bmwracer wrote:

The 16X DL burner, ne?

Yup, whatever the newest model is on the shelf. I think there's a $30 MIR for it. But at least I would be able to use the Panasonic to its potential. I need to see what the format of the files are on the -RAM disc, and would need the Pioneer to read it on the PC.

dochira wrote:

Yup, whatever the newest model is on the shelf. I think there's a $30 MIR for it.

Gack. Don't get me started on rebates. What a sham.

Quote:

But at least I would be able to use the Panasonic to its potential. I need to see what the format of the files are on the -RAM disc, and would need the Pioneer to read it on the PC.

I was wondering that myself. Time to check out videohelp.com and see how painful (-less?) it is to convert to MPEG2 or DiVX...

bmwracer wrote:

I was wondering that myself. Time to check out videohelp.com and see how painful (-less?) it is to convert to MPEG2 or DiVX...

It appears that DVD-RAM is just another format in the DVD spec, like DVD-R, DVD-RW, etc. Therefore, it's safe to assume that you will see the TS_VIDEO, etc folders on a PC.

dochira wrote:

It appears that DVD-RAM is just another format in the DVD spec, like DVD-R, DVD-RW, etc. Therefore, it's safe to assume that you will see the TS_VIDEO, etc folders on a PC.

Is the video MPEG2 or a variant?

Dang. This is all getting a bit confusing for someone who still thinks there should be a crank on the side of the recorder to get it to start.

But I've just done something terrible to my main DVD player...so it looks like I"ll be going shopping during lunch tomorrow.

Panasonic seems to be getting the most votes, eh?

Damn. I haven't done near enough dithering yet.
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Geezer wrote:

Dang. This is all getting a bit confusing for someone who still thinks there should be a crank on the side of the recorder to get it to start. But I've just done something terrible to my main DVD player...so it looks like I"ll be going shopping during lunch tomorrow. Panasonic seems to be getting the most votes, eh? Damn. I haven't done near enough dithering yet.

Geez', I have visions of you trying to start the DVD player like it was an old Indian motorcyle.

Heck, you can get a good Sony DVD player at Costco for less than $80, but it's not all-region and can't play DivX.
-PCM

So, the question remains...

Did you buy what you were looking for, bmw?
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ahochaude wrote:

So, the question remains... Did you buy what you were looking for, bmw?

Nope, not yet.

The Panasonic seems to be the clear choice now... And there's that offers of five free DVD-RAM discs if I buy the player before 6/25...

Just got visit the various stores this weekend, if I have the time.

PC

Quote:

Geez', I have visions of you trying to start the DVD player like it was an old Indian motorcyle.

I think you've pretty much pegged my speed. I like things that wind up and things that crank. Things hooked up to computers, and things with chips inside tend to make me dispeptic.

I got a reprieve on my player though last night. Turns out I must have damaged the S video connection so the player could only operate in Black and White. (Sort of comforting, really.) But a new cable fixed everything.

However the damage has been done. I want a DVD recorder now... so I'll hit Circuit City this afternoon.

Fortunately for me, Circuit City is across the street from my Home Depot, so if I get too frustrated staring at the electonic gee-gaws, I can just walk across the street and buy a new hammer.
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Manga is to Literature
what Graffiti is to Art

bmwracer wrote:

Is the video MPEG2 or a variant?

Being DVD, I would assume it's MPEG2... The DVD-RAM is just another disc format in the alphabet soup of formats.

Oh, I saw the Pioneer A09 for $69.99 after MIR at Fry's, so I'll probably get one today.

dochira,

When using your Panasonic DVD recorder, how do you edit your video? Do you do it in the computer? Of can you do it on the Panasonic itself?
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Geezer wrote:

dochira, When using your Panasonic DVD recorder, how do you edit your video? Do you do it in the computer? Of can you do it on the Panasonic itself?

