I am a bit of a Sony fan when it comes to black-goods and have had many of their items since my first 14" portable television in 1986.

So, having recently updated all of my television set-up, I was curious as to what DVD recorders Sony currently do. However, the DVD recorder that I have (RDR-HXD870, above), which I bought in 2008, doesn't appear to have had many successors; the HXD890 being the last before the range came to an end.

Sony's current TV recorders are PVRs (personal video recorders) - a box with a 500GB or 1TB hard-drive - that have no DVD recording/transferring capability.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that this has occured as most people don't record programmes to keep, just a few collectors like me. A PVR offers ease of use; just watch and delete.

However, other manufacturers are still keeping the DVD recorder on - LG and Panasonic - but I can see a time when, like the VCR, the DVD recorder will be no more and record-to-keep will be back with the PC, where my digital recording started in the first place.

Tagged: Hardware

Over the Christmas period, I visited some family friends who were still using a Sony VCR (aproximate representation above). It was linked to a LCD television and appeared to also have a Freeview set-top box hooked up to it, to record from. A cheap DVD player was not too far away either.

But rather than roll my eyes at people clinging onto out-dated technology, I thought it rather quaint that they had inexpensively adapted what hardware that they had to suit their needs, by adding a cheap digi-box. Good for them and all those others out there adapting what faithfully serves them.

Tagged: VHS / Hardware

Following on from my previous blogs about recording HD television on my PC (optimism and disappointment), I had noticed that my PC hadn't crashed for quite a while.

So maybe it was time to give the Nanostick another go.

At last a success! My first complete HD recording is from BBC HD and a repeat of Doctor Who Confidential: When Time Froze. A nice result as this also contains the mini-episode "Death Is The Only Answer" and River Song's chronological appearances.

With Christmas coming up I hope that I can rely on my PC to carry-out a few more HD recordings for me.

Tagged: Doctor Who / Computer / Hardware

I took a chance with a PCTV NanoStick T290e for my PC and initially thought I had, at last, found a way to record HDTV.

However, in practice it hasn't been such a success.

There are two main issues with my set-up. The native software, PCTV Center, is poor but, thankfully, Windows Media Center works very well with it. Sadly, the biggest letdown is my PC and/or Windows 7. Every time I have tried to record any High Definition, my PC crashes after about ten to fifteen minutes.

So I installed Windows XP on a separate partition. This only leaves me PCTV Center to use and, although the PC doesn't crash, it can't handle dispalying or recording HD under XP.

I'm glad I tried the Nanostick but this will be something that I will have to come back to at my next computer upgrade.

Tagged: Computer / Hardware

This week I took a chance with a PCTV NanoStick T290e for my PC - the first to receive free-to-air HDTV - even though my Video PC's specifications weren't quite up to the minimum specs for HDTV.

The specs stated that, for HDTV, a 2.6 GHz multi-core processor was required. My PC is a 2.5 GHz quad-core; potentially, not quite there. However, I'm glad to say, the playback and recording is hardly troubling my PC.

Also, I have got this working with both the NanoSick's TV Center software and Windows Media Center, although they both record in different formats. TV Center records in .TS (H.264) but WMC still records HD in .wtv but this is a .TS file that has been wrapped up in a .wtv to add the programme's details.

What's also a nice touch is that VideoReDo TV Suite can edit the .TS files.

Tagged: Computer / Hardware

I nearly bought a new Sony television in the New Year sales as there were some excellent bargains about. Before I did so, I looked into what the 2011 models were offering. I am very glad that I did as, after a six month wait, I have now bought a Sony 40" KDLHX723 television.

Now, this isn't going to be a review as such but just a note to bestow some of its pros and cons and the extras that link to stuff I have talked about before.

1. With High Definition, Blu-ray and Freeview HD, the picture is stunning.
2. There is an amazing array of settings to tweak.
3. There is lots of on-line content, most importantly for me, including BBC iPlayer which has solved an issue I was recently complaining about: My Old Dell Really Isn't Up To The Task
4. This television can record to an external hard-drive. I bought a Western Digital 1TB hard drive which was pre-formatted in NTFS. This was recognised by the HX out of the box (previous televisions would only recognise Fat32).
5. It can record from the HD channels. This was something that I was interested in way back when: BBC One HD - Now To Find A Way To Record From It
6. Standard definition, for the channels with higher bitrates (the BBC, ITV1, Channel4) is quite good when viewed up close.
7. It's got 3D!
8. There is a good DVD upscale playback. I tried an old James Bond DVD.
9. The design is much more stylish than my last Sony.

