Info and forum posts by 'images'

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Joined on: Sunday, 17th February 2002, 14:35, Last used: Monday, 6th February 2006, 22:34

Access Level: Competent

About this user: dv video editing
computers in general hadrware & software

This user has posted a total of 71 messages. On average, since joining, this user has posted 0.01 messages a day, or 0.06 messages a week. In the last 30 days, this user has posted 0 messages, which is on average 0 messages a day.

Recent Messages Posted:

RE: The way EP & LP implemented on stand-alone recorders - does it differ?

Mark,
To avoid confusion the LSI referred not to the manufacturer but rather that most of the processing was done in one `large scale integration` chip. As far as I know the Cyberhome sold in Europe ( with ME before the serial number on the box ) uses a Mediatec chipset.
The USA version I believe is different, ? a Zoran chip.
Haven`t looked inside the Mico yet but that may use a Cirrus chip.

BTW my preliminary tests done after reading your reply confirms that EP & LP have a resolution of 352 x 576 as reported by ` Bitrate` which also correctly reports a VCD as 352 x 288

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RE: The way EP & LP implemented on stand-alone recorders - does it differ?

Mark, Many thanks for your prompt and informative reply.

One point however, you comment on `the build quality; of the two machines, I always took this to mean the physical construction. In this case however `the hard work ` is done by the respective chipsets. Since these are LSI and probably common to several machine manufacturers does the difference in result lie in the chipsets themselves or is there much scope for different manufacturers to utilise them in different ways resulting in differing quality ?

I am currently transferring some Betamax tapes recorded twenty years ago to DVD for convenience and had forgotten just how good the quality of the system was. My only gripe is the absence of a linear `clock` on the Sony machine, a feature one has since come to take for granted.

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The way EP & LP implemented on stand-alone recorders - does it differ?

Do all stand-alone DVD recorders handle LP and EP recordings in the same way ??

My understanding is that recordings at these speeds have only half the number of horizontal lines ie. are similar to `VCD` Question is, is the horzontal resolution reduced as well ?
I believe that some machines behave differently and maintain the same line numbers as a DVD but reduce the data rate. This would seem to have advantages if there is no fast action.
I currently use a Mico 311i and whilst the degradation is decernable ( as an increse in background noise ) the difference is not as marked as running the same comparison on a Cyberhome 1600

Can anyone advise please

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RE: cyberhome dvdr 1600

What problems did you have ??
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RE: MICO Espejo R311 DVDR

This item was edited on Saturday, 5th November 2005, 14:45

RE: Videotapes - recycling?

A couple of years ago the durability of Recordable DVD blanks was being questioned. Several people found that discs they had ` burnt ` and which played perfectly at first became unplayable viz. ` disc unrecognised ` after Three to Six months. This was pehaps due to the burners they were using but was never fully explained. If that was the cause is the present technology any more reliable ??

From experience I know that magnetic recordings made fifty years ago remain sound and I have digitized many of them.

Personally I would hang on to any tapes of material I value until the DVDs are of proven longevity.

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RE: Cyberhome DVR 1600 DVD Recorder £59.94 at Asda

Mine was also £ 84.99

The 1600 ME version ( ? mediatec chipset ; European version ) This has no fan but does not seem to run abnormally hot.
As well as being multi-region it plays DivX files well.
Although the `sharpness` may be a little soft it is perfectly acceptable.

To my surprise in addition to DVD +R/ +RW it also records to DVD -RW and DVD -R.
I am not yet sure whether it can satisfactorily ` finalise ` the latter to enable them to play in other DVD players, but they certainly playback on the 1600 recorder itself.

What experiences have others had with the ASDA version of this machine ?

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RE: Mico 311i and Mico 311: comparison?

Any comments on this one anyone ?

Mico 311i and Mico 311: comparison?

