VHS Tapes with Macrovision

[Subtitles]

I have several purchased VHS tapes of operas that have Macrovision. Is there a cheap way to copy the tapes to my Pioneer DVR-540H-S before I throw them all into the dustbin?

[DB83]

Err um...

No.


Whilst I have not used one, a full-frame TBC( not cheap) will defeat MV.


A 'cheaper' alternative from vcr to PC (but not to your unit) which ignores MV is a suitable usb capture device such as a Hauppauge usb-live2. But even saying that MV comes in different 'flavours' so what works for some may not work for others. All I know is that it works for vhs tapes with MV in the UK that I own (but MV in the UK is not so common as with US (NTSC) tapes) and even saying that Disney tapes are not compatable = different flavours.


You 'cheapest' alternative is to outsource DVD versions. But by all means quote the actual VHS since what you have may not be actual MV since weak signals often manifest as MV.

[Subtitles]

Thanks.
The video tapes were purchased from HMV store in the UK many years ago.
I will consider buying the the USB-2 Live.
My collection is not available in DVD or Blu-Ray this is why I am trying to have a digital copy. Sure they make tens of operas of the same title but they are no match to the oldies.

[dellsam34]

I'm not sure why Opera content will have microvision, No offense but it's a type of content that don't sell or see massive bootleg like movies, so having to pay MV license for them does not make any economical sense. Tell us why do you think it's MV, are the tapes' labels indicate that?

[Subtitles]

I'm not sure why Opera content will have microvision, No offense but it's a type of content that don't sell or see massive bootleg like movies, so having to pay MV license for them does not make any economical sense. Tell us why do you think it's MV, are the tapes' labels indicate that?

In the past I tried to copy using my Pioneer DVR, but got error message so they are protected, and I gave up until now.

[DB83]

Like I already said, MV is not so common in the UK as in the US.

Maybe you can provide more detail about these vhs. I am also an opera fan and have many vhs from years gone by. My suspicion is that you are experiencing 'fake mv' - a weak signal from the vcr that manifests itself into mv.

[DB83]

Oh. And look at the cover and especially the back.

Do you see "CP" there ?

[Subtitles]

Oh. And look at the cover and especially the back.

Do you see "CP" there ?

Here is a sample of one of the VHS tapes. I don't see CP on the back.
I will try to hook up the VCR next week and try again to record with the DVR. I am waiting for a replacement remote hopefully it will arrive soon.

[Bwaak]

"CP"? Did British releases have to have such a mark? I don't see any warning marks on American releases.

[pandy]

Technically you can recreate synchronization signals - it was quite popular in Macrovision times to build or to buy "Macrovision killers" - they simply replaced Macrovision corrupted synchronization signals with regenerated sync pulses.

Some examples:
https://www.aaroncake.net/circuits/macrovision.asp
https://hbo.tripod.com/VCR/en_macrovision.htm

Nowadays this should be easy task for some uC solution - RPi Pico, perhaps even some Arduino should do the job.

[DB83]

Well I can only find this VHS as a dvd and that is NTSC. (I do believe your Pioneer can handle PAL60 ?)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Freischutz-DVD-NTSC-Roland-Bracht/dp/B01I075LGC/ref=sr_1_16?c...d%2C85&sr=1-16


Possibly imported and thus MV protected.

[Subtitles]

Well I can only find this VHS as a dvd and that is NTSC. (I do believe your Pioneer can handle PAL60 ?)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Freischutz-DVD-NTSC-Roland-Bracht/dp/B01I075LGC/ref=sr_1_16?c...d%2C85&sr=1-16


Possibly imported and thus MV protected.

Thanks for the suggestion. Will do the test next week and then decide.
Streaming sites like Medici TV are a lot cheaper than buying DVD or Blu-Ray discs and they they are in HD quality.
Also Mezzo HD from satellite is also an option to consider.

[lojelo5]

I have several purchased VHS tapes of operas that have Macrovision. Is there a cheap way to copy the tapes to my Pioneer DVR-540H-S before I throw them all into the dustbin?

