Big Picture Big Sound

Addiction Fulfilled

I'm addicted to reality TV. There I said it. Admission is the first step in 12-step programs, right? But the fact is, I don't want to kick the habit. "The Amazing Race," "Survivor," "The Biggest Loser" - these are the high points of my week. Sad? You bet! Entertaining? Hell ya! And I've got a sister (in Germany) who has similar taste in shows (yes, insanity is known to run in families, as is bad taste in television). What does this have to do with Pioneer's DVR-640HS DVD Recorder? Well, this recorder allows me (and my sister) to enjoy these compelling examples of television art once, or many times, with the convenience and ease of use of a VCR, but the superior quality, form factor and navigation of a DVD.

Admittedly, this is not the first DVD recorder I've brought home. That was the Panasonic DMR-E100H, a fine recorder in its own right, if a bit limited in its compatibility (DVD-R and DVD-RAM recording only) and in its operation (dubbing to disc suspends all other operations). Happily, these two issues are non-existent in the Pioneer, and as technological advancements force prices down, the Pioneer sells for less than half the Panasonic recorder's original price.

Can we record on it? Yes we can!

My 3-year-old son loves "Bob the Builder." His taste in television clearly hasn't matured yet. But just as Bob the Builder can build virtually anything, so the Pioneer DVR-640HS can record on virtually any format DVD including DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM. I put this compatibility to the test by dumping a few shows from my Panasonic DVD recorder's hard drive onto a DVD-RAM in high speed dub mode, then using the Pioneer's high speed copy in the other direction to transfer the programs to the Pioneer's hard drive. The programs transfered over fairly quickly (limited in speed only by the DVD-RAM format itself), and with no loss as the copy was done entirely in the digital domain with no format conversion or re-encoding.


The DVR-640-HS even supports the fancy new Dual Layer DVD-R and DVD+R discs, for up to 8.5 GB (gigabytes) of storage on a single disc. With a dual-layer DVD-R disc, you can store anywhere from almost 2 hours of material in ultra-high quality XP mode all the way up to 18 hours of mediocre recording in super-sucky "SEP" (Super Extended Play) mode. If you go into "Manual" (MN) mode, where you have more control over resolution and recording rates, you can actually squeeze a full 24 hours of video into one dual layer DVD-R disc! Realistically speaking, if you care at all about video and audio quality, you can record in LP mode and still get acceptable quality, with 4 hours on a single layer disc or a little over 7 hours on a dual layer disc.


But if you want gigabytes, then check out the built-in HDD (hard disk drive): it's got loads of gigs of storage - 160 GB to be exact. That's room for around 34 hours of programming in XP mode all the way up to 455 hours at the lowest quality (MN1) setting.

The basic theory behind the HDD/DVD recorder is this:

1. Record your favorite shows to the hard drive
2. Watch them and decide whether you want to keep a copy
3. Edit the program (if desired) to clean up the beginning and end and remove any commercials
4. Dump the show to DVD one or more episodes at a time
5. Erase the version on the hard drive
6. REPEAT

It's a fairly straightforward process, and, with the Pioneer, every step of the way was intuitive and painless, from the recording to the editing to the dubbing to DVD.


Intuitive Operation

My first test of any component is to ask myself, "self, you clever devil (and modest too), how far can you get without opening the manual?" The answer, with the Pioneer DVR-640HS? Extremely far. Initial set-up, recording, viewing, editing, dubbing - all of it was accessible in a few clicks either from the "home menu" or "disc navigator" buttons on the remote. In fact, I only cracked the manual toward the tail end of the review cycle just to make sure I didn't miss anything. And the manual is pretty hefty at 135 pages. It covers everything from basic recording and playback, to tweaking the video recording rate to squeeze every last bit of quality into available disc space, to using the built-in hard disk drive as a virtual jukebox or photo gallery.

That's right, unlike most DVD recorders, which concentrate solely on video programming, the DVR-640 can be used to store and play your music collection (MP3 and WMA files) as well as your digital photos (JPEG files) through your television or home theater system. They can either be played directly from a CD or DVD, from a flash drive or external USB hard drive plugged into the front-panel USB port, or the music and image files can be transfered over to the hard drive and played back from there.

