UK Freeview HD - Remove DRM?

[isobelsdad]

Hi there,

This is my first post, so please go easy if I'm asking something that has already been answered elsewhere!

I have a panasonic hdd recorder, which I use for recording my TV programmes. It has a DLNA function, and I use MediaMonkey to transfer the recordings over my home network so that they can be backed up to my PC. Standard definition recordings are easily played back through VLC, and can also be edited and burnt to DVD etc.

However, what I want to do is be able to view (and preferably edit & burn to BluRay) my freeview HD recordings. I know that there is some kind of DRM attached to freeview HD, which is presumably preventing me from viewing these files. Can anyone advise as to how I can do this? I know it is possible, as popular torrent sites offer Freeview HD rips. I do not want to share my recordings over the net, I just want to archive them for my personal collection.

I look forward to learning from your collective wisdom!

[transporterfan]

It is not possible. Not yet anyway. Most HD recording devices use electronic fingerprinting, files are encrypted to play only on a specific machine. You can save these files for back up but they will only play on your machine. They wont even play on your nieghbors machine even if it is the same make and model. What you see offered on file sites and torrents have probably been recorded using capture cards or PVRs using HDCP bypass technology.

[Brad]

You should be able to find another STB or a capture card that will record them without encryption.

[[_chef_]]

I have a panasonic hdd recorder

Impossible because of that (see above)!

Read this:

To ensure provision of audio description, broadcasters typically use the AAC codec.[30] Hardware restrictions allow only a single type of audio decoder to operate at any one time, so the main audio and the audio description must use the same encoding family for them to be successfully combined at the receiver. In the case of BBC HD, the main audio is coded as AAC-LC and only the audio description is encoded as HE-AAC.[31] Neither AAC nor Dolby Digital Plus codecs are supported by most home AV equipment, which typically accept Dolby Digital or DTS, leaving owners with stereo, rather than surround sound, output. Transcoding from AAC to Dolby Digital or DTS and multi-channel output via HDMI was not originally necessary for Freeview HD certification. As of June 2010 the DTG D-Book includes the requirement for mandatory transcoding when sending audio via S/PDIF, and for either transcoding or multi-channel PCM audio when sending it via HDMI in order for manufacturers to gain Freeview HD certification from April 2011.[32] Thus equipment sold as Freeview HD before April 2011 may not deliver surround sound to audio equipment (some equipment may, but this is not mandatory); later equipment must be capable of surround sound compatible with most suitable audio equipment.
In early February 2011 it was announced that 1,000,000 Freeview HD set-top boxes had been sold.[33]
Copy protection

In August 2009 the BBC wrote to Ofcom after third-party content owners asked the BBC to undertake measures to ensure that all Freeview HD boxes would include copy protection systems as required by the Digital TV Group's D-Book, which sets technical standards for digital terrestrial television in the UK.[34] The BBC proposed to ensure compliance with copy-protection standards on the upgraded Freeview HD multiplex by compressing the service information (SI) data, which receivers need to understand the TV services in the data stream. To encourage boxes to adopt copy protection, the BBC made its own look-up tables and decompression algorithm, necessary for decoding the EPG data on high-definition channels, available without charge only to manufacturers who implement the copy-protection technology. This technology would control the way HD films and TV shows are copied onto, for example Blu-ray discs, and shared with others over the internet. No restrictions will be placed on standard-definition services. In a formal written response, Ofcom principal advisor Greg Bensberg said that wording of the licence would probably need to be changed to reflect the fact that this new arrangement is permitted. The BBC had suggested that as an alternative to the SI compression scheme, the Freeview HD multiplex may have to adopt encryption. Bensberg said that it would appear "inappropriate to encrypt public service broadcast content on DTT".
On 14 June 2010 Ofcom agreed to allow the BBC to limit the full availability of its own and other broadcasters' high definition (HD) Freeview services to receivers that control how HD content can be used.[35] Ofcom concluded that the decision to accept the BBC’s request will deliver net benefits to licence-holders by ensuring they have access to the widest possible range of HD television content on DTT.
An update to the Freeview HD programme guide data, featuring the Huffman-encoded EPG tables, was rolled out in August 2010

[netmask56]

Check out the Topfield range of PVR's You can download and edit etc from most models.

Have a look at these links

http://www.avforums.com/forums/pvrs-vcrs/1601946-what-pvr-after-toppy-5800-a.html

http://www.topfield.co.kr/eng/product/list.asp?lang=2&cateL=HD&cateM=PVR&img_title=tit...u=left_product

[themaster1]

with a dvb-s2 card that would much easier to record and backup hd videos and with a soft like dvbviewer or the recording service you can watch them anywhere at home through you network (wireless or wired)

[[_chef_]]

with a dvb-s2 card that would much easier to record and backup hd videos and with a soft like dvbviewer or the recording service you can watch them anywhere at home through you network (wireless or wired)

Man, this thread is about TERRESTRIAL reception, known as DVB-T and DVB-T2, not via sat!!

[itsonlyme]

This combination works for me.

Blackgold BGT 3620 Dual DVB T/T2 etc Card + NextPVR Software.

Additionally can also view via XBMC on Raspberry PI (in different room to main computer)

Malcolm

[isobelsdad]

Thanks for your replies, although obviously a little disappointed that thius doen's seem do-able.
One of the reasons I wen for the Panasonic was the wireless export feature, perhaps I should've delved a little deeper into the Freeview HD spec before I did it.

These things are normally cracked sooner rather than later, so am quite surprised that no-one's managed it so far!

[Brad]

No one with the requisite skillset is going to spend time trying to crack that encryption instead of just buying a different box. The people who can do the cracking are either highly paid or can beg mum.