ARCHIVING VHS CASSETTES TO DVD
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First Attempts
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Does anyone remember the VHS cassette; those bulky rectangles of wound
magnetic tape that used to entertain friends and family, from the
seventies to about 2002? I do. It's hard not to when you have 200 of the
damned things hanging around--like I--serving as a constant reminder
that the format is dead (for all intents and purposes), and the content
is slowly degrading.
It was (primarily) because of the latter fact that I decided to set
about archiving all of the videos that had been accumulated over the
years. Thus, I took a Panasonic DMR-ES25 DVD player/recorder, and hooked
it up to a Sony SLV-750HF VHS set, and a TV (so that the recording
process could be periodically verified), all using RCA cables, popped a
VHS tape in the VCR, a DVD +R in the DVD recorder (formatting required),
and hit play in the VCR. After fast-forwarding through the previews and
such, I hit the record button on the DVD player and, well, nothing
happened.
Well, not exactly nothing. I did get a NoREC message on the display, and
a box appeared on the TV that informed me that the tape was
copy-protected.
Thus stymied, I returned to the internet with the symptoms of this
electronic problem, and after a few minutes of searching, reading, and
clicking, I came upon a diagnosis: Macrovision.
Macrovision is a copy-protection scheme (and the name of the company
that makes copy-protection schemes) used in some VHS tapes since about
1985, and most all VHS tapes since 1997, and which my VCR and DVD
player have been dutifully trained by some obscure corporate agreement
to recognise. The scheme is recorded in the "header" and/or "footer" of
the video (the portion of the video image that is hidden from sight on a
4:3 CRT TV--I'm not sure about LCD, or plasma TVs), where the closed
captioning can also be found.
I was initially dismayed by this discovery, but rather than panic, I
decided to see what else I could find out about Macrovision, and whether
something could be done about it. The answer turned out to be yes,
something could be done about it.
Dealing With Macrovision
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There are actually a couple ways to deal with Macrovision
copy-protection on VHS tapes:
* 1 - Use a VCR made before 1985 that does not recognise macrovision;
* 2 - If you have the service manual, open the VCR up, find the portion
of the circuit-board that handles macrovision, and disable it;
* 3 - Use an early model DVD recorder on which you can turn off
macrovision;
* 4 - Use a filter that strips out the content (including such
closed-captioning) from the unseen header and footer;
* 5 - Be fortunate enough to have only ever bought tapes that did not
have macrovision (Alliance, Disney, Fox, and Columbia-TriStar used
macrovision on just about everything. Warner Brothers and MGM used
it only on a very few number of videos. Paramount used it
occasionally prior to 1997, but from 1997 onwards, they used it in
everything);
* 6 - Buy the DVD version (which could be a very, very pricey
proposition).
Unfortunately for me, I did not have a pre-1985 VCR available, nor the
service manual for said VCR, and my DVD lacked either a menu entry, or a
firmware hack with which to disable macrovision. And I definitely was
not going to spend $2000-plus dollars for the privilege of owning what I
already own. Thus I was left with option 4 and option 5. Thus, I set
about recording to DVD those videos that I could, and began searching
for a filter.
I found a few filters on the internet, available for purchase, but being
a mildly paranoid type, I decided to see if I could find one locally.
After phoning a dozen stores, some from big chains, others small, local
places, I came away empty handed, and thus set about trying to determine
which company looked legitimate enough to use. A couple days later, I
settled on a company based on the North American continent, and ordered
the filter, and am pleased to say, it has done an admirable job.
Filters
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The devices that are used to remove the macrovision protection scheme
are referred to by various names such as "video filter", "video
stabiliser", or on forums "macrovision filter". A couple of the ones I
stumbled across are listed below:
* Ambery Digital Video Stabilizer
http://www.ambery.com/3divienst.html
* Dimax Grex
http://www.xdimax.com/
* Qualitek Digital Video Stabilizer
http://quaindinc.stores.yahoo.net/bvistfordvda.html
(For the curious, I went with the first one.)
Or, if you want to try and make your own filter, you could try the
guides offered below. A more than rudimentary knowledge of electronics
is recommended.
* Macrovision FAQ: 5.2) How to eliminate
http://www.repairfaq.org/filipg/LINK/F_MacroVision2.html#MACROVISION_007
* Video Stabilizer/MacroVision Removal
http://www.aaroncake.net/CIRCUITS/macrovision.asp
References
* Macrovision FAQ Index V1.2
http://www.repairfaq.org/filipg/LINK/F_MacroVision.html
* VIDEOHelp.com
http://www.videohelp.com/
