Looking for a blu ray recorder or dvd recorder to record HD camcorder video

richardstringer · 16-05-2009, 1:03 PM

Hi ya guys, how you all been? Anyway, i'm getting a Sony HDR-XR520 HD camcorder in a couple of weeks and am thinking about how I can transfer the awesome video footage onto dvd or blu ray to be played back on my Panasonic DMP-BD55 blu ray player. I know there are various blu ray dvd writers out there, and obviously hardware standard dvd recorders, but whasts the best way to get that pristine high definition video I record on my camcorder to dvd?

I mean standard dvd is only 720 x 576 I think if i'm right, and so i'll lose quite a bit of picture quality if I transfer from my HD camcorder to a standard dvd recorder wont I? Obviously I need the disc to be compatibel with my Panasonic blu ray player, so recording to a HD dvd recorder is out of the question since most blu ray playerts wont accept HD DVD discs.

How do you guys get your pristine high def footage onto dvd or blu ray dvd?

Smith2004 · 16-05-2009, 4:28 PM

Right at this moment, the only way to do this is via a PC or Mac. You don't necessarily need a Blu-ray burner, a DVD one will suffice as you can create a compatible DVD disc (I think they it's called 'mini Blu-ray' or something like that), although this will obviously not hold as much as a Blu-ray disc itself. You'll need a burning program such as Nero or Toast, however. If you can hold on for about a month or so (and have about £700-900 to spare) the first Panasonic Blu-ray / HDD recorders should be out, enabling you to burn footage without having to resort to the PC.

**Gavtech** · 16-05-2009, 4:48 PM

These units due in just a few weeks are the:

DMR-BS750 - £799
DMR-BS850 - £999

...But, it will be important to check that there is a methodology of transferring from your particular type of camcorder.

It may be restricted to Panasonic only, and only some specific models of their range.

richardstringer · 16-05-2009, 5:20 PM

I got a dvd burner in my pc so I might just burn a standard dvd then, although it'll be from converted from high def to standard def it should pretty damn nice. I downloaded the Cyberlink BD test software to test my system to see if its compatible and ready for blu ray, but it said I need a new graphics card thats HD compatible and various other bits so I cant be bothered with buying a HD compatible graphics card, I already spent £60 on one about 4 months ago. I knew i'd have to buy a blu ray burner but wasn't expecting them to be over £100.

I'm sorry to say that the Panasonic DMR-BS850 etc... are just a joke for price. Thanks for telling me about them though, they do look nice. Software wise, I was thinking about getting myself a copy of Adobe Premiere Elements 7 because I know that can handle AVCHD files.

JH4 · 16-05-2009, 8:27 PM

Don't forget that AVCHD files can be burned to normal DVD blanks, and will play in full HD quality on a BD player, or a Playstation 3. (They won't play on a SD DVD player, of course.)
You don't need a BD burner, blank BD disc, or an HD compatible video card.

richardstringer · 16-05-2009, 8:40 PM

Normal standard dvds may be able to play AVCHD files but they'll be in standard definition and down in quality won't they? Or is blu ray simply to do with more capacity to deal with the sheer amount of imformation, where the more information (higher resolution and definition) takes up more space? I guess what i'm trying to claify is, so can you burn high definition video onto a standard dvd, but obviously less of it due to the dvd capacity not being as high as a blu ray disc. Is that what you're saying?

JH4 · 16-05-2009, 8:49 PM

No, an SD DVD player won't play AVCHD files. A normal DVD blank can take AVCHD files just fine, although the playing time is limited. You can burn these HD files on a normal DVD burner, and they will only play back on a BD player or PS3.
The quality is marvelous and is in true 1080p HD, if you specify that. It does work !
I use Ulead Video Studio to edit and burn, but there are other programs you can use.

Smith2004 · 17-05-2009, 12:26 AM

Review of the DMR-BS850 here

Panasonic DMR-BS850 Freesat Blu-ray & HDD Recorder Review - Home Cinema Reviews - TrustedReviews

richardstringer · 17-05-2009, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JH4

No, an SD DVD player won't play AVCHD files. A normal DVD blank can take AVCHD files just fine, although the playing time is limited. You can burn these HD files on a normal DVD burner, and they will only play back on a BD player or PS3.
The quality is marvelous and is in true 1080p HD, if you specify that. It does work !
I use Ulead Video Studio to edit and burn, but there are other programs you can use.

Yeah I know a standard dvd player wont play the AVCHD files, I knew that already, I was just wondering whether I was right about the only difference bewteen a blu ray dvd disc and a standard dvd disc that the recording time would be not as long. And you answered that for me. The dvd player i'm getting is a Pioneer BDP-51FD instead of the Panasonic DMP-BD55 I was thingking about getting because the review on trusted reviews seems to be a tad better.

