Forums: Television Hardware: Can certain TV networks prevent VCR recordings?

 
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  • Avatar of Woof91

    Woof91

    [1]Aug 19, 2007
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    For the past two nights I've been trying to record High School Musical 2 for a friend of mine. I used a 6hr cassette, and I had the VCR set to extended play, but for some reason the recording stops before the movie ends (at the same exact same point in the movie), yet there is still plenty of space left on the tape. My sister tried to record it on a different tape, and she said it did the same thing.

    My mom thinks that Disney Channel is actually somehow able to prevent VCRs from recording the full movie, so people will buy the DVD. I kind of doubt that's the case, but just out of curiousity, is it possible for TV networks to block VCRs?

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  • Avatar of EJamison

    EJamison

    [2]Aug 19, 2007
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    I've never heard of such a thing. I don't know if it's possible. Sounds really weird. Is your sister in the same house, using the same VCR? Since you already have the beginning of the movie, I'd try to record it starting 5 mins before the place where it stopped before and see if it only records 5 mins. That would mean it's the same place in the movie but not the same location on the tape. If it stops after 5 mins then that would imply they're doing something. But you have to try another VCR. There might be something funny in the signal that your VCR is having trouble with, but not something they put there on purpose.
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  • Avatar of shotime1979

    shotime1979

    [3]Aug 21, 2007
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    When I used to taped movies when I first got my TiVo, on the TV it says save to tape and I'll give a countdown to start recording. When I did this with a couple of movies, they would actually record in black and white.

    But, sent switching to a DVD Recorder I haven't had a problem, and have probably saved a lot of money buying blank DVD's instead of tapes.
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  • Avatar of Keoka632

    Keoka632

    [4]Aug 21, 2007
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    1. Can certain TV networks prevent VCR recordings? | 08/19/2007 9:29pm

    For the past two nights I've been trying to record High School Musical 2 for a friend of mine. I used a 6hr cassette, and I had the VCR set to extended play, but for some reason the recording stops before the movie ends (at the same exact same point in the movie), yet there is still plenty of space left on the tape. My sister tried to record it on a different tape, and she said it did the same thing.

    My mom thinks that Disney Channel is actually somehow able to prevent VCRs from recording the full movie, so people will buy the DVD. I kind of doubt that's the case, but just out of curiousity, is it possible for TV networks to block VCRs?>>Woof

    It is being shown again on Thurs, 8-23-07 at 8pm on theDisney channel. The movie should run until 10pm. So, give it another try and make sure your blank tape is rewound to the beginning. I have never heard of any TV channel blocking taping of a program. According to the Intellectual Property laws you are legally permitted to have one backup copy for your own private use. Good luck.

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  • Avatar of LSyd

    LSyd

    [5]Aug 23, 2007
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    Keoka632 wrote:
    It is being shown again on Thurs, 8-23-07 at 8pm on theDisney channel. The movie should run until 10pm. So, give it another try and make sure your blank tape is rewound to the beginning. I have never heard of any TV channel blocking taping of a program. According to the Intellectual Property laws you are legally permitted to have one backup copy for your own private use. Good luck.

    Yes, but there's no law stopping the networks (or anyone else) from making it extremely difficult for people to make that one copy.

    I've certainly heard of it - the pay TV network here now offers new release movies as pay-per-view extras, and you're only supposed to have one day to watch it (similar to an overnight DVD rental). They claim to have some system stopping people from recording the shows, but I'm not sure what exactly it involves and they haven't been particularly clear on the matter. It may be the same sort of system that discourages people from taping a DVD (a signal is sent which is ignored by the TV set but causes the recording on the VCR to fluctuate in brightness). They also have a system which causes the DVRs they provide for their servicesto delete the recording once the time expires, but that wouldn't work for a VCR recording.

    Edited on 08/23/2007 2:42am
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  • Avatar of taper6

    taper6

    [6]Aug 31, 2007
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    Woof91 wrote:

    For the past two nights I've been trying to record High School Musical 2 for a friend of mine. I used a 6hr cassette, and I had the VCR set to extended play, but for some reason the recording stops before the movie ends (at the same exact same point in the movie), yet there is still plenty of space left on the tape. My sister tried to record it on a different tape, and she said it did the same thing.

    My mom thinks that Disney Channel is actually somehow able to prevent VCRs from recording the full movie, so people will buy the DVD. I kind of doubt that's the case, but just out of curiousity, is it possible for TV networks to block VCRs?

    You didn't say whether your sister was trying to record the show on the same vcr as you did? (I realize that is unlikely unless the show was playing at different times or something). I now own 4 analog vcrs. You'd think I'd be an expert at programming them, but I'm also pretty clever at making mistakes that I find out about when I finally get around to watching my recording. Power bumps, in particular seem to be my bane. All four vcrs react differently a bump. Sometimes you have to dive into the menu and reset something to make it work properly again. I was once CONVINCED the PBS station was screwing with my sound, but the answer was in one of my vcr's arcane settings (or maybe it was the tv, I forget).

    Seems like the only way to prove your theory is to try to record that show again with a different vcr. Not easy to arrange.

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  • Avatar of sfaberge

    sfaberge

    [7]Sep 15, 2007
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    Yes TV networks can bar you from taping. They somehow mess up tracking on your VCR and it doesn't record. Most of the time pay-per-view channels do it. If you're in the UK for example, all Sky Movie Box Office channels will not record on VCR
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  • Avatar of belial_77

    belial_77

    [8]Oct 24, 2007
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    Dang MacroVision... they have developed this tech... I don't know if Disney uses such a system (you can probably google "Disney Channel Recording Problems" and see if anyone else has the same problem)... but like the other have said, most pay stations and pay per view have MacroVision protection which causes the black and white and dark/light stuff... I haven't heard of this particular type of copyright protection... but doesn't suprise me.
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