DVD-RAM Scarcity? HD 16:9 Recording

My new HD DVD recorder (Panasonic DMR-EZ27K) will only record HD 16:9
on DVD-RAM, but not even the place I bought it (Best Buy) sells them.
I found a three-pack at CompUSA for $15. I see online a Verbatim
95133 10-pack, but most sellers are out-of-stock for it.

Any idea why DVD-RAM blanks are so scarce? Is this likely to
improve? Do all recorders have this restriction?

Thanks.

--
Daniel

Daniel Norton

Daniel Norton <> wrote:

>Any idea why DVD-RAM blanks are so scarce?

Enter "DVD RAM" at froogle.com and you'll find plenty.

Last time I bought them in a B&M was at WalMart. But I have more than I
need so I haven't looked for any for a long time.

Kimba W Lion

On Oct 15, 12:47 pm, Kimba W Lion <kimbawlion> wrote:
> Enter "DVD RAM" at froogle.com and you'll find plenty.

I searched for "DVD-RAM 4.7". For the first three matches, below are
the per-disk price (incl shipping), when ordering 5 disks:

1st Match: $12.98 for one disk
2nd Match: $6.28
3rd Match: $4.99

These high prices are a result of the scarcity.

Locally I found some at CompUSA for $5/each (qty 3). I found a Best
Buy 10 miles away (there are about 4 within that range) that had one 5-
pack for $2/disk. I had phoned in advance but it still took them 10
minutes to find it. It was the last pack and the other stores were
sold out entirely.

--
Daniel

Daniel Norton

Daniel Norton wrote:
> My new HD DVD recorder (Panasonic DMR-EZ27K) will only record HD 16:9
> on DVD-RAM, but not even the place I bought it (Best Buy) sells them.
> I found a three-pack at CompUSA for $15. I see online a Verbatim
> 95133 10-pack, but most sellers are out-of-stock for it.
>
> Any idea why DVD-RAM blanks are so scarce? Is this likely to
> improve? Do all recorders have this restriction?
>
> Thanks.
>
> --
> Daniel
>
Amazon has a 10 pack for $18.99. I saw them on the web page for the
DMR-EZ27K. It looks like Crutchfield is the actual seller, and they list
them as in stock on their web page also for the same price.

In the owner comments for the recorder, someone said that it records
16:9 on +RW, although it is not advertised to do it. You might try it
before ordering the DVD-RAM disks.

Jim

JimH

Daniel Norton <> wrote:

>I searched for "DVD-RAM 4.7". For the first three matches, below are
>the per-disk price (incl shipping), when ordering 5 disks:
>
>1st Match: $12.98 for one disk
>2nd Match: $6.28
>3rd Match: $4.99

You can sort by price and so forth. In just a few seconds I found $2.97
per disk in a 10 pack of Verbatims, including shipping.

I don't know if including the "4.7" gave you different results than what I
got.

Kimba W Lion

JimH wrote:
>
> Daniel Norton wrote:
> > My new HD DVD recorder (Panasonic DMR-EZ27K) will only record HD 16:9
> > on DVD-RAM, but not even the place I bought it (Best Buy) sells them.
> > I found a three-pack at CompUSA for $15. I see online a Verbatim
> > 95133 10-pack, but most sellers are out-of-stock for it.
> >
> > Any idea why DVD-RAM blanks are so scarce? Is this likely to
> > improve? Do all recorders have this restriction?
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> > --
> > Daniel
> >
> Amazon has a 10 pack for $18.99. I saw them on the web page for the
> DMR-EZ27K. It looks like Crutchfield is the actual seller, and they list
> them as in stock on their web page also for the same price.
>
> In the owner comments for the recorder, someone said that it records
> 16:9 on +RW, although it is not advertised to do it. You might try it
> before ordering the DVD-RAM disks.
>
> Jim

I have an EZ27, and the owners manual is incorrectly worded. It will
record 16:9 on any disc, but it will only set the 16:9 flag on a DVD-RAM
disc. If you have a WS TV, then the disc will play back correctly, but
if you have an older 4:3 TV, then the picture will be streatched
vertically.

