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  1. Member
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    Originally Posted by tim1984
    ...extremely frustrated with fact that this unit produces unplayable DVDs... I did go thru the whole process of recording and finalizing the DVD-R, but still couldn't play the finalized dvd-r in DVD player. DVD-RW work fine!! I tried Imation and Memorex DVD-Rs, and still produced stupid coasters !!!
    I read your post and was about to take my brand new pack of Memorex 4X DVD-R's back to Wal-Mart... The book says they will work, I called Pioneer and they said they would work... Set the machine to 2hr mode, burned, finalized took it to my GE 1101P... The first time I put it in, the GE said no disk... Popped the drawer, closed it again and the disk came right up... So far, I have burned Fuji, Maxell in 4H mode and Memorex in 2h and they have all worked in my GE 1101P and on both drives on my computer...

    It shouldn't really make a difference on your particular coaster results but I'm taping straight from VHS home videos, using standard RCA cables... nothing boot-legged and not from TiVo... However... My satellite signal feeds from the receiver/TiVo thru the VCR to the burner... I know it will pick up that video because fumble fingers caused me to accidentally record some of it... the funny thing is, the recorder also uses the title of what is coming over satellite and puts it on the title of every different track I'm recording...

    If it helps, the record settings are as follows...

    Manual recording - On - Mn21
    Optimized Record - Off
    Navi Mark - 30 Seconds
    Auto Chapter 10 Minutes

    Don't know what else to tell you except maybe take it back to Wal-Mart and get another one...??

    Maxx
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  2. I have the DVR-22x (purchased from Best Buy) and I have encountered just about every scenario mentioned in this thread. I have been successful at ripping DVD-VR video to my PC. But, it is not DVD or NTSC MPEG Spec. I have also tried recording in DVD-Video mode. But I cannot get my PC to reliably read any content in DVD-Video.

    One thing I did notice is that in VR-mode if I set the manual record (MR) setting to within 5 minutes of the length of the movie I'm recording, that my PC will not read the disc. If I set the 'MR' to 10 to 15 minutes longer than the movie length that my PC will read it just fine.

    I recently rebuilt my PC, now I can't get it to read anything. Could someone please post any applications or patches that will help me rip from DVD-VR, and hopefully DVD-Video. I like this recorder but trying to record is a bit of a pain. I would desperately like to get a lot of this stuff on to disc so I can free up some room on my TiVo.

    Please see my profile to get an idea of my system setup. I have been trying to read these discs with my Plextor PX-708A. My Hitachi DVD-ROM doesn't seem to like anything from the recorder. I'm also using Memorex DVD-RWs as well.


    Thanks.
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  3. Hey Guys I'm new to this forum but wanted to let say this is a great unit from what i've used it.

    There are a few minor questions i have but the first is probably related to the unstability of VHS Tape.

    this is i have some very old and used tapes recorded in EP and they have over the years developed wrinkles or even just the usual degradation of tape being used. whenever such a spot on one of these tapes is played by the vcr instead of the noise and whirt streaks and other effects of this situation i find that the DVD reocrder cleans it up nicely by making the video disappear in thos parts I do not lose audio though but i'm sure it's related to vhs though when this happens though because it only does it on tapes with bad spots.
    Also has anyone else noticed that the cooling fan in this unit is a little slow to start? my unit seems to switch on in phases phase 1 it checks for a disc phase 2 the active video channel/input appears phase 3 the fan starts.

    I have not noticed any unstability of the unit though so I'm assuming it's the way it's designed.
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  4. vtecmw.. i only record in dvd-vr (since i find dvd-video mode to be pretty much useless)..

    i use ulead dvd movie factory disc creator 3 to extract the mpegs from the dvd-rw (in dvd-vr mode), you dont need to finalize them the discs.
    open dvd movie factory, select create video disc, new project, output = dvd.. then +DVD, select the drive containing your dvd-rw.. it will then proceed to extract the mpeg files from the dvd-rw to the my documents/ulead.../3.0/Import_DVD folder.. once you've got them there, cut out the commercials, and author (TDA).


    if you record between 1 & 2 hours, you'll get a 720x480 ntsc dvd spec mpeg file.

    if you record above 2 hours, but below 4 hours, you get a 544x480 out of spec mpeg.

