Panasonic DMR-EZ49vEBK Super Multi Format Combi Recorder with Freeview: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Available Warranties for This Item

Frequently Bought Together

Product details

Manufacturer's Description

Super Multi Format Combi Recorder with Freeview

Upgrade standard definition DVDs and more to 1080p high definition, perfect for large screens.

To fully enjoy today’s large-screen, high-definition TVs, you need a source for high-resolution images, such as Panasonic’s DIGA DVD Recorder. All DIGA models feature an original 1080p up-conversion function which converts signals from ordinary DVD discs and other recorded content into HD-quality signals that create spectacular image on a large-screen TV.

In the HDTV age, you’ll have a variety of AV components in your Living Room - and that means a lot of remote control units. VIERA Link takes all the confusion out of the operation. With VIERA Link function you can control all your components using only your VIERA’s remote control. Operation is easy, and there’s no more hunting around for separate remote controls.

Also in the HDTV age, different kinds of AV media come together. For example, you can view pictures taken with your digital camera or video camera on a large-screen TV. DIGA has the kind of network connectivity you need to enjoy it all. You can load a large amount of AV data from cameras and other components into a DIGA recorder, and enjoy easy playback, editing or storage. You don’t even need to use your PC.

What do you want to do in the HDTV age? With DIGA, the possibilities are endless!

Camcorder and Digital Still Camera Linking

To store movie data from your digital video camera (HDD model or SD Memory Card model), simply connect it to the USB terminal of your compatible DIGA recorder and movie data can be transferred and stored directly on to the hard disc drive.

Any digital camera that comes with a USB cable can be easily connected to your recorder to store or play a dazzling display of photos through a personalised, big screen-slide show from the comfort of your home. There is no easier way to store and enjoy your home movies on a big screen!

Play more and store more with USB Terminal. Click here for a larger image

Enjoy Multi Formats with USB Terminal

As DIGA can handle a wide number of different formats, such as JPEG, MP3 and DivX - all through the built-in USB terminal - you or friends can playback images or music straight from USB memory onto the big screen and speakers of your home entertainment system.

Quick Start

Panasonic’s DIGAs are equipped with a high-speed Quick Start functionality whereby the DVD-RAM discs and Hard Disk Drive are ready to record just one second after switching on the power. Just press the “REC” button and your DIGA will immediately begin recording the on-screen action - meaning you’ll never miss the scenes you want to catch again.

Furthermore, it is not only for recording. If you press the ‘GUIDE’ button when your DIGA is off, the Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) will also display in less than 1 second in Quick Start mode.

VIERA Link

Connect a DIGA DVD recorder to your VIERA TV via an HDMI cable, and the TV channel setting information is automatically downloaded to the DIGA recorder. If you want to record the program you’re watching, you can start immediately by pressing the VIERA Link button on the VIERA remote control and selecting “Direct TV Rec.” on the VIERA Link menu screen. Pause Live TV lets you freeze TV programmes just like pausing a DVD, by selecting "Pause Live TV" on the VIERA Link Menu.

1080p Technology

Simply connect your DIGA to your HDTV using a HDMI cable, and DVD recordings as well as TV programmes are automatically up-converted to HDTV compatible 1080p HD signals. This lets you enjoy beautiful images by taking full advantage of the capabilities of your HDTV. The conversion process boosts the amount of image information by about 5 times, so pictures are clear and beautiful.

Experience standard definition images in 1080p glory with Panasonic's upscaling technology. Click here for a larger image

Ordinary TV broadcasts and DVD discs provide SD images with 576 x 640 or 576 x 720 pixels. Today’s newest HDTVs on the other hand can display images with 1080 x1920 pixels. HDTVs require high-quality image sources suitable for their large screens. If the optimisation process for high-quality images is inadequate, the picture can become blurry or grainy.

DIGA’s original i/p conversion and up-conversion functions solve this problem. These functions convert SD signal from DVD discs or DIGA’s own hard disk drive into 1080p signals that provide high resolution images. The conversion process boosts the amount of image information by about 5 times, so pictures are clear and beautiful. The information obtained in this process is used to create smooth, natural-looking, high-resolution 1080p images.

Up-Conversion

Creating a HD image from a non-HD source requires as much information as possible about each pixel in the original image. In the up-conversion process, DIGA calculates eight pixels in the horizontal and eight pixels in the vertical direction at the same time using a high-speed algorithm. The information obtained in this process is used to create smooth, natural-looking, high-resolution 1080p images.

Box Contains

DVD and VHS combi player and recorder

Remote

2 x AA Batteries

AC Mains lead

RF Coaxial Cable

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

105 of 105 people found the following review helpful

Recording machine that can do almost anything 3 Feb 2011

By Groucho Marx

The VHS on my previous EZ45 wouldn't work - and there were various other repairs needed and the freeview stopped producing a good picture, so I decided to upgrade to this model.
It's basically the same model with UsB added - though I haven't explored everything yet. Like the older machine I can easily transfer VHS tapes to DVD and record from my camcorder via the S-video [and there are other inputs too]- though, make no mistake it's a complicated gadget when you want to get the best out of it, and it takes time to work out what all the remote buttons do.
Freeview sets up easily though the programme guide display has a big empty box on the left reducing the width. [Since the unit updated itself I now know that it is a dedicated advertisement slot and you can't get rid of it! MOST ANNOYING!]
I'm glad to have a fully functioning machine once again and have no hesitation in recommending it.

