No noise and nary a jitter
The video-recording performance in both XP (one hour per single-sided disc) and SP (two hours) modes absolutely blew away that of videocassettes. The results in both modes looked better than recordings made on a JVC HR-S3800U VCR in S-VHS ET mode, the highest-quality setting, with less noise and jitteriness, more accurate color, and generally excellent reproduction of difficult pans. The other two modes, LP (four hours) and EP (six hours) were also less jittery and noisy than S-VHS but had more blocky artifacts.
The LP and EP modes also captured fewer than half of the 525 lines of resolution recorded by the XP and SP modes. We recorded a cable-broadcast basketball game at various modes and could detect no difference between XP and SP. However, the quick camera motion and player movement played havoc in LP and EP, introducing heavy MPEG artifacts with the latter. On the other hand, the audio sounded great in every mode. Like other DVD recorders, though, this deck cannot record multichannel sound and lacks a digital audio input.
For most, the DMR-E20 is an expensive luxury; it lists at $1,500, but you can find it for as low as $850. However, compared to other DVD-R home decks, such as Pioneer's DVR-7000 ($1,999 list), which boasts high-end components and a FireWire input, it's a relative bargain and should find a market with early adopters. If you're not a high-end consumer or a borderline videophile, though, your best bet is to wait for the next generation of recorders, which are due out by late 2002 and promise to be less expensive and somewhat more versatile.
What You'll Pay
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