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Any opinions on the Sharp DV-HR300?
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kgl
Newbie
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22. January 2005 @ 16:49 |
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Hi,
I just bought a SHARP DV-HR300A in Singapore. Unfortunatly
the manual ha gone missing and I am not having much success in using it without the manual. Is there a place I can get the Manual online. Also is there a way to go through the insitial startup phase as if the unit was plugged in for the first time?
Thanks!
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mannycam
Member
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23. January 2005 @ 01:26 |
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MannyCAM
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Silver64
Member
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23. January 2005 @ 02:03 |
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mannycam
Member
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23. January 2005 @ 08:45 |
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Hi Silver, always great to hear from you my friend, hope youre doing well in this new year. I also hope the weather is better in your part of the world. Its been unforgiving all over the world it seems.
Anyway, thanks for the info.
Cheers
kind regards, Manny
MannyCAM
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kgl
Newbie
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23. January 2005 @ 13:38 |
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Dear Manny, Silver64
Thank you for the advice and links to the manual. My out of the box experience has not been very good so far. I am get the scary feeling this machine does not take NTSC as input. In Singapore they use PAL in Philippines they use NTSC, also my video camera is NTSC. I have tried plugging the Video camera in the front and the back. Still not able to see any picture. I know the camera is ok because it works on my VHS machine. Same with the Cable TV input.. I cannot get any signal. There is nothing on the box that shows this model DV-HR300A is only for PAL.
Very Frustrating
Sincerely,
Geoff
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kgl
Newbie
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24. January 2005 @ 03:55 |
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From Sharp:
DV-H300A was a PAL system only so you could not be able to receive or use this unit on any NTSC devices.With regards to other usage, you can use the unit as player connected to multi-system television.
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mannycam
Member
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24. January 2005 @ 04:13 |
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Yes exactly, you can play discs made in the NTSC standard region ALL, but you cannot use an NTSC source for recording or even viewing from the various inputs. The manual states you will only get a black screen when attempting to do so.
Some video cameras do record in both formats, have you looked at your cameras manual to see if its possible?
MannyCAM
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Silver64
Member
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24. January 2005 @ 05:34 |
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Oh Dear KGL, Seems you will just have to try and sell your Sharp 300A on eBay! I do feel sympathetic but it's always a problem with PAL/NTSC incompatability.
Most of the Far East,Singapore,Malaya,Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand could use your Sharp. Unfortunately not China (Secam) or Japan(NTSC).
I guess you got it for a good price in Singapore as well regards Silver 64
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Silver64
Member
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24. January 2005 @ 05:45 |
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Sorry my last postin may be incorrect. Not sure if China does use SECAM. They were going to go down that road one time but may in the ned also be PAL Silver 64
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Erikk
Junior Member
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26. January 2005 @ 01:03 |
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My Sharp (DV-HR300F) doesn't always output sound on the optical output.
I have connected the optical output of the Sharp to my Denon receiver to get DD and DTS sound when I play a DD or DTS DVD in the Sharp. My Sharp is configured to output signal in the format of BIT STREAM (as default I think) on its optical output. That way, my Denon receiver will receive and DD and DTS signals from the Sharp and decode them.
It works fine when I play DVDs in the Sharp.
But then I noticed that when playing something from the harddisk, no sound at all is output on the optical output ! unless I configure the optical output in the Sharp to output signal in the format of PCM.
But of course setting the optical output to PCM is not a solution because then when playing DVDs, a simple stereo signal is output on the optical output and not the original DD or DTS signals ! And that is confirmed by my Denon receiver which detects and display what kind of signal it receives.
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Silver64
Member
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26. January 2005 @ 02:23 |
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Hi Erikk
You say you are not getting a DD or DTS output from material you've recorded on to the Sharp Hard drive but don't have a problem with DD or DTS playback from a DVD.
I am just wondering from what source you recorded to the Sharp Hard Drive, Was it TV? In the UK we don't, as far as I am aware,receive Dolby Digital or Digital Theatre Sound broadcast on any TV Channel. Maybe the TV source you recorded from was in Nicam stereo or Dolby surround sound and therefore only recorded by the Sharp as Stereo. regards Silver 64.
