Mixed media
Getting on-line is a snap. The DMR-PWT500 has integrated Wi-Fi, a boon if you don’t have wired access in your living room – or are simply running out of cabled connections from your hub. WPS Push is supported for those with compatible routers.
The music player tries out different formats for size
One interesting feature of the Panasonic DMR-PWT500 is its DLNA server functionality. This needs to be specifically activated in the menu, as it prevents the unit from going into Power Save during Standby. However, fire it up and your DVR suddenly becomes visible to other compliant media players on a network... with mixed results.
My Popcorn Hour streamer could see the Panasonic and its video library, but was unable to play any files. Conversely, both A.C. Ryan and Western Digital WD Live players were able to stream the DMR-PWT500’s standard def recordings. Unfortunately, neither could cope with its HD recordings, each throwing up incompatible file errors. So, if you want to use the DMR-PWT500 as a server, best keep your recordings to standard def then.
A very tidy all-in-one combo, but its networking needs refinement
Be aware that there are limitations to the deck’s general functionality. When the DMR-PWT500 is recording, you can’t mooch around the Viera Cast content portal or play media from USB or Nas. Finished DVR-ing the Alan Titchmarsh show? OK, now you can go on the interwebs…
Verdict
Overall, the DMR-PWT500 is a clever, albeit rather expensive combi deck. Both disc and DVR performance are praise-worthy, but Panasonic needs to sort out the half-baked streaming and server functionality to really make this a one-size fits all solution. ®
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Panasonic DMR-PWT500 3D BD Freeview HD DVR
COMMENTS
So, basically, this is £410 for a DVR that doesn't play most video types; has broken DLNA support, shows adverts in the EPG, and only has 320GB of disk space?
And Panasonic are at a loss to explain why they're about to go under. *slow clap*
The sign on the Panasonic building down here in Sydney has a few lights out so at night it is proudly displaying PAN---NIC - seems appropriate!
shame
Theres no decent telly on freeview. so pointless product
Streaming Freeview HD is not allowed (depends on rights flags)
In order to use the Freeview trademarks HD and the huffman encoded EPG content must be protected (unless flagged copy freely) so is unlikely to be permitted over DLNA without using DTCP-IP which I doubt most software players can handle.
There is also the fact that Freeview HD broadcasts are somewhat interesting and some devices have a hard time playing them correctly due to the changes between 50i and 25p that occur regularly on the current encoders.
I use MythTV to record (not Freeview trademarked) so that it can use the trade secret (according to the BBC) information that is on the internet here: https://github.com/MythTV/mythtv/blob/master/mythtv/libs/libmythtv/mpeg/freesat_tables.h which I believe was legally reverse engineered from the information that they broadcast over a large area of Europe.
With MythTV acting as the UPNP/DLNA server the Freeview HD content works correctly my 2011 BRAVIA TV but not on the Playstation3.
Hmmmm
If it's anything like the DMR-BW780 BluRay recorder we've got here, it'll have decent recording quality let down by the most half-baked, frustrating, inconsistent and poorly thought through interface. 20 key presses to finalise a disc when you've just finished burning it? Failure to recognise a disc you've just formatted unless you remove it, and cycle the power? When editing the title of a recording, pressing Delete inserts a space, and pressing Pause deletes? That's Panasonic, that is.
