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MillimeterIntegrate Review
Jul 1, 2002 12:00 PM, By Steve Mullen
Sidebars
"Pioneer's DVR-A04"
It burns DVDs in realtime, but a few flaws and a high price expose its first-generation status.
 The PRV-9000 provides sophisticated proc amp control for both outputs and for each of the three analog inputs, and also features FireWire I/O. |
Several months ago when reviewing a hardware MPEG-2 encoder (Canopus StormEncoder review, February, page 72), I encountered problems burning discs. From reading dozens of anguished posts from folks having problems burning DVDs, I learned I was not alone.
When I encountered Pioneer's PRV-9000 at NAB, it looked like the perfect solution. The PRV-9000 is a standalone unit that can make a DVD-Video disc in realtime at the press of a button. Although expensive ($2,000 MSRP), it has an impressive list of features. Naturally, it can record both 4:3 and 16:9 video. Its IEEE 1394 port can output as well as input DV or Digital 8. It also has a very complete set of audio output options, including DTS, Dolby Digital, and 96kHz/48kHz PCM via both optical and coax connectors. Video is output from one composite (BNC), one Y/C, and YPrPb analog component (BNC) jacks.
The component output can supply either interlaced or progressive (480p) video. When driving a 480p HDTV or projector, Pioneer's PureCinema circuit performs reverse 3:2 pulldown on film material played from a commercial DVD. Unfortunately, PureCinema cannot be applied to film sources from the TV tuner or external inputs. Inputs include composite (BNC), Y/C, but not YPrPb analog component video. (And also no “dream” YPrPb input for 1080i from my HDTV cable box so I could record downconverted 16:9 HD programming to DVD.)
DVD recordings are made using either write-once DVD-R or re-recordable DVD-RW discs. The unit can also play DVD-Video discs recorded on DVD-R and DVD-RW media, as well as audio CDs and video CDs recorded on CD-R and CD-RW media.
The PRV-9000 provides sophisticated proc amp control for both outputs — and for each of the three analog inputs. Output control includes three presets (TV, plasma, and professional) and three user-defined settings, each offering YNR, CNR, QNR (MPEG-2 noise reduction), high-frequency sharpness, mid-frequency sharpness, detail, white level, black level, black setup (0 or 7.5IRE), chroma level, and hue. Input control includes three presets (TV, VCR, and LDP) and three user-defined settings, each offering 3D Y/C separation for composite inputs, YNR, CNR, white AGC (on/off), white level, black level, black setup (0 or 7.5IRE), chroma level, and hue.
Marketing material for any DVD recorder will promise you many exciting features. The PRV-9000, for example, offers a capacity of one to six hours, adjustable in 32 steps. (I used the three-hour, Level 15 — average 3Mbps — mode to record a long movie and it looked very good.) For each video segment recorded, the PRV-9000 generates a video thumbnail. Thumbnails appear on the navigation menu for quick visual recognition and access. You can assemble a playlist from these thumbnails. Segments can be erased and trimmed.
However, it's important to remember these features are available only when using a proprietary recording format with DVD-RW media. Pioneer calls this format VR mode. When you use VR mode, your DVD-RW discs can be played only in compatible players. Pioneer makes no mention of any compatible players.
The bottom line is that, except when recording TV programs, you'll want to use what Pioneer calls Video mode. According to Pioneer, “DVD-R media, using Video mode, is compatible with most set-top DVD players and DVD-ROM drives.” DVD-RW media can also be used with Video mode. This combination, according to Pioneer, “is compatible with many players and drives.”
Pioneer's DVD-RW caution suggests that by using DVD-R, your productions will have a greater likelihood of playing in set-top DVD players. But no one knows whether DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, or DVD+RW will emerge a winner. For this reason, archival recordings are best made on DVD-R.
If you're beginning to wonder if you need a format other than DVD-R, I think you have a valid question. I purchased blank DVD-R discs from CompUSA for less than $4 each. That's about the same price as a medium-grade VHS tape. Another advantage of using only DVD-R: Several DVD-R recorders are available for less than $1,000 (see box above).
Using the PRV-9000's 1394 connection, compressed DV is uncompressed internally to component digital video and then recompressed to MPEG-2. DV stereo PCM audio is converted to Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. Unfortunately, no machine control via 1394 is provided.
Staying within the digital domain will keep the signal-to-noise ratio high. However, I liked using the PRV-9000's input proc amp to optimize image quality. (The proc amp should function with the 1394 digital input.)
