DMP-HS2 - Is video on DVD gone forever?

[l333]

I am thinking of buying the Panasonic unit to dispose of my VHS tapes. My question is I believe fairly simple.

What is the resulting format of a DVD-burn from the HS2 - can it be edited in the future on a computer DVD burner or is the "format" the HS2 proprietary and can only be edited on the HS2 or similar standalone unit.

Can the format the HS2 records in be then later edited on your computer with say the new Sony 500 DVD burner?

Is it safe to throw away my VHS tapes after recording on the HS2??

Thanks

[dvdburner]

Dvd will be saved in DVD format you can use variouse extraction tools to get mpegs. Files will transfer to the vob file format. I have the hs2 and am fairly happy. My only complaint is the dvd-r format is not as freindly to all dvd players.

[l333]

DVDBurner

Sorry - you are talking over my head - is the resuting format that you mentioned easily converted - editable - will my conversion result in serious quality loss??

One other question about the HS2 - do you happen to know how many hours the hard drive will hold recording in the highest quality mode?

Thanks

[Greg12]

I wouldn't throw out the old tapes, keep them somewhere out of sight.

[dvdburner]

The hs2 hold about 18 hours in sp mode. This mode is equivalent to svhs.
plus the ram disc can be constantly re written. If you are good about ofloading to dvd-r media, you should never have a space issue.

btw my dvd-ram to dvd-r experiment did not work. my dvd-ram player in my computer could read the files created by the hs2 but not play the video.
Any idea on how to do this anyone?

Thanks

[zamzickles]

To directly answer I333's question, a DVDs MPEG files are stored in "container" called a VOB. That VOB can contain multiple video and audio tracks and formats plus separate streams of text subtitles. VOBs for the most part are not 'directly' editable. First you have to strip the video and audio streams out into separate files or use a DVD to AVI convereter to strip the movie out as a multiplexed (sound and video) combined file.

Once you have stripped out the movie there are all kinds of editing packages avilable to re-edit your movies and various packages available to reconstruct and burn a new DVD.

There is nothing proprietary about the VOBs that Panasonic makes.

[l333]

thank you zamzickles for your comprehensive answer.

Unfortunately it sounds as if Greg 12 may be right {don't throw away my tapes}.

Although the HS2 seems great, for the purpose of future editing and copying it sounds as if it might be best to burn to the Sony 500 dvd burner to begin with as I would like the ability to in the future rearrange my video and even put some on Cdr

I am using the HS2 to record home movies from vhs and music videos I have collected. The method you describe to extract the material the HS2 records {to AVI to get audio and video at same time} would then have to be converted back to mpeg2 I believe so i could play it thru my Apex and daewoo DVD player.

Correct me if I am wrong but if i record first to the Sony 500 the format would be editable without further conversions back and forth hence easily copied, rearranged or edited.

Hope these are not stupid questions but as you can tell I am new to this. The HS2 is a major expense and it sounds as if the Sony 500 may be more versatile. The HS2 makes great copies but my video isn't that good to begin with as it is just VHS. I'm not sure I need this HS2 for converting my video tape - I know it is great to record television but I have DicTivo for that.

If I am being unclear let me add that editability is important as some family members don't have DVD but do have a cdrom in their computer so I would like to share the home movie stuff on cdr.

Thanks

[zamzickles]

You may be missing the point of DVD video just a bit. No matter what method or writer you use to create a "DVD" playable on most settop players, the burning software will "package" you mpg files into VOBs. Sorry, but that's the format for DVD Rom movies.

Yes you could store your mpg files on a DVD as data files and edit them later but 'Most' settop players will not recognize your files as a 'playable' movie. As far as making a DVD movie, the Sony is no better at storing VOBs than the Panasonic is(the Panasonic just makes it easy to do it without firing up the computer and/or integrating it into your home theater rack, with capture cards, etc.. I have both, the Panasonic just makes it easier and I think it does a 150% better job than I ever got with any PC capture cards). You just need to read more and get a better understanding of what DVD movies are, and how they are stored on a DVD. They are stored in VOBs which are simply a 'container' for and a recognized format for you mpg files. Authoring software is simply a method for packageing your mpgs in a standardized format.

Ifoedit, and various 'ripping' packages have utilities to 'unpackage' (demultiplex, separate, etc) your files back into an editable format.

If anybody asks, I will write a short explanation of video/compression(mgv/avi)/transport streams(VOBs) and the reasons why they exist. Just for newbees, in simple terms and not overly technical.

[BJ_M]

.....................files back into an editable format.

If anybody asks, I will write a short explanation of video/compression(mgv/avi)/transport streams(VOBs) and the reasons why they exist. Just for newbees, in simple terms and not overly technical.

VOBS are program streams ...

Transport streams are Mpeg Streams where each PES packet is broken into fixed-sized transport packets forming a general purpose way of combining one or more streams, possibly with independent time bases. This is suited for transmission in which there may be potential packet loss or corruption by noise, or / and where there is a need to send more than one programme at a time. i.e. sat. transmission ...

[TuxOmatic]

I333 -

I'd like to add a couple of comments to what has already been pointed out. I've used the HS2 for a couple of weeks and now feel that comparing the HS2 to a computer burner is like apples to oranges. The HS2 is a fast, simple way to get video onto DVD-R, but it's not fancy at all. The finished DVD will play on most any DVD player that can play DVD-R's, the same as if you burned it on your computer. The big difference is polish and time. If you edit your video on the computer, depending on the software you use, you can make it very professional looking. Titles, cool transitions, very nice menus, etc. It takes lots of time to polish up your videos, but the results are worth it . . . if it's a really important project. Using the Sony drive will give you more flexible options on which format of DVD to burn your creation onto. The downside of the computer scenerio is all the hardware, hard drive space, and programs you need to assemble and get them to work in harmony.

On the other side of the spectrum is the HS2. This is a "wham bam thank you m'am" kind of job. It's not polished but it's fast. Just plug your VCR into it and, as long as the video is not copy protcted, it copies into the HS2 great. You mark which parts of the the video you want on the DVD-R and burn away. You also get a very basic menu that will load up. But that's it. Nothing fancy.

You also mentioned a concern about being able to use the video on the HS2 again, later down the road. You can save your video onto DVD-RAM and then later copy it back onto the HS2. This is a very reliable format and the transfers are much faster.

Tux