|  |  | PANASONIC DMRES20D DVD RECORDER FREEVIEW TUNER
DEMO MODEL RRP £254.00
BARGAIN BASEMENT
Review
Plays all formats. You get the most flexibility if you use DVD-RAM discs, which work faster and let you use more of the
recorder's features.
In addition to all recordable DVD formats, the recorder can play store-bought movies on DVD-Video as well as Video CD,
Audio CD, Audio CD-R, Audio CD-RW, MP3 CD-R and MP3 CD-RW as well as CDs with JPEG pictures.
The ES20 has progressive (if you have and HDTV or EDTV television) and "standard" (interlaced) playback
(progressive scan available through its component video out). Just as most VCRs, this recorder has a built-in TV tuner,
VCR Plus+, timer recording and manual recording. It has more speeds/modes than the VCR however, and much better picture
quality in top quality modes. The available modes are: XP, SP, LP, EP-6H, EP-8H and flexible recording mode.
The digital FireWire (DV Video) input is available on the front panel. As a DVD/CD player, the ES20 does what other DVD payers do
and has things like parental control, angle select, soundtrack select, subtitle select, still, slow and fast motion, resume,
virtual surround sound, zoom, etc. It also has dialogue enhancer and dynamic range compression for night viewing, black level control,
slide show for JPEG images, zoom and rotation of images.
The supplied remote control that can also control different brands of TVs.
Connectivity
The recorder has one set of A/V outs (optical digital audio out, composite video out, component video out, S-Video out and an
analogue stereo out). The component video out can be switched between interlaced and progressive scan mode. There is also
an RF input and an RF out for antenna or analogue cable.
There are two sets of A/V inputs, one of which is on the front panel (composite video, analogue stereo audio and S-Video).
The front inputs are located in the lower centre of the front panel and are covered by a lid that also covers the channel up/down buttons.
The DV input (Fire Wire) is also located under this lid.
The recorder uses a power cord is of the kind that can be disconnected and replaced if necessary,
The recorder has an optical digital audio out.
Recording Modes
The ES20 has several recording modes/speeds. The XP mode lets you fit about 1 hour on one single-sided disc at standard
DVD resolution of about 540x480. The SP fits 2 hours with very similar image quality (more on this later). The LP fits 4 hours
and, unlike most other DVD recorders, it preserves the horizontal resolution of over 500 lines (about 540x480). The trade off is
encoding artefacts, especially in scenes with a lot of motion.
The recorder’s EP modes fit 6 and 8 hours respectively and feature reduced resolution of 260x240 (as they do in other DVD recorders).
The sound quality is about the same in all modes. The audio is recorded in 2-channel (stereo) Dolby Digital AC-3.
The flexible recording more adjusts the recording parameters (bit rate) so that the program fits on the disc at the best possible quality.
Impressions
The remote control looks stylish and nice. Both the remote and the recorder look well assembled.
The remote control’s battery compartment
door is hinged making it less prone to being lost or broken and the buttons have excellent tactile feel,
The recorder has a disc tray in the left part of the front panel, which accepts caddy-encased or caddy-less (regular) DVDs.
In Operation
.
An example of the added functionality, previously unavailable in a VCR: you can start recording a program onto a DVD-RAM
disc by pressing the [Rec] button and then later start watching the same program from the beginning while still recording the
rest of it by pressing [Play]. In order to stop the playback of the program you press [Stop] and if you want to stop recording this
program, you can press [Stop] again, 2 or more seconds after you pressed the [Stop] button the first time to stop the playback.
The manual recording is easy. You select the recording mode (XP, SP, LP or EP) and hit [Rec]. You can pause and restart recording
at any time by hitting [Pause]. You stop the recording by hitting [Stop]. With DVD-RAM, there is no waiting after the recording is stopped.
With other discs, you might have to wait while the recorder finishes the recording of the current segment, which lasts several seconds .
The ES20 is very responsive reacting to commands (record, pause, stop, etc.). When you record several programs on one disc,
it creates titles for each one (T1, T2, etc.) automatically, so there is no need to look for empty space. You can specify different
recording modes/speeds for different titles by pressing the [Rec Mode] button. If you change the recording mode while in Rec/Pause state,
a new title will be created automatically.
The [Rec Mode] button cycles through XP, SP, LP and EP mode. EP mode can be selected between 6-hour and 8-hour mode in the setup menu
([Function] button). At any time you can see the remaining free space in hours and minutes for the currently selected recording mode by
pressing the [Status] button twice..
