bionicDots

i'm using a sony 530 dvd player with a <sigh> old television set and i'm running into some massive copy protection problems in an attempt to watch 95% of the movies out there. i originally had it routed through my vcr, which worked fine for any gaming system, but [ as all of YOU know ] naturally scrambled all three of my movies: ALIEN, BLADE RUNNER, & HAPPINESS.

i spend the next week tracking down an RF modulator, which i finally find. i pop in happiness and it works fine. HOWEVER, the same %$#@ persisted with alien, blade runner, south park, and easy rider.... a clear as day fbi warning followed by a horrifying, pixellated, audio jumbled mess once chapter one begins.

is this some new advanced form of protection that won't even allow the signal to be converted PERIOD? or is it a fault of my sony dvd player which i should consider taking back? OR <gulp>, am i completely trapped into buying a NEW television?

if anybody out there is sucessfully using a RF modulator [or vice versa] with a sony 530 i would love to hear your experiences and figure out what i am in for.

i REALLY appreciate any insights you all might have, to call this whole fiasco dissapointing is an understatement and a half

cheers,
patrick james lavin

mugwump

What type of RF Modulator did you buy? I've never heard of the powered RadioShack model not working. RF Modulators designed for game systems almost never work. If it doesn't have it's own power source, it probably isn't going to work.

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Mugwump's DVDs

bionicDots

It is not a radio shack model, i found it at a high end video production facility and it does plug in.... looks like i'm in bad shape, huh?

d-rell

That is strange that your VCR scrambled the movies. For about six months I used a TV with only a coax input and I ran my DVD player through my VCR. I never had any problems with scrambling and the picture was as good as you can get with composite input. ---I did try to record to tape once, and that was scrambled---. I wonder if it has anything to do with the VCR (brand, model year, etc.).

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"...that chewing gum you like is going to come back in style"

mugwump

d-rell,

Yes, the VCR's make and model year determine whether or not it will have Macrovision enabled. Many from the late 80s and early 90s don't have it.

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Mugwump's DVDs

DigIt

Those symptoms should have absolutely nothing to do with Macrovision. Whatever the problem, it is not with the demodulator. Pixellation and jumbled audio is a player problem. Any way to test your setup with a different DVD player?

d-rell

Mugwump,
My VCR is a RCA I bought brand new last year, and like I said, when I tried to record to tape it was scrambled, but for normal viewing, it was fine. If it matters, my DVD player is a Toshiba 2109. I also don't know if this would matter, but I did run video to my receiver first and then to my VCR.

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"...that chewing gum you like is going to come back in style"

bionicDots

i'm seriously thinking i purchased a faulty unit after receiving your insights... one more point to add: when i plug in the audio cable into my stereo and leave the video unplugged, i still am receiving garbled audio with 95% of the dvd's i try. now, unless i am to believe that the audio and video need to be plugged into the SAME input [ie the television only], which seems pretty crazy since i would be splitting my audio signal and thus reducing the quality, it seems like i should take the unit back.... any ideas? it just seems funny that the fbi warning comes up clear as day and SOME dvd's [well, two to be precise] work all the time.