vcr repairs and servicing and macrovision removal

[Stephen]

Hello,

I've got a couple of VHS tapes that are not available on DVD so I got
my old VCR out of the wardrobe and tried to connect it to my Pioneer
freeview dvd recorder. But the dvd recorder displayed a message saying
it was copy protected and refused to record it. I'm guessing it is
macrovision?

I don't have a video card so I cannot copy to my pc at the moment.
Please recommend one if you think that's the way to go.

I was wondering if there was a little black box I could connect
between the vcr and recorder to remove the macrovision. If so what
product do you recommend?

Do all dvd recorders have this "feature"? Is there a firmware upgrade
or remote hack that makes Pioneers ignore macrovision?

One last question: I am having trouble inserting and ejecting tapes. I
think the vcr needs servicing. Where can I buy replacement belts from
and are service manuals available anywhere (it is a Thomson vcr).

Thanks,
Stephen.

[Indy Jess John]

I have successfully used something like this
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/honestech-vhs-to-dvd-70-deluxe-a80qu
Though mine is the Version 5 rather than the Version 7 advertised here.

The Honestech software that comes with my one doesn't seem concerned
about anti-piracy when used in Advanced mode, and I hope that Version 7
is the same or similar software.

There are cheaper equivalent boxes around but some seem to come with
PowerDirector which does concern itself about anti-piracy, so not all
similar boxes behave the same.

If you want a used one, this one is quite cheap.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honestech-7-0-VHS-to-DVD-converter-boxed-with-all-instructions-and-leads-/332239509928
Again it is Version 7. I couldn't find a Version 5 on offer.

I have never looked inside a Thompson VCR, but the one I did take apart
didn't have belts, it had gears, cams and position sensors. You might
find a clean and lubricate will help.

Jim

[the dog from that film you saw]

On 28/05/2017 15:57, Stephen wrote:

wouldn't it be a whole lot cheaper to download the film? - in better
quality than your tape.
i know you say it's not available but i bet it is somewhere.

[NY]

"Wolfgang Schwanke" <s...@sig.nature> wrote in message
news:j9rego...@wschwanke.de...
> I assume most current cards must respect Macrovision as well. I
> wouldn't recommend digitising through a PC anyway. It works, but is
> more hassle than a straight DVD recorder.

I get best results from an old Win XP PC which I acquired and which has a
video-digitising card. But it won't do Macrovision so it's only any use for
home movies and off-air recordings.

I bought a Hauppauge USB adaptor which is happy to digitise Macrovision
pre-recorded tapes, but the results (for Macrovision and also for off-air
recordings) are not as good: patches of crosshatch patterning on saturated
colours (especially purple) and tearing on saturated colours.

Although I have a DVD recorder, I don't think it can record from SCART/phono
inputs, only from analogue RF, otherwise I'd have tried that, at least for
non-Macrovision recordings, since it's less faff than getting out the XP PC,
and a monitor and a keyboard and the SCART lead, and persuading the PC to
take its sound input from line-in rather than reverting to mic-in, and
tweaking the sound level so it is correct for the input (VCR sound level is
slightly different to PVR or Sky box).

The only problem with recording to DVD is that you need a DVD disc, and not
all recorders can record to a rewritable one, so you make consume discs,
even if the DVD is just a stepping stone to generating an MPG file that you
can edit on the PC (top and tail, remove commercials etc). Conversion from
DVD VOB to MPG is a pain: some software can do a whole DVD disc (multiple
VOBs) where some like VideoReDo (which I use for editing out crap) can only
do it one VOB at a time and then you need to join them together.

[vany...@gmail.com]

>
> wouldn't it be a whole lot cheaper to download the film? - in better
> quality than your tape.
> i know you say it's not available but i bet it is somewhere.
>

You'd think so.

How about "The Frog Prince" (1985, with Jane Snowden)?

Ian.

[Tim+]

Suspect it won't work but available to download from Amazon.com...

https://www.amazon.com/French-Lesson-Jane-Snowden/dp/B00R3LER12

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

[Steve]

I've never used this company, I'm just giving you the first google hit
for "vhs digitising service":

http://www.mr-scan.co.uk/video.html

Worth a thought?

[John Rumm]

On 28/05/2017 15:57, Stephen wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I've got a couple of VHS tapes that are not available on DVD so I got
> my old VCR out of the wardrobe and tried to connect it to my Pioneer
> freeview dvd recorder. But the dvd recorder displayed a message saying
> it was copy protected and refused to record it. I'm guessing it is
> macrovision?

Yup, that's fairly likely.

> I don't have a video card so I cannot copy to my pc at the moment.
> Please recommend one if you think that's the way to go.
>
> I was wondering if there was a little black box I could connect
> between the vcr and recorder to remove the macrovision. If so what
> product do you recommend?

There certainly used to be - typically marketed as video "stabilisers".
Basically they just clamped the video to black during the vertical
retrace, thus defeating the macrovision "white bars"[1]. Not sure if
those are staill available on ebay. However you could look at a proper
time base corrector, which will also do the job.

[1] Macrovision typically inserted bright white bars into the video
during the vertical retrace. Normally these unseen video lines would be
black. However the high intensity tends to cause the automatic gain
control in the copying recorder to wind down the gain. Thus causing it
to desensitise the recording of the frame and line synch pulses and also
mess up the black level clamping. The result being fluctuating picture
brightness, and also picture rolling and loss of sync.

> Do all dvd recorders have this "feature"? Is there a firmware upgrade
> or remote hack that makes Pioneers ignore macrovision?

