I am new to the whole DVR thing. So far I have found it to be wonderful. My simple question(hopefully not too dumb) is? Can you record Pay Per View Movies with the DVR, I have not attempted this yet. Thought maybe they would be scrambled for recording.
Gadget71
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You can't on TWC boxes.. I'm sure it's the same with other providers as well.
You can on a DirecTivo.
If your DVR is a non-integrated type (like an external Tivo or ReplayTV unit, etc)... Then you should have no problem recording anything......
There is very little a cable/sat company can do about protecting the output from the analog ports... The only real protection scheme for the analog is Macrovision, but most DVR boxes and VCRs are able to record macrovision stuff without a problem (and even if they don't, you can pick up a video scrubber or somesuch pretty easily for very little money)
Unfortunately, there is no DVR or PC card (that I know of) that can record high-definition or even progressive video from analog component, so this only really applies to a standard definition external unit over composite or s-video...
Quote from: TPKThe only real protection scheme for the analog is Macrovision, but most DVR boxes and VCRs are able to record macrovision stuff without a problem (and even if they don't, you can pick up a video scrubber or somesuch pretty easily for very little money)
Most VCR's cannot record Macrovision protected video without a problem... for that you would need a video stabilizer. However, I've never encountered anything coming thru cable (premium, ppv) that was Macrovision protected... it would cause problems for too many people who run the composite signal thru their VCR before it reaches their TV.
I can't comment on whether DVR's would be susceptible to Macrovision protection, but that would only be an issue if you're trying to record from a DVD or VHS... no cable as far as I've seen is protected.