SPECIAL REPORT: Full details of Panasonic's forthcoming Blu-ray/Freesat recorders
We've spent the day at Panasonic's UK HQ in Bracknell, getting a full technical briefing on its range of forthcoming Blu-ray/Freesat recorders, due out on June 20th.
We first caught a glimpse of the new recorders at Panasonic's European press launch last month, but details were thin on the ground. Now we can give you the full story.
There are two Blu-ray/Freesat recorders coming to the UK, and a DVD/Freesat recorder model as well. Top of the range is the DMR-BS850 Blu-ray/Freesat recorder with 500GB hard disk drive that will sell for £999.
Next comes the DMR-BS750, a 250GB Blu-ray/Freesat model costing £899, and finally there's the DMR-XS350, a DVD/Freesat recorder with 200GB hard drive selling for £699.
All three models have twin Freesat HD satellite tuners and are compatible with Viera Cast, Panasonic's proprietary internet portal that's standard across its entire 2009 Blu-ray range and many of its latest TVs.
The two Blu-ray models have onboard decoders for Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD Master Audio, and the DMR-BS850 gets upgraded audio components such as a better quality DAC and gold-plated terminals (see picture below).
The DMR-BS850 and BS750 are Profile 2.0 out of the box, so BD-Live compatible, and come equipped with an SD memory card slot capable of playing back high-definition (AVCHD) footage from an HD camcorder, as well as full HD JPEGs.
There's also a built-in music jukebox with 350,000 album and song titles pre-installed from the Gracenote database. This can be updated via the web using the recorder's Ethernet connection.
The twin tuners mean you can watch one programme off-air while recording another, or record two programmes simultaneously while watching a third recorded to Blu-ray disc or the hard disk drive.
Direct bitstream recording of high-definition programmes to the HDD means there's no decoding involved, and recordings can include multichannel 5.1 sound when applicable, plus sub-titles, in the highest-quality DR mode.
The Freesat electronic programme guide (EPG) allows for single programme or series recording, as well as the ability to pause live TV, select 'split recording' for, say, films with a break for the news in the middle, and 'schedule TV' which automatically adjusts your recordings to take account of any changes in the scheduled broadcast time.
What's more, the EPG will automatically tell you when a programme is available in high definition as well as standard definition, so you can choose which version you want to record.
Oh, and did we mention that Freesat is promising to offer IPTV services later this year, including the BBC iPlayer? Now that we do like.
Another handy feature is the 'Direct Navigator' function for the hard disk drive. This lets you manage all your digital media – still pictures, music and video – using simple on-screen graphics and pictures.
Any TV programmes you've recorded but haven't yet watched will be denoted by a green flag, and the paperclip symbol means every episode of a particular series can be stored in its own folder on the EPG.
When recording to the HDD or a Blu-ray disc, there are five quality modes: DR (14mbps), HG (12mbps), HX (8mbps), HE (5mbps) and the lowest quality HL (4mbps).
Obviously the storage capacity of the disc or hard drive will depend on the recording quality you choose. But to give you an idea, at the highest quality DR mode you can store 77 hours of high-def content on the 500GB HDD, 37.5 hours on the 250GB HDD and 7.5 hours on a blank 50GB dual-sided Blu-ray disc.
Switch to the lowest quality HL mode and you'll get 240 hours on the 500GB HDD, 120 hours on the 250GB HDD and 24 hours on a 50GB Blu-ray disc.
To speed up recording times from the hard disk drive to Blu-ray, Panasonic has developed a 6x BD-R disc that will enable you to transfer a one hour, DR-mode recording from the HDD to a disc in just four minutes. If the recording is in the lowest HL mode, it will transfer in 1.5 minutes. A 100GB disc is in development and will be available in 2010.
As for the thorny issue of copy protection, the broadcaster can tag every TV episode or film as copy-free (so you can record it to other media as often as you want), copy once (self-explanatory) or copy never.
The DMR-XS350 DVD model can, like the other two, record high-definition programmes in DR mode to the hard disk drive, but only in standard definition to DVD.
We hope to bring you more pictures of the Blu-ray recorders in the June issue of What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision, on sale next month. In the meantime, you can check out Panasonic's own HD Everything website for more details.
- Andy Clough's blog
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Comments
I can't see any point in this device if it can't record HD to blu - ray due to copy protection. As far as I know all the freesat HD is copy protected. Though I hope someone tells me otherwise.
