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Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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#1
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TV picture from DVD fades in and out??
The TV in out teen agers's playroom has only an RF input and the kids have a commodity grade VCR and an entry level DVD hooked up to it. The RF output from the VCR feeds the input of the TV, and the DVD's video and audio outputs are connected to the corrosponding inputs on the VCR. All's well when playing video tapes on the VCR, but when playing a DVD the TV image "fades" or changes contrast slowly with a cycle time of about 20 seconds. Not badly enough to make you miss anything on the screen, but it's noticably annoying. I wrote it off as being some weird kind of incompatibility anomaly, and since I don't have to watch DVDs in that room I didn't bother trying to eliminate the problem. Yesterday I was at a friend's home who had a similar setup, but with different brands of equipment and his TV image faded in an out the same as ours when he tried to show me a scene on a DVD. That got me wondering if that fading effect is a "well known problem" and if it is, what's the easiest way to get things working "normally". Thanks guys, Jeff -- Jeffry Wisnia (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE) "Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented." |
#2
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TV picture from DVD fades in and out??
Jeff Wisnia wrote:
The TV in out teen agers's playroom has only an RF input and the kids have a commodity grade VCR and an entry level DVD hooked up to it. The RF output from the VCR feeds the input of the TV, and the DVD's video and audio outputs are connected to the corrosponding inputs on the VCR. All's well when playing video tapes on the VCR, but when playing a DVD the TV image "fades" or changes contrast slowly with a cycle time of about 20 seconds. Not badly enough to make you miss anything on the screen, but it's noticably annoying. I wrote it off as being some weird kind of incompatibility anomaly, and since I don't have to watch DVDs in that room I didn't bother trying to eliminate the problem. Yesterday I was at a friend's home who had a similar setup, but with different brands of equipment and his TV image faded in an out the same as ours when he tried to show me a scene on a DVD. That got me wondering if that fading effect is a "well known problem" and if it is, what's the easiest way to get things working "normally". Thanks guys, Jeff That's from the Macrovision copy protection. You can get a little box that will remove it from the signal, or you can see if your DVD player is hackable to remove it. On my Apex it was a matter of getting into a hidden menu and turning the useless stuff off. |
#3
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TV picture from DVD fades in and out??
James Sweet wrote:
: That's from the Macrovision copy protection. You can get a little box : that will remove it from the signal, or you can see if your DVD player : is hackable to remove it. On my Apex it was a matter of getting into a : hidden menu and turning the useless stuff off. Agreed. You need to do a google search for "image stabilizer" and put one of them in the video line between the DVD player and the VCR. http://www.checkhere22.com/stabilizer.html is one such device. b. |
#4
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TV picture from DVD fades in and out??
For some reason, DVDs seem to like the VCR feeding into them, and the
DVD into the TeeWee. Try swapping the feeds. JR Jeff Wisnia wrote: The TV in out teen agers's playroom has only an RF input and the kids have a commodity grade VCR and an entry level DVD hooked up to it. The RF output from the VCR feeds the input of the TV, and the DVD's video and audio outputs are connected to the corrosponding inputs on the VCR. All's well when playing video tapes on the VCR, but when playing a DVD the TV image "fades" or changes contrast slowly with a cycle time of about 20 seconds. Not badly enough to make you miss anything on the screen, but it's noticably annoying. I wrote it off as being some weird kind of incompatibility anomaly, and since I don't have to watch DVDs in that room I didn't bother trying to eliminate the problem. Yesterday I was at a friend's home who had a similar setup, but with different brands of equipment and his TV image faded in an out the same as ours when he tried to show me a scene on a DVD. That got me wondering if that fading effect is a "well known problem" and if it is, what's the easiest way to get things working "normally". Thanks guys, Jeff -- -------------------------------------------------------------- Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth |
#6
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TV picture from DVD fades in and out??
JR North wrote:
For some reason, DVDs seem to like the VCR feeding into them, and the DVD into the TeeWee. Try swapping the feeds. JR He can't, there's no RF out of a DVD player. -- rgds LAurence ....RAM DISC is not an installation procedure |
#7
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TV picture from DVD fades in and out??
No wonder you had the problem. You cannot simply use a VCR as a
modulator for a DVD player due to the macrovision. |
#8
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TV picture from DVD fades in and out??