Honestly, the ES10 model I have is very limited in your editting options. I haven't tried using the DVD-RAM disc yet. Apparently you have more freedom when using such discs. As such, my only option is to burn a DVD-R disc and then edit on a computer. I agree it's somewhat time consuming. If you seriously want to edit the video before burning them, you might want to consider getting one with a built-in hard disk. I don't have the model numbers on hand, but I believe it captures the video onto the HD, and will give you the ability to edit it to your heart's content before burning it to disc. But it naturally comes with a bigger price tag.

dochira wrote:

Honestly, the ES10 model I have is very limited in your editting options. I haven't tried using the DVD-RAM disc yet. Apparently you have more freedom when using such discs. As such, my only option is to burn a DVD-R disc and then edit on a computer. I agree it's somewhat time consuming. If you seriously want to edit the video before burning them, you might want to consider getting one with a built-in hard disk. I don't have the model numbers on hand, but I believe it captures the video onto the HD, and will give you the ability to edit it to your heart's content before burning it to disc. But it naturally comes with a bigger price tag.

If you have (or buy) a DVD drive than can read DVD-RAM, then it's a moot point.

dochira,

Yeah, a much bigger price tag.

Arrrrgh!
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bmwracer wrote:

Is the video MPEG2 or a variant?

It's MPEG2 but wrapped in a different container (not .VOB). If you open up the file in Windows Explorer, you'll see something with an extension of .VRO

To make use of the DVD-RAM, some people copy this file to their HD. What I do is open it up in TMPEG DVD AUTHOR, and you can select which programs you want and copy it to your HD. (it'll turn into a .mpg extension once copying is finished).

amrayu wrote:

It's MPEG2 but wrapped in a different container (not .VOB). If you open up the file in Windows Explorer, you'll see something with an extension of .VRO To make use of the DVD-RAM, some people copy this file to their HD. What I do is open it up in TMPEG DVD AUTHOR, and you can select which programs you want and copy it to your HD. (it'll turn into a .mpg extension once copying is finished).

Funny, that's essentially what groink (aka dummyuser2 ) told me. He also mentioned something that I didn't know:

groink wrote:

DVD-RAM on a Panasonic is almost A TOTAL MUST!!!! The reason is that when you write to DVD-R or DVD-RW discs, you CANNOT write to them in high-quality mode. Even if you record to the hard drive in high-quality mode, you can at best record to DVD-R/RW in standard mode. What happens here is that the video is re-compressed from HQ to SP when writing to DVD-R/RW. This actually makes the video WORSE. Even if you recorded to the hard drive in SP mode, dubbing from HD/SP to DVDR/SP will still suffer the re-rip process. Now here's where DVD-RAM comes to the rescue. The benefit of using DVD-RAM is that you can retain the HQ quality when writing to DVD-RAM without degrading the quality through the re-rip process. If you record in HQ mode, you can only write up to 60 minutes to a DVD-RAM disc in HQ mode. That's really the only limitation, but there's ways around it, such as chopping the video up into 60-minute pieces prior to burning to DVD-RAM. I can later copy the files to PC and put them back together. However, all dramas are under 60 minutes anyway, so the 60-minute limit should not actually pose a problem most of the time. ... The only limitation to a MPEG-2/AC3 file is editing. Most video editors do not like MPEG-2 and AC3 mux'd together. That's why most of us prefer to either do all the editing on the Panasonic before burning to DVD-RAM, or we convert AC3 to MP2 and re-mux to make editing more compatible.

Then the question is: I know I am able to record in HQ (?) on a DVD-R disc. It only allows one-hour of video to be recorded. Does this method still suffer from the loss of quality that a DVD-RAM disc prevents?

dochira wrote:

Then the question is: I know I am able to record in HQ (?) on a DVD-R disc. It only allows one-hour of video to be recorded. Does this method still suffer from the loss of quality that a DVD-RAM disc prevents?

Two things:

Where did he get this info from?

Is his definition of HQ the same as yours?


"This looks like a job for Google-man...!"

bmwracer wrote:

Two things: Where did he get this info from? Is his definition of HQ the same as yours? "This looks like a job for Google-man...!"

I suppose you could record on DVD-RAM and then on DVD-R and compare the results... Subjective, but a comparison nonetheless.

bmwracer wrote:

Two things: Where did he get this info from?

Not sure.

bmwracer wrote:

Is his definition of HQ the same as yours?

Probably not. Whereas I would accept some pixellation from the encoding, he would dismiss it as poor quality. But I have to admit, he must produce some fine work.

dochira wrote:

Probably not. Whereas I would accept some pixellation from the encoding, he would dismiss it as poor quality. But I have to admit, he must produce some fine work.

He's got the gear.

But it's only as good as the original source...