macrovision on vhs ?

[mike416]

I'm not familiar with vhs,they're not popular in my country
Am I right,to my understanding that vhs tapes might have macrovision on them ?.
I have a Broadway card in my computer and never have any problem in capturing dvd (which I supposed have macrovision on them) but there's this one vhs tape that I can't capture because everytime I click "start capture",the frame kind of "shifted up". In the beginning of the tape,there's a "macrovision logo"
Does this mean that you can't copy this tape to tape ?

[tleeuwen]

VHS tapes can be protected with macrovision. If you want to copy the tape you can try using a signal enhancer. Some VCR's won't work because they have a build in protection to prevent copying. Most DVD's don't have macrovision protection, they use other encoding techniques. The software for your capture card probably supports macrovision protection, so that is why you are not able to capture from the tape. You can look on the net if there is a crack available for your card.

[David4Real]

You can acquire one of those inexpensive black boxes to knockout the signal..funny story..cause I had one for sometime...that would work as a gem on vhs tapes..but when dvd first came on the market...it couldn't work on it...but...the box I use is made by Clearline Concepts...model was Video Clarifier...or any color correction signal box would also work..

David

[SingSing]

I think you also can use RF to RF connection for VHS copy.
The macro signal can't modulate the RF output.

[mike416]

thanks to you all

[thxkid]

DVD's use multiple copy protection and one is macrovision so DVD's cannot be copied to standard VHS machines, and some capture cards do not hold to copy protection like my hauppauge PVR I can capture from any source no matter if its copy protected and record a perfect MPEG2 picture but if I use the AVI capture portion of the card(different chip) it does see the copy protection.

[ashtones]

I use one of those cheapo sima copy things between my vcr and my dvd player and I have had no problem watching any dvd. I have not tried to record a dvd onto a vhs tape as I see that as kind of useless.

[meandhers]

Not to argue singsing, but VHS does does transmit the signal over RF as well...

[Anonymous65]

Yes, the Macrovision signal should be on the RF output from a VCR. Macrovision is simply a gray or white signal put in the video during the vertical blanking. Most VCR's sample the vertical blanking to set the gain on the video signal (AGC - automatic gain control) to 1 volt so the video is recorded at the correct level on the video tape. The normal level during blanking is black, and is used as the reference for the video AGC. Macrovision messes with this black level, raising it way up to white, so the VCR thinks the video level is way, way to high. The AGC then turns down the gain, making the video very dark, often so dark that the color goes away and you might loose sync lock. This is how Macrovision "destroys" the recorded copy of the original tape. By simply replacing the vertical blanking the Macrovision signal is gone. This is what the black boxes do. Also, by running the video through a TBC or recording on a VCR where you can turn off the AGC, you can also make a good copies. The reason why most TVs don't get affected by Macrovision is that most TV sets don't use video AGC circuits, but has fixed video gain.

[mike416]

Huhhh......,the weird thing is that the picture only messed up if I start capturing. During monitoring through the computer,the picture is OK.

[SingSing]

Capture Card does not sense the Macro Vision signal by AGC.
So the software mess up the capture on purpose.

Nearly all VHS recorder makers agreed to add Macrovision detection on purpose. Same as DVD player, as well as most of the capture card maker like ATI.

The movie industry has deep pocket to sue if these manufacturer don't agreed to include it.

[mike416]

skittelsen,granted,your explanation tells me why when I record a dvd to tape the playback doesn't show anything,but how do you explain the shifted frame when I start capturing ?

[Sefy]

I would suggest you use a Capture card from Hauppauge, as I have played back and recorded many of my Original Disney Videos (before I started copying DVD's) and it simply ignores the protection and you can capture smoothly.