Sedai
03-09-06, 01:51 PM
I am sure everyone that watches DVDs has a this point at least heard of the impending format war on the horizon. Two major companies, in Sony and Toshiba, are raising the banners and letting fly the first volley of media quite soon, and many people are anxious to see if this will turn into another VHS vs Betamax.
The thing is, it might not even matter... if Hollywood has their say. A slew of coverage has emerged this week focusing on not the format of these discs, but the security that will reside upon them. Advanced Access Content System (AACS), is a hardware level copy protection scheme that is being developed by a group of major motion picture studios. What is AACS? It's bad news.
The protocol will enforce a strict ban on any and all HDTVs that do not use HDMI or DVI input. That's right, if you hooked up with that sweet CRT HDTV a couple of years ago, with the brand new component video hook-ups, you know, just to stay ahead of the curve, to be ready for the future, you will not be able to watch the next gen discs on your TV without a massive downsample hit, or perhaps, you won't be able to watch them at all.
The studios had a bad year last year, and you, the consumer, are to be punished for it. Is piracy to blame for poor ticket sales last year? It hasn't been shown to be so, by any conclusive evidence. Bah, they don't need evidence. Just put it in place anyway! Yes, it IS already in place, and Toshiba and Sony are just starting to get licensing on this stuff, hence that massive delay on the PS3 and in other areas of the HD-DVD industry.
So what, I don't even have an HD-TV yet man!
So What, I have a new Plasma, and it has HDMI, man!
First of all, don't call me man. I'm the dude...man. If you don't have an HDTV yet, you will still be affected, and I will tell you the reason why, which plays into the second sentence above.
Most new plasma TVs have multiple inputs, including component, and the required HDMT input, but almost all the current line of plasma TVs have but one HDMI input. This is fine if all you want to do is hook up that shiney new HD-DVD player you pre-ordered at Tweeter Etc. But what about your other HD sources, like the aforementioned PS3? What about your nice HD cable box? Don't want to miss out on that awesome broadcast of the hockey game, but blast it, this new DVD player won't let me do analog conversion without putting a warning screen up and shutting off, because it detects the incorrect data-stream. That means I have to straight in to the TV from the DVD player... Now where do you plug your other HDMi sources in?
More compromise. Hold it here, why are you having to make all these quality compromises on your brand new entertainment system with all the latest and greatest hardware? All to watch a new version of Terminator 2, that was damned overpriced to begin with (these discs will not be cheap, folks).
An AVR isn't the answer, because as of today, not a single AVR exists that has the required HDCP support needed by ACCS. HDCP is the protocol the DVD player will need to see to unlock the HDDVD data.
Also, don't start thinking you will just watch the HD material on your computer. That won't work, either. Sure, ATI and Nvidia have HDCP compatible cards out there, and there are even a couple monitors out there that would do the trick (but just a couple). Unfortunately, the one TI HDCP chip that would render these card compliant with the ACCS standards is not actually present on these cards. Apparently, the slot of the chip is being installed, but not the chip itself. Go figure.
So, like the AVR, there is not a single card out there that will run the new media in the correct format.
Who loses? First, it's the people who did buy a slightly older HD-TV. They just won't have the HDMI input at all, and that TV will never be able to play the full res version of the media. Still, even if they had to suffer that loss, they should still be able to go component analog into their TV and get the (albeit scaled down) somewhat HD converted siignal to play, enjoying sharper resolution than current media offers, as well as the expanded media size. Alas, to do this, the signal would have to get converted, and the studios say that absolutely cannot happen, as then the signal becomes easily pirated. Next would be the current Plasma and HD owners who do have an input that is compliant, but just one. These people will be juggling devices and dealing with scale-down compromise all over the place. Last, anyone who does want to buy the media, might end up in a specialty market, since not many people will be able to play the damn things, and we all know what happens to an item's price when it becomes a specialty.
Who will win? I would think anyone wanting to hook up with a cheap non-compliant HDTV.... I have a feeling they will be rock bottom, very soon...
And during all this, the studios seem to think that no one will be able to hack the ACCS stuff....
Riiiiiight.
Some of the articles, which state about the same thing I posted:
Next-Gen DVD Debacle (http://gear.ign.com/articles/691/691408p1.html)
HD Beat (http://www.hdbeat.com/2006/02/16/copy-protection-on-next-gen-dvds-is-killing-the-future/)
Copy Protection Threat (http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/102/C6524/)
Gizmodo Gadget Blog (http://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/nextgen-media-screws-early-hdtv-owners-156319.php)
It all comes down to this:
People you don't know, and who don;t knwo you, are placing controls and restrictions on the equipment you buy, and the content you watch/listen to. Hated those previews that were on that DVD last night? You know, the ones you couldn't bypass? That's nothing. Wait until you see what they have in store for you now!
