Pioneer DVR-640 HS - can it record in PAL?

[Spiny Norman]

Pioneer DVR-640 HS - can it record in PAL?
This is not actually my own machine. I've got a friend in the US who wants to copy a PAL tape for me. But can this recorder like they sold it in the US record in PAL mode?

[Case]

There are some reports, found on Google, that suggest that the unit can do either NTSC or PAL (both tuner and recorder), but not convert between the two. This is third party reseller information, not found in Pioneer documentation! Pioneer manuals for this model don't even mention 'PAL'.
But how exactly would you have this friend use a tape in combination with a DVD-HDD recorder?

[Spiny Norman]

Well, I assume that he has a PAL VHS recorder. I hope so, because he has dozens of PAL tapes...
To be honest, on second thought I am not sure if he ever actually tried it before. Silly, I know, but that wasn't clear to me when I posted the original question.

[jman98]

I'm not disputing Case's post, but I do want to point out that some companies sell crippled hardware in North America because "Nobody will EVER need to deal with PAL". Or so they think. So even if Case is right it could be that the DVR-640 HS sold in North America can't record in PAL at all under any conditions.

However, if Spiny Norman lives in PAL land, there's an excellent chance that he can play NTSC DVDs without problems, so strictly speaking an NTSC DVD of the PAL tape, if his Pioneer recorder can do that, might be sufficient.

[orsetto]

The North American Pioneer 640 *cannot* do anything at all with PAL input, and cannot format DVDs into PAL for playback in Europe. It is strictly an NTSC machine, I don't even think the 640 model number was used outside USA/Canada. If you sent your friend a PAL dvd you made yourself in a European DVD recorder (i.e. a "Region 0" PAL dvd), his 640 would play it but only output a PAL signal, he'd still need a multi-system TV or converter to view the DVD.

There have always been "generic" global-market Pioneer and Panasonic models sold to cover various smaller countries that fall thru the cracks of multiple video systems. These are often marketed on eBay or at legit web vendors as "multi-region" models, but confusingly they have the same model numbers as the NTSC-only US-Canada versions. This information is academic in this case, since your friend probably has the NTSC-only 640, but as future reference the "multi-region" Pioneers CAN record and play in both PAL and NTSC. Though as Case mentioned above, they do not convert between formats: PAL input results in a PAL DVD, NTSC input results in a NTSC DVD. They can play back Region 0 dvds in either format to any European TV but this function does not work in North America.

Your friend might still be able to make you a DVD from the PAL tape. If his VCR is multi-system-converting, it can convert the PAL tape signal to NTSC output that the Pioneer 640 can record. This will result in an NTSC dvd copy of the PAL tape, but my understanding is that most European TVs and DVD players are multisystem-compatible so you should be able to play this dvd copy with little trouble. However, if your friends VCR is PAL-only it won't cooperate with his 640 unless he also has a converter box connected between them. If not, the easiest solution is for him to pay a local service to make the DVD copy in PAL.

There is a small possibility your friend might have a rare 640 variation that was hacked to be multisystem. If that is true, and his VCR can play the PAL tape in PAL, then he should be able to make the PAL dvd for you. But I'm pretty sure the 2006 model 640 was not available in a multi-system version, the multi-system models that year all began with 5 or 3 (i.e. ""340", 540", "543" etc). In 2007 came the multi-system 550/650 and 2008 brought the final 560/660 and LX series before Pioneer went out of business in 2009.

[Spiny Norman]

Thanks; pity the answer seems to be no.
Although I'm not sure there wasn't a PAL capable model, even if it wasn't marketed in the USA. One of the first search results on the internet for this model is a website that claims it is multi-system.

And yes, I could play an NTSC dvd, but I prefer to avoid any unnecessary conversions.

[orsetto]

Pioneer sometimes uses vague terms to describe features. When I Googled "Pioneer 640 H-S" just now, it brought up many hits (including Pioneers own archive page) which refer to the 640 as a "Multi Format DVD Recorder With HDD". That stumped me at first until it dawned on me Pioneer used the phrase "Multi Format" to trumpet its then-new DVD-RAM feature (the 2006 models were the first Pios with DVD-RAM and +/- DL compatibility). The front panel even has the word "Multi Format" silkscreened on some units. So you have to read the fine print carefully to see if the phrase "Multi Format" refers to the media the recorder can use or its video system.