If you have an older TV or HDTV or monitor you are screwed!

[Ranger REG]

the thing that really pisses me off is that it seems that everybody is going out of their way to make fair use illegal... so, if i want to make a backup copy of my legally bought cd, or dvd, i am breaking the law.

I dunno if the industry is trying to change the Fair Use policy, but what they're doing is make it difficult for you to try, in the interest of combating piracy.

 

[Spell]

How about them new fangles anti-piracy CD's that came out a few years ago. The recording industry spent millions devolping them only to have it broken by a $1.50 sharpie pen marking the edge of the CD.

what? i have to investigate that! i need to make an mp3 copy of my king of leon album...

 

[John Crichton]

Back on topic, a lot of stuff that I buy (Discovery-channel documentaries, for instance) barely come with anything more than closed captioning (if I'm lucky I've encountered a few that didn't even have that!). I can't imagine what would possibly be put into a DVD that would require even ten times the current limit, except maybe TV series (e.g., getting all of a season of a sitcom or drama on one disc).

More space simply means that those documentaries would look better. For example - If you've ever watched a sporting event on regular TV and then watched it in HD you'll easily see the astounding difference. Me typing about it doesn't do it justice.

Is HD something we need? No. But it's damn cool and when it's more affordable I'll want more of it.

 

[Spell]

I dunno if the industry is trying to change the Fair Use policy, but what they're doing is make it difficult for you to try, in the interest of combating piracy.

sometimes, they remind me of old medieval church and its forbidden books index... "it's just to protect the society and combat the few evil writers out there..."

 

[wingsandsword]

what if the new system is just implemented on every new tv set or dvd player? i can't see people stopping buying dvds just for that. if, as it is likely, the market should be in the slums, it will be there just for a short-ish time... just enough to make everybody buying the new equipment, happy or not with this new system.
sure enough, a couple of years of losses might prove too bitter for most film studios to just go on with the technology... and yet, there is a possibility of that happening.

Not very likely.

The entertainment industry isn't one monolithic entity, no matter what the MPAA may want you to think. For that to work, every company would have to stop making and selling DVD players (and there are lots of companies in the world that do, and those that do it just to spite the others, like companies that make region-free DVD players). Then every distributor and motion picture studio would have to decide to use the same next-generation "secure" format, between the two that are offered, and move away from DVD, a risky move hoping that they won't lose too much money from people who refuse to upgrade and adopt the new technology. You've got small-time outfits that make DVD's of independent and low-budget movies, several movie studios, importers of anime and foriegn TV shows and movies. Among all this, there is the existing DVD standard which is widely adopted, widely supported, and proven to work. Then there are two new technologies that are competing and not a huge market-driven urge to replace the existing technology. DVD was adapted pretty much universally because a consortium of most of the industry in the late-90's decided on the format together, thinking it would be a robust and secure medium that would last for some time. With replacements for DVD, there is no such consensus, and little customer drive apparently.

Companies make big money from those DVD sales, and something as little as Shrek 2 not selling as well on DVD as expected was treated as a problem that caused a significant stock price drop. Jumping to a whole new format, leaving behind everybody else is just asking for a big new gap, and lost sales for a while, and gambling it comes back soon enough. Stockholders hate it when sales figures drop very sharply, especially when they didn't have to because it was from an intentional decision.

Honestly, as long as I can get Episode III on original DVD, there is enough movies and TV shows on DVD to entertain me for many, many years, and I'd simply stop buying new discs if some new "secure" format came to prevalence that would require me to buy a compatible TV and whole new player. I don't think I'm alone on that one.

 

[Joker]

the thing that really pisses me off is that it seems that everybody is going out of their way to make fair use illegal... so, if i want to make a backup copy of my legally bought cd, or dvd, i am breaking the law.

I thought it was common knowledge that every computer user hacks, cracks and illegally downloads software.

 

[griff_goodbeard]

I'll chime in to say I'm not worried either. There is no way that regular DVD will just suddenly become unavailable. Thats why ten+ years ago when DVD first came out, they didn't just stop making VHS. It might get phased out eventually, but I suspect it'll be a good 10 years before you have to have this technology.

 

[Mallus]

Umm.... two things...

1) Aren't all tv's with HDMI inputs HDCP compliant?

2) How is Blu-Ray (or HD-DVD) going to succeed if the makers add another barrier to purchase on top of a price-point higher than DVD and the cost of a new player?

They might talk a good game about copy protection, but in the end its in their best interest to move as many units as possible, as quickly as possible. And cutting older HDTV owners out of the market seems like financial sucide.

 

[drothgery]

Umm.... two things...

1) Aren't all tv's with HDMI inputs HDCP compliant?

I think so.

2) How is Blu-Ray (or HD-DVD) going to succeed if the makers add another barrier to purchase on top of a price-point higher than DVD and the cost of a new player?

It's inconvenient to download HD movies even over broadband, and it's extremely unlikely that the studios will produce media in an unprotected format.

They might talk a good game about copy protection, but in the end its in their best interest to move as many units as possible, as quickly as possible. And cutting older HDTV owners out of the market seems like financial sucide.

Consider that
- A lot of the plasma displays that have been sold aren't HDTVs at all; they're EDTVs, and can't handle HD resolutions. Also, some first-generation displays have serious shelf life limits. These will need replacing.
- Before 2007 or 2008, it's likely that the only sub-$500 Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player will be a PS3. And even after then, it'll be a while before most movies are released in a high-def format.
- This is going to be the first Christmas where (as per above) there will be a reasonable selection of HDTVs at sub-$1000 price points. I wouldn't be surprised if more HDTVs are sold this fall than have been sold to date.

So I don't think the industry is too worried about HDTVs without HDCP support.

 

[Fast Learner]

[off topic]As good a thread as any to ask: Is there any validity to the story that DVDs have a lifespan of about 10 years, then they've degraded too far to be useful?[/off topic]

I've never heard that. DVD-R and RW and such do have a limited lifespan (oxidation of the inks, I believe), but regular DVDs should have very long lives.