How to I copy DVD from PC to VHS?

[serzone]

I have a DVD movie that I'd like to copy to a VHS tape so that I can watch it on my main tv. The DVD player is in my computer - not attached to the tv (hence I'm currently only able to watch movies on the PC).

I have a Hauppauge TV card with RCA video and audio out - no S-Video. The DVD player is a 6x. The PC is a P3 800 Mhz, 256 MB Ram, 45 Gb HD running Windows Me and Windows 2000.

I'll hook the VCR up close to the PC for this purpose. Any idea how I can get the picture and sound out from the PC to the VHS recorder???

I'm pretty sure I'm not breaking any laws here as I own the DVD and just want to watch it on my tv, from the VHS. Not sure if the DVD has any protection built in.

Any help much appreciated. THANKS!

 

[office boy]

Your player has audio and video outs, your VCR had audio and video ins. doesn?t sound like rocket science.

 

[serzone]

No - the TV card has the outs. This is not a TV capture card either.

I'm not sure that the output from that card is going to be the DVD that is playing or not? Do you know?

I guess I could just try it, but before schleping everything down to the basement I thought I'd try and get some feedback.

 

[office boy]

Your video card have any video outputs?

 

[nightowl]

I am not sure if this holds true for DVDs played on PCs, but DVDs do have copy protection that degrades the quality of the picture when the signal is run through recording hardware. Unless you have software to defeat this the picture may be worse than you care to watch on the tape. I believe that you can copy the DVD to the tape legally but at the cost of picture degradation.

 

[hungrypete]

DVDs DO have protection built in. You'll have to get some sort of decoder, there are some software I beleive, and I know there are hardware decoders that will do it. These are in a grey area as far as legality goes, and technically I beleive ANY reproduction of a DVD is illegal, even though there is that home use law, the industry squeezed through some badly worded laws that say you can't reproduce DVD for any purpose, and they mad it very hard to do. that's why MPEG4 is a somewhat touchy subject in some places. Search the web, and you'll find a step by step for any kind of digital reproduction you can imagine.
<edit>
I have watched VHS tapes recorded from decoded DVD and the picture/sound is as good as your VCR recording it. Can't hold a candle to the DVD but it's perfectly acceptable.
</edit>

 

[NutBucket]

If you have a good stand-alone decoder, DXR3, DXR2, H+, etc., Remote Selector can be used to disable the macrovision that copyprotects DVDs. Works great, especially with a SVHS VCR.

 

[serzone]

I did a search around some DVD sites and found a tool called decss that supposedly removes the copyright protection. However, that is not my issue. I looked at the TV card and it has video in, not video out. So basically, there's no way I'm going to get any signal out of this guy when playing DVDs on the PC.

I'm currently using the built-in Video on my motherboard. I also have a Banshee voodoo 2 card that I've used in the past. Neither of these, however have video out.

Can anyone recommend a card that will give me the video out capability? I don't need a fully-fledged tv/studio card, just something with RCA outputs that hopefully will enable me to port out the DVD as it plays on my DVD-Rom on the PC.

Again, I really appreciate your help. I also want to stress that this is for a DVD that I own and just want to be able to play a copy of on my VCR. It seems crazy to have to buy another copy of the movie on VHS, or worse yet, buy a DVD-Player to hook up to my tv when I already have the capability to play the darn thing on my PC.

 

[office boy]

ViperII has S-video and RCA video output, and can be gotten quite cheaply. (but you need AGP slots)
Otherwise a PCI voodoo3 or ATI all-in-wonder might be the ticket.

 

[serzone]

office boy

thanks for the info. i remembered seeing the viper II in techbargains and picked one up from outpost for $40 after rebate. it said not in stock, but still took the order - so, fingers crossed.

i read the reviews at epinions and checked w2k drivers are certified - checked out okay. the performance of this card sounds awesome, plus it has the outs like you said.

thanks again!

 

[Deceiver]

Do any of these methods of getting passed the Macrovision work in Win2k? I used to use version of a software decoder in Win98 that didn't have the Macrovision built in, so i could output to my vcr, which goes to my tv. Since I have switched to Win2k, I can't use this method because I don't think this program works under 2k. I also need to find out if my SP/DIF out works in 2k (don't know if the driver support is there). I have an SonicVortex2. It worked fine in 98 and is awesome for 5.1 theater sound.

 

[CandyKid]

no no no... get a scan convertor.. It's a stand alone device that takes your vga singnal and converts it to a tv signal. You'll get better video out then you would with a video card tv out feature.

here are some links you can get one off staples by pricematching it with buy.com for 65 dollars but you'll never have to worry about needing a video card with tv out again...

Aver key imicro website

Something to look into search for scan convertor on the forums.