The screenshots show signs of the old Panasonic user interface which I think is dreadfully clunky and out of date. I have their last VHS DVD HDD model and its not user friendly at all.
Agreed, I never bothered with a DVD recorder as, using a Topfield, I can archive anything which I record and want to keep on to my Mac using the USB socket. All that's needed is a similar Freesat / Freeview HD tuner with a gigabit ethernet socket to do the same - I don't see a need for a Blu-Ray recordable drive for this. Blu-Ray as a medium makes sense for purchasable films to buy since it would take your average user a few days to download one film at the moment, but this doesn't apply for broadcast material.
As for copy protection, I can't believe these guys haven't yet learnt from every other consumer recordable device which is out there. The consumer is not your enemy, people, the mass pirates in the likes of the Far East have that well and truly covered and putting copy protection on a broadcast is not going to stop them. All it's going to do is just annoy the average law abiding user since they have to decide what they have to delete in order to keep and fit every copyrighted broadcast on their hard drive. It's ridiculous, when will these guys wake up?!
I've been hoping these would come out soon, but at £899+ they're are a bit steep! I was hoping they'd be under £599. I'd be happy if they released one with a HDD recorder and just a BD player instead of a recorder, as I guess its the BD recorder that pushes the price up so much...
I have a Panny DVD/HDD recorder currently and can honestly say that I have never used the DVD recorder function, but then I don't feel any need to keep things that I've recorded off TV forever so the HDD is enough for me.
I agree with the poster above about the panasonic TV guide, slow, clunky and not enough channels/times shown on screen at the same time, the guide on my Sony W4000 is far more user friendly.
Freesat's HD content is currently copy protected, but Panasonic says BBC HD is lifting the copy protection in time for the launch of these recorders.
It expects most content to be copy-protection-free, other than the occasional copyright-sensitive broadcast (such as some movies), which may be copy-once - in other words, you can make your own back-up to Blu-ray, but no more.
And, however you look at it, record once is fine for anyone? Isn't it? Also it's very slim considering what's squeezed inside: 430x66x330 in fact.
The blu ray recording is OTT but the rest of it is precisely what I am looking for as a freesat receiving HD recorder with CD/ jukebox facility and at a ridiculously small size.When is the review???
We've been promised review units by late May/early June - we should have our test here online/in mag by the time the recorders hit the shops in late June.
Thanks for the update - good to hear the content won't all be copy protected and yes, I guess copy once should really be good enough for most people. Admittedly my post last night was a little brash and I can well understand why someone would want one of these, even if I don't personally!
Hi...Do we know yet whether you can stuff the harddisk with media files from your home PC, and simply use it as a directly connected media server? WOuld do away with need for XBOX/PS3 etc ect (for those who dont play games)...
The recorders will handle copy and playback of AVCHD video via the SD memory card slot and USB terminal; the latter will also enable MP3, JPEG and DiVX playback and CDs can be ripped to the hard drive which includes support for the Gracenote database. That enough for you?
no... so close, but so far. They should open up the Hard Drive for general use and utilise the already onboard encoder/decoder firmware to turn the box into a media-player unit. Additionally they could code a small application to sit on your networked PC and stream media from there to your TV via the box and your loal network. Its simple stuff, but looks like we have to wait longer ...
This product is exactly what I'm looking for - I have an HDD/DVD recorder, and although I mainly use the HDD, I do use the DVD recorder to watch recorded programmes on other DVD players (particularly the portable). Upgrading to HD will mean I don't have to fiddle around with my Technomate receiver and plug in hard drives. Great also to hear that BBC are also removing the copy protection.
The key thing now is the quality of the Blu Ray as a player. Do the What Hi-fi team know whether this will be similar to the entry level Panasonic players or a higher up model?
The Blu-ray mechanicals are closely based on the Panasonic DMP-BD60, which we've just tested. The BD recorders use the same PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus and P4HD technology as the player-only model. Which is very good.
And if you go for the DMR-BS850 model, you'll get the same audio upgrade components as used in the DMP-BD60.
Can you record to DVD-R and input from DVD-R(W) to amalgamate on Blu-Rays? If it's similar to BD60, that probably means no analogue outs I take it?
If you can afford the £1000 for this then most people will have a big tv. 7 channel display for the guide on a 50" tv ! Most of the display is filled will irrelevant information.
There should be a button to hide it and show a 10+ channel guide.
Not as bad as Samsung's 4 line epg on their dvd recorders.