Many video enthusiasts, al though they may have long wanted to destroy their cantankerous, tape-eating, low-resolution VHS machines, have collected large libraries of off-air programs or camcorder footage that they wouldn't want to be without. What better way to preserve your VHS library than to copy it to a far more robust and easy-to-use medium like recordable DVD? And what better way to copy those miles and miles of VHS footage than on a device specifically designed for that function, like the three combination DVD/VHS recorders tested here — JVC's DR-MV1 ($800), LG's LGXBR342 ($650), and Toshiba's D-VR3 ($499)? Sure, you could get the dubbing job done using separate machines, but a combination unit relieves the burden of hooking up a VCR to a DVD recorder, which isn't as easy as you might think, especially if you want to record off the air on one or both of them.
These three combo recorders all provide one-button, or nearly one-button, dubbing from VHS to DVD or from an external digital (MiniDV) camcorder connected to a front-panel i.Link (FireWire) connector labeled DV In. They can even dub in the opposite direction. None, however, will record copy-protected programs, either DVD to VHS or VHS to DVD.
On all three recorders, you can select and trim scenes from material recorded on a DVD-RW disc in the editable VR mode (whether recorded off the air or dubbed from a videotape), delete, add, or resequence the scenes in any order you want to see them, and then save the results as a “playlist” on the disc. Such nondestructive editing is great because precious original footage is untouched — the playlist merely conveys a set of cueing instructions to the player.
All three recorders have a progressive-scan component-video output that serves both the DVD and VHS sides. Watching your VHS tapes on a progressive display, however, is not guaranteed to give you a better picture than normal (interlaced) viewing. VHS is inherently interlaced video rather than film-derived progressive-scan video like most DVD movies, and converting it to progressive format is tough to do well. Any substantial picture instability from a substandard tape may produce obvious conversion defects, like jagged diagonals. When in doubt, watch VHS in interlaced mode.
Aside from these commonalities, each deck offers a slightly different feature set, which is summarized in our “features checklist” (click to view PDF) and the “recording/editing options” (click to view PDF). Now, let's take a closer look at them, starting with the simplest model.
LG LGXBR342
LG's DVD/VHS combo can be considered a starter deck. It contains all the things I'd consider absolutely necessary in a combo recorder, but very few frills and no unique or innovative operating features. Essential features include:
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LG LGXBR342
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DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 17 x 3 1/4 x 14 1/4 inches |
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• The ability to record on an erasable format (DVD-RW) as well as the popular write-once DVD-R format. Using a DVD-RW blank disc will let you do basic editing, like removing commercials from programs recorded off air or reordering scenes dubbed from home videos. DVD-R discs don't allow any useful editing functions but are compatible with most DVD players and cost quite a bit less than the erasable discs. The LG's maximum recording time on either type of disc is 4 hours.
• An easy way to copy a videotape to DVD. You simply hit the Copy button on the LG's front panel (hidden behind a flip-door) or the one on the remote.
• The ability to program off-air recordings on either the DVD or VHS recorder. Unfortunately, LG makes you do this the old-fashioned way — manually entering the time, date, and channel you want to record. The deck doesn't even support VCR Plus+, which is pretty retro in this age of TiVo and fancy onscreen program guides.
Beyond these features, the LG deck provides all the basic playback functions you'd expect in any DVD player or VHS deck. On the DVD side you also get the standard functions for both of the two recordable formats it supports. Its remote control is the least cramped of the three, but also the largest, which sometimes requires a lot of shifting in the hand to get to the button you want — or else two-handed operation.
Hooking up the LG — and the other recorders too — is much simpler than connecting a standalone DVD recorder and VHS deck to each other as well as to a cable/antenna system. There's only one set of RF connections to worry about — an antenna input and a DVD/VCR output — and the wiring between the DVD and VHS sections is already taken care of. To get multichannel sound like Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS from DVD movies, LG provides both a coaxial and an optical digital audio output for connection to your A/V receiver.
PDF: In the Lab
PDF: Recording/Editing Options
TOSHIBA D-VR3
Even though its list price is $150 less than the LG's, the Toshiba D-VR3 is really a step-up model because it adds both VCR Plus+ programming and DVD-RAM compatibility. DVD-RAM is the most versatile recordable-DVD format because it not only supports the same sort of playlist editing you can do with DVD-RW in VR mode but also lets you play a recorded program while another is being recorded, a feature otherwise available only on hard-disk video recorders (like TiVo). Unfortunately, DVD-RAM discs are not widely compatible with other DVD players or standard computer DVD drives.
The Toshiba also adds a 6-hour recording mode (compared with LG's 4-hour maximum) for all three disc types it records on — DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, and DVD-R. While picture quality in this mode is pretty dismal (worse than VHS EP), it can be useful in capturing really long live events on DVD or for everyday TV shows you don't plan to archive.
Additional features that some will find appealing include a “commercial-killing” 30-second fast-forward VCR function, playback of S-VHS tapes (not recording), and a picture-in-picture (PIP) function that lets you watch a DVD and a TV program simultaneously. The Toshiba handset is preprogrammed to control a wide variety of TVs, but unlike the LG and JVC remotes, it has no glow-in-the-dark buttons (much less backlighting), making it harder to use after you turn down the lights to watch a movie.
