Posted by evieg on 11/23/05 02:46

I have a rather strange setup because I still have an analog camcorder -
a Sony Hi8 - tried a Digital Sony and found I did not like the quality of
the videos so I returned it. I guess it is a film/tape vs digital
preference. S-video not that much less than digital.

Anyway - I am configured as follows. CATV-in to a Toshiba 4-Head VCR -
Line 1 composite-out to a Kworld Mpeg2 TV Card. ATI Radeon S-video out
to TEAC 4-Head VCR. CATV-out to a Dell LCD 16x9 monitor from the
Toshiba. S-video in to the Kworld from the Sony. Composite-out from the
TEAC to line 2 composite-in on the Toshiba. In effect I create a loop,
so whatever is seen on the screen can be seen on the VCR's.

Been slow to adopt DVD's as mainly edit analog and send it out to
videotape. I just send my work to my family and believe me - not even
everyone of them have a VCR - let alone a computer or DVD-player for
their TV.

But the reason I am writing is that I purchased a standalone DVD player
today and hooked it up to Line 1 composite-in of the Toshiba so that it
plays on the computer using WinDVR and of course the Toshiba can record a
VHS tape while it is playing.

Did not have any DVD's so I bought a few for a buck each at a "Everything
a Dollar Store" and I have had no problem using WinDVR to record the
DVD's in real-time. The DVD player also has S-video out so I could
connect that to my TV-Card instead of the composite direct and I am
guessing it would be better quality like my Sony is when using S-video
instead of composite.

My question is that I have read about Macrovision and the like - would I
have any problems using my setup to record anything I would desire? The
DVD's I purchased did not have Macrovision protection - but even if it
did - I would think it would still play and so I could record it as a DVD
in WinDVR as it played.

Sounds silly - but there used to be a feature on commercial VHS tapes so
one could not dub from a VCR to a VCR and was just wondering about
Macrovision and how it might work in my setup.

thanks -

any answer appreciated

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