What are the requirements that needs to play HD-dvd and Blu-ray movies on the PC?

[Solodays]

Do you need an HDCP computer or what?

 

[JBT]

More than likely obviously a HD-DVD or Blu-ray player, a monitor and a video card that both have HDCP supported inputs/outputs.

 

[Solodays]

you mean a video card with HDMI output and a monitor with HDMI too? i have never seem one single video card with HDMI.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Solodays
you mean a video card with HDMI output and a monitor with HDMI too? i have never seem one single video card with HDMI.

DVI can support HDCP too. But I'm not even sure if any video cards currently have HDCP "support" on their DVI outputs, and very very few PC monitors support HDCP on their DVI inputs yet.

 

[Solodays]

then 100% of pc users are screwed then, either dump out your newly installed $500 video card for a HDCP capable video card or else screwed? oh and monitor too. isn't HDCP just a program affixed into these Blu-ray drives? can a simply hack program bypass this hdcp for the majority of us that dont have HDCP videos card and HDCP monitors.

 

[Solodays]

also, do yo need an decent powered pc inorder to play these hi-def movies?

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Solodays
then 100% of pc users are screwed then, either dump out your newly installed $500 video card for a HDCP capable video card or else screwed? oh and monitor too. isn't HDCP just a program affixed into these Blu-ray drives? can a simply hack program bypass this hdcp for the majority of us that dont have HDCP videos card and HDCP monitors.

Yes, pretty much (referring to the bolded part) - for those users who want to play "protected" (read: crippled) HDDVD/bluray content anyway (which won't be everyone). To be honest I'm not familiar with all the technical intricacies of the HDCP spec, but it's not just a "program"...it's a specification providing for the encryption of data all the way along the path from source (such as an HD-DVD drive) to destination (that being your monitor, if it supports HDCP anyway). I don't know enough to say whether or not this could be bypassed by an easy "hack" program (though I will say that I would have no moral problems using such a program to view legally purchased media on a monitor that I would otherwise have to throw away...). I have heard of at least one device that apparently "strips" the HDCP off a DVI signal and passes it along to a non-HDCP device, but last I'd checked it was very expensive (a few hundred dollars), and also there's no guarantee that the thing will work with the final HDCP spec of the HD disc formats (since they're supposed to be able to revoke keys and crap like that).

Basically the whole thing is BS and IMO way too restrictive, and as you said, basically screws over paying customers unless they make large investments in "new" hardware, the only new feature being the HDCP support. While I do love my HD content, I think it's entirely unrealistic to think that people are going to spend upwards of $1000 to play the stuff (including replacement of a monitor for most people). I could see charging a few hundred for the drive, but requiring users to replace their monitors and such = :thumbsdown:

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Solodays
also, do yo need an decent powered pc inorder to play these hi-def movies?

Yes, h.264 is the codec of choice of both new disc formats (I believe)...unless you have a codec that makes use of your GPU for acceleration (and these are still in their infancy, the Nvidia one seems to be completely random as to which video cards it actually works with), the CPU requirements are rather steep. As in, unless you have a dual core, you're not going to be playing 1080p smoothly. Things should improve though as time goes on and decoders become more optimized...

 

[Solodays]

hmm..i dont get it. how exactly is this hdcp gonna protect it's content by only limited viewers to watch it?

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Solodays
hmm..i dont get it. how exactly is this hdcp gonna protect it's content by only limited viewers to watch it?

The idea is that they don't want people hooking up DVI cables to some sort of insanely expensive DVI recording device to be able to obtain a perfect digital copy of the video.

 

[Solodays]

If they dont want people duplicating their shlt then these computer dvd drive burners shouldn't have even exist in the first place. this also goes to hddvd and blu ray burners. piracy on these hi-def movies will be broke sooner or later, so why screw everyone over with this HDCP?

 

[KamiXkaze]

Yep that is about right what is the point of having a burner if they are going to start doing stuff like that.

KxK