Panasonic DMR-EH75V DVD-RAM VCR HDD Recorder

The Panasonic DMR-EH75V combo unit needed repair. Once repaired, it can do a lot of cool tricks including recording on multiple recordable DVD media and on the internal hard disk drive. I didn't cover SD cards, but it will play photos on TV from the SD card too! HDMI output.
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[@scottdunn4506]

I have the same one but my is black and my has a digital tuner on it Panasonic makes exact electronics that last for years

[@Master_101]

These Panasonic recorders are so useful. Especially the disc based ones. I’ve used two types. One was a bog standard dvd version in black. It would record to just dvd. No VHS as my family didn’t need that. I really loved it because this was back in 2008 or so when streaming tv wasn’t really a thing (Blockbuster was how I watched films I didn’t own) and the novelty of taking the discs and being able to watch again and again was brilliant. However it got fried about 6/7 years ago. Just recently I brought the newest incarnation of the device. It records to Blu ray discs. Such a handy feature for hd tv as well as for storing lots of video in a smaller space. I do wish I had more inputs but due to the copyright issues with a hd recorder, only DVB tv for me oh and camcorder copying. Would recommend always getting a duo hard drive and disc though as if you use discs you have to keep changing them which I remember all too well. Got my family’s programmes on my discs a few times. Now I just load programs at the start of the week and it just quietly records. Then you put the disc and copy to it after you’ve recorded. Works brilliantly for archiving tv if you are wanting to avoid streaming or have a poor internet connection being in a rural area as I am. I am interested in picking up a vhs version as we have old family videos that are not being played as our vhs deck is in the loft. Thank you for posting these videos. I find the models they came out with fascinating. How much stuff they can do and the quirky features. I did use dvd ram on our first recorder. Much better to use. Just wipe programmes with ease. We got some free with the recorder and I still have them somewhere. My grandparents also had the same model as us and they just used and used the dvd ram disc it came with. So yeah they work very well.

[@fdsman]

My late father had one of these and used the DVD ram feature all the time in the same way you'd use a DVR.

[@frankowalker4662]

What a great machine. Lots of realy useful features. I've got one that has HDD/DVD recording and one with VHS/DVD recording. Both with didgital tuners. But this combines everything in one, (apart from the tuner). Mega.

[@taldmd]

Really decent unit, she's a keeper. Good find!

[@fisqual]

You're spoiling us with the frequent uploads!

[@databits]

Happy to spoil you! I have a betamax VCR that's sitting on my workbench. I need to video that one too!

[@analogvideochannel4612]

Afaik on these panasonic dvd-recorder/vcr decks. One of the rca outputs give you video direct from the VCR side, while the other set (+ s-video/component/hdmi) give you video that's gone via the internal digitizer which has some optional noise reduction. It's also extremely good at at stabilizing dodgy vcr output, whether it is from the internal vcr or external input, which is very useful for digitizing/capturing video (Panasonic called it VHS refresh in marketing). The later north american models with digital tuners use a completely different chipset and different video chip which lacks the tbc/stabilizing features of these. (International/european models didn't have this change.)

[@xavierzander4201]

Correct ! i have an SCART version of the DMR-ES35V indeed with that great "TBC" like "feature" works great straight into the IS from BMD I use the component connection, which also can be set to progressive.(defeats macrovision that way) btw. HDMI is not so useful because it's hardware based HDCP protection which you need to defeat with yet another device, which should also switch off any handshaking functions between devices so HDMI is not so handy, component has same quality.

[@musicnerd72]

I had the non hdd model around 2005. I too was amazed at the jet engine sound of the fast wind feature.

[@xavierzander4201]

Great machine ! i've got the DMR-ES35V gives rocksteady signal for digtizing to digital, optical drive is not needed, the analog video outputs can be used straight into a Blackmagic Design Intensity Shuttle, with the Intensity Shuttle, progressive mode over Component connection, can be used. HDMI (EH75V) needs passthrough device for stripping HDCP (Home Cinema Theatre?) when tranfering to external HDMI recorder.(some HDMI recorders don't need even that)

[@LASERDISCDREAM]

Nice DVD recorder and VCR player.

