What is the proper input level for the Panasonic DMR-E55

[FulciLives]

Hello

A friend of mine just bought a Panasonic DMR-E55 and I am going to his house this weekend to hook it up for him since he is clueless about this stuff.

I've worked before with a Panasonic DMR-E20 but that model had the black level bug.

I know the new models by Panasonic (including the DMR-E55) have 2 settings for the input level: LIGHTER or DARKER

I also know that one setting is for 7.5 IRE BLACK LEVEL sources (All NTSC other than Japanese NTSC) and that the other setting is for 0.0 IRE BLACK LEVEL sources (Japanese NTSC and all forms of PAL).

What I do not know is this ... which setting is which?

All that the Panasonic DMR-E55 manual says (from what I could find in searching through the PDF file) is LIGHTER or DARKER but they don't tell you which is which.

So is DARKER for 0.0 IRE and LIGHTER is for 7.5 IRE or is it the other way around?

It was only proper of Panasonic to fix this problem but it should have been documented much better in the manual.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[oldfart13]

This was covered very well at avsforum when the old E80/E100s came out last year. Check posts by Londo in the DVD recorder forums...

[samijubal]

All this black level talk, I've made hundreds of recordings on an E-20 and played back on 2 different players, the blacks are pure black on my Panasonic Superflat, period.

[FulciLives]

All this black level talk, I've made hundreds of recordings on an E-20 and played back on 2 different players, the blacks are pure black on my Panasonic Superflat, period.

I have an old Panasonic DMR-E20 that a friend "passed off" to me (it was free).

After playing with it a bit I noticed the black level bug when playing DVD-R discs made on it in another DVD player. I don't use it now. It's a paperweight.

You can make such improperly made DVD-R discs look "normal" if your DVD player has a "black enhancement" feature. If not then you are screwed. On top of that the level of the recorded DVD is off any way you slice it and since it records too bright you get more compression artifacts.

Know what you are talking about before you post on technical issues you are clueless on.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[zorankarapancev]

FulciLives,

Go to SETUP - VIDEO - Black Level Control:

- Input level - make it "Darker".
- Composite & SVideo Output Level - make it "Lighter".
- Component Video Output Level - make it "Normal".

[KTH]

I second Zorankarapancev's answer. In fact I believe my DMR-E55 came with those settings as the default settings. DVD's recorded with the Input black level set to darker don't seem to have the black level bug that my DMR-E30 had when these recorded disc's are played back on other DVD player's.

[Captain Satellite]

FulciLives,

Go to SETUP - VIDEO - Black Level Control:

- Input level - make it "Darker".
- Composite & SVideo Output Level - make it "Lighter".
- Component Video Output Level - make it "Normal".

This is correct and I've had my unit set up like this since day one. Recordings made on my DMR-HS2 played back on the DMR-E80H need to have the output set to 'Darker'.

[samijubal]

All this black level talk, I've made hundreds of recordings on an E-20 and played back on 2 different players, the blacks are pure black on my Panasonic Superflat, period.

I have an old Panasonic DMR-E20 that a friend "passed off" to me (it was free).

After playing with it a bit I noticed the black level bug when playing DVD-R discs made on it in another DVD player. I don't use it now. It's a paperweight.

You can make such improperly made DVD-R discs look "normal" if your DVD player has a "black enhancement" feature. If not then you are screwed. On top of that the level of the recorded DVD is off any way you slice it and since it records too bright you get more compression artifacts.

Know what you are talking about before you post on technical issues you are clueless on.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

I don't know what you're recording from or playing on. There is so little difference between watching my 4DTV and the recordings that if it's hard to tell which is which. Maybe you need a better source.