If you already have a vcr with a s-vhs connection this will be a good start then you can search on the bay for a Liteon HD-A740GX flash this machine with the firmware for this model on this page and it disables macrovision

http://www.twowheels.plus/liteonuk.htm

Record the video straight to the hard drive and either burn it to a DVD or remove the drive and copy the folders over to your PC (using a ide cable if your motherboard still has one)

Where in the UK are you Subtitles? If the tape is in good condition and not full of mould and your willing to send the tape to me I would try and record it for you and convert it to the format you would prefer. I would just bin the VHS after recording it for you so it would be no cost for me, that's if you can't find it on DVD to purchase.

Is this the same video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBh_6zo7xz0

[DB83]

Well according to the info on his registration, Subtitles resides in the part of the UK known as 'Israel'

[lojelo5]

Well according to the info on his registration, Subtitles resides in the part of the UK known as 'Israel'

Just seen him mention buying it in HMV and the UK so thought he was still in the UK I didn't even notice it under his name, I will find my glasses and get my coat

[Subtitles]

Hooked up my VCR and inserted a VHS cassette and got nothing. The tape wouldn't eject either.
Opened the case and it was full of dust. Vacuum cleaning the unit did not help ejecting the tape.
Any good tutorials on how to DIY service VCR's?
I blame myself for not storing the VCR in a sealed box. After 10 years without using it, this is what I got.
It is a good unit Sony Hi-Fi Stereo and cost me a lot of money importing it from Germany and paid 75% taxes.

[DB83]

WEll if there is as much dust in the unit that you describe it could well be also on the head-drum and now also on the tape. Not a good sign.

[Eric-jan]

The only time i needed to defeat macrovision, was a long time ago, i used the ADVC100, long press on the silver button will defeat macrovision,
don't know for sure all models of the ADV100 do this, but mine did.
One other way i noticed, is with my (euro/PAL) Panasonic DMR-ES35V capturing from the component RCA's (YUV) video output in progressive mode, this will also defeat Macrovision, it worked at that time for the MacroVision version i had on these tapes, i'm told there are different versions of Macrovision, but had no problem in my case, now i have those movies in HD and widescreen by P2P, your content might be harder to find, maybe on youtube, or like said on dvd/Bluray, these discs are easy to extract, both on Windows and MAC, look out for mallware on Windows though...

[aramkolt]

There are quite a few ways to defeat macrovision - Several are compared here, though the Sima Copymaster or RXII video stabilizer seems work the best in most cases: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtr9tr97KQ4

Downside is that you can lose closed captioning info as it is it's right below where the macrovision is if that's something that matters to you.

Not all TBCs will remove macrovision either - it's really just a feature called "vertical blanking" where the offscreen areas of the image are overwritten to black lines (or blanked), therefore getting rid of macrovision. Depending on the vertical blanking width, you may also lose closed captioning data. Several TBCs don't have an obvious way to turn that feature on or off, or will have it permanently on or permanently off.

[dellsam34]

Not all TBCs will remove macrovision either - it's really just a feature called "vertical blanking" where the offscreen areas of the image are overwritten to black lines (or blanked), therefore getting rid of macrovision. Depending on the vertical blanking width, you may also lose closed captioning data. Several TBCs don't have an obvious way to turn that feature on or off, or will have it permanently on or permanently off.

Some devices don't actually remove it, they just ignore it, Like TV's, old VCR's and some studio grade A/D converters. Some consumer capture cards can ignore it but they abide by the copyright law, therefore they let it through in purpose.

[pchan]

Why not buy a DVD or bluray from Amazon? The video quality definitely beats VHS.

[Subtitles]

Why not buy a DVD or bluray from Amazon? The video quality definitely beats VHS.

The same production is not available in DVD or Blu-Ray, and the cost is quite expensive even if I find exactly the same title.

