MSRP: £410.00
Introduction
The DMR-PWT520EB is the latest in a line of High Definition Freeview Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) that incorporate 3D and 2D Blu-ray, DVD and media file playback. We’ve already reviewed the Samsung BD-E8500, LG’s HR925 and Panasonic’s own DMR-PWT420 which, on the face of it, is identical to the 520EB under review here. Since reviewing the 420, Panasonic has issued a firmware update for their PVR combis so let’s see if they took any of our suggestions on board…
Styling/Build/Connectivity
The DMR-PWT520EB is quite a plain looking unit predominantly clad in black but it does feature a nice tray loading disc mechanism that emerges from behind a flap in a neat fashion. The flap is partially transparent to reveal the visual display panel and is carries the manufacturer brand logo as well as those for Freeview+ HD, Blu-ray disc and Diga – Panasonic’s nickname for their DVD equipped products. The 520EB certainly feels of robust construction and typically so for a Panasonic product.
Connections on the rear panel feature a single HDMI port, the aerial antennae terminal with an RF loop-thru, a LAN connection and a USB input. There also dedicated audio outputs with S/PDIF optical and stereo jacks as well as detachable ‘figure-of-eight’ power cord. On the front The DMR-520EB there’s also another USB port on the front along with an a SD Card slot. It’s also worth mentioning the 520 features built-in Wi-Fi, which is always convenient.
Anyone familiar with Panasonic Blu-ray or DVD remote controls will be completely at home the included handset as it follows their tried and tested design. It’s a little smaller than your average TV remote but about as weighty and manages to accommodate the many function buttons necessary for such a device without making them feel crammed in. Netflix users will be pleased to see a dedicated button on the remote and advert haters will be as equally chuffed at the 10 and 60 second skip buttons that can be used when playing back contents from the hard drive or in ‘timelapse’ mode. We count ourselves as pleased on both fronts there.
Connections on the rear panel feature a single HDMI port, the aerial antennae terminal with an RF loop-thru, a LAN connection and a USB input. There also dedicated audio outputs with S/PDIF optical and stereo jacks as well as detachable ‘figure-of-eight’ power cord. On the front The DMR-520EB there’s also another USB port on the front along with an a SD Card slot. It’s also worth mentioning the 520 features built-in Wi-Fi, which is always convenient.
Anyone familiar with Panasonic Blu-ray or DVD remote controls will be completely at home the included handset as it follows their tried and tested design. It’s a little smaller than your average TV remote but about as weighty and manages to accommodate the many function buttons necessary for such a device without making them feel crammed in. Netflix users will be pleased to see a dedicated button on the remote and advert haters will be as equally chuffed at the 10 and 60 second skip buttons that can be used when playing back contents from the hard drive or in ‘timelapse’ mode. We count ourselves as pleased on both fronts there.
Features
The INTERNET button on the remote isn’t exactly the most prominent which doesn’t really give full credit to the amount of content available through the DMR-PWT520EB. The DIGA branded platform is essentially the same as the VIERA Connect platform found in the TVs but there’s no Web Browser included, presumably as it hasn’t got the processing power necessary to run it.
There are a good number of applications, however, including the BBC iPlayer, Twitter and Facebook. In addition you get Netflix, YouTube, Acetrax, Dailymotion, Euronews, Picasa and new additions like the ShoutCast and Aupeo radio apps. As mentioned earlier, Netflix has even managed to negotiate themselves a dedicated button on the remote control. Another addition is the slimmed down VIERA Connect Market, where you can download additional apps and games, although there is no payment feature.
As well as being able to access your home network, and any media server on it, the Panasonic can also act as DLNA renderer in its own right. We were disappointed that the DMR-PWT520EB features a similar bug to the players we reviewed last year, in that when accessing our own media servers it couldn’t go deep enough into the folder structure to make it of much use and it would have required moving our media files up several levels to make it viable. We were much more enthused by the DLNA serving capabilities, however, and with our Windows 7 laptop we are able to access the contents of the hard drive - including all the recordings made from the Freeview tuner - once they’d been added to the Windows Media Player Library. It’s a very nice function, indeed, and opens up a whole new set of possibilities for watching around the home but, beware, if you have a 5 and half hour HD recording (like we tried with Super Bowl 47), it may just struggle.
