I am testing a Philips DVDR75/17. The main use for this box will be to archive stuff that I've recorded on my UltimateTV box (a PVR, like TiVo, with two DirecTV tuners). However I wanted to test it's recording quality so I hooked up a DVD player.
Player: Pioneer DVD Player DV-535
Recorder: Philips DVDR75/17, latest firmware applied from Philips site
Connection: Composite video from Pioneer to CAM1 on front of Philips
Source material: Firely "Serenity" copied using DVD Shrink with no compression (ie as good as original DVD)
Recording mode: a few chosen
Reviewed by: watching on TV, watching with PowerDVD
Now, I expected some artifacts to appear and (because I work in 4/3 mode) the original source was anamorphic but the recordings were letterbox, but there was one section where I was sure I saw bands; it was going from a black frame to a high contrast one.
The following screen shots show; each picture is approx 1Mb and was created by the "capture" option of PowerDVD:
To be honest, I can't see any real difference between the four captures, except for m2 standard, which has a slight extra blockiness in the middle, so if you download one you've seen the same effect in all of them. There's a lot of artifacts, but the banding across the picture is the most noticable effect when played back at normal speed. It's only in that one frame; the next frame (or whatever PowerDVD does when you step forward; seems too short to be a GOP, so I'm guessing frame) doesn't have it.
Am I expecting too much from the current technology, or is the Philips just a poor recorder?
