Cinavia problems with regular DVD backups

[ranchhand]

I'm sure my questions have been posted repeatedly, but I haven't been able to find current plain info.
I understand that there is no Blue Ray player (standalone for my TV) that doesn't have Cinavia on it, so that's that. Does that also apply to normal DVD players?
My question is if non-blue ray players also have Cinavia, and can I purchase a regular DVD player to play my non-blue ray backups on?
I just sent back a Blue Ray player to Amazon because Cinavia popped-up when I tried to play my normal DVD backups. Surprised me.
Can anyone recommend a brand that doesn't have Cinavia?
Thanks guys...

[netmask56]

Migrate to a standalone media player as they don't have Cinavia. DVD's and Blu ray discs can be backed up complete as an ISO file or for the main movie MKV. I transferred my entire collection of discs to MKV files that sit on my NAS. I can access my movies when I'm away from home if I need to. Re getting a non Cinavia DVD or Blu ray, well by now there simply aren't any. You may find an old second DVD player

[ranchhand]

Thanks netmask
I was looking at this media player, seems to be getting good reviews.
If I am understanding this correctly, would I have to take my dozens of DVD movies and convert them to mp4 (or whatever) and could I then use an exterior USB drive to load them on and plug it in to the media player, then plug (USB) the media player into my LCD TV?
IF so, how would I choose the movie I wanted to see off the exterior drive?

[johns0]

You will get a basic menu where you see your videos and be able to chose which on to play.

[ranchhand]

Thanks johns0.....is the rest of my connection question correct?

[october262]

I'm sure my questions have been posted repeatedly, but I haven't been able to find current plain info.
I understand that there is no Blue Ray player (standalone for my TV) that doesn't have Cinavia on it, so that's that. Does that also apply to normal DVD players?
My question is if non-blue ray players also have Cinavia, and can I purchase a regular DVD player to play my non-blue ray backups on?
I just sent back a Blue Ray player to Amazon because Cinavia popped-up when I tried to play my normal DVD backups. Surprised me.
Can anyone recommend a brand that doesn't have Cinavia?
Thanks guys...

if you have a dvd player that doesn't connect to the internet, then the dvd will play fine.

[johns0]

Most dvds that are made with blu-ray versions will have cinavia in case the person tries to swap audio tracks from dvd to blu-ray to get non cinavia playback on their baclups.

[ranchhand]

Yeah, that's the problem; the new DVD player I bought is not connected to the internet, but throws up the nasty notice and shuts down the audio anyway. My old player was pre-Cinavia so it wasn't a problem. The crazy thing is that I check out movies from our local library (they have about 3000 titles) and Cinavia even kicks in on those. There is no way that our library has 3000 pirated titles, plus the partnership they have with the branches in other towns probably boosts the titles up to 7-8000 titles. Ridiculous.
I am told that even non-Blue Ray players have Cinavia now. All of my backup movies are not Blue Ray and Cinavia still kicks in.

[johns0]

Well you never know if the library is using backups,might wanna check on the disc to see if it is genuine.

[ranchhand]

Good suggestion, from what I can see there is a very pro label on it, but other than that I don't know how.

[jagabo]

I was looking at this media player, seems to be getting good reviews.

If you can access your media files via WiFi (a NAS, a shared folder on a Windows computer, a USB drive connected to your router) look at the Chromecast with Google TV (US$50 now, US$40 on Black Friday):

https://store.google.com/us/product/chromecast_google_tv

It's hands down the best player for US$50. Second best is the Walmart Onn Android TV box (US$20 now):

https://www.walmart.com/ip/onn-Android-TV-UHD-Streaming-Device/636597403

It does about 95 percent of what the Chromecast does.

You can use Kodi on either of those devices as a front end for all your media files (fan art, thumbnails, descriptions, actors, etc.)

https://kodi.tv/

Or you can use VLC for a simple interface on the Chromecast. I just started playing with the Onn player recent and haven't gotten VLC to access network shares reliably with it yet.

Avoid the cheap Chinese Android TV devices. They don't run the true Android TV software but rather a re-purposed (ripped off?) Android tablet or phone software -- which requires a touchscreen for many apps.

