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Anyone got a DVR-545HX-S yet?


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Old 07-12-2006, 13:09
Cobson
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According to the manual, you press channel-up which activates the scart loopthrough feature. Channel-down de-activates it. Someone here said that you have to use the buttons on the box itself rather than on the remote.
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Old 08-12-2006, 17:59
Celtic Yob
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Thanks Cobson.
I can now do it, at last.
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Old 03-01-2007, 19:42
EWAdams
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I just bought a Pioneer DVR-545HX-S, and I'm generally happy with the quality of the images and so on. It's my first DVR and my first real DVD player (up to now I have been using my Playstation as a DVD player).

However, I'm a bit confused about setting it up and wiring it up. The manual seems to assume that you know things that aren't obvious to me, but maybe it's because I'm an American and not that up on British TV standards.

The DVR seems to contain an "analogue tuner" and a "digital tuner." I also have both Sky, with a Digibox and subscription, AND I also have an old NTL cable which, although the NTL subscription is cancelled, still has signals of some kind on it. I DON'T have a normal aerial at all.

I use the NTL cable to receive analogue (terrestrial broadcast) signals. I put the NTL cable into the aerial (not the Sky dish) IN jack on the Digibox, then pass it out of the Digibox and into the Digital In port on the DVR, then from the Out port to the Analogue In port on the DVR, using the short cable provided as the manual shows.

My analogue tuner on the DVR finds all the analogue signals OK. However, the digital tuner doesn't find any digital signal on any channel -- I've tried them all from 21 to 69. Is this because there ARE no digital signals on the NTL cable?

I can get the DVR to see a Sky signal from the Sky Digibox because I've got them connected via a SCART cable as well. So my questions are:

Is the Digital Tuner really only for Freeview, and I can't use it with the signal on the NTL cable?

What about if I put the cable from the Sky dish itself into the Digital In jack on the DVR? Does the Sky satellite broadcast Freeview? (And is that a really stupid question?)

In short, Sky claims to be a "DIGI" box and the DVR claims to have a Digital Tuner, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they aren't the same "digital" at all. The Sky manual for the Digibox is damn near useless -- they assume that some technican has set it all up for you.

On the DVR, I'm telling it that the input device from the Digibox is AV2 (INPUT 1/DECODER) (the SCART line) and the signal type is "decoder." Is the Sky box a decoder? Is this in fact correct, or should I tell it "RGB" instead? It seems to work. I don't think I've signed up for any scrambled channels. What IS a decoder, dammit?!

Also, I seem to have Guide+ working, but I don't receive the Eurosport channel in my Sky subscription, so I'm downloading the Guide data from ITV instead. But I don't think I'm receiving the full lineup. Would it work if I left the Sky box tuned to Eurosport even though I'm not signed up for that channel?

Sorry -- I just don't know enough about what Sky, NTL, and Freeview actually provide, and EVERYbody is claiming to be digital nowadays, but I don't think they're all compatible...

Any clarification would be greatly welcomed.
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Old 03-01-2007, 23:01
ivanwilson
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You won't be able to get any freeview reception from the NTL feed. You'll need to get an aerial, and almost certainly will need an external one.

You won't get anything by plugging the Sky dish into it.
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Old 03-01-2007, 23:53
EWAdams
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OK, so it sounds as if there's no point in sending the NTL feed in through the Digital In and Digital Out jacks on the DVR -- it may as well go straight to RF In. I gather that I can ignore the Digital Tuner entirely for now. Many thanks for the advice.

Still interested in hearing from anyone on the subjects of:

- Should I set up the DVR to tell it the AV2 (INPUT 1/DECODER) i.e. SCART is "Decoder" or "RGB" when coming from the Sky Digibox?

- Is it possible that the DVR can get the Guide + information from the Eurosport channel even if I don't have a subscription to Eurosport (i.e. does the Guide + information come through anyway)?
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Old 14-01-2007, 17:04
Rickyman
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Is anyone using Pioneer DVR-545HX-S with an NTL cable box (not telewest)? I want to know if the G-Link does indeed control the NTL cable channels, as it looks like it should from the manual.