1. Standard definition for channels with lower bitrates (Dave, Yesterday, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 etc) are quite poor when viewed at close range.
2. There is also a poorer picture quality from commercial DVDs that lower the bitrate to cram as much video in as possible. I didn't notice this with my old 32" but the HX shows up the stingy bitrates of some commercial releases. Name and shame: the BBC's Silent Witness DVDs cram four hours into one DVD9. I have a lot of BBC commercial DVDs; I am a little concerned.
3. As yet, I can't transfer any recordings from the external HD to my PC. They will only play on the television.
4. The Wifi, amazingly, isn't built in. A Wi-fi dongle has to be bought as an extra and 3D glasses are also an extra that has to be purchased.
5. Its all nice new shiney design is all very well but it's a bit of a dust magnet.

Overall, the HX is a good investment as, where possible, I will be getting Blu-ray rather than DVD from now on and the playback of HD, as I previously mentioned, is amazing.

Tagged: Hardware

I was reading, on various blog sites, that a lot of people are not happy with the Hi-Def picture that BBC One HD and BBC HD are currently broadcasting.

I have to admit that I was one of them. I didn't think that the HD picture, via my Freesat box, was as good as when I first saw it two years ago.

However, on an internet forum recently, talking about just this subject, it was pointed out to me that HD pictures are transmitted at 1080 horizontal lines but my television, being only HD Ready, means that it only has 720 horizontal lines. This means that my television is downscaling the HD picture which is loosing me detail.

I did know the difference between HD Ready and Full HD but the idea of downscaling had never occured to me!

Not that I need another one but another reason to upgrade my television.

Tagged: Hardware

Way back in February 2010, I posed the question as to why I couldn't see a difference between a capture from my DVD recorder or a capture from Windows Media Center (sic) even though the bitrate for WMC was lower.

I then went in the opposite direction, in January this year, where I said that I could see a difference after all.

At last I have found out why there is a difference; it's about DVD compliance. The DVD recorder will 'beef-up' its recordings to make it a DVD compliant file; WMC, via the TV dongle, is merely recording the Mpeg stream that it receives.

Apparently, converting the WMC captures into a DVD may not be able to be played in all DVD players (but probably most these days).

Having said that, surely the DVD authoring software makes all files compliant anyway?

But why the Doctor Who screen cap? Here's why, the first dongle...

Tagged: Computer / Hardware / Doctor Who

Of late, my DVD Recorder has had a bit of a holiday. Apart from recording episodes of Outcasts, for the keep pile, it has hardly been used recently. The reason is, since connecting my laptop to my television, I have been using the online catch-up services such as BBC iPlayer and ITV Player. If I know I am going to miss a programme I don't have any need to set up a recording, on the DVD recorder, before its transmission.

I've had this facility for a while with Virgin Media (well, BBC iPlayer anyway), but Virgin's catch-up service didn't replace my DVD recorder for the following reasons:

• When selecting the catch-up service there is a lengthy delay before the required menus appear.
• With the nature of Virgin's software, I feel bounced around several uncessesary screens before I find the one I want.
• After the wait and effort there is always the danger that the service isn't available anyway. It's really annoying when that happens!

However, on my laptop, finding the required programme takes seconds as mouse clicks are far easier than a remote control's arrow buttons. Also, the on-line availability has yet to let me down.

I will say, however, that Virgin is still the place I have to go for Hi-Def catch-up as my laptop isn't powerful enough to play on-line Hi-Def programmes from the iPlayer. Something that I will remedy soon.

The DVD recorder is still used when I want to keep a programme for my archive. However, apart from Outcasts, there hasn't been much since Christmas.

Tagged: Computer / Hardware

I recently did a review of my old blogs and found some articles that were left a little open ended. Now that we are in a new year, I thought I'd take this opportunity to do a review and update some of them:

BBC iPlayer And Stuttering Full-Screen Playback

(November 2008) When I first linked my Dell Inspiron 6500 to my LCD television, I was unable to play any video from the BBC's iPlayer in full screen as the playback was very stop-start.

