# Extract MPEG 2 Files?



## David F (Apr 4, 2003)

Greetings, folks. first of all, this is my first posting. I just discovered this site, and the info you all are providing is exceptional. Thanks! 

My question is this: several of the "competing" products offer the ability, albeit via "3rd party" applications on computers, to be able to extract the actual individual MPEG files from the hard drives in their PVRs to burn to a DVD or just put on a PC or Mac. Being a proud owner of a 508, I have frequently been envious of this ability, and since I have no obvious physical ports available to me to do this (except for that mystery expansion port), I just figured I was out of luck on this model or even the 721 should I choose to upgrade.

My intentions are pure... simply timeshifting and archiving for later viewing... because my 508's HD is always full. I know most of you can relate. But man, I sure get jealous when I see these folks watching "Futurama" on their laptops, that they recorded the night before on their Replay TV.

So, do any of you know of a way to do this with the 508?

Hopefully some of you feel my pain.

Apologies in advance if this has been discussed/resolved in another thread... still going through them all.

David


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

LOL you might want to read this... 

Look at "m" and it will answer you question.... 

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23


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## Rick P (Jun 30, 2002)

well, since the 508 data IS NOT ENCODED/ENCRYPTED and (m) says (in part) " including digital transfer of *undecoded* programming from the PVR's hard drive to another medium is prohibited" why are you laughing at him????


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

A lot of people seem to have an interest in doing this lately all at once. I even had someone email me on the matter asking me about it.


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## firephoto (Sep 12, 2002)

Same person with a new name every day perhaps? I thought I saw one thread get locked but then another that looked just like it popped up last night. Maybe it was a dream.  (I hope i'm not dreaming about this web site!)


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Rick P _
> *well, since the 508 data IS NOT ENCODED/ENCRYPTED and (m) says (in part) " including digital transfer of undecoded programming from the PVR's hard drive to another medium is prohibited" why are you laughing at him???? *


A quick search would show him that this kind of thread always gets closed. That is why I am laughing. Its called search people...


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## David F (Apr 4, 2003)

Well now, I suppose I am embarrassed, but honestly, I only found the site last night, and apparently hadn't done enough research before posting. Apologies.

And no, I'm not another user with a changed name. This is honestly my first endeavor here.

So even if I would have read "m", I think I still might have asked my question. Why? because I didn't actually consider this a "hack", as much as timeshifting. As others have posted, I just don't have enough time to watch the stuff I've recorded, and I don't want to delete it before copying it to watch later, even if it's on my laptop. Perhaps I'm looking at it wrong... but I certainly had no intentions of "hacking" ... 

That said, and with my tail humbly between my legs...

I just despise the way that video looks after getting dumped to a VCR after being on my 508... so we just don't do it. Even my non-techno-wife notices. So, we were looking for options. 

Apologies again, and thanks for "setting me straight".

David


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

David don't worry about it. 

THE DCMA is a crazy law.

We all are looking for ways to offload shows we want to keep from our PVR's I think we all wish there was some kind of solution to make it easy to do.

Welcome to DBSTalk.COM Usually our members are helpful and don't jump down new members throats.


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

> _Originally posted by David F _
> *
> I just despise the way that video looks after getting dumped to a VCR after being on my 508... so we just don't do it. Even my non-techno-wife notices. So, we were looking for options. *


Send a PM to Mark Lamutt. He came up with what appears to be the best solution to getting high quality video off of the receiver without the problem of the DCMA....


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## David F (Apr 4, 2003)

Thanks, James and Scott!

David


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## gcutler (Mar 23, 2002)

Here is the easiest way (that does not violate any issues here) but does not actually capture the MPEG, but makes a nice (almost DVD Quality) archive if you use S-Video...

Panasonic DVD-Video Recorder with Progressive-Scan Video Output = $499
http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=11166712&m=1&cat=32&scat=244

And once it is on DVD, there are plenty of tools to turn it into MPEG (often used legally by people with their home movies on DVD)

*Hey, look, I posted 2500 times, and probably only 3 posts were worthwhile (if that many?)  *


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## dfergie (Feb 28, 2003)

I have the Panasonic, It makes a lot better quality dvds than my old pc based dvd burner. Im in process of replacing my pc-dvds with the panasonics for survivor thailand, need the room


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## gcutler (Mar 23, 2002)

> _Originally posted by dfergie _
> *I have the Panasonic, It makes a lot better quality dvds than my old pc based dvd burner. Im in process of replacing my pc-dvds with the panasonics for survivor thailand, need the room *


The difference isn't really the physical burner of your device or a PC burner (as it is just ones and zeros) but the quality is determined by the capture technology and/or the mpeg encoding software (There is professional quality encoding SW that cost thousands and takes hours that will beat anything available retail). The hardware and software can be matched or passed. But the convenience of the Stand alone Panasonic definately is important.

I have 4 different Authoring Tools/Mpeg Encoding SW and each one of them is significantly better or worse than the other, thus which one I use makes a big difference on output quality..


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## dfergie (Feb 28, 2003)

True, the radeon is not capturing as well as the panasonic. Have captured from my 6023 to the panasonic on sd mode, the aspect ratio leaves a little to be desired, but the picture is good on xp and sp modes. 
--------------------------------
hitachi 43fwx20, 501, 6023, hughes direct, phillips direct, 2 bud recievers, want 921 next


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