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In association with for DVD discs
Panasonic DMR-E50 DVD-RAM/DVD-R recorder 380
heres never been a better time to buy a DVD recorder, since price is no longer a restricting factor as Panasonics latest entry-level recorder ably demonstrates. The DMR-E50 costs around 380, and when you consider that the brands debut machine (the DMR-E20) cost a cool 1,000, this is absolutely astonishing. It uses DVD-RAM, perhaps the most versatile format, enabling features like Timeslip, which lets you watch the beginning of a programme thats still being recorded or watch a different recording while recording another. Yep, this is an all-singing, all-dancing machine that is incredible value for money. It also looks the part. The par-for-the-course silver styling is attractive enough, and there are plenty of fascia-mounted buttons for up-close tweaking. Under a flap on the front is a selection of video and audio inputs, but sadly no digital camcorder i.Link connectivity. Round the back are two Scarts, both of which are RGB-capable, plus composite and S-video inputs/outputs and a bevy of audio connections. Auto tuning efficiently tunes the channels into the correct Video Plus order. The remote looks complicated but is easy to master and youll be racing round the elegant menus in no time. Theres plenty to configure, both for DVD recording and playback. The DMR-E50 offers four levels of recording quality XP, SP, LP and EP, which provide maximum recording times of one hour, two hours, four hours and six hours respectively. The Panasonic also offers the brands unique FR mode, which works out the best recording bitrate for the space left on the disc meaning that you always get the best possible pictures. Any recordings stored on a disc are accessed by pressing Direct Navigator on the remote. This index is superb, using thumbnails for each recording. Other nifty features include playlist editing, where you can piece together clips of your recordings. Camcorder users will love this feature.

Test Scenes

EastEnders

Walford wonders

On to performance and, as with all Panasonics recorders, picture quality is immaculate. XP is the best quality setting, and is a showcase for everything thats good about digital recording bright, forceful colours and pin-sharp detail. Whats more, the stability of images exposes wobbly old VHS as the archaic technology that it is. SP recordings are also highly impressive, virtually identical to XP except for the faintest increase in digital artefacts. However, for day-to-day recording needs you may want to opt for LP or EP, which offer longer recording times. You wont be disappointed here either, as pictures retain a high amount of detail and colour, though edges do appear dottier and large background areas are less stable than XP or SP. Nevertheless, these artefacts are far preferable to the tizzing and softness associated with VHS.
The Walford locals are impressively rendered, and fast-moving objects are steady in XP and LP modes

Shrek Monstrous strength

The colours in Shreks green skin and the dragons fiery breath are strong and unsullied by noise

Good Points

Overwhelming features list with additions such as Timeslip putting this recorder in a different league. DVD-RAM is great for editing, and recording quality is second to none.

Do the timewarp

The Timeslip functions work faultlessly, and editing together your own footage provides hours of fun. Its easy to pick up and clips playback seamlessly. The only problem you may face with DVD-RAM recordings and this could possibly be a big problem is that theyre incompatible with the vast majority of regular DVD players. Thats why the DMR-E50 boasts write-once DVD-R recording. These discs are compatible with any player, and use the same picture quality settings as above. As a DVD player, the DMR-E50 is exemplary in terms of picture and sound quality. You can rest assured that DVDs are noise-free and detailed, while Dolby Digital, DTS and CD playback is hugely enjoyable. Panasonic maintains its DVD recorder track record with the DMR-E50. It may be incompatible with most DVD players, but DVD-RAM is a wonderfully flexible format. It has some amazing features, offers high-quality pictures and can be found online for around 350, which makes it incredible value for money. Further Info
Call Panasonic or visit www.panasonic.co.uk

Bad Points

DVD-RAM is incompatible with the majority of DVD players, and i.Link connection would have been the icing on the cake

Overall

Immaculate recordings and tons of features for around an incredible 400 if you hunt around. Bargain!