Does this mean that I can choose a programme to record via the EPG, and then the Pioneer will tell the Ntl box which channel is necessary?

Thanks

Last edited by Rickyman : 14-01-2007 at 17:08.
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Old 17-01-2007, 08:53
Darth Sidious
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I have SKY digibox
VHS player
DVD player
DTV Plasma

I want to replace the video and DVD player. As I understand it, the DVD recorder is a straight swap with the video in terms of connections i.e. RF

Is that right?
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Old 17-01-2007, 11:38
Cobson
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Originally Posted by Rickyman
Is anyone using Pioneer DVR-545HX-S with an NTL cable box (not telewest)? I want to know if the G-Link does indeed control the NTL cable channels, as it looks like it should from the manual.

Does this mean that I can choose a programme to record via the EPG, and then the Pioneer will tell the Ntl box which channel is necessary?

Thanks
I used to use my 440HX with a Samsung NTL box, so the 545 should also work. The new Pace box should also work with it, but the old Pace boxes that use irDA instead of normal IR for the remote control need a red-eye adapter.

You need to let the box connect to Guide+ for 24 hours to download the new codes before it will work. You should then be able to select the NTL Digital Pace code (use this one for a Samsung as well - they use the same remote control codes).

I seem to remember that the G-Link probe worked best when placed just below the channel display LED.
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Old 17-01-2007, 13:37
Cobson
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Originally Posted by EWAdams
- Should I set up the DVR to tell it the AV2 (INPUT 1/DECODER) i.e. SCART is "Decoder" or "RGB" when coming from the Sky Digibox?

- Is it possible that the DVR can get the Guide + information from the Eurosport channel even if I don't have a subscription to Eurosport (i.e. does the Guide + information come through anyway)?
RGB should be fine (assuming your sky box is set to RGB).

You should still be able to pickup the Guide+ stuff from Eurosport as the teletext bit isn't encrypted. Note that not all of the Sky channels are covered by Guide+, more here:

http://www.europe.guideplus.com/En/help/clu_uk.html
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Old 18-01-2007, 22:42
Rickyman
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Originally Posted by Cobson
I used to use my 440HX with a Samsung NTL box, so the 545 should also work. The new Pace box should also work with it, but the old Pace boxes that use irDA instead of normal IR for the remote control need a red-eye adapter.

You need to let the box connect to Guide+ for 24 hours to download the new codes before it will work. You should then be able to select the NTL Digital Pace code (use this one for a Samsung as well - they use the same remote control codes).

I seem to remember that the G-Link probe worked best when placed just below the channel display LED.

Thanks Cobson - very helpful. I feel much more confident about buying one.

Can you tell me how I know which is a new PACE box, and which is old ?

Rickyman
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Old 19-01-2007, 09:28
Cobson
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I've never had a Pace box, but according to this site:

http://www.redremote.co.uk/

the 1000, 1010, 2000 and 4000 need red-eye adapters whilst the 4001 and 4010 don't. I seem to remember that the Guide+ system has a different code for controlling a Pace box with a red-eye adapter.

Last edited by Cobson : 19-01-2007 at 09:30.
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Old 27-01-2007, 23:14
shooting light
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Thinking of getting a 545. Can anyone post any screen shots of the on-screen interface. If not, any comments on how it looks? Is it legable? Does it look cool or cheap? That kinda thing! Thanks.
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Old 17-02-2007, 23:38
Fireball XL5
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The 545 is also on my shortlist, along with the Panasonic EX75 and the Sony HXD860.

However, I just can't get my head around the price differential - the Pioneer is around 100 pounds more than the Panny and 80 pounds more than the Sony. Is it worth that? Or are people buying it purely out of brand loyalty?

