HDCP and how it affects ME?

[scionguy]

Was reading on the HardOCP and came across HDCP.

So it's some sort of copyright protection right?

But how does it affect us the consumer and possibly DVD burners?

Lets disregard hacks and dongles for the moment.

 

[SynthDude2001]

In basic terms, you won't be able to play that kind of copy-protected content (which will likely be most if not all HD-DVD's and/or Blu-ray discs) on your computer unless you have a monitor that supports HDCP (which very very few PC monitors do at this point).

 

[ribbon13]

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
In basic terms, you won't be able to play that kind of copy-protected content (which will likely be most if not all HD-DVD's and/or Blu-ray discs) on your computer unless you have a monitor that supports HDCP (which very very few PC monitors do at this point).

Which is exactly why it's doomed to fail miserably. Which is good.

 

[Accord99]

Originally posted by: ribbon13

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
In basic terms, you won't be able to play that kind of copy-protected content (which will likely be most if not all HD-DVD's and/or Blu-ray discs) on your computer unless you have a monitor that supports HDCP (which very very few PC monitors do at this point).

Which is exactly why it's doomed to fail miserably. Which is good.

You overestimate the impact of PCs on the consumer media market. The vast majority of people buy DVDs to watch on a TV, not on a computer.

 

[Zarubable]

Originally posted by: Accord99

Originally posted by: ribbon13

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
In basic terms, you won't be able to play that kind of copy-protected content (which will likely be most if not all HD-DVD's and/or Blu-ray discs) on your computer unless you have a monitor that supports HDCP (which very very few PC monitors do at this point).

Which is exactly why it's doomed to fail miserably. Which is good.

You overestimate the impact of PCs on the consumer media market. The vast majority of people buy DVDs to watch on a TV, not on a computer.

EXACTLY!!!!!

 

[scionguy]

So thiis won't affect regular TVs and DVD players?

If so what's the frigging fuss?

 

[Rage187]

^ it will.


unless your tv supports HDCP you won't be watching HDDVD or Blu Ray on it.

 

[RaiderJ]

Supposedly if your monitor/TV/microwave doesn't support HDCP, you'll just not be able to watch whatever it is in its full HDTV glory. You'll be stuck with 480p or something.

I think HDCP support is something TV manufacturers where scared/forced into including all their stuff, much like the V-chip. I also think it sucks and won't be as big a deal as everyone thinks. But, the industry has done a good job of scaring everyone - certainly people here have their tail between their legs about it.

HDCP sucks.

 

[Some1ne]

I think that any format that attempts to strong-arm copyright protection measures onto users is doomed to failure unless it also introduces compelling new features at the same time. That's why we still have MP3 (and to a lesser extent OGG)...there are lots of "secure" audio formats, but none of them offer any real improvements over MP3 in terms of quality and other features, so of course nobody bothers to use them.

So the question is, what extras come with HDDVD/Blu-ray, and will they be enough to convince consumers to not only buy new players to support the new format, but also to put up with the overbearing copyright protection measures?

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Some1ne
I think that any format that attempts to strong-arm copyright protection measures onto users is doomed to failure unless it also introduces compelling new features at the same time. That's why we still have MP3 (and to a lesser extent OGG)...there are lots of "secure" audio formats, but none of them offer any real improvements over MP3 in terms of quality and other features, so of course nobody bothers to use them.

So the question is, what extras come with HDDVD/Blu-ray, and will they be enough to convince consumers to not only buy new players to support the new format, but also to put up with the overbearing copyright protection measures?

Well, they're high-def, and if you want high-def recorded content, those are currently the only game in town. If nobody buys them and they flop, maybe the industry will reconsider.

Also, while both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray support HDCP, neither require its use. You can put out unencrypted discs in either format, just like you can make DVDs that don't have CSS on them.