HBO Copy Protection and Toshiba DR2

[EricB]

I understand that the copy protection that HBO is using forces the DR2 to record just to DVD-RAM. Is this the only recorder that has this issue?

Also, can you still take the RAM and convert it to DVD-R on the computer (with a RAM compatible DVD drive) or does it have something that prevents any copying.

Thanks.

[JohnnyCNote]

I never ran into this. In fact, I'm recording the Sopranos onto a Pioneer DVD-R right now from my satellite receiver.....

[samijubal]

That's what they say, they won't record from HBO/Cinemax on anything but RAM. I don't see why you couldn't copy the RAM disc on the computer. Their copy once protection doesn't work very well, I record to DVD-R then copy them on the computer all the time.

[EricB]

Thanks for the replies. I'm really looking for someone who has the DR2 and can verify that the RAM discs can be copied. It seems that Toshiba was part of the group that participated in this protection scheme

[samijubal]

If it is protected like they say, it doesn't work.

[samijubal]

Have you ever copied RAM discs on the computer? Half the programs out there won't do RAMs, and half the ones that will don't support the AC3 audio that standalones use. If you plan on doing a lot of HBO recording you better have a lot of free time, it takes an hour or so minimum to copy a RAM to DVD-R.

[Video Filter]

With the Video Filter http://home.cfl.rr.com/filter you can specify either "Copy Always" or "Copy Once" recording. This is the only unit in the market that generates CGMS code instead of simply removing it. If, for example, you have an HBO program which is encoded with "Copy Once" command, you can simply place the video filter in the path and set it to "Copy Always". In the future, if HBO or any other programming wants to prevent you from recording by setting "Copy Never" flag, you can change it with the video filter. You control the recording process, not the programming.