[mythtv-users] MythTV Question

[Ray Olszewski]

At 04:42 PM 5/24/2003 -0700, curtisminbc at canada.com wrote:
>Hi there,
>
>I have a very simple question and it is
>as follows.
>
>Can MythTV export the downloaded
>television instead of to my hard drive
>to my VCR if my video card has video out?

This question actually has nothing to do with MythTV. Let me explain.

The only way to transfer captured video from a computer to a VCR is via a 
Composite or sVideo  (whichever your VCR has) TV-out port on your 
computer's video card. You "transfer" the video, if you can, by playing it 
back in fullscreen mode. This, I guess obviously, is not exporting it there 
"instead" of to your hard drive, but transferring it there from your hard 
disk after capture (and, perhaps, editing).

The possible barrier to doing this is Macrovision, the system  incorporated 
into a lot of video playback equipment (VCRs, DVD players, VGA cards with 
TV-out) to prevent home copying of commercial DVDs and videotapes. TV-out 
ports on VGA cards typically include Macrovision protection for the output 
stream, to prevent your using the computer to (for example) copy a DVD to 
videotape.

I've never tried to output TV-out video to a VCR, so I don't know which 
cards (and associated X servers) incorporate Macrovision protection and 
which, if any, do not. I saw a small script at the GATOS site that was 
supposed to disable Macrovision on some ATI cards, but I've never tested 
that either. Also, one way to get TV out is via an external 
VGA-to-Composite (or -sVideo) converter, and I don't know whether these 
external converters implement any equivalent to Macrovision.

In any case, MythTV itself does nothing to prevent you doing what (I think) 
you want to. Whether other elements of your system prevent it ... well, 
that depends on what those other elements are, I suppose.

If the Macrovision issue is addressed somehow, I expect that any 
video-playback app that can do fullscreen display (such as xine, mplayer, 
ogle ... even XMovie) can do what you want.