talkietime

TrissyCat, In my October 4 2008 post I cautioned "When recording from digital sources 'Copy Protection' of copyrighted material will be an ever-present concern. Choose the brands/models that are the least sensitive to copy protection." Recent discussions on the AVS Forum indicate that "Copy Protection" is now being embeded in some commercials due to copyrighted musical selections found in those commercials. When the "CP flag" is detected by a tuner the device may prevent the recording of the commercial as well as the program where the commercial has been inserted. There are other AVS Forum discussions of original programming that contain the "CP flag" or certain networks that are implementing "CP" in a more widespread manner. In the last dozen years the laws have changed in ways that allow restrictions to, or prevention of the recording of copyrighted material. With the implementation of digital transmission and reception technology the recording of copyrighted content will become more restrictive as time goes by. Yes, there is computer software, and "video stabilizers" that bypass some copyright restrictions when used with recording or copying devices. These are also discussed on the AVS Forum. Most DVD recorder User Manuals have CP disclaimers prominently displayed. Some DVD recorders, especially Sony and JVC products, are so sensitive to a real or perceived "CP flag" that many users are returning the DVD recorders as "defective" since they are unable to record much of anything. This is contributing to the demise of DVD recorders. Cable and satellite providers have DVRs that will record HD or SD programming but these devices may not allow copying of these recordings to removable media (DVDs). DVRs are also contributing to the demise of DVD recorders. Some manufacturers are abandoning the DVD recorder market. Their reasoning: Why build a DVD recorder that doesn't record? Why build a DVD recorder that may work but the DVD recorder manufacturer may become a party to a copyright infringement lawsuit if their product works too well?

Primosprimos, The DMR-EZ48 is the current (2008) combo recorder in the Panasonic line. This and the DMR-EZ28 DVD recorder have digital and analog tuners, HDMI, upscaling and a number of other features. The 2008 models seem to have fewer problems than Panasonic?s 2007 models (that have a ?7? in the model names). For normal recording either of these models might be satisfactory for your use. Panasonics tend to be overpriced when purchased new. Missing from the DMR-EZ48 are essential menu-initiated copying features that allow the user to customize settings for Time Limited and Flexible Copying. The lack of these features in 2007 and 2008 combo recorders and limitations imposed by the front panel copying method makes these models somewhat ?user unfriendly.? With current model combo recorders there is very little advantage to a single machine with a VHS and DVD drive. A more flexible alternative is found with an external VCR connected to a DVD recorder or HDD/DVD recorder. The 2006 DMR-ES35V is an outstanding videotape copying ?workhorse.? If dubbing/copying is important to you I would suggest reserving the DMR-ES35V for that use. Three of my five DMR-ES35V models and two of my similar 2005 DMR-ES30V models have accumulated more than 3,000 recording hours per machine?perhaps most of those recording hours accumulated during my extensive selective dubbing project, see this post: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13955310#post13955310 With heavy use it is important to clean the DVD drive hub/spindle/lens and related parts especially in dusty or smoking environments or where DVDs are handled with a finger through the center hole. See this and the following posts for advice and photos: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14479898#post14479898 I currently own sixteen functional Panasonics from the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 model years; one 2007 Philips 3575 HDD/DVD recorder; and a new 2008/2009 Magnavox H2160 HDD/DVD recorder arrived on Wednesday. All but two of my 2005 and 2006 Panasonics are currently set aside for standby service. Four 2007 DMR-EZ17 models are in current use, two of which are enslaved to a Comcast Motorola DTC700 digital cable box always tuned to TCM. One 2008 DMR-EZ28 model and the Philips 3575 HDD/DVD recorder are also dedicated to time-shifting from TCM. With the Panasonics I use a tandem recording strategy for TCM. I have settled upon the Panasonic LP speed (four hours per DVD) and often FR (at near or better than LP quality) for the last recording on a DVD. The 2007 and 2008 EZ series Panasonics require certain workarounds and occasional resets to keep them functional. (My favorite older Panasonics did not need such measures.) With the Philips I do not record at speeds below SPP or LP (2.5 to three hours per disc when dubbed to DVD). The new Magnavox H2160 HDD/DVD recorder is largely a Philips 3575/3576 clone. Once the Magnavox has been set up it will also be dedicated to time-shifting from TCM. There is much more flexibility, even with ?round the clock recording capability, with Philips and Magnavox hard drive models. These models are discussed in great detail on the AVS Forum. The Magnavox is currently bargain priced at $239.98 (plus $4.97 shipping to my home, and I opted for the three year extension of the warranty for $28.99); see the AVS Forum sticky thread for more information: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940657 As to the Sony I would suggest looking for owner/user comments on the AVS Forum. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=106 Message was edited by: talkietime