[@xavierzander4201]

@Axel Steiner component is (also) available ! (both on US and EU) but indeed the SCART version adds RGB for decoders or teletext/ceefax passthrough, my experience is that most panasonic recorder combo's have exelent (also passthrough) TBC like function which works fine with Intensity Shuttle for transfer to digital, no extra TBC needed.

[@xavierzander4201]

@Axel Steiner will not be much difference compaired to component, RGB (eu) had a different function,(decoders and Teletext passthrough) but it was used in US tv studio's at that time, but there were different versions of sync in the US, in the EU it was just RGB + composite for sync to use it. (so yes, RGB is better then composite or s-video)

[@HumanSnatcher]

I'm glad I stopped working at their tech support before these got popular. It was a pain in the ass enough having to explain what the black bars were on the screen when playing a DVD. Not to mention the 30+min calls having to explain VCRs and VCR+ (yeah, it was that long ago, 21 years lol). Granted at the time DVD recorders were just hitting the market and I think the tech support was sent to the higher level Technical Service Reps. TSRs had specific training and handled a lot of calls about these and the Showstopper, which was early competition with Tivo at the time. On the plus side, I was able to save some customers money, due to them wanting to connect the dvd player to their tv via component cables and told them that they could just use the red/yellow/white AV cables because they were all the same wiring, just different colored ends. All they had to do was match what color they plug the cables into on both ends.

[@xavierzander4201]

Setting the progressive mode helps,(for LCD tv's) for CRT's only the interlace mode works

[@rich_edwards79]

Yes, these are super complicated in the hands of your average consumer. Lots and lots of settings to play around with (and mess up if you don't know what you're doing.)

[@xavierzander4201]

@@rich_edwards79 When setting up, keep a monitor on the SCART or s-video/composite output, because these don't change, and stay on interlaced, yes, having the manual is really needed, mainly for setting the in or outputs, once set, they're great and useful. always/only use the original Panasonic remote pre-programmed ones can mess things up.

[@HumanSnatcher]

@@xavierzander4201 I had to explain to people that unless they spent an enormous amount on a brand new TV, they weren't going to get progressive scan. I worked there from 2000-2002. I still remember that Panasonic pushed out their DLP TV so they could claim the first consumer model so they could beat Toshiba to market with that tech.

[@HumanSnatcher]

@@rich_edwards79 Thats why they had the TSRs do the tech support on it. I was just a CSR 1 there. I do remember fielding an hour+ long call from a guy that was super hyped about it and wanted to know more. He was super patient about being on hold while I researched what he was asking because we didn't know jack about its operation other than what the sales literature said; so it was a learning experience for me as well. I can guarantee that he went out at bought one after we hung up. I'd take an hour+ call about something like that over people screaming at me they wanted to program their phone while they were still using it to call me any day lol. I would have loved to have gotten one myself, but even with my employee discount it was still out of my price range at the time

[@kathrynradonich3982]

I still have one of these things used it years ago to record game footage for a KZbin channel back in the day.

[@brantisonfire]

Back a few years ago someone on Facebook marketplace was selling a JVC DVHS deck for like 65 bucks, and I regret not picking it up. It’s probably not as useful as this deck, but man, I missed an opportunity.

[@xavierzander4201]

Not really, don't worry, it (DVHS) stores MPEG2 to VHS tape and has no passthrough to digitize, Firewire is also not useful in this case

[@databits]

Thanks @Xavier for all your comments! You're a huge help!

[@xavierzander4201]

@@databits It's a great video, i think these Panasonic vcr combo's and dvd recorders have great features, much better than the JVC ones i have also some JVC ones, but these work not good with my BlackMagic Design capture/converter devices, my "one" Panasonic does do a perfect job, and it says nowhere TBC, or SuperVHS ...

[@lordsmurf]

@@xavierzander4201 Passthrough, no. But the playback quality of the D-VHS deck is almost always far better. The plain VHS VCRs in Panasonic combos was very lackluster, much like non-combo Panasonic home VCRs.

