Audio Video News

TV addicts take note: A thousand bucks will buy you plenty of recording time these days—and plenty of versatility.

Panasonic has begun shipping its new $999.99 DMR-HS2 DVD/hard disc recorder to US retailers. The new model is Panasonic's first DVD-RAM and DVD-R recorder coupled with a built-in hard drive, which, the company claims, offers "great flexibility and compatibility," including features such as "Time Slip" and "Chasing Playback." Those features allow users to program the unit to record a show and then to watch it from the beginning, even as the show is being recorded.

The DMR-HS2 has a DV input for recording from a digital video camera and a PC card slot for use with memory cards. The recorder is capable of a maximum of 52 hours (in the EP mode) of video on its 40 GB hard disk drive, 12 hours on a 9.4GB double-sided DVD-RAM disc, and 6 hours on a DVD-R disc. The PC card slot enables users to download and save digital images from an SD Memory Card, MultiMedia Card, Compact Flash, Smart Media, or other flash memory cards.

Panasonic's DMR-HS2 can be programmed to automatically record favorite television shows every day or every week onto the hard disk. It also facilitates the transfer of VHS recordings to DVD-RAM or DVD-R disks. Tape recordings can also be archived on the internal hard drive. DVD-RAM offers "high storage capacity on removable media, high-speed data transmission, exceptional picture and sound quality, fast, random access memory, and rewritability up to 100,000 times," according to a Panasonic announcement. "The DMR-HS2 also allows users to record onto highly compatible DVD-R disks, allowing them to share video recordings with anyone possessing a DVD player.

The DMR-HS2 includes progressive scan output for optimum picture quality when viewing a DVD movie. The machine's video recording technology complies with the DVD recording formats standardized by the DVD Forum.