Hey, this is my first post on this board and i'm relativley new to diy projectors but i'm not new to video.
I've noticed a lot of people mentioning Macrovision and wondering how to get rid of it and what it is, etc. so have decided to let you all in on what I know about it. This will hopefully help a lot of you newbies and maybe even some who are knowledgable.
What is Macrovision?
Ok, macrovision was implemented originally in VHS to prevent the growing piracy problem. How it worked is that the tape would output certain signals that would effect the video aspect of a tape. If the signals were picked up by an analogue device such as another VCR, the video would be effected to the extent of it being unwatchable and therefore make recording onto another VHS pointless. If it was picked up by a TV however, the macrovision signal would be ignored. The same principle applies to DVD.
Although I have not yet a LCD panel to work with, I'm sure the same principle applies and some LCD panels are like a VCR in that they are affected.
How to get rid of Macrovision.
Although originally thought of as the device to end piracy, this was not to be. As people who had no intentions in piracy were screwed, as Macrovision can also effect video when directly plugged into a television. So because of this, many people set out to kill Macrovision thus spawning many methods.
Years ago I came across a device called a Video Mate which eliminated macrovision. It was on sale for $150AUD and so I picked one up. This worked very well and eliminated all macrovision in DVD and VHS. However with my new DVD player and 2-head VCR (6-head broke) it worked when I was merley watching a DVD through the VCR but not if I tried to record.
There are also many other devices available online such as the DVD Video Decoder which is available for $39USD at http://www.qksrv.net/click-702087-5679252 or the SIMA Video Copy Master available for $45USD at http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?1cache+G5HEBC+index.html. There are more methods listed at http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/articles/macrovision_general.html if anyone would like further information.
If anyone has any more methods not listed than please add them. Otherwise there is more information on Macrovision at http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/articles/macrovision.html .
If anyone has tried any of these devices with an LCD then please post your thoughts on how it worked. For my DVD-VCR it worked perfectly with playback.
Hope this helped anyone (and wasn't too long).
I've noticed a lot of people mentioning Macrovision and wondering how to get rid of it and what it is, etc. so have decided to let you all in on what I know about it. This will hopefully help a lot of you newbies and maybe even some who are knowledgable.
What is Macrovision?
Ok, macrovision was implemented originally in VHS to prevent the growing piracy problem. How it worked is that the tape would output certain signals that would effect the video aspect of a tape. If the signals were picked up by an analogue device such as another VCR, the video would be effected to the extent of it being unwatchable and therefore make recording onto another VHS pointless. If it was picked up by a TV however, the macrovision signal would be ignored. The same principle applies to DVD.
Although I have not yet a LCD panel to work with, I'm sure the same principle applies and some LCD panels are like a VCR in that they are affected.
How to get rid of Macrovision.
Although originally thought of as the device to end piracy, this was not to be. As people who had no intentions in piracy were screwed, as Macrovision can also effect video when directly plugged into a television. So because of this, many people set out to kill Macrovision thus spawning many methods.
Years ago I came across a device called a Video Mate which eliminated macrovision. It was on sale for $150AUD and so I picked one up. This worked very well and eliminated all macrovision in DVD and VHS. However with my new DVD player and 2-head VCR (6-head broke) it worked when I was merley watching a DVD through the VCR but not if I tried to record.
There are also many other devices available online such as the DVD Video Decoder which is available for $39USD at http://www.qksrv.net/click-702087-5679252 or the SIMA Video Copy Master available for $45USD at http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?1cache+G5HEBC+index.html. There are more methods listed at http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/articles/macrovision_general.html if anyone would like further information.
If anyone has any more methods not listed than please add them. Otherwise there is more information on Macrovision at http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/articles/macrovision.html .
If anyone has tried any of these devices with an LCD then please post your thoughts on how it worked. For my DVD-VCR it worked perfectly with playback.
Hope this helped anyone (and wasn't too long).