All the features and controls I needed, at a high price
Written: Dec 12 '03 (Updated Aug 25 '05)
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Pros: Excellent picture quality, plenty of features and connectors, very usable and versatile
Cons: Expensive
The Bottom Line: If you like connecting a gazillion cables into your VCR, if you think the more features the better, if your eyes shine upon seeing "SVHS", this machine is for you!
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| towwang's Full Review: Mitsubishi HS-U770 S-VHS VCR |
The Mitsubishi HS-U770 is a high-end SVHS ("super video home system") video cassette recorder, featuring video dubbing and editing capabilities, and many connectivity and interoperability features for demanding home users.
In 1997 I was looking for a SVHS VCR in order to enjoy high-resolution recordings of television broadcasts, and dub some camcorder tapes into VHS tapes for distribution to friends. "Anderson's TV and stereo" in Santa Clara, CA was selling refurbished units of this VCR for $550, and I decided to buy one upon reading off the box all the features I wanted. Brand new units were selling for around $700 at the time. Still, I think I paid too much.
[Box contents]
HS-U770 VCR
Universal remote control
S-video cable, 6 ft.
Composite video + stereo audio cable (RCA male plugs), 6 ft.
75 ohm RF coaxial cable, 6 ft.
User's manual
[Features]
SVHS playback and recording: 400 lines of horizontal resolution, as opposed to about 250 lines for VHS. This feature requires genuine SVHS tapes, then selling for about $7 to $10 each.
Audio/video dubbing and editing: a flying erase head removes noise between the end of one recording and the start of the next one. The unit has a special jack to let you synchronize start and end of dubbing for two VCRs. You can either superimpose new {video + hi.fi. audio} content onto an existing recording and leave the "low-fi" linear audio track intact, or superimpose a new linear audio track onto existing {video + hi.fi. audio} content. Unfortunately you cannot separate the video from the hi.fi. audio signal because they are recorded in the same physical portion of the video tape.
Universal pre-programmed infrared remote, using 2 AA batteries: controls the VCR and the TV set, and (indirectly) a cable converter box.
Built-in infrared transmitter to control cable converter box: basically, you use the remote to tell the VCR what cable channel you want to view or record, and the VCR uses the built-in transmitter to tell the converter box to switch to that particular channel. This requires that: 1) the converter box be one of the dozens of models supported by this VCR, and 2) the converter box be physically placed on top of the VCR, because the transmitter is on the top surface of the VCR. This feature works for programmed timer recordings, of course.
Audio recording level control, a feature I was particularly interested in. It is especially useful if for example your camcorder recorded audio too softly or loudly, and you want to adjust it for the destination video tape.
Two sets of {S-video + composite video + left and right audio} input jacks; one set on the front panel, another in the back.
Two sets of {S-video + composite video + left and right audio} output jacks; both on the back panel.
8 event timer recording within a 30 day calendar, and VCR-plus for quick timer setting. You can also program to record on a particular day every week, or Monday-Friday.
Two 75 ohm radio-frequency inputs, switchable by remote control and timer recording.
Jog (frame advance and retreat) and shuttle (variable speed fast forward and reverse) on both the front panel and the remote control.
[Performance]
I use this VCR to play and record SVHS tapes in SP speed almost exclusively. Picture and audio quality were superb; you can expect to have "major problems" distinguishing whether what you are seeing is a TV broadcast or a SVHS recording. I found that color balance and brightness/contrast are faithfully maintained in recordings, so I did not have to adjust these settings on the TV set in any way. SVHS recordings made in EP speed are comparable to VHS in SP speed. The HS-U770 can playback but not record in LP speed.
Still picture was perfectly clear, thanks to a digital frame stabilizer. The same can be said of frame-by-frame advance and retreat. The only defect that sometimes appears is that the bottom 1% of the image is slightly warped, thereby revealing that you are watching a video tape in paused mode.
Fast-forward and fast-review are better than average. The way I evaluate this feature is by looking at how much of the picture is distorted. In FF or FRew viewing, I'd say that about 5% of the picture is distorted in the HS-U770, compared to about 10-20% for a good 4-head VHS VCR with no digital image stabilization, and to about 30-50% distortion for 2-head VCRs. When viewing in this mode, audio is muted.
As for audio performance, I put to good use the recording level knob and recorded some music from an audio CD to a VHS tape, adjusting for maximum dynamic range. (There is not supposed to be any difference in hi.fi. audio quality between VHS and SVHS tapes.) The audio played back faithfully, with no audible noise or loss of treble as far as my ears could tell.
[Usability]
The on-screen display of this VCR is quite thorough; for a technical user like myself, I found it very intuitive and easy to use. Other people might think this VCR has too many features and options, and might prefer a simpler model instead. On initial power-up, you can select menu display in English, Spanish or French; this can be changed afterwards too.
The one thing I don't like about the user interface is that to enter a numeric value, such as the time to begin a recording, I must roll the jog button to increase or decrease the hour or minute. This is not too big of a problem, as the values scroll as fast as I can roll the jog wheel, but I would prefer to enter the values by pressing the numeric keypad. (It would save wear and battery life.) This is offset however, by the fact that you can program timer recordings right at the front panel of the VCR, without the need of the remote control. I always favor this type of design, in case the remote is lost or damaged.
Additionally, the two sets of audio/video inputs are listed as "channels" L1 and L2 in the menu. You can therefore program this VCR to record from a surveillance camera for example. Also, when programming timer recording, you can select which RF input to record from, in case you have an antenna and cable TV connected simultaneously. You cannot use this VCR as a RF switchbox though, because when you turn it off, it always passes through the signal from RF input 1.
As for cable converter box control, the HS-U770 worked perfectly with a Zenith "PM5" series converter box rented from the cable TV company. Channel switching is somewhat slow: for example, to view channel 14, you'd press '1', '4' and 'enter' on the remote, then the HS-U770 relays the signals as '1', '4' and 'enter' to the converter box, with one pulse every 2/3 of a second, approximately. Nevertheless, this feature is a god-send, because otherwise I would have hated to have to set the converter box to a particular channel and leave it on, just so that the VCR could record the particular channel in the middle of the night, and not be able to record any other channel until I woke up.
[Reliability]
This machine has worked faithfully and reliably for 8 years, and is still going strong. The only problem I ever had was a nasty brownout that occurred while the VCR was recording to a tape. The tape got jammed, but was easily fixed with no other damage.
I have opened this VCR to see its inside. To my dismay, it has the automatic head cleaner "feature". This is basically a small roll of a cotton-like non-abrasive material, attached to a plastic arm that gets pushed against the video drum just before every time the video tape is wrapped against said video drum. Now, could I see a show of hands, would you use a years-old piece of dirty cotton to clean the video heads of such an expensive VCR, day after day? I promptly removed the roll of cotton after I discovered that it was getting dirty (something you should do only after the warranty expires). I use head-cleaning cassettes exclusively nowadays.
[Revision history]
2003 12 12 Written by Tow Wang
2005 08 25 Update on auto head-cleaner, and minor corrections.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 550
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Epinions.com ID:
towwang
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Member: Tow Wang
Location: California; U.S.A.
Reviews written: 45
Trusted by: 8 members
About Me:
Rabidly passionate about computers and electronics!
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