Since then I have upgraded the RAM to 4gb from 2gb and the operating system from Windows Vista to Windows 7; the full screen playback is now perfect.

In fact, combined with Virgin's fibre optic broadband, my laptop has become the preferred hardware for playing on-lne video. One issue to overcome is that the laptop is not powerful enough to play HD content from the iPlayer but that is an issue for later.

BBC DVDs That You Can't Get Here But Can Over There

(October 2010) When I uploaded that original blog only series one and two of Silent Witness had been released in the UK. Now the UK releases have reached series eight. However, the Netherland releases are far in advance of this.

The newer UK releases have all been double-series box sets (three/four, five/six and seven/eight) but appear to have stalled again at the last release. Also, very annoyingly, series three was released with the picture at the wrong aspect but so was the Netherlands issue.

There is no sign of Daziel And Pascoe further than series two, in the UK, yet but, more interestingly, the rumour of a Netherlands release of series one of Shoestring has reared its head again. I'll believe that one when I hold a copy in my hand.

Television And Windows 7 Part Three (A Bit [rate] Of A Contradiction)

(Feburary 2010) Back then I was quite impressed with the recording capability of Windows Media Center (sic) and quite taken in by the quality of the recordings. A year later and I have hardly used this program for any capturing, only to watch a programme from time to time.

From the handfull of programmes I had recorded, I did notice a difference to the quality of the picture after all. It wasn't a large difference than from my normal recordings but it was enough to notice. This can still be a useful back-up.

So no contradiction after all!

I'd Like A Bigger Telly, Please!

(July 2010) Upon reflection, maybe I don't. My investigations into this has led me to the decision that a 32" screen is the optimum for the distance that I sit from the screen. In every larger televison I investigated, the SD picture looked horrible from two metres.

A full HD 1080p may happen soon but I can't see me getting a larger screen until I can either re-arrange my living room or get the loft converted into a cinema (like that's going to happen)!

Tagged: Commercial Release / Computer / Hardware

Nothing particularly Earth-shattering but this was something that I should have done a long time ago. If I had any recordings on my Desktop PC then I would usually have to wait until I had burned them to DVDR to be able to watch them on my 32" Sony LCD.

However, I have now connected my Dell laptop to the telly (in PC mode) and thanks to my home network/Windows 7 can stream videos and music wirelessly from my Desktop to my living room. Plus dip into a wealth of on-demand video from the likes of SeeSaw and Blinkbox. It may not sound like a big deal, but it is to me.

On the other hand, I wanted to repair an old Tiny A360+ laptop that I had in the loft which didn't have a hard drive. I got a cheap 10GB hard drive from ebay and set it all up. This was so that I could have internet radio in my bedroom. Sadly, when everything was loaded on, I discovered that the keys 5, T and G don't work anymore. It hasn't all been sucesses this month...

Tagged: Computer / Hardware

I have been using a Sony KDL-32D3000 LCD television for over two years and have been very happy with it but I am now itching to get a a much bigger television.

When I first bought the Sony I wouldn't have entertained the idea of getting a television any bigger than a 32". Having seen other people's 40" TVs, back then, I hated them for their poor smudgy pictures and pale colours. So what has changed my mind?

The quality of televisions has moved on in the last two years and they have better engines to give better pictures. They appear to have greatly improved on the 40" televisions that gave me my old opinion of things.

My television is only 720p and I would like to get full 1080p. This wasn't available for 32" televisions when I bought my LCD. In addition, although my Sony has a 100hz "motion flow", the better newer ones have 200hz. It all helps.

My collection of Hi-Def inputs has moved on in the last year and this is what is really driving a liking for a larger screen. I can get HD through Cable, Freesat and have a Blu-Ray player. It is highly likely that a new televison will receive Freeview HD and there are new HD channels slowly appearing. BBC1 HD is due to launch later this year which means that more of my viewing will potentially be in HD.

Extra features are now added to newer televisions such as a USB port. Nothing over-the-top about that but this will give me the ability to add an external hard/flash drive to select videos from.

So, all I have to do now is read up on the best televisons within my budget and do a bit of saving.

Tagged: Hardware

It has happened: I now own a Blu-Ray player. The machines might take a while to get going but the picture quality is well worth the up-grade; but I did have one issue to over-come first...

