Panasonic DMR-BWT720EB Twin HD Bluray Recorder 1TB Master Thread.

What would be really nice is if Panasonic produced an App that would allow you to view and program timer settings from your iPad, iPhone, etc. Then you don't need to disturb others who may be viewing the TV in order to set the programs you want to record. This is possible with a Sky box (even when you re not at home) so why not bring it to the PVR market? This is a real missed opportunity for Panasonic.
 
The difference is that Sky own the satellite broadcast streams (or a lot of them) and Freeview owns nothing so they can't send digital data down the signal to your box as Sky do. They could of course use the online connection but I'd bet that at least 75% of the boxes out there aren't connected online.

One of the main reasons remote record was so useful on Sky was that their dumb system didn't allow you to set a manual recording more than 7 days in advance :facepalm: - no such limitations with Freeview boxes because they credit their customers with a least a grain of intelligence!

Here's hoping.
 
It can take some time to recognise an external USB HDD or HDD camcorder

Have you viewed your HD camcorder footage on this? How is the quality?

Can you archive this footage to a blu ray disc?

What camcorder do you own?

My only reservation about this device is the previous tendency for panasonic models' failure to play and archive hdd camcorder footage.
 
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It can take some time to recognise an external USB HDD or HDD camcorder but this may be related to the amount of files on the HDD it has to process?

This would be my guess. On my Panasonic TV, when I plug in a USB stick it initially takes a while to read and find the correct file formats. Time taken depending on how many files are on the device.

But once read you can then switch between different media files quickly. As an example if you were originally looking through movie files on the device, when you then change to look at pictures it loads instantly as if it has indexed all files and file types on the device on the first loading.

As said this is on a tv via usb input, so if you get a chance to test it on the 720EB it'd be much apprecited as I'm currently considering buying one.

I'd love it if you could specifically test:
1. An HDD/USB device with many different media types and files on (MKV, mp4, divX, Xvid, flv, jpg, tif, gif, bmp, , mp3's, flak, wav, ac3, etc)
2. Once loaded switch between media types (Video, music and pics)
3. A usb device with only a single MKV/mp4 file on it.

Using these two we can soon see if it does actually load and play the file formats and then see if indeed it is simply taking time due to many files on the device it's reading in addition to if I'm correct thinking it loads and indexes all files on a device at once, to save time and negate waiting for loading each single media type.
 
Have you viewed your HD camcorder footage on this? How is the quality?

Can you archive this footage to a blu ray disc?

What camcorder do you own?

My only reservation about this device is the previous tendency for panasonic models' failure to play and archive hdd camcorder footage.

The footage is the same quality as if it were played back from the camcorder (as it is digital so no loss involved).

You can copy to Blu-ray if you want but some editing may be required to allow it to fit on a disc.

I have a Sony HDR-SR12E with has a 120GB hard disk. This causes the Panasonic some issues when importing due to the amount of files. It seems to put them into sections (titles) so that the number of files does not exceed 99 scenes. But otherwise seems to work fine. If you had an SD card then this is less likely to be an issue.

Ideally you should archive your camcorder to a NAS drive with RAID 1 support so you can be assured of a reliable copy, Blu-ray discs are not a reliable storage medium!
 
Have you got it yet?

Hi all, it arrived today, blasted courier ran out of time.

First impressions it's quick compared with the 780 great epg and quick to move through the menus, all together I am very pleased.

As for RGB on avi input it would appear to be only svhs according to the manual.

Not tried wifi yet so I will update later.

azucar
 
The footage is the same quality as if it were played back from the camcorder (as it is digital so no loss involved).

You can copy to Blu-ray if you want but some editing may be required to allow it to fit on a disc.

I have a Sony HDR-SR12E with has a 120GB hard disk. This causes the Panasonic some issues when importing due to the amount of files. It seems to put them into sections (titles) so that the number of files does not exceed 99 scenes. But otherwise seems to work fine. If you had an SD card then this is less likely to be an issue.

Ideally you should archive your camcorder to a NAS drive with RAID 1 support so you can be assured of a reliable copy, Blu-ray discs are not a reliable storage medium!

So there is no problem copying copywrite free free blu rays to the hard drive.
 
Just picked one up from the Panasonic Store in Brighton this afternoon. Apparently they had a delivery of 8 or 9 720s today in case anyone is interested.
 
