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Shoot Review: JVC SR-DVM70US

Sep 1, 2006 12:00 PM, Reviewer: Tom Patrick McAuliffe

Three-in-one VTR provides convenient, high-quality recording, playback, and more.

You and your clients have tons of source footage on DV and DVCAM, but at some point, someone is going to want to view the material on DVD. So, you need a DV camera, a DV tape player, a DVD recorder, and maybe a computer.

JVC addresses these various demands with what it calls the world's first three-in-one multiformat player and recorder, the SR-DVM70US deck. Personally, I have hundreds of DV source tapes, so I've been needing a product like this for some time. Archiving onto the more durable medium of DVD is just plain smart — especially when it's footage that will be useful for some years to come, such as underwater and scenic skylines from around the world. Introduced at last year's NAB, the SR-DVM70 features a DV/DVCAM deck, a hard drive recorder, and a DVD recorder — all in one compact unit weighing less than 15lbs. At first glance, the product, both as a player and as a recorder for each format (DV, DVCAM, DVD-R), seems well thought-out. But the real test will be how those formats intermingle for dubbing from one to another.

Right out of the box, a few things about the product impressed me. First, the SR-DVM70 is easy to use. Also, its inputs and outputs are quite handy, with plugs on both front and rear for maximum convenience: iLink (IEEE 1394), S-Video (Y/C), and composite video I/O, with YUV component out. I plugged in the unit (for once, a heavy-duty AC cord is provided), stuck in a DVD, and was immediately struck by the outstanding image and audio quality. I guess I really should not have been at all surprised, because you always get the best quality using digital-to-digital signal transfer.

However, the JVC deck takes this all a step further. The VTR takes the content it is being fed, analyzes it in realtime, and then chooses the optimum bit rate for MPEG-2 conversion. It offers you quality-level choices based on how much hard drive space will be filled. In addition, the product features a proprietary Auto Error Correction system, which has a “DV block noise canceller.” I'm not an electrical engineer so I could not tell you how it works, but of all the DV tapes I played back, none showed the blocky artifacts that some other DV decks pushed through. Once I had viewed a DVD, a DV source tape, and a clip or two off the internal hard drive, I was ready to investigate further.

I dubbed from a MiniDV tape to the internal hard drive; I dubbed from the hard drive to DVD; I dubbed from MiniDV to DVD; I dubbed from DVCAM to both the hard drive and to DV tape. There was never a problem. I used MiniDV tape from a variety of manufacturers, and I used blank DVD-R and DVD-RW media. As I was performing all these boring — yet essential — operations, I found myself wishing more products were as reliable as the SR-DVM70.

I also transferred footage from both a Sony Hi-8 via the front Y/C input and a Sony DV camera via the IEEE-1394 I/O. The fact that the deck has both front and rear inputs and outputs was very convenient throughout the tests.

As for dubbing content from an external player (camera or VTR), again, there were no difficulties. In fact, by using an external DV device, I was able to edit on the fly and dub only highlights; whereas, with the internal DV player, you must play back the whole DV tape if you are dubbing directly to DVD. An advantage to putting content on the hard drive is that you can record projects to DVD at eight times realtime. I was also able to hook up the deck to my Power Mac G4 running Apple Final Cut Pro, as well as my Windows PC running Adobe Premiere Pro. During my week-long testing period, I had only one occasion where the deck was not recognized by the Premiere Pro PC for no apparent reason.

Although the deck only offers RS-232 deck control (instead of the more professional RS-422), the SR-DVM70 is not just for dubbing — it's right at home in the edit suite. The deck stores the last user operation in internal memory, so when you start up the unit again, the last editing function you performed is ready to resume. Handy.

I have only one significant suggestion for improving the three-in-one JVC VTR. It's harder than it should be to switch from one of the various dub modes to another. There were one or two times when I had to power down the unit completely for it to reset itself before I could move to the next operation. But this was intermittent, and only true when going from, say, DV to DVD. Dubbing from the hard drive was always a breeze for me — and a brisk one at that, with eight times normal speed. Using JVC's relatively new FR 480 transfer protocol, you can get downright gale force with a maximum recording speed of 64 times realtime.

The fact that the MiniDV, DVD, and HDV units are treated as separate units can be both a blessing and a curse. But be it playback, dubbing, or editing, the SR-DVM70 is a solid all-around deck. And if you are into long-format work such as documentation of seminars, you're in luck because the unit is capable of recording up to 300 hours continuously to the internal 160GB hard disk. I had the SR-DVM70 on and/or operating for 24 hours straight, and the unit was hardly warm — a testament to its small and quiet, yet hardy, cooling fan.

You can tell I really enjoyed using this simple, sturdy product. The SR-DVM70 was easy to use, the manual was clearly written, the support folks at the toll-free 800 number were knowledgeable, and the results were not to be argued with. The DVDs played back on more than half a dozen DVD players from various manufacturers. But all this functionality comes at a professional's price point. The SR-DVM70 is a good value when you consider that you are getting a DV/DVCAM deck, a hard drive recorder, and a DVD recorder all in one unit. Add to that the space savings, and the JVC SR-DVM70US should be a serious contender for your next VTR purchase.

With this product, JVC has broken new ground and created a cost-effective multiformat recorder. This multifunctional product is a perfect vehicle for both preserving and distributing video productions. From video dubbing, playback, and archiving to DVD duplication and editing, the JVC SR-DVM70US VTR represents multiformat productivity.

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bottomline

Company: JVC
Wayne, N.J.; (973) 317-5000
pro.jvc.com

Product: SR-DVM70US

Assets: Three products in one unit, 300 hours on HD, simple operation, built-in DVD author tools.

Caveats: Changing from one operation to another can sometimes be a challenge.

Demographic: Any videomaker dealing with DV, DVCAM, and DVDs.

PRICE: $1,795

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Tom Patrick McAuliffe is a writer, entertainer, and video creator who is also the editor-at-large for Singer & Musician Magazine.

© 2008 Penton Media, Inc.