Hollywood to delay forced quality downgrades

[Ironman273]

I figured since there's so much discussion about HDMI and Blu-Ray I'd post it here.

Hollywood reportedly in agreement to delay forced quality downgrades for Blu-ray, HD DVD

5/21/2006 7:02:34 PM, by Ken Fisher

As the DVD format welcomes two potential heirs to its kingship as the commercial video medium of choice, there are mounting concerns that these new heirs are nothing but pretenders. Blu-ray and HD DVD—the two competing "standards" for the next-generation of video discs—are both shackled with technologically-forged chains, but those chains may be broken by a consumer electronics industry wary of how their existence could hamper sales.

One of the most controversial aspects of these next-generation products is something called the Image Constraint Token (ICT), a security "feature" that allows studios to force-downgrade video quality on players that lack a special video output that was designed to thwart piracy. This "HDMI" connector standard is part of a "protected pathway" for video that was meant to combat piracy by making it impossible for pirates to tap into high-definition video output and press "Record," as it were. Many fear, however, that the only success HDMI will have is in making honest users miserable, inasmuch as consumers could be left with a product that plays at low quality or not at all if HDMI is not present on one's player or TV.

The conundrum isn't apparently lost on the consumer electronics industry or Hollywood. According to German-language Spiegel Online, there is reportedly a behind-the-scenes, unofficial agreement between Hollywood and some consumer electronics manufacturers, including Microsoft and Sony, not to use ICT until 2010, or possibly even 2012. Without providing more details, the report suggests that Hollywood isn't exactly happy with the situation, and could very well renege on the agreement, such that it is. But the agreement is there nonetheless, presumably to help the industry transition to HDMI. This could explain why the very same studios that pushed for HDMI and ICT have recently announced that they would not use it for the time being.

The report's claims could also shed some light on two of the more baffling consumer electronics moves as of late. Sony stunned onlookers when it announced that the low-end PlayStation 3, which will retail for US$499, will not have HDMI. This put Sony in the awkward position of downplaying HDMI as a "must have" feature for a next-generation optical disc player. Kaz Hirai, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, sidestepped the lack of HDMI by painting it as a high-end standard that wouldn't be aesthetically appreciated by many consumers.

"The only difference is HDMI – and at this point, I don't think many people's TV's have that. The ultimate result, to my eyes anyway, is there's not a discernible difference between what you get between HDMI and other forms of high definition," he said.

On one level, he's correct. Few consumers will appreciate the difference between 1080i on a component cable (analog) and 1080p on HDMI. What he ignored is the real trade-off: without HDMI, that 1920x1080 (1080i/p) or 1280 x 720 (720p) picture, analog or not, could be rendered at a less impressive 960x540 (540p) if the ICT was present and obeyed. While 540p is indeed better than today's DVD standard, few consumers would spend $500-$1000 on a new player and as much as $10 more per movie to get it. If part of Sony's big pitch for the PS3 is "hey, this thing is also futureproof because it does Blu-ray!," then ditching support for HDMI doesn't make sense in a world where the absence of HDMI could negate much of the promise of Blu-ray.

Then there's Microsoft. The company launched the Xbox 360 last November sans HD DVD drive, which turned out to be a wise thing to do, as both HD DVD and Blu-ray were delayed by setbacks with the new AACS security system. Microsoft nevertheless intends to support HD DVD on the Xbox 360 by shipping an external HD DVD player for the console in time for the 2006 holiday season. The add-on drive will connect to the Xbox via a USB 2.0 cable, but the console currently lacks an HDMI connector, just like the low-end PS3. Microsoft has not announced support for HDMI for the Xbox 360, though speculation is ripe that the company will release a dongle for the console after Lik-Sang posted a product page for it. For that dongle to do the trick, however, Microsoft would need to be able to add HDMI support via a firmware update, and their current proprietary output connector would need to meet HDMI standards. It is not yet clear if HDMI can be added to the Xbox 360 without a hardware revision, but that question may be seen as "moot" if in fact HDMI won't be a barrier to true 720 or 1080i/p until 4 to 6 years from now.

