OTHER TECH

Past shows have featured attention-grabbing DVD recorders, but 2004 was truly the breakout year for these VCR killers. While the new models had to compete with the upcoming high-definition DVD systems for press coverage, they were everywhere you looked. Many companies brought out complete lines, with many of these models able to handle more than one recordable format. Given the wide variety of choices and prices, your VCR's days are definitely numbered.

Sony, which offered only one recorder last year, has added three more. Like last year's, the new models can record on both DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs. The most surprising feature is their simultaneous record/playback feats, like playing a program from the beginning while it's still being recorded or watching a program already recorded on a disc while recording another later on the same disc. You used to need a DVD-RAM disc or a hard drive to perform such useful tricks, but Sony's recorders manage them with DVD-RW discs in the editable VR mode. It remains to be seen how well these functions work compared with DVD-RAM.

Sony's entry-level RDR-GX300 ($500) can also clean up analog-video input signals before they're recorded and features various types of noise-reduction processing to minimize the visibility of MPEG-encoding artifacts during playback. The other two models add an onscreen program guide and an i.Link (FireWire) input for DV camcorders, and the top model features a 120-GB hard drive that allows 24x high-speed dubbing to DVD.

Philips introduced five DVD+RW models. Even the least expensive, the $499 DVDR615, includes an i.Link input for one-cable, two-way transmission of audio and video. The HDRW720 ($699) has an 80-GB hard-disk drive. Lacking a hard drive but incorporating an HDMI digital output - said to be the first on a DVD recorder - the $799 DVDR755 is said to have the ability to record 5.1-channel multichannel audio, although how it's done isn't clear. There's also a PC Card slot that accepts flash-memory adapters so you can edit and store still photos on DVDs, which can hold 3,600 shots. The company also introduced a combination VCR/DVD recorder, the $599 DVDR600VR.

In January, GoVideo debuted its own combination VCR/DVD recorder, the VR4940 (around $500). The deck's video output signals - even VHS material - all appear on its progressive-scan component-video connections, simplifying hookup considerably.

Pioneer, basking in the popularity of its TiVo/DVD-R/RW recorders - a particularly felicitous combination of technologies - introduced the DVR-510H-S, which has an 80-GB hard drive that lets you transfer a 1-hour program recorded in EP mode to a 4x DVD-R disc in about 2 1/2 minutes, and the entry-level DVR-330-S. (Prices and availability for both recorders are still to be determined.)

JVC, Panasonic, Samsung, and Toshiba all introduced lines of so-called DVD Multi decks capable of recording in the DVD-RAM, DVD-R, and DVD-RW formats. Panasonic's lineup includes a model equipped with a 120-GB hard disk (the $800 DMR-E85H, due in May), a basic model that records only on DVD-RAM and DVD-R discs (the $450 DMR-E55, also due in May), and its first combination VCR/DVD recorder (the DMR-E75V, $600). Samsung has a similar DVD Multi lineup running from its basic DVD-R100 ($450) to its 120-GB hard-drive model, the DVD-HR800 ($650, available in August). Toshiba's D-R2 goes for $400, while its 80-GB RD-XS32 is $599. Both are expected to reach stores in March.

The most interesting of the DVD Multi recorders was JVC's DR-MH30SL ($1,000), which uses a type of two-pass MPEG conversion similar to many professional movie-encoding systems. This might offer the best hope of any of the DVD recorders for improved picture quality when making long-play recordings at lower bit rates. You record a program first to the recorder's 130-GB hard drive at a high bit rate (to preserve image quality) and then dub it to DVD at a lower bit rate. During dubbing, the low bit rate swings to much higher rates in passages when the image is especially complex or there's rapid movement. This should allow long recording times without a substantial sacrifice in image quality.

- David Ranada