 

[Deceiver]

oh, another thing that can be used is an RF modulator, which converts the rca video/sound into coax which can be run to the tv. i've used it a couple of times, but i prefer my old method under 98

 

[serzone]

CandyKid - not seeing the AVERKEY IMICRO on buy.com. Also, Staples.com is down right now. Know any other good place to pick one up? Wounldn't mind reading a few reviews too. So this is a device that takes the monitor signal? How about sound - does it have audio input/output also? Sounds pretty cool. Thanks for the head's up.

 

[serzone]

Candykid...

I'm assuming that the AverKey Micro has audio in/out capabilities too? Not much point watching a DVD with no sound unless it was a silent movie. The AverKey website doesn't cover this important point either.

 

[Workin']

Nope - no sound. But so what? Just run a cable from your sound card output to an open input on your TV or stereo.

In your case I would definitely go with a scan converter instead of any other solution. Then you will have no Macrovision headaches or other odd problems. Plus you will have TV-out capabilities no matter what video card you use, now and forever.

 

[beat mania]

Is there any specific reason why you want to buy a new vidocard with tvout/scan converter and record to vcr to play on tv when you can just pick up a DVD player for < $100?

 

[serzone]

<< Is there any specific reason why you want to buy a new vidocard with tvout/scan converter and record to vcr to play on tv when you can just pick up a DVD player for < $100? >>



- obstinance

 

[vailman]

If your in the market for a new video card (sounds like you should be) I recommend the Matrox G400 max Dual head. The second head can outout to a monitor or a TV. I've transfered a DVD to VHS using this method and it came out perfect and it was extremely easiy to setup - no problems with copy protection. The card is a little pricey but the features speak for themself: fantastic 2D/3D quality, 2 monitors=stretched desktop, and you can output the DVD video to your TV and still use your computer for other things while the video is playing!

 

[serzone]

Dual head way too expensive for me. The cheapest OEM I saw on pricewatch was over $150! Here's what I've been up to:

ATI TV Wonder
============

Staples Price $123.49
Staples coupon $25.00 -
Egghead price $63.99
Pricematch $59.50

Final Price $34.50


AverKey Micro
=============

Staples Price $159.99 (what a rip-off - retail is only $100. Clowns!)
Outpost price $89.95 (free shipping)
Pricematch $70.04 -
Staples coupon $30.00 -

Final Price $40.04

I'll keep whichever one works the best (probobly the AverKey judging by ATI's crap w2k drivers...)

 

[LarryJoe]

First off I scanned through this thread quickly so I hope I am not repeating anything. Forget about your TV card here, even if it had video out, it has nothing to do with outputting the DVD signal. The TV card is an analog device meant for overlaying television and composite inputs. That said, you basically need a source of composite or s-video out and it appears that you do not have a video card capable of this and you do not have a Hollywood+ or similar mpeg decoder. Forget about updgrading your video card to one with video out, they all have poor quality video out. If you must do this, get yourself a Hollywood+, as this is about the only good use for a hardware decoder in modern, fast, PC's. The video out and audio out are fantastic to a TV, VCR etc. DVD's are encoded with a macrovision-like encryption that can easily be defeated through hardware or sofware if that is what you are into.

My personal opinion here - go out and buy the freakin VHS version of the DVD you are talking about or spend $100 on a cheapo set top DVD player or $200 on a good one.

LJ

 

[Workin']

<< Forget about updgrading your video card to one with video out, they all have poor quality video out. >>

I wouldn't go quite that far. The S-video TV-out of my ATi Rage Fury Pro is comparable to my Toshiba set-top DVD player on my 35&quot; TV and certainly far, far better than VHS. And the set-top DVD player sucks for playing 35 inches of Quake 3!

From what I've seen, the people who moan about poor TV-out quality are typically unaware of the fact that there are different decoder chips on the market. Some are better than others. If it says Brooktree, then it likely is inferior. Also, many of the things people complain about are the result of them not knowing their TV has brightness, contrast, and color controls that make a huge difference in how things look.

 

[LarryJoe]

A dedicated decoder card like the Hollywood will blow away any video card's video out in terms of quality. That is the route serzone should take here to achieve outputting DVD from the PC to the TV.

LJ

 

[Workin']

Well, I agree with LarryJoe that if all you want to do is watch DVD's on your TV, then just get a set-top DVD player. Don't even bother screwing around with using your PC to play DVD's on the TV. Hollywood+ is too limited in its capabilities to be much fun (i.e., it will output ONLY DVD to your TV, not your desktop or games, etc.).

HOWEVER, if you want to play PC games on your TV or watch Divx movies or VCD's, then you need a scan converter or video card with TV-out.

 

[LarryJoe]

Workin - How is the quality of gaming on a TV with your ATI? I did rig my living room TV up a while back with my old TNT2U and found that it wasn't worth the effort. DVD didn't look that great either, so I bought a set top player. DVD still looks best on the PC with a high resolution monitor. Man, I can't wait to get an HDTV!

LJ