Pioneer DVR-520HS vs Panasonic DMR-E85H

[khaverblad]

I'm looking into getting a DVD recorder and it have runned down to either the Pio 520 or the Panny 85. As far as I understand is that both of the systems are equal in recording quality but the 520 seems to give one more features for the money. Or is there anything else that might be important to think about before making the pick?

[Lucien]

I can't comment on the Panasonic but I had the 520 for a weekend. I loved it but returned it since the fan noise was too much for me (have a small bedroom where I would put it). Relatively though the fan noise might be quite good for a HDD recorder.

I don't consider Panasonic since I can't play DVD-RAM on my computer.

[Epicurus8a]

I own a Pioneer 420H-s. The machine is a gem, you won't be disappointed! As Lucien states, there is a bit of fan noise, but it's not bad unless you're sitting right next to it. I LOVE IT!

[belder]

I've seen the 420H's on E-Bay. Are they the same machine as the 520's? Why, then, the different numbers? Glad you're lovin' it, btw!

[johnny quest]

The 520 has a dv input.

[khaverblad]

The primary feature that I would like to have is that the unit that buy gives me the best possible image quality for the money that invest. So I'm really happy to hear that both Panasonic and Pioneer users are happy with what they bought; what else should they be?

So open question then; are there any kind of image gallery with screen capture from different system that one could check out?

[khaverblad]

Posted this question within a new thread here.

The primary feature that I would like to have is that the unit that buy gives me the best possible image quality for the money that invest. So I'm really happy to hear that both Panasonic and Pioneer users are happy with what they bought; what else should they be?

So open question then; are there any kind of image gallery with screen capture from different system that one could check out?

[Frobozz]

If you can bear to hear from yet another Pioneer owner I think it would be very difficult to discern much difference between its picture quality and other top-quality DVD recorders. I watch mine on a 32" digital Sony XBR TV and the picture looks great. I'm now using the setting that fits 2 hours and 20 minutes as my default because it looks really good to me.

I don't know if the Panasonic has this, but the Pioneer allows you to make fine adjustments to various picture settings prior to recording as well as during playback. If you've downloaded the DVR-520 manual you can read about these settings in "The Video/Audio Adjust menu" chapter. They helped enhance the color and sharpness of a poorly transferred film I had on laserdisc.

[ckwok1]

I'm looking into getting a DVD recorder and it have runned down to either the Pio 520 or the Panny 85. As far as I understand is that both of the systems are equal in recording quality ...

Pioneer can record in 5 different frame sizes using VR mode. I think Panasonic only uses 3 different sizes in recording. For example, Pioneer in 3-hours mode, the frame size used is 480 x 480 (NTSC) or 480 x 576 (PAL). In most other DVD recorder, the frame size used is 352 x 480/576. Therefore, Pioneer can give you a better video quality in this mode.

If you are going to use 1-hour or 2 hour mode only, then all DVD recorder uses 720 x 480/576.

[khaverblad]

Well, guess I got to download the manual to both recorders... regarding the recording in highest resolution. What is the maximum recording lenght then, 8 hours? Or are we still talking about the 2 hours in maximum recording lenght?

In couple of threads I noticed that when people talks about the recording quality betwen the Pioneer 520 and Panasonic 85 it usually said that within highest quality mode there is very little different or almost none. But going down one step on both recorders the Pioneer tend to give more edgy recording and the difference is much larger.

[Frobozz]

I don't know what an "edgy recording" looks like and I have no way to compare the picture of these two recorders at different encoding rates. The Pioneer has 32 recording rates that will fit anywhere from 1 hour to 6 hours of video on a DVD. The break-point where the Pioneer steps down from 720X480 NTSC recording (I don't know the PAL rates) to a lesser rate is after the setting that fits 2 hours and 20 minutes to a DVD. That is why I keep my recordings at the 2 hour 20 minute setting and above. However, I have recorded at 3-hour mode and thought the picture still looked very good. Because the hard drive has lots of space, I haven't felt a need to try the lower-quality settings. If a program isn't worth recording at a reasonably high quality then it isn't worth saving to a DVD anyway. So the fact that I can put 6 hours of video on one DVD disc is pretty meaningless to me.

[Synergy]

are there any kind of image gallery with screen capture from different system that one could check out?

Check out the following reviews from a Japanese website, just scroll down the page until you see the .mpg files in different recording modes:

Panasonic DMR-E85H PQ

Pioneer DVR-620H PQ

Since the video source is the same across all their reviews, they should give you some ideas about these two models regarding PQ. Note that the Japanese DVR-620H is equivalent to the US DVR-520H with a DV input/output.

[khaverblad]

Well, what about that thanks for the urls! I've re-posted them using Altavista Babelfish; makes the articles readable:

Panasonic DMR-E85H PQ

Pioneer DVR-620H PQ

Gonna do some downloading to check the differens... I'll be back!

[khaverblad]

Well, I finally manage to get to view some recorded images from both Panasonic 85 and Pioneer 520 and at highest recording level I have hard to say who would be the "winner". At the next level I kind liked the Pioneer a bit more on some parts I would say the Pioneer looked better. But going down a step more, well then the Pioneer recording was really bad compared with the Panasonic.

[rhegedus]

My Pioneer DVDR510HS screencaps:

Pioneer 5100s

Love it to bits!