[This followup was posted to sci.electronics.repair and a copy was sent
to the cited author.] In article , says... The TV in out teen agers's playroom has only an RF input and the kids have a commodity grade VCR and an entry level DVD hooked up to it. The RF output from the VCR feeds the input of the TV, and the DVD's video and audio outputs are connected to the corrosponding inputs on the VCR. All's well when playing video tapes on the VCR, but when playing a DVD the TV image "fades" or changes contrast slowly with a cycle time of about 20 seconds. Not badly enough to make you miss anything on the screen, but it's noticably annoying. I wrote it off as being some weird kind of incompatibility anomaly, and since I don't have to watch DVDs in that room I didn't bother trying to eliminate the problem. Yesterday I was at a friend's home who had a similar setup, but with different brands of equipment and his TV image faded in an out the same as ours when he tried to show me a scene on a DVD. That got me wondering if that fading effect is a "well known problem" and if it is, what's the easiest way to get things working "normally". As others have mentioned, this is an artifact of the Macrovision copy protection. Not all VCR's will do this when in 'pass-thru' mode. My JVC will work fine, until you hit RECORD. There are some RF modulators out there that also have an A/B switch. You can feed the DVD through the modulator, with the VCR/antenna being switched. Alternately, just get a modulator and an RF switch. Both are real cheap. You just switch between the two inputs. -- If there is a no_junk in my address, please REMOVE it before replying! All junk mail senders will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!! http://home.att.net/~andyross |
#9
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TV picture from DVD fades in and out??
wrote in message oups.com... James Sweet wrote: : That's from the Macrovision copy protection. You can get a little box : that will remove it from the signal, or you can see if your DVD player : is hackable to remove it. On my Apex it was a matter of getting into a : hidden menu and turning the useless stuff off. Agreed. You need to do a google search for "image stabilizer" and put one of them in the video line between the DVD player and the VCR. http://www.checkhere22.com/stabilizer.html is one such device. Thank you very much for this link. I have 2 small TV/VCR combos whose AV inputs go directly to the internal VCR which sends the signal to the TV via passthrough mode which apparently includes that pesky AGC circuitry that makes it vulnerable to Macrovision. No way around it (other than tearing apart a densely packed clump of electronics in the hope of locating the input to the TV circuitry with no schematic. :-( I am (was) totally unfamiliar with Macrovision video copy protection because I've never copied a commercial tape. I though this cyclical problem was some kind of "beat frequency" interaction between oscillators in the VCR and DVD player. The Radio Shack salesdroid was useless, claiming it had to do with overheating. Why can't they just learn the 3 words "I don't know." There's really no shame in admitting that. My DVD player is as cheap as they come (or came --- at the time --- $40) and most likely does not include firmware to disable Macrovision, even undocumented. Their (Cyberhome) knowledge base has an entry for this very problem, and sends you to the a Macrovision FAQ which essentially says, don't even try to defeat it, you scofflaw! All I want to do is watch DVDs, dammit. I ordered one of these boxes from ClearPix link above. BTW in my case the artifact was not too bad, and did not make a DVD unwatchable (remember, I'm not recording). When I saw the brightening and dimming, at first I thought it was random, and just meant the TV was getting a little senile. Then my son explain that this happen every time the DVD signal was sent through a VCR, internal or external. Aaaugh! Now it drives me crazy. I hope the stabilizer box works. -- Jim "Remember, an amateur built the Ark; professionals built the Titanic." |
#10
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TV picture from DVD fades in and out??
On Sat, 19 Nov 2005 18:12:02 GMT, "Jim Nugent"
wrote: Why can't they just learn the 3 words "I don't know." There's really no shame in admitting that. Tell that to my kids...same stuff...better to make up a story than to tell the truth/do the research...before anyone jumps in that it was our fault...as far as I know, it wasn't. :-( The big problem is that it will persist as a trend...pattern...habit...IQ's of 140+ being wasted on cable/satellite/video games...it's going to hit us hard in our later years, when the people who are looking after us are battling Zarod in the Delthorn Neverrealm, and we are losing our benefits. The good thing is...it'll really hit them harder! Tom Tom |
#11
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TV picture from DVD fades in and out??
"Jim Nugent" wrote in message ... My DVD player is as cheap as they come (or came --- at the time --- $40) and most likely does not include firmware to disable Macrovision, even undocumented. You'd be surprised. The cheap ones very often can be easily hacked via the remote controls, though more commonly to make them multi region. It's the more expensive brand-name ones which have a habit of needing to be 'chipped'. Dave |
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