2 Comments |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful

Very happy with product... 7 Aug 2011

By Iceni Peasant

My old Bush VCR finally died and despite the modern gadget world and the advent of recording to a SKY+ box(I still have a standard Sky Box)or other harddrive or even on to DVD, I still think VHS has its uses when just wanting to record something to see but not keep. Only the other day I wanted to see a horse race, so left the VCR to record it...it wasn't something I'd want to waste a DVD-R for or fiddle around with a DVD-RW. So VHS may have a Dark Ages tinge to it these days, but it still has it uses.

The reason for choosing this machine was mainly the DVD/VCR combination. I've been wanting to finally copy to DVD some old videos. I found the process for copying to DVD quite simple, and the results were very good quality, even from quite fuzzy old tapes.

The initial set-up was very simple. I have the machine in my bedroom and only use Sky with it. I don't have an aerial feed into the room, so I can't comment on the Freeview set-up for channels. I found the set-up with my Sky box was relatively simple.

I should say that the instruction manual looks a little scary to begin with, but I highly recommend that you spend some time reading it. Most operations you require give a fairly easy step-by-step guide. Start with the basic operation pages and read it a few times before you try to set-up everything, and get used to the little codes they use for the instructions of usage, which vary depending on the type of recordable DVD you use and the modes of recording you use, such as Long Play or Standard Play.

The Remote Control is a little scary to look at too, especially if you've never owned a Panasonic DVD player before. But again, the instruction manual soon solves the functions of various buttons.

I find recording to DVD-R very simple, as you do not need to Format the disc first. The Finalizing process was also very simple. A nice touch is when you turn the machine on, whether it's in VHS or DVD mode the LCD display will tell you how much recording space you have on the disc or tape in the machine, using your current mode.

I take one star off for some slightly nit-picky reasons. The unit is a bit slow to respond. When you turn the machine on, it will say "Hello", which is all lovely and polite, but it can take 30 seconds to 1 minute to start up and allow you to record with it. If you've just remembered a programme you want to record, it can be infuriating, waiting to finally press the record button. When you finally do press the record button it's a second or two before it actually flashes the red record symbol on the display, making you wonder, to begin with, if the remote control is working.
The unit is a little noisy, more so with VHS. It's an electronic hum most of the time, but a little louder than I'm used to. The rewind or fast forward on VHS is almost like a turbo, and makes a lot of noise too. But it's something you'll get used to.

The unit does not have a harddrive, which makes editing almost impossible when copying old tapes to DVD, but for me personally that wasn't too much of a bother.
For the price, this is a very good quality machine, and does exactly what it says on the tin! I'm so pleased with the overall quality that when I eventually get myself a new TV I intend to look at Panasonic ones first.

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful

It Ticked All the Boxes For Me 24 Aug 2011

By David Rowland

This is a very versatile piece of kit. It will record to tape or DVD at a number of different speeds (and in NTSC or PAL formats). It will also copy from DVD to tape and vice versa and is quite easy to use. It is future-proof, in that it has a Freeview tuner and doesn't rely on the analogue signal which is currently being closed down. For those, like me, unused to recording to a DVD, there is the novel feature that the machine will set the recording standard to fit the available space on the disc. If, for example, you want to record a two hour ten minute film (on a two hour disc), rather than have to accept a poor quality result and spare disc space by using half speed, you can tell the recorder to fit the programme to the space. You will then be able to record the whole film on the whole disc with just a small trade-off in quality. When installing the unit, I did have one problem: the instructions indicate that, when connecting with an HDMI lead, the unit will automatically detect the High Definition level that the TV can accept. This was not true in the case of my Sony WRX1. My set can only show output at 1080i but the unit was trying to send a signal at 1080p, did not modify this and I ended up with an "Out of Range" message and an otherwise blank screen. Although the unit has a manual setting for its output, I could not access this because I could not monitor the set-up process on screen. I tried changing the HDMI for a SCART connection, whereupon I could go through the set-up but could not change the output HD level - because I was not using an HDMI connection! The answer was to connect with both and now everything is working OK. I can thoroughly recommend this recorder: it does everything that I want and at a very reasonable price.

3 Comments |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Customer Discussions

This product's forum

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
Recording direct from an analogue camcorder	1	25 days ago
DVD Disc	4	19 Mar 2012
sdcardslot	0	11 Mar 2012
Compare with Panasonic DMR-EX99VEBK	1	5 Mar 2012
Playing videos on a new Panasonic HD TV	0	31 Jan 2012
NTSC video	0	12 Jan 2012
Record one programme, watch another	7	8 Jan 2012
Problem playing video cassettes	0	4 Jan 2012