[@xavierzander4201]

@@lordsmurf I live in the (former) PAL (EU) region, and have the SCART/PAL version, unlike the USA NTSC version, the PAL version is different, (like said before), and has not the problems of the NTSC version, using BlackmagicDesign to capture or convert is no problem, all levels are correct.

[@MrWiseinheart]

Hopefully the home video people have that footage backed up at home.

[@mpxz999]

My thoughts exactly.

[@theoloutlaw]

These are still very desirable and go for many dollars in working condition. Great bit of gear.

[@rich_edwards79]

Same here in the UK, they fetch a fortune on eBay. Probably more than I'd be willing to pay for used, unserviceable electronics tbh, luckily I have one that I purchased new in the late 00s.

[@theoloutlaw]

@@rich_edwards79 I'm in Australia, and a working unit will still set you back about what they were new, between 3 - 500 dollars depending on condition etc etc. Even broken machines sell in the hundred dollar ranges, I guess 'we' tinklers like a hand at trying to get them going when it 'could' be just a capacitor problem. I have my dad's unit which is still running great, and another unit which I got fired up but now has a dim display panel, so always on the hunt for a parts unit. :) Great little machines, spite the fact a lot of them seem to break down....

[@donbest5024]

I bet the ones with digital turner is very expensive,if one can be found.

[@xavierzander4201]

@@donbest5024 the ones that have digital tuners are of a later date, and have maybe not the TBC like throughput, (Hollywood protecting his ground in legal ways) HDMI will maybe work with a passthrough device.

[@Astolfo2001]

If you could get this thing for cheaper then, I bet would be great for digitizing VHS tapes. But oh well, at least Panasonic made a few standalone DVD recorders similar to this which you can easily find for relatively cheap online though.

[@xavierzander4201]

yes ! even in the thrift shops, these are much cheaper, online you can search for remotes, there are some specialized companies that program them for your model, also with the special functions, not found on the "all in ones"

[@AudioFileZ]

This deck is kind of a video Swiss Knife concept with capability to include SD card, HDD, optical disc, and VHS. Something like this seems to beg for the VHS to include S-VHS and Hi-Fi capability, but, perhaps, cost considerations trumped those nice tape section features? Still an impressive combo unit.

[@rich_edwards79]

I have the version of this that lacks the HDD but includes a DVB-T tuner (which unfortunately also means no RF out for distribution purposes like a standard VCR.) Cost me an absolute fortune new, but the quality of Panasonic stuff makes it worth the price premium, imho. Oddly enough it doesn't play the DVD-RAM cartridges (even though they physically fit in the drive) - you need the ones without a caddy which I only found out after purchasing several of the latter! I don't use it much now as apparently the DVD drives are quite fragile and can't be replaced due to being hard-coded to the specific machine.

[@Gamersoft1124Pro]

the DVD drives are not hard coded but was adjusted with the digital PCB in the factory so if you buy a replacement drive you must adjust the laser potentiometer till it reads the discs with your digital PCB. I've done it on my own device

[@minnesotanfreedomist3147]

Man I’d love to find one of these!

[@databits]

You can purchase this one, its on ebay in the US right now!

[@xavierzander4201]

@@databits well that one is now sold i guess, to one lucky guy !

[@Bearcade]

That is beautiful. I have a black Panasonic that is similar. Not sure if mine works with DVD ram though.

[@kevinh96]

Pretty much all of Panasonics optical disc recorders can record onto DVD Ram as they invented the format. Even their BluRay recorders can record onto DVD Ram. You may find some of the later models won't take the cartridges buit you can easily remove the discs from the cartridges, and they will work. Likewise, almost all Panasonic DVD and BluRay players will also play DVD Ram discs, my 4K UHD Panasonic BluRay player happily plays DVD Ram discs as long as they are not in a cartridge.

[@benperkins502]

I have one of these and love it!!! Trying to figure out why it won’t play dvds all of a sudden

[@spagnot]

Great video. Can you elaborate on the sd card option? I’m guessing it’s just for playback or can you take a hdd recording and move it to the sd card?

[@donbest5024]

I had one of these,the one I had had a digital tuner it,it died about 8 years ago.could still set vcr,dvd or hard drive on timer to record off air digital channels,not anymore.

