#243925 - 12/12/2004 19:51
Silly DVD, video TV connection question
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pooh-bah
Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2489
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My dad doesn't have the greatest home cinema set up in the world - a TV and an old video recorder! I'm thinking of getting him a cheapish DVD player for Christmas (Pioneer DV370).
Thing is, its only got one SCART socket, as does the TV. The video has 2. Can I set the 3 up in such a way that he won't need to start unplugging things every time he changes from a DVD to a video?
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#243926 - 12/12/2004 20:49
Re: Silly DVD, video TV connection question
[Re: CrackersMcCheese]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Buy a SCART switching box or wire the DVD into the aux input on the VCR which is then connected to the TV. You might have issues with Macrovision though if you do this and it's a bit of hassle.
Can he not use the VCR via RF? That would free up the single SCART on the TV.
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#243927 - 12/12/2004 20:55
Re: Silly DVD, video TV connection question
[Re: CrackersMcCheese]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
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SCART switches are cheap 
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#243928 - 12/12/2004 21:19
Re: Silly DVD, video TV connection question
[Re: bonzi]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Maplin do one for £9.99 ex P&P. Might need another cable to connect from the switch box to the TV though so add another couple of £.
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#243929 - 12/12/2004 21:22
Re: Silly DVD, video TV connection question
[Re: tman]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2489
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Course! I forgot about that option. Cheers 
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#243930 - 13/12/2004 03:56
Re: Silly DVD, video TV connection question
[Re: CrackersMcCheese]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Dunno about SCART connections, but in the US, the usual way to do this is a daisy-chain setup. Like so:
DVD-> Videotape player-> TV
The videotape player should have a video input for recording and a video output for going to the TV.
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#243931 - 13/12/2004 05:33
Re: Silly DVD, video TV connection question
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
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Quote:
DVD-> Videotape player-> TV
The videotape player should have a video input for recording and a video output for going to the TV.
And because of that recording, most people have problems with this setup due to macrovision kicking in and making things all weird with the brightness going up and down. All depends on the VCR though, as some are smart enough only to turn on the macrovision receiving stuff when recording.
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#243933 - 13/12/2004 15:37
Re: Silly DVD, video TV connection question
[Re: drakino]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
most people have problems with this setup due to macrovision kicking in
Macrovision only kicks in for s-video and composite connections. RF connections don't have the macrovision, so if the DVD player has an RF output (some do) and the VCR has an RF input (I think they all do), you're OK.
Dunno about Scart connections, though, which is what this thread was about.
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#243934 - 13/12/2004 16:25
Re: Silly DVD, video TV connection question
[Re: tfabris]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 25/08/2000
Posts: 2413
Loc: NH USA
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Well, it doesn't answer the Macrovision question, there's a good reference for the connector & signals here (waring: .pdf file). I'd never seen an SCART connector, so I googled it for my own edification. -Zeke
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#243935 - 13/12/2004 16:44
Re: Silly DVD, video TV connection question
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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RF connections are definitely susceptible to Macrovision copy protection (in the case of VHS -> VHS at least). It is possible that plugging your DVD player into an RF modulator would work since there are many old VHS decks that don't get affected by Macrovision for whatever reason. Every Betamax deck I've ever come across also doesn't care about Macrovision. So, just use a nice, huge Betamax deck as an RF modulator and you're good to go. 
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80GB 16MB MK2 090000736
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#243936 - 13/12/2004 16:49
Re: Silly DVD, video TV connection question
[Re: robricc]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
RF connections are definitely susceptible to Macrovision copy protection (in the case of VHS -> VHS at least).
I guess it depends on the deck, then. I've had decks where using the Composite connector produced macrovision and the RF connector did not.
Of course, I've also got a composite macrovision-killer box, too, those are common and not too expensive.
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#243937 - 13/12/2004 16:52
Re: Silly DVD, video TV connection question
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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Yeah, Macrovision probably isn't perfected enough to work on every deck since the 70s. I just remember trying to copy Terminator 2 between two VHS decks connected via RF in/outs not working.
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80GB 16MB MK2 090000736
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#243938 - 13/12/2004 17:19
Re: Silly DVD, video TV connection question
[Re: tfabris]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
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Quote:
Dunno about Scart connections, though, which is what this thread was about.
SCART more or less just neatly packages bi-directional composite, S-video and/or component video (so, for the purpose of Macrovisioning the signal, it's the same as 'American' connectivity). Neat additional features include communication between the TV and recorder, so that they can, say, copy channel setup.
A brief non-pdf description here.
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#243939 - 13/12/2004 17:42
Re: Silly DVD, video TV connection question
[Re: robricc]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Quote:
Macrovision probably isn't perfected enough to work on every deck since the 70s
In fact, it relies on some technology that was introduced after the 70s. Most, if not all, ancient VCRs won't be affected by Macrovision at all. The way it works is that it fakes out the automatic video gain control on the VCR into thinking that the picture is oscillating between being really light and dark by injecting lots of noise into parts of the signal that you don't actually watch. The AGC circuitry is really stupid and just tests the whole signal instead of just the video frame. Old VCRs didn't even have that rudimentary gain control circuitry, so they're unaffected, but they do pass the Macrovision signal on; they don't strip it. Of course, now we can't progress with better gain controls because the VCR industry doesn't want to piss off Macrovision, and, by extension, the movie industry.
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