The recorder even lets you "rip" a CD to the hard drive in real-time. You can then add in an album title, but not individual track titles - these stay as track numbers. But you'd be better off ripping your CD collection on a computer: it's faster and you can take advantage of file naming conventions to transfer over song-names to the MP3 or WMA files. You can then copy the files over to the hard drive using a USB drive, CD-R or DVD-R.


The user interface for music and photo playback is pretty rudimentary, but it gets the job done. I would have liked a "random" mode for music - let the player be the DJ - but this was not available. The photo slide show capability was very cool - a great way to view megapixel digital pics: on a large high resolution screen. And with the built-in PictBridge support, it's possible to plug some cameras in directly to the front panel inputs and view and/or transfer digital images directly from the camera. Photo playback was a tad bit sluggish moving from photo to photo, but the player's zoom ("enter" button) and rotate ("angle" button) features were extremely handy.

And on the video side of things, the player also supports the popular Divx codec so you can play back MPEG and AVI video files which you may have created yourself or downloaded on your PC (legally, of course). I tested a few Divx AVI files, and each played back fine from a CD-R (including anamorphic widescreen titles, and titles with Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks). However, some AVI files stored on a DVD-R had some lip synch issues (audio didn't always match the video). The manual does state that it plays back AVI files from CD, so maybe this is a known limitation?

Like a VCR, but without the Flashing 12:00

Recording a show can be accomplished via timer recording (just like a VCR) or by simply hitting the record button while watching a show. Interestingly, Pioneer provides a separate "stop recording" button (different from the standard "stop" button) on both the front panel and on the remote. This separate button certainly makes it easier to play back (and stop) previously recorded program material on the hard drive or on a DVD, while the unit is recording a live broadcast in the background, without fear of accidentally terminating the recording process.

Unfortunately, the integrated "TV Guide On Screen" free programming guide, which was originally slated to be included on the unit when it was announced at CES, was omitted from the production version of the recorder. If you're paying attention, you'll still catch the "Guide" logo on the timer recording screen (oops!). But this is really one of only a few significant omissions.

The other slightly odd behavior that I noticed in the recording process is that, while you can name a timer program recording (say... "Survivor"), and set it to record the show weekly or daily, when it saves the show to the hard drive or DVD, it does not carry over the title of the program recording onto the stored recording. It captures the time, date and channel information (which is nice), but not the program name you gave it (not so nice). Of course, you can go back and edit the program to add the title, but it would be better if it carried over the title. This is certainly how the Panasonic recorders work.

[Editor's Note: This program info problem has apparently been fixed by a firmware update. Call Pioneer support at 800-421-1404 to find out how to send your player in for the firmware fix. Thanks, Pete, for the tip!]

As with TiVo recorders, and other hard-drive based PVRs (Personal Video Recorders), the Pioneer offers "chase playback" which allows you to begin watching a show while you're still recording it, and fast forward through commercials, catching up to real time as the show is ending. Also, if you decide you want to save a copy of any show to DVD, you can very easily edit out the commercials with just a few clicks through the menus, edit the title, change the thumbnail image, and choose from one of nine different stock menus to appear as the DVD menu when the disc is finalized. If you do choose to edit out commercials, the edit points become chapter stops in the recording, and these remain when you transfer the program to DVD. A very nice touch.

Don't Blink, or You'll Miss It

The Pioneer's high speed dub feature to copy programs over from the hard drive to a DVD is amazingly nimble, taking a little over 10 minutes to dub 2 hours of SP mode content onto a standard 8X DVD-R, including the "finalize" step (which you must do if you want to play the disc back on other players). I like that the Pioneer gives you the option of including the finalize step automatically in the dub. This way you can set it and forget it. Walk away, come back a few minutes later to a finalized DVD ready to play on virtually any standard DVD player.

Another great feature on the Pioneer (unlike the Panasonic recorder) is that, while the recorder is doing a high-speed dub from the HDD to a DVD, you can still watch live TV on the recorder's tuner. The Panasonic, on the other hand, goes into a blue "dubbing" screen while it does a disc dub, and the recorder can not be used for anything else during this process. Also, on the Pioneer, while you are recording a program on the HDD, you can still go into other stored programs and edit them (divide, erase segment, add title, etc.), another feature that is missing from the Panasonic recorder. Both the Pioneer and the Panasonic recorders allow you to watch any stored program on the hard drive or DVD while the recorder is doing a live recording.