I have been collecting all of the Doctor Who DVDs (old and new series) and when it came to the box set of 2009's specials I did consider staying with the DVDs, even though it had been released on Blu-Ray, so that I would have a consistant format for the series.

I asked whether I should stick with DVD, or move up to Blu-Ray, on a TV/Radio forum and, although I wasn't the only person who thought this way, I was convinced to go with Blu-Ray. I soon had a copy of the Blu-Ray Doctor Who specials and was very glad that I did because the picture quality is superb.

Oddly, one of the specials included was "The Next Doctor" which wasn't filmed in High Definition. As a Blu-Ray it still looked like an upscaled DVD. However, that aside, from now on any television releases that I wish to have, and available in Blu-Ray, will be bought on that format. As the replies on the forum stated: it's the programme that I am collecting and not the format plus the better picture quality should always be the one to go for.

So when the releases of the new Doctor Who are out it will be Blu-Ray all the way.

My first Blu-Ray? Wallace And Gromit's "A Matter Of Loaf And Death".

Tagged: Commercial Release / Hardware

I was quite happy with Freeview but I decided to have Virgin Media installed (last June) because of having a poor telephone-line broadband service. The television package was part of the deal that I took at the time.

When I had the original installation I only had the basic box installed; output was via Scart only and the picture quality was considerably poorer than Freeview but I wasn't too bothered as it was a free extra after transferring the cost of my telephone and broadband services to Virgin Media. It's worth mentioning that I was advised against getting the V+ box (when investigating which Virgin Media package to go for) by a Virgin Media assistant as, at that time, there was only one HD station (BBC HD) and I was already able to view this using my Humax Freesat box.

Presently, I bought What Hi-Fi? Sound And Vision magazine's "Ultimate Guide To Television" (July 2009). It featured a review of the new Virgin V+ Box, made by Samsung, and was singing its praises. I immediately wanted one.

BUT, as it stated in the article, if I ordered an upgrade at that time there was a danger that I could get the old slower model. So I waited. I waited for three months before putting in my request for an upgrade (ironically, because of a half price installation deal that I wasn't entitled to anyway) and had to wait a further month for an installation date. I received my new V+ box in November and, to my relief, it was the new Samsung version.

I admit that I only ever used my old Virgin box for the BBC iPlayer content, which is an excellent service, but because the picture quality on the new box is so much better it will be used a lot more.

One point to mention; if you are considering Virgin Media then the V+ box is a must if you have an HD ready television but if you are only getting the large television package (or L) then the only HD stations that you will get are BBC HD and Channel4 HD

What of my old Freesat box that I used for BBC HD? The V+ hasn't fully replaced the Freesat box; during the next World Cup any football matches that are broadcast on ITV will, potententially, be broadcast in HD and Freesat is still the only place to get this.

Tagged: Hardware

Having, at long last, realised that my old internet provider's broadband speed was a bit rubbish (an "up to 8mb" service where I was averaging 750k; this due to the distance from the telephone exchange) I looked into whether I would be able to have the fibre-optic broadband service from Virgin Media. Happily, I could. The cables had been installed on my street when the area was built (around 2000).

It took me a while to get around to taking the plunge but during May I had the Virgin Media 10mb broadband installed in my house. But in addition; I also went for the bundle which included the telephone and cable television (size L).

Regarding the television part of the package: what Virgin was offering was access to not just the former UKTV stations: Gold, Alibi and Watch etc (that Freeview and Freesat can't offer), but the catch-up service from the BBC's iPlayer.

And here's the rub: only a matter of months ago I was bemoaning the fact that I couldn't play any BBC iPlayer downloads at full screen.

Result!

Tagged: Computer / Hardware

A little while ago I said that there was an expanse of wall above my hi-fi that was crying out for an LCD television. I have now assembled a unit to house the hi-fi/video set up and above is its basic layout.

I'm very pleased but some fine tuning is still needed.

It appears that UK titles on Blue-Ray are beginning to appear. At the time of writing, a search on Play.com is showing Bleak House, Torchwood (series one box-set), Robin Hood (series one), Hotel Babylon (series one) and Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky which was a BBC 4 series. Still not that much, but there is still a limit to programmes that have been filmed in Hi-Def.

