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Sony DVDirect
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Tom Patrick McAuliffe
Hybrid recorder creates DVDs with or without a computer.
Big surprises come in small packages. That's certainly true of Sony's new DVDirect VRD-VC10 DVD recorder. This innovative DVD burner offers standalone, realtime DVD recording and computer-attached burning in one small unit. DVDirect also supports nearly every DVD format on the market today, including DVD+R and DVD+RW. It burns to DVD-R, DVD-RW, and 8.5GB dual-layer DVD+R when it's attached to a PC. MSRP is only $299.
Sony’s DVDirect offers realtime DVD recording and computer-attached burning, with simple DVD authoring and support for nearly every DVD format on the market today, including the 8.5GB double-layer DVD+R DL discs.
The compact DVDirect has a sleek design — it can be set up in either horizontal or space-saving vertical mode. The disc tray moves smoothly, and the whole unit is very quiet. The clear 2”x2” window is bright and displays all the modes of the unit. (Backlit LCDs would be nice in future products to make the display stand out in dark edit suites.)
Installation is easy, and Sony provides free customer and technical support. The package includes an AC power adapter (with a cord that's too short), a USB 2.0 cable, a Windows software disk, and full documentation. The DVDirect carries a one-year limited warranty.
For computer backup, video/audio editing and processing, DVD authoring, and playback, Sony includes the Nero 6 software suite. There's everything you need, even software to make DVD labels. The software bundle has a rather amateurish GUI, but it gets the job done. To use the DVDirect with a PC you need Windows 2000 or XP, a USB 2.0 port, 256MB of memory, and 10GB of hard drive space. A Pentium 4 1.6GHz processor is recommended, but I tested it on a Pentium 3 system with no problems and was also able to hook it up to a Mac.
For recording directly from a camcorder or VTR, DVDirect has inputs for composite video, S-Video, and stereo audio. For cameras that have only one audio out, you'll need an inexpensive audio Y converter to attach to the stereo inputs on the DVDirect. It features a convenient sync start/stop recording function for most camcorders and VCRs, and it records using the standard MPEG-2 video format. I was able to capture video in realtime from an attached VX1000 DV camcorder directly to DVD, and digitize footage from a DV VCR directly to DVD, without a computer. Very handy. When attached to a PC, DVDirect supports the newer DVD+R dual-layer media.
The DVDirect is simple to set up and operate: I was recording in minutes. Three recording quality modes (SLP, SP, and HQ) determine the amount of video that fits on a disc. At SLP, you can record up to 12 hours of DV-quality MPEG-2 video on a single dual-layer disc and six hours on a regular DVD. The device records high-speed DVD+R discs at speeds up to 16X, CD-RW at up to 24X, DVD-RW and DVD+RW at up to 4X, and CD-R up to 48X.
One of the most convenient features is automatic DVD chapter insertion every five, 10, or 15 minutes, so you can skip to different parts of the recording easily. Or you can turn this feature off and just record the video with no breaks. Clicking pause or record while the incoming video plays creates new chapters, and stopping and starting creates a title. This is DVD authoring in its easiest and simplest form. Menus are automatically created, and titles are thumbnails made from the first non-black video frame. These appear in the menu along with timecode information. There are no chapter menus, but with a DVD remote you can navigate the chapters and the content just like with any other DVD.
Overall, the DVDirect is a straightforward performer and, in my opinion, well worth the money, especially if you don't already have a DVD recorder. I used it every day for two or three weeks, with only a few bad discs.
I did run into a little trouble when I tried to copy some movies. The software reacted as though the original video had Macrovision copy protection, even when it was substantiated that the video did not. Perhaps that will be addressed in future firmware updates, which are available on the Sony website. I was also a bit disappointed that the current version does not support the DVD-R/RW format unless it's connected to a PC.
The biggest downside was the length of time it took to finalize a DVD so it could play in most DVD players. You must finalize a +R disc for it to be usable in a player.
For live, realtime recording, DVDirect must record in DVD+VR mode, and unfortunately, disc finalization times for this mode are on the longer side, even with only five minutes of video. It was puzzling that the finalization time was long regardless of the length of the video.
One way to avoid waiting for finalization is to use +RW DVD media. However, the blank media for this format are more expensive than for other formats. Also, playback is challenging because not all players and computer drives recognize it. In fact, I had a problem playing back a DVD+RW in both Dell and Gateway PCs with DVD±R/RW drives. It could have been isolated problem, however, and with the many DVD formats available, there are plenty of possible workarounds.
A pleasant surprise was that using the HQ recording mode, there was no discernible difference in visual quality for recording from composite or S-Video sources. Both video sources looked great on DVD.
If you haven't added a CD or DVD recorder to your computer system — or if you have a lot of videotape to convert and save for the long term — this is the product for you. I love the DVDirect for what it is, but I wish an IEEE 1394/iLink/FireWire input was included on the product. It would also be nice if it included a video/audio out port too, especially as this is a product aimed at videomakers and not just computer users.
But DVDirect is still a very useful tool and one of the easiest and least expensive ways to accomplish video recording, editing, computer backup, and basic DVD creation. To date, it is the most direct way to take VHS and other tape-based formats and put them onto a DVD disc.
BOTTOM LINE
Company: Sony
New York; (877) 865-7669
www.sonystyle.com
Product: Sony DVDirect VRD-VC10 DVD recorder
Assets: Very small, low cost, directly burn tape-based media to DVD.
Caveats: No IEEE 1394 I/O, no video out.
Demographic: Those with tape libraries to transfer to DVD.
Price: $299
Tom Patrick McAuliffe is a writer, entertainer, and video creator living in Hawaii.
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