[@califaern3sto]

The Sub Menu button sends you to a small menu and in it says drive select, you can use that to switch from vhs dvd hdd etc. No need to only use the button on the unit.

[@damandbass]

I have a similar unit in the closet somewhere. It's MINUS the HDMI output with a 80 GB hard drive.

[@ingenfestbrems]

Most complete combo I’ve seen. Wonder if they had s-vhs

[@aidan1585]

Great video.. I’m looking to buy a Panasonic unit like this and the seller claims the DVD works perfectly and the VHS plays perfectly (visually).. the audio doesn’t work.? Around 14:52 you mentioned your audio didn’t work before the capacitors were changed; was that just for VHS playback or both? Model NO. Panasonic NV-VP30 : DVD VCR Combi SuperDrive Any help would be appreciated

[@xaverlustig3581]

18:30 FYI formatting is only necessary for DVD+R blanks, not for DVD-R ones.

[@Raptor50aus]

Maybe the DVD Ram drive was exposed to a smoking enviroment which causes the laser lens to become cloudy. You might be able to adjust the laser power and focus pots.

[@user-mv3ho2ce4o]

I have a NV-VP31 but unfortunately I am not sure what brands of DVDs will work in that type of machine are you able to help me out with that please or maybe make a video in regards to my question?

[@coondogtheman]

Can you record from a VHS or DVD to the memory card slot or copy the videos from the hard drive to a memory card and then play them back on a PC in VLC or something. I'm curious if the files on the hard drive are encrypted like if you took it out and tried to read it on a PC.

[@xavierzander4201]

I guess MPEG2 or MP4 is used, SD card is only for playing files, even then the cocec is critical, HDD can only copy to DVD drive, but you have options to edit first before transferring to DVD, the files from the HDD can't be transferred in any other way. no encryption is used,(you can extract the files from the DVD) but i guess the DOS (on the HDD) is not the same as that from a pc like FAT16 so, if the unit can play VHS over component and is stable (VHS refresh) you can convert it with a quality converter to record it with a good SDI/HDMI recorder no computer/laptop needed

[@xaverlustig3581]

No, Panasonic machines of this generation don't allow copying video to the memory card. The SD slot is for still pictures only. The only way to get video files out of the machines is by burning a DVD either from the internal hard drive or from the VHS directly. This will produce a standard DVD without DRM and without region lock, compatible with any DVD player, and that can be read on any computer drive. There's tons of software that can encode MP4 from a such a DVD, VLC will also be able to play it. The file format on the hard drive is propietary. There are some webpages out there about the file formats, according to those it's near impossible to get anything usable from the hard drive directly. You have to go through the unit's DVD burner, which is fine as such except when it fails. If that happens the best way to save any video from the internal hard drive is by re-recording it through its analogue out to another device. You can play video from the hard drive directly if that should be necessary, it'll be sent out through the analogue outputs of the machine.

[@xaverlustig3581]

@@xavierzander4201 The video format on the hard drive is MPEG2 because it is meant to create a standard DVD which must be MPEG2. But unfortunately it's not straight MPEG files that you can just copy to a computer, but somehow wrapped in a propietary container format in a complicated way that you can't decode with any standard software.

[@coondogtheman]

@@xaverlustig3581 That's pretty stupid but I guess they don't want people copying videos but I was thinking if it's someones home videos on VHS shot with a camcorder and not a commercial VHS tape like a movie they should allow that but nope. That's why I never got one of these machines. I hope to find one where you can record ANY VHS tape either a home movie or commercial tape to the HDD and then copy the video files to a PC without going through the DVD drive.

