Testing bitrate/resolution from DVD recorders, for recording TV

[Giana]

Hello to all, the other week I did some testing, evaluating the resolution and bitrate, with Gspot with the following DVD recorder.
The DVD recorder are JVC-DR-M10, Toshiba DR-xs32, Liteon, Philips DR5500 (PAL DVD recorder with DVB-T). This is the analysis.

Legend: Recording mode, resolution, bitrate average, QF in Gspot (quality), recording time (hours)


Toshiba RDR-XS32

FR Mode	Resolution	Bitrate	Quality	Time
4,6	720x576	5990	0,578	2
4,4	720x576	4860	0,469	2.06
4,2	720x576	4587	0,442	2.12
4	720x576	4433	0,428	2.18
3,8	352x576	4133	0,815	2.25
3,6	352x576	3574	0,705	2.32
3,4	352x576	3728	0,735	2.41
3,2	352x576	3487	0,688	2.50
3	352x576	2953	0,583	3.01

JVC DR-M10

FR Mode	Resolution	Bitrate	Quality	Time
155	352x576	3326	0,656	2.36
160	352x576	3239	0,639
165	352x576	3118	0,615
170	352x576	3039	0,6
175	352x576	2960	0,58
180	352x576	2822	0,55
185	352x576	2759	0,54

LiteOn (all models)

Mode . .	Resolution	Bitrate	Quality	Time
LP	352X576	2703	0,533	3

Philips DR5500

Mode . .	Resolution	Bitrate	Quality	Time
SPP	720X576	4800	0,463
LP	352X576	2903	0,573

Best bitrate: There is no "best" bit-rate for a compressed film. There is the bit-rate needed to the different needs of each and depending on the characteristics of the film. As seen, if we use a low resolution we can set values ​​of bit-rate higher. Using lower resolutions, we can save space by use in a discrete increase in bit-rate and consequently the final quality.

Question...

The philips in LP mode is the average bitrate to 2903 kbps, but this DVDRecorder has the digital tuner. Toshiba and JVC have an analogue tuner, tv should I use to record from a decoder connected to the scart dvb-t working but with bitrate higher than Philips.

To record from the TV, JVC and Toshiba are better than philips with dvb-t? What are the differences and the best system?

1) use JVC/toshiba--> external decoder dvb-t -> (high bitrates)
2) use with Philips tuner dvb-t, only in LP mode

[admin]

You've done an excellent job here. Thanks so much for sharing it. And because of that, I edited your post to turn it into a nice table.

Regarding the digital tuner, another thing to consider here is that a 16x9 video will look better than a 4:3 video, when all other settings match! It's a quality issue related to how the pixels display differently. It's a psychovisual side effect, whereas the squished 16x9 pixels make artifacts less obvious.

But also note that 16x9 should only be recorded to 720x480, because it looks dreadful as 352x480. At 352x480, there are geometric distortions because of how it has to be stretches and squash at such severe ratios.

Since most TV is now 16x9 widescreen from digital sources, you're stuck using modern methods for optimal TV recording -- assuming it's a 16x9 broadcast over DVB-T (or ATSC).

Using a 4x3 era recorder results in a 16x9 program being matted with black bars. That's not necessarily bad to do, but most prefer to avoid 4x3 matting of 16x9. And then it's still true that 16x9 (even matted) will look better than 4x3 that fills the screen, because black bars take up minimal bitrate. More is reserved for the image area.

I use a Philips ATSC (NTSC version of DVB-T) to record HD signals as 16x9 SD. For anything broadcast in 4x3 -- like PBS, or some low-end channels -- I can use the JVC recorders. Technically speaking, I could use the JVC on the ATSC HD signals (though a converter), but only as 16x9 matted onto 4x3 with black bars. I just prefer to save as 16x9 SD since I have a Philips, and it's capable of doing so.

Hopefully I've not confused the issue?

And then I feel as if some of my syntax in this reply may read a bit awkward. It depends on how native/fluent you are in English. If I've said something that reads unclear, just let me know, and I'll try to restate it in another way. Sometimes these if/when/but conversations feel a bit gooey.

Let me know if you have further questions.

[Giana]

1) I think JVC and Toshiba, are the best DVDR for the particular recording in FR. Here I have the possibility to change the video quality, bitrate at will. For this reason, even if recorded in 4:3, these machines make a difference compared to philips about the relationship bitrate / resolution.

2) JVC FR 175-FR170, Toshiba at 3.4 to 3.2 (FR mode) are superior to Philips in terms of bitrate.

3) Analyzing the data, we note that Toshiba uses much bitrate compared to JVC

4) Toshiba and JVC can be used to record from the TV, connected via scart to external decoder

5) JVC and Toshiba though no digital tuner, they can still be used just for this feature (FR mode) and video filters for superior image quality and not left unused collecting dust. I think these machines can make the difference

[Giana]

LS, admin analyze in detail the analyzes reported the following DVD recorder. Advantages and disadvantages. I think it is useful for many users, and for the same forum. Whereas the DVD recorder there are no more, and in the future will be increasingly rare

[kpmedia]

Another unit you've not tested yet is an RCA using the Zoran chipset. While those cannot filter like the JVC can, they capture extremely clear, colorful (accurate), and noise-free MPEGs from TV sources. I'd say they're at least as good as the best Toshiba decks. I'm only aware of maybe 3-4 RCA models using the Zoran chipset, all of which are NTSC. PAL versions may or may not exist. While it also does not have a digital tuner, it still works fine for analog cable, or DTV from a set-top converter box.

I may see about taking the table that's been started here, and adding to it on the main site. It would be nice to expand the DVD recorder reviews on this site with this more-detailed analysis. Great idea, Giana.

Any time you have more to add, just reply here, and Site Staff will put it in the main table in the first post.

We have a number of test discs from the recorder reviews done in past years, too. The Sony GX-257 was somewhat decent. I know I came across that DVD a few weeks back, while sorting some folders. If you're interesting in submitting sample clips from captures, feel free to attach them to posts. (If you need more room, PM me for FTP access. Though let's try to keep sample files under 100MB at most.)