Great DVD Recorder Hunt

George_Bray

I was pleased to hear from another member of this forum, who asked if it was possible to copy from DVD to DVD using these DVD recorders. Yes, it is. Here is my reply, so none of you miss out on this useful facility:

"Good to hear from you, with a very well timed question. I tried DVD transfers this evening for the first time and was surprised to find that far-from-all DVDs are protected by Macrovision. Good news!

My test 1: A genuine region 2 "10cc Live in Concert" DVD played in my cheap DVD player, with a scart lead from that player to 'Scart in' on the Liteon 5005 DVD recorder. The quality of the recording was 99% as good as the original DVD! (tests 2 and 3 were also successful, with two other commercial DVDs)

My test 4: A genuine mainstream movie DVD - "My Fair Lady" as it happens. The Liteon refused to start recording. An error message came up saying the source was protected.

There is a readlily available 'hack' download available for the Liteon which should remove the copy protection and allow me to copy 'My Fair Lady' or anything else."

Regards
George

keiranflynn101

Hi
Just read your post. Where do you get this hack? Is it available for newer recorders(OCT 2004)? Is it a firmware upgrade?
Any advise would be very much appreciated.

George_Bray

Hi
Just read your post. Where do you get this hack? Is it available for newer recorders(OCT 2004)? Is it a firmware upgrade? Any advise would be very much appreciated.

The hacks are obtained via:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/reviews/liteon.htm

See also:
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks.php?dvdplayer=liteon+5005&hits=50&Search=Search

The first link, at least, came from another member, earlier on in this thread. I am so grateful to them for pointing it out in the first place.

digitalfaq.com mention different Liteon models, re. your question about dates. Yes, it is a firmware upgrade.

I wonder if it's possible to back-up the firmware in the deck as standard before I start playing around with updates. Probably not, but it would be a useful safeguard. A clean firmware upgrade from Liteon's web site should suffice if I need to back track. It seems I need that anyway, to get rid of the playback distortion on some DVDs. What fun.

bawbag_2

Just remember that a DVD9 might not copy over to a DVD5, unless firmware supports it (which I doubt, as that would mean decoding it and recompressing it on the fly...)

George_Bray

Just remember that a DVD9 might not copy over to a DVD5, unless firmware supports it (which I doubt, as that would mean decoding it and recompressing it on the fly...):D

Are you referring to DVD copying via a computer, where software like DVDshrink might come in handy?

My understanding of the copy process with the Liteon 5005 DVD recorder is (1) DVD player converts digital (compressed) to analogue (uncompressed) for transmission through the scart lead (2) The Liteon re-converts analogue to digital (compressed, always on the fly) before cutting the DVD. This is not as clean as on a computer, of course, if you just copy over data files, but the results are still very good indeed.

spr148

Am I missing a trick here? My Liteon 5005 has S-video out and scart (RGB I think) outputs, in addition to digital phono and digital opitical. Plus all the phono sockets for composite video and sound. What more do you need? The user manual mentions ‘high quality’ connections like scart and S-video, so I trust they’re (all pins) connected up. I’ll be very disappointed if RGB ‘in’ (through scart in) is a fudge. Are your sure? I’d be surprised, given the recording quality.

I am relying on the review at:

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-bin/displayreview.php?reviewid=4475

for information on inputs and outputs - I'd love to know if it was wrong.

George_Bray

I am relying on the review at:
http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-bin/displayreview.php?reviewid=4475
for information on inputs and outputs - I'd love to know if it was wrong.

I simply don't know. I have seen other independent newsgroup comments on the lack of RGB input mode, and when I switch my Freeview output from RGB to composite mode, I can't notice any change. But the Liteon does accept the RGB signal. Both give a very high quality picture, almost as good as RGB fed into my TV.

The review loses credibility with me when it makes comments like (the opening line) ...."Not only is it basic in terms of features and connectivity" and "connectivity is diabolical".

Neither of these statements are fair. The deck is in most respects very advanced, given all the recording formats, digital camcorder input, CD recording and everything. Connectivity is good, except it may not process RGB signals. Most people don't even know what RGB is, and probably wouldn't notice much difference between RGB, S-video and composite. So it's hardly a big issue.

Dan_66

Can I just ask a really basic question? Does either the LITEON 5005 or LITEON 5006 have TWIN TUNERS?????

I cant find the answer in this post or on either the ARGOS site or anywhere else.

I want to record one programme whilst watching another!

Mike21_2

Can anyone tell me, I'm sure I came across a reasonably cheap (<£200) DVD recorder which did BOTH DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW recording, not just playback, but recording in either format...

Mike.

Hobo_2

Maybe of interest, Sony RDRGX300 DVD+R/RW & DVD-R/RW best price i found at Currys £241.80 del using code AFF10PC , = 10% 0ff ends today?