From what I can make out the main improvements on the spec are on the audio side - the Pioneer offers some sort of MP3 jukebox facility. It also has a USB connection. Other than that I can't see what else it offers over and above the other two machines. Could any owners enlighten me?

Also, the Sony has a series link facility - does the Pioneer?
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Old 19-02-2007, 19:55
NeilF
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Originally Posted by Fireball XL5
It also has a USB connection.
But you can't really do anything with it...

All the major players decide you are not allowed to use the USB connection for the most obvious thing, which is to copy video files from it, to the HD...

One day one of them will cotton on...
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Old 20-02-2007, 15:48
Phil S
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The Pioneer and the Sony both have DivX playback, the Panny does not.

From what I've read on here the Sony is a less reliable machine than both the Pioneer and the Panny.

Lots of other minor reasons indicates to me that the 545 is the better machine, build quality, connectivity, EPG, digital and Analogue tuners (dubious advantage).

Just for the DivX and perceptive better relisability I will probably spend a few extra pounds and get the 545.
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Old 20-02-2007, 16:03
NeilF
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Originally Posted by Phil S
The Pioneer and the Sony both have DivX playback, the Panny does not.

From what I've read on here the Sony is a less reliable machine than both the Pioneer and the Panny.

Lots of other minor reasons indicates to me that the 545 is the better machine, build quality, connectivity, EPG, digital and Analogue tuners (dubious advantage).

Just for the DivX and perceptive better relisability I will probably spend a few extra pounds and get the 545.
But you can't put the media (eg: DivX) onto the hard drive can you?

I tend to download blocks of TV episodes etc and just want to throw them onto a USB memory stick and transfer them onto a units hard drive to then watch at my leisure...

The ONLY unit I've seen that can do this was the Yamada 1000...
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Old 20-02-2007, 16:10
Phil S
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I haven't got one yet but I've done a lot of reading. I assume you can write your DivX to a CD/DVD disc and play that, which is all I want to do.

Panny won't even do that.

If you can transfer the files to the HD and play from there from a DVD or USB (which I'm not sure you can do) OK, but I really only want to play from a disc.

Perhaps someone can enlighten us with the transfer of DivX (if it will or won't do it)
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Old 01-03-2007, 22:50
park_gate
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Is it possible to record the data as broadcast? As far as I can make out from the manual this doesn't seem to be possible.

It seems a bit daft decoding the signal then re-encoding it at a different quality level.

If it can't record what's broadcast it looks like a PC based recorder is better.

Terry
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Old 12-03-2007, 19:41
PhilipL
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Hi

The Pioneer along with all DVD Recorders re-encodes the data, this is to make the DVB stream DVD compliant to allow highspeed dubbing to DVD later.

I have now got a Nebula USB Freeview box, and this records the stream unchanged to the computer, where it is then possible to copy this to DVD with no re-encoding for playback. The difference between the Pioneer and the computer sourced copy, playing both from the recorder through component to the TV, shows a marked difference. The original stream looks fantastic and as you would expect unchanged from watching live, whereas the Pioneer's re-encoded attempt has slightly less detail and colours are not as natural. When you then consider that 1 hour of non re-encoded footage is around 1Gbyte, and the Pioneer re-encoding on it's best rate takes up 4Gbyte, obviously recording using the original data has advantages.

With the Pioneer recorders (others probably do the same as it's cheaper), to make matters worse, the Freeview tuner is connected internally via S-Video. So your Freeview recording is converted to analogue S-Video and then converted back to digital to be re-encoded.

Don't get me wrong, the Pioneer does a good enough job, but it could be a lot better if some thought went into allowing an option to record the stream directly. This probably will never happen as it would increase costs, and Pioneer already lose money on each one sold.

Regards

Phil
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Old 14-03-2007, 19:40
fordp
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Originally Posted by PhilipL
Hi

Snip ..

Don't get me wrong, the Pioneer does a good enough job, but it could be a lot better if some thought went into allowing an option to record the stream directly. This probably will never happen as it would increase costs, and Pioneer already lose money on each one sold.