[@xaverlustig3581]

​@@coondogtheman The fact that the hard drive can't really be back-engineered is due to Panasonic preventing people from upgrading their device with a larger hard drive at low cost. They wanted to force you to buy the more expensive machine instead. The fact that you can't freely copy video to memory card is probably due to technology restrictions. In any case neither has anything to do with copyright/DRM. There is a DRM mechanism in the machine, but in a different way: It completely refuses to copy any DRM encoded DVD or DVDs from a foreign region, and any VHS tape with Macrovision (the "analogue" copy protection scheme). So any video you have successfully transferred to the hard drive from whatever source is DRM free by definition. "I hope to find one where you can record ANY VHS tape either a home movie or commercial tape to the HDD" It's possible but not with an integrated machine because they all adhere to Macrovision. What you have to do is get a separate VHS machine and DVD/HDD recorder, and connect the two through a macrovision filter device. These things will remove Macrovision pulses from the video signal and output a clean standard conforming video signal. The DVD/HDD recorder will then happily record that, so you can transfer anything you play on the VHS deck, because the recorder won't know there was Macrovision in place. "copy the video files to a PC without going through the DVD drive." If you want to do that, DVD recorders might not be the thing for you. There are USB dongles who accept analogue video in and will write the video to a file on the computer. Some of these are quite cheap. They have some issues because there's no time base corrector in them so the video might look a bit more unstable than it would have to, but in general they work. They might also need a Macrovision killer though. Or go the "classic" way with a full video editing card of 1990s/early 2000s era, which will also have a time base corrector built in. I do that sometimes with a Pinnacle DC30 (can be picked up comparatively cheaply through ebay). You need a vintage PentiumIV/PCI bus era PC running Windows98 or NT4 for it to work.

[@sol9843]

Did u play the tape with hdmi output?

[@user-md3ne1oo3b]

1:31 / 30:25 Panasonic DMR-EH75V DVD-RAM VCR HDD Recorder

[@Nikki_Haley]

Hello Can't I transfer the video from the HDD to the computer? No matter how hard I try to find a way, I can't find it. I think it's because the format is different.

[@hsrrysmyth3026]

As for changing to terrestisl how are all cables connected IE arels etc!

[@deniselewis971]

Do you know what U99 means? Mine won't work anymore. Also could you show me a picture of the correct power cord. Thank you. Denise

[@MrWiseinheart]

Mummy's and the Puppys..😄

[@TheBageebas]

Do you have any knowledge of the SD Drive?

[@ELBENDC2]

Hey you didn't show the SD card reader part, what happened there? You have to do that part men?

[@user-mv3ho2ce4o]

Hey I was wondering whether you can help me out please if so that would be absolutely fantastic

[@robertnobody]

I would recommend finding a skilled technician to replace capacitors and remove motherboards, I had a similar problem with my Panasonic DMR-E85H and it is not easy to do this kind of work, especially if you never did it before....It can turn into a nightmare real quickly.

[@databits]

Nah. Note to self. I’ve done 2 so far. Super easy.

[@showstopperrob1097]

Hello there, the only question I have is, is this machine for sale? Because overhere in Europe it's not avaible and I do have a lot of video tapes which I would like to transfer to a dvd. Kind regards

[@xavierzander4201]

Just keep an eye out in the thrift shops (Rataplan kringloop?) on a regular basis, found some myself there…. most of the time 10 euros…. combo's also, the thing is the people that bring or sell there don't know the value of the stuff anyway, it's more likely you get scamt at eBay.

[@ronalddavis]

vcr to capture card to computer then use obs to create video file. then burn file to dvd.

[@lukedavis436]

what if it was a HD DVD pkayer? would that make it a HDDHDDVD player?

[@xavierzander4201]

Depends on what tuner it has, most of the time the aspect ratio was the extra "feature" because the transmissions had to be compatible with the current PAL/NTSC/SECAM transmisions, so it was in anamorphic or letterbox format, and the receiving "end" would detect, what to do, (valid for analog tv only), at the start of digital you needed a "settopbox" to convert it to your analog tv, new recent (Digital) tv's have multiple tuners for DVB-T(2) DVB-C(2) DVB-S(2) (Terrestial, Cable, Satellite) this is also becoming old with glassfiber i guess where you have everything connected to (TV, Internet, and phone?) But DVD HD didn't make it i guess, it became BluRay, and most of the time only playing, not recording to disc, recording only to HDD, with no export option, due to copyright protection, so a "normal" DVD recorder is just enough, you can edit the stuff from dvd's, even author, where you set the "flags" of the dvd, like the aspect ratio, you don't have to re-encode that way, the "flag" tells the dvd player what to do. But DVD (the video format, not the file format) is just Standard Definition, with a WideScreen aspect ratio… BluRay discs can store FullHD or UltraHD, 4K is just a little higher in resolution

[@kirillkovalenko8163]

i like dmr e55 panasonic

[@vitaliy4244]

DVD-RAM record ??? 🎉

[@willthor6639]

can u swap the hdd out for a ssd?