Are you thinking of the intro that had a 1940s dance band where the musicians were located on several platforms being moved together into place as the camera pulled back?

See the several short videos in this series: http://www.ehow.com/video_2388836_combine-steps-charleston-swing-dance.html

When a short is scheduled it generally appears in the online schedule four to seven days in advance of its showing. If looking at *Now Playing* schedules watch for filler spaces between movies, say a movie of 77 minute duration scheduled in a 90 minute time slot or a movie of 92 minute duration scheduled in a 105 minute time slot. A one reel short and other "in-betweens" will fit handily into these time slots. For two reel shorts watch for 20+ minute filler spaces. Generally, scheduled shorts come from the same period (1930s/1940s) as the adjacent movie(s) or have some other relation to the subject matter or location of an adjacent movie. Examples: on Saturday *The Fighting Kentuckian* (1949) was followed by *Traveltalks: Glimpses Of Kentucky* (1941); on Sunday *Foreign Correspondent* (1940) was followed by *London Can Take It!* (1940); on Friday *Broadway Melody Of 1940* (1940) will be followed by *Martin Block's Musical Merry-Go-Round: Frankie Carle* (1948). Sometimes related material/shorts preceed the movie to which they are related.

DVRs are marvelous products but they don't record a showing that was in the past.

Notice that Robert Benchley will be showing us How To Vote (1936) on Election Day right after Wake Of The Red Witch. Leonard Maltin's Selected Short Subjects lists 49 Robert Benchley shorts from 1928 to 1945.

I recorded Third Dimensional Murder. An earlier poster mentioned that some 3-D glasses are the wrong kind to watch this short. Might you give advice as to what would be the right kind of 3-D glasses?

"The dummy was a human only in the final sequence, and he was much larger than the earlier dummy." This morning I watched an episode of the Jack Benny TV show first aired on 3/22/59. Jack visits the Edgar Bergen home. Frances Bergen sings Them There Eyes. Then Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd appear. They are human and interact with Frances and Jack. Frances treats the dummies as her children. Edgar Bergen arrives home at the end of the sequence. Edgar has Jack sit on his lap as if Jack's the dummy. Billy Curtis portrays both McCarthy and Snerd. This episode was shown by CBN on 7/9/87. Message was edited by: talkietime corrected the credit information

I've just auditioned Pennies From Heaven finding that the Hobson Fur Company scene begins at about 52:57 and is about 15 seconds in duration. The "open all night" diner scene is a composite from different sources. Where the counterman is pouring coffee may well be from The Wild One. I don't have that movie. The couple sitting at the counter, as viewed through the window, are Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters. That Pennies From Heaven scene begins at about 1:18:19 and is about 11 seconds in duration. The "open all night" neon window sign is not in the original scene. The auditioned copy of Pennies From Heaven is from a TCM showing in the early a.m. hours of 1/6/08. Incidentally, the Film Noir intro we've been discussing is seen just before that showing of Pennies From Heaven. Message was edited by: talkietime

My audition procedure is to skip or forward through a movie to find a particular scene. When I audition a DVD the procedure is the same but the purpose is to determine that a recorded movie is complete, and identify interstitials and related information for entry in my index of home-recorded time-shifted DVDs. If I find emergency notification tests or signal interruptions or other problems, e.g. if the movie print is of poor quality, I've managed to cut off the ending (an "eclip") sometimes noting an estimate of how much was cut (say "3m eclip" or ""5m begclip"), cut the beginning or ending credits ("bcrclip" or "ecrclip") or recorded only a partial title ("18m cncl only" or "1st 53m only"), that information will be included in the title listing so that movie may be recorded again from a future showing.

