DVD Burning with Copy Protection?

[ktemkin]

I just bought a standalone DVD burner with video inputs. It burns data from telivision great, but when I try to burn input form another DVD player, I get a 'COPY PROT' (copy protection) message. I don't want to steal from companies, really, but I do want to, lets say, burn an episode of Futurama off my DVD seasons and bring it to a friend's house and watch it without having to risk destroying a disc from my collection.

So, if someone could answer these questions for me:

1. How does the DVD burner know the analog input is copy protected? Does it constantly send a signal to tell it its protected, or does it broadcast at a certain frequency?
2. Is there any way around this? Even if it involves using a microcontroller to modify the input...

[James S]

Can you plug the DVD player into a TV, then TV-Out the signal to the burner?

[Guest]

Yeah, it still gives me the COPY PROT message.

[sponge]

That's Macrovision probably. No way to defeat it without doing it via your comp, where it can ignore that blasphemy.

[ktemkin]

Macrovision's CSS would stay even if I recorded it to a VHS first or something?

[sponge]

No, that's exactly what it's made to stop.

[David Horn]

Macrovision (IIRC) makes the digital tracking signal become unstable. Hence, your video recorded messes it up and you find that picture goes distorted and starts to roll.

You can copy to VHS in two ways:

1) Get a really old VCR which has manual tracking. Macrovision doesn't affect it.

2) Buy a little box which goes between player and recorder and removes the Macrovision signal.

Alternatively, there may be a firmware update or hidden menu on your recorder which removes the protection.

[refractor]

Macrovision's CSS would stay even if I recorded it to a VHS first or something?

No, but your VHS might not like the Macrovision either (actually that's kinda the point).

Macrovision (IIRC) makes the digital tracking signal become unstable. Hence, your video recorded messes it up and you find that picture goes distorted and starts to roll.

Yup, spot-on.

I used to use a Creative Labs DXR3 card to output to a video recorder (you can toggle Macrovision). You can still get the cards dirt-cheap on eBay, but there are only drivers for linux (or Windows 2000 and before). The benefit is that the TV-out on the card is Macrovision-free and higher quality than the output of a standard video-card.

[Dan East]

Kind of a round-about way to do it, but if your PC has S-Video out and a DVD-ROM drive then you can rip the DVD to your PC's HDD (using SmartRipper or similar). That will remove the macrovision / CSS. Then just play the VOB files fullscreen with whatever DVD player came with your PC. Record that signal with your DVD recorder box.

At least you won't have to buy any custom hardware.

Dan East

[The Blur]

I tryed ripping Black Hawk Down and Saving Private Ryan and both times it said that there was encoding it couldn't get past... whats the reason for that? (all settings were default)

[jcl945]

When I ripped DVDs to put on my ppc, I used a program called DVD decrypter. I never had problems with it, and its free. It rips the copywrite too. You can get it hear, http://www.dvddecrypter.com/index.php?act=download

[The Blur]

Great... i'll try it out when i go on my pc later. thanks!

[David Horn]

DVD Shrink?

[tomdon]

http://www.fairusewizard.com/lang_en/index.html