Wow, new Pioneer DVD/HDD recorder is £1,300!

[Cynthia 7]

I received my "What Video & High Definition TV" mag this morning. In the "News" section it mentions the new flagship Pioneer DVD/HDD recorder is the DVR-940X, which will have a 500GB hard disk and lots of great features. They also mention a DVR-545HX that offers DV input, 1080i upscaling and a 160GB hard disk. That will be the one for me! Also, seven new models of plasma tvs.

No date is given, just "launched later this year".

 

[marty2005]

http://www.avland.co.uk/pioneer/dvr940/dvr-940h.htm

 

[knotpc]

Still no 5.1 recording .
I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like this feature!
I know Philips do one but the resultant 5.1 audio on the DVD's are not compatible with other players.
No Component input either.
I must be asking for too much!

Regards
knotpc

 

[JurgenNL]

And - according to Avland - no double layer recording.
And no pcm stereo recording.
Alas.

 

[Cynthia 7]

According to "What Video" mag, who are a reliable source, this DVR-940X is packed to the rafters with features. I will briefly cover these:

500GTB hard-disk drive (with the possibility to add an external one).

Upscaling via HDMI to 1080p.

A built-in digital tuner with EPG and Guide Plus for analogue recordings.

Recording and playback of every DVD format (including double-layer DVD+R and -R discs), plus a conditional access card slot.

Long recording times (up to 24 hours on a DVD-R DL disc) and the world's fastest copy speed from HDD to DVD; it will dub a one-hour recording in seconds.

Disc Back-UP where you can copy a home-made DVD to the hard disk in order to make other copies.

A new Advanced GUI with the popular Help function, pause live TV, moving thumbnails on the Disc Navigator and the Digital Jukebox feature.

Access a variety of media stored on the hard-disk, MP3, WMA and JPEG files can be copied to the HDD from CD-R, USB devices or memory cards, plus you can rip CD audio files in two channel Dolby Digital and store these too.

It has a VQE10 processor, which enables 3D noise reduction and Pure Cinema progressive scan.

 

[marty2005]

What happened to divx? It doesn't mention it on avland for the new 940.

Has it been dropped.

Also according to the specs it only records to dvd -r/-rw.

 

[Cynthia 7]

Hi marty,

If you look at my post you will see the "What Video" info that this records and play all DVD formats.

On Page 5 (or Page 6) of this forum there is a thread "New HDMI Hard Disk Drive DVD Recorders from Pioneer" posted by Hkan. It gives a lot of info and these new models have Divx on those models. I shall be mad if they aren't on the UK ones.

 

[marty2005]

Nice to see a lady into av equipment.

 

[bradavon78]

Access a variety of media stored on the hard-disk, MP3, WMA and JPEG files can be copied to the HDD from CD-R, USB devices or memory cards

STILL not DVD though I see. Still I guess 2Gb memory cards could get around this, just.

I'm guessing both will also play DivX? The 545 looks to be the first Recorder that can also truly double up as a DVD Player what with Upscaling support.

The 940 remote looks really cluttered BUT it's a damn sight better than the 540 remote with that annoying flap. I hope the 545 has the same remote.

 

[Cynthia 7]

Hi bradavon,

When I read Hkan's post about the new models on the Pioneer Europe site (link below) I was delighted to see that I could print digital photographs stored on the hard drive to a compatible printer.

I am assuming we get the same models in UK as Europe although in the past they removed DivX from a UK model for some obscure reason, why should we miss out?

This Europe site doesn't mention the 940 model; I expect it will be added.

http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/content/press/news/hdmiDVDR.html

 

[bradavon78]

Hi yeah

Does the 940 have a usb port then? I guess it must if you can print images from the hard disk. What UK models had DivX removed? The 540 has DivX.

Some of the Mainland European models had the Digital tuner removed.

 

[PhilipL]

Hi

The 545 looks to be the first Recorder that can also truly double up as a DVD Player what with Upscaling support.

Laugh, you think the upscaler in the DVD Recorder will do anything significantly better than the upscaler built in to your Plasma or LCD TV then?

I think people forget that if you have an LCD TV or plasma you are already watching an upscaled image. HDMI upscaling in standard definition equipment is doing the same for sales as Sunny Delight did for soft drinks, all clever marketing.

Regards

Phil

 

[liteswap]

But still no:
1. Ethernet connection to a home network/media server
2. Dual layer recording
3. DD 5.1 recording

For that price, you'd expect at least two of those features.

I'm off to get me a media PC if that's the best the consumer technology biz can summon up...

 

[PhilipL]

Hi

But still no:
1. Ethernet connection to a home network/media server
2. Dual layer recording
3. DD 5.1 recording

For that price, you'd expect at least two of those features.

I'm off to get me a media PC if that's the best the consumer technology biz can summon up...

This model isn't a mass-market model, it's for people with more money than sense and Pioneer don't expect to sell many and at that price they don't need to. In one way it's a bit like first class seats on flights, it's nice to have the extra legroom and better in-flight meal etc, but for the majority of us the much bigger expense doesn't justify the improvement, and we get to the destination at the same time anyway. Because people have plenty of cash (or their company's) they subsidise our cheaper seats!

Regards

Phil

 

[marty2005]

When you say removed divx, you are thinking of the panasonic 75/85.

Everywhere else in the world has divx except for the uk. This is strange as panasonic researchers claim there was not a need for it in the uk.

How did they come to that conclusion when sony, pioneer, hitachi, lge and samsung all have divx on their machines.

 

[bradavon78]

Laugh, you think the upscaler in the DVD Recorder will do anything significantly better than the upscaler built in to your Plasma or LCD TV then?