Have recently bought the Mico 311i and out of curiosity should be interested to know if, apart from the firewire input, there are any other significant differences between the two models ie. firmware and general functioning etc.
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RE: Aldi DVD burner £79.99 & other stuff

Quote: "Price wise, it seems these Pioneers cost only fractonally more at Dealtime"

or at some local fairs - see my earlier posting on this thread !!
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RE: Aldi DVD burner £79.99 & other stuff

Bill R.,
I bought a Pioneer 106 at Harvey Hadden Fair in December for £ 79.00, which seemed to be the going rate. ( also I didn`t have to change the front panel as it was beige already !! )

In answer to your query, mine works fine on Win2000
Must say I have been very pleased with the burner both for +RW and -R discs
If still in doubt suggest you try the next `Fair` on the 18th -- when they may well be less than the £ 79 I paid.
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RE: Bench DVD Player KH 5777 (could be 6777) Advertised By Lidl for £37.99

Machine had a nice appearance, being slim and black, but performance disappointing.
1) Picture quality not as good as other players in similar price range.

2) Would not play my XSVCD discs ( DVD at 4000Kbps) which most other players accept.

3) MP3 menu did display additional info re. the album name and date (which most other players don`t, but menu was not always easy to read due to persistence of the manufacturer`s logo

4) I read of possible deficencies regarding the audio output; but have not tested that myself.

On the Plus side it does have Progressive scan if you need that, I didn`t and returned the machine.
Hope these comments will help,
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Mico DVD Recorder with Firewire input ?

A short time back ( I can`t recall just where ) I heard that Sainsburys were going to have a version of the Mico Recorder with Firewire input, early in the New Year.
Has anyone else heard this and is it likely ?
Should be very interested if it were so.
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RE: pacific 1002w macrovision

Thanks Snafu: Your last posting fits in with the view I had already formed; nevertheless it does not seem too bad a machine in other respects.
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RE: pacific 1002w macrovision

Thanks Danny for your posting
I shall look to see if I have any Macro protected Region 2 Discs ( previously I have relied on a proven Region 1 disc as my test guinea-pig since some region2 discs I thought were protected subsequently proved not to be )
Do you know the origin of the `45610` hack ?; does it have any function at all ?; or is it just that it does nothing and therefore has no effect on the Region 2 settings

I have so far failed to find any reference to the 45610 version anywhere else apart from that which started this current thread. Are you able to point me in any other direction please.
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RE: pacific 1002w macrovision

Hi Snafu, thanks for the prompt reply. I tried to mail you yesterday but my system crashed unexpectedly - anything to do with your name do you think ??

However tried the hack you suggested but no joy unfortunately. Also tried 14560 as an alternative, thinking it might follow the same logic as the prev 13690 hack for multiregion, which does work on my 1002W
Have you had any positive confirmation that the 1002W can have the Macro disabled ? I made my test with an R1 disc in which the Macro effect definitely persists after the Open: clear:4 5 6 1 0:close is applied. Have I missed a point somewhere ?
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RE: pacific 1002w macrovision

Have been unable to locate the `Macrohack` for the 1002w, can you guide me to it please.
Tnx.
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RE: Akura ADV15S £34.99 at Sainsbury`s

Yes it does play VCD also SVCD and especially XSVCD at 4000Kbs data rate all without problem but the quality is naturally limited to that of the composite video output.
( ie dot crawl and some colour bleeding which does not occur when the same discs are played on a machine that outputs RGB, until that machine is also switched to composite video output. )
Interested to read above that not all the machines are multiregion `out of the box`. Mine certainly was and played R1 discs without problem.
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RE: Akura ADV15S £34.99 at Sainsbury`s

I know it says "SCART output RGB" on the side of the box, but there was no RGB output so a quick look inside confirmed only five wires connected to the Scart socket viz. composite video, audio R/L, switching voltage and earth. The picture quality with the composite was disappointing which made the machine unacceptable for my needs and so I returned it pointing out the incorrect description on the box.
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RE: Akura ADV15S £34.99 at Sainsbury`s

Stop Searching ! Already Multi region out of box, but not VCR friendly

Main limitations are:
1) No RGB output on Scart, only composite video or S-Video

2) No Rotate facility when playing JPEGs

3) Rather clumsy menu structure for MP3 and JPEG, could live with the latter though would rather not.

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RE: Pacific 1002 DVD Player - Not Working!!

What exactly did you do? and how is it now ? does it power-up and play audio CDs or does the display not light up?

RE: Pacific 1002 remote trouble !

