RCA DRC8060N DVD Recorder with Commercial Advance
RCA has problems, so does HDMI Upscaling...
I bought this unit today hoping to add new zest to my DVDs through the HDMI upscaling to HD quality.  I put in a Star Wars DVD that I bought at Target to test it out, only to find that it didn't work!  I got an error message that the DVD, which worked fine in my other DVD player, could not be played in this region (i.e. DVD region).  I was surprised and disappointed with this problem.  Reading other reviews for RCA DVD recorders, I guess I should not have been.  RCA does not appear to have a strong product line in DVD players/recorders.  Also, this unit only records in DVD+R and DVD+RW and don't use 2.4x blanks either- the manual says they cause problems. <br /> <br />More importantly, perhaps, I don't think the HDMI upscaling feature- now that I have seen it on other DVDs that worked on this machine- really adds to viewing pleasure.  Here's why: <br /> <br />1) First, check the features of your HD-TV.  Mine is a Sony KV-36HS500.  It has a DRC feature which is a kind of upscaling technology built-in.  As a result, the picture quality 'improvement' while noticable (see next item) was not the 'wow' I had hoped for. <br /> <br />2) Second, most films (i.e. those made in the 20th century) on DVD do not necessarily benefit from this technology.  The reason I say this is because on the DVDs I've watched so far, the HD-quality reveals distractions to the movie.  For example, I watched a scene from the beginning of 'Out of Africa' where the HD-quality reveals the actors in front of a studio back-drop which was not so apparent without the HD-quality.  I see that as more of a distraction than increased viewing pleasure.  I expect issues like this will be the case with many, if not most, DVDs.  <br /> <br />3) The HD-quality also reduces screen size by a couple inches, or another couple inches in the case of wide-screen letter-box DVDs.  This translates into two-thirds of my 36\\" 4:3 TV being unused when I watched Lord of the Rings.  Incidentally, I expected recent films like Lord of the Rings to show the most improvement in picture-quality as a result of the HDMI upscaling, but while noticable, it was not that big a deal. <br /> <br />4) If you have older, restored movies on DVD from the 30s/40s/50s, I don't think viewing these in HD adds anything to viewing pleasure.  They just weren't made for this technology- like most commercial DVDs on the market today. <br /> <br />5) The only possible area where HDMI HD-upscaling could be a benefit is for home movies and pictures.  The added quality could be a nice bonus. <br /> <br />Overall, this RCA DVD-recorder, like most other RCA DVD units I've read about, has enough defects to look elsewhere.  Also, remember most movies and DVDs were not made for HD-quality.