A Few Words about Audio/Video Quality

In addition to being a DVD recorder, this is also a DVD player, and as such, it offers very good video and audio performance. Pre-recorded DVD movies exhibited some MPEG artifacts, but nothing overtly objectionable. The video performance on DVDs is on par with standalone DVD players in this price range and below, which is to say, very good as far as non-upconverting DVD players go. I would have liked to see an HDMI output with a built-in scaler to upconvert the 480P signal to 1080i or 1080p, but this probably would have been cost-prohibitive.

The recorder's on-board TV tuner is perfectly acceptable in quality, though I'd give the more expensive Panasonic DVD recorder a slight edge in tuner performance. Recordings made on the unit varied greatly depending on recording mode. On a 42-inch LCD HDTV, recordings varied from "pristine" (XP) to "excellent" (SP) to "watchable" (LP) to "don't bother" (EP and below). The lowest quality speeds might look OK on a 20-inch or smaller TV, or be useful for video surveillance work, but if you've got a high quality home theater system, you'll want to keep the recordings at LP speed or above. Even LP mode had some color saturation issues, visible blocking, ringing and motion artifacts, but this is comparable to other DVD recorders - it's simply a matter of how much quality you can squeeze out of a real-time MPEG2-encoded recording.

Audio quality via the (coax) digital output on standard DVDs and Divx AVI files was excellent.

This Thing Has (almost) Everything!

As you may have figured out by now, I really enjoyed my time with the DVR-640HS. It's not perfect, but it has a lot going for it. The only two significant omissions include the lack of an on-board programming guide, and the lack of a digital video (DV) input. If you're going to use the recorder to transfer over home videos from a DV camcorder, you'll need to use the standard analog audio/video inputs, which means the signal needs to be converted from digital to analog video, and then back to digital. Of course, most DV camcorders use a different format than the MPEG2 used by DVD recorders, so there is digital format conversion going on even with a digital input. But generally speaking, it's better to keep things in the digital domain as long as possible in order to maintain the highest video quality. Also, an upconverting HDMI output would have been killer, but probably not possible at this price point.

Final Thoughts

The shortcomings in the DVR-640H-S are fairly minor, and are compensated by the many unique features, such as its MP3/WMA "jukebox" feature, the photo gallery capability and Divx playback. As it is, in terms of functionality, ergonomics, picture quality, value and performance, the DVR-640HS is one of the strongest performers in the HDD/DVD recorder category. Highly recommended.

Where to Buy:

• Pioneer DVR-640H-S on OneCall.com
• Pioneer DVR-640H-S on Amazon.com

Specifications/Features from the Manufacturer:

• Hard Disc Drive: 160GB
• Dual-Layer DVD-R/DVD+R Recording
• MP3/WMA Compatible
• JPEG Photoviewer
• Copy Speed: High-Speed (up to 6X, depending on disc type)
• Pure Cinema 2:3 Progressive Scan
• Video DAC: 10-bit/108MHz
• Audio DAC: 24-bit/192kHz
• Chase Playback
• VBR (Variable Bit Rate) Recording
• VCR Plus+(R) system
• Advanced GUI (Graphical User Interface)
• HELP Onscreen Assistant
• One Touch Recording
• Warranty (Parts and Labor): 1 Year
• Dimensions (inches): 16-9/16 x 2-11/16 x 12-1/2 (WxHxD)
• Weight: 9lbs. 7 oz.
• MSRP: $399.99

Inputs/Outputs:

• S-Video: 1 Front Input, 2 Rear Inputs
• Composite Video: 1 Front Input, 2 Rear Inputs
• Analog L/R Audio: 1 Front Input, 2 Rear Inputs
• Component Video Output: 1 Rear Output
• Coaxial Digital Output (PCM/Dolby Digital/DTS): 1 Rear Output
• USB input/output: 2 front panel USB ports

What's In the Box:

• DVR-640HS DVD Recorder
• VXX3095 Remote control
• AA/R6P dry cell batteries x 2
• Audio/video cable (red/white/yellow)
• RF antenna cable
• Power cable
• Operating instructions
• Quick start guide
• Warranty card

Manufacturer's Contact Information:

Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.,
2265 E. 220th Street,
Long Beach,CA 90810
phone: 800-421-1404
Web: www.pioneerelectronics.com