    @ 4 hours, you get a halfD1 ntsc dvd compatible mpeg file.

    for the absolute best quality recording, i suggest MN31. although its 5 minutes more than FINE quality, its better. FINE records with uncompressed LPCM audio, MN31 records with 256kbps ac3 audio. you get a video bitrate at almost 9mpbs.

    if you're recording something that is under an hour (or slightly more), i would definetly go with MN31. LPCM audio is pretty much useless.. atleast for me.
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  5. I just purchased this unit, and my initial impression is quite good, but my first need was to burn a DVD-R of a wedding video from DV tape, and then make copies of it using Nero 6.0. I found that that didn't work. I first got a message in Nero saying it could only read track one on the disk (there were seven). When I ran a burning simulation a message popped up saying "Program error."

    I have successfully burned copies of DVD's I've made on my computer. Is there something different about DVD's made in a DVD recorder that makes them incompatible with Nero?

    Thanks,
    Duke
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  6. jeex, thanks for the info. I'll definitely give your suggestions a try.

    Any recommendations on recording video 2 hours and above? I suppose I'll have to live with the 544 x 480.
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  7. the best i can figure for right now is to use record under 2 hours on 2 discs, then stip the mpegs, cut them to what you need, use those mpegs and create a dvd w/ TDA (dual layer).. then transcode the dvd with dvdshrink or dvd2one to single layer..

    this wont be an issue once the price of dvd+r9 comes down.
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  8. I think I have solved the 544 x 480 resolution issue, if it hasn't been solved already, for DVD recordings over two hours.

    TMPGEnc 3.0 Xpress will take a 544 x 480 DVD-VR recording and allow you to encode it to 720 x 480 (NTSC DVD) resolution without any problems. The only issue is waiting for your system to encode a 2+ hour DVD video. Oh, you will also need the AC3 Plugin for TMPGEnc as well. Otherwise, it won't decode Dolby Digital audio.

    But, when it's all done, everything looks and sounds great.

    Hope that helps.
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  9. In reply to the first post, I know it's all been said before, but I just wanted to add my input about the 220s. After reading so many positives about it, I got one a couple weeks ago, and it's great. I'm not a movie freak or an afficianado of any sort when it comes to this stuff, I just want to be able to replace my old VCR to record the college basketball games during the season, a few TV programs of interest, and get my old VCR tapes transferred to DVD....but still get good quality at a decent price. The 220s has been excellent in all respects. Video quality is very good for my needs.

    The first unit I got was a Wal-Mart brand ILO for $150 and it sucked. Washed out playback images with two horizontal white lines running through all playback video, no matter what speed/quality setting was used. So it's the old addage that you get what you pay for. But in the case of the 220s, I believe I got a little more than what I paid for. Nice for a change. It's also compatible with my portable Panasonic DVD player that reads -R/RW, as well as our Toshiba unit in the living room. One thing I noticed is if I record anything on -RW media in manual quality mode, it won't play in my portable. But if I use the standard quality settings, it reads the disks just fine without finalizing. But not a problem since the video quality using any but the EP setting is good for my needs.

    My only real complaint at this time is the display is small and sometimes difficult to read from a distance. I have the 220s hooked to my TV in the bedroom, and while lying in bed, the selected channel display is particularly hard to read with other operational LED designations on top of, and beside it, nearly touching it. Looks like it's all run together. But this is a small annoyance.

    Very happy with the 220s for my needs.
    DC
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  10. Originally Posted by drcannon
    It's also compatible with my portable Panasonic DVD player that reads -R/RW, as well as our Toshiba unit in the living room. One thing I noticed is if I record anything on -RW media in manual quality mode, it won't play in my portable. But if I use the standard quality settings, it reads the disks just fine without finalizing.
    Apparently your Panasonic player supports VR mode recorded on DVD-RW media. When you record MN mode on DVD-RW in VR mode, you may have recorded in non-DVD-standard resolution (MN20-17 with 3/4 D1 and MN16-12 with 2/3 D1). You can refer to the chart of Manual Recording Mode on the manual. Since they are non-standard resolution, most players cannot deal with them properly. So you may want to switch to Video mode with MN recording on DVD-RW media if you want playback compatibility.
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  11. I've had this player for 2 weeks and I have to say that this palyer is really nice for under $300. I tried the Philips 615, Sony GX300, and the Pioneer 225-s, and I have am very content with the quality that is produced.

    My first test was hooking up my Sony Digital Camcorder which is a mini DV recorder via s-video and the DVD that my transfer was recorded on came out really nice. Then I tried the DVD disc in my Toshiba DVD player which is picky as hell with DVD+R and some DVD-R discs, and it worked fine. I've heard that it also depends which discs are used. I use the sony brand.