I've seen the movie with the 1949/50 Ford pulling up to the curb and its headlights go out, but I can't remember the title. It seems to me that the man in the car enters the building, either a cheap hotel or apartment, goes upstairs and knocks on a door. I'm reasonably sure that I have this movie recorded to DVD. If someone comes up with a likely title I may audition it for confirmation. The Hobson Fur Company and open all night diner scenes are from Pennies From Heaven with Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters. Message was edited by: talkietime

It's taken repeated viewings before I observed the connection of the rays of light (finally) producing the Robert Osborne screen. Only now do I see it--that this is "the ethereal light that comes from the projection booth." But I'm still confused by the people fixated upon the rays of light rather than what the light produces. That fixation is what occasioned my choice of the title of this thread.

At long last it appears that the original Robert Osborne Introduction has been replaced with a "Rays of Light" Robert Osborne Introduction. I first saw it tonight before 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was repeated before Touch Of Evil.

Swing High, Swing Low had a bigger problem, the poor quality of the print

In scheduling time-shift recordings to DVD recorders and a HD recorder I've found some possible "tight schedules" on 10/26-27. The title durations are those shown in Now Playing (N) and TCM.com (T). The time slots are those shown in common between Now Playing and TCM online schedules. The first programming block includes: The Black Bird (1926) listed as 77m (N) or 70m (T) scheduled in a 90m slot, but see the next title. The Unknown (1927) listed as 61m (N) or 50m (T) scheduled in a 60m slot, this may start early if the title is actually 61m in duration. Vampyr (1932) listed as 73m (N) or 72m (T) scheduled in a 75m slot, but is there an intro/outro? The Black Room (1935) listed as 70m (N) or 68m (T) in a 75m slot, but see the next title. Before I Hang (1940) listed as 62m (N and T) scheduled in a 60m slot, this may start early or run late into the next title's time slot. The next title, The Glenn Miller Story (1954), and the title following it, Young At Heart (1954), are also tightly scheduled. Titles airing at that time of day seldom have Robert Osborne intos/outros. The second programming block includes: In Name Only (1939) listed as 95m (N and T) in a 105m slot, not tightly scheduled but see the next title. They All Kissed The Bride (1942) listed as 88m (N) or 87m (T) in a 90m slot, but is there an into/outro? See the next title. Street of Women (1932) listed as 60m (N) or 59m (T) scheduled in a 60m slot, but is there an intro/outro? With a single recorder some titles may be bulked together as a single recording with pre- and post- buffer time. With multiple recorders tight schedules may be recorded in tandem with overlap buffering. It is important to have correct clock settings for time-shifting devices.

"TCM pulled out all the stops with Kay Francis. We got 42 films compared to the18 they are showing for Lombard . . . One thing for sure, it's been a less stressful month recording wise. I ran myself ragged trying to get all those Francis films in!" The Kay Francis film blocks were a time-shifting challenge. I used three Panasonic DVD recorders (one DMR-EZ17 and two DMR-ES15 models) recording in tandem and one Philips DVDR3575H/37B also recording it all to hard drive, and then HS dubbed to DVDs.

The Gay Bride had lots of talent and an interesting story but about 67 minutes into the film the picture and sound disappeared for thirteen minutes or so, only to return for a few seconds at the very end. Did anyone else observe this outage or is this a problem with my local Comcast Service in Portland Oregon?

Since a DVD recording has already been "decoded" as part of the recording process it should need no further decoding when copied to VHS. I'm just speculating here. I'm sure the question may be, or has been answered on the AVS Forum. On a combo recorder the DVD records digital or analog programming.