[october262]

Yeah, that's the problem; the new DVD player I bought is not connected to the internet, but throws up the nasty notice and shuts down the audio anyway. My old player was pre-Cinavia so it wasn't a problem. The crazy thing is that I check out movies from our local library (they have about 3000 titles) and Cinavia even kicks in on those. There is no way that our library has 3000 pirated titles, plus the partnership they have with the branches in other towns probably boosts the titles up to 7-8000 titles. Ridiculous.
I am told that even non-Blue Ray players have Cinavia now. All of my backup movies are not Blue Ray and Cinavia still kicks in.

dvdfab has a tool that will remove cinavia. if you need to see what dvds & blurays that are infected with cinavia,
they do have a list of titles that have been fixed - https://blog.dvdfab.cn/cinavia-protection.html click reference lists & choose dvd or bluray

[ranchhand]

Many thanks to all; I am behind on the technology since I was using a simple DVD upscale player and DVDs. All that is ancient history now, I guess.
Jagabo...does that mean that I have to convert all my DVDs to digital now? If so, what format is best? mp4 maybe?

[jagabo]

Jagabo...does that mean that I have to convert all my DVDs to digital now? If so, what format is best? mp4 maybe?

Your DVDs are already digital. If they're encrypted you need to remove the encryption with DVD Fab or the old DVD Decrypter. In theory it's possible to share a DVD drive/disc but it's not practical. So you'll want to create ISO images or rip to MPG, MKV or MP4 files.

Kodi and VLC can play DVD ISO images with menus and all. Personally, I don't like DVD menus. They may be interesting once or twice but after that they just get in the way. So I rip discs to files. MakeMKV is can quickly remux the MPEG2 video and AC3 audio to MKV files (lossless). But I prefer to filter and compress to clean stuff up and reduce the size. Long ago I used Xvid AVI. Later I used h.264 mkv. Lately h.265 in mkv (though I hardly ever have a need to rip discs anymore).

One word of warning: VLC on the Walmart Android TV player (mentioned earlier in this thread) isn't accessing network shares reliably. I haven't figured out why. Kodi has no problems on either device. So if you want to use VLC I'd recommend the Chromecast+GoogleTV.

[davexnet]

Jagabo...does that mean that I have to convert all my DVDs to digital now? If so, what format is best? mp4 maybe?

Your DVDs are already digital. If they're encrypted you need to remove the encryption with DVD Fab or the old DVD Decrypter. In theory it's possible to share a DVD drive/disc but it's not practical. So you'll want to create ISO images or rip to MPG, MKV or MP4 files.

Kodi and VLC can play DVD ISO images with menus and all. Personally, I don't like DVD menus. They may be interesting once or twice but after that they just get in the way. So I rip discs to files. MakeMKV is can quickly remux the MPEG2 video and AC3 audio to MKV files (lossless). But I prefer to filter and compress to clean stuff up and reduce the size. Long ago I used Xvid AVI. Later I used h.264 mkv. Lately h.265 in mkv (though I hardly ever have a need to rip discs anymore).

One word of warning: VLC on the Walmart Android TV player (mentioned earlier in this thread) isn't accessing network shares reliably. I haven't figured out why. Kodi has no problems on either device. So if you want to use VLC I'd recommend the Chromecast+GoogleTV.

I'd been looking at this box, and since you were talking about, I went to Wal-mart and picked one up.
When the TV first detected it, it said it was turning on HDMI Ultra Deep Color. Fair enough, not sure what it means,
possibly it's turning on 4:2:2 or similar
Related, I set 4:2:2 within the Onn picture settings. Viewing some free movies on Tubi TV, it seemed to improve
the color on the TV - placebo effect? I doubt very much the stream was anything more that 4:2:0

Then I was surprised to see it outputs HDR by default, this is interesting, but after some adjustment to the TV, it looked
pretty good - I'd never had much luck with HDR, I considered something of a gimmick. But I only had the TV's native internal
apps and some demo's stored on the PC. This implies the Onn box is tone mapping the SDR source to HDR.

