Macrovision Free VHS???

[WillVideo4Food]

Hey,
I need a little consumer advice, please. I am looking at getting a new VCR (US, NTSC), and I would like to get a 4-head hi-fi model that will accept input that has been encoded with Macrovision. Any suggestions??

Thanks in advance,
Will

[WillVideo4Food]

I should probably clarify just a little, when I say will accept it, I mean hooking a device to it (another VCR, DVD, or camcorder) without the picture being messed up or blacked out or any other such nonsense.

Thanks,
Will

[BadAsh]

I know many RadioShack VCRs were Macrovision Free in the past but I don't know about them or anyone else now.

You can always buy a descrambler for about $30.

You may see these descramblers listed as "Video Clarifiers" or "Video Stabilizers".

Here is a link to one I bought years ago (before DVD), apparently it works for Video Tapes and DVD:

www.directsalesinc.com/direct/dvdvidstab.html

I now use the Sima Video Color Corrector which is a little more pricey (around $119) but the one in the link above works just fine. The Sima unit allows you to adjust color levels if you want to tweak them... other than that if you just need something to defeat Macrovision get the $30 device in the link above.

Good Luck!

I should note: I do not condone illegal copying of copyrighten material, however the devices discussed above are usefull when reincoding video you have purchased.

Sorry... just the usual disclaimer.

[WillVideo4Food]

I knew about the "color correctors", but I was hoping to get out for the price of a cheap VCR. It's going to be a secondary VCR (i.e., for the kids), but I also want the ability to dub if needed. I had heard that some of the off-brands don't have Macrovision, but I wasn't sure if this was true or which ones.

Thanks,
Will

[WillVideo4Food]

As for your disclaimer, it bugs the SH...er, CRAP! out of me that I'm not supposed (that is, they try to make it impossible) to make a copy of Toy Story or Bug's Life on VHS for the kids to watch so the original DVD doesn't get destroyed by little fingers.

Just my 2¢.

Thanks,
Will

[WillVideo4Food]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-08-24 08:27:15, WillVideo4Food wrote:
I had heard that some of the off-brands don't have Macrovision, but I wasn't sure if this was true or which ones.
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

Uh, is there maybe a list somewhere??

[jeex]

a friend of mine has a zenith vcr he bought in 1996 that will let him copy dvd's to vhs tapes.

you may want to check and see if zenith vcr's ignore the macrovison signal

[thxkid]

Keep in mind that the macrovison on DVD is different than on a VHS tape, so the VHS copies you use to make on a VHS will not now copy a DVD, Boys they have it down, SOOOOOOO the next thing to do is buy a DVD player that the macrovision can be turned off, you know, just for TESTING purposes only.
I see sam's sells the APEX 660 for $119, It has a FLASH Rom chip inside that can be upgraded to disengage the macrovison and make it region free, so you can hook the DVD player through a VCR for the PURPOSE of VIEWING only.

[mijman]

I just rented "The Patriot" and it didn't want to play, because my player was set to region-free. Here in the ststes, they are starting that bullshit, so people in other regions can't watch our shit, but I, in region 1, can't watch a fargin region 1 disc, until I put my "shackles" back on again. Sickening. Thankfully, I have a sampo, with a nice little hidden menu for turning stuff on and off.

[KingJohn]

"Macrovision can have a rather adverse effect on certain projectors, apart from its original intention of stopping duplication into tapes."

So you want to switch off Macrovision so it does not mess with your projector. Nothing wrong with that -

Take a look at this site, mostly DVD but lots of info.
http://www.techtronics.com

Read the article on the DVD players they supplied to NASA

The Patriot, is a well known DVD title that is protected, however with the DVD player supplied by techtronics I can make perfect copies of it "And anything else"

It also Skips FCC rubbish, even though I'm in the UK there is a lot of DVD's purchased from the US or Japan.

What make projector do you have ? mines a BSHIT12-D