever I use the HDMI or component output, the TV will only allow two sizes : 16:9 and 16:9 zoom (while when I connect an ordinary dvd recorder through HDMI, I can use 16:9 or 4:3 for SD). For standard TV, I usually watch it in 4:3 expanded so it fills the wide screen without too much loss in quality. With 16:9, an SD program will have black bars on the sides which I find distracting. The player also needs to be set to 16:9 output otherwise the picture will be squashed. With the S-video output though, 4:3 can be selected on the TV (but component would give a better quality).

In summary, there are still a few things I need to figure out how to do (like editing the recorded segments, setting the timer for recording, etc.), and also I need to find out why it won't record or dub to my blu-ray disc. But it's a fun and challenging technological adventure (and a great incentive for me to finally take the time to learn to read Japanese!)

[DVWannaB]

thanks for sharing your experience. I think us here in America are a long way off before we see HD-DVD or BluRay recorder. We cant even get a A HDD recorder with an ATSC tuner that passes through true HD. Me thinks it done on purpose and an agenda at work. I am just crossing my fingers that none of my fleet of HDD recorders die anytime soon.

Toshiba DR-5, RD-XS52, 54 and 55
JVC DRMH30s
Pioneer DVR-520H
Sony RDR-HX715

[Sean Nelson]

Thanks for the report, you're quite right in that information like this is hard to come by and it's very good of you to share it.

(As English is not my first language, I apologize in advance for any mistake I might make.)

Your English is much better than that of a lot of teenagers I know!

I got some sort of error message (which I can't read).

Can you post a screenshot of it? I can read enough Japanese to get by and perhaps I can decipher it for you.

[L7dra7]

Transcribed, the error message would be kono disuku (this disk) followed by two kanjis, the second being the verb to do (I think together they mean operation) wa dekimasen (= is not possible). I took a picture of it and will see if I can post it.

So I'm pretty sure it means : this disk cannot be operated. I wish I knew if there is any difference between recordable blu-ray discs from North America and those of Japan. Perhaps it's just the wrong version (1.1, 1.2... ?) Something else? Perhaps it is being picky about the brand (maybe I should try with a Sony BD-R).

Another update : I figured out the recording timer (abd was able to use it) : it's the clock icon in the video menu (film strip icon), and to see all timers set, it's the list with the clock.

[L7dra7]

Just checked the manual : it says use only version 1.1 for BD-R. There is no indication on my Philips disc on whether it is 1.1 or not. But I just found a Sony BD-R version 1.1 on BestBuy and ordered one. I'll see if it does the trick.

[L7dra7]

Update: I got the new Sony version 1.1 BD-R today and was able to dub my HD home video fine. The picture is gorgeous and it even takes less disc space than I thought (8 GB for 37 min. instead of more than 25 GB as I thought).
I also managed to figure out how to edit a recorded segment : one only needs to press the option (right) button on the remote while the segment is selected in the main menu. After that, I was able to figure out which one it was by trying a few options and using some knowledge of the kanjis. I guess that's the best was to learn to use it if you can't read the manual : by trials and errors. It works just like any dvd recorder so it isn't too difficult.

So I guess now I have figured out pretty much most of the basic operations. Interesting point to note: the unit also has a network adapter of some sort and apparently also a modem (it has ports for a network cable and a phone line) and can be plugged in a router according to a diagram in the manual. So it must be possible to do something with it over a network (perhaps program it remotely over the Internet, from a cell phone for instance), although I think it might require a subscription or service available only in Japan (a card with a chip was also included).

[pixylight]

If I sent you a blank TDK BD-R could you see if that will work in your recorder?
I need the TDK's as they are the only ones I know of that have printable disk versions..