Using a British (UK) Panasonic DMR-E500H in North America (US)

[jwillis84]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone knows if the Panasonic E500H has any issues with its power supply when used in the US instead of the UK?

I think its 220 v, but its fairly common to use a simple power cord change for the EH59 and EH69 since their power supplies seem to work in the US on 110 v without an adapter.

It is I think an older model however and that trick might not work.. should I just go ahead and find a voltage and frequency adapter to be on the safe side?

I was also curious about its NTSC support, this particular model has two SCART connectors on the back.. so I wasn't sure if NTSC 4.43 was more common in the UK versus NTSC 3.58.. I am hoping to use it for NTSC 3.58 and that it will have some sort of Black Level control to help compensate for the IRE setup in the US. The Tuner is of no concern since I'll only use the line inputs and bypass SCART altogether.

Thanks

[jjeff]

Yes the EH-59 and EH-69s work on both 120v and 220v but thats because they were specifically an international model, thats also why they work with our NTSC system. My guess is the E500H(an '04 model) and probably not international. I guess if it says 120-220v 50/60hz on the back of it, you should be good to go, otherwise, you'd need at least a voltage transformer, I don't think the frequency should be an issue with the switched power supplies the DVDRs use, trying it with 60hz shouldn't hurt.
Yes the SCART won't really do you much good, well unless you purchase a simple SCART to S-video/composite adapter for ~$5 from Amazon and other places. The black level control WILL be an issue, it is with the EH-59/69 and most certainly be with the older E500H, to me this would be a deal breaker but others may be OK with the slightly raised black level recordings, me not, it's why all my EH-59s are currently just sitting
It's possible it may record in NTSC, I believe most?? British equipment is compatible with both systems, a Brit would be best to answer that for sure.

[lordsmurf]

The black level control WILL be an issue, it is with the EH-59/69 and most certainly be with the older E500H, to me this would be a deal breaker but others may be OK with the slightly raised black level recordings, me not, it's why all my EH-59s are currently just sitting

^ This. Big problem with the older E series.

[jwillis84]

jjeff, lordsmurf

Thanks for the advice!

I got the dmr-e500h for very low cost, which justified the experiment.

Thanks again

[jjeff]

The E500 is a '04 model.
In the US the only Panasonics that lacked the "black level settings" were the '00, '01 and '02 models, by '03 the "North American" Panasonics had the +7.5 IRE setting. Note I'm basically 100% positive a European Panasonic would never have the black level setting, even the most recent models, the EH-59 and EH-69 lacked that basic setting, no way the older ones would
Yes VideoHelp does probably have the highest concentration of NON N. American users, a place like AVS has basically all N. American posters.
I'm not sure myself but will a simple proc-amp correct the black level issue? I'm thinking it may darken the darks but wouldn't that also darken the whitest of whites? IOW a proc-amp would lower the brightness not only on the bottom end but also top? I don't know the answer but it would be a question I'd have before investing in a proc-amp(which I understand you already have but for other users like me who don't have one). To me, almost as bad as light darks is dark whites.

[DB83]

I have never owned a Panny so I only speak generally about NTSC support on UK equipment.

What do you intend to use this for ? Just playback ?

True that virtually all UK dvd recorders/players can play back a NTSC disk(Region free). But they do not output NTSC. Neither then will they output PAL. It what is generally called PAL-60 and that could well be an issue when connected to a US tv.

I realise that what I write is nothing new since its been written ad-nauseum on here but you may not be aware of this.

[jwillis84]

jjeff,

I see what you mean comparing the E500H to the EH-59/69 different eras.. I wasn't thinking of that.. my own short sightedness.

[jwillis84]

DB83,

I wanted to use it to possibly capture VHS NTSC-M signals and save them to MPEG2 files.

[DB83]

Do report back when it arrives and you have tried this for the intended purpose.

My fear is that you can not record as NTSC. Neither will it 'see' that NTSC signal to record in PAL.

[manono]

My vhs to file project is moving along.

And all this is about capturing VHS tapes as DVD video? PAL or NTSC tapes? And this DVD recorder is supposed to convert to what? NTSC or PAL DVD video? Or both? I don't get it. If you cared about the tapes, it seems to me your black levels issue should be the least of your worries. You should be much more concerned about how to capture in the best possible quality. And DVD video isn't it.

Or the black levels issue is relevant because you just want to create the DVDs and call it finished? No further editing?

For what it's worth, I can use my PAL VCR to cap both PAL and NTSC VHS tapes. I'm in the US and only had to change the plug.

[jwillis84]

DB83,

I found a UK owners guide and it had a familar blind command sequence for switching from PAL to NTSC.

I'll be happy to report back once I've actually tried it.

[jwillis84]

manono,

Sorry my inqueries offend you.

Thanks for your input, it is valued.

[jwillis84]

Do report back when it arrives and you have tried this for the intended purpose.

My fear is that you can not record as NTSC. Neither will it 'see' that NTSC signal to record in PAL.

The E500H,EB arrived

I had a Panasonic EH59/EH69 power cord for connecting a 120volt 60Hz outlet to the recorder... it (does not) power up the UK E500H,EB.

I'll have to get a Voltage 110/220volt "Step-Up" Converter adapter before I can report anything further.

[jwillis84]

Still haven't got back to the E550HEP, I still need a step-up transformer to power it up.

I got very side tracked.. an E500HPP dropped in my lap.. its the US version of the UK version.. and it did power up. Somewhat ancient user interface and performance, slow, and its easy to see it was designed in 2003 compared to the models made just a few years later.

The networking options are mystifying and a bit frustrating, it seems they were trying to make all sorts of experiemental options available and it just wasn't that stable overall.

I have to keep reminding myself this was the era of Windows 2000 and XP Service Pack 2.. things are very different today.

[jwillis84]

I finally did get a step-up transformer. The sketchy quality of a lot of the step-up transformers available made me nervous, this one did not.

"MW1P300FK - 300 Watt Voltage Converter Transformer."

It powered right up in PAL mode, but I have a field monitor that merely informed me the picture was in PAL format and displayed it anyway.

The system setup mode had a simply selection to run everything in NTSC mode. A previous recording in PAL mode then informed me it could not be played back while the system was in NTSC mode (so no built in "on the fly" format conversion) but otherwise it seems happy and stable.

I do note a step-up transformer cannot convert power from 60 Hz to 50 Hz, only an inverter with a DC supply can do that.. which I could do, but then I would need a double conversion UPS.. and it doesn't seem necessary.

Region lock prevented playing a Region 1 DVD, but it recognized it well enough... from what I understand Panasonic adopted AMLogic chips early on for controllers and that US company created AMLinux which has been used all the way through the present day. So Region unlocking.. well the saying goes.. "if that's stopping you, your not trying hard enough" - The BluRay recorders currently in the UK seem to get modded quite a bit.. so I guess its not much sport.