Panasonic DMR-E10 DVD-RAM Recorder

By Grant Clauser
The one thorn in the side of DVD, the lack of recordability, has finally been removed, sort of. While nearly everyone who's jumped onto DVD has been thrilled with the ride, VHS could still count recordability as the one thing its digital successor couldn't do. Until now. Panasonic has come forth with the world's first home DVD recorder, the DMR-E10.

It was inevitable, considering how similar DVDs are to CDs, that a recordable format, or formats, would eventually emerge. Recordable DVD has arrived, though the category is ripe with controversy. Primary among the controversies are copyright and compatibility.

Before we get into the meat of the Panasonic DMR-E10, a brief synopsis of recordable DVD is in order. There are currently three competing recordable formats: DVD-RAM, DVD+RW and DVD-RW (read the "-" as dash, not minus). Philips and Thomson are backing the DVD+RW format and claim that, when available, home recorded discs will be compatible with most existing DVD players. DVD-RW, backed by Pioneer and Kenwood, claims a similar level of compatibility. I've seen demonstrations of both, with discs recorded on the units then played in other brands' DVD players. DVD-RAM, on the other hand, is compatible only with other DVD-RAM players and some PC drives. While that may appear to be a liability for the format, as of this writing DVD-RAM is the only recordable format available, so the competition's claims are moot.

A trip to an electronics expo in Japan last year revealed that several other companies are putting their energy into DVD-RAM as well, including Toshiba, Mitsubishi, JVC and Hitachi, which has a DVD-RAM camcorder. So if RAM does become the format of choice, then compatibility will be less of an issue.

The copyright controversy is of more importance to filmmakers and their ilk than to the average consumer, but it's a good part of the reason DVD recorders have taken so long in getting here. The fear is that someone with a home DVD recorder making perfect digital copies of movies could potentially flood the black market with illicitly made DVDs. Does this scenario sound familiar? The DMR-E10 protects the interests of Hollywood by automatically rejecting anything with the Macrovision stamp on it. Second, there are no digital inputs, so at best it can only make a digital copy of an analog source. This is all well and good, and I can live with the logic of it, but there is one digital input the DMR-E10 lacks but shouldn't. I'll get back to that later.

As the first of it's kind, the DMR-E10 has the task of clearing the ground for the eventual tide of recordable DVD players to come. Its head start gives it some advantages, as well as serves to point out the disadvantages that other manufacturers will aim to correct before bringing their products to market.

The large champaign-colored DMR-E10 looks quite elegant among an assortment of black components. Its large multi-colored front display with a clock setting also draws attention. There's one large jog/shuttle dial, an oversized disc drawer door and an assortment of buttons, knobs and jacks to give the unit a very complicated, yet impressive look. It's probably one of the best-looking DVD players I've seen.

The back panel is fairly standard except for two things: a large cooling fan and a set of a/v inputs. The fan is required because the product generates more heat than a typical DVD player. The inputs (one antenna/cable, one S-Video, one set of composite) look more at home on a hard disk recorder than a DVD player, but then, that's the point, isn't it?

This player is stacked with interesting features, most of them revolving around the player's recording function. It records on 4.7GB DVD discs, which must be played in a disc cassette similar to the cassettes that early CD-ROM drives used. The unit comes with one blank disc, which is a good thing because additional blank discs run around $35 each. Like a VCR, the DMR-E10 can record in several quality/length modes: LP, SP and XP. There's also an FR mode (Flexible Record) that automatically adjusts the bit rate to get all of a recording on the disc space at the highest possible quality.

Also like a VCR, the DMR-E10 includes a standard NTSC tuner, so you plug in your cable or antenna and schedule recordings with an on-screen menu. It uses VCR Plus commands, so if your area newspapers prints VCR Plus codes in its program listing, you can easily enter the codes for scheduled recordings rather than go through the process of entering the date and time.

As a DVD player, the DMR-E10 performs exceptionally. Hooked up to an RCA 38-inch HDTV, the player's progressive picture was outstanding. Some progressive players don't offer any improvement over a digital TV's own internal line doubler, but in the case of the DMR-E10, the progressive picture was definitely superior. And the RCA HDTV has a very good line doubler. The player incorporates 3:2 pull down circuitry to improve performance of film-based material. Scenes from Fight Club were more disturbing than ever while Shakespeare In Love was realistic as a window, despite the contrived plot and dreadful script. Test patterns showed the unit fly past 480 lines of resolution. The Snell and Wilcox Zone Plate test pattern could not turn up any motion artifacts.

