posted 04-04-2005 09:14 PM                    

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Protecting Content on High Definition Discs
It gets worse

by Dan Ramer
FRIDAY, April 1, 2005

One of the wonderful perks that comes with being associated with a website seen by vast numbers of readers from all over the world is that I get to correspond with interesting people. Some are from inside the worlds of consumer electronics, DVD production, and filmmaking, and that occasionally results in being given advanced or inside information. One such correspondent - who's been following my pieces on the potential disaster of analog video component outputs being withheld from imminent high definition disc players - wrote with news that crushed my hopes. I've warned that the new high definition players may render many existing HD-ready displays obsolete. Well, it's much worse.

The discs

In addition to the protection of very strong encryption found within the discs' stored digital data, several other anti-piracy measures are coming to high definition discs. The discs will be manufactured with a narrow band of write-once material in one of two locations, depending upon whether the disc is single layer or double layer. As a last step in the manufacturing process, each disc will receive a unique serial number in the form of embedded bit modulation within specific video frames of the film; those special watermarked frames will be "burned" onto the disc. They will be written contiguous with the bit stream "pressed" into the disc during manufacture. The "pressed" tracks and the "burned" tracks will play seamlessly; any positional difference on the disc will be invisible due to the player's data buffer. The location within the frame and the frame number(s) where the serial number watermark can be found will be kept in a centralized database under control of the MPAA. The location within the video frame will be dependent upon the frame's visual content and is intended to be quite random, never in the same place twice from one title to another. The size of the areas and depth of the modulation is reported to survive remapping of pixels, so scaling or remapping to another format - lower or otherwise - will not obliterate the serial number. The modulation is reported to be invisible to the naked eye.

The disc case's newly extended bar code will be different for each individual disc; each will have the disc's serial number amended to the normal barcode. The automated production line will print the unique bar codes on preprinted cover graphics, insert each graphic into a case, and insert the corresponding disc with matching serial number. Each case would then move on to the wrapping station and bulk packaging.

Kiss your privacy goodbye

When these serialized high definition discs are sold, retailers and web vendors will be required to provide purchase information based on credit card transactions to the MPAA for its database on a weekly basis. Brick and mortar shops will also be required to install networked cameras directed toward cash register positions to capture images of purchasers during sales of high definition discs. The shutter will be triggered either by the bar code scanner or manually by the salesperson if the customer turns away during the scan. That also creates a record for cash transactions. Retailers who do not comply with these anti-piracy measures will not receive product.

So if and when a pirated copy of a specific title is either made available on the Internet or as a physical disc illegally reproduced, the MPAA will be able to analyze the specific frame where the serial number is stored, recover it, and take action against the purchaser of the source disc. So if you choose to sell a purchased high definition disc, you'd better generate a paper trail.

When you get the discs home, be prepared to connect the high definition player to either a telephone line or your local area network for access to the Internet. The players will have their serial numbers stored in firmware, and the players will read the disc's title ID and seek a Digital Rights Management (DRM) license to play. The responding database will test for region based on your IP address before granting permission. And the database will store the player serial number and title. Work is underway to see if it might be possible to extract the disc's serial number from the watermark, but the processing power to do that currently is deemed to expensive to build into the players. Requiring the players to be registered with the manufacturer - using either an enclosed mail-in warranty card or an web form on the manufacturer's website - as a prerequisite to granting the DRM license is also under consideration.

Expect the costs of all these measures to be passed along to the consumer, both in increased player prices and increased disc prices.

All displays are now obsolete

But that's not all. The video will be stored on disc as 1080p24, but when played back, a new progressive pulldown cadence will be applied: A BB A BB A BB and so on. This cadence will yield a frame rate of 36 frames per second; the players will produce video as 1080p36. This non-standard high definition format is incompatible with every known high definition recording device (that is, of course, the point). And it's incompatible with every existing display device with the exception of frequency-agile CRT-based front projectors. But those will be useless since the outputs on the high definition disc players will, in fact, be exclusively HDCP-compliant HDMI. No analog outputs.

The consumer electronics manufacturers are scrambling to modify and update their existing display offerings to accept the new frame rate. And since everyone who wishes to watch high definition discs will have to buy a brand new display, there is some indication that manufacturers are going to offer generous rebates to consumers who buy a player and a display made by the same company.

Dissent in the marketplace

There is also a report that even though the porn industry has yet to embrace one of the two new high definition disc formats, it will not participate in the anti-piracy measure of embedded serial numbers and consumer tracking. It is felt that such tracking would discourage sales. The porn industry is also lobbying for a flag to be placed in the digital bit stream to instruct the new players to output 1080i30 rather than 1080p36. This requires standards bodies and player manufacturers to cooperate; if they are successful, player firmware would have to be modified accordingly. The porn industry's intent is to serve the owners of the installed base of HDCP-compliant HD-ready displays. Apparently in the porn sector, piracy is not as much of an issue as sales.

Legislative protection

Influential congressional members on the commerce committee already have been briefed and lobbied concerning this anti-piracy plan. There is apparently a call for legislation that would shield player manufacturers and the studios from lawsuits by disgruntled display owners. Congressional reactions are split along party lines. The Republicans believe that the sales of new high definition displays and players, and the replacement of standard resolution DVDs with the new high definition discs, will spur the economy. And they support Hollywood's efforts to prevent the piracy of the country's most successful export: motion pictures. The Democrats are appalled, citing how this is yet another example of the rich getting richer at the expense of the middle class.

Final thoughts

I'm fearful of the draconian anti-piracy measures the film industry may jam down the throats of law-abiding consumers, home theater enthusiasts, and film buffs as the new high definition payers come to market. I, for one, can't afford to replace my front projector without accepting a serious step down in image quality. And if the paranoia I've described in this article were true, I'd have to find a new hobby.

Previously published related articles:
High Definition DVD Dilemmas, January 2, 2005
Blu-ray Disc vs. HD-DVD, February 14, 2005
Mixed Signals, February 21, 2005
Another Leaf On The HDCP-HDMI-DVI Artichoke, March 7, 2005

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posted 04-04-2005 09:23 PM                       

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And if the paranoia I've described in this article were true, I'd have to find a new hobby.

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posted 04-05-2005 12:56 PM                       

• The West Wing
• CSI (original version)
• Law & Order
• Arrested Development
• The Simpsons
• King of the Hill
• Without A Trace

That small list represents potentially 5.5 hours of viewing a week, if I'm actually making an effort to keep up with new episodes. That's plenty. So I don't need to pay any extra for subscription channels like HBO.
I will confess that of the reality shows, the two I kind of liked were American Idol and Survivor. But they're getting stale and I don't make an effort to watch them any more. Most of the rest of the reality shows are crap, but evidently someone is watching them. Probably not the elite viewers though.

My TiVo has a phone connection so it can keep its program guide up to date. TiVo is pretty much useless without that connection. It annoyed the hell out of me when they started dumping ads onto the TiVo box too. I complained loudly to them but never got a reply. You can't delete the ads, although you can just not look at them. So I don't look at them. And of course the TiVo box is reporting my viewing habits back to the TiVo Home Office. Hope they find my data interesting.

posted 04-05-2005 03:35 PM                    

quote: David Stambaugh

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It annoyed the hell out of me when they started dumping ads onto the TiVo box too. I complained loudly to them but never got a reply. You can't delete the ads, although you can just not look at them.

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posted 04-05-2005 05:13 PM                       

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