DVD player's copy protection won't even let me rip home movies.

[Brian.]

I just purchase a Samsung DVD player DVD-C550 and its inbuilt copy protection won't even allow me to copy home movies from one disc ie. the original home movie disc, played on the Samsung, to another blank disc, using my LG RH397D DVD/HDD recorder. Only when my LG DVD recorder is connected to the Samsung do I get the message that the recording is being blocked due to copyright restrictions, even when it shouldn't be. Is there any way to override this process? Other DVD players I've hooked up my LG recorder to have never produced this problem. HELP!! Thanks.

[Baldrick]

I have no solution but I guess you know that you can backup/rip lossless on your computer.

And I'm moving you to our desktop dvd recorder section.

[jjeff]

You could use a video filter to remove the CP but they all reduce the picture quality in some way. I'd either replace the DVD player or do as Baldrick suggested and use a computer to copy your disc.
Note, you weren't playing a commercial DVD right before you tried your home DVD were you? Once they detect CP some players stay in that state until they are power cycled, I had a Sony that did that. I finally figured turning OFF/ON the player stopped the nonsense, until I played another DVD that had MV.

[Brian.]

Hi guys, thanks for those responses. Yes I rip perfect quality DVDs on my computer all the time. The reason I use the DVD player to DVD recorder method to copy home movies, is to edit them, ie. to cut out bits and to join up scenes on different discs etc.
JJeff I was hoping your suggestion would work, but alas no. I'm hoping there might be some kind of code out there to do the trick, ie. like the ones commonly used to make a DVD player region-free.

[Noahtuck]

The reason I use the DVD player to DVD recorder method to copy home movies, is to edit them, ie. to cut out bits and to join up scenes on different discs etc.

Which would be much easier and much better quality doing it on your PC with software.

[yoda313]

The reason I use the DVD player to DVD recorder method to copy home movies, is to edit them, ie. to cut out bits and to join up scenes on different discs etc.

Which would be much easier and much better quality doing it on your PC with software.

Exactly my thought. Just rip them and edit with any number of editors. Then reburn them to a new disc with imgburn and you're all set (after proper authoring of course).

[handyguy]

Easycap on Amazon is under $9 & comes with software.

[Brian.]

Thanks guys! I've actually tried Easycap, but wasn't really happy with the result. I also tried a similar product, the Kaiser Baas DVD maker - same result.
It's just so easy using a DVD player to DVD recorder, and the result is perfect. I've done it so many times with other brands of DVD player. It's just that my new Samsung won't let me - and for the plainly stupid reason that "record-blocking signals are detected" when they can't possibly be. I just thought that some kind of code might stop all this nonsense.

[Seeker47]

Thanks guys! I've actually tried Easycap, but wasn't really happy with the result. I also tried a similar product, the Kaiser Baas DVD maker - same result.
It's just so easy using a DVD player to DVD recorder, and the result is perfect. I've done it so many times with other brands of DVD player. It's just that my new Samsung won't let me - and for the plainly stupid reason that "record-blocking signals are detected" when they can't possibly be. I just thought that some kind of code might stop all this nonsense.

As others have noted, doing this on a PC avoids these issues. That said, I hear what you're saying. It's sort of like why I prefer to do video editing on my Pioneer DVDRs: it's very hands on and straightforward, very What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get, and there's no learning curve with assorted software because I already know how to do it ! Once I've edited and chaptered it, it's ready to burn, right there.

Some DVD players did not have these issues. That is one reason I hold on to my old warhorse, off-brand Malata. It was hacked by the distributor to ignore MV, so I could play any DVD on it and pipe the signal into a DVDR for recording, if I wanted to do that. It also converted PAL to NTSC internally, and was region-free. What more would you want ?

In these days of Blu-Ray & HDMI, such options are going away. I note that an increasing number of titles seem to be coming out only on Blu-Ray. (Or is that just a Netflix thing ?) The BR players are SLOW, very dumbed down and feature-poor, compared to the better DVD players. And everything is getting locked down more and more by the powers that be.

[Brian.]

Hi Seeker. Thanks for your response. I LOVE the sound of that Malata! The Samsung people who I explained my issue to have directed me to a firmware update, so I'll see if that does the trick. If not, I'll just bite the bullet and try another brand of player. I know that not all DVD players are as paranoid over copyright as my Samsung happens to be - which is, quite frankly, bizarre, given we're talking not even talking about copyrighted material here - so I'll just do a little research and hopefully track one down.

[jjeff]

The BR players are SLOW, very dumbed down and feature-poor, compared to the better DVD players. And everything is getting locked down more and more by the powers that be.

It's the reason I haven't kept a BR player. All of the ones I've tried would be a step down from the DVD players I currently own. I'm holding off until I'm literately forced to switch because of lack of new titles on DVD.
BTW Brian, I might also steer away from Sony DVD players if you're worried about false CP issues. Personally I haven't had problems with Sonys(especially the ones of a few years ago) but their newer DVDRs are known to be the WORST AFA false CP issues. If you have access to Pioneer players I'd suggest one of those.

[Brian.]

Hi jjeff. Thanks for those tips. Pioneer is not one of those brands that one immediately thinks of when it comes to DVD players so thanks for reminding me. So far I've managed to download user manuals for Pioneer and Philips DVD players, and both look as though they may do the job. Missing in both manuals is a section on 'copy protection' which is present in the user manual that came with my Samsung.

[classfour]

I use TDA, and have since version 1.5 - you can cut (framecut) add chapters, motion menus, without re-encoding (if you set everything up right).