RCA DRC8000N Progressive-Scan DVD Recorder/Player

The DRC8000N records in six modes: 1, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, and 6 hours. And, when using timed recording, the DRC8000N offers an option to automatically set the quality level to the best quality that fits its available hard-drive space--ultimately gleaning up to eight hours from a single 4.7 GB recordable DVD. The unit uses DVD+R/+RW.

The "RW" format offers numerous advantages. These discs can be played in most computer DVD-ROM drives and DVD players, and they let you append, edit, and overwrite video right on the discs themselves. This means you can record video using the DRC8000N and record data with a PC drive, all on the same disc. There's only one recording mode for both video and data, and the finalization time for a DVD+R is the fastest of all DVD formats.

Special features include title and chapter creation for easy access to recorded materials; chapter hide/unhide, which lets you skip playback of selected sections of a recording; text title labeling; user-selectable disc write and title-write protection, and quick disc erase. Recorded discs will playback on most DVD players, and the unit itself plays all DVD and audio CDs.

More than just a recording device, however, the DRC8000N is also a first-rate media player, offering MP3 music file decoding and Digital PhotoView, which displays JPEG files (from recordable CDs only) in a rotating slide show format--with MP3 playback during the slide show! A USB input connects to a flash card reader for transferring the digital photos and MP3 files and can decode from flash card without copying to disc for playback and preview.

The recorder also offers progressive-scanning when playing back prerecorded DVDs. Whether your living room is currently home to an HDTV or you're merely thinking of "someday," the DRC8000N is ready to deliver the full potential of prerecorded DVDs. Progressive scanning, called 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional DVD picture, giving you higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts.

The DRC8000N features Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel surround sound passthrough, SRS TruSurround simulated surround sound, and IR (infrared) control for both satellite systems and cable boxes to make sure they're tuned to the right stations when it's time to automatically record your programs.

Connections include one set of component-video outputs, an S-video input and output (one each), composite-video input and output (two in and one out), analog audio in and out (two in and one out), and a pair of digital-audio outputs (one each optical and coaxial).

What's in the Box
DVD player/recorder, remote control, remote batteries, user's manual, stereo analog audio interconnect/composite-video cable, RF cable, RF cable/splitter, S-video cable, and IR blaster with cable.