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PUBLISHER’S LETTER
www.siliconchip.com.au
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD
Production Manager
Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.)
Technical Staff
John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.)
Peter Smith
Ross Tester
Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc, VK2ZLO
Reader Services
Ann Jenkinson
Advertising Enquiries
Leo Simpson
Phone (02) 9979 5644
Fax (02) 9979 6503
Regular Contributors
Brendan Akhurst
Rodney Champness, VK3UG
Julian Edgar, Dip.T.(Sec.), B.Ed
Mike Sheriff, B.Sc, VK2YFK
Stan Swan
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Macrovision on DVDs is not
“Merchantable Quality”
This month we are presenting a new version
of our very popular Dr Video project which was
originally featured in the April 2001 issue. The
original version proved very effective at removing that bane of many DVD users – Macrovision
copy protection signals. But, copy protection is a
moving target and Macrovision has since become
even more devious and it must be said, even more
difficult for ordinary TV sets to work with.
So we have produced the Mk.II version of the
Dr Video circuit. It works very well in removing Macrovision signals so that
all DVDs can once again be watched on normal TV sets and video projectors. Perhaps you have a late-model TV set that does not have a problem
when you’re watching DVDs. Then you are fortunate. But if you have a set
more than a couple of years old or one of the large-screen TVs that display
the picture at 100 fields per second (100Hz) to reduce flicker (or a video
projector that performs line and pixel doubling to improve picture clarity),
that can be a different matter entirely. Macrovision plays merry hell with
them, to the extent that the picture can be unwatchable.
If you have one of these sets or projectors, the only way to get a steady
picture is to somehow remove these extraneous pulses. The idea is to ‘clean
up’ the video signal and let the TV set’s internal sync circuitry do its normal job without interference. That’s exactly what our Dr Video project is
designed to do.
Note that we are not suggesting that you use Dr Video to enable you to
make copies of DVDs. In fact, there are other ways around it. Nor do we
think that very many DVDs are being copied – most people just couldn’t
be bothered. What we are doing is presenting a way to make DVDs work
with normal TVs.
But is this the correct remedy for what is effectively a faulty product?
Absolutely not. Why should anyone need to build or buy a device to remove
Macrovision signals so you can watch a movie that you have legitimately
purchased? This proposition is ludicrous but that is what has happened.
What consumers should do is to return all such DVDs to the place where
they purchased them and ask for their money back. After all, if a DVD cannot be watched it is not “merchantable quality” and not suitable for sale.
If enough consumers did return these “faulty” DVDs, Macrovision would
soon be a thing of the past.
Leo Simpson
Editorial & advertising offices:
Unit 8, 101 Darley St,
Mona Vale, NSW 2103.
Postal address: PO Box 139,
Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097.
Phone (02) 9979 5644.
Fax (02) 9979 6503.
E-mail: silchip<at>siliconchip.com.au
ISSN 1030-2662
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