Video Asylum

Posted by Joe Murphy Jr (A) on October 08, 2005 at 09:14:01

In Reply to: Help!..Can't switch VCR to VIDEO Input... posted by Coner on October 4, 2005 at 16:31:45:

Plugging a DVD player into the VCR is not the way to go. The Macrovision copy protection will create havoc with the VCR's US Congress mandated always-ON AGC circuit (Automatic Gain Control, which tracks the luma level in the video signal). The picture will get bright, dark and/or do other undesireable things.

The only ways around going this route are to either use a pre-'90s VCR (they either had no AGC circuit or one that could be turned OFF), a DVD player that has a hack to disable the Macrovision signal (most Taiwanese/Chinese players do) or use a copied DVD that has the Macrovision signal stripped out of the digital stream (by using a program like DVDDecrypter).

If the real problem is (a) that the display you want to use doesn't have enough (RCA) audio/video inputs, then get an inexpensive switcher or (b) that the display only has a coax input, then get an inexpensive audio/video modulator. Either solution is available from Wal-Mart for under $20 or even less via ebay if you're not in a hurry.