    Great player for the money.
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  12. Originally Posted by Synergy
    Apparently your Panasonic player supports VR mode recorded on DVD-RW media. When you record MN mode on DVD-RW in VR mode, you may have recorded in non-DVD-standard resolution (MN20-17 with 3/4 D1 and MN16-12 with 2/3 D1). You can refer to the chart of Manual Recording Mode on the manual. Since they are non-standard resolution, most players cannot deal with them properly. So you may want to switch to Video mode with MN recording on DVD-RW media if you want playback compatibility.
    Appreciate the input. Actually, I've never used VR mode. Everything I've done so far has been in Video mode. I'm looking further into this incompatibility issue with the Panasonic when using MN, so if you have any other ideas now that you know I did use Video mode, please bring 'em on! It's really not that big of deal, but I'd like to know what's going on.

    Thanks again,
    DC
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  13. Originally Posted by drcannon
    Actually, I've never used VR mode. Everything I've done so far has been in Video mode. I'm looking further into this incompatibility issue with the Panasonic when using MN, so if you have any other ideas now that you know I did use Video mode, please bring 'em on! It's really not that big of deal, but I'd like to know what's going on.
    Well you did mention that you could play the disc without finalizing on the Panasonic player, which is a giveaway that you were using VR mode, since you have to finalize a Video mode disc to make it compatible with other players. You may need to check the disc setup menu to make sure that Video mode is selected when using DVD-RW media, since the default setting is VR mode. If it is already Video mode, then you just need to finalize the disc before it can properly play back on other players.
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  14. Originally Posted by Synergy
    Well you did mention that you could play the disc without finalizing on the Panasonic player, which is a giveaway that you were using VR mode, since you have to finalize a Video mode disc to make it compatible with other players. You may need to check the disc setup menu to make sure that Video mode is selected when using DVD-RW media, since the default setting is VR mode. If it is already Video mode, then you just need to finalize the disc before it can properly play back on other players.
    That's what I don't understand. I made sure VR wasn't selected because I'd read in other posts that VR mode had some issues with playback in some remote players. I just checked the settings again since I have it set on MN 15 to record the ballgames, and in Disk Setup/Recording, Video Mode is selected, which I did when I first began recording after getting the unit. You're correct that the default is VR....but I changed it to Video when I first got the recorder. I haven't changed a thing since. I haven't tried the Unfinalize feature yet with RWs, so the next test will be recording something with everything set as-is (MN15, Video Mode), finalize it and see if it plays on the Panasonic. If that works, then I'll know if I record something I want somebody else to see on a quick, one-time basis while in MN mode, I can do it and still be able to re-use the disk. I'll report back when I get a chance to do it. At least I'll know if the Unfinalize feature works or not.

    DC
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  15. Well, that little test was interesting. I've been using the Fuji -RW disk that came with the 220s because it's fast and the colors, sharpness, and contrast are excellent compared to others I've tried. I've searched all over town for Fuji -RWs, but nobody carries them. Best Buy sells just about every Fuji disk EXCEPT the -RWs. I bought some Sony -RWs today, so thought I'd use one of those for the test in case the Unfinalize feature didn't do its job and I wouldn't be able to use the Fuji as a RW anymore. Settings were MN15 & Video Mode. I recorded about 1 min of a program. I noticed immediately that it took significantly longer to write to the Sony disk than the Fuji. I played it back, and I have to say the colors/sharpness/contrast were quite good. I popped it in the portable Panasonic and it couldn't read the disk. I then stuck it back in the 220s, went through the finalization steps and saw it was going to take 15 min!! I went ahead and finalized it...and it played just fine in the Panasonic. I'm happy to report that Unfinalizing worked just fine, thought it took a while. Man, the Sony -RWs are SLOOOOWWW. I'd hate to see how long finalizing would take if it were recorded in VR mode.

    Now that I knew Unfinalize worked, I performed the same test using the Fuji -RW, and recorded another 1 min of a program. Writing to the Fuji is very fast. But again, without finalizing, it wouldn't play in the Panasonic. So I put it back in the 220s, went to the finalize screen and was pleased to see that it'd take only 4 min. After finalization, it too played just fine in the Panasonic. Unfinalizing was literally instantaneous. I didn't see anything happen! I kept hitting Enter on the Finalize screen and kept getting a message that I couldn't use "that feature" with the current disk settings. I thought I'd screwed up my only Fuji -RW. So I closed that screen, went to the Disk Navigator, Erase, and it erased what I'd recorded. Could it be? Yes, it had unfinalized the Fuji disk in the blink of an eye. And I must have been in blink mode when it did it.

