Panasonic DMR-EZ27 DVD Recorder with HDMI

By Padusi

dvd recorder hdmi

Just as its predecessors, Panasonic DMR-EZ27 can record on DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW and even dual-layer DVD-R DL and DVD+R DL. The recorder also plays all formats. You get the most flexibility if you use DVD-RAM discs, which work faster and let you use more of the recorder’s features.

In addition to all recordable DVD formats, the recorder can play store-bought movies on DVD-Video as well as Video CD, Audio CD, Audio CD-R, Audio CD-RW, MP3 CD-R and MP3 CD-RW as well as CDs with JPEG pictures and DivX compressed videos. Just as most VCRs, this recorder has a built-in NTSC TV analog/digital ATSC tuner, timer recording and manual recording.

The recorder has more speeds/modes than the VCR however, and much better picture quality in top quality modes. The available modes are: XP, SP, LP, EP-6H, EP-8H and flexible recording mode. The digital FireWire (DV Video) input is available on the front panel.

The HDMI out with up-conversion, with EZ Sync HDAVI Control up-converts 480i DVD discs to 720p, 1080i or 1080p. The recorder has an optical digital audio out, which can be used for DVD playback. The recorder has several recording modes/speeds. The recorder also has EP modes: EP-6H and EP-8H that fit 6 and 8 hours respectively and feature reduced resolution of 260×240 (as they do in other DVD recorders). The audio is recorded in 2-channel (stereo) Dolby Digital AC-3.

The recorder also has flexible recording more that adjusts the recording parameters (bit rate) so that the program fits on the disc at the best possible quality. Both the remote and the recorder look well assembled.

To stop playback just press [Stop] and to stop recording, press [Stop] again, 2 or more seconds after pressing the [Stop] button the first time to stop the playback. DVD-RAM discs do not have to be finalized but can only be played in DVD players that support them: mostly relatively recent Panasonic DVD players. But the power DVD-RAM format is its flexibility when used for re-recording.

They work faster and Panasonic claims high durability in re-recording. The manual recording is easy. Select the recording mode (XP, SP, LP or EP) and hit [Rec]. Stop the recording by hitting [Stop]. With DVD-RAM, there is no waiting after the recording is stopped.
Different recording modes/speeds can be specified for different titles by pressing the [Rec Mode] button. If you change the recording mode while in Rec/Pause state, a new title will be created automatically. The [Rec Mode] button cycles through XP, SP, LP and EP mode. EP mode can be selected between 6-hour and 8-hour mode in the setup menu ([Function] button). You can combine several programs recorded in LP and SP mode on once disc with no problems.

At any time (while not recording) you can hit [Direct Navigator] button to get to the screen which lists thumbnails (video) and descriptions of the titles recorded.
Non-erasable formats can have commercials removed if you watch the program while recording and use the [Pause] button to stop and restart the recording.
Non-DVD-RAM discs have to be finalized before you can play them in a standard DVD player.
The disc finalization takes less than 3 minutes and discs played fine in my DVD players. Overall, the recorder is pretty easy to use.

The ACCUTUNE digital/analog tuner works well, provided the antenna and signal strength are adequate. The best source for recording is, obviously, digital off-the-air programming. Since only 1 hour fits on the disc in the XP mode, use SP mode for high-quality recordings. In the SP mode, the picture quality is almost as good as in the XP mode. The EP modes are mostly suitable for either video programs with mostly static content or programs where sound matters more than the video (concerts, etc.)