Picture adjustments on Sony & Pioneer - They don't seem to do anything

[highvolumeJP]

One thing people appreciate with these recorders is the ability to alter picture settings like sharpness, chroma level, hue, white & black levels, gain and noise reduction for both record and playback. However, something puzzles me - I have noticed this on the Sony RDR-HX7B0 (which is a 560 clone), when going into picture adjust, noticed that options have VERY LITTLE effect on video. Turn down chroma to th elowest setting should in reality make picture black and white right ? It doesn't it barely reduces saturation - and raising it to highest, barely raises it, ever so slightly, same for hue and ALL other settings including detail, which does nothing. Why did they put those features if they have a less than 1% effect on the image, this is ridiculous ! Compare this with the adjustments on your TV that has a big range. On my ADS Instant DVD I have proc amp co ntrols and they have a very VERY large range. The DNR, YNR, CNR, 3D DNR have little to no effect, the detail, has no effect - at most 0.05%.

anybody else notice this or have a logical explanation to this ?

[orsetto]

No, the settings don't really affect anything: they're "window dressing" included just in case some gearhead goes looking for them when comparison shopping . The settings were more important four years ago when every damn recorder of every brand left the factory with a different black-level standard and other oddities: in those days adjustable settings were a requirement. Today its less of a big deal, especially with Pioneers which have not changed their basic image processing since 2005. Years ago, your recorder choices fell into two groupings: those with astonishingly good encoders but chassis that self-destructed almost immediately, and those with crummy encoders but durable chassis designs. Since 2004, Pioneer took the middle path combining good-average PQ with excellent reliability.

If you want drop-dead, blow-your-socks-off, absolutely killer PQ on your homemade DVDs, look elsewhere: the last standalone recorders with that level of performance were the Toshiba DVD/HDD machines discontinued in 2005/2006. NOTHING on the market before or since those will satisfy you: nothing. Do not even waste your time considering a standalone recorder, stick to your PC and be happy. If you prefer ease of use, convenient timer recording, and good compatibility dubbing your VHS collection, then skip the PC and settle for a decent-quality (but nowhere near HiDef) Pioneer, Phillips, Sony or Panasonic standalone recorder. Each technology has an intended use and user: if you're looking for perfection, you won't find it in a commodity consumer product or even a bundled HTPC: you have to weigh the merits of various computing platforms and encoder boards and audio mixers and cobble together your own ultimate system. Me, I can't be friggin bothered using my PCs or Macs for anything but still image processing. I'm very happy with video recorders, even though I wish the PQ was slightly better. They better suit my workflow and recording tasks.