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  1. Hi,

    Just joined the forum and could do with some advice, I'm not sure if I'm even asking in the correct section of the forum, but here goes...

    I'm not too technical at all, so please forgive me. Bascially, I'm currently trying to transfer lots of old home movies from VHS onto DVD, I've done a couple with success, but I've hit a problem now and am totally lost.

    I'm using a brand new Daewoo DRVT-40/DRVT-43 DVD/VHS combi recorder. A couple of my VHS tapes were jumping and I couldn't get a clear picture to record, so I decided to try the tape in a very old Grundig GV9110 VHS player (that's at least 15 years old), and for some reason my tapes that weren't playing clearly in the brand new recorder were suddenly crystal clear. I assume this is perhaps due to the tape being more compatible with the old equipment or something. Now, as the VHS recorder is rather old I only have a SCART lead and IN/OUT. The TV is an LCD panasonic, so the TV and the combi have got every kind of connection that I may need. How would I go about connecting them all up together so that I can record my DVD on the Daweoo combi recorder, but play the VHS in the old grundig VHS player where the picture is clear? I'm also confused because the combi recorder is set up to HDMI 2 channel, and the VHS player is on AV.

    Second problem, some of my home movies tapes seem to have a copyright embedded into them, so I can't transfer them. Any idea of how I can get around this issue because I don't have other backups of the tapes and really need them to transfer for me.

    Thanks again, I appreciate any help. I know it's probably easily sorted, but I'm totally clueless, so need all the help I can get!
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  2. It appears you can do a scart to scart connection directly from your Grundig to your DVD recorder. Also, what are you seeing that leads you to the (unlikely) belief your home movies are copy protected?

    Generally, combo units are considered about the worst way to do this. But that's a different discussion.
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  3. Thanks for your reply. That would be good if I can do a SCART to SCART connection, I still must be doing something wrong, as I'm unable to get it all linked together. I will keep trying though!

    Regarding the copyright issue - it just comes up with a message saying that the 'Media cannot be copied' on a couple of the tapes. I hoped this would be an easy process, but due to having to link up the old VHS it's all got rather confusing.
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  4. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
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    USA
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    Commercial VHS tapes used a process called 'Macrovision' to deter copying. It's usually exhibited as a flicker from bright to dark on the recording from the tape.
    Some newer DVD recorders see a out-of-specification non-commercial tape as a Macrovison tape and refuse to copy them also. That may be your problem.

    The likely reason an old VHS deck plays back your tapes properly is that they are 'out-of-spec', and so is the old deck as it matches the tracking of the tape. Newer decks don't do well with tracking errors that are common with an older recorder or camera that created the tape. The older deck may also not be bothered by Macrovision, so sends the correct signal.

    Unfortunately the cure most of the time for all this is to use a 'capture' card of some sort on a computer and use a VHS deck that plays back properly. You can also add some electronic devices that can stabilize the VHS video. But that can get expensive.

    But others here can explain all this a bit better.

    And welcome to our forums.
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  5. Thanks for your reply. It seems your definitely right about the older deck matching the tracking on the tape, I've tried the tapes in a second old VHS player and again they're crystal clear - if only they'd play so well in the combi I wouldn't have a problem. It doesn't help that on the back of the old VHS machine I only have 1 SCART and an In/Out socket. Do you reckon I can connect it to the TV and DVD Recorder with just these connections, I've read online about perhaps needing an RF modulator. I'm not too technical, but it's driving me crazy that I can't get it sorted! Apologies again for sounding totally clueless (I really am though lol).

    Thanks again for your help so far, any more advice or ideas from people who have had similar experiences would be greatly appreciated
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  6. Member hech54's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Yank in Europe
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    Since you mentioned SCART I'm assuming you are in a PAL country.
    Make sure your tapes are NOT from a country outside of your own (an NTSC country - USA).
    You can easily watch NTSC rapes in a PAL country, but they are extremely difficult to copy.
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