Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Transferring from pvr to computer/dvd format.

Aug 22, 2005 1:01AM PDT

I have several movies stored on the hard drive of our satellite pvr. I would like to imput them into my computer and burn onto dvds. I currently have a toshiba laptop with an svideo connection and a dvd burner. I assume i would connect the pvr to the computer via the svideo. My question is twofold:
1. What is the best way to connect video and audio from the pvr to the computer?
2. What software should i use to input the video and then burn to the dvd drive?

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Just one issue.
Aug 22, 2005 1:10AM PDT

That svideo connection on your laptop is 99.99% sure to be an output and not an input. So that's DOA.

Next, most if not all PVRs encrypt the video output to prevent taping (or digitizing) the video signal. There is no "best" solution here. You'll have to:

a. Respect the agreements you made with the purchase/rent of the PVR.
b. Given item 'a', try an analog digitizer such as DAZZLE's USB 2.0 offerings.

In closing, no one will tell you it will work since almost all PVRs have features to stop you from doing this.

Bob

- Collapse -
Transferring from pvr to computer/dvd format.
Aug 22, 2005 4:08AM PDT

What I do. I have a standalone DVD recorder and take the S-video and audio from my Dish PVR and make a backup copy of the movies on my HD. John