There are a good number of applications, however, including the BBC iPlayer, Twitter and Facebook. In addition you get Netflix, YouTube, Acetrax, Dailymotion, Euronews, Picasa and new additions like the ShoutCast and Aupeo radio apps. As mentioned earlier, Netflix has even managed to negotiate themselves a dedicated button on the remote control. Another addition is the slimmed down VIERA Connect Market, where you can download additional apps and games, although there is no payment feature.
As well as being able to access your home network, and any media server on it, the Panasonic can also act as DLNA renderer in its own right. We were disappointed that the DMR-PWT520EB features a similar bug to the players we reviewed last year, in that when accessing our own media servers it couldn’t go deep enough into the folder structure to make it of much use and it would have required moving our media files up several levels to make it viable. We were much more enthused by the DLNA serving capabilities, however, and with our Windows 7 laptop we are able to access the contents of the hard drive - including all the recordings made from the Freeview tuner - once they’d been added to the Windows Media Player Library. It’s a very nice function, indeed, and opens up a whole new set of possibilities for watching around the home but, beware, if you have a 5 and half hour HD recording (like we tried with Super Bowl 47), it may just struggle.
Freeview HD+ PVR
The DMR-PWT520EB proves, again, that Panasonic clearly knows what it’s doing with PVR software. The 520EB is able to utilise both of its tuners for simultaneous recording; and you can watch a recording/Blu-ray etc whilst the unit is recording, for that matter, which allows for plenty of flexibility but you are unable to enter the Setup Menu whilst a recording is in place, which can be annoying. We would like to have seen a little more user control in how to handle recording clashes and back to back recordings but that’s a minor criticism and something, if implemented, likely to cause confusion to less savvy owners anyhow. Pausing live TV can seem a little sluggish to respond, too, and it’s easy to get caught in the trap of unnecessary multiple presses of the button.
A rather strange limitation is that the PWT520 won’t allow you to pause the action of a channel you’re recording when both tuners are being used to record. Instead you are required to go in to the Direct Navigator, hit Play and then you’re able to pause. We’d imagine this is just a glitch in the software as we can see no technical limitation preventing it working. Something that seems to have been added is the box will now notify you if a High Definition version of the programme you are trying to record is available, if you try and record the SD Version, which is a nice feature.
The DMR-PWT520EB is capable of series link - in a couple of presses - as well as one-touch recording that will record the currently viewed channel until its scheduled ending. It is also possible to ‘chase play’ on a presently recording item, i.e. you can watch from the beginning before the programme has ended but another behaviour we’d like to see remedied is that when pressing the GUIDE button, during playback of a recording, you are thrown out in to ‘live TV’ on exit. It’s easy enough to resume a recording from the last viewed point but still a nuisance as we like the ability to be able to set recordings, even when viewing one.
Probably our favourite little extras came in a couple of ‘time slip’ features accessed from the remote control. As well as the -10 second/+60 second buttons, there’s also the ability to skip back or forwards, in minute intervals, by setting your desired parameter using the TIME SLIP button; so, for instance, if you wanted to get to the 2nd half of a recorded football match, you would enter 45 minutes (+ whatever difference between programme start time and Kick-Off) and the box will take you there. It works very well and means you can easily kiss goodbye to adverts if the majority of your viewing is time shifted. If you were to put a gun to our head and ask us which is the better Freeview PVR between the Samsung, LG and Panasonic combi models we’ve reviewed, we’d probably give it to the Panasonic; just for the extra little features built-in but it’s a close call.
A rather strange limitation is that the PWT520 won’t allow you to pause the action of a channel you’re recording when both tuners are being used to record. Instead you are required to go in to the Direct Navigator, hit Play and then you’re able to pause. We’d imagine this is just a glitch in the software as we can see no technical limitation preventing it working. Something that seems to have been added is the box will now notify you if a High Definition version of the programme you are trying to record is available, if you try and record the SD Version, which is a nice feature.
