DVD Loophole?

[ApacheWraith]

When I first bought my Apex 5131, I ran an rca cable from the outputs to the inputs on my capture card (WinTvGo Tv Card) it resulted in no captures. For some reason it would not work (Maybe Macrovision, or some copyright protection). Now being that I am a poor SOB my 27" tv has no rca or S-video inputs or outputs just RF. I ran my DVD player through my vcr the way you would a Playstation or whatever. Well, to my delighted surprise that whilst my vcr is on and outputing to my card I turned my dvd player on to check a disk. Lo and behold, there it was American Werewolf In London playing on my computer. So I decided to capture it to see if I could. It worked. Now that I probably told everyone what they already knew, would this be considered a high quality capture? Did I stumble on something or is this just a dvd without protection? I haven't been able to test further is why I ask.

Thanks for listening to my novel......

Apache

[Dave B]

I know lots of people in the UK (also with old TV sets) use this method to actually view DVDs on their TV. Most Video Recorders ignore Macrovision during "pass through" but will apply it when you begin to record.

Capturing wise, this setup is far from ideal. RCA connectors and cable produce a (much) worse quality picture than composite, s-video or RGB connections. Also, any hardware (e.g. Video Recorder) situated between the source and destination devices is likely to add slightly to the interference and artifacts in the video.

You will be able to create far better captures if you by a composite or s-video cable and run that between your DVD Player and Capture Card. You would still have to find a way pass the Macrovision though.

The ideal solution to DVD "Capture" is to actually rip the video and audio streams off the disk itself using one of the many DVD Ripping programs and a standard DVD drive in your computer.

[ApacheWraith]

Dave>>

So wait, I'm confused now. What do you mean by composite? Isn't that what running my A/V RCA cable into my capture card is? I thought composite WAS an RCA input or ouput, no? I know that going through the vcr is not the greatest picture, but I was looking into getting a RF Modulator in the near future. Good move? I was looking to get one that has S Video inputs instead of traditional rcas and then to RF for my tv, unfortunately I can't afford a new tv. Let me know if this is a good idea in the mean time.

Thanks....

Wraith

[Dave B]

Sorry for the confusion, RCA is the name of the jack plug itself rather than the video being passed through it.

While nowhere near as bad as an RF connector, RCA connectors sometimes struggle to provide a clean image.

Saying that, composite video is almost always passed via RCA or SCART and I am indeed using an RCA (composite video) at home into my capture card.

[ApacheWraith]

Ok, I get it.... Thanks for the info....

Wraith