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Cannot play back BBC iPlayer WMV

Brian Elliott (Reviewer) posted this on Tuesday, 22nd February 2011, 16:20

I downloaded a .wmv file from the BBC iPlayer site, but when I try to play it back in VLC Media Player, it won`t play. I`m guessing that this is down to DRM.

Is there anything I can do to the file to remove the protection, so that I can play it on my AC Ryan media player? Having Googled a little, I`m reading something about lossless conversion to non-DRM via the FairUse4WM program, but apparently it requires Windows XP?

If anyone can help, I`d really appreciate it!



Brian Elliott is a British journalist, covering soccer, MMA, and pro wrestling. He has written for the likes of the Associated Press, the Canadian Press, and Fighting Spirit Magazine, and has also appeared as a guest on Fight Network Radio.

Looking for intelligent football (soccer) discussion, including the history of the game? Look no further than Discuss Soccer

RE: Cannot play back BBC iPlayer WMV

admars (Elite) posted this on Tuesday, 22nd February 2011, 17:57

sorry, i can`t really help, i think I tried a couple of times, even using Windows media player (in XP) i got license errors :(

RE: Cannot play back BBC iPlayer WMV

Snaps (Elite) posted this on Tuesday, 22nd February 2011, 20:52

The WMV files play fine in Windows media player on my Win 7 netbook.
I do have to start it playing whilst it`s connected to the web though otherwise it hasn`t aquired the media rights.
So if you planning on taking anything to watch out of net reach you`ll be buggered unless you do that with each file first. Is that the problem?

Incidentally I`ve tried putting the files on a USB stick but the rights don`t store with the file but on the host machine so it still won`t run unless you`ve gone through the rigmarole I described before.

That all sounds a bit rambling, hope you can figure it out.


Snaps

Every Third Car





I used to be with it, but then they changed what `it` was.
Now, what I`m with isn`t it, and what`s `it` seems weird and scary

This item was edited on Tuesday, 22nd February 2011, 20:56

RE: Cannot play back BBC iPlayer WMV

pat-w (Elite) posted this on Thursday, 24th February 2011, 22:21

I`ve just been reading about a program that says it can covert any file format by re-recording it.
Having read the details, there is no mention of the BBC iPlayer, plus its pay for software not free. It costs £12.90
There is a try before you buy download, so might be worth a look.

Link

If you do try it, post back if it works. :-)

EDIT
I`ve just been back to that website to test the link, there is a more expensive program called Audials One (£29.99) that says

Quote:
Never again miss the newest cinema release or latest episode of your favorite TV series. Audials records movies while they`re playing. That`s why the Audials approach is completely legal—because no copy protection measures are defeated or circumvented. Instead, films are simply played and "photographed" image-for-image, directly from the screen. Audials` unique quality monitoring technology ensures that every captured image has the superior quality you expect. When the quality of any image fails to measure up, Audials repeats the relevant section of the film and the recording process until the image is captured with digital perfection. If your PC, for example, is actually too weak for Full HD (720p) films, Audials will record only a portion of the film in every pass. It then reassembles the resulting individual images to produce a copy of the film in optimal quality—and in your desired format.
So reading that, it is possible IF it works they way they say it does.
But as it works in real time, you would have to play the file from start to finish, is it worth the effort, the time & the cost? 
 

This item was edited on Thursday, 24th February 2011, 23:12

RE: Cannot play back BBC iPlayer WMV

Mechanoid (Harmless) posted this on Tuesday, 1st March 2011, 11:38

If it`s BBC DRM protected content then it will likely expire after a month or so and you won`t be a able to view it anymore.

The BBC do have DRM free content but it`s lower quality, typically 640x360.

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