    At least now I know more of what I can and can't do...and that Fuji disks are at the top of my DVD media list. Now my quest is to locate some Fuji -RWs!!

    DC
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  16. Man, the Sony -RWs are SLOOOOWWW. I'd hate to see how long finalizing would take if it were recorded in VR mode.
    The main reason it took so long to finalize was because only one minute of video was recorded, so it had to fill in a lot of empty space before it can be finalized. Your Fujifilm disc had been used before, so a lot of space was probably filled even if the recordings were erased later. If you re-initialize the Fujifilm disc and record only one minute of video again, it will also take a very long time to finalize. Actually it won't take a long time to finalize a disc if the disc is nearly full no matter what mode you are using, something to remember when finalizing a disc.

    Your local Best Buy probably just ran out of their stock of Fujifilm DVD-RW media when the 5-pack was sold for $10, and maybe they'll restock later. CompUSA may still have Fujifilm DVD-RW in stock. Maxell and TDK also have pretty good quality DVD-RW media.
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  17. Originally Posted by Synergy
    The main reason it took so long to finalize was because only one minute of video was recorded, so it had to fill in a lot of empty space before it can be finalized. Your Fujifilm disc had been used before, so a lot of space was probably filled even if the recordings were erased later. If you re-initialize the Fujifilm disc and record only one minute of video again, it will also take a very long time to finalize. Actually it won't take a long time to finalize a disc if the disc is nearly full no matter what mode you are using, something to remember when finalizing a disc.
    Again, thanks for the info. If that's the case, then it'd probably be wise to fill up a new disk with anything in FINE mode (to fill it up in the shortest time), erase it, and then start using the disk. That way if it does need to be finalized on occasion, it won't take 15 min. Yet another test....filling up the Sony to see if it cuts finalizing time, and reinitializing the Fuji to see if it takes longer to finalize. I'm certainly not doubting your input, I'm just the type who always wants to try it and see it for myself. Appreciate your help.

    DC
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  18. Originally Posted by drcannon
    Well, that little test was interesting. I've been using the Fuji -RW disk that came with the 220s because it's fast and the colors, sharpness, and contrast are excellent compared to others I've tried.DC
    You notice a difference in 'colors, sharpness, and contrast' between different disks???
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  19. Originally Posted by sync
    You notice a difference in 'colors, sharpness, and contrast' between different disks???
    I've been a graphic designer/photographer by profession for many years and I notice things like that. I can usually see even the slightest of variations in image quality comparisons. I realize a big variable is the TV itself, and I'm going by what I see on my particular TVs here in the hosue. Yes, I've seen slight variations between some brands. I didn't mean there's a significant difference, although it probably sounded like that. The differences are slight....shadow detail, birghtness, contrast, color saturation, etc. So far, Fuji and Sony have displayed the best overall image quality of the few brands I've tried IMO. But I haven't tried them all. It's too expensive. But again, it's all personal opinion.

    I'm certainly no pro when it comes to the DVD stuff, and for my needs I have no interest in being one, however, I've spoken to a couple pros who said they use only Fuji DVD media because of image quality and consistency, so there must be something to it.

    The odd thing is I live in one of the most high-tech cities in the country, Huntsville, AL, and not one store, including Best Buy (the only Fuji retailer) sells Fuji -RWs. But since I've found Sony -RWs to be very good, I'll stick with them since they're readily available. The Fuji disk I have is the one that came with the 220s.

    DC
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  20. Video Restorer lordsmurf's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by drcannon
    Originally Posted by sync
    You notice a difference in 'colors, sharpness, and contrast' between different disks???
    I've been a graphic designer/photographer by profession for many years and I notice things like that. I can usually see even the slightest of variations in image quality comparisons.
    No. Impossible. Imagination.

    I am too, I can notice things like this ... BUT .... this is impossible. These are not analog video tapes. Every disc will be the same, in terms of visual/audio quality, using the same settings. Different "brands" of discs mean nothing. Even more to the point, some of those "brands" probably have the same Media ID.
    Want my help? Ask here! (not via PM!)
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  21. To Synergy:
    I've found the key is not letting the 220s auto initalize a new disk. I took your advice and re-initalized the disks, and in doing so, I chose Video. In both cases, the disks read very slowly after recording and took forever to finalize. However, when I initalized them as VR, they both behaved much differently. Writing to disk after recording was very quick, as was finalizing. And they play with no problems in my portable Panasonic, whether they're finalized or not...even when recorded in MN mode. So manually initializing in VR mode seems to have solved the problem.

    DC
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