[Mitzi]

I have just purchased the very excellent Panasonic 32" LCD TV, as recommended by Which, and it is a very excellent telly and I added the equally recommended DVD Panasonic recorder. I have the TV up and running and that was very easy (even for me!) BUT both of them have Freeview! I haven't yet added the DVD recorder - am I going to have problems? I wouldn't like them fighting each other! I will appreciate any advice.

[fernandez]

Why would they be 'fighting each other'?

They are both independent items each with their own tuners, so you can watch one Freeview channel on the TV and record another on the DVD recorder at the same time.

If it's help you need connecting them together. this may help
Televisions and ProjectorsÂ*|Â* Sony Support Europe

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by Mitzi

I have just purchased the very excellent Panasonic 32" LCD TV, as recommended by Which, and it is a very excellent telly and I added the equally recommended DVD Panasonic recorder. I have the TV up and running and that was very easy (even for me!) BUT both of them have Freeview! I haven't yet added the DVD recorder - am I going to have problems? I wouldn't like them fighting each other! I will appreciate any advice.

Hello Mitzi.

It should not be too difficult. [ Which model do you have? ]

Once setup, both units act independently.


For your connections- Connect the incoming aerial to the DVDR Aerial input.
Connect a link cable from the DVDR aerial output to the TV.

Connect a fully wired scart from AV1 of the DVDR to AV1 of the TV.

Connect power to the DVDR and switch on and follow the installation procedure.

[Mitzi]

My thanks. The TV is a Panasonic TX-L32X10 32-inch Widescreen HD Ready LCD TV with Freeview and the DVD is a Panasonic DMR-EX769EB-K Freeview+ 160GB Hard Disc Drive DVD Recorder 1080p Up Conversion.


It could be useful to be able to watch one channel and record another?

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by Mitzi

My thanks. The TV is a Panasonic TX-L32X10 32-inch Widescreen HD Ready LCD TV with Freeview and the DVD is a Panasonic DMR-EX769EB-K Freeview+ 160GB Hard Disc Drive DVD Recorder 1080p Up Conversion.


It could be useful to be able to watch one channel and record another?

Yes - That will be no problem at all.

Just try setting it up and come back if you encounter any problems.

Good luck.

[fernandez]

Originally Posted by Mitzi

It could be useful to be able to watch one channel and record another?

As I said:
They are both independent items each with their own tuners, so you can watch one Freeview channel on the TV and record another on the DVD recorder at the same time.

http://support.sony-europe.com/tv/tu...spx?l=en&d=c12

[Mitzi]

I have struck two snags! The TV is mounted on a swivel mount up near the ceiling in the bedroom and the old CRT Sony Trinitron was on the same mount with another smaller mount below it for the Sony DVD. The manual for the Panasonic TV says it must not be placed 'near' video equipment because the strong magnetic fields can distort both picture and sound! If I place the Panasonic DVD recorder on the old mount it would be about 2 feet below the TV. Is this going to be OK?

My other problem is the scart lead connections. There is a scart socket on the rear of the DVD marked for connection to the TV and the TV manual says it should go to the AV2 scart socket on the TV. Help!

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by Mitzi

I have struck two snags! The TV is mounted on a swivel mount up near the ceiling in the bedroom and the old CRT Sony Trinitron was on the same mount with another smaller mount below it for the Sony DVD. The manual for the Panasonic TV says it must not be placed 'near' video equipment because the strong magnetic fields can distort both picture and sound! If I place the Panasonic DVD recorder on the old mount it would be about 2 feet below the TV. Is this going to be OK?

Almost certainly yes. That type of spacing is commonly encountered in the domestic environment without any problems.

Originally Posted by Mitzi

My other problem is the scart lead connections. There is a scart socket on the rear of the DVD marked for connection to the TV and the TV manual says it should go to the AV2 scart socket on the TV. Help!

Ignore such instructions if they contradict more important and informed issues.

The scart connection should definitely should be in AV1 [ top scart] of the DVDR.

The other end of the lead can go into any DVDR socket on the TV but MOST preferably it should be an RGB capable socket.
That is typically AV1 on a TV.

[Mitzi]

Gavtech - my thanks. Most helpful and what an excellent site this is!

[YellowSphere]

You should definitely consider connecting the recorder to the television with an HDMI cable, which will unlock Viera Link, allowing the televisions remote to control the recorder.

