VideoHelp Forum
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 6 of 6
Thread
  1. Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Just curious if anyone has a Directv Tivo receiver, and has attempted different copy functions from it.

    We currently have two Directv Tivo receivers. We have a VCR connected via RCA jacks. On rare occasions we will save off movies or shows to VHS tapes. My son is off in college, and enjoys the series Prison Break, so we have a Tivo Season Pass for Prison Break, and every episode is recorded. If we let it, all the episodes, combined with other shows we record, would fill up the Hard Disk on the Tivo (HD about 80 hours i think). We occasionally save the Prison Break episodes off the VHS, so our son can watch them when he comes home (for Christmas break, or for summer).

    Has anyone tried hooking up a DVD Recorder to their Directv Tivo receiver?

    If so, can you use the Tivo function "Save to VCR" and have it use the RCA cables as input to your DVD recorder?

    Have you tried any movies (either old ones, or newer releases), and in either case, will they record? (Obviously, they record to VHS, but one might argue 'what is the point in saving a movie to an inferior media, VHS'? ).

    I also wondered with Directv Tivo, can i use one of the S-Video outputs from the Tivo receiver, and connect it to a DVD recorder, and accomplish a better recording?

    any other thoughts on saving shows from Tivo to DVD, using any methods?

    thanks
    Quote Quote  
  2. Member Kayembee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by sonomablue
    Just curious if anyone has a Directv Tivo receiver, and has attempted different copy functions from it.

    [...]

    Has anyone tried hooking up a DVD Recorder to their Directv Tivo receiver?

    If so, can you use the Tivo function "Save to VCR" and have it use the RCA cables as input to your DVD recorder?
    Yes, I used to have a Phillips DVD recorder, and burned many movies to it from
    our DirecTiVo. Worked fine. Technically I didn't use the "Save to VCR" function, I just
    hit "play" on the TiVo, and "record" on the Phillips. "Save to VCR" is identical to "play",
    except that it disables functions you normally don't want to use while dubbing, like
    "fast forward". But I was often editing out commercials while burning, so I wanted
    those functions.

    I also wondered with Directv Tivo, can i use one of the S-Video outputs from the Tivo receiver, and connect it to a DVD recorder, and accomplish a better recording?
    I believe I was using S-Video, not composite, though I can't recall for sure.

    any other thoughts on saving shows from Tivo to DVD, using any methods?
    Only that I recall no special problems, and the disks seemed as good as the
    original broadcasts. I've not tried this with a high def recording, but I would
    assume that, apart from the recording being reduced to DVD resolution, it
    should also work fine.
    Quote Quote  
  3. Note that the broadcaster and TIVO can disable the ability to record to DVD at any time by turning on the broadcast flag and CGMS-A.
    Quote Quote  
  4. Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by jagabo
    Note that the broadcaster and TIVO can disable the ability to record to DVD at any time by turning on the broadcast flag and CGMS-A.
    How is that implemented exactly? If they simply turned off the video out you would get no picture on your TV, so how do they tell a DVD recorder, connected to the TIVOs analog TV-out connector, not to record? Macrovision?

    Remember that the context here is S-Video and composite video connections, ie. analog transmission, so the DVD recorder gets nothing from the digital broadcast stream directly.
    Quote Quote  
  5. The do-not-copy flag is included in the analog picture information via CGSM-A -- on "Line 21" along with closed captions. The digital broadcaster would set the broadcast flag to do-not-copy. The cable/sat box will propagate the flag via CGSM-A to the analog output. The DVD recorder will see the flag and refuse to record.

    All the pieces are already in place as can be seen by the recent incidents where broadcasters "mistakenly" switched the flags on. I suspect these were really tests to see how much shit would hit the fan. Too much apparently.
    Quote Quote  
  6. Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by jagabo
    The do-not-copy flag is included in the analog picture information via CGSM-A -- on "Line 21" along with closed captions.
    Thanks for the info, I'd never heard of Line21 being used that way (I'm in the UK, so recent "mistakes" by US broadcasters wouldn't be seen by me).
    Quote Quote  



Similar Threads

Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!