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Erikk
Junior Member
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26. January 2005 @ 03:28 |
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Hi Silver64,
I didn't say that the Sharp doesn't output DD or DTS on the optical output when playing from the HDD. What I said is that it doesn't output sound (just any sound) on the optical output when playing from the HDD.
The sharp does not record in DD or DTS anyway so I don't expect it to output DD or DTS when playing from the HDD. Nevertheless, it should output sound, even in 2 channel stereo, on the optical when playing from HDD.
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EA5E
Newbie
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26. January 2005 @ 09:48 |
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Hi Erikk,
What you have encountered is, in my humble opinion, a design deficiency of the machine. When the digital output is set to PCM, it does not pass DD through, only DTS and PCM from the DVD. Sharp has confirmed this quirk. It's not a bug, it's a feature!
The only way I have found to work around it is to connect the digital sound plus video signals to the amp's (say) DVD input, and another set of audio and video cables to the amp's VCR (say)input.
That way you have to select DVD on the amp to play DVD's and VCR to view and listen to the hard disk recordings, just like it was in the old days :) It's a pain, but it works.
I have connected my old VCR to an AUX input on the amp for occasional recordings. All of the above assumes you have sufficient input channels on your amp.
Hope this helps!
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EA5E
Newbie
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26. January 2005 @ 10:13 |
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Hi Erikk,
Forgot to say in the previous post that the digital output should be set to bitstream, sorry.
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Erikk
Junior Member
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26. January 2005 @ 23:55 |
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Hi EA5E,
Thank you for your suggestions.
I also concluded it's a design deficiency in the Sharp - not the only one ;) It was just to post and share the information on this thread.
Anyway, I don't really use the Sharp much to play DVDs as I have another DVD player, so for now I just set it to PCM digital output. Then if occasionnaly I play a DD or DTS DVD, I will know I have to set it manually to bit stream again. As the matter of fact I don't have many more inputs left on my amp ;) My old VCR is still connected ;)
Thanks
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EA5E
Newbie
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28. January 2005 @ 03:05 |
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Hi Everyone,
After much scratching around, here is the long awaited URL for the multi region patch. Load this URL into your browser:
http://thor.prohosting.com/e5e/Sharp_DV-HR350.exe
That will download the file directly. It is a self extracter, so probably best to put it in its own folder. There are two folders in the file, Disk 1 and Disk2. Burn the files in each to two separate CD's (Don't include the folder level) Load the CD's into the machine according to the instructions in the text file, and you should be happy consumers!
Note: I don't know how long the downloads on this free site will last, so if someone else would be so kind as to post it after they get it, that would be helpful.
Happy viewing.
(what I don't know is the compatibility of your individual machines, versions and so on, so check. ALl I know is that it worked on my machine sale date November 2004.)
PS On the subject of multi Region peeves, HP is now regionalising printer cartridges, 50% of the profit of HP's printer division is from ink. I just bought a Canon print head in the US, $48. Price in Australia $190!! Wonder why customers do it?
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Silver64
Member
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28. January 2005 @ 07:59 |
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Hi EA5E
Thanks for the info on the multi-region patch download.
Hopefully all will be fine though I note this is for the 350 I'm hoping it should be OK for the Sharp 300 as well. On the subject of regionalised ink-jet cartridges. My son took his six month old Epson C84 printer with him from the UK when he emigrated to Australia. When it required new cartridges he couldn't get them anywhere. Epson Australia advised that even though the C84 was same printer as the C83 (Singapore/Aus model)the cartridges were not compatible! In the end I had to mail him replacement cartridges from the UK! Incidentally I have an Epson C300. Official Epson replacement cartridges cost GB pounds 60 for a set. I buy compatible sets on the internet for GBP 15 ie 25 per cent and they are equally as good! Printer manufacturers are all the same worldwide rip-off merchants!
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EA5E
Newbie
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28. January 2005 @ 10:24 |
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Hi Silver64,
Yes, you should be fine for the 300. My manual is for the 300 and 350. I think the hard disk size is the only difference, and that won't be a firmware difference.
