Originally Posted by bagold
Now I tried to record and it says the input is copy protected. We have a bunch of legit VHS tapes that we are trying to convert to DVD and throw away the VHS tapes. Any thoughts on how to get around the copy protection?
As
nmenaker noted, the DVD Recorders will not work if they receive a Macrovision-encrypted signal.
So, as
steve100 noted, you need to get a device that will strip the Macrovision signal from the VHS tape before the signal gets to the DVD Recorder so the DVD Recorder assumes it is receiving an un-protected source.
The devices probably run afoul of some anti-piracy/copyright act or another, but if you own the original content and it is not available on DVD yet, I don't see a problem. I recorded my LD of "Shoes of the Fisherman" to DVD+R because it is not yet available (I am hoping now that Sony bought MGM for their film library, both "Shoes" and "The Wind and the Lion" will quickly be released to DVD). Same with the "Mk I" releases of the Star Wars trilogy, since they will never be released on DVD.
Oddly enough, ßeta decks ignored Macrovision, even though they did encode the signal. So I could make ßeta copies of Macrovision-encypted VHS tapes with no issue, but my DVD Recorder barfed when I tried to record the ßeta copy since the signal was still there.