Need help with my DVD Recorder (picture issue).

Factual Questions
1

I have a Panasonic DVD Recorder, model DMR-ES20 (not sure if it is an –S or a –K), which is not longer working correctly. It was working fine about 2 weeks ago when my dad was in town from England, but when I tried to play a DVD on it on Saturday the screen did not look right.

There are a couple of issues. First, when I turned the DVD player on, the screen looked like it was not tracking right along the vertical plane, i.e. there were two fuzzy, slightly grey screens side by side. The second issues is that the DVD player will not read any of my DVDs, but I think until I get the first issue resolved, the second one is kind of moot.

To complicate matters as well as the DVD R I have a VCR and a TIVO box, all connected via an AV switch type thing, which lets me switch from one input to another for the TV. I have tried the DVD in another set of ports on the switch but that did not help. I also tried resetting it back to factory defaults, but that did not help either.

If anyone has any thoughts, I would really appreciate some help. I am stumped.

2

The first problem sounds like incompatible progressive output; try turning off “progressive” in the Video menu. The second problem – it won’t read them at all? Reads them, but refuses to play? Starts playing and stops? My first idea is the ratings level for DVD-video is set wrong; this can be corrected using the recording options under the Disc menu. You’ll need your password.