Bravia KDL32WD75x and Blu-ray recorder

[Cliffy34]

Hi all, I have recently bought the above Sony Tv and a new Panasonic DMRBTW850 Blu-ray recorder with HDD, to replace older Sony and Panasonic kit which worked fine together via SCART cable. 

The new Panasonic does only hdmi out now, yet the new Sony still expects SCART! Not obvious till you get the manual out of course... Anyway using either of the two hdmi ports on the Sony means either the Panasonic doesn’t record anything till the hdmi cable is pulled out, or after watching a Blu-ray on the player and turning it off, all channels on the Sony are missing except BBC1 and 2. The kit is useless.

So, 1) am I missing something here, because somebody on this forum can point me at a fix 2) is the Sony/Panasonic incompatible or 3) should I box them both up and get a refund quick before my 30 days is up and get all Samsung or LG kit instead🙂?

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

Hopefully one of the community members can help.

Best wishes,

M

[Win_88]

Hi Cliffy,

I'm not sure about the Panasonic recorder but the usual way Sony recorders works is that the antenna is connected to the box and you tune the channels on it which is then output to the TV so you can watch and record through it directly. Could you clarify more about what happens when you try to record with the HDMI cable still connected?

Win_88

[Cliffy34]

When the tv is on and recorder tries to start a recording, it pauses and doesn’t record. As soon as the hdmi cable is removed, recorder immediately starts recording and works perfectly. If tv is off and then switched on when the Panasonic is recording, all channels are “not available “ except BBC1/2/4. Retuning tv doesn’t help until hdmi cable is unplugged. 

Panasonic manual implies rf aerial cable and hdmi cable are required to be plugged in. Sony manual expects rf cable and SCART for a vcr, which the Panasonic doesn’t have. 

So, does the Panasonic get returned, or the Sony tv. Either way it seems to me that these two bits of kit are incompatible.

I appreciate any comments/help you can offer

[Cliffy34]

None of the suggested fixes, even from Sony support, worked. When tv is on first, Panasonic wouldn’t record a preset tv programme, until the hdmi cable was pulled out (and I did swop cables out too). If Panasonic on first, tv lost all channels except bbc tv. Go figure. This new Sony TV seems to be only configured to accept a vcr/pvr through the SCART socket, not hdmi.

Anyway, these two bits of kit are incompatible. Currys very kindly accepted the Panasonic back and I got a Sony UBP X700 instead. Not the solution I wanted, nor used to have, but technology today is not as “smart” as it would have us believe.

Regards

Cliff

[Win_88]

Hi Cliffy,

I think that either way (If the TV doesn't accept a recorder via HDMI or if the recorder is having issues outputting to the TV while recording) this is a compatibility issue between the two devices. Is it at all possible for you to test the recorder on a different TV either using HDMI or SCART?

Win_88

[Cliffy34]

I can’t do anymore testing on this setup as I’ve returned the recorder. Curry’s kindly accepted it and refunded me in full. There is a definite incompatibility between the two devices. Fundamentally I consider this model of tv is outdated in not being able to accept a vcr via the hdmi port. As I bought the tv only a few days ago this is disappointing to say the least.

A further issue is that this, and other recent Sony devices I’ve had, are promoted as providing “catch up” tv. As the only terrestrial channels accessible are via BBC iplayer and Channel 5, with no ITV or channel 4 apps at all, nor BBC radio2/3/4 etc I think this is stretching a point.

When will Sony be releasing ITV hub and All 4 apps for this tv?

Regards

Cliff

Sent from Cliff's iPhone