As a video recorder, the DMR-E10 is like a VCR that went off to school and learned that its parents lived in the stone age. The unit does some signal processing magic on imported video. Like many TVs, the DMR-E10 incorporates a 3D Y/C filter to separate the luminance and chrominance portions of the video, reducing dot crawl and color bleeding from composite signals. S-Video signals already have the Y and C signals separated, so they don't benefit from the filter. A TBC circuit is supposed to refine jitter, though I could only barely tell that there was any improvement.

On test patterns recorded from another DVD player, the difference between recording modes was pretty apparent. LP mode, which gives you about 4 hours at 2.5 Mbps, was a bit better than a good VHS recording. In the 10Mbps XP mode, the recording was nearly identical in color quality and resolution to the original, but you only get about an hour of recording.

Making digital copies of camcorder tapes may be one of the most attractive applications of the DMR-E10. I recorded scenes from both a Sony 8mm camera and a Panasonic DV camera. Recordings from both cameras looked as good as the original sources. Scenes from the DV camera recorded in XP mode looked fantastic.

Recoding programs from the tuner is about as easy as any well-designed VCR, though not as brainless as hard drive recorders (a.k.a. TiVo or Replay). The PROG button (on the remote) takes you to a menu for selecting the channel, date, and start and stop times, as well as the recording level. Once recorded, the player adds the program to a playlist on the DVD, which can be accessed by pressing the Navigator button. Much like the menu button for pre-recorded DVDs, the Navigator button shows you contents of the DVD-RAM disc. From here, you can add titles to the programs, including scenes from camcorders. This eliminates the problem of having to scan through a disc to find what you want. Playlists can be created to play the programs or scenes in a specific order, and the scenes can be rearranged. This feature is particularly useful for editing home videos. Of course, scenes can be deleted, making the disc reusable.

One big drawback to recording home videos from digital camcorders is the lack of a FireWire port. While I understand that Panasonic opted to pass on the FireWire port because of the fear of pirating digital material, there are currently no FireWire-equipped products on the American market except digital camcorders. And who's worried about copyrighting infringement on birthday party or wedding videos? Both Pioneer and Philips have promised FireWire on their DVD recorders.

DVD-RAM isn't likely to replace the VCR completely because there are still some important things you can't do with it, namely make a copy of a home movie and share it with family members who don't own DVD-RAM players. The other problem is the cost of the discs. At $35 each, building a large collection of recordings, such as my father-in-law's stash of European soccer matches, will cost a fortune. However, disc manufacturers claim that as the install base of DVD-RAM users goes up, the price of discs will come down.

The DMR-E10 is a monument not just for being first but also for being eminently useable. It's user-friendly design can make you forget that you're using one of the most advanced pieces of consumer electronics on the market. Its $4,000 price tag is also a monument, unfortunately. Both Philips and Pioneer have promised DVD recorders at somewhat lower prices this year and next. They also promise compatibility with other players and FireWire inputs. But the proof is in the product, and right now, the fact that there's nothing to compare it to places the Panasonic recorder at the top of the heap. II

Panasonic DMR-E10

$3,999

•MPEG2 encoding with variable bit rate

•Three recording speeds plus flexible record mode

•3D Y/C separation

•Video restoration

•Progressive scan playback

•Dolby Digital decoder

•DTS

•Video playlist

•NTSC tuner

•VCR Plus

•Cinema mode

•Virtual Surround Sound

•Optical & coaxial digital outputs

Pros

Flawless progressive video playback. Excellent recording in XP mode. Easy operation.

Cons

No FireWire jack for digital camcorders. Not compatible with other DVD players.

DVD-RAM isn't likely to replace the VCR completely because there are still some important things you can't do with it, namely make a copy of a home movie and share it with family members who don't own DVD-RAM players.

As a video recorder, the DMR-E10 is like a VCR that went off to school and learned that its parents lived in the stone age.

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