DVD, HD and Blue Ray Recorder are thankfully much easier to use than VCRs DVD players became the fastest selling consumer product of all time and it is easy to see why.
The main advantage of DVD, HD and Blue Ray is obviously the digital picture quality.
The discs maintain their quality for many thousands of plays, don’t require tracking and let you instantly skip to any point in the disc in an instant.
The audio performance means that you utilise multi-channel speaker performance through formats such as Dolby Digital 5.1, DD-EX, DTS and DTS-ES for Home Cinema surround sound in the comfort of your own home.
The audio performance of DVD and Blue Ray means that you can experience better than CD quality sound through the DVD-Audio format. This format benefits from 24 Bit resolution and a sampling rate of 192 KHz bringing you incredible clarity. Recording is also easier since multiple programmes or a whole series can be set to record in seconds. You can even have those annoying advertising breaks removed.
What Type of Recorder?
There are three main types of recording devices currently in use DVD, HD and Blue Ray. Some Televisions in the past have had one of these integrated into their casing. You may also see a HD (hard drive) integrated with either or the two disc units to form a combination device.
DVD Recorders are increasingly very affordable. There is at times some confusion in regards of the various disc formats that exist, luckily most modern recorders will play DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW (RW discs are re-writeable) though it’s always worth checking. DVD RAM discs are much less popular particularly with the popularity of HD Recorders. Many recorders will allow you to edit your recordings.
HD or Hard Drive Recorders are likely to increase in popularity due to the ease with which they can integrate with other digital devices and the fact they do not require a physical Disc. The capacity of Hard Drive recorders is often huge and in the hundreds of gigabytes, a movie is only around 5GB! They also benefit from a ‘Time Slip’ function allowing you to watch the start of a programme which is still in the process of recording. As mentioned before they are often integrated with another type of recorder or even within a television.
The latest type of recording device is the Blue Ray format. This optical disc format’s greatest asset is it’s ability to record and playback in High Definition (HD) on a huge 50GB disc. Some machines also allow you to re-write discs.. Blue Ray devices will also play your DVDs and audio CDs.
Features to Consider
You may want to consider a device that is DivX compatible, DivX is a format that basically compresses movies downloaded from the internet to take up less space on a DVD.
If you have an HD TV you’ll most probably want to take advantage of this by ensuring your device has an HDMI or DVI connection. DVI will carry HD but won’t carry an audio signal.
Manager’s Tip
Some DVD Recorders allow you to watch movies other than from Region 2, commonly referred to as multi regional. This allows you to purchase discounted films when on holidays or through the internet with the confidence they’ll work when you get home. Remember the quality of cables you use connecting various devices has a big effect on the end result. Visit our accessories section.
Go to DVD/HD/Blue Ray Recorders to purchase your appliance now.