I'd always watched my DLNA shared PC files using the TV's built it Photo's and Video app - and of course, Windows Media Player
network sharing on the PC, I never did attempt a third party app, never needed it. ON the phone I could control playback via an app like
Instantbits software "Server Cast"
I noted your comments about Kodi, to provide this functionality.
That's it so far, my first impressions of the Onn AndroidTV box

[ranchhand]

Sorry for not posting back sooner, life interfered.
Thanks to Jagabo and others.
All my backups were run through DVD Fab when I created them. Cinavia was the problem...I never had trouble with it until my great old BR DVD player failed on me, and evidently it did not have Cinavia on it. So, as I discovered, all the new ones do. Which is really stupid, because I can now check out any of my titles at the local library for free. Why Cinavia pops up on some of them I have no idea, but I do guarantee that they are not pirated copies.
I will look into your suggestions, if I run into a problem I will post back.
Thanks again!

[ranchhand]

Oh...one more question; I am building a new computer for my wife, and I always like to throw in a DVD player (even though that technology is on its way out) because they are cheap, so why not?
I am wondering: do normal computer DVD players all come with Cinavia now, if anyone knows? Thanks again....

[jagabo]

Licensed Blu-ray player software (PowerDVD, etc.) is required to have Cinavia detection and respond to it.

[Cornucopia]

...if it was built/released in the last ~6 years. Prior to that, it wasn't part of the licensing requirements, so if you can find an old installer, one that doesn't require phoning home, that might still work.
But not likely, and it does back you into a technological corner that you cannot easily get out from. Better to either: find drives & software that do not generate false positives (as it seems like your current one might be doing) using legit pressed discs, or rip/convert and play using generic media players that don't bother with cinavia.

Scott

[blud7]

Just thought I'd throw this in: modern smart tvs can play mp4 and mkv natively without an android box or Chromecast. Most you can plug in a thumb drive or portable hard drive and others can access network shares.

[ranchhand]

Thanks, good suggestions guys.

[johns0]

I rather use a device like the xbox one since you can play more types of videos and you get better audio direct to your receiver if you are into better audio output.

[Seeker47]

Thanks netmask
I was looking at this media player, seems to be getting good reviews.
If I am understanding this correctly, would I have to take my dozens of DVD movies and convert them to mp4 (or whatever) and could I then use an exterior USB drive to load them on and plug it in to the media player, then plug (USB) the media player into my LCD TV?
IF so, how would I choose the movie I wanted to see off the exterior drive?

This is a subject of continuing interest to me. It always leaves me wondering why some key features provided by my old fave, many-years-off-the-market WD Live TV players (model C3H. per the underside black plate) were not seen again or replicated in later devices within this category. The WD can still be found used on eBay, pretty cheap and often in good condition, and I've put away spares just in case. They are pre-Cinavia, and I play DVD file structures or transferred ISOs, or MKV files of DVD or BR movies, or even (I think) the key m2ts movie file copied from BR discs, quite frequently. The main blind spot it has is lack of HEVC / x265 playback. Those formats gained a lot of traction after the heyday of the WD Live TV playback / streamer box. But my BR player, also pre-Cinavia, won't play those formats either, via its USB port.

Those format exceptions are covered by my Nvidia Shield. Nevertheless, I'd still like to see other, less expensive but capable options on the market, for anyone who might be interested. What I was finding on Amazon now, in units like those from AGPtek and these two from MyPin

https://www.amazon.com/Player-Digital-Coaxial-Control-Keyboard/dp/B07WPY8VKL/ref=pd_sb...07WPY8VKL&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/H-265-Support-Advertising-Subtitles-Networkable-Keyboard/dp/B09...986MMXBP&psc=1

seem to have troubling caveats associated with them, if you read through a bunch of the user reviews. I would not want to mess with any unit that would not easily turn OFF, or which fails to detect perfectly fine media that gets plugged in, or which might corrupt contents on an attached portable HDD. Never see these issues with the WD, or the Nvidia. And WHY would one of these units linked above be limited to a 128GB size flashdrive, when I routinely use 256GB ones on the ancient WD ? I mean, the tech is supposed to keep advancing, even as it gets more affordable ! I've seen some positive reviews of the Chromecast unit, although that may be only for streaming (?), rather than also supporting attached media ?