Ratings

Style Ease of use Features Picture Sound Value Overall

5555555555

66 What Home Cinema August 2003

0306HCC17 Panasonic DVD-R P

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DVDRecorder
PANASONIC DMR-E50 N 450 (APPROX) N N www.panasonic.co.uk
Front AV inputs for a camcorder perhaps

Whos the daddy?

DVD-RAM PATHFINDER PANASONIC ATTEMPTS TO BEAT OFF THE COMPETITION WITH ITS THIRD GENERATION OF DVD RECORDERS. JIM HILL GREETS THE NEW ARRIVAL
A rather complicated remote control
anasonic entered the DVD recorder market a little late with the DVD-RAM format and a
hides a set of AV inputs that would serve a camcorder. These include an S-video input but, sadly, no i.Link for digital camcorders. This is exclusive to the E60. The rear panel offers an RGB Scart input for recording from a set-top box as well as more AV inputs. An RF loopthrough feeds the internal analogue TV tuner and a RGB Scart output connects to your TV. A single optical digital output feeds Dolby Digital and DTS streams from DVD to your AV amplifier. A component output would have been nice, but otherwise, home cinema fans are well catered for. Just like a VCR, the E50 combines a TV tuner with a video recorder, in this case DVD-RAM, and, of course, it can play back DVD-Video. It can also play back nearly all other disc formats including DVD-R and DVD+R and can record onto write-once DVD-R. A new feature of this model is MP3 playback, either pre-recorded or from CD-R. The E50 automatically detects MP3 files and can display the track information on a helpful onscreen menu. There are a number of advantages to the DVD-RAM format that become apparent when you use the E50. It is much more flexible than DVD+R and DVD-R in that you can burn different types of data onto the disc and then move your data around. This means you can edit recorded material in the same

LAB REPORT

Video jitter: 9ns, below average Signal-to-noise ratio: -71.3 dB, good Chroma AM/PM: -71.5/-71.0, excellent/excellent Chroma crosstalk: -49.2 dB, below average Frequency response @ 5.8 MHz: 6.83 (composite), very good; -7.09 (S-video), very good

DVD RECORDING

machine called the DMR-E20. Just three years on and the DVD recorder market has matured profitably for all of the companies involved, not least Panasonic, which is already into its third-generation product cycle. As you are probably already aware, the recordable DVD format war is a tri-partisan conflict also involving Philips DVD+R/+RW and Pioneers DVD-R/-RW. So, all eyes are on Panasonics new launches to see just how serious the company is about DVD-RAM. Judging by this years lineup, the answer is very serious indeed. On their way are two RAM recorders with hard drives, various PC RAM drives, a RAM camcorder and two new RAM decks, the soon-to-be-released DMR-E60 and the DMR-E50, which we have here. At 450, the E50 is the entry-level, cheaper than last years E30, but packing the same specifications with a few extra features.
Optical out, but no digital inputs
Chroma AM/PM (SP): -64.4/62.1, excellent/excellent Frequency response: (XP): -1.37/-6.20, excellent (SP): -1.38/-6.20, excellent (LP): -0.21/-21.00, fair (EP): -0.21/-21.05, fair

HCC Practical Tip

Blank DVDs were almost impossible to find last year, but already there is a bewildering variety of blank media on sale. The DMR-E50 takes DVDRAM discs, which come in two flavours: caddy-protected and naked (without the plastic case). Naturally, the protected ones are a little more expensive, but they do allow for double-sided flipper discs, which have twice the normal capacity at 9.4GB. Significantly, the DMR-E50 can also record onto DVD-R discs. These blanks can only be written once, but are much more affordable.

EVERYBODYS FORMAT

Visually, the E50 looks plainer than its mirror-fronted predecessor, but is still remarkably thin considering the electronics that are packed inside. The front panel is refreshingly simple, with just the basic controls on show youll
No mirror finish this time
need the remote control to operate the more sophisticated functions. A front flap
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Tried&Tested

way as MiniDisc and extract data while you are recording. This enables two of the E50s biggest selling points: Time Slip and Chasing Playback. These allow you to pause live TV or playback scenes that you have just recorded without interrupting the recording process great for anyone who arrives home halfway through their favourite soap.

