DVD player into stand alone DVD burner...Is it possible????

[quickfire]

Is it possible to make a direct copy of DVD movie by connecting the regular DVD player into stand alone DVD burner If so...do the stand alone DVD burners have component -in jack's???I know they have S-video in so..could I run regular DVD into DVD Recorder's s-video-in jack and just hit play on regular DVD player and hit record on DVD burner and get an exact copy of dvd movie ?What would the picture quality be like if I have to use S-video instead of component?will there be a loss of picture quality lost?Or should I just buy a PC DVD writer and be done with it!?

[ZippyP.]

DVD recorders have protection to prevent copying of commercial DVD's, as well DVD players have macrovison embedded into the output signal. There are boxes which will connect between player and recorder which cleans the signal and enables copying.

Is it an exact copy? No. No menus and poorer quality as it is a video capture from an analog source.

Are DVD writers better? Yes. Digital conversion of digital video is the best quality.

[wulf109]

Putting aside the question of in/out jacks you can't copy from DVD player to DVD standalone recorder because the disks have macrovision and digital copy protection which makes copying impossible. There ar black boxes you buy and place between your components and there are even a small number of DVD players that can be hacked to turn off macrovision and an even smaller number that allow you to turn off the digital copy protection. With computer DVD burners approaching $100.00 the answer is go with a computer.

[quickfire]

Thanks......Pc burner it is then

[garryheather]

Get ready for a steep learning curve, then - if you think you could have connected two devices together and got decent copies out of it, then you might want to read a few posts in these forums to see what sort of problems other people have had on the past...

[Bob W]

With either one of these two devices you can do that.
http://www.facetvideo.com/ or the AVT-8710 Time Base Corrector from
avtoolbox.com .

The better way of course to make backups of DVD's is with a DVD burner and computer IMO.

I no longer recommend doing captures to the computer (using capture card) since a stand alone DVD recorder does a better job and in one third or less the time.

[DaveS]

I no longer recommend doing captures to the computer (using capture card) since a stand alone DVD recorder does a better job and in one third or less the time.

the standalones are pretty amazing, aren't they? they don't displace the whole computer-based process, but they sure do make some things really easy...

[hech54]

I no longer recommend doing captures to the computer (using capture card) since a stand alone DVD recorder does a better job and in one third or less the time.

the standalones are pretty amazing, aren't they? they don't displace the whole computer-based process, but they sure do make some things really easy...

YES they do...

[quickfire]

OK....let me see if I understand this correctley...If I were to buy a Standalone DVD Burner.....AND PURCHASE A BLACK BOX ....then I would be able to take a regular DVD player and run it into the Standalone DVD burner and it would make a exact copy with great picture quality???is this correct????Ok another question do the DVD standalone burners have component-In jacks...or wouold I have to use S-video in?If I have too use s-video then the picture quality couldn't be as good as original DVD correct?????

[Vejita-sama]

Again, the answer is NO. If you do a copy from a standalone to a DVD recorder you will NOT get an exact copy (no menus, chapters, interactivity) and there will be a slight quaility lost.

DVDs come in two basic forms: DVD5 (single layer) and DVD9 (dual layer). ALL DVD recorders/writors can only write single layer DVDR discs.

PC wise, if you want to back up a DVD5 disc you can make an exact 1:1 copy (eg. w/ DVD Decrypter) retaining all menus, interactivity and video quaility. To backup a DVD9 you have 3 basic choices:

1) Spilt to two DVDR discs (no quality lost)
2) Compress to fit on single DVDR (some quaility lost, but often not noticable)
3) Only backup the 'main movie' (or only compress the main movie)

There are several 'one click' DVD9 -> DVDR backup programs out there. Freeware wise, DVD Shrink is popular. Commerical programs include Instant Copy and DVD2One.


TAKE HOME MESSAGE:
Between DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink (both freeware) you can back up pretty much anything without getting all that invlolved in the whole DVD process. However, for really large DVD9 -> DVDR backups (say 8.5GB -> 4.3GB) there's going to be a notice quaility hit. How much of a hit? Well it's all in the eyes of the viewer.

Work aroungs include re-encoding the video and re-authoring the DVD. Good quaility but a lot of knowledge is necessary to do that