One advantage to using an analog input is that many NLE systems can output, without rendering, from a timeline via an analog connection. This can save both render time and disk space.
In Video mode, maximum program capacity is either one hour at 9.78Mbps (V1 mode) or two hours at 5.11Mbps (V2 mode). Video mode uses CBR while VR mode uses VBR. (During playback, you can display the data rate.) A disc can hold up to 99 segments of audio and video. Pioneer decided to call these “titles,” which, of course, can't have real titles — although they can be “named.”
You can give names to segments, and name the disc as well. But the PVR-9000's on-screen “keyboard” is poorly organized and I hated using it. While the on-screen menus all looked fine, they were certainly not designed for speed.
After recording to DVD-R, you can erase a segment, but the segment isn't removed from the disk. While you can truly erase a segment recorded to DVD-RW, you can do so only if it is the last segment recorded.
Before you can play a DVD-R or DVD-RW disc, you must “finalize” it. This process can take up to 20 minutes. This is not the only delay you'll encounter with the PRV-9000. When you load or unload a disc there is a wait of up to 30 seconds.
I encountered two limitations to using Video mode recording. First, it is nearly impossible to make the first frame of video be the first recorded to disc. Second, because the recorder uses a 30-second recording buffer, when you press stop the 9000 records a freeze-frame of the last video frame for up to 30 seconds. When playing your DVD, the beginning and end of recordings do not look professional.
Technology does offer a solution. In Japan, a DVD recorder with a built-in hard drive is for sale. I assume you record to the hard disk, trim the beginning and end of segments, create a record list, and then burn the DVD. Knowledge of this technology and my experience with the PRV-9000 suggest that if you can wait, a second- or third-generation DVD recorder will offer more sophisticated functionality, and will likely sell for a quarter of the price.
For video production, the optimal solution will be a DVD-R recorder designed specifically for our needs. Obviously, it must have frame-accurate control via 1394. Also, audio-level control must be possible so a series of segments can be made to have a constant level.
If, however, you need to burn DVDs now and not later, the Pioneer PRV-9000 is the way to go.
Contributing editor Steve Mullen is owner of Digital Video Consulting, which provides consulting and conducts seminars on digital video technology. His website is www.mindspring.com. Reach him at d-v-c@mindspring.com.
BOTTOM LINE
Company: Pioneer
Long Beach, Calif.
310-952-2111
www.pioneerusa.com
Product: PRV-9000 DVD recorder
Assets: Burns a DVD in realtime at the push of a button; handles 16:9; offers sophisticated proc amp control, both user-defined and presets, for input and output.
Demographic: Video producers who want super image quality, but are willing to make a few compromises because they can't wait for a next-generation DVD recorder.
Price: $2,000
Sidebar
Pioneer's DVR-A04
THOUGH THE PRV-9000 STANDALONE DVD RECORDER IS IN ONLY ITS FIRST generation, Pioneer's DVR-A04 DVD-R and DVD-RW drive is currently in its fourth. The popular drive is known as the SuperDrive when it ships with Macs.
To install the Pioneer DVR-A04 ($499) on my dual-boot (Windows 98SE and 2000) system, I simply unplugged my CD-ROM-R drive and plugged in the A04. However, when I booted 98SE my system crashed. Pioneer tech support quickly diagnosed a very obscure problem: the “scsi1hlp.vxd” file needed to be deleted.
Software bundled with the DVR-A04 includes Veritas RecordNow DX and DLA (Drive Letter Access), plus CyberLink's PowerDVD XP. PowerDVD played DVDs recorded on the PRV-9000 with no problems.
I tried to burn a DVD-R with the bundled MyDVD software. Encoding took two minutes for every minute of captured DV. No “finalizing” was necessary. Unfortunately, the burned DVD-R disc would not play perfectly either on my set-top DVD player or on the DVR-A04. Calling Pioneer tech support, I was told not to use MyDVD to burn a DVD. Rather, use it only to encode to hard disk and then use RecordNow DX to burn a DVD. While this worked, the result was a mosquito-plagued DVD.
Then I tried DVD Express from Pinnacle using a data rate of 6Mbps. Encoding took 12 minutes per minute of DV source material. Thankfully, the DVD-R played fine and looked very good — the longer encoding time proved worth it. Here the PRV-9000 has a powerful advantage by providing realtime DV decompression and realtime MPEG-2 compression!
It looks like burning DVDs on a PC is still a black art that begins with not necessarily using the software bundled with the drive you bought.
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