Macrovision like NONE OTHER

[blacksheepdownunder]

Hi guys. I have a VHS tape that NO ONE has been able to capture. I have tried a number of video stablizers with no joy. I have a Pinacle avdv capture card which looks past macrovision (usualy) and a canopus advc300 no to capture. I have take it to 2 shops and they have had no luck at all either. Any one heard of this before?

Direct to tv it looks amazing, try to capture and it goes light to dark.

[hech54]

Where did the tape come from? Is it PAL or NTSC? Is it a first generation or a copy of a copy of a copy?

[blacksheepdownunder]

1st gen store bought from korea. NTSC. It is Michael Jackson HIStory Tour Seoul

[chowmein]

Well I wouldn't trust the Pinnacle nor the Canopus for defeating the macrovision. You need a full-frame TBC like the CTB-100/AVT-8710.

Although I have read that there is a "secret" way to disable macrovision for the Canopus units -

Hold down the input/output toggle for about 20 seconds. If you're watching the video out, you'll see color bars come up, then after, color bars go away. Once they go away, macrovision is disabled until the box power cycles.

[Bjs]

Try playback on a tv which has A/V outputs (record from these)

[blacksheepdownunder]

was thinking of that. Does it work?

[blacksheepdownunder]

Well I wouldn't trust the Pinnacle nor the Canopus for defeating the macrovision. You need a full-frame TBC like the CTB-100/AVT-8710.

Although I have read that there is a "secret" way to disable macrovision for the Canopus units -

Hold down the input/output toggle for about 20 seconds. If you're watching the video out, you'll see color bars come up, then after, color bars go away. Once they go away, macrovision is disabled until the box power cycles.

didnt work

[chowmein]

This thing might work also.

Yes I've heard the newer-manufactured Canopus units don't have that "secret" macrovision disable.

[blacksheepdownunder]

tried that and 6 others

this company replaced twice cause they were that sure it should work
http://www.xdimax.com/grex/grex.html

[filmboss80]

Hech54 posed questions that need to be factored into the equation. Although the light/dark shifts are classic symptoms of Macrovision, perhaps there is greater difficulty defeating it because of the NTSC/PAL situation. I take it your VHS unit is multi-standard? Are your capture settings PAL or NTSC? And, as hech54 also asked, is the VHS an original or a copy? (If it's a copy, light/dark shift may have actually been recorded onto the tape.)

[hech54]

Here on European PAL equipment....we too can watch any NTSC VHS tape...but it is damn near impossible to record or capture it because the VCR does NOT output a true NTSC or true PAL signal. Well documented.

[handyguy]

Just point a camcorder at the screen & capture it that way.

[orsetto]

Most likely a standards mismatch of tape to hardware, as others have noted. Know any recent immigrants from North America who might have brought their VCRs with them? Or have any friends in USA/Canada you can send the tape to? If they can't get it to work, then something is hopelessly funky with the tape. I wouldn't rule out the chance its a high-quality bootleg if you got it in Korea, such tapes can be really difficult to process.

[filmboss80]

Just point a camcorder at the screen & capture it that way.

A number of years ago, I was in a situation where I was forced to do that very thing. You know what? With a very good monitor (with color hue and contrast tweaked) and pro video camera, it turned out pretty decent. Better than nothing, anyway.

[blacksheepdownunder]

The tape is a GENUIN release of the Michael Jackson HIStory Seoul concert. It was shrink wrapped when i recieved it.

My vcr gives the option of NTSC PB (NTSC on PAL TV) NTSC 3.58 and NTSC 4.43. This needs 3.58 (i think) 4.43 goes black and white

[SHS]

How about the rarely used PAL 60 technique

[lowellriggsiam]

I have a Dazzle DC150 boxed away. It was manufactured before the DCMA rules were eforced and I never had problems with it. You might be better off using a capture device created before 2002.

[DB83]

Well 'shrink wrap' means nothing. There is a massive far-east industry in 'factory-created' fakes. Your tape will be NTSC. Your vcr will be able to play that back on a Pal tv but the output from the vcr is not pure pal nor is it ntsc. It is a hybrid often called Pal60 - there are tons of threads on here about it and the equipment you need to be able to capture such material. A ADVC300 can not either in its PAL or NTSC setting but you may be able to feed the signal through this device to a capture device that supports Pal60.