If indeed there is an "agreement" of sorts between companies like Microsoft and Sony and the studios (including Sony's own entertainment interests), this could certainly help to explain why these consoles are shipping today without HDMI support. But such unofficial agreements are gentlemanly in nature: at any time, all bets could be off. In the meantime, it appears as though Hollywood is playing it safe, hoping to keep the boogeyman of HDMI at bay while consumers weigh their options. Whether or not the strategy is ultimately about keeping users happy or lulling them into a false sense of security remains to be seen, but we're fairly certain that ICT was designed to be used, and used it will be.

Source

[iamthelaw]

good news.....means i can use my 2005fpw + ps3 for longer, without having to worry about upgrading my monitor :cool:

[Bhav]

This has been said so many times, but people just don't listen.

[Ironman273]

This has been said so many times, but people just don't listen.

Exactly. That's why I decided to post it in this subforum. People tend to appreciate it more when it comes from an official source.

[thollian]

thats cool....

[MadFerIt]

Good to hear. Although I wish they'd agree to "never" enforce the ICF. Even 4-5 years down the road there will be many television owners without HDMI.

[magik]

I hope they do away with ICF all-together because I think implementing it a few years down the line will really confuse the average consumer and just make the whole market a mess. At first, consumers will shy away from movies with the ICF indication label, until, regrettably there won't be much of a choice. I think it will eventually get hacked and will just cost people more time, money and aggravation than necessary.

Anyway, it seems as though this coming generation of consoles won't be affected too much by ICF, so that's good news. :D

[Bhav]

Exactly. That's why I decided to post it in this subforum. People tend to appreciate it more when it comes from an official source.

Yeah, it was definitely a good idea to post this.

Also, I hope people will realise that the whole ICT issue is not limited to Blu-ray. HD-DVD movies could do the same thing, so Xbox 360's add-on will be just as useless as the $500 PS3 if movie studios ever begin to implement the ICT.

Edited May 23, 2006 by Bhav

[jerry]

Also, I hope people will realise that the whole ICT issue is not limited to Blu-ray. HD-DVD movies could do the same thing, so Xbox 360's add-on will be just as useless as the $500 PS3 if movie studios ever begin to implement the ICT.

True except that Microsoft never promised 1080p. :whistle:

[yankee lion]

That's because they are not ambitious!

[User6060]

good to hear? more like good to have been heard.

[jerry]

That's because they are not ambitious!

Thats one way of looking at it and then there is the other; promising things you know you can deliver.

[yankee lion]

Thats one way of looking at it and then there is the other; promising things you know you can deliver.

Yes, but this makes the PS3 exciting! Makes you wonder what is coming next, if they will actually deliver, it's like a primetime drama! :rolleyes:

[jerry]

Yes, but this makes the PS3 exciting! Makes you wonder what is coming next, if they will actually deliver, it's like a primetime drama! :rolleyes:

It actually is. :laugh:

[dnast]

LOL at the last several posts. :laugh:

I agree with magik. I think it might be bad business to introdue ICF 4 or 5 years later. That would really confuse your average consumer if suddenly hi-def movies begin to look like crap. I guess there's hope that the majority of early adapters of HDTV sets will just replace their older HDTVs with their expendable income, but consumer confidence would really take a hit.

Maybe it's wishful thinking, but it would be great if they just left it alone. From what I've read, it won't be all that difficult to bypass the content protection anyway if someone really wants to do it. In my opinion the big guns in mass media have created enough "criminals" as it is.

[1759]

Thats one way of looking at it and then there is the other; promising things you know you can deliver.

Sony has their PS3 and Microsoft has Vista, sort of apples and oranges, but the same spirit applies.

[Ironman273]

Sony has their PS3 and Microsoft has Vista, sort of apples and oranges, but the same spirit applies.

Which is precisely why the Vista team was reorganized recently. What's bad is when you make a habit of it, not when it happens and you make sure it doesn't again.