D-Theater deck modding

[thepaintedman]

Does anyone know how people region mod Japanese D-Theater decks? (HM-DHX1, DHX2, DHS1, DH5500) I've been able to get them for relatively low prices imported (shipping is awful if you want it expedited, but what can you do) and I'm really not interested in buying a pre-modded deck for part of a down payment on a new car (or paying someone an arm and a leg for the service.) I know the US models are very finnicky and tend to just die with no prior notice, and seeing as they're only sold on ebay for similarly ridiculous prices, I'm trying to avoid them. I'm well aware that D-Theater is something of a lost cause with most if not all of the films being on Blu-ray at least once with the same transfer (and possibly newer and/or better ones, depending), and originally I just got into D-VHS for off-air recording archival, as well as whatever BGV/demo tapes I may come across.

Thanks in advance.

[dellsam34]

I was not aware of such a mod at the time, I was aware of the format but was too expensive for me. I do however have a US machine now, the HM-DH5U, I was lucky to not have to go through the mod process and found one locally few years ago for $100 with a dozen of original pre-recorded D-Theater tapes which I ended up selling individually for over $1500 in total and kept the machine. Your best bet is to search Japanese online forums and websites using translation if you know how to perform the mod, Alternatively head over to AVSforum and dig old posts or post a new one, There are a lot of D-VHS heads there, most are old now but they may still remeber a thing or two about the format. I see services for this mod pop up on eBay like this one, But I have no idea what is involved in the process of DIY.

[thepaintedman]

Yeah, it was that mod listing that really made me want to figure out just what these people know, what with asking $230 to modify a single deck just to give a quote on replacing the caps, which feels like an insult (asking that much for what is most likely not a difficult mod to do if people can do it like this at will is ridiculous.) I'm not sure if there are a lot of still-standing Japanese forums unfortunately as using the search terms that can at least narrow down my results to being strictly Japanese mostly just get me listings and dead site links.
Thanks though, I can give AVSforum a try, as I've at least dug up many old forum posts in my general searching for Japanese decks (though, they're all two decades old now, I'm aware that I'm rather late to the party). All things considered, this is a very frustrating sub-format on top of the fact that many of these decks are old enough as it is and prone to breaking down, what with them using cheaper mechanisms. At this point I'm willing to take what I can get and if I have to move from forum to forum then that's the way it'll have to be.

[dellsam34]

I'm not sure if it's a simple mod, It may involve soldering a jtag header to program a chip or worse yet desolder the chip completly and bench program it, I would say it's worth it if you can get a working Japanese machine plus the mode, it will still be way less than a US machine for over a grand.

[thepaintedman]

You make a good point. I'm so used to firmware being easily flashable over some sort of USB or SATA connection nowadays that I completely forgot that desoldering/jtagging is how things used to go. I guess in that case I'd be interested in seeing what it may take to do, as yeah, I'm really not interested in paying a grand for a format that I have only a sort of interest in. Admittedly, if I knew someone that could ts capture these with a tuner like I've been doing, I wouldn't even bother since it's such a headache, but should this properly work out I may be able to do it myself for other decks. It's worth a shot, especially if I actually figure out a method for myself.

Who knows, the chip necessary may even be socketed.

[aramkolt]

I remember for some of the Panasonic DVD players, it was just a series of service remote codes that would make them region-free. No idea if JVC has something like that in a service menu somewhere, but it wouldn't surprise me.

I guess the other question is, what type of content was only available in HD on DVHS that would make them worth the hassle of region modding? I've messed with a couple of parts DH5U's and their digital board gets extremely hot during normal operation, so they aren't quite at the top of my list in terms of what I'd expect to be reliable long term, even with replaced capacitors.

[dellsam34]

I don't think it's like changing the region code of a DVD player, Changing a model from a Japanese to an American is much more involved, I did change a firmware before on a blu-ray player so I could change the region code with no limit with a remote control hack, Basically the firmware was burned into a disc and run on the player from the disc, After the firmware is loaded then the region change hidden menu becomes available when typing a code with the remote that I keep forgetting everytime I get a foreign disc. Given the fact the D-VHS decks don't have disc drives I'm more inclined to believe this is not going to be an average person mod.

@ OP, Few years ago I've been in contact with a member here and over avsforum who worked for JVC designing the firewire board and MPEG-2 codec board for D-VHS machines on a different matter, I will dig up his user names and PM them to you and see if he can help, that is if he is still around.

[thepaintedman]

I guess the other question is, what type of content was only available in HD on DVHS that would make them worth the hassle of region modding?

