I recently purchased a 5005 (US SN 0102-0143) and applied the latest firmware. Seems to be a rather good standalone DVD recorder.
Yet, when I record anything (RCA composite IN), it will not create thumbnails for the Titles. It records fine, but leaves the thumbnails blank, in other words, a black picture for the thumbnail. Plus, there doesn’t seem to be a way to manually edit and change the thumbnail. I can change the Title Name, but that’s it.
Any ideas?
Thanks
FrostyTech,
Thats the first I’ve heard of the blank thumbnail? Usually it records whatever it see when the recording starts. The only way to edit the Thumbnail is download the video to your computer and edit with a program like NeroVision Express3. Yes all you can do is edit the Title, but make sure you do it before you finalize the disc.
I’ve found what works best for me is I use DVD+RW’s to record and then I dump the video into my computer, edit, then burn to a disc if I’m keeping. For TV shows I do the same editing out the commercials so you can put a lot more shows on one disc! The DVD+RW is great for recording, watching and deciding if you want to keep it or not!! Saves $$ on Disc!! Hope this helps!
Regards,
had1
Hi:
The recorder inserts a picture of the first thing it sees, as a thumb nail. If you start recording before there is a picture for it to grab, it inserts the black screen.
John
Thanks. You’re right.
I had a suspicion that was the case.
Sort of sux.
I’d like start recording first, then start playback from the source to ensure it is recorded fully from beginning to end. The source is the ‘VCR-archive’ RCA composite ports of a DVR box (firewire ports are disabled). Looks like all those years of playing video games is going to pay off (critical remote control timing) 
PS
had1 and Raised Grain,
Thanks for the tips. You guys are correct, I verified.
Start the source playback prior to start the recording
DOH
To had1,
Thanks for the DVDRW + copy to PC + edit idea.
I had considered doing such and I’ve been testing with DVDRWs. Since I lack the spare time to copy the data to the PC and edit, I’ll be recording directly to blank DVDRs with the 5005. Main reason I bought the 5005 is to archive certain recordings in our DVR that are consuming +80% of the storage space (160GB HDD in the DVR).
The problem with this, of course, is timing.
If you’re archiving to DVD, the last thing you want (well, one of the last things anyway) is to have the first few seconds of your source material cut off.
The Lite-On machines unfortunately do not buffer the incoming video well enough, so that recording actually starts a few (variable) seconds after you press RECORD.
If you time things so closely that there there is a screen full of course material when you start, such that you get a thumbnail, you have also cut it so close that the first few seconds of program have probably been dumped into the bit bucket.
It’s been pointed out that the easiest way to tell EXACTLY when recording actually starts is to look at the timer. When the seconds actually start ticking, you are REALLY recording. Perhaps if you can pause the source, hit RECORD, and then start playback at the instant the seconds started ticking …
As an aside … in other recording situations I’ve grown accustomed to the opposite. Start the recorder in RECORD-PAUSE mode (such that releasing the PAUSE starts recording instantly) and begin source playback at a point a few seconds before the start. That way you can un-pause the recorder just at the right instant. Problem is … I haven’t figured out to do this on the Lite-On. If you press RECORD, the PAUSE button is ignored during the set-up phase, and so you can’t ever get it set-up and ready for that instant.
FrostyTech & schuster - It seems when a dvd is first prepared the recording starts quickly. Here is what I do when recording via the guider or OTR. When I insert the dvd I do a second or 2 recording and then hit the stop button. The recording I was doing is cancelled and a thumbnail does not show up for it. This seems to put the 5005 in a ready mode. I then insert the VCR tape or tune to the station I want to record and wait for the moment I want to start recording and then hit the go button if I use the guider or the OTR button and the banner screen that shows recording will show seconds ticking off in under a secomd.
schuster and jm1647,
Good ideas…
Here’s how I solved my dilema…
Insert blank DVD into 5005, let it prepare, then set the source to AV-Rear. Set TV to Video 1 (DVR S-Video and RCA audio) and proceed to select a recording from the DVR list to dump to the ‘VCR-Archive’ RCA ports. These ports are only active when ‘Copy to VCR’ is selected from the DVR menu. These Copy to VCR RCA ports are connected to the RCA INs on the 5005. This allows archiving and watching TV at the same time. Rather cool.
Ok, back on track, next set TV to Video 2 (5005 S-Video and RCA audio), and keep pressing Source on the 5005 remote until it cycles back to AV-Rear again. This puts the 5005 in that ‘ready to record’ state too. Now, I press the start archive key on the DVR remote, wait 3 seconds, press Record on the 5005 remote, then wait another 20 seconds and hit record for the proper OTR I need. Works perfect everytime. I do lose maybe the first couple of seconds, but since it’s usually an intro to the show being recorded, works out perfectly creating thumbnails that will suffice.
I would like to say, this 5005 kicks butt…
Latest firmware for my serial # is the 0080.
I used the ILO hacker to add the 3 Hr LP.
Works perfect, no jitter, no ‘cabbage face’, no problems at all.
End result DVD quality is great, can’t complain.
the record pause, can be hard to perform you need to catch the record at the right moment, but once you get the hang of when to press the pause it’s ok. I use it for anouther reason which annoys me which is you hit record and depending on how lucky I am will depend on how long before record starts the longest has been 2mins.