Could someone who's bought this machine and/or read the manual confirm whether, like the 700/800, it will only accept HD camcorder footage in the AVCHD format? I believe the 720 will accept AVCHD 2.0 in addition to the AVCHD 1.0 of the 700/800. However, most (serious) stills cameras (in particular dSLRs) that shoot video now shoot in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 MOV format. And, as I understand it, the 700/800 will not recognise files in this standard - only AVCHD. (I'm happy to be found wrong, or if someone knows of software that will convert MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 MOV on an SD card to files in the requisite AVCHD format such that the 700/800/720 will then recognise and import this footage.)

ClassicalMan
 
Could someone who's bought this machine and/or read the manual confirm whether, like the 700/800, it will only accept HD camcorder footage in the AVCHD format? I believe the 720 will accept AVCHD 2.0 in addition to the AVCHD 1.0 of the 700/800. However, most (serious) stills cameras (in particular dSLRs) that shoot video now shoot in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 MOV format. And, as I understand it, the 700/800 will not recognise files in this standard - only AVCHD. (I'm happy to be found wrong, or if someone knows of software that will convert MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 MOV on an SD card to files in the requisite AVCHD format such that the 700/800/720 will then recognise and import this footage.)

ClassicalMan

I still have no hard information to be able to offer any definitive answer - other than the limited published information regarding this machine.. but just to blur the question still further...MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 is the video compression used within AVCHD, so if there is a problem with this, it may lie in the .mov file extension... or absence of the other support files which are normally required - the details of which are unknown to me at present.
 
Indeed, I've tried to look in to this in the past, but without generating any definitive answers. Whilst MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 is indeed the codec used within AVCHD, as you say, it appears that the AVCHD standard is not simply a different form of 'wrapper' for this, or a different way of organising the file structure, but applies a much higher rate of data compression. Some cameras will shoot in both formats and I have read of reviews stating identical results for each but where the mov file/bitrate is much larger than the AVCHD one (for apparently the same actual video data). It appears this is why AVCHD is something of a nightmare for software video editing programs, as it is so very processor-intensive, whereas HD material in the .mov format is handled more comfortably by the main editing programs. (Could it be somewhat analogous to wav versus FLAC in the audio arena??) But I'd caution that it might be that the reviewers have got it wrong, as nothing I've read on this subject appears to make complete sense!
 
I don't know if this helps you ClassicalMan but the specifications section of the 720 manual does include MP4 in the data that can be played from an SD card and a USB device.

I also have the 700 machine and the specifications section of manual for the 700 does not include MP4 as an option.
 
Could someone who's bought this machine and/or read the manual confirm whether, like the 700/800, it will only accept HD camcorder footage in the AVCHD format? I believe the 720 will accept AVCHD 2.0 in addition to the AVCHD 1.0 of the 700/800. However, most (serious) stills cameras (in particular dSLRs) that shoot video now shoot in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 MOV format. And, as I understand it, the 700/800 will not recognise files in this standard - only AVCHD. (I'm happy to be found wrong, or if someone knows of software that will convert MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 MOV on an SD card to files in the requisite AVCHD format such that the 700/800/720 will then recognise and import this footage.)

ClassicalMan

I have the 720 and loaded an SD card with a HD video produced from the latest Olympus OM-D E-M5 which produces files in the AVC MOV format (using a AVC Codec) and the unit played it back without any problem. It would not play back a MOV file recorded on a Panasonic GF3 (which uses the MPEG-4 JPEG Codec for MOV files). The GF3 files recorded in AVCHD format of course played back fine.
 
Can anyone kindly advise if it is likely that this model can be modified for multi region operation and, if so, any dealers who normally offer such a service?

Thank you.
 
Panasonic store Plymouth have emailed me to say they can multiregion the DVD for £20 if the unit is bought from them. I notice at the bottom of the info on leconcepts.com site that the dvd is regions 1-7. I don't know if this means it is already multiregion.
 
I notice at the bottom of the info on leconcepts.com site that the dvd is regions 1-7. I don't know if this means it is already multiregion.

Amazon's link for the 720 says region two playback only.

Edit: LE Concepts mentions region 1-6 for DVD and region B for blu ray
 
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Can anyone kindly advise if it is likely that this model can be modified for multi region operation and, if so, any dealers who normally offer such a service?

Thank you.

This place normally offers a DIY option.

The '720 is not on the list yet but I would expect it to be added.

