painless methods to remove macrovision?
04-29-02, 03:59 PM
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painless methods to remove macrovision?
So my Sampo 620 is dieing, thanks to that bad DVD drive that the unit shipped with. Sick of discs freaking out on me, it's time to upgrade to the Malata. The only thing holding me back however is the macrovision encoding - as far as I know there is no way to disable that. And of course after sinking thousands of dollars into my theater setup, having something generated by my player that degrades the signal is unacceptable.
So - is there a quick and easy way to remove the macrovision? I know I could get a by-pass chip, but I'd rather not open the unit and do that - some kind of filter on the cables or somthing would be ideal. Something like a time base corrector, but cheaper and smaller.
Thoughts?
So - is there a quick and easy way to remove the macrovision? I know I could get a by-pass chip, but I'd rather not open the unit and do that - some kind of filter on the cables or somthing would be ideal. Something like a time base corrector, but cheaper and smaller.
Thoughts?
04-29-02, 04:09 PM
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Sima has a Copymaster II (edit: actually, that should be the SCC) that should do it but I have a hard time seeing how putting the signal through even more processing is going to improve it. If there isn't another agenda here (like recording on tape) I'd be interested to know the bad effects you've noticed with macrovision?
04-29-02, 05:07 PM
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Thats the thing - the Sampo 620 player I've been using is macrovision free, so I havent seen this first hand. I've only heard about the problem from other sources.
Ok, I'll open the question up wider: does macrovision cause the signal to suffer, Or am I just the target of misinformation?
As far as hidden agenda goes - I dont even have a VCR, so that would make copying discs kind of tough. But even if I did, the extent of my copying would be droping a disc to tape so I could haul it along to watch at a DVD impared friends house.
Ok, I'll open the question up wider: does macrovision cause the signal to suffer, Or am I just the target of misinformation?
As far as hidden agenda goes - I dont even have a VCR, so that would make copying discs kind of tough. But even if I did, the extent of my copying would be droping a disc to tape so I could haul it along to watch at a DVD impared friends house.
04-29-02, 05:13 PM
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Macrovision is on the software, not the hardware.
It does nothing to degrade the signal unless you have the DVD player hooked through the VCR, then it thinks you may be trying to record it and enables macrovision.
It does nothing to degrade the signal unless you have the DVD player hooked through the VCR, then it thinks you may be trying to record it and enables macrovision.
04-29-02, 05:44 PM
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Macrovision, as it is enabled on DVD, will do nothing to degrade the video signal. It's simply a flag that triggers circuitry in the VCR. Sima's best anti-Macrovision device, the SCC, is good, but it will still degrade the picture slightly from running the signal straight to the TV.
That said, the non-progressive scan Malata DVD-N960 is Macrovision disabled. If you don't have a progressive-capable TV, this might be your best bet.
That said, the non-progressive scan Malata DVD-N960 is Macrovision disabled. If you don't have a progressive-capable TV, this might be your best bet.
Last edited by Mr. Salty; 04-29-02 at 05:46 PM.
05-01-02, 01:40 PM
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Originally posted by jumbojp
Macrovision is on the software, not the hardware.
Macrovision is on the software, not the hardware.
As far as screwing with the picture quality: If you have a good TV, it shouldn't cause any problems whatsoever. Most people make a big deal out of this because it potentially could happen, not because it does (just like many audio purists rail against mp3 because you could be missing audible frequencies, not necessarily because you are).
05-03-02, 06:38 AM
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A lot of the Apex's and other cheap ones you can disable macrovision with a firmware upgrade
www.nerd-out.com lots of info on that kind of stuff
www.nerd-out.com lots of info on that kind of stuff
05-08-02, 10:40 PM
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There is a way you can jumper out the chip that does the macrovision, many sites on the internet will give you the parts and detailed instructions for about ten us dollars or so.
If you have a 30 dollar soldering iron, some solder, and a small tube of flux you can have the entire operation completed in less than a half hour. There is little chance of damaging your dvd player, just put the connections in the right place and dont touch anything with the business end of the solder iron that should not be touched.
If all that seems like too much trouble look for a player that can be 'hacked' with a bios upgrade. Almost all computer dvd players can be upgraded in that way and I belive some stand alone units can too if you create a boot vcd with the proper software.
You should be able to find everything you need from any internet search engine and a few choice keywords.
-K
If you have a 30 dollar soldering iron, some solder, and a small tube of flux you can have the entire operation completed in less than a half hour. There is little chance of damaging your dvd player, just put the connections in the right place and dont touch anything with the business end of the solder iron that should not be touched.
If all that seems like too much trouble look for a player that can be 'hacked' with a bios upgrade. Almost all computer dvd players can be upgraded in that way and I belive some stand alone units can too if you create a boot vcd with the proper software.
You should be able to find everything you need from any internet search engine and a few choice keywords.
-K
05-13-02, 04:35 PM
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Originally posted by X
Sima has a Copymaster II (edit: actually, that should be the SCC) that should do it but I have a hard time seeing how putting the signal through even more processing is going to improve it. If there isn't another agenda here (like recording on tape) I'd be interested to know the bad effects you've noticed with macrovision?
Sima has a Copymaster II (edit: actually, that should be the SCC) that should do it but I have a hard time seeing how putting the signal through even more processing is going to improve it. If there isn't another agenda here (like recording on tape) I'd be interested to know the bad effects you've noticed with macrovision?
jr
05-14-02, 01:45 PM
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It does nothing to degrade the signal unless you have the DVD player hooked through the VCR, then it thinks you may be trying to record it and enables macrovision.
I believe that the signal output by a computer video card is Macrovi$ion-free - therefore a home theater PC might be the answer to the problem here.
RD