Even if they don't detect it, you may find you still get problems due to
the effects of the protection.

> One last question: I am having trouble inserting and ejecting tapes. I
> think the vcr needs servicing. Where can I buy replacement belts from
> and are service manuals available anywhere (it is a Thomson vcr).

Searching the web with the model number may turn up a PDF of the manual.
Places like CPC usually have a good range of spare belts. Other parts
may be harder to get now though.

--
Cheers,

John.

/=================================================================\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\=================================================================/

[Brian Gaff]

There used to be a macrovision removal box very commonly available as I
recall but their odd thing was that in my experience it was not detected as
copy protection by anything, it just meant any copy made from it was wobbly
and unwatchable due to some kind of messing with the sync pulses that bugged
up other recording devices.


The problem with loaders is normally teeth missing from nylon gears or a
microswwitch not working very well. I don't recall any loaders that used
belts.
Brian

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[vany...@gmail.com]

On Sunday, 28 May 2017 20:47:24 UTC+1, Tim+ wrote:

> <vanyablue> wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> wouldn't it be a whole lot cheaper to download the film? - in better
> >> quality than your tape.
> >> i know you say it's not available but i bet it is somewhere.
> >>
> > You'd think so.
> >
> > How about "The Frog Prince" (1985, with Jane Snowden)?
> >
> > Ian.
> >
> >
>
> Suspect it won't work but available to download from Amazon.com...
>
> https://www.amazon.com/French-Lesson-Jane-Snowden/dp/B00R3LER12
>
> Tim
>

Yes, thats the one, renamed for the American market. However It won't accept my payment without a USA address. Aren't they ridiculous.
Ian.

[Fredxxx]

On 28/05/2017 15:57, Stephen wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I've got a couple of VHS tapes that are not available on DVD

Are you sure they're not available anywhere else, peer to peer sharing
for one?

[the dog from that film you saw]

http://www.buysellcommunity.com/sale/LEPKTHXD/


probably a bootleg but there you go.

[Ian Jackson]

In message <oggp7p$h9u$3...@dont-email.me>, Fredxxx <fre...@nospam.com>
writes

IIRC, when I've tried to copy Macrovisioned tapes from a VCR to a DVD
recorder, video-to-video doesn't work. However, RF-to-RF DID work,
albeit probably of a slightly poorer quality. If so, it will probably
also work using an analogue PC tuner card or USB thingy.
--
Ian

[NY]

"the dog from that film you saw" <d...@REMOVETHISBITbtinternet.com> wrote in
message news:ep28gh...@mid.individual.net...

Mmmmm, Jane Snowden...

[Alan Dawes]

In article <ogfcb0$ero$1...@dont-email.me>,

A reputable company won't convert commercial tapes which these must be
since they are macrovision protected - it is too easy for them to be
"done" for copyright infringement.

Alan

--
alan....@argonet.co.uk
alan....@riscos.org
Using an ARMX6

[Tim+]

A bit of googling suggests one way that might work is to buy yourself a $10
gift card from Amazon.com and send it to yourself (email delivery
obviously). Then go back in to you account settings and give yourself a
fictitious US address.

Lastly make your purchase with your gift card.

No idea whether this will work but in the past one could buy US dollar gift
cards from overseas and then spend them (after giving yourself a US
address) without the system twigging that something was being bought from
overseas.

At worst it's gonna cost you $10 to find out. ;-)

[JNugent]

I could get that sorted for you, but then you probably know someone in
the USA who could di it just as easily.

But as it happens, I'm surethat Amazon wil send single Region 1 DVDs to
a UK address. I've got two I bought like that, without any local
intermediary.

[Norman Wells]

On 15/08/2017 00:02, JNugent wrote:
> On 29/05/2017 10:02, vany...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On Sunday, 28 May 2017 20:47:24 UTC+1, Tim+ wrote:
>>> <vanyablue> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> wouldn't it be a whole lot cheaper to download the film? - in better
>>>>> quality than your tape.
>>>>> i know you say it's not available but i bet it is somewhere.
>>>>>
>>>> You'd think so.
>>>>
>>>> How about "The Frog Prince" (1985, with Jane Snowden)?

>>> Suspect it won't work but available to download from Amazon.com...
>>>
>>> https://www.amazon.com/French-Lesson-Jane-Snowden/dp/B00R3LER12
>>>

>> Yes, thats the one, renamed for the American market. However It won't
>> accept my payment without a USA address. Aren't they ridiculous.
>> Ian.
>
> I could get that sorted for you, but then you probably know someone in
> the USA who could di it just as easily.
>
> But as it happens, I'm surethat Amazon wil send single Region 1 DVDs to
> a UK address. I've got two I bought like that, without any local
> intermediary.

Not if you mean through LoveFilm by post:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/08/14/amazon-closes-dvd-rental-service-lovefilm/

[JNugent]

No. I meant just plain old www.amazon.com, purveyor of Region 1 DVDs to
keep forever.

[Brian Gaff]

OK an old thread, but there is something about old video recorders that used
to please me. The way they worked and how well they worked considering the
various compromises made by the different formats. I think I still have a
broken betamax upstairs but somebody took the tapes and has enjoyed the
trip down memory lane and also the philips n1700 as well. Needed new belts
though.

Brian

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[Brian Gaff]

I've also found that sometimes on the alexa app its wanting me to do a cap
char neither audio or vision is any good. Strangely if you go in from a
normal uk amazon log in you avoid it.


I seem to recall on cds and dvds they used to have a similar protal to the
american site that allowed other people to buy the stuff from the american
listings.

Brian

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