DVD & VHS

[lokofan12]

Is anyone aware of a combo unit that will copy VHS protected tapes to DVD and DVR (cable box) to DVD ? I OWN many old tapes that I want to preserve onto DVD - and most combo recorders can't get past the VHS tape (Macrovision?) copy protection. I'm not doing anything illegal - I purchased ALL of these VHS tapes want to make a copy for myself.

 

[muckshifter]

You may own the tapes, but you don't own the copyright, therefore you will be breaking the "law" in copying them.

Most video tapes come with a copy protection signal embedded on the tape. One popular product in this arena is made by Macrovision. According to Macrovision, "The technology is applied to over 550 million videocassettes annually and is used by every MPAA movie studio on some or all of their videocassette releases. Over 220 commercial duplication facilities around the world are equipped to supply Macrovision videocassette copy protection to rights owners."

and, more bad news ...

As part of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, even companies that make hardware and software products that can bypass anti-copy codes on DVDs or other video and audio content can now be sued; even if such products have disclaimers regarding the use of such products for illegal video or audio copying.

Several companies that make products that enable DVD-to-DVD, DVD-to-VHS, and/or VHS-to-DVD copying are on the target list to be sued by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and Macrovision for making products that can be used for copyright infringement. The key to the ability of these products to bypass anti-copy codes is their ability to detect them.

My Advice: Buy DVD versions for those movies in your VHS library that are now available on DVD, especially if they are films you like to watch on a regular basis. Since DVD has much better video and audio quality than VHS, as well as most DVDs having supplementary features (such as commentaries, deleted scenes, interviews, etc...), and with the price of DVD movies being fairly inexpensive (especially if they have been out for awhile), this would be a better solution in terms of time.

Keep in mind that it takes two hours to copy a two hour movie, as the recording is done in real time using a DVD recorder, whether copying from a VHS tape or DVD. For example; it would take 100 hours to copy 50 movies (if you are actually able to do so) and money (you still have to get 50 blank DVDs) spent on trying to make copies of old VHS movies onto DVD.



I now await for the inevitable spam that follows these requests, or I could just close the thread.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I used to repair VCR's and tried for years to overcome the various spoiler codes embedded in VHS cassette tapes but never did manage it. And nor did my dozen or so work colleagues so we gave up on it.

As far as I know there is no machine on the market that does what you require.

But I think you have to ask yourself is the task - were it possible - worth the time and effort? Most films can now be acquired very cheaply on DVD with the advent of bluray and streaming movies. In the UK a chain of shops named 'Cash Converters' exists that buys and sells second hand goods and my local branch are selling used DVD films 10 for £5.00.