Forum
Can anyone help me with this problem?
I'm trying to transfer one of my relative's vhs tapes to dvd via dvd recorder, and here is my problem. The tape I'm trying to transfer is an official release and when I pressed record, a message appeared and said "This program is copy-inhibited and cannot be recorded." Has anyone had this problem before, and have you figured out how to get around the message?
It's not a problem; it's a copy protection scheme. It's called Macrovision. Designed basically to prevent you from doing exactly what you're doing. The only known workaround is hardware based. ie: you need to buy something. There's devices that just remove Macrovision, there's also a device called a color correction box, which fixes the color, but also removes Macrovision and allows the tape to be copied.
Exactly what BJ888 said, Doc. The Rovi (formerly Macrovision)system is a pain in the arse and renders even some legal releases unplayable, depending on your systems set-up. If your VHS tape was made or imported after '02, then it has inbuilt auto gain control which does nothing but confuse the shit out of your VHS system. There are a few things available for a price, but if it's only one tape, you'd be better off hunting for the DVD, if available. Sony tried this shit with their XCP CD's too. (The old school way around it was to physically colour in the strips containing the offending codes with a magic marker!!). Try CloneDVD2 or DVDFab decrypter. FixVTS is free.
BJ888: That is some good advice. How much is the Macro? Also thanks for the tip about color correction, but color is no problem when I'm transferring VHS to DVD. What I use is a VHS/DVD-R. calli: The tape I was trying to transfer was made in before '02. Also, this tape has no DVD release so that means I'm screwed, at least for now. For now, I'll just focus on other tapes that need DVD conversions, i.e., home movies and other non-copy-protected shit like that. Thanks again, guys!