Copy protection

Discussion of getting WMC to work on Windows 10 (unsupported)
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unclebun

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Copy protection

#1

Post by unclebun » Fri Mar 29, 2019 12:20 am

I have been trying to figure out which channels I receive might be copy protected, but am getting nowhere with the cable company. Is there any easy way to tell with the files I have been recording with Win7 WMC? For example, we have everything going to a Home Server, and every computer on our network can watch them. Does that mean they are not copy protected channels? Or if I can copy a recorded program onto a thumb drive, does that mean it's not copy protected?

Space

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#2

Post by Space » Fri Mar 29, 2019 12:55 am

If you can play a recording on a computer that did not record that recording, then it is not copy protected.

Being able to copy a recording to another drive does not mean anything in terms of copy protection.

When you select a copy protected recording in WMC and scroll down on the first information screen you will see an indicator on the bottom if it is copy protected. There is also a way to tell if a file is copy protected in file manager. It will say so in the right-click->properties->details screen. Also, there is a header you can add called "Protected" so that you can see which file are protected in a list and sort by the field to move all protected files together in the list. Note that I have seen protected files that did not have this set properly, however.

If you have a HDHomerun Prime, you can see which channel is copy protected within it's web interface, just run a scan (if not done already) and the channels that are copy protected will have a "DRM" indicator.

If you post the name of your cable provider here, people may be able to tell you what channels are copy protected. For instance, FiOS has the same networks protected nationwide (only HBO, Cinemax, and Fox cable networks).

Some more info can be found in this thread: viewtopic.php?t=7591

unclebun

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#3

Post by unclebun » Fri Mar 29, 2019 1:57 pm

When you're looking in File Manager properties, does it have to say "Protected Yes" to be protected? Although most of my recordings stored on the Home Server say "Protected No" there, there are a few which just say "Protected" with no value specified. However I can play those recordings on any computer on the network.

We have Charter Spectrum cable.

jachin99

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#4

Post by jachin99 » Fri Mar 29, 2019 2:47 pm

If you can play those recordings on other computers then they aren't protected. What kind of tuners are you using?

Space

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#5

Post by Space » Sat Mar 30, 2019 12:21 am

It appears, from my limited research, that all channels in Charter Spectrum except premium channels are copy-freely which means the recordings will not be DRM protected for regular cable channels.

The property should say "Protected Yes" if the video is DRM protected. However, I have seen DRM protected files that have "Protected No". I don't recall seeing any videos that had the "Protected" key with a null value.

Note that it is possible for only portions of a video to be DRM protected, as the copy-once flag can be turned on or off at any time during the video stream, although in practice, it is normally on or off for the entire channel.

Note that if you use the EditDvrmsMetadata program, you can see different metadata fields than are show in the file manager. In there you will be able to see a parameter called "WM/WMRVContentProtectedPercent" which tells you the percentage of the video that is DRM protected. This is normally 100 for DRM protected content, and 0 for non-protected content, but I have seen numbers in between. I am not sure at what value the content is marked "Protected Yes". It may be marked as protected even with only 1% protected. I am also not sure what happens if you try to play a video on a foreign system that is less than 100% protected. It may show a black screen for the parts that are protected, and normal video for those portions that are not, or it may just refuse to play the whole file. I've never experimented with this, so I don't know.

unclebun

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#6

Post by unclebun » Sat Mar 30, 2019 3:31 pm

Thanks for the info. The reason for my asking is that if all the channels we use are generally not copy-protected, I should be able to use my Ceton InfiniTV ETH6 tuner with a program like NextPVR and be able to watch and record TV without need for DRM....which means I should be able to do it with Windows 10.

cwinfield

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#7

Post by cwinfield » Sat Mar 30, 2019 3:47 pm

go to your webpage at 192.168.200.1 or wherever you assigned it static. tune to a channel and look at the bottom of the page of which ever tuner is on the channel your trying to determine if it is copy protected. If is says Copy Control Information: "Copy Free" (00) then the channel is not copy protected. If is says Copy Control Information: "One Copy" (0x02) then it has DRM. I am on time warner spectrum and everything has DRM except the local channels. But yes if you had no DRM on your channels you could use NextPVR for your tuners. You wont be able to use it on win 10 unless using a VM with win 7 or 8.1 because ceton drivers don't work.

unclebun

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#8

Post by unclebun » Sun Mar 31, 2019 12:25 am

Just checked. Currently three tuners are in use, with TCM, NBC Sports, and Sundance channels. All are Copy Free. So I think I'm good as far as DRM goes.

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#9

Post by Sammy2 » Wed Apr 03, 2019 9:37 pm

Where are you?

What provider (or did I miss that? )

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