[Mitzi]

Sounds good. I have been reading the 87 page manual which is largely incomprehensible and the remote controls are very fiddly!

I tried to do a timed recording but when I switched off the TV the DVD shut down as well. I left it alone and it did record. Odd. There were no lights on the display. My Sony DVD switches on when the time to start recording arrives and you can see it on the display. Hell Fire I thought!

Another problem is that I cannot persuade the DVD to display the time for some reason.

There is no doubt that the TV and the DVD are both excellent but the manuals and controls are very confusing. I am not helped by needing two pairs of specs - one to read the screen and one to look at the remote control.

Our electronic world is not easy.

I read something about an HDMI cable - gold plated?

[MarkE19]

Originally Posted by Mitzi

I read something about an HDMI cable - gold plated?

Don't get caught up in all the marketing hype that will try to part you from more money than is needed. A cheap ~£10 HDMI lead will be as good as a £100 gold plated etc. HDMI lead. The more expensice HDMI leads may offer some small advantages in PQ if you have high end equipment. I would just avoid the very cheap, flimsy HDMI cables that may well work at first but may not last long.

Mark.

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by Mitzi

I tried to do a timed recording but when I switched off the TV the DVD shut down as well. I left it alone and it did record. Odd. There were no lights on the display. My Sony DVD switches on when the time to start recording arrives and you can see it on the display. Hell Fire I thought!

This ability to record completely 'in the background ' is actually much superior and requires more sophisticated switching.

Originally Posted by Mitzi

Another problem is that I cannot persuade the DVD to display the time for some reason.

I presume you mean when switched off? You must have power saving mode invoked.
If you wish to change this go to Functions / To others / Setup / Others / Power save... and change the setting to OFF.

The unit will be faster to use in this mode also.

[Mitzi]

My thanks for the help.

Gavtech - I cannot actually get the DVD to display the time whether it is switched on or off. I have no problems with a Sony DVD recorder. I will make the check you suggest but I am fairly sure I have already done that!

The DVD does seem to record 'in the background' with no display but one must make sure it is on the correct drive - HDD or DVD.

I have just done the check and, sure enough, the Power Save was 'on'. It is now 'off' and the time shows!

I see from the manual that the power consumption of the DVD recorder is quite high when the Power Save is 'off' - 13 watt compared to 0.9 watt. I have no wish to use power that is not needed. Are there any disadvantages having the Power Save set to 'on'?

[Mitzi]

Spurred on by YellowSphere I have ordered an HDMI cable from eBay! It is allegedly an original, 24 carat gold plated Panasonic cable specifically for my Viera LCD. The price was £4.99 delivered next day. It would seem kosher and I will report back when I receive it and it has been fitted. eBay can give rise to problems but I have had some bargains.

I am not sure what an HDMI connection will give me but I might as well have it at the price.

[Mitzi]

I received my HDMI cable today and it seems OK but it was made in China and doesn't have any marks that would suggest Panasonic! I haven't installed it yet and I will report back when I do.

You will recall I was perturbed about having both a TV and a DVD recorder with Freeview and thought they might fight each other. The benefit seemd to be that you could record one channel and watch another and both in digital format. Unfortunately I don't seem to be able to do this and I have no idea why! I recorded a programme this morning and as soon as the time came the TV switched to that programme and I couldn't watch anything else! Help!

[grahamlthompson]

Originally Posted by Mitzi

I received my HDMI cable today and it seems OK but it was made in China and doesn't have any marks that would suggest Panasonic! I haven't installed it yet and I will report back when I do.

You will recall I was perturbed about having both a TV and a DVD recorder with Freeview and thought they might fight each other. The benefit seemd to be that you could record one channel and watch another and both in digital format. Unfortunately I don't seem to be able to do this and I have no idea why! I recorded a programme this morning and as soon as the time came the TV switched to that programme and I couldn't watch anything else! Help!

The TV has simply auto switched to the DVD input. All you have to do is reselect the built in tuner or any other input you wan't to watch

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by Mitzi

You will recall I was perturbed about having both a TV and a DVD recorder with Freeview and thought they might fight each other. The benefit seemd to be that you could record one channel and watch another and both in digital format. Unfortunately I don't seem to be able to do this and I have no idea why! I recorded a programme this morning and as soon as the time came the TV switched to that programme and I couldn't watch anything else! Help!

This should not normally happen.