I know this will sound a little pathetic seeing as one of the two of them is from a group past their prime and after their somewhat notorious implosion, but I'm interested in JVC's promotional tapes for Yes's Live at the House of Blues and Motley Crue's Lewd, Crued and Tattooed Live. They're the only HD releases I can see of those two and I'm more or less just morbidly curious about them, regardless of their objective quality. I've also managed to get a couple D-Theater films for half-decent prices that already have BDs, but I'm just interested in getting them transferred just for the sake of comparison (one notably is True Lies and compare it to the sort of well known ES BD). I'm aware that a lot of these decks were sort of slapped together (especially with the high failure rate of the US decks), plus the fact that most DT movies are on BD, which is why I want to avoid spending too much. I guess it's kind of just my curiosity getting the better of me.

[dellsam34]

Just be aware that firewire transfer for D-Theater tapes in not possible by design, You can use component HD output or HDMI if the deck is equiped with one but you will have to get around HDCP protection by getting an appropriate HDMI splitter, seek recommendation first before you buy one, Not all off them ignore HDCP. On the other hand if you have non D-Theater tapes I can help you get them transfered over firewire to HD files with no loss in the process, I also have the capability to transfer over HDMI D-Theater tapes, PM me if interested.

[thepaintedman]

Oh, I have a method to transfer D-VHS already (including D-Theater, as the famous tuner mod works), but thank you. That's all I'm concerned about, as the rest of the tapes work with my setup (at least when I have a working deck.)

[aramkolt]

Couldn't find much info on the tuner mod itself either, but per this very old post, you should still be able to capture your tapes even if you can't view the video live as it plays on a Japanese deck that has not been region modded.

https://forum.doom9.org/archive/index.php/t-129102.html

Do you have any links to the tuner mod itself? Not that I actually have any DVHS tapes, but I'm curious what the actual tuner mod is

[dellsam34]

If that thread is accurate that means he would need the Samsung SIR-T165 OTA set top box with a desired firmware and a special Firewire to USB converter, not to mention that he has to first find a working Japanese deck and way to mod it, If it was me I would have given up already, Lol.

[dellsam34]

OP, I've sent an PM to DR1394 over at avsforum on your behalf, I've asked about the mod, the STB firmware and if a firewire to USB is required, hope we get some answers

[thepaintedman]

Couldn't find much info on the tuner mod itself either, but per this very old post, you should still be able to capture your tapes even if you can't view the video live as it plays on a Japanese deck that has not been region modded.

https://forum.doom9.org/archive/index.php/t-129102.html

Do you have any links to the tuner mod itself? Not that I actually have any DVHS tapes, but I'm curious what the actual tuner mod is

Yep, right here.
https://pbx.mine.nu/isdb/1394/

If that thread is accurate that means he would need the Samsung SIR-T165 OTA set top box with a desired firmware and a special Firewire to USB converter, not to mention that he has to first find a working Japanese deck and way to mod it, If it was me I would have given up already, Lol.

I've got an HM-DHS1 and a TT-D3000, thus why I decided to ask. I've got a Japanese Panasonic BD recorder that takes OTA Japanese copy-protected signals as well, though the method to copying the signal is a bit hacky and requires pressing the right buttons at the right time as otherwise the signal copy will auto-cancel due to the copy protection being tripped. I'm too stubborn for my own good, and when I set my mind to something it takes a lot for me to just give up.

OP, I've sent an PM to DR1394 over at avsforum on your behalf, I've asked about the mod, the STB firmware and if a firewire to USB is required, hope we get some answers

Thank you, keep me posted.

[dellsam34]

So the USB add-on board's purpose is to get the stream before the STB adds encryption to it? Was wondering if it's possible to capture from the STB's firewire output. Are they still selling these boards? just curious.

By the way, back in early 2000's I bought a Dishnet HD receiver from Nextcomwireless that had a similar USB board add-on to stream DN encrypted programing to PC via a mini USB port screwed at the back of the satellite receiver, I still have a lot of those HD files stored on DVD-R and DVD-R DL before HD-DVD and Blu-ray was a thing.

[thepaintedman]

Yeah, it taps into an unprotected bus and he replaces the optical out port. They're still sold, though the guy will likely need to acquire a compatible tuner in the meantime.

[dellsam34]

It's probably much easier to capture from HDMI where equiped, HDMI capture devices are more powerfull now and you can capture lossless if you so choose after the MPEG-2 has been decoded by the deck's decoder, so that you can do a high quality de-interlacing on computer and encode to a modern more efficient codec such as h.265. But if your deck does not have HDMI then it all makes sense.

[thepaintedman]

Yeah, there's only the DH5U and DHX2 (which are essentially the same deck.) You'd be hard-pressed to find that one for cheap anywhere. I missed out on a cheap untested DHX2 a few months back, and personally I'd rather just keep the encoding as-is rather than encoding to a new file and artificially making the file size bigger. That's not to mention that capturing this way keeps all of the audio tracks as is. It's like a data-level rip rather than a capture, and all it takes is the modified tuner, a USB-B to USB-A cable and ts capturing software.

[dellsam34]

DR1394 has responded to my PM over at AVS forum but unfortunately he said he doesn't have any answers on the subject, what a bummer.