PV-D4754S is a progressive scan DVD/VCR combination deck with half-mirror finish.
The Panasonic PV-D4754S offers the best of both worlds--high-quality DVD playback and the ability to watch your old VHS movies. The PV-D4754S features multiformat disc compatibility, a four-head, hi-fi VHS player, and an optical audio output for external DTS and Dolby Digital decoders.
The PV-D4754S can play a variety of audio and video disc formats, including DVD-Audio (two-channel), DVD-Video, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, video CD, audio CD, and CD-R/RW. DVD-Audio discs, the new standard for super high-fidelity sound, provide multiple channel stereo, incredible storage capacity, and unique bonus materials not available on regular audio CDs. This player is also compatible with MP3 and WMA audio files and JPEG image files.
When connected to an external DTS or Dolby Digital decoder, the PV-D4754S will let you enjoy the amazing 5.1-channel digital surround sound offered by DTS and Dolby Digital-encoded discs.
Connections include component-video, composite A/V, and S-video outputs as well as the optical digital audio output. The player also features front A/V inputs, rapid rewind and forward, trilingual onscreen display, and auto clock setup.
Tech Talk
- Progressive scan: Progressive scanning, otherwise known as 480p ("p" for "progressive"), creates a picture signal with double the scan lines of a conventional interlaced picture, 480i ("i" for "interlaced"), to create a noticeably sharper image. Standard DVD players use interlaced scanning to produce a picture. Interlaced scanning combines two fields to generate a picture of 525 scan lines (480 of which are displayed). Your television projects an interlaced image by first scanning the 240 odd-numbered lines of one field (in 1/60th of a second), followed by the 240 even-numbered lines of the other field (in 1/60th of a second). A progressive video processor enables all 525 lines (480 of which are displayed) to be scanned at the exact same time. A television with 480p component inputs completely scans the entire image in 1/60th of a second, so it only takes one field to build one frame of video.
- Four-head VCR: A VCR requires two video heads to record a picture. With four heads, a VCR can perform special effects like slow motion and freeze frame, and it is optimized for recording and playback in both the SP (2-hour) and SLP (6-hour) modes. You'll also get a better picture from rental videos with a four-head VCR.
- Hi-fi VHS: The standard VHX format with Dolby Surround Pro-Logic encoded in the stereo audio channels, which produces near CD-quality sound. You'll need an A/V receiver with Dolby Surround Pro-Logic decoding to take full advantage of this feature.
What's in the Box Panasonic PV-D4754S DVD/VHS combo, remote control, 2 AA batteries, AC power cord, composite A/V (RCA) cable, and printed operating instructions.
1 Panasonic PV-D4754S Progressive Scan DVD / VCR Combo (Silver
Panasonic DVD/VCR stuff is junk. With two purchases the item stopped working after a few months. Once the 3 month "full warranty" has expired Panasonic wanted slightly more than the original purchase price to fix it. I would never buy another Panasonic product. I wish I could give it zero stars
2 A very nice piece of equipment.
Like others, I was hesitant to buy a combo unit, but was forced to when my VCR died last month, and I found out they don't stand-alone VCR's any more :-))
It took me (Mr. Non-tech) a total of 2 hours to read the manual, remove the old DVD player and VCR, and reconnect the cable box, etc. (I would strongly recommend using RCA cables to connect the dvd/vcr deck to the TV, the picture is far better).
Using the remote is easy, just push the DVD or VCR button, and then go to the appropriate commands. A lot of the buttons are dual-use, but the setup is very intuitive. Altogether, a great unit for the price.
3 What's going on with these two?
You can read these two preceeding negative reviews below, repeated exactly verbatum at universe.com.
Are these real people, or nutjobs with nothing better to do than rap a product they don't probably own?
The Panasonic PV-D4754S has been a 100% performer for this past week; I am highly suspicious of these two previous cut-n-paste "reviewers".
4 Think Twice
This unit worked for one day before it konked out. While it was easy to set up and gave excellent pictures, when I went to turn it on the second day, the power wouldn't come on. To make matters worse, the warranty info states you must ship Panasonic's Texas Service Center at your expense if you are going to get it fixed. Then to add more insult to injury, they say that if they choose not to repair your new unit, they will ship you a refurbished unit and now a new one. Using this equipment for 90 minutes only to have the unit fail is unacceptable. A new unit should be sent to replace this one - not a refurbished unit. This is a very poor warranty and exeedingly poor customer service.
I'm going to contact their customer service unit to see if I can get this serviced loaclly, but this poor level of quality control is unacceptable. If I wish to return the unit to the shipping company, I am out the original shipping charges, plus the additional shipping costs to get it back to them.
Check out all of the warranty and return policies before you purchase.
Follow-up. July 2nd. I was able to contact J&R Music Customer Service. They were friendly and quite helpful. I am in the process of exchanging the broken unit for a new one. Hopefully the second one will work.
5 This is the one to get!
I researched a lot before deciding to get this dvd/vcr combo! I love it! It has both kinds of rewind for dvds: chapter rewind and the regular vcr like rewind. You need to have both kinds of rewind! The remote is easy to use and the buttons are in a good order. It has a 100 button which is good to have if you are looking for dvd easter eggs!
It was easy to set up, and is easy to use. You can even record a tv show while watching a dvd on the same machine. However when you play what you recorded back you will hear a slight blip noise when you switched modes, put in dvd, etc. Regular recording works just fine without the blip noise. There is a slight tracking problem on self made tapes that were taped on other vcrs, but this is a common problem to most vcrs.
The dvd player works like a charm, as does the vcr. This unit will even tell you how much tape you have left to record on. The rewinding and forwarding is very fast. My tv's reception was greatly improved when I hooked it up to this unit. Dvds that made a buzzing noise on my mom's dvd/vcr/tv combo do not make the same noise on this wonderful machine! I am very happy with mine, and would reccomend it to everyone!
6 It's everything I wanted!
Although I haven't purchased a HDTV yet, I needed a combo unit that would fit my current enclosure, function well with my current 32" Mitsubishi TV and have all the features I'll need when I do get the new LCD HDTV. Although I've only watched one DVD and part of a video, I've been very impressed with this unit. After reading some reviews at Amazon regarding other combo units, I was hesitant to buy one. However, further review of the capabilities of this unit at Panasonic.com really helped.
Setup was easier than described in the manual. I had downloaded a .PDF format of the manual at Panasonic.com last week, however I really didn't need to. Setup was that easy.
I purchased a Full Screen version DVD I wanted, in order to test the DVD player. Picture and sound were crystal clear. The video I tried was older, but the VCR played it as well as my existing Mitsubishi (self-cleaning 4-head) unit. I can't ask for more. I'll have to try a more current movie next.
A note to those with older TV sets. After reading the downloaded manual information, prior to purchase, I had a feeling that this unit might not be completely compatible with my not quite seven year old TV. I was correct. Even after trying both Mitsubishi codes provided, it has most but not all functions. Although it's a little disappointing, I would gladly buy this unit again just because of all the great things it does do!