I use a program like TMPGEnc DVD Author to add a decent menu system to
my discs and also set the 16:9 flag when necessary.
-Bill

xeaglecrest@att.net

On Oct 16, 8:48 am, xeaglecr...@att.net wrote:
> I have an EZ27, and the owners manual is incorrectly worded. It will
> record 16:9 on any disc, but it will only set the 16:9 flag on a DVD-RAM
> disc.

Hmmm, thanks, but I didn't know about the restriction until after I
recorded a program on a DVD-R disk and playing it back it was 4:3. It
seemed pretty clear from the manual that that's to be expected:

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=rm8zgl&s=2

I have to put the TV in "Zoom" mode to restore the aspect ratio when
playing that recording. It was from a 1080i broadcast, which
displayed correctly in 16:9 while recording. I looked for and found
that restriction described in the manual. When I used the DVD-RAM
disk (on another program) it played back as expected. One really nice
feature is that it played back *while* recording. I have a hard time
imagining that working as easily on a spiral medium.

Manual: http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPER...MREZ27-MUL.pdf

Okay, I guess the DVD-RAM disks aren't so scarce via mail order,
anyway. Pretty wild price variance, though.

--
Daniel

Daniel Norton

You can't record an HD picture on a DVD-RAM disc...

"Daniel Norton" <> wrote in message
news: ps.com...
> My new HD DVD recorder (Panasonic DMR-EZ27K) will only record HD 16:9
> on DVD-RAM, but not even the place I bought it (Best Buy) sells them.
> I found a three-pack at CompUSA for $15. I see online a Verbatim
> 95133 10-pack, but most sellers are out-of-stock for it.
>
> Any idea why DVD-RAM blanks are so scarce? Is this likely to
> improve? Do all recorders have this restriction?
>
> Thanks.
>
> --
> Daniel
>

David Z

Daniel Norton wrote:
>
> On Oct 16, 8:48 am, xeaglecr...@att.net wrote:
> > I have an EZ27, and the owners manual is incorrectly worded. It will
> > record 16:9 on any disc, but it will only set the 16:9 flag on a DVD-RAM
> > disc.
>
> Hmmm, thanks, but I didn't know about the restriction until after I
> recorded a program on a DVD-R disk and playing it back it was 4:3. It
> seemed pretty clear from the manual that that's to be expected:
>
> http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=rm8zgl&s=2
>
> I have to put the TV in "Zoom" mode to restore the aspect ratio when
> playing that recording. It was from a 1080i broadcast, which
> displayed correctly in 16:9 while recording. I looked for and found
> that restriction described in the manual. When I used the DVD-RAM
> disk (on another program) it played back as expected. One really nice
> feature is that it played back *while* recording. I have a hard time
> imagining that working as easily on a spiral medium.
>
> Manual: http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPER...MREZ27-MUL.pdf
>
> Okay, I guess the DVD-RAM disks aren't so scarce via mail order,
> anyway. Pretty wild price variance, though.
>
> --
> Daniel

You must have some quirk in your setup as I did another test recording
on a DVD-R and my EZ27 did record and playback in the Anamorphic 16:9
Widescreen mode.

My Samsung HDTV has five picture modes (Wide-16:9 , Panoramic, Zoom1,
Zoom2 and 4:3). When I viewed that disc with the "4:3" setting,
everything
is stretched vertically (that is what I expected) . When I switch to
"Wide-16:9" (the normal setting for watching WS DVD's), the picture
fills the screen and looks identical to the live broadcast.

Remember, unless you record on a DVD-RAM disc, the 16:9 flag does not
get set
on the disc. All that means is that your TV will not automatically
recognize
the disc as 16:9. You have to manually set the A/R to the WIDE (or
16:9)
mode on your TV. But, because the 16:9 flag is not set, the disc will
never play back correctly on an older 4:3 TV.

-Bill

xeaglecrest@att.net

Maybe it's because I'm connecting to the TV via HDMI and the TV won't
override the 4:3 setting. I'll look into it some more. Thanks.

Daniel Norton