At any time (while not recording) you can hit [Direct Navigator] button to get to the screen which lists thumbnails (video) and descriptions
of the titles recorded. From there, you can select a title and play it or select it and edit title or other information by hitting the [Submenu] button.
Non-erasable formats can have commercials removed if you watch the program while recording and use the [Pause] button to stop and
restart the recording. The re-recordable formats let you erase commercials after the recording.
Non-DVD-RAM discs have to be finalized before you can play them in a standard DVD player. The process is accessed through the [Function]
button an going to the Disc Management menu. You can specify if playback will start from the first title or from the menu/list of titles.
Picture Quality
The picture quality in the XP mode is outstanding and is virtually indistinguishable from the original. The edges of objects are sharp,
there is no video noise and there are no problems with fast moving objects. Since only 1 hour fits on the disc in the XP mode.
The more economical LP and EP modes are decent. The EP modes are mostly suitable for either video programs with mostly static
content or programs where sound matters more than the video (concerts, etc.) The LP mode has the same resolution as the SP/XP,
but its lower bit rate makes for encoding artefacts, especially in scenes with a lot of motion.
The DMR-ES20 is a very impressive DVD recorder. Its low price, excellent performance, features, format versatility and connectivity
make it a great choice. It even has a digital camcorder input (DV). The Panasonic DMRES20D DVD Recorder lets you record your
favorite video content in the DVD discs (DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD-R and DVD+R). Now you can be saved from accidental erase with
the One-Touch Recording and Accidental Erase Protection. The Preset Recording Quality Setting provides four preset recording
quality setting such as XP, SP, LP and EP. Depending on your choice, this feature allows you to extend recording time for DVD discs.
The DMR-ES20K allows you to record at the same time when you playback and watch another video program.
Cosmetically Slight scuff mark to lid from display stack
PANASONIC DMRES20D DVD RECORDER
|
| Digital audio
output sockets: |
Optical (toslink) |
| Analogue audio output sockets: |
Stereo via 2 x RCA/phono |
| Video in/output sockets: |
Front: S-Video, composite video & stereo audio
input
Rear:
Scart 1: RGB, S-Video, composite and stereo out; composite and
stereo in
Scart 2: RGB, S-Video, composite and stereo in; composite and
stereo out
S-Video, composite video and stereo audio in and out
Component
video out with PAL/NTSC progressive scan |
| Playback format
compatibility: |
DVD/-R/-RW/+R/+RW, CD/-R/-RW, MP3, Video CD, Super VCD, JPEG, 2
channel DVD Audio |
| Record format
compatibility: |
DVD-R/RW, DVR+R, DVD-RAM |
| Edit functions: |
Simultaneous record and playback, chase play (watch from the start of
a programme whilst the end is still being recorded), recording split in to
chapters, disc/title label, all erase, partial erase, chapter erase, chapter
combine, editable thumbnail navigation |
| Playback functions: |
zoom video and JPEG, rotate JPEG, JPEG slideshow |
| Record functions: |
One touch recording, direct TV recording (using Panasonic Q-Link
compatible TV), playback/record simultaneously |
| Timer: |
Yes; EPG setup via Freeview . Via analogue: with PDC Programme
Delivery Control adjusts timer settings if a programme's scheduling changes,
manual timer setup option, VideoPlus timer mode setup |
| Tuner: |
Freeview Digital Terrestrial Tuner built in, with EPG Electronic
Programme Guide; analogue tuner |
| Record time: |
4.7 GB DVD - multiply by 2 for 9.4 GB double sided disc -
approximate
| Format |
XP |
SP |
LP |
EP |
EP2 |
| Time
(mins) |
60 |
120 |
240 |
480 |
640 | |
| Digital audio
format outputs: |
Dolby Digital, DTS, Linear PCM, MPEG |
| Built in audio
decoder: |
No |
| Video
standards: |
PAL/NTSC playback |
| Supplied accessories: |
Remote control with multi-brand TV operation, |
| W x H x D (mm): |
430 x 350.5 x 63 |
| Weight (kg): |
3.5 |
| Finish: |
Silver |
| Extra: |
Auto-setup (tuning), Q-Link auto tuning and setup with compatible
Panasonic TV, dynamic range compression option on Dolby Digital soundtracks,
Freeview subtitle display
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