Regards
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kevchan
Newbie
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31. January 2005 @ 00:04 |
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Hi, I am a happy user of DV-HR300A for the last three months, not until I started to use the HDD->DVD-R dubbing. I first hitted the "10 second" dubbing bug, after a power reset, retried and finished the dubbing. Then I hitted the finalizing bug - it hung after finished over 90% (I waited for over 8 hrs). This time, both reset and power off have no use. The machine stays in the powering on state with both the "hdd" and "dvd" lights flashing. I guess it hangs when reading the partially-finialized DVD and I can't open the tray to take out the disc. What can I do ? Any fixs to the 2 mentioned bugs ? I bought it as a parallel imported goods, i.e. there is no dealer support here. PS, anyone has tried the multi-region "upgrade" for the A model ?
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wook
Newbie
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31. January 2005 @ 01:09 |
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thanks heaps ease....My sharp is now multi region :D woo hoo :P
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norisk
Account closed as per user's own request
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31. January 2005 @ 17:02 |
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I'm not looking for technical support but wonder if anyone else has had a problem with Ea5e's MR firmware upgrade.
The first CD did exactly as expected (200 to 208) but the second disk went straight from 300 to 30E (I presume E for Error) then spat it out. When I then put a region 1 disk in, it reads but the picture is unwatchable with blocking and smearing of the picture. I tried all steps 3 times to make sure the bios CDs were burnt OK.
The machine is a 350 and was bought in Germany (region 2) in June 04, although it now lives in Oz.
Any ideas/anyone else with this problem? Sounds like I need a full firmware update from Sharp (maybe up to Ea5e's late 04 level).
Incidentally, I'm thinking about upgrading the DVD drive to double layer. Do you think it would be a go-er?
Cheers
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 31. January 2005 @ 17:11
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EA5E
Newbie
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1. February 2005 @ 23:22 |
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Hi Norisk,
Sounds like you have good news and bad news;
The upgrade has removed the MR protection, otherwise you would just get the annoying "naughty!" message. The fact that you get something on the screen with region 1 is hopeful.
Have you tried your region 1 DVD on some other player / TV combination? Perhaps it is do with PAL / NTSC compatibility of your TV? I'm not sure how Sharp does it, whether they only output PAL, or output in the system of the disk's region. All I know is that it worked on my system, but my TV is NTSC / PAL. You could try taking it (DVD) into a dealer for a test. :) That way you could isolate it to player or system.
My DVR is a 350X, whatever the X means, so perhaps the second disk is something to do with version checking / updating and finishing the flash process, while the first is probably the specifics of removing the protection - wild guess! I would think that i
Also try resetting the unit?
Regards
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Silver64
Member
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1. February 2005 @ 23:46 |
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Hi EA5E I am a "Numpty" i.e.Scottish word for someone not very bright! No matter how I tried I couldn't get the link to the MR download to happen. In the end perserverance and switching off my firewall did the trick. I am now ready to burn the necessary discs to make my 300 multi-region and I am frightened!
Maybe the firmware will only work with the Australian "X" model and maybe I'll completely screw-up my 300's ability to play region 2! BTW the letters after the 300 or 350 only denote the market the machine was made for; hence in the UK it's "H", in Continental Europe it's "F" etc. Wish me luck! Silver64
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norisk
Account closed as per user's own request
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2. February 2005 @ 00:38 |
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Ea5e
The TV is NTSC OK, and I guess you're right about the MR being broken but I wonder if the second disk contains the SWare to decode NTSC properly. When you say reset the box, do you mean the AutoInstall procedure (Channel ^ and DVD simult)?
Silver
Didn't mean to concern you - I should have added that the playing of Region 2s is unaffected by the failure I had trying to remove MR. So you shouldn't be any worse off even if, like me, you can't play Region 1s after applying Ea5e's MR upgrade.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 2. February 2005 @ 00:39
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EA5E
Newbie
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2. February 2005 @ 10:52 |
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Norisk,
To reset open the door on the bottom left that covers the front AV connectors. The reset button lurks in a little hole on the left. Push it with a stick! (Not uphill!)
Everything will go back to factory default, so all your settings will have to be re-entered. It's only a long shot that it will make anything better.
Silver,
It makes sense that X means Australia - You know that the only reason that they make XXXX beer in Queensland is because Queenslanders can't spell beer.
I saw somewhere, and can't find it again, that there is way to read what the version is. That way I could tell you guys what my version has ended up with, but not what I started with :) It may be that the software version and the patch as well is either Australian or Region 4 specific, or it's just plain a later or earlier version to other machines.
In either case, not very clever software management.
Regards
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