DVD-R capacity and the Panasonic DMR-E80 (1 Viewer)

[Michael Reuben]

As my adventures with DVD recording continue, I've run into a new problem that I hope some of my fellow Panasonic owners can help me with.

Until now I've transferred entire programs (movies or other broadcasts) to DVD-R using either Panasonic's "Flexible Recording" setting or the "high speed" bit-by-bit copy option. Last night, for the first time, I tried recording two different items on the same DVD-R and ran into a capacity puzzle.

As I understand it, a DVD-R should be able to hold 2 hours of content at "standard" (or "SP") quality. I have a series of 1-hour TV shows that I'm trying to transfer to DVD-R, 2 episodes per disc. They've been edited slightly, so that they're all 59 minutes long. All of the shows were recorded with the settings that permit a "high speed" transfer. All of them were recorded with the "SP" setting.

Each show measures at just around 2000MBs on the hard disk. When I set up the dubbing session, the E80 reports that the capacity of the DVD-R exceeds the size of the two shows on the dubbing list. But the dubbing session never completes. Instead it stops with an error message after the first show has been transferred. At that point, the E80 reports that the disc has one 59-minute program -- and only 36 minutes of additional capacity. (I'm guessing it stops the dub because there's no longer enough room.)

Where's the extra space being consumed? What am I doing wrong? I've got 2 hours of video recorded with SP, but apparently that exceeds the capacity of the DVD-R, even though the E80, when it sets up the session, thinks that everything should fit. It looks like I'll have to use the "flexible" setting to get 2 shows on one disc, but that's precisely why I recorded them with the settings for "high speed" mode, so that I wouldn't have to re-encode them during the dub.

NOTE: This is NOT a disc problem. I tried two different DVD-Rs, and just to make sure, I repeated the procedure with a DVD-RAM disc that I know is good. Same result every time.

Any insights much appreciated.

M.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Michael, that is a strange one. I had a similar problem that occurred with two programs being copies via high-speed dub to DVD-R. In my case, the dub failed at the exact same point with two different discs (both from the same spindle). I then tried with a different brand blank DVD-R and the recording completed without incident (I never tried a DVD-RAM disc). I have not run into the problem since.

 

[Michael Reuben]

I continue to be baffled, Scott. I've tried all sorts of variations, including different programs, two dubbing sessions (first one show, then the other). The bottom line is that I can't use high-speed dubbing to fit two one-hour shows captured at SP onto a single disc. Guess I'm going to have to do it the old-fashioned way, using either FR or SP.

M.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Latest developments: The problem I was experiencing appears to have been limited to the 3 or 4 recorded programs I was trying to transfer. Transfers of newly recorded 1-hour shows at high speed have gone smoothly, with two shows recorded at SP fitting on a DVD-R just fine. I have no idea why that particular group of recordings caused problems, but with any luck it won't be a common occurrence.

M.

 

[Phil Tomaskovic]

Did you record those that failed with the dvd compatibility turned on? Not sure if it would matter, but... Could you record those at SP and fit 2 episodes on them?

 

[Michael Reuben]

Could you record those at SP and fit 2 episodes on them?

Yes, that's what I ultimately did.

M.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

This sounds like some sort of software quirk on the E80. Very peculiar.

 

[Michael Reuben]

A software quirk is a possibility, but something in that particular group of recordings must have triggered it. Since moving on to new recordings, I've had no trouble copying two SP-recorded one-hour shows to a single DVD-R at high speed. Odd, but with any luck the problem won't recur.

M.