The DMR-PWT520EB is capable of series link - in a couple of presses - as well as one-touch recording that will record the currently viewed channel until its scheduled ending. It is also possible to ‘chase play’ on a presently recording item, i.e. you can watch from the beginning before the programme has ended but another behaviour we’d like to see remedied is that when pressing the GUIDE button, during playback of a recording, you are thrown out in to ‘live TV’ on exit. It’s easy enough to resume a recording from the last viewed point but still a nuisance as we like the ability to be able to set recordings, even when viewing one.
Probably our favourite little extras came in a couple of ‘time slip’ features accessed from the remote control. As well as the -10 second/+60 second buttons, there’s also the ability to skip back or forwards, in minute intervals, by setting your desired parameter using the TIME SLIP button; so, for instance, if you wanted to get to the 2nd half of a recorded football match, you would enter 45 minutes (+ whatever difference between programme start time and Kick-Off) and the box will take you there. It works very well and means you can easily kiss goodbye to adverts if the majority of your viewing is time shifted. If you were to put a gun to our head and ask us which is the better Freeview PVR between the Samsung, LG and Panasonic combi models we’ve reviewed, we’d probably give it to the Panasonic; just for the extra little features built-in but it’s a close call.
3D and HD Playback
In all of our testing, so far, we’ve yet to come across a 3D player that was incapable of doing its job with 3D material and the DMR-PWT520EB is no exception. That is to say we experienced the exact same sense of depth and dimensionality to images with no crosstalk, or any other kind of artefact, being introduced. Some of our current testing materials include Ice Age 4 (poor film but the 3D is quite good), Hugo (one of our 3D favourites) and Dredd which all established the PWT520EB as a perfectly capable 3D player in real world scenarios. Switching to some patterns and we tested that the signal being sent was full resolution with a display we knew capable of resolving it and, again, there were no issues. So we can confidently state, it’s as good as any other player we’ve tested for 3D playback.
Similarly, when we compare players outputting two dimensional 1080p images form Blu-ray, provided both the display and spinners are set up properly, there’s virtually no difference in the pictures they produce. With the test equipment available to us it’s possible to compare in great detail the relative outputs and, if there’s no undefeatable image manipulation going on, one player will look like another.
From disc based tests, the performance with 1080i signals was perfectly good. Deinterlacing was clean with barely anything in the way of jaggies with rotating bars patterns and the cadence detection for film shot, progressive material was excellent but, like the 420EB, there was an issue when viewing material at 1080i through the tuner. We could notice some splutter and judder to movement, particularly with rapidly panning action that left us wondering if the film mode – labelled Progressive from the Options Menu – was kicking in with interlaced content. Sure enough, changing from the default Auto setting to Off clears the problem but it’s frustrating that it’s not just a set-and-forget matter and to ensure optimum performance, it’s necessary to engage/disengage the option.
Similarly, when we compare players outputting two dimensional 1080p images form Blu-ray, provided both the display and spinners are set up properly, there’s virtually no difference in the pictures they produce. With the test equipment available to us it’s possible to compare in great detail the relative outputs and, if there’s no undefeatable image manipulation going on, one player will look like another.
From disc based tests, the performance with 1080i signals was perfectly good. Deinterlacing was clean with barely anything in the way of jaggies with rotating bars patterns and the cadence detection for film shot, progressive material was excellent but, like the 420EB, there was an issue when viewing material at 1080i through the tuner. We could notice some splutter and judder to movement, particularly with rapidly panning action that left us wondering if the film mode – labelled Progressive from the Options Menu – was kicking in with interlaced content. Sure enough, changing from the default Auto setting to Off clears the problem but it’s frustrating that it’s not just a set-and-forget matter and to ensure optimum performance, it’s necessary to engage/disengage the option.
Standard Definition Playback
As we’ve seen with the rest of this year’s Panasonic products, the handling of standard definition content is very sympathetic. Scaling is fantastic, film cadence detection is rock solid and deinterlacing exemplary. We have to admit that we try and limit our standard definition intake to an absolute minimum now and, despite its undoubted abilities, the DMR-PWT520 can’t make some of the criminally compressed Freeview channels look better but a decent quality DVD can look very good, indeed.
