Recording from Sky+ to a laptop

phague

Hello,

Sorry if this has already been asked - I did a search first, honest!!

I am wanting to copy programmes from Sky+ onto DVD using my laptop, but not sure how to do it!! (The DVD drive on my laptop)

Do I just connect via the S Video option?

Do I have to download the programme from Sky+ first and then copy to a DVD, if so how??

Thanks in advance!!

jinxjinx

its not really possible, its quite encrypted.

sorry

phague

Will it not record straight to my dvd recorder on my laptop?? As it is was a DVD recorder??

penrhyn

The outputs on the Sky + box are analogue, via the scart sockets, you need an analogue to digital converter for your laptop and suitable software.
It would be easier to use a stand alone Recordable DVD player as they have analogue inputs.
There is software availble on the web to convert the output of the Sky+ HDD but this involves removing the drive.

Avoriaz

As posted above, you can’t make a direct copy of a Sky programme as they are encrypted and will only play on a Sky box but you can make a recording via the analogue outputs at the rear of the Sky+ box if you have a DVD recorder or, if you want to do it via your laptop, an analogue to digital converter.

You do lost some quality as the programme has been converted from the original digital to analogue and then back to digital but I have been recording music videos for a few years with excellent results.

I don’t have a standalone DVD recorder so I use my laptop. I don’t burn DVDs as I use a disk based multi media player to play the videos.

I use the S-Video output for the picture and the two phono outputs for the sound. These are at the rear of the Sky+ box.

I attach an S-Video cable and two phono cables to these outputs.

These connect to an Adaptec AVC 2310 analogue to digital converter. This is connected by USB to my laptop.

You can record live Sky but I prefer to record it to Sky+ and then transfer later from the Sky+ recording. Thus means that, if I make a mistake, I can start again.

I end up with an mpg file on my laptop. This mpg file can then be played on the laptop (windows media player or most other software players such as VLC will work) , burnt to a DVD and played in a DVD player or transferred to a multi media jukebox and played back through a TV and Hi-Fi.

I record mainly music videos and music programmes so I use a Rapsody multi media player connected to my TV and Hi-Fi.

I have about 1,000 music videos recorded from Sky or downloaded from the internet. This totals about 200 gb so it is more convenient to have them all on the 250gb hard drive in the Rapsody rather than burning dozens of DVDs. I do also have backups of all the files on other hard drives.

Overall I am very happy with the quality I get with this particular method. My Sky recordings are close to the original quality as broadcast by Sky.

There are many different analogue to digital converters and multi media players (sometimes called jukeboxes) available on ebay and elsewhere. Some of the a to d converters may use a Scart connection rather than the s-video and phono outputs. This shouldn’t make much difference and may even be slightly better quality if the RGB signal is used.

I’ll post again with some suggestions.

buglawton

With Humax (terrestrial) Personal Video Recorders, there is a USB socket for direct transfer of recordings to a laptop. I use it for radio programs.