To be fair that's not what I said. Many people simply don't want two devices and this looks the best bet.

I think people forget that if you have an LCD TV or plasma you are already watching an upscaled image. HDMI upscaling in standard definition equipment is doing the same for sales as Sunny Delight did for soft drinks, all clever marketing.

So you're saying up scaling in a Player is useless on an LCD or Plasma TV? I didn't know that.

I must admit to barely noticing a difference between 576p and 720p (576 is standard PAL right?). I can notice a difference between 576p and 576i though. Progressive Scan makes the biggest difference, which many DVD Recorders can do anyway.

I do prefer my Player for playing though as the controller is solely for playback no record buttons getting in the way. It also plays SACD and DVD-A the main reason I'm keeping it.

But still no:
1. Ethernet connection to a home network/media server
2. Dual layer recording
3. DD 5.1 recording

What do you mean no dual layer recording. The Pioneer 540 does so I'm sure these two models can. I'm sure 5.1 recording is down to copyright so will remain a rare feature.

Besides what are you going to record 5.1 from? Freeview doesn't support it for starters. I'd much prefer a Wireless connection than Ethernet. Very few people would use Ethernet has it would mean having to trail a cable around the house.

 

[Cynthia 7]

When you say removed divx, you are thinking of the panasonic 75/85.

Everywhere else in the world has divx except for the uk. This is strange as panasonic researchers claim there was not a need for it in the uk.

How did they come to that conclusion when sony, pioneer, hitachi, lge and samsung all have divx on their machines.

Hi Marty,

Apologies, you are right. I think it must be the Panasonic recorders I read about and not Pioneer. So much info about DVD Recorders are whirling around in my brain I can't remember which make does what and how!

 

[Gavtech]

How did they come to that conclusion when sony, pioneer, hitachi, lge and samsung all have divx on their machines.

Because the majority of the market who are adopting this technology now have never even heard of divX.

I confess to be totally bemused myself why so many of you want such a dreadfully compressed format when you all seem to be wailing about quality issues at the same time.

[ I see a hornet's nest coming ]

 

[liteswap]

To be fair that's not what I said. Many people simply don't want two devices and this looks the best bet.


So you're saying up scaling in a Player is useless on an LCD or Plasma TV? I didn't know that.

I must admit to barely noticing a difference between 576p and 720p (576 is standard PAL right?). I can notice a difference between 576p and 576i though. Progressive Scan makes the biggest difference, which many DVD Recorders can do anyway.

I do prefer my Player for playing though as the controller is solely for playback no record buttons getting in the way. It also plays SACD and DVD-A the main reason I'm keeping it.


What do you mean no dual layer recording. The Pioneer 540 does so I'm sure these two models can. I'm sure 5.1 recording is down to copyright so will remain a rare feature.

Besides what are you going to record 5.1 from? Freeview doesn't support it for starters. I'd much prefer a Wireless connection than Ethernet. Very few people would use Ethernet has it would mean having to trail a cable around the house.

There's probably a lot more Ethernet around than you think -- the definition includes wireless networking and the use of those is exploding. But the numbers of wired houses, while still a small minority, are growing.

If it can do DL, I stand corrected -- my reading of the specs didn't reveal it it but I might have missed it

 

[knotpc]

I confess to be totally bemused myself why so many of you want such a dreadfully compressed format when you all seem to be wailing about quality issues at the same time.

[ I see a hornet's nest coming ]

I agree totally, I've only got a few DivX movies downloaded from the internet.
The quality is OK if I watch on my computer screen, but if I want to sit back on my recliner, watch my 32" TV, listen to DD or DTS surround sound at a good volume, Beer on one side, Pretzels,Olives on the other, with the remotes to hand, I want the best quality available. I've NOT got a lot of time for DivX!

Regards
knotpc

 

[JurgenNL]

Because the majority of the market who are adopting this technology now have never even heard of divX.

I confess to be totally bemused myself why so many of you want such a dreadfully compressed format when you all seem to be wailing about quality issues at the same time.

[ I see a hornet's nest coming ]

I agree, but more generally seen and thereby thrifting away from the subject of this thread:
On the one hand there is a call for high definition for this and that and on the other more and more people are going for compressed formats (and so Warner Classics doesn't produce cd's anymore) and cheap gadgets.

 

[marty2005]

I'm might get the new Sony 860 when it comes out. It does most things I want, divx, 3view,hdmi,sat control. It has a better remote than the pioneer 540 without the stupid sliding cover.

I have a lot of divx movies. 720 resolutions are exellant. I've watched a lot of us tv. you could put every star trek/star wars movie onto a dvd DL.

p.s. startrek is better than star wars.

 

[carcher]

I agree totally, I've only got a few DivX movies downloaded from the internet.
The quality is OK if I watch on my computer screen, but if I want to sit back on my recliner, watch my 32" TV, listen to DD or DTS surround sound at a good volume, Beer on one side, Pretzels,Olives on the other, with the remotes to hand, I want the best quality available. I've NOT got a lot of time for DivX!

Regards
knotpc

That's true for most movies, but I download a lot of US shows that have not aired in the UK yet in DivX format. I currently watch them using a chipped xbox on my TV and the quality is very good. I want a dvd/hdd recorder what plays divx videos so I only need one box in my lounge.

 

[manhar]

Am I correct in thinking that the pioneer does not support +RW and as such i will not be able to play my existing collection of +RWs?

 

[Cynthia 7]

Am I correct in thinking that the pioneer does not support +RW and as such i will not be able to play my existing collection of +RWs?

Hi manhar,

The information in the "What Video" mag is that this new recorder plays and records all DVD formats, including double layer +RWs and -RWs.