[themaster1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XLGFU__0Wk&pp=ugMICgJmchABGAHKBRYxMnZvbHR2aWRzIG1hY3JvdmlzaW9u

I myself have this: http://www.xdimax.com/grex/grex.html#BUY
(as noted: "Removes" Macrovision Level I, Macrovision Level II ( Color stripe x 2 ), Macrovision Level III ( Color stripe x 4 ), CGMS, CGMS-A, Digital Broadcasting Flags)
Recently i could dub a tape to my DVR thanks to this. it'll not remove entirely the MV for that you'd need a good tbc in the chain ( see video)

[lordsmurf]

I myself have this: http://www.xdimax.com/grex/grex.html#BUY
(as noted: "Removes" Macrovision Level I, Macrovision Level II ( Color stripe x 2 ), Macrovision Level III ( Color stripe x 4 ), CGMS, CGMS-A, Digital Broadcasting Flags)
Recently i could dub a tape to my DVR thanks to this. it'll not remove entirely the MV for that you'd need a good tbc in the chain ( see video)

For analog VHS, the Grex is a total piece of crap device. It messes with luma, and so the video changes brightness randomly. You can insert a tape, play, and it looks fine. Stop, start again, and it's too bright. It doesn't remove MV, it just makes it "stick". Even then, it can change mid-play, so not much better than MV.

For digital DVD recorder usage, the Grex is awesome, fully removes analog/digital cable/satellite MV (or at least did well into the mid 2010s), nothing else out there worked as well as it did. Some HDD DVD recorders retained MV on the drive, so you could not dump to a disc. But with the Grex, you can play from the HDD recorder, and record with a capture card or another DVD recorder.

Grex was made for the latter digital function, and the former analog function was a half-assed "me too" feature that failed more than not.

[pandy]

Alternatively OP may try approach https://github.com/oyvindln/vhs-decode - no clue how it works w macrovision but at least duplication should be possible (and later decoding).

[lordsmurf]

Alternatively OP may try approach https://github.com/oyvindln/vhs-decode - no clue how it works w macrovision but at least duplication should be possible (and later decoding).

The OP essentially asked about how to remove a food stain from clothes.
You just told him to knit new clothes.

[pandy]

Alternatively OP may try approach https://github.com/oyvindln/vhs-decode - no clue how it works w macrovision but at least duplication should be possible (and later decoding).

The OP essentially asked about how to remove a food stain from clothes.
You just told him to knit new clothes.

My impression was that those recording are exceptional as such perhaps worth to try something less common. And yes, from my perspective it is better to knit new clothes than walk with naked butt in the middle of harsh winter... But of course there is freedom of choice.

[oln]

Some modern capture cards like the GV-USB2 tend to ignore macrovision, at least if it's not an agressive variant. If you are lucky the tape may not cause flickering with the dvd-recorder connected in the middle either (even if it won't let you record to it directly) and you can use it to get an extra stable signal but that's not guaranteed.

One other way i noticed, is with my (euro/PAL) Panasonic DMR-ES35V capturing from the component RCA's (YUV) video output in progressive mode...

Progressive mode on these combos/dvd-recorders doesn't remove copy protection (at least not on any of the ones I've used), some capture cards like the blackmagic ones just ignore copy protection flags component input so any component output would work with the right capture card. Very bad copy protection may also screw with the brightness but that's more a disney tape thing.

[victoriabears]

God help me , glad I hav enothing to do with vha anymore, I had one of these 10 years ago, worked well, paid $200...............https://www.ebay.ca/itm/134347784425?hash=item1f47c080e9:g:NXwAAOSway5jh76D&amdata=enc...Bk9SR8zkt5qpYw

[Mano Bakker]

in the early 90s I had a SANSUI VX-99 when i connected my VHS player to it, then I could replace the blanking/sync and that way I removed the Macrovision. You have to black the blanking lines above the visual video picture. There are 6 blocks of extreme white and extreme black and they confuses your recorder that there is a blackburst/syncpulse. Also see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VqsU1VK3mU