Recording skating dvds - Sky Q

[icenut84]

Question for anyone else who likes to record skating to dvd - I recently got a Sky Q box and only after installation did I realise they've changed the technology somehow so you can't record to dvd from it any more. Has anyone else had this issue, and does anyone know of a solution or a gadget that will let you do it? I've always recorded worlds/olympics etc in the past to dvd - it'd be a shame if its not possible to do it any more!

 

[Frau Muller]

That’s been the case for many years. The industry is trying hard to get people to stop recording for their own private collections. I still make DVDs but have to be super creative…which won’t be shared here.

 

[acraven]

Recording so that you can later dump something to a DVD is tricky. Your ability to do that can depend on who your TV provider is, what sort of equipment you record on and even what sort of DVD-authoring software you use.

You might be able to find a DVD filter that strips copy protection if placed between your cable/satellite link and your recording equipment, but if will probably be very costly. I don't think they're in production any longer.

I can currently record a lot of streaming stuff on my desktop (Windows) computer, including everything available from Peacock, using PlayOn software. Once it's on my computer, I can use VideoReDo to create DVDs. That comes through my internet cable. Broadcast TV from a cable box (and I'd guess also from satellite, but I don't know anything about the latter) requires a capture device connected to the computer (usually via USB) that converts the analog signal to digital as it gets recorded. There, you're back to often needing a filter of some kind, depending on the source network/channel. It's odd how in some cases the same content from the same original source can be recorded easily if it's streamed but is copy protected if it come through a cable-TV box. I have Xfinity cable service; folks with different TV provders may absolutely have different experiences.

I will say that--even aside from skating--PlayOn gives me access to a lot of free (but with commercials) content like foreign movies and TV shows, indie movies and older US shows/movies from sources I hadn't heard of until I started exploring what could be recorded with PlayOn. My two best free sources at the moment are Tubi and Pluto. You can check out their offerings on their websites and watch online without any extra software on your computer. I imagine they're also available directly on smartTVs, but I don't have one of those.

A nice thing about PlayOn is that it gives access to premium content one already pays for, including Netflix, AcornTV, Hulu, PBS Passport and Starz. That stuff is advertising-free, except for before and after each episode or movie. The only one of those I subscribe to is PBS Passport, so I can't guarantee the others work via PlayOn; I just see their icons on my PlayOn screen.