Panasonic have introduced a multiregion version of their innovative DMR-BS850 Blu-ray recorder that might not be all that you imagine.

While the latest DMR-BS850 is in fact a multi region player, the multi region aspect of its capabilities applies to regular DVD rather than Blu-ray discs.

Blu-ray on the DMR-BS850 is set to REGION B. The Blu-ray Disc region coding scheme divides the world into 3 regions, labelled 'A', 'B' and 'C'. Region B includes most European, African and southwest Asian countries plus Australia and New Zealand.

Still a useful addition to the DMR-BS850's armoury however, Panasonic's high end Blu-ray player/recorder also sports a 500GB recording capacity along with Freesat+ PVR functionality.

In fact the DMR-BS850 packs quite a punch, with its Dual Freesat tuners (giving you the flexibility to record two programmes while watching a Blu-ray/DVD movie) along with the ability to archive High Definition content to Blu-ray disc. Freesat in High Definition is recorded via direct bitstream so there is no loss of quality. Five recording modes allow you to record from 77hrs (highest quality) up to 240hrs (lowest quality) of material.

The 8 day EPG (Electronic Programming Guide) has a very useful little feature which prompts you when an Standard Definition programme is available in HD. It can also stream-record and output the 5.1 channel surround sound signals (Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus) contained in HD broadcasts

With BD Live support for online interactivity and 1080/24p playback, Panasonic have not compromised on high end Blu-ray features. All of the HD audio codecs are supported and you also get access to Panasonic's VieraCast technology, which allows you to watch, amongst other things, YouTube videos on your TV.

Panasonic DMR-BS850 

Panasonic DMR-BS750 

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