Gavtech
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November 2010 ( See later for updates on current machines)
Panasonic have introduced an innovatory set of removable discs recorders which for the first time in this class of machine, have twin tuners and can receive, record and archive, HD transmissions.
The range consists of six models: Three for the Freeview platform and three otherwise identical, for the Freesat platform.
The machines in each set of three are effectively identical, except that the lower model in each case has a DVD drive [and HDD], the two upper models have Bluray disk drives and they are differentiated by having increasingly larger hard drives.
This unique strain of dual tuner recorders record ALL off air material in what is called DR mode [Direct Record]. There is no choice about this.
It is unencoded, exactly as delivered, and when played back is identical to broadcast quality.
This can be saved to Bluray discs in this DR form and can be shifted to them at high speed.
Note - Players must support this DR mode to be playable elsewhere... and only recent Bluray players are likely to do so.
DVD discs do not support these un-encoded streams and so anything that you wish to save onto DVD must be encoded to do so...which has to be done in real time.
The issue arises because un-encoded transmission material cannot be recorded onto a DVD disc to make a standard video disc.
In the past, DVD recorders got around this problem by encoding at the same time as recording... which has the advantage of the recording being able to be high speed transferred to DVD as it is already in an encoded form...but has the disadvantage that recordings on the HDD are quality compromised by being in that encoded form... and are not as good as broadcast even when simply used for time-shifting purposes, and not archiving.
Bluray disc development led to an option to make machines which could use this DR un-encoded mode of recording.
This provides the advantage that recordings on the hard drive are as broadcast quality and can be saved as broadcast quality, and transferred at high speed, and remain archived for evermore in broadcast quality....AND the device can have more than one tuner which is an innovation in DVDR's.
Previously, that would have required an additional encoder for each additional tuner, which is economically out of the question.
The above are all significant advantages.
However, the downside is that if you choose to use legacy discs [ Standard DVD] then the material has to be encoded to go onto them... and that can only be done in real time.
If the original material is HD then the material has to be down-converted [which is done at the same time as the encoding ] to SD before it can go on DVD.
{This produces remarkably good results. It is actually technically better than standard SD and subjectively certainly looks it }
However there is an intelligent system to assist here to save you having to copy in real time.
Titles that have already been recorded to the hard disc can be selected and scheduled for conversion [encoding] whilst the system is dormant.
The machine will pick times, when in standby, when there are no timers due and make the real time conversion.
If you chose to use the machine in the meantime it will cancel the operation and try next time it is dormant.
The machine is effectively silent and does not come into the ON state for this operation.
The only indication it is happening is a small 'Copy' indication in the display.
Once this operation is complete you will have encoded copies on the hard disc which can then be high speed copied to DVD [ or Bluray]
There are also encoding quality settings for HD material, which allow you to make various quality HD BD's which have universal playability for cases where the DR mode is not supported, or when you wish to compress material to get more material onto a disc.
Using the DR Conversion System.
To convert, select the title in the navigator then choose Option / Edit / DR file conversion.
You will be given further options including the ability to do the conversion now, or when in standby, whether to include subtitles etc.
You will also be given the option to convert only, or convert and delete the original.
You will have to choose a conversion quality ... say, typically, SP to go onto DVD-R.
The number of HD copies you can make may be limited by the broadcaster.
The permitted number of copies will be indicated next to the title in the navigator.
When this falls to zero, the HD recording still remains accessible on the hard disc but can no longer be copied in HD to a removable disc.
You can still make SD copies of the material, and the number is unlimited.
Useful Links:
The Master thread for the Freeview range of machines is here.
The Master thread for the Freesat range of machines is here.
The thread concerning the transfer of Camcorder material to these machines is here.
The thread regarding Bluray players which are compatible with the DR Mode form of Bluray disk is here.
Update - June 2011
The 2011 machines have been released: The BWT700 and the BWT800
There are some important differences between the BWT700 and BWT800 that need bringing to the attention of potential buyers.
This is apart from the HDD size which in previous generations has been the only distinguishing difference. [ BWT700 - 320GB, BWT800 - 500GB ]
One of the differences is very surprising to me and shows nothing can be taken for granted:
On the BTW700 there is no RGB input on AV2! ...It is S-Video at best.
RGB input is present on the BWT800.
Only the BTW800 has an inbuilt wireless LAN.
An optional external WLAN can be connected to the 700 via the USB socket on the rear.
However if the USB socket is used for this purpose, it is not then free for optional connection of a skype communication camera.
The BWT700 has one HDMI connector, the BWT800 has two: A main and sub. [Viera control only available on main connector ]
The BTW800 has a 'valve amp sound' option. Not present on the BWT700.
As in previous generations, recordings are done in DR mode, but it is now possible to set a quality mode when programming timer recordings.
If a quality mode other than the normal DR mode is set, the machine will still treat recording and conversion to the mode as separate operations, the conversion done when the machine is dormant... but note that the DR mode is then automatically deleted when the operation is complete.
That may suit some users but it is worth being aware that it can reduce your options.
The method of manual conversion still exists if that is preferred.
The master thread for these machines is here.
Image of the rear panel here.
AVF Review of the BWT800 is here
UPDATE - May 2012
This seasons replacement machine (Only one machine this time) is the DMR-BWT720.
The master thread can be found here.
UPDATE - February 2013
This seasons model will be the DMR-BWT735.
Details of it's capabilities and associated HDD PVR/Player hybrid models can be found here.
If normal patterns are followed, deliveries can be expected about May / June 2013
UPDATE - December 2015
The Freeview Play system has now been added to new models ( 7 Day backwards catchup for some Freeview channels)
The machines are now all digital. All scarts have gone and there are no analogue video inputs or outputs.
The latest Bluray Recorder machine is the DMR-BWT850. Master thread here.