[@Gamersoft1124Pro]

theoretically yes If you buy a SATA to IDE adapter and you must dump the specific code from the original hard drive with HXD editor I just dump 8 GB of raw data from the first sector of the Original hard drive and put it in the replacement HDD or SSD to make the new drive detected from the device oh and you ned a 3,5 to 2,5 adapter to mount the ssd if you dont copy the raw data then you will get the HDDERR message

[@AmaroqStarwind]

*sighs* Why do these combo recorders never have S-VHS and/or D-VHS support?

[@AmaroqStarwind]

Like, really… How hard is it to just tap into the DVD MPEG encoder/decoder circuitry for D-VHS capability? And with constantly improving manufacturing capabilities, how hard would it have been have true S-VHS play and record heads?

[@xavierzander4201]

Super-VHS came very late available, Hi8 was a better analog tape format, but digital video was also coming as a better alternative, quality of the broadcasts were not that great also at that time, better quality wasn't visible on a CRT tv.

[@databits]

This one does support playback of S-VHS tapes, but for whatever reason the manufacturers wanted you to buy standalone products priced at a premium for true S- or D-VHS.

[@xavierzander4201]

@@databits yeah, like High Grade magnetic media i guess, that's something which made it expensive, plus…. less time to be recorded on a (special) VHS tape when recording DVHS. I guess JVC made a lot of SuperVHS recorders, but the Panasonic's did have s-video connections,(without SuperVHS record feature) (Advantage of the ES35V ..it also gives a stable video output of LongPlay recordings to digitize which you can't with JVC +tbc)

[@saadhasan2480]

How much hsrd disk in vcr

[@databits]

This is mentioned in the video.

[@khangembamkuleswarsingh6343]

I want to buy, send me details

[@cjpwolf2436]

I need help. Mine has no audio.

[@databits]

If I remember correctly, you will need to replace the capacitors on the power supply.

[@cjpwolf2436]

@@databits the so the capacities that are the culprit for the no audio thing and the HDMI

[@databits]

@@cjpwolf2436 - yes, I recapped a few of these models

[@cjpwolf2436]

@databits were did you fine the capacitors?

[@databits]

@@cjpwolf2436 Mouser dot com

[@americanv8ss]

Volume's too low

[@leeshepherd6512]

You can almost hear the tape wear as it happens. Pile of junk.

[@xavierzander4201]

you must have sensitive ears or never owned a VCR :)

[@leeshepherd6512]

@@xavierzander4201 I own several. And they all treat the tape better than that pile of crap

[@databits]

Truth be told, I'd prefer the tape be pulled from the heads when rewinding, but MANY modern home decks keep the tape threaded.

[@xavierzander4201]

@@databits i guess it was to keep track of transported tape that way, but somehow it also knew how much tape were on the spools, because it adjusts spooling speed back or forewards…(could also be measured by calculating the speed between the spools) but while spooling tape tension is released, only the control track is read by a static head i think..

[@sivalley]

@@xavierzander4201 There were models I worked on in the late 90s that had a separate arm that kept the tape in contact with the audio/control head for timing tracking but I have to admit I cringed seeing that tape go into hyper rewind while in contact with the video heads.

[@ViegasSilva]

Dude, have you no standards? Posting that family personal filmings on the interwebs without their consent!

[@xavierzander4201]

@Rich Perez i see no harm the recordings were made in public space, not inside a home.

[@databits]

There is no personal identifiable information in that video. Could literally be anybody. Just enjoy the memory!

[@xavierzander4201]

@@databits yes ! and we do ! also with that touch of humor you bring in ! 😊❤