Energy Consumption
- Standby: 7.3W
- With Timeshift enabled: 18.4W
- Timeshift set to manual: 15.4W
Conclusion
Pros
- Flawless Blu-ray for both 2D and 3D
- Very robust Freeview PVR functions
- Impressively solid build quality
- Ability to stream Freeview recordings to PC
- Lots of good VoD Services
Cons
- A few annoyances with PVR implementation
- Film mode kicks in when you don't want it to
- Menu system is bloated and over-complicated
- DLNA Client doesn't really work
Panasonic DMR-PWT-520EB 3D Blu-ray Freeview HD Recorder Combi Review
The Panasonic 520EB errs to the functional in its design and could easily be mistaken for any number of products that have rolled off their production lines over the last few years. We've no issue with that and the nifty tray mechanism allows the unit to retain clean lines without resorting to a slot mechanism, in which we have tarnished faith. The remote control, again, is highly reminiscent of previous efforts from the Japanese but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it, in terms of operability and ergonomics. Connectivity options are more perfunctory that plentiful but we’d imagine most use case scenarios will be catered for.
The DMR-PWT520EB certainly has a trick or two up its sleeve and is choc-a-block with features and internet pastimes. There’s lots of video on demand and catch-up services - including BBC iPlayer, YouTube and Netflix – for which there’s a dedicated button on the remote. Although the media player is quite good, in terms of file support, it’s still unable to burrow down more than a couple of tiers down in a PC’s file directory without hanging; so it may or may not be useable for you. The ability to stream recordings to a Windows 7 (and presumably Windows 8) PC is a big plus though and opens up the possibility of sending the hard drives’ contents around your home.
General picture processing is very good but there’s a bug with the film mode being active on video content when viewing the tuner so user intervention is necessary to prevent some, at times, rather erratic appearing motion. Elsewhere, your standard definition DVD’s and Blu-rays – in either 2D or 3D – will be handled with assurance, provided the out of box Normal Picture Mode is maintained. The usability of the DMR-PWT520EB could use a polish, however, the settings menus in particular feel a touch arcane but at least the when using it as a PVR, it’s fairly simple to operate. There’s certainly a couple of refinements we’d like to see to the software but, more importantly, it proved rock solid in reliability.
The Panasonic DMR-PWT520EB goes about its multiple duties in a solid and dependable manner. At its original list price, just north of £400, it may have seemed a tad expensive against the competition but since current online prices put it south of £300, it’s an easy AVForums Recommended Award.
The DMR-PWT520EB certainly has a trick or two up its sleeve and is choc-a-block with features and internet pastimes. There’s lots of video on demand and catch-up services - including BBC iPlayer, YouTube and Netflix – for which there’s a dedicated button on the remote. Although the media player is quite good, in terms of file support, it’s still unable to burrow down more than a couple of tiers down in a PC’s file directory without hanging; so it may or may not be useable for you. The ability to stream recordings to a Windows 7 (and presumably Windows 8) PC is a big plus though and opens up the possibility of sending the hard drives’ contents around your home.
General picture processing is very good but there’s a bug with the film mode being active on video content when viewing the tuner so user intervention is necessary to prevent some, at times, rather erratic appearing motion. Elsewhere, your standard definition DVD’s and Blu-rays – in either 2D or 3D – will be handled with assurance, provided the out of box Normal Picture Mode is maintained. The usability of the DMR-PWT520EB could use a polish, however, the settings menus in particular feel a touch arcane but at least the when using it as a PVR, it’s fairly simple to operate. There’s certainly a couple of refinements we’d like to see to the software but, more importantly, it proved rock solid in reliability.
The Panasonic DMR-PWT520EB goes about its multiple duties in a solid and dependable manner. At its original list price, just north of £400, it may have seemed a tad expensive against the competition but since current online prices put it south of £300, it’s an easy AVForums Recommended Award.
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