Begining on March 1 2007 all products with tuners manufactured for sale in the USA have been required by law to have a digital tuner. Current tuner-equipped products have digital and analog tuners. Analog tuners will still be found in products made for the US/Canadian market for a few more years. Once Canada transitions to digital broadcasting expect to see the demise of analog tuners. The way around the law for many manufacturers of VCRs and DVD recorders was to build "tunerless" products. These products do not have the threaded RF in and out jacks. These products do have the composite RCA input and output jacks, yellow for video and white/red for audio. If these products are capable of recording then they will record from these "line in" jacks. Many DVD recorders and combo recorders also have some other input and output options, component (Red/Blue/Green), S-Video or HDMI. Cable and satellite boxes convert digital signals into an analog format. These analog signals may be recorded through the RCA inputs on tunerless recording devices. Some current combo recorders have both digital and analog tuners and VHS and DVD recording capability. But the VHS section may not record digital signals to videotape since this would require a separate (and expensive) decoder. Since VHS is "old" technology, product manufacturers do not include such expensive features that will not be used widely. If recording from the digital tuner itself (where digital channels may have decimal points in the channel numbers) recording is limited to DVD. This should be of little consequence for those using cable boxes, satellite receivers or coupon eligible converter boxes (CECBs) for antenna reception. When recording from digital sources "Copy Protection" of copyrighted material will be an ever-present concern. Choose the brands/models that are the least sensitive to copy protection. Currently I own fifteen functional Panasonic DVD recorders and combo recorders and one Philips DVDR3575H/37B Hard Drive/DVD recorder. In recent years "Diga" is the name Panasonic uses to identify their line of DVD recorders. Since I am a genuine Panasonic "fanatic" I am known as "DigaDo" on the AVS Forum where one may find discussions among thousands of DVD recorder/combo recorder owners/users: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=106

The PSA is a view of reality for many elderly folks rather than the simplistic information presented in PSAs seen constantly on broadcast TV. There is a great deal of discussion on the AVS Forum concerning the DTV transition and the digital to analog converter boxes for antenna reception: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=186 In that Coupon Eligible Converter Box (CECB) sub-forum there are hundreds of threads with tens of thousands of posts with millions of views. The converter boxes most highly regarded by their owners are the Zenith DTT901 ($49.99 at KMart and BiMart and a few other chain stores, or $59.99 at Circuit City): the Insignia NS-DXA1-APT (a Zenith DTT901 clone, $59.99 at Best Buy); the Channel Master CM-7000 (about $80) and Zinwell ZAT-970A (around $50) are found at various online stores. The RCA, found at some WalMart stores, has a remote with very large buttons. The Magnavox (and its Philco twin) found at some WalMart and KMart stores and the DTVPal/TR-40 (Sears, KMart and Dish Network) are less well regarded by owners. The government coupons reduce these prices by $40 per converter box.

Here is a PSA with some simple Digital TV transition advice for those receiving TV with an antenna: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTSS8E7bKXg&fmt=18 This link is not active in this post so copy the address in your browser. It's worth the trouble to view it. This post in another Forum has an active link to the PSA: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14785173#post14785173

In more recent movies, Morgan Freeman in Deep Impact.

Fred, The VCR/TV button on a DMR-ES30V remote is the button at the lower right. Within the same context it is mentioned on page 20 of the DMR-ES30V Operating Instructions.

Scsu1975, I stand corrected. One of my 2006 combo recorder remotes does have a VCR/TV button, but I have never had an occasion to use that button. The Operating Instructions mentions this button within a context of setting the RF output channel from channel 3 to 4 (DMR-ES35V Operating Instructions, p. 21). Might this have something to do with the problem? One AVS or CD Freaks poster mentioned an older Panasonic's scheduled recording failure when programs were scheduled in more than one format, VHS, DVD or HDD. None of the scheduled programs overlapped. The problem was resolved by scheduling only in a single format. It is my experience that all my 2005, 2006 and 2007 model Panasonics, with one exception, will finalize DVDs recorded on any of my other Panasonics. The exception is the DMR-ES40V combo recorder model (from 2005). This is a bug-laden model that has many design flaws. After it was about three months old it would fail during the finalization process, ruining the disc. From that time forward all of the DVDs recorded on this machine have been finalized on other model Panasonics. This machine, after it had been used a few months spent the better part of two years in its original box stored in a closet. It has had but 355 recording hours since new. In the last year it was returned to service as the VHS/DVD player (at $269.99 a very expensive player) on the family TV set. Since I have not experienced the original problem you described I am unable to address it. Be sure to visit the AVS Forum. Message was edited by: talkietime