From: MDuPree@world.std.com (Micky DuPree)
Subject: Sharp VC-WD1; PAL<-->NTSC conversion WITH tuner & timer
Followup-To: rec.video
Summary: Unless you're from France or Brazil, it's great.
Keywords: PAL, NTSC, standards converter
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 05:02:20 GMT

There's been a lot of talk in rec.video and rec.arts.tv.uk about video
recorders that will convert PAL to NTSC and vice versa.  The Panasonic
AG-W1, which will convert any standard to any other standard, has been
around for a while, and while the quality is good, it's really designed
more for the low-end commercial customer rather than the high-end home
enthusiast, as the AG-W1 lacks both a timer and an RF (broadcast or
cable) tuner.  Recently Aiwa has come out with some units that will
convert, and others have reported on their advantages and disadvantages.
(The chief tradeoff that I can discern from these reports is that the
conversion quality is noticeably lower than that of the Panasonic unit,
but the price is substantially lower as well.)  A few months ago in
rec.video, Wolfgang R. Schultz reported purchasing a new Sharp unit that
combined the conversion process of the Panasonic with many of the home
VCR features of the Aiwa.  Wolfgang purchased his through a contact in
Singapore, but Robert Kobenter posted with the address and phone number
of a dealer who would supply them in the U.S.A.  I have purchased one of
these units and my review of it follows.  It's slanted towards American
readers in terms of setup and availability, but the specs and technical
information should be useful to all interested parties.  I'll be
transporting my unit to England in a matter of days so I may post a
follow-up about its performance over there.

                   Record, Playback, and Conversion

The Sharp VC-WD1 (which dealers sometimes shorten to just "Sharp WD1")
apparently does what the advance press on it claimed.  The manual that
comes with it says that it will record in, play back in, and digitally
convert to NTSC, PAL, and MESECAM.  I can confirm from my own experience
that it records, plays back, and digitally converts to and from NTSC and
PAL.  Not having any original source material in MESECAM, I have to take
it on faith that it does the same for MESECAM.  (The MESECAM indicator
lights do light up when I press the appropriate buttons.)  Wolfgang
reports that French SECAM tapes played in it will output only in
black and white.  The conversion output seems about equivalent to what
I'm used to seeing from the Panasonic AG-W1.  The AG-W1 output may be a
little sharper, but my ability to judge that is hampered by the fact
that I currently do not have a multistandard TV set, and so must view
NTSC-->PAL conversions TWICE converted (converted once again to output
to my NTSC TV set).  In my experience, conversion reduces resolution,
but not as much as an ordinary dub.  The Sharp apparently performs the
superior, "interpolating" method of converting the number of scan lines
(averages the lines, so to speak), as I have not seen any of the
problems with diagonal lines that have been reported as artifacts of the
new Aiwa converters' output (which merely drops lines or doubles lines
to get PAL and MESECAM to match up with NTSC and vice versa).

The short version: I don't think it'll get good results with French or
Brazilian tapes.  With a few other exceptions, though (the manual warns
of possible problems with Tahiti and the Ivory Coast), it should have
very wide compatibility.

The WD1 actually has two video outputs.  Output 1 is always a direct
pass line (no conversion).  Output 2 is the conversion output if
conversion is selected, but if conversion has not been selected, then it
outputs another unconverted signal, in addition to Output 1.  You should
be able to make both a converted dub and an unconverted dub of the same
tape at the same time.

It comes equipped with 19-micron heads for improved NTSC EP performance
and 24-micron heads for optimum PAL/MESECAM LP performance.

It will directly convert a broadcast signal from the tuner in one format
into the other formats that it supports.  E.g., with my own two hands, I
have set the timer and recorded off-air in PAL in the United States.
Robert reports having received a tape from Wolfgang that was recorded
off-air in NTSC in Germany.

                                Tuning

The WD1 manual says that it is supposed to have the ability to tune
broadcast signals in NTSC, PAL (B/G, I, D/K), SECAM (B/G, D/K, K1), and
MESECAM (B/G, D/K, K1).  I've only been able to test it on North
American broadcast and cable signals so far, but Wolfgang reports no
problems tuning in Germany.  It does tune the full range of North
American VHF and UHF broadcast signals and will tune VHF cable signals
up to about channel 36 or 37.  I can pull in a fair signal on cable
channel 37, but I have a feeling it wasn't designed to go that high.
(It seems to be pretty good at stabilizing weak signals.)  The tuner
frequency ranges are VHF 43MHz-300MHz and UHF 470MHz-892MHz.  It has 39
channel presets.  It will not tune broadcast signals in France, which is
SECAM-L, or in Brazil, which is PAL-M.

