[muglo] Re: DVD Recorders [OT]
- From: "Eric Dunbar" <eric.dunbar@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: muglo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2006 17:10:27 -0500
On 3/12/06, Paul Thomas <paul_thomas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I am considering purchasing a reasonably priced DVD Recorder/Player but
> have a number of questions which I am sure someone can help!
>
> 1. Currently I have the Cable connected to a Digital Box which then
> feeds into a VCR and thence into the TV, which works fine for my needs.
> Can I simply insert a DVD unit in between the VCR and TV in order
> to play VCR Tapes or DVDs in addition to using the TV (as at the
> moment)?
You could, but you risk degrading the signal quality.
Are you using composite (RCA) [or some other higher quality]
connections between each device or is the VCR connected to the TV with
coaxial cable? DVD players do _not_ like being connected to TVs via
coaxial cable (the copy protection scheme on copy-protected discs
degrades the signal).
> With this set up can I copy my VCR Tapes onto DVD discs? Can I
> also make DVD copies of commercial tapes - I suspect the answer here is
> NO?
Yes, you can copy definitely copy VHS/BetaMax tapes to DVD discs, and
you can _probably_ make DVD discs of your [old] commerical VHS/BetaMax
tapes. I don't think the copy protection on old commercial tapes was
particularly effective as functioning as copy protection (it wasn't
like you could make a perfect copy of a perfect copy of a tape...
after one copy the quality rapidly degraded... unlike DVDs[1]).
[1] I think DVDs will very rapidly be replaced. They are profoundly
flawed devices for what they're doing, and, I don't think they are
"fixable" to prevent people from copying DVD movies.
> 2. I have been looking at DVD Recorder/Player units and some of them
> mention that they will record on DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW and
> play DVD/CD, VCD/CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD audio, or variations of this,
> some being more restricted or not specified. How important are these
> specifications? Are all these varieties required? If not, which ones
> are important? And, if restricted, is this a limitation on the type of
> blank DVDs purchased?
I would go with a higher quality DVD recorder/player. I'm sure a few
Googles will provide you with the info you need on consumer ratings of
the DVD recorder/player.
As for the specs, you should try to get _as many as possible_.
Having only a few supported formats does limit your media choices. At
the very least you should have DVD-R support. It is the most widely
used and most widely compatible format and is the favoured format for
video. DVD+R is a late comer to the scene and isn't really used much
for video. You should also be able to record VCD/CD with the DVD
recorder.
Eric.
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