XMS888 & Macrovision

[choor]

Hi guys,

A friend of mine wants to buy the xms888, except he has one of those old sh*tty tvs that he needs to connect the dvd player through the vcr to get it to work. However, if from macrovision is enabled I doubt if that would work. Anyone here know if macrovision is enabled on the XMS888, and if so - is there a way to disable it?

[jokiin]

Originally Posted by choor

Hi guys,

A friend of mine wants to buy the xms888, except he has one of those old sh*tty tvs that he needs to connect the dvd player through the vcr to get it to work. However, if from macrovision is enabled I doubt if that would work. Anyone here know if macrovision is enabled on the XMS888, and if so - is there a way to disable it?

You won't be able to disable macrovision on this player, at the moment there are very few players on the market that are macro free so he won't have a lot of choice. If you buy a video stabiliser from Jaycar you can use it with a macro enabled player without a problem, but you will need to factor in the extra $70 into the purchase. Maybe it's time to start thinking about a new TV?

[Tal Shiar]

I have been running mine through a VCR, no probems. I ran out of AV inputs on my tv..... works perfectly fine. I don't think they have Macrovision.

[jokiin]

Originally Posted by Tal Shiar

I have been running mine through a VCR, no probems. I ran out of AV inputs on my tv..... works perfectly fine. I don't think they have Macrovision.

They do have macrovision, have you tried recording? Some vcr's aren't affected by macrovision although this is very rare. Depending on the player some will allow playback via a vcr, but not recording, while others won't even play through a vcr.

[andw]

Originally Posted by jok11n

They do have macrovision, have you tried recording? Some vcr's aren't affected by macrovision although this is very rare. Depending on the player some will allow playback via a vcr, but not recording, while others won't even play through a vcr.

I agree with jok11n, there appears to be 3 (or more) ways that VCR manufacturers handle the macrovision coming into their VCR's.
1. Any macrovision signal going thru the VCR will be mushed up. - picture to the TV (and tape) will always be bad if the source has macrovision.
2. The signal going thru the VCR will be mushed up only when record is pressed. - picture to the TV (and tape) will be bad only if you try to record it.
3. Only the signal going to the VCR's tape will be mushed up. - picture to the TV will be fine at all times, but picture to the tape will be bad.
The third method is what my VCR does.
Some manufacturers use the 1st scenario, which means you can't use the VCR as a pass thru for a DVD player.
Some are a bit better, and use the 2nd or 3rd scenario, which is a much better solution, as then you can use the VCR to pass a DVD signal thru them.

[davidf]

Originally Posted by Tal Shiar

I have been running mine through a VCR, no probems. I ran out of AV inputs on my tv..... works perfectly fine. I don't think they have Macrovision.

Most VCR's are AV pass through, if you tried going thru the RF modulator on your VCR to the TV you would see the macro-vision. I think that when someone mentions an 'old' tv they mean one that is missing AV inputs, therefore requiring a VCR to change the AV signal to an RF one

[andw]

Yes davidf, I think you are right about that.
My VCR passes the signal to a RF signal without macrovision affecting it.
The only mangled signal is what goes to the tape. (everything looks fine until you try and play it back off of the tape)

[lunchbox99]

Originally Posted by andw

My VCR passes the signal to a RF signal without macrovision affecting it.The only mangled signal is what goes to the tape. (everything looks fine until you try and play it back off of the tape)

What vcr do you own? I suffer this annoying problem even though I have no intention of copying to video. My vcr (panasonic) mangles the picture at all times. Just curious...

[andw]

It's an Akai VS-J700, 6 head HiFi, cost $350 when that was really really cheap for a 6 head HiFi.
I can't see the point in copying DVD to tape, and only ever tried it to see what all the fuss was about.
I was quite amazed that the only time macrovision affected the signal on this VCR, was when it went to tape. Otherwise it is happy to pass the signal through, on both RF and AV.