Do you guys have any idea how long the video time can be on a standard dvd when recording AVCHD files to it? 30 minutes? 15 minutes?

alsina · 17-05-2009, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richardstringer

Yeah I know a standard dvd player wont play the AVCHD files, I knew that already, I was just wondering whether I was right about the only difference bewteen a blu ray dvd disc and a standard dvd disc that the recording time would be not as long. And you answered that for me. The dvd player i'm getting is a Pioneer BDP-51FD instead of the Panasonic DMP-BD55 I was thingking about getting because the review on trusted reviews seems to be a tad better.

Do you guys have any idea how long the video time can be on a standard dvd when recording AVCHD files to it? 30 minutes? 15 minutes?

That would depend on the recording mode (quality).

richardstringer · 17-05-2009, 10:40 AM

Well I wouldn't burn at any less than the best quality possible.

JH4 · 17-05-2009, 11:17 AM

I believe the maximum recording time, at best resolution, of AVCHD files onto normal 4.7G DVD blanks is about 40 minutes. You might want to ask this in the camcorder section of this forum to get a more accurate answer. Meanwhile, I have asked this question to an expert on the subject. If I get an answer I will post back here.

richardstringer · 17-05-2009, 3:20 PM

Well 30-40 minutes would be fine because its only for family video footage of me and children out and about, but I still always would rather have less video recording time at higher quality. I'm not one of these people who doesn't mind lower quality to get more recording time.

I know different manufactures of dicss yield slightly different levels of image quality, maybe to do with the disc's error correection or something. I know Verbatim are damn good but from the sligh problems I had a few years back, they're not the most compatible discs out there. I might go with TDK's discs cos they always seemed good quality.

JH4 · 18-05-2009, 9:16 PM

I have an answer - as promised, on AVCHD recording times to normal 4.7G DVD blank discs.

At max bit rate (24 Mbps) you can fit about 20 minutes. At a lower bit rate of around 6 Mbps you can fit about 1.5 hours, but quality will suffer.

Hope this helps.

richardstringer · 19-05-2009, 8:45 AM

So I should be able to fit about an hour on a dual layer disc then.

tomdanscar · 19-05-2009, 10:10 PM

I have a sr-12 sony hd camcorder which i hook up to my pc it then converts to avchd onto standard disc .superb quality.just play it on a blu ray player.The picture and audio,5.1, is great.I m not one for editing i just use the sony enclosed software.aint got time to edit.just leave the shots of your shoes in !! cheers neil

richardstringer · 20-05-2009, 9:30 AM

I think eventually i'll get one of those Panasonic DMR-BS220 Blu Ray recorders, but not yet, not while they're £1,000. I'll buy one when they come down to about £600 and use it as a dvd player and recorder. Actually, you know what, how would I even transfer the video from the Sony HDR-XR520 camcorder i'm getting next week to the Panasonic blu ray recorder because it has a HDMI output, not a dv output.

**Gavtech** · 20-05-2009, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richardstringer

Actually, you know what, how would I even transfer the video from the Sony HDR-XR520 camcorder i'm getting next week to the Panasonic blu ray recorder because it has a HDMI output, not a dv output.

I don't know what storage format type your intended camcorder is... but I understand the only way to transfer Hi def material into the machine is by disc or card... and compatibility may be restricted.

But as you are not intending purchase immediately , there is time for this information, and any limitations, to emerge.

richardstringer · 20-05-2009, 10:58 AM

I said already, the Sony HDR-XR520 which is a hard disc drive camcorder. Well its got sdhc card slot oo, but I wont be using that format of recording, i'll be using the hard drive on the camcorder. I guess if the only option is to transfer footage by the sd card then i'll give it a miss.

**Gavtech** · 20-05-2009, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richardstringer

I said already, the Sony HDR-XR520 which is a hard disc drive camcorder. Well its got sdhc card slot oo, but I wont be using that format of recording, i'll be using the hard drive on the camcorder. I guess if the only option is to transfer footage by the sd card then i'll give it a miss.

Is moving material from hard disc to card not an option on these units?

richardstringer · 20-05-2009, 12:22 PM

Well I could transfer the footage to my computer, then from there onto an SDHC card but it would have to be a god damn high capacity card because I rendered a little video 1 minute 20 seconds yesterday using Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9.0 Platinum from an AVCHD sample file I found on the net yesterday and the output uncompressed AVI file was 7.5gb. I also rendered the best quality MPEG-4 using the DivX codec and it was 88.9mb but the quality wasn't anywhere near as good.

I tell ya, HD is cool, but god damn the file sizes are immense.