I am thinking the newer upscaling DVD players that are out now for regular DVD media might be the right move...
The thing is, it might not even matter... if Hollywood has their say. A slew of coverage has emerged this week focusing on not the format of these discs, but the security that will reside upon them. Advanced Access Content System (AACS), is a hardware level copy protection scheme that is being developed by a group of major motion picture studios. What is AACS? It's bad news.
The protocol will enforce a strict ban on any and all HDTVs that do not use HDMI or DVI input. That's right, if you hooked up with that sweet CRT HDTV a couple of years ago, with the brand new component video hook-ups, you know, just to stay ahead of the curve, to be ready for the future, you will not be able to watch the next gen discs on your TV without a massive downsample hit, or perhaps, you won't be able to watch them at all.
The studios had a bad year last year, and you, the consumer, are to be punished for it. Is piracy to blame for poor ticket sales last year? It hasn't been shown to be so, by any conclusive evidence. Bah, they don't need evidence. Just put it in place anyway! Yes, it IS already in place, and Toshiba and Sony are just starting to get licensing on this stuff, hence that massive delay on the PS3 and in other areas of the HD-DVD industry.
So what, I don't even have an HD-TV yet man!
So What, I have a new Plasma, and it has HDMI, man!
First of all, don't call me man. I'm the dude...man. If you don't have an HDTV yet, you will still be affected, and I will tell you the reason why, which plays into the second sentence above.
Most new plasma TVs have multiple inputs, including component, and the required HDMT input, but almost all the current line of plasma TVs have but one HDMI input. This is fine if all you want to do is hook up that shiney new HD-DVD player you pre-ordered at Tweeter Etc. But what about your other HD sources, like the aforementioned PS3? What about your nice HD cable box? Don't want to miss out on that awesome broadcast of the hockey game, but blast it, this new DVD player won't let me do analog conversion without putting a warning screen up and shutting off, because it detects the incorrect data-stream. That means I have to straight in to the TV from the DVD player... Now where do you plug your other HDMi sources in?
More compromise. Hold it here, why are you having to make all these quality compromises on your brand new entertainment system with all the latest and greatest hardware? All to watch a new version of Terminator 2, that was damned overpriced to begin with (these discs will not be cheap, folks).
An AVR isn't the answer, because as of today, not a single AVR exists that has the required HDCP support needed by ACCS. HDCP is the protocol the DVD player will need to see to unlock the HDDVD data.
Also, don't start thinking you will just watch the HD material on your computer. That won't work, either. Sure, ATI and Nvidia have HDCP compatible cards out there, and there are even a couple monitors out there that would do the trick (but just a couple). Unfortunately, the one TI HDCP chip that would render these card compliant with the ACCS standards is not actually present on these cards. Apparently, the slot of the chip is being installed, but not the chip itself. Go figure.
So, like the AVR, there is not a single card out there that will run the new media in the correct format.
Who loses? First, it's the people who did buy a slightly older HD-TV. They just won't have the HDMI input at all, and that TV will never be able to play the full res version of the media. Still, even if they had to suffer that loss, they should still be able to go component analog into their TV and get the (albeit scaled down) somewhat HD converted siignal to play, enjoying sharper resolution than current media offers, as well as the expanded media size. Alas, to do this, the signal would have to get converted, and the studios say that absolutely cannot happen, as then the signal becomes easily pirated. Next would be the current Plasma and HD owners who do have an input that is compliant, but just one. These people will be juggling devices and dealing with scale-down compromise all over the place. Last, anyone who does want to buy the media, might end up in a specialty market, since not many people will be able to play the damn things, and we all know what happens to an item's price when it becomes a specialty.
Who will win? I would think anyone wanting to hook up with a cheap non-compliant HDTV.... I have a feeling they will be rock bottom, very soon...
And during all this, the studios seem to think that no one will be able to hack the ACCS stuff....
Riiiiiight.
Some of the articles, which state about the same thing I posted:
Next-Gen DVD Debacle (http://gear.ign.com/articles/691/691408p1.html)
HD Beat (http://www.hdbeat.com/2006/02/16/copy-protection-on-next-gen-dvds-is-killing-the-future/)
Copy Protection Threat (http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/102/C6524/)
Gizmodo Gadget Blog (http://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/nextgen-media-screws-early-hdtv-owners-156319.php)
It all comes down to this:
People you don't know, and who don;t knwo you, are placing controls and restrictions on the equipment you buy, and the content you watch/listen to. Hated those previews that were on that DVD last night? You know, the ones you couldn't bypass? That's nothing. Wait until you see what they have in store for you now!
I am thinking the newer upscaling DVD players that are out now for regular DVD media might be the right move...