The internal TV tuner is of the old-fashioned analogue variety, so youll probably want to record TV programmes from a Sky or Freeview box, in which case the RGB Scart input is what you should use. This tends to give remarkably faithful copies on DVD in standard SP mode. Try copying from another DVD source and youll almost certainly come up against some form of copy protection. Unprotected discs, however, yield great duplicates in XP mode. There is no digital input, so the soundtrack is an analogue recording each time and encoded into Dolby Digital format, but the fidelity is perfectly adequate. You can then go back and edit your programmes on the disc. Divide up the advert breaks, if you like, and delete them and name each segment. The E50 automatically labels each one with date, time and source. All this functionality could scare off some of the more timid technophobes, except that Panasonics designers have gone out of their way to make the onscreen menu system as friendly and logical as possible. Press the Function button on the remote control and a grid of nine options appear, with recognisable pictures attached to each one. Move your cursor to one of these and the graphics will guide you through each operation. The remote itself is clearly labelled too,
with a sliding panel to hide the buttons you wont use much. It can also be used to operate most brands of TV. In reality, the E50 is probably going to see most service as a DVD source, so it had better be a decent DVD player too. Unsurprisingly, given Panasonics pedigree in this area, its DVD performance is very strong. The action sequences from the adrenaline-soaked xXx DVD are pin-sharp, vividly coloured and free from motion artefacts, even during the tricky avalanche sequence. The Dolby Digital audio comes from the optical output, and provided your home cinema setup is up to it, soundtracks are delivered with crisp accuracy. It even makes a decent job of playing CDs. The MP3 functionality is a real bonus if you are inclined to rip songs onto CD-R, or even DVD-RAM.

RATINGS

Highs: Flexible recording facilities; easy editing suite; good DVD playback; clear OSM Lows: No i.Link input; limited compatibility of DVD-RAM format
Picture Sound Features Overall ##### #### ##### #####

ON RECORD

Recording TV programmes will be easy for anyone who has ever used a VCR. Press Direct Record and it will copy whatever you are watching, or set the 16-event timer, which offers the same VideoPlus with PDC functionality that all good VCRs are blessed with. What you can also do, however, is specify the quality at which you want to record, from XP, the highest quality mode, through increasing rates of compression to EP (Extended Play). In XP mode, you can fit 1hr of DVD-quality video onto a standard 4.7GB blank disc. In standard mode, 2hrs and in EP 6hrs, but at this compression rate, MPEG artefacts seriously compromise the picture quality. Even in this mode though, it still beats VHS for stability and clarity. Another option, called Flexible Recording mode, calculates the optimal bitrate necessary to fit your programme onto the remainder of the disc, so you dont even have to think about it. Neat.

FEATURES

Formats supported: DVD-RAM; DVD-R; DVD-RW (playback); DVD+R (playback); DVD; VCD; CD; CD-R/RW; MP3 Main features: Dolby Digital/DTS output; four record modes; one-touch record; Timeslip record; 16-event one-month timer-record with VideoPlus and PDC; Q-Link; auto/manual tuning; PAL/NTSC record and playback; thumbnail menu; divide/erase editing; TV/DVD remote Connections: RGB Scart in; S-video in x 2; composite video in x 2; stereo audio in x 2; RGB Scart out; S-video out; composite video out; stereo audio out; optical audio out; RF loopthrough Dimensions: 430(w) x 79(h) x 283(d) Weight: 3.8kg

PAN HANDLING

Panasonic cant quite match Philips entry-level recorder on price, but it certainly beats it in terms of features. It offers more editing flexibility, similar connectivity and is slightly easier to use. Depending on the recording mode, copies made on the E50 are comparable with all similarly priced DVD recorders. But when it comes to DVD playback, the E50 really shines, so that 450 begins to look like a fair price for a DVD player with some very cool extra features I
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