The RD-XS52's HDD lets you store around 135 hours of audio/video programming, ample room for time-shifting your viewing and keeping a fair amount of "must-watch-soon" content at the ready. Imagine the contents of a fleet of 30 VHS tapes, all recorded in 6-hour/EP mode, available at once and with easy navigation, no fast-forwarding or rewinding, and in much higher resolution.

When you have programs you decide you want to keep, just offload them to DVD. Archiving is lickety-split: 24x normal speed when transferring from the HDD to a write-once DVD-R and 12x when burning to DVD-RAM. Time Slip recording/playback lets you begin watching a recording that's already in progress or pause a live recording and return to it later.

The EASY NAVI menu's user-friendly preview screen instantly gives you access to the recorder's key features and can be used to preview and access your content.

The RD-XS52 is also one of the first DVD recorders to offer an HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) with upconversion capability from standard 480i resolution to high-definition 720p or 1080i--perfect for viewing your DVDs, camcorder footage, and television programs on a high-definition-equipped TV, now or in the future. HDMI provides a single-cable digital connection for the highest-quality interface between the DVD player and a compatible television, maintaining the digital audio and video signals until they reach the monitor. Other picture enhancements include 3D digital noise reduction (DNR), mosquito DNR, and block DNR.

Front-panel inputs accommodate VCRs and camcorders, including digital camcorders through an IEEE 1394/DV input. The digital-video input even includes controls for your camcorder to simplify the process of selecting and transferring the scenes you want. Other inputs include 3 each of composite- and S-video (1 each on the front panel) and an RF/antenna input on the rear panel.

For DVD recordings, you can create virtual titles on the hard drive--including menus and chapters with thumbnail images--then burn your programming to DVDs with high-quality MPEG-2 encoding (the DVD-Video standard). A convenient library function maintains an inventory of all your recorded content by disc or title so you can sort by date, time, or genre.

The RD-XS52 offers broad flexibility, with both a hard drive that holds up to 135 hours of programming and the ability to record to DVD-RAM and DVD-R.

The RD-XS52 offers the flexibility of recording on DVD-RAM--perfect for instant chapter access and for multiple rerecordings--as well as on DVD-R, one of the most widely compatible DVD formats (great for sharing camcorder footage with loved ones). DVD-RAM offers double-sided recording (9.4 GB total storage), and the format is rewriteable, too.

Advanced timer programming lets you use the unit like you would a VCR, specifying a time and channel for recording, and built-in Gemstar VCR+ C3 greatly simplifies this. Significantly, this model gives you the option of recording audio in higher resolution than the MP3-like Dolby Digital 2.0. Choose from 3 separate formats, depending upon your desired quality and available disc space: Dolby Digital 1 (192 kbps), Dolby Digital 2 (384 kbps), and linear PCM (1,546 kbps).

For playback, ColorStream Pro progressive-scan component-video outputs (switchable between 480p and standard 480i) provide great color detail and high purity when connected to compatible televisions. The unit also has standard composite- and S-video outputs, with an RF coaxial output for passing tuner signals to an external device such as a VCR (the RF output does not pass a DVD or HDD signal). Both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel surround-sound signals can be routed through the player's digital-audio output (Toslink optical) for direct connection to a full-featured audio/video receiver.

The RD-XS52 records to two DVD types:

	DVD-RAM The most flexible of the recordable DVD formats when it comes to recording, editing, and playback. Even more, you can rerecord content approximately 100,000 times.
	DVD-R A write-once format perfect for sharing treasured video moments with virtually anyone who has a DVD-Video player.

What's in the Box
DVD recorder, DVD-RAM, audio/video interconnects, a universal remote control with television control capability, remote batteries, a user's manual, and warranty information.