Alternatively they can supply a modded unit as here.


It is only the DVD facility that is converted to Multiregion.
Bluray remains limited to Region B.
 
I take it that this unit does analogue channels?

Tuner SystemDVB-T*16/ DVB-T2*16Channel CoverageUK UHF: 21-68
Taken from the spec details on the panasonic site.
 
I take it that this unit does analogue channels?

Tuner SystemDVB-T*16/ DVB-T2*16Channel CoverageUK UHF: 21-68
Taken from the spec details on the panasonic site.

I doubt it... In fact I'll say no they have not.

Panasonic tuners have been solely digital tuners for several generations now.

( ...so no good for analogue modulator reception)
 
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from the above Amazon review
One niggle which appears to be carried on from the BWT700 and is a downgrade from the
BW780 is the lack of provision of a full RGB signal to the SCART input sockets.
OH NO :thumbsdow
I archive from Sky+ then use DVD-Ram to transport to PC and then on to NAS media server. RGB input is absolutely mandatory for Sky+.

I was honestly going to order a BWT720 once the RGB input was confirmed. Now it is out of the question, I will investigate the possibility of doing this transfer with the FreeviewHD HDD recorder if that will allow transfer of video to HDD, or maybe the BWT800 will work for me.
 
I too am looking to buy at least partly to use for Sky+ archiving. As I see it, I can either buy a BWT800 with fewer features and less storage that will give me an RGB input directly or I can buy a BWT720 with a separate RGB to S-video convertor for about £100 less in total. Neither option seems very satisfactory - I don't really want to spend about £650 on a machine that will shortly become obsolete (is that the case, or will the BWT800 continue to be available for the time being?), nor do I want to spend nearly £500 on a machine that doesn't quite do the job i want it to do. I'm not necessarily in a desperate hurry to buy, so I suppose the third option is that I could do nothing and see what next year's model updates might bring.

It would also be interesting to know whether the BWT820 now apparently available in Australia supports an RGB input option. If not, it may imply that Panasonic have decided to drop this feature from the range for evermore.

Any opinions?
 
I think RGB inputs will be harder to find as time goes on due to copy restrictions and the increase in HD material.

I see you can now get a HDMI capture device for games console video capture which may work on a Sky box assuming SD material is not protected via the HDMI interface. Any gamers out there that are early adopters may wish to try it out on other HDMI devices and report back!
 
I also think the need to archive broadcast media long term is diminishing with the spread of internet services so maybe Panasonic have just looked forward and decided the cost of adding RGB inputs is not worth it?

Archiving your own personal media is valid but given long term storage on Blu-ray is not so secure even this option may disappear from future machines! (I always back up onto multiple hard disks for maximum security and even keep a disk in a fire/water proof safe!)
 
I also think the need to archive broadcast media long term is diminishing with the spread of internet services so maybe Panasonic have just looked forward and decided the cost of adding RGB inputs is not worth it?

Archiving your own personal media is valid but given long term storage on Blu-ray is not so secure even this option may disappear from future machines! (I always back up onto multiple hard disks for maximum security and even keep a disk in a fire/water proof safe!)

Is there any published data (on the web) derived from rigorous testing that you'd recommend on the subject BDR reliability over time? I'd rather assumed - it would now appear erroneously - that the mistakes made with flaky CDR and DVDR media meant that Blu-ray (which was planned as a recordable medium from the outset) would not be repeated, such that one could regard a BDR as a reliable format for at least medium-term storage, with the standard proviso of making a back-up to be kept off site and using only high quality discs (ideally from different makers for the main and back-up copies).

I appreciate what you say about archiving broadcast material but many of us have imprinted in our memories the scandal of the BBC re-using tapes (both audio and video) in the 1970s/80s and thereby writing over sometimes priceless material of great historical significance - I'm referring here to the classical music arena, but I'm sure the same happened in other fields. NHK in Japan was little better. Unless an HD broadcast can be guaranteed to remain available via the web in its original broadcast quality (which is unlikely to be the case, given copyright restrictions and the broadcaster's understandable desire to exploit its material), the need for home enthusiasts to keep copies of important material 'for the greater good' would seem to remain. In addition, and as you rightly point out, many of us are concerned with reliable storage of personal footage - family videos shot in HD etc. So any urls for good quality info on BDR reliability over time would be much appreciated.

Classical Man
 

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