Panasonic have introduced an innovatory set of removable discs recorders which for the first time in this class of machine, have twin tuners and can receive, record and archive, HD transmissions.
The range consists of six models: Three for the Freeview platform and three otherwise identical, for the Freesat platform.
The machines in each set of three are effectively identical, except that the lower model in each case has a DVD drive [and HDD], the two upper models have Bluray disk drives and they are differentiated by having increasingly larger hard drives.
This unique strain of dual tuner recorders record ALL off air material in what is called DR mode [Direct Record]. There is no choice about this.
It is unencoded, exactly as delivered, and when played back is identical to broadcast quality.
This can be saved to Bluray discs in this DR form and can be shifted to them at high speed.
Note - Players must support this DR mode to be playable elsewhere... and only recent Bluray players are likely to do so.
DVD discs do not support these un-encoded streams and so anything that you wish to save onto DVD must be encoded to do so...which has to be done in real time.
The issue arises because un-encoded transmission material cannot be recorded onto a DVD disc to make a standard video disc.
In the past, DVD recorders got around this problem by encoding at the same time as recording... which has the advantage of the recording being able to be high speed transferred to DVD as it is already in an encoded form...but has the disadvantage that recordings on the HDD are quality compromised by being in that encoded form... and are not as good as broadcast even when simply used for time-shifting purposes, and not archiving.
Bluray disc development led to an option to make machines which could use this DR un-encoded mode of recording.
This provides the advantage that recordings on the hard drive are as broadcast quality and can be saved as broadcast quality, and transferred at high speed, and remain archived for evermore in broadcast quality....AND the device can have more than one tuner which is an innovation in DVDR's.
Previously, that would have required an additional encoder for each additional tuner, which is economically out of the question.
The above are all significant advantages.
However, the downside is that if you choose to use legacy discs [ Standard DVD] then the material has to be encoded to go onto them... and that can only be done in real time.
If the original material is HD then the material has to be down-converted [which is done at the same time as the encoding ] to SD before it can go on DVD.
{This produces remarkably good results. It is actually technically better than standard SD and subjectively certainly looks it }
However there is an intelligent system to assist here to save you having to copy in real time.
Titles that have already been recorded to the hard disc can be selected and scheduled for conversion [encoding] whilst the system is dormant.
The machine will pick times, when in standby, when there are no timers due and make the real time conversion.
If you chose to use the machine in the meantime it will cancel the operation and try next time it is dormant.
The machine is effectively silent and does not come into the ON state for this operation.
The only indication it is happening is a small 'Copy' indication in the display.
Once this operation is complete you will have encoded copies on the hard disc which can then be high speed copied to DVD [ or Bluray]
There are also encoding quality settings for HD material, which allow you to make various quality HD BD's which have universal playability for cases where the DR mode is not supported, or when you wish to compress material to get more material onto a disc.
Using the DR Conversion System.
To convert, select the title in the navigator then choose Option / Edit / DR file conversion.
You will be given further options including the ability to do the conversion now, or when in standby, whether to include subtitles etc.
You will also be given the option to convert only, or convert and delete the original.
You will have to choose a conversion quality ... say, typically, SP to go onto DVD-R.
The number of HD copies you can make may be limited by the broadcaster.
The permitted number of copies will be indicated next to the title in the navigator.
When this falls to zero, the HD recording still remains accessible on the hard disc but can no longer be copied in HD to a removable disc.
You can still make SD copies of the material, and the number is unlimited.
Useful Links:
The Master thread for the Freeview range of machines is here.
The Master thread for the Freesat range of machines is here.
The thread concerning the transfer of Camcorder material to these machines is here.
The thread regarding Bluray players which are compatible with the DR Mode form of Bluray disk is here.
Update - June 2011
The 2011 machines have been released: The BWT700 and the BWT800
There are some important differences between the BWT700 and BWT800 that need bringing to the attention of potential buyers.
This is apart from the HDD size which in previous generations has been the only distinguishing difference. [ BWT700 - 320GB, BWT800 - 500GB ]
One of the differences is very surprising to me and shows nothing can be taken for granted:
On the BTW700 there is no RGB input on AV2! ...It is S-Video at best.
RGB input is present on the BWT800.
Only the BTW800 has an inbuilt wireless LAN.
An optional external WLAN can be connected to the 700 via the USB socket on the rear.
However if the USB socket is used for this purpose, it is not then free for optional connection of a skype communication camera.
The BWT700 has one HDMI connector, the BWT800 has two: A main and sub. [Viera control only available on main connector ]
The BTW800 has a 'valve amp sound' option. Not present on the BWT700.
As in previous generations, recordings are done in DR mode, but it is now possible to set a quality mode when programming timer recordings.
If a quality mode other than the normal DR mode is set, the machine will still treat recording and conversion to the mode as separate operations, the conversion done when the machine is dormant... but note that the DR mode is then automatically deleted when the operation is complete.
That may suit some users but it is worth being aware that it can reduce your options.
The method of manual conversion still exists if that is preferred.
The master thread for these machines is here.
Image of the rear panel here.
AVF Review of the BWT800 is here
UPDATE - May 2012
This seasons replacement machine (Only one machine this time) is the DMR-BWT720.
The master thread can be found here.
UPDATE - February 2013
This seasons model will be the DMR-BWT735.
Details of it's capabilities and associated HDD PVR/Player hybrid models can be found here.
If normal patterns are followed, deliveries can be expected about May / June 2013
UPDATE - December 2015
The Freeview Play system has now been added to new models ( 7 Day backwards catchup for some Freeview channels)
The machines are now all digital. All scarts have gone and there are no analogue video inputs or outputs.
The latest Bluray Recorder machine is the DMR-BWT850. Master thread here.
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