Coupled with this, a search on the Richer Sounds website, Blue-Ray players have appeared to halved in price. Maybe a Blue-ray set up isn't that far away...

Tagged: Hardware

I got my Freesat box just in time for the start of Euro 2008. Okay, there are no Home Nations involved but this has still been an entertaining competition especially as all of the games have been broadcast on High Definition. I am very pleased with the performance of the picture on BBC HD.

For this same competition, ITV HD has also launched. However, this is not a separate channel and is accessed through the red button route on the normal ITV 1 channel. Now this method is okay BUT there is an issue with ITV HD that BBC HD doesn't have a problem with and that is the signal.

BBC HD's signal is at full strength, according to the Humax settings, but ITV HD's signal is all over the place. The result of this is that the sound cuts out for a few seconds every twenty minutes or so and, on the first broadcast I watched, the picture froze or completely broke up a few times. This isn't such a problem with a football match but would be a nuisance when watching any other type of programme like a film or drama as some vital piece of dialogue could be lost.

So come on ITV HD, sort this out...

Tagged: Broadcast TV / Hardware

With the offer of a free-to-air High Definintion out there it was too much temptation to resist; I have bought a Humax HD Freesat unit and, as I was led to believe from the various web forums, just plugged in the loose cable from the Satellite dish, on the side of my house unused since I moved in, and off I went.

The High Definition picture is stunning. There isn't that much content at the moment but the first picture that I saw was from the HD Preview: excerts from the 2007 FA Cup Final. My jaw actually dropped; the picture was that impressive.

Thankfully, the High Definition channels (or the promise of such) is what I have bought the Freesat box for. When I get around to it, it will be interesting to see the recording quality to DVD from such a clean source. I feel some experimenting coming on (when I get the chance)...

Tagged: Hardware

How did I miss the build up to this? Here I have been for the last couple of months going on about High Definition content on disc and just around the corner was the very quiet launch of a new free-to-air platform, called Freesat, which will feature High Definition channels. Initially just the one, BBC HD, but more to be added soon.

I have a satellite dish on the side of my new house, which up until recently was only being used by some birds to nest in, but I don't have Sky. I wondered if this dish can be used for Freesat. From what I have read on the net, if it is pointing in the right direction, then yes. So I may be treating my self to one of these boxes very soon.

Currently the Humax one seems to have the best net reviews, on blogs etc. I was a little disapointed to see that it was the usual suspects that have got the first boxes out. One name that filled me with dread was Grundig. I had one of their first Freeview boxes and it was an appalling thing - having said that, it was one of the very first out.

This leads me into wondering if getting a Freesat box now would be a mistake as some of the better brands may launch their own boxes. Would I be shelling out for a Freesat version of the superb Sony VTX-D800U if it ever appears?

However, will Freesat be redundant in a couple of years' time when proposed Terrestrial transmissions of High Definition channels begin and I end up having to buy yet another set top box?

Let's see what Freesat can do for us first; watch this space; maybe...

Tagged: Broadcast TV / Hardware

After last months comment, about my new Sony LCD and the fact that there are hardly any Blu-Ray television High-Definition releases, I looked around at various net forums about the quality of Blu-Ray and I found a few odd results.

For example; I have seen many comments saying that an upscaled DVD can look just as good as a High-Def Blu-Ray (the advertising says up to 80% of Hi-Def). I recently watched an upscaled DVD of Disney Pixar's Cars, on my 32", and the picture was just stunning. I would hazard a guess that this probably is the case on many televsions up to a certain size; to fully appreciate a high definition picture one would have to have in excess of a 37" screen (but I can not do a comparison for obvious reasons).

Now, this leads me into will Blue-Ray really take off? I am split into two over this...

One part of me says yes; people want to boast about the size of their televisions; the bigger the better. So subsequently they are going to get all the gadgets to go with them; Blu-Ray being one of them - another thing to boast about.

However, the other half of me says no. Are people really going to re-purchase their DVD collections on Blu-Ray? I replaced all of my Doctor Who VHS tapes when they were released on DVD, but this was a reliability issue - less storeage space, no crumpled tapes, cleaned up pictures etc - but I will be hard pushed to fork out for a third time on what would essentially be an upscaled DVD quality picture on Blu-Ray. My current set up already up-scales.

