Which format

C

chaldon

Guest
I've just purchased my first DVD recorder - Panasonic DMRES10 - after good
reviews and recommendations.

Mostly want it for archiving movies from my Fusion FVRT200 HD recorder.
Well it works, but I'm horrified to find that on DVD-R disks (all I've got
at present) the recordings are always in 4:3 ratio. Manual says it can only record to DVD-RAM in 16:9. Is this normal, and if so why?
I thought DVD-RAM was only useable in (selected) recorders, and remains read-write, so its hardly a medium for long term archiving or portability.

Should I return the recorder and buy something else? (What?)

Or should I stock up on DVD-RAM disks (and why do some come in a cartridge - are DVD-RAM disks more fragile?)
 
DVD-RAM discs come in cartridges to keep them clean - they are rerecordable up to 100,000 times. Personally I do not use the cartridge type. They only seem to be used by Panasonic. They are removable from the cartridge anyway but they cost more. Buy yourself some of the cheap ones from SVP - £14-99 for a spindle of ten - either Ridisc or Datasafe
http://www.blankdiscshop.co.uk/acatalog/dvdram.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-RAM
 
The recordings are still 16:9 on DVD-R. They just don't have the 16:9 flag to automatically put the the TV into 16:9 mode. It can be still be done automatically or use software to put the flag in yourself.
 
Thanks, I hadn't realised that. Can I change this by writing the DVD-R on my PC, after having recorded the movie on the Panasonic, but before finalizing? And what software can do it - I have Nero 6...

brian
 
You cannot play a DVD-R in any other machine other than the one on which it was recorded, until it has been finalised.

The default setting for recording on the Digifusion is 4:3 letterbox. (I checked the manual). This is the one I use to transfer recordings to my Panasonic E85. If they are widescreen I just adjust my TV set aspect.
Normally I use the TV at 14:9 anyway.
 

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