                            Other Features

Record in PAL/MESECAM SP/LP and NTSC SP/EP.  NTSC LP playback only.
8-event/1-year timer.  (Americans should note that the clock and timer
    specify the date by giving the day first and then the month.)
Simplified one-button one-event 24-hour timed recording.
Real-time counter.
Hi-Fi sound (It also says "Stereo," but says that the unit will only
    perform off-air stereo recording for the multiplexing system in use
    in Japan.)
Remote control with free speed shuttle.
Digital picture-in-picture, even for two inputs in different standards.
Digital picture freeze for both playback and tuner.
Nine-frame multi-strobe (for the f/x obsessed).
Noiseless digital search/digital slow/digital still.
Random segment repeat.
Automatic video head cleaning.
Digital index search system for program starts.
Child-proof lockout of most functions.

                         Other Specifications

Power requirements: AC 110-240v, 50/60Hz, automatic adapting.
20-minute power outage backup.
Power consumption: Approx. 30W.
Dimensions: 430mm(W) x 348mm(D) x 89mm(H).
Manual printed in English, Japanese, Chinese, and a script I'm not
    familiar with (I think the number 5 looks like this: o ) that starts
    from the "back" of the manual.

                         Plugs and Connectors

The power cord terminates in what looks to me like an ordinary North
American style plug with two flat parallel prongs (| |), and I've been
plugging it into my American wall outlet with no problems.  The unit
comes with a plug adaptor that has two tubular prongs (o o).

The A/V inputs and outputs are ordinary female RCA connectors.

The RF input is, I believe, a female European-style RF connector.  I had
to go to Radio Shack and get a male-European-to-female-North-American-F-
connector adaptor to be able to plug my North American male F-connector
wall cable into it.  The RF output is a male European RF connector, and
interestingly enough, Radio Shack doesn't seem to sell anything that
terminates in a female European connector.  I'm getting the output off
the A/V lines at the moment.  The unit comes with an RF cable that has a
male European connector on one end and a female European connector on
the other.  I've been told that you could cut this up and attach your
own F connector to the other end of the female European half, but I
haven't wanted to do this to my cable as I expect to be using it in
London soon.

                  Comparisons with the Panasonic AG-W1

I've worked with a friend's AG-W1.  I found it to be more user-friendly
than the WD1 and unlike the WD1, the AG-W1 plays, records, and converts
France's SECAM-L and Brazil's PAL-M system.  It also plays back S-VHS
(with VHS resolution), which the WD1 will not do.  An important
advantage of the AG-W1 is that it's not U.S. grey market like the WD1,
so it actually comes with a warranty in the U.S.  But the AG-W1's two
main drawbacks to me were 1) the lack of a tuner and 2) the lack of a
timer.  In the U.S. and possibly Canada as well, a clever person could
get around these problems by using an NTSC VCR to act as a tuner and a
VCR Plus automatic programmer to "trick" the AG-W1 into doing virtual
timer recording.  Outside North America it's a bit trickier, as you
would have to break the VCR Plus codes in order to be able to use it.
George Fergus also reports that some of the programmable "universal
remotes" (such as the Radio Shack/Memorex 8-in-1) have their own timer.
Thus you can program it to turn on a regular NTSC VCR and then turn on
the AG-W1 and record.  Of course it's a bit involved, but it is possible
to do (assuming that timer-equipped universal remotes are still
available).

The basic criteria for my purchase were that I wanted a full-function
VCR for both the U.S. (where I expect to be spending most of my life)
and the U.K. (where I expect to be spending most of next year), plus the
ability to perform interpolating conversion.  I am enormously pleased
with the WD1, as so far it accomplishes almost everything that I could
ask of it (the only notable exception being the ability to tune U.S. VHF
cable channels higher than 37).

I've heard that Sharp also makes a stand-alone converter unit, the
AN-200SC, which costs around $500 US in Singapore (sans tuner and timer
like the AG-W1), which would make it very competitively priced with the
AG-W1.

                          Price and Ordering

I purchased my Sharp VC-WD1 from:

Gandhi Electronics
2358 W. Devon Ave.
Chicago, IL  60659
USA
Phone (312) 973-4227
Fax: (312) 973-1589
Toll free (in the U.S.): (800) 235-7860

(As reported by Robert Kobenter, passing on information from Dinesh
Punjabi.)  I paid US $1550 for it plus $10 UPS shipping from Illinois to
Massachusetts.  It is much more expensive than the Aiwa converter prices
people have been quoting in rec.video (less than $1000), but slightly
lower than the mail order prices I've been quoted for the AG-W1
($1600-$1700).  Wolfgang purchased his WD1 via a contact in Singapore
for approx. US $1070 (not including shipping and customs duty to bring
it into Germany), and I gather that it had a list price in Singapore of
US $1200.  My unit arrived with the wholesaler's return address on the
carton:

SMR Electronics, Inc.
50 Canal Street
New York, NY  10002
USA
(212) 219-0488

According to Srivatsan Sukumar, SMR will not sell to private
individuals, but if you have a friend who's a dealer, maybe you can get
a better deal by calling SMR direct.

Thanks to all previous posters and private contacts on the subject for
helping me with information and reviews.

-Micky

Xref: sparky rec.video:15241 rec.audio:17584 sci.electronics:21782