A modified Colorstripeā¢
copy protection process utilizes a basic anti-
copy protection (ACP)
signal that causes attenuation of a video
signal, wherein, in one embodiment, the process modifies (lowers) the level of a front
porch portion and adds an incorrect
color signal (color burst) in the region of the
sync tip. When an illegal copy is made, a pre-blanked end of line portion causes a TV set to trigger the color burst sample pulse ahead of time and cause the incorrect
color signal in the
sync tip region to be sampled. Thus, since the
sync tip region has incorrect color phase or frequency, the resulting illegal copy will have enhanced color distortions. In other embodiments, other portions of the
horizontal blanking interval are lowered in level and incorrect color bursts are added to a portion or portions of the back
porch and / or a portion of the front
porch. A further embodiment employs lowering a back porch portion above a sync tip level near the beginning of a video line to form a pseudo sync / AGC
pulse pair. The various embodiments of the process may include an adaptable process, as well as several alternative ACP signals for use in combination with the process.