I assume this was a timer programme programmed via the EPG?

What method did you use to programme the timer.

Were any recording options displayed when you did the programming?


If it was a manual recording then do as Graham says above and choose the channel you wish to watch on the TV.

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by Mitzi

My thanks for the help.

Gavtech - I cannot actually get the DVD to display the time whether it is switched on or off. I have no problems with a Sony DVD recorder. I will make the check you suggest but I am fairly sure I have already done that!

The DVD does seem to record 'in the background' with no display but one must make sure it is on the correct drive - HDD or DVD.

I have just done the check and, sure enough, the Power Save was 'on'. It is now 'off' and the time shows!

I see from the manual that the power consumption of the DVD recorder is quite high when the Power Save is 'off' - 13 watt compared to 0.9 watt. I have no wish to use power that is not needed. Are there any disadvantages having the Power Save set to 'on'?

Apologies - I missed this earlier.

The differences are, with Power save mode ON:
Startup is slow, the Front display turns off [ no clock]

With power save mode OFF:

Display remains illuminated [Clock]
RGB passthough remains enabled [ Watching the picture from a digital
satellite receiver connected to the AV2 terminal can be done ]
Startup is fast.


Slightly off-topic...I'm not about to discourage anyone from trying to save power...or to suggest that designers should not be under pressure to reduce machine energy use.... but such things need persepectivising.

The additional watts are not lost. They are dispersed as heat into the domestic environment ... so if you save 12 watts here ... your heating will make up the difference and supply 12 watts extra to keep you home heated to the thermostatically set level.

12 watts on that score is infinitesimally small in comparison with the amount of heat energy pushed through domestic systems.

In other words - the biggest improvement that can be made to domestic energy use is to reduce heat loss from walls, floors, windows, doors and roof.

Such improvements can make such massive differences of many kilowatts...as to make 12 watts virtually irrelevant.

[YellowSphere]

Originally Posted by Mitzi

You will recall I was perturbed about having both a TV and a DVD recorder with Freeview and thought they might fight each other. The benefit seemd to be that you could record one channel and watch another and both in digital format. Unfortunately I don't seem to be able to do this and I have no idea why! I recorded a programme this morning and as soon as the time came the TV switched to that programme and I couldn't watch anything else! Help!

You won't have this problem when it's running by Viera Link. It's almost as if the TV and HDD recorder are the same machine once it's set up.

[Adrian_F]

Originally Posted by Gavtech

This should not normally happen.

I assume this was a timer programme programmed via the EPG?

I think this could happen if you use the TV's EPG rather than the recorder's to set the timer, resulting in the TV's tuner being locked to that channel.

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by Adrian_F

I think this could happen if you use the TV's EPG rather than the recorder's to set the timer, resulting in the TV's tuner being locked to that channel.

Very good thought Adrian.

Hopefully Mitzi will enlighten us... and if it is the case she will now understand that limitation.

[Mitzi]

My thanks to all of you. I think I understand what may be confusing my set up and I will persevere. The Viera stuff sounds interesting and now that I have my HDMI lead I can perhaps get it to work.

The manuals for both the TV and the DVD are very badly written and not for an uninformed user like myself! They would seem to be written by computer geeks for other computer geeks! As a Child Psychiatrist I know something about children but all this AV stuff leaves me standing - in awe.

Gavtech - your comment about power utilisation is very relevant. I read somewhere that if everybody switched off all their AV stuff when it was not being used we could save the output of a whole power station. Could that be true?

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by Mitzi

Gavtech - your comment about power utilisation is very relevant. I read somewhere that if everybody switched off all their AV stuff when it was not being used we could save the output of a whole power station. Could that be true?

Yes it is true.. but only theoretically.

As explained... all the heat lost from all general domestic activities that go on in the home... such as from machines in standby, dump that energy as heat - It is not lost energy.

It forms a part of your domestic heating. If you take away those sources, your heating system will expend more energy making up the difference... so there is no gain.

The only time this does not hold is during the high summer when no heating is required and such heat production can be regarded as wasteful.
In the UK that is more relevant in the South.
In the North the heating season can be a significant proportion of the year.

As in all such things there are no simple solutions.
Benefit and use and convenience have to be taken into consideration.

How many power stations could be done away with if we put a stop to Christmas lights for example. Do they have any real function?
[ Bah humbug!]

[ That's a rhetorical question- Please - Nobody answer