Panasonic DMR E700BD

[Rob]

Has anyone seen a review of this model online? It gets a mention in this months HCC mag and searching on the net was apparantly released 31st July. The price in Japan is roughly £1,550. Supposedly it's the 1st Blu-Ray recorder anywhere that records/plays single sided, dual layer 50GB discs. Also records onto dvd RAM/-r. 50GB discs are $70 US, so that's £40 ish I think!?

[maqsoodkayani]

I hope you find these articles helpful.



http://www.szamitastechnika.hu/hirek...35032&english=

Panasonic unveils Blu-ray Disc/DVD video recorder

IDG News service (2004.07.01 15:01)

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. will launch a Blu-ray Disc recorder compatible with new dual-layer discs and existing recordable DVD formats at the end of July , the company said Wednesday.

The Panasonic DMR-E700BD can record 4.5 hours of digital satellite high-definition television (HDTV) when used with 50G-byte dual-layer Blu-ray Disc Rewritable format discs, said Etsuji Shuda [cq], director of Panasonic's AVC Networks home AV business unit, at a Tokyo news conference.

This extends to 6 hours for digital terrestrial HDTV and 9 hours for standard definition digital satellite TV. Analog television can be recorded for between 10.5 hours and 63 hours depending on the quality mode selected.


Single-layer Blu-ray Disc Rewritable discs with a capacity of 25G bytes are also supported and offer half the recording time, while DVD-RAM and DVD-R discs can be used to record analog television. Panasonic plans to launch both single-layer and dual-layer Blu-ray discs to coincide with the recorder's launch on July 31.

Blu-ray Disc is one of two formats emerging as a potential replacement for DVD-Video. Consumer electronics companies are looking at new formats because DVD's recording capacity, which is generally either 4.7G bytes or 9.4G bytes, is only enough to store around one hour of HDTV. The other format is called HD-DVD and has yet to be commercialized.

Both formats rely on blue lasers to enable the storage of more data on a disc the same diameter as a CD or DVD. Because blue light has a shorter wavelength than the red light used in DVDs, the spot the laser makes on the recording surface is smaller. This means each bit of data needs less space and so more can be crammed onto a disc.

The new recorder will cost around ¥300,000 (US$2,780), the 50G-byte LM-BRM50 disc will cost ¥7,500 and the 25G-byte LM-BRM25 disc will cost ¥3,500, Matsushita said.





http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5253814.html June 30, 2004


Panasonic to release Blu-ray recorder


Panasonic's parent company is set to release a DVD recorder based on the Blu-ray Disc format, as a standards battle over next-generation DVD technology heats up.
Matsushita Electric Industrial said its DMR-E700BD model, announced Wednesday and scheduled to hit the market July 31, in Japan, supports single-side, dual-layer Blu-ray Discs with a maximum capacity of 50GB. The new machine is capable of recording up to 4.5 hours of digital high-definition programming or up to 63 hours of analog programming, Matsushita Electric said. The product is part of Panasonic's "DIGA" family.

"As digital broadcasting services are expanding, demand for recording and storing HD video is increasing. Our new product responds to such a demand," said a statement from Etsuji Shuda, a director at Panasonic AVC Networks. "We believe the upcoming Olympic Summer Games in Athens is one of the factors behind the expanding demands."

Blu-ray Disc technology, which uses blue-laser light, allows for much greater capacity than today's DVDs, which rely on red lasers and can hold 4.7GB on a single layer and close to twice than amount in a dual-layer set up.

Blu-ray is supported by an array of companies including Sony, Pioneer and Hewlett-Packard. But it isn't alone in trying to replace the current generation of DVD products and accommodate the greater data volumes associated with high-definition programming. A rival technology called EVD has been developed in China, and the so-called HD DVD format is backed by Toshiba and NEC.

HD DVD recently got a boost from the DVD Forum standards body. The Forum's steering committee approved version 1.0 of the physical specifications for HD-DVD read-only discs, which was seen as giving manufacturers a green light to begin producing devices.

In a contest that echoes the VHS-Betamax war over video tape standards, winning over content providers, especially movie studios, is seen as key.

Panasonic's new model is equipped with built-in tuners for a variety of signals, including terrestrial digital broadcasting, the company said. The new product also features an electronic program guide, designed to let users schedule recording of their favorite programs through on-screen guides.