Page 1 of What length of movie will a DVD Recorder stuff onto a 4.7gb DVD please??

Hello everyone

I am about to buy a DVD Recorder. Can anyone please answer the following question :
" when recording say, a movie from the TV channel, what is the maximum length of movie (in hrs and mins) that the machinery will stuff onto a 4.7gb DVD."

regards

;) grimerz

usually 6hrs at lowest quality but there are many settings and it`s better to just use what you need using flexible record, this gives the best picture :)


general nobody @ www.dvdreviewer.co.uk

Ye GODS Ogster ! I am flabbergasted by your reply. 6hrs you say?

My reason for sounding so surprised is that I use my PC to make movies, not particularly exciting stuff mind you, just family mainly, and I can just about squeeze 2hrs 04mins onto a 4.7gb DVD.

What you say sound very interesting. Thank you very much. I`d better hop out and buy one.

regards

grimerz :D

Despite the manufacturers` claims, you can`t squeeze 6 hours onto a 4.7GB disc without severely compromising the picture quality. Unless you like your films to look worse than VHS, 2 hours is a more realistic maximum.

Mike

Here`s what you get with a Panasonic DMR-E55:

XP = 1 hrs (indistinguishable from original TV broadcast)
SP = 2 hrs (to my eyes very little different to XP)
LP = 4 hrs (fine for day to day recordings, compression artefacts visible)
EP = either 6 or 8 hrs (up to you, I use 6 hr mode which again is fine for things you don`t intend to keep).
FR = variable (say the film is 2 hrs 15 mins, then you tell it to fit 2hrs 15 mins onto the disc and it works out the best bitrate to achieve it).

Have to agree with Oggster. FR is very useful if the film is just over 2 hours but you don`t want to reduce quality down to LP mode.

ddevil

yes, sorry i should have made myself clearer, lp (6hr) does reduce picture quality by a LOT and i don`t use it myself, however a lot of my friends find it very usefull for putting 3 films on a disc ;) without complaint.

EDIT=tho tbh the 4hr mode would be absolutly fine for home movies/camcorder stuff + you can record directly into a set top recorder saving the hassle of pc capture etc :)
hope this helps,
ps...i have a panny DMR-E30 (oldest model) and would happily recomend this range over the phillips/budget range, i think the current model is the DMR-E55 and i`m sure someone will post the relevent prices if you ask nicely ;)

general nobody @ www.dvdreviewer.co.uk

This item was edited on Monday, 21st June 2004, 21:12

With the Panasonics you can tailor the recording to the exact length of the film using flexible recod mode. For the Philips there is a 2hr mode (2hrs 03mins to be precise) and an M2x mode of 2.5 hrs. You won`t notice the difference.

I bought the e55 on Saturday from Richer Sounds for £250 but could have got it from Digital-Point.co.uk for £225 - I was a bit impatient and preferred a shop to take it back to in case of problems. I have used the 8 hr mode for stuff that i am going to delete like corrie big brother etc and it is ok. I have just got a double sided ram disc which potentially allows 16 hrs, but you have to flip it over.

I was delighted to learn that my Pioneer dvd writer on my pc could read the ram discs and that i could copy the stuff and burn it into -r /-rw or +r/rw - truly a mgical moment.

Hello everyone

Thank you all very much for your assistance. Much appreciated.

regards

grimerz