http://www.ecoustics.com/latest/articles Latest articles, updated every five minutes http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/howto/125805 Wed, 31 May 2006 04:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/howto/124658 Camcorders, video recorders, and entertainment phones move to the forefront. Wed, 15 Feb 2006 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/tl/10511/ Question:I have a Mico DVDR311 DVD recorder. It will play discs, but when trying to record on new +RW discs it displays "disc error".-submitted by steve16Answer:It's not uncommon to run across certain DVD recorders that won't properly recognize certain brands of media. Not all DVD+RW discs are made in the same way. There are many different combinations of materials that can be used to construct a disc. While many of them work in most players, there are a few exceptions in the world.The first thing you should try is a different brand of media. Focus on a maker that is well known in the disc market like Maxell, TDK, and Memorex. It's usually best to buy only a few discs of a certain type and try them before you invest in a 50 pack, just in case your recorder won't read them. If this problem persists with many different kinds of discs, you'll need to have your unit repaired or replaced. Mico may have a firmware update available to help correct this kind of problem.Need Blank Discs?Purchase blank DVD+RW discs from Amazon.comMatt Whitlock - Editor, TechLore.com Tue, 25 Jan 2005 11:26:06 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/tl/10495/ Question: I have an RCA Scenium HDTV 52" with built in DVD player. I want to add an Apex DVD RECORDER AND RCA- VCR, but the television won't accept either one. Any Suggestions ? Does the built in dvd player effect the operation of other items? Thanks.......... -submitted by PRICEISRIGHT Answer: I can't say I'm 100% sure what "won't accept" means, but I can at least assure you that the internal DVD player does not affect the connection of external components. You will still be able to connect both the DVD recorder and VCR to the TV. If you are having trouble getting them to work, make sure that you've connected the cables to the appropriate inputs/outputs on each device. The cables on the VCR and DVD recorder need to be connected to an OUT, and to an IN on the TV of the same type. Be sure to pay attention to the labels on the TV, and jot down the label of where you plugged in each device. Once that is done, you will need to change the input on the television to match where you plugged it in. If you connect the VCR with a ... Tue, 18 Jan 2005 15:55:30 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/tl/10390/ Question: I recently bought a Sony wide/flat screen tv. Although connection of my phillips dvd recorder was successful, I can not get any sound with the picture. -submitted by dvispatken Answer: When you get picture and no sound, it usually boils down to a connection problem. I'm going to assume you are using the Sony TV for sound, since you did not mention anything about an external audio system. Here are the things to verify: DVD recorders have audio inputs as well as outputs. Make sure that the audio plugs are plugged into an output on the back of the DVD recorder. TVs have audio jacks associated with the video jacks. Be sure that you used the same input number for both the audio and the video. An easy way to test this is to start a DVD in the DVD recorder, crank the sound up on the TV, and cycle through each input on the TV set. If you see the picture on one input and hear the sound on another, you've found the problem. In the setup menu on the Sony TV, there is a control that disables the TV speakers. Make sure this control reads "TV ... Thu, 30 Dec 2004 09:34:36 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/tl/10284/ Disc type ... Tue, 14 Dec 2004 10:13:17 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/tl/10282/ There can never seem to be a single standard that all electronics operate on, at least in the beginning. Looking back to the original format war between Beta and VHS, it's no wonder why people are afraid to adopt new technologies. In the Beta-VHS war, many who sided with the Beta camp lost big, especially when support for Beta dwindled as VHS took over. Keeping that tradition alive, DVD has had its fair share of conflict throughout the formats inception. The first battle DVD fought was with Divx, a controversial pay-per-play DVD format backed by Circuit City. The war was short lived, but there are many early adopters with a small library of Divx discs that serve as high-tech coasters. When the DVD format was first unveiled, it was without a doubt that recordable DVDs were not going to be far behind. Thinking back to the easy transition into recordable CDs, it was hoped that recordable DVD discs would be just as easy to use, and offer the same level of enjoyment. DVD-R recorders were first introduced to computers in the fall of 1997, but four other formats followed over the next five years. Shopping for a DVD recorder, or ... Tue, 14 Dec 2004 10:13:17 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/tl/10280/ If you have analog home videos, either VHS tapes or analog camcorder tapes (Hi-8, etc.), to convert into DVDs and you want to use a DVD recorder to do the conversion, this article will assist you with that process. To view other options to convert analog tapes to DVDs, read How To Convert Your VHS and Analog Camcorder Tapes to DVD first. Note: It is illegal to convert copyrighted VHS tapes unless you own the copyright. Many commercial VHS tapes employ a copy guard known as Macrovision. DVD recorders recognize Macrovision and will not permit duplication of tapes that employ this copy guard. Note: If you are using a DVD/VCR Combo Device, skip this step entirely. First, determine the video and audio inputs on your ... Tue, 14 Dec 2004 10:13:17 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/tl/10266/ If you have analog home videos, either VHS tapes or analog camcorder tapes (Hi-8, etc.), to convert into DVDs and you own a digital camcorder, this article will assist you with that process. To view other options to convert analog tapes to DVDs, read How To Convert Your VHS and Analog Camcorder Tapes to DVD first. What You Need In order to convert your analog tapes, you need to have the following: A VCR or an analog camcorder A digital camcorder A computer with suggested minimum requirements: Pentium 4 or equivalent, 512M memory, 20G disk space (you will eat it up fast, especially if you convert at a high resolution) Video editing software - Windows XP comes with Windows Movie Maker, newer Mac's ship with iMovie. Check your computer and do some investigation before you purchase a video editing software package. A DVD burner Blank DVD media The Process At a high level, the process consists of playing the analog (VHS, Hi-8, etc.) tape through the VCR or analog camcorder, converting it to digital format through the digital camcorder, and then storing the digital formatted video file on the computer. This file can optionally be edited using ... Tue, 14 Dec 2004 10:13:17 -0500