off topic

[map]

I thought this was as good a place as any to ask this...my friends here are all so intelligent and knowledgable :). I have a brand new DVD player. On some movies (not all) when I play them, the picture gets dark and then light and then dark again the entire movie. Does anyone know what is going on? No one at the video store seems to have a clue. I'll tell you that it is plugged into the VCR line because there isn't the proper input on my TV.

[Reid]

It is likely because of Macrovision copy-protection:
http://www-cse.stanford.edu/classes/cs201/projects-99-00/dmca-2k/macrovision.html

I had bought a "black box" stabilizer when I had the same problems with VHS tapes, and now DVD's. That cleared up the problem. It simply connected to the video line, between the source and the VCR.

[map]

Thank you so much! Where do I get this stabalizer and how much is it? What do I ask for? I'm not taping anything but apparently my VCR is affecting it anyway.

[Reid]

They should be easy to find with any search engine, such as Google.