Regards

Phil
What makes you think they loose money ?
Have you seen the price of a DVD writer drive and a 160G Hardrive, both can be had for 65 pounds or so. They do not have to add that much above that to make this product.

They rencode the data as the freeview tuner has been bodged on to the product. This is down to the fact that the design is old or is designed to sell worldwide and minimally changed to add DVB-T.

I will hold out for a cheaper and smarter box.
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Old 14-03-2007, 20:45
PhilipL
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Hi

Pioneer made a press release not long ago stating that DVD Recorders were a loss leader and that they were no longer developing them, but instead would by the technology from elsewhere.

Check Pioneer's accounts on the Japanese website, they have had huge losses recently.

First search on google gave this: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2690

Regards

Phil
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Old 15-03-2007, 12:49
MikePS
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Anyone else find it odd that a DVR of this price/quality can only "time slip" on the analogue input - especially whan analogue is being phased out
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Old 15-03-2007, 19:12
PhilipL
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Hi

Anyone else find it odd that a DVR of this price/quality can only "time slip" on the analogue input - especially whan analogue is being phased out
It timeslips on anything, you can record from any source then watch anything back from the hard-drive or DVD or watch what you are recording.

You are getting confused with the "Pause Live TV" button. This only works in partnership with the TV and SmartLink, with SmartLink not having been updated to handle signalling digital channels to the recorder so in some cases it doesn't work with digital tuners. Obviously to have one button pause live TV the TV must somehow signal to the recorder what channel the viewer is watching so the recorder can switch it's tuner to the same channel and record, then it switches to pause giving the illusion of pausing live TV. In most cases this illusion only works with analogue channels depending on the setup.

There is nothing stopping you from pausing live TV yourself, which is what any other user does on other makes of DVD Recorders with hard-drives The 'Pause Live TV' button is just a convenience and a bit of marketing, it may not work for everyone hence the disclaimers, but this is a limitation of signalling over the SCART and not Pioneer's making.

Regards

Phil

Last edited by PhilipL : 15-03-2007 at 19:14.
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Old 15-03-2007, 22:32
Phil S
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I was going to buy one of these 545s, but I can't (today) find many suppliers with any stock except Amazon for a silly price, a bloke selling some on ebay which I don't trust (think they may be returns) and Digital Point (£377) who for some reason couldn't assure me whether they have them or not and whether it would arrive within their promised 48 hours.

They were going for around £350 a few weeks ago in loads of suppliers. Even my old favourite RGB, have discontinued and gone back to the 540.

Whats going on? Has the supply dried up. Have Pioneer stopped making them perhaps ??

Last edited by Phil S : 15-03-2007 at 22:35.
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Old 15-03-2007, 22:52
Fireball XL5
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Originally Posted by Phil S
I was going to buy one of these 545s, but I can't (today) find many suppliers with any stock except Amazon for a silly price, a bloke selling some on ebay which I don't trust (think they may be returns) and Digital Point (£377) who for some reason couldn't assure me whether they have them or not and whether it would arrive within their promised 48 hours.

They were going for around £350 a few weeks ago in loads of suppliers. Even my old favourite RGB, have discontinued and gone back to the 540.

Whats going on? Has the supply dried up. Have Pioneer stopped making them perhaps ??
They're probably not selling very well and I'm not surprised. They seem to be very overpriced. If you want something like the Pioneer which can play Divx then I can recommend personally the Sony HXD 860.

Since it came out last year there's been a firmware upgrade which has increased the stability and it now also offers series link on BBC channels. This should be extended to other channels this year. I really like it.

I think the only thing it doesn't offer when compared to the Pioneer is advanced MP3 management if you wanted to use the device as a music centre, or a USB socket for importing the MP3 files. The USB on the Pioneer is pretty useless otherwise though because you can't play out video to a PC through it.

The Sony costs around 300.00. If Divx playback is not important to you then another good machine is the Panasonic EX75, available for around 270.00.
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