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TOSHIBA D-VR3
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DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 17 x 3 1/4 x 13 1/4 inches |
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PDF: Features Checklist
PDF: In the Lab
PDF: Recording/Editing Options
JVC DR-MV1
The feature king of the three DVD/VHS combos I tested is the JVC DR-MV1. At $800, it's also considerably more expensive than the LG and Toshiba decks. Like the Toshiba, it works with both the DVD-RAM and DVD-R/RW formats, supports VCR Plus+ timer recording and playlist editing (on DVD-RAM and DVD-RW), and has a low-quality 6-hour DVD recording mode. Unlike the other decks, the DR-MV1 has two TV tuners — one for the DVD recorder, the other for the VHS recorder — so you can record two different programs at the same time. While you might expect a PIP function to go along with the dual tuners, none is provided.
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JVC DR-MV1
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DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 17 1/ 4 x 3 7/ 8 x 13 3/4 inches |
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Like the Toshiba deck, the JVC lets you play (and copy) S-VHS tapes recorded at the SP speed, but you'll only get standard VHS resolution. The dubbing function takes a few more button pushes than on the other two decks, plus it takes longer to start (you have to hold down the Dubbing button for a full 10 seconds).
JVC has really loaded the DR-MV1 with features, and it will take some time to master the full use of all of them. Some are inconsequential, like the ability to isolate the left or right channel or to select stereo playback when playing a DVD or a VHS Hi-Fi tape you've recorded. More useful is the multicolored onscreen bar graph that shows where you are on a DVD-RAM disc when playing back a recording you're still making (JVC calls the play-while-recording function Live Memory). Since you can play or pause anywhere on a disc you're recording, it's easy to get confused as to where you are in relation to the program being recorded — the bar graph helps keep everything straight.
The feature that really caught my attention is JVC's new On-Disc Timer Programming function, which is used with DVD-RAM or DVD-RW discs that you reserve for a specific TV series. In this case the disc itself contains the programming information for repeat recording, on a daily or weekly basis, of a specific channel at a given time for a specified duration. Slip in a disc programmed to automatically record The OC, say, and the machine will dutifully record each episode until it fills up. At that point the oldest episode is automatically deleted to make room for the next episode.
A disc can contain the recording information for up to eight programs, though recording multiple episodes of that many programs will probably fill it up pretty quickly even in the 6-hour mode. The JVC DR-MV1 can also automatically record programs from a satellite receiver (or other timer-controlled device) provided the receiver's own timer turns it on and off at the proper times.
If you make lots of DVD recordings, the JVC is the only combo in this group that records “library” information on the discs you dub. Such information may include things like the program title and category, both of which are entered by the user. Up to 99 programs with title and other information can be stored on one disc. You then “register” that disc with the recorder, which stores library details for up to 1,300 programs so you can sort through registered programs by disc number, category, or title. While you can't search for specific information — you have to slog through the sorted categories manually to find the one you want — this feature could be very useful if you have a large library of DVD dubs.
PDF: Features Checklist
PDF: In the Lab
PDF: Recording/Editing Options
Recording Performance
Since dubbing is what these machines are all about, I evaluated each deck's ability to copy VHS recordings to DVD. Making such dubs is hard to do well because analog VHS recordings provide inherently unstable signals that tend to flummox digital devices. Unlike regular analog TVs, which tend to take such fluctuations in stride, DVD recorders and even some fixed-pixel digital TVs expect rock-steady signals — like what you get from a DVD player.
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| Recording aids like the JVC's On-Disc Timer Programming function, which acutally stores timer information on a DVD-RW or DVD-RAM disc, will ensure you never miss an episode of The OC. And it's easy to make VHS dubs for friends. |
I'm happy to report that all three recorders handled this difficult task well, taming the instabilities of VHS playback tape to avoid shifting colors, wobbly vertical edges, and a generally gritty picture. The better the original VHS recording (which includes not only the recorded video quality but also the physical condition of the tape itself), the better the results you'll get — especially in terms of picture noise and wobbliness.
Of course, detail in a dub will be limited by the resolution of the original, which in cases of a standard-VHS recording is somewhat less than the resolution capability of each recorder's LP (4-hour) recording mode. For the most part, then, you can use the LP mode to make DVD dubs of noncritical material, like VHS recordings that are themselves dubs from other tapes or of TV programs. If you're dubbing an S-VHS recording to DVD, I recommend going in through each recorder's S-video input and using at least the SP (2-hour) mode.
The Bottom Line
All three decks performed about equally well in DVD playback. Even performance in progressive-scan mode was comparable to that of a good separate DVD player (click to view "in the lab"). Given that overall performance was solid in each case, your decision will be largely a matter of features or price. If you want just the basics, the LG will do fine — but it does list for $150 more than the slightly more versatile Toshiba. Though it costs considerably more than the other two, the JVC offers a raft of attractive features, any of which may prove to be decisive, especially if you plan on making lots of DVD recordings.