The price of Blu-Ray films are also more expensive than DVDs and, for most, the quality of DVDs is good enough. The players are, currently, also much more expensive than a DVD player. Of course, to fully appreciate one's DVDs on a Hi-Def ready television an up-scaling DVD player is required, but the cost is still a lot less than that of a Blu-Ray player. Is a potential £200 extra worth it for a 20% picture quality increase? Maybe for large screen owners but not for me (yet!).

There are also so many other things competing; can even DVDs, going forward, compete with on-demand services like Virgin Media?

Maybe, like Laserdisc, Blu-Ray will become a niche market for the technophiles: those who really know how to bring the best out of these things. Although if it does replace DVDs (which at the moment I doubt) then, at some stage, I propably will up-grade.

Tagged: Hardware

I now want a new LCD television for my new house and my search brought me down to the Sony KDL-32D3000 32" which, now that my new house is carpeted, I have bought. The cost, however, did not stop there as this also prompted me into having to get a HDMI upscaling DVD Recorder with a bigger hard-drive; I got the Sony RDR-HXD870.

This then further prompts the possiblilty of moving up to a Blu-Ray player and discs but if you have read the Laserdisc page there was one major issue that would have put me off buying a Laserdisc player back then. The same issue (at the time of writing) is a problem that applies to the new formats: on a search of Play.com, there is only ONE British Television title available; the BBC's rather good Bleak House from 2005. For a British television collector like me there is no attraction to move up to Blu-Ray. One release and nothing up and coming is not a good prospect to invest in (I do realise that BBC2's The Tudors is available on Blu-Ray, but The Tudors isn't a British production); this was exactly the problem with Laserdisc.

From what I understand, the issue is that there are only a few programmes that have acutally been filmed in High Definition; from what I have seen: Torchwood, Robin Hood, Hotel Babylon and Silent Witness are four that have been (and of course the previously mentioned Bleak House), but for the back catalogue of programmes there will have to be some work done on them to achieve a High Definiton release. The classic Doctor Who DVDs are having lots of work done on them to bring them up to DVD standard; so what would have to be done for Blu-Ray?

Hang on, you say, but what about all these old movies that are being released? Again, as I understand it, if a movie was filmed on 35mm then extracting a High-Def image is not too much of a problem. Most old television was recorded to video or (and please correct me if I am wrong) 16mm film.

Yes, I now have a Hi-Def ready television but I can't see me getting a Hi-Def player for quite a while yet; but at least the format war looks to be over.

Tagged: Hardware

While recently moving house I had to do a fair amount of shopping and looking at furniture, carpets, washing machines etc and while doing this I drifted into, as you do, the audio and visual detpartments.

Earlier this year I looked towards buying my second DVD Recorder because my first one didn't have a digital reciever; oh how so quickly these things become out of date. My less-than-eight-months-old DVD Recorder is now considered that: the new generation of recorders are now out; the latest trend is now to have the units black again, as in the mid-90s, which is probably to match the march of the LCD televisions; but mainly that the hard-drives that are available are now 160gb and 250gb. It seems that my meagre 80gb drive is not considered big enough! Oh yes, the prices have dropped too.

Coupled with this, it seems that DVD+/-Rs and DVD+/-RWs are all making their way to the sale racks of the shops. What is this signaling?

I would guess the following may be part or whole of the answer:

Sky Plus has become very popular rendering the need for DVD Recorders obsolete for Sky Plus owners; however one can't keep a programme recorded on Sky Plus unless connected to a VCR or DVD recorder and re-recorded. But then how many people, like me, keep programmes? I have heard that the sale of DVD Recorders are not that strong.

PVRs (Personal Video Recorders) are a sort of Sky Plus for those without Sky; a digital receiver with a hard drive. Again, like Sky Plus, a programme can't be kept unless connected to a VCR or DVD recorder and re-recorded.

Is Blue-Ray or HD-DVD about to storm onto the scene?

As far as I am concerned, there is still a lot of mileage in my DVD Recorder - it serves my purpose - as I haven't yet managed to fill up my 80gb drive; if I did, I only have to transfer the excess onto DVD-RWs; something that Sky Plus or PVRs can't do and as DVD+/-R(W)s are so cheap now...

Tagged: Hardware

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