How recent is your machine ? If you bought it since Dec 2002 then the 13690 code should work.

Q. Will it still only play Region2 discs? Have you tried a Region 1 disc
If still only plays Region 2 then try the following:
> Insert region 2 disc
>press setup
>press Pause
>press Previous ¦<<
>press Next >>¦
>press setup

The prev and next seems to work from the Remote or the front panel, the < or > arrow buttons also seem to have the same effect
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RE: Pacific 1002 remote trouble !

Q1. Have you accidentally pressed the `Key lock` button on the remote. Try pressing it now and see if that helps.

Q2. which version of the hack did you use ? The `tray open : clear : 13690` hack seems to work on the current version of the 1002, but the earlier version - a few months ago - used a different chipset and there is a different hack for that one that many people including myself found disabled the buttons on the unit itself.

Let me know which unit you have and what you have done.
HTH
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RE: Pacific 1002 Hack Help

`fraid I have no DVD R or RW discs either+ or - to do any testing,
But quoting www.vcdhelp,com they list its capability as -R, -RW ,+RW but perhaps not +R although one of the reviews (13 Jan 2003) does say it can read +R as well as +RW.
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RE: Pacific 1002 Hack Help

Hi Jackie, Pleased you are pleased and that the posting was of help to you. Images.

RE: Pacific 1002 Hack Help

The current stock of 1002 can certainly be made region free using:
1 ) Eject and leave tray open and empty.
2) Press `clear`
3) Press ` 1 3 6 9 0` for regionfree or 13691 or 2 for regions 1 and 2 respectively.
Thats it: job done

They also play VCD, SVCD, XSVCD, miniDVD at 4000 bps( Mico players though otherwise good can`t cope with this data rate which I find ideal for putting Hi8 camcorder tape onto CD without any obvious loss of detail. You get approx 20 mins 720 X 526 interlaced video on an 80 min CD. ). Also plays JPEG stills mixed in with MP3 files or as a straight `dump` from a digital camera onto a CD

The present model of the 1002 ( £ 59.97 ) although outwardly the same as the earlier model uses a different chipset, is better constructed internally and has a better firmware than the earlier one.

So !, if your December deck doesn`t do all these things take it back for a refund ( perhaps of £ 69.85 ) and get the current one which is ten pounds cheaper anyway.

I am not aware of any Macrovision disable, probably not possible with the later type of chipset but for me that is not a big issue and I have been well pleased with mine.
Good luck
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RE: pacific 1002 (£70 3yr warranty) OR mico sofia 02a (£90 1 yr warranty)

quote: The MiCO. It plays anything and has excellent back-up from Pulse Service, and far more reliable.

Not quite so.
The Mico does not cope with XSVCD (mini DVD) with a data rate of 4000kbs whereas the Pacific did.
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RE: Which is best machine: Mico Clasica 20 or Sofia 02A ?

The Classica 20 is a good machine but unfortunately does not cope with XSVCD or mini DVD at higher data rates eg 4000 Kbs, which my Dansai handles perfectly even up to 5000 Kbs.
However this may not be important for your needs though it is for mine.

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RE: URGENT NEED OF HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE

Pleased you have made progress
Can you set the OSD Menu=English ?
Try setting the subtitles to Auto if English is not an option
Fehler is `error correction` and probably best left OFF

By the way the codes you entered differ from those that I saw published, but no matter, the result is what counts. It certainly isn`t a Dansai since that has a hidden menu to access the region code and Macrovision.
At least you now have a working system.
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RE: URGENT NEED OF HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE

Guess the first word must be `Sprache` = `language`
Try enter or play for that option and it will likely bring you to englisch, chose that and again enter etc. and see what happens.

Why do you think it is a clone of the Dansai ?
I entered the name and number into Google and it threw up masses of references to the machine in german, english and french together with the remote codes needed to make it a) regionfree and b) Macrovisionfree.
these were nothing like the codes for the Dansai, but you can find them at
http://www.dvd-technology.co.uk/optimhack.htm

The maker is given as TECO in Taiwan
Ok it seems to have Kareoke inputs but that is found on several Chinese DVDs and it doesn`t mean that the firmware is identical.

See how you go and let me know.
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