Converting VHS to DVD

[ZenMeister]

I have several VHS movies that I purchased YEARS ago and I would like to convert them to DVD using my DVD/VHS combo recorder. Many are copyright protected but I simply want to preserve them better. How do I get past the copyright protection? I'm a first time visitor to the forum so bear with me if this question seems elementary to you. Thanks.

[drfsupercenter]

Two options. One, buy one of those machines that copies a VHS tape and removes protection. Two, buy a video capture card, like I did, and it will not care about protection. I reccomend the Dazzle DVC-90 card, which is around $80 at most stores. It has great quality, but slow burning time. Still a great program though.

[moonrocks]

Well, the combo VHS/DVD recorder won't let you backup copy protected VHS tapes to DVD. What I do is capture the VHS tape to my hard drive then burn it to DVD.

For video capture I'd be hesitant about using a USB device. The speed of a USB port just isn't what you'd want for video capture. You'll probably be dealing with dropped frames as well as other issues.

A PCI card that uses hardware encoding would be better. Hauppauge has some nice cards like the PVR-150/250 series. I'd recommend the 250 but if money is an issue the 150 can be found for around $50-$60. It captures straight to mpeg2, uses harware encoding and gives very decent captures. I use one to convert old VHS tapes to DVD and it does a great job.

If you're willing to spend a bit more, say $300 or so, the Canopus ADVC-100 is a good choice too. It's an external box and does very high quality analog to digital conversions.

If you're going to be converting commercial VHS tapes to DVD I'd stay away from the ATI cards because they do support Macrovision and they won't be able to capture copy protected tapes. Both the Hauppauge cards and the Canopus ADVC-100 will defeat Macrovision.

http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_pvr150.html

http://www.canopus.us/US/products/ADVC-100/pm_advc-100.asp

[jm1647]

I have a standalone DVD Recorder that I used to backup all my aging VHS tapes, including Disney VHS tapes that always use the MV protection, straight to DVD with a menu and chapter intervals (but no little icons for the chapters). I have put 2 full length VHS movies on a single DVD with no noticeable loss of picture quality. I packed up all the VHS tapes and stored them, and now have pelnty of room in the old entertainment center. There are models out there that can do it. Do a search.

[ZenMeister]

What are the recorder models that will defeat MV? Thanks.

[Floppy]

Quite a few months back I purchased a Leadtek Winfast PVR2000 to add to my PC...

I have converted all my VHS collection to DVD and That was 200 tittles alone...

Take a look at what it does... (spectacular)

Winfast PVR2000

[drfsupercenter]

For video capture I'd be hesitant about using a USB device. The speed of a USB port just isn't what you'd want for video capture. You'll probably be dealing with dropped frames as well as other issues.

Not much of a problem for USB 2.0 and Windows XP. If you do not mind USB, get the Dazzle DVC90, for it is cheap for a video capture device ($80 street) and has excellent quality - 720x480 uncompressed, or you can compress it, saving space and reducing quality. The included software, Pinnacle Studio 9, will burn to DVD too. It defeats Macrovision, as the VCR or whatever cannot see the computer as "recording" because what it does is play it back like on a TV and record at the same time. Thus it cannot detect Macrovision or any sort of protection. You can even capture a DVD if you wanted to!

[jm1647]

What are the recorder models that will defeat MV? Thanks.

Most of the LiteOn's with a hack. I have a 5005 that works great. I also use it to do my DVD's that have errors while trying to back up but play good.

[ZenMeister]

Anyone had any recent experience with "DVD Red Pro" from DIMAX? It is designed to defeat MV without touching the original video signal.

[drfsupercenter]

No idea.

I just use my capture card, so I have no ide.

[james_p]

Same story here. I can do them but I need to use windows xp. Which I kind of dont like.... Also Each video takes so much HDD room I can only do 1 at a time, It takes about 6 hours in total (converting to standard video then again to dvd) And some movies have lag, ie mouths move then the speach. Dont let this put you off, as my equiptment is old. These days I use a friends DVD recorder. Though the problems are still there, the major ones being Macrovision, and The disks you make cant be backed up (as posted on forum)