posted 01-18-2006 06:12 PM                       

quote: This page

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Blu-ray players to "punish" users who hack their gear?

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...

On top of that, consumers should expect punishment for tinkering with their Blu-ray players, as many have done with current DVD players, for instance to remove regional coding. The new, Internet-connected and secure players will report any "hack" and the device can be disabled remotely.

Are they talking about PVP-OPM techniques and rejected HDMI keys, or something else far more sinister? Because apparently "A hacked player is any player that is doing something it's not supposed to do," which open to a pretty fair amount of interpretation—most of which egregious.

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posted 01-19-2006 10:48 AM                       

Well here's the good news...The first Blu-Ray players apparently won't have any ability to connect to the Internet, and it's possible that low-end player-only units down the road won't either.

Apparently the big deal with that ability is tied to BD-J (Blu-Ray Java) enabled features, and BD-J isn't ready for prime-time.

So you apparently WILL be able to buy a Blu-Ray DVD player that simply plays movies and doesn't connect to the web or manage your viewing habits (or quality hacking abilities). You might miss out on some Java features. Imagine how troubled I am over that.

quote: TG Daily

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SOURCE: TG Daily
CES 2006: First-generation Blu-ray disc players may not be full-featured

Las Vegas (NV) - In what may be one of the more stunning revelations of this year's Consumer Electronics Show, representatives of manufacturers of Blu-ray disc players and equipment - who did not wish to be quoted - told TG Daily that the first generation of Blu-ray high-definition disc players, to be made available soon, probably will not have full on-screen interactivity features after all.

The interactive layer - the component which Blu-ray proponents say makes it competitive with rival format HD DVD - is supplied by Blu-ray Java, or BD-J, an interpreted protocol created by Sun Microsystems. But since the Java interpreters are apparently not yet ready to be implemented in hardware, some manufacturers will apparently release "basic" or "plain" or "player-only" Blu-ray players in advance of BD-J. The watch-word for Blu-ray players with full BD-J capabilities - and with other features the basic players may to omit, such as recording capability - is full-profile.

Yesterday in a press conference, Philips Consumer Electronics President Rudy Provoost told reporters that BD-J interactive content was being interwoven with the main movie content to such a degree that, over time, the viewer would not be able to tell the difference between them. In a presentation today, TG Daily was shown a prototype Blu-ray service connection that allows consumers to pull up movies on-demand by browsing menus consisting of their lead actors' faces. If today's revelations turn out to be true, at least the very first Blu-ray models may omit all that browsing, demanding, and interweaving altogether.

Also left out of the first-edition players will be the capability for them to connect to the Internet and download streaming media, for distribution throughout the home. This capability, we're told, also requires BD-J to be present. News of this omission, in a sense, is also news of this feature's inevitable inclusion. Apparently, one of the bonuses consumers will receive for purchasing full-profile players will be a connection to an Internet-based streaming download service. Previously, we'd reported that the Internet connection served as an authorization channel, and as a key facilitator of both Blu-ray's and HD DVD's copy protection and digital rights management scheme, AACS. The streaming service may serve as incentive for consumers to connect to the Internet in the first place, to allow their media consumption habits to be "managed."

Presumably, the streaming service may create new avenues for the delivery of high-definition content to consumers, including the ability for them to simply press their own movies and pay for them automatically. But the interactivity layer will need to be present in order for such services to be utilized by consumers. This leads to another question: Is BD-J as ready for prime time as we were led to believe?

However, omissions of features such as the interactivity layer may be necessary to knock prices down. Floor representatives told TG Daily today first generation Blu-ray player consoles could sell for as little as half the price of the full-profile players demonstrated here this week, which are being priced for as much as $1,800. A "basic Blu-ray device," we're now being told, could conceivably sell for as little as $1,000, or even less for internal PC drives. Yesterday, Toshiba revealed that its first-generation HD DVD players will sell for about half the price of full-profile Blu-ray console players.

Pioneer Electronics, according to its representatives on the show floor, will not be among the companies selling a "basic" Blu-ray player, at least not this year. Instead, it plans an "Elite" model console, which will sell for around $1,800.

UPDATE: Whether or not you consider Pioneer's initial Elite models "full profile" depends on how you interpret Pioneer's spin on the issue. Reports from observers on the floor say that, although the term "full-profile" has been used to describe the Elite series, the first models to be introduced in the US will not have recording capability after all, though the $1,800 price tag still stands.

TG Daily also learned today that the Internet connection necessary for full-profile Blu-ray capabilities to be realized, will require a dedicated Ethernet cable. Wireless connections will apparently be prohibited, say floor representatives for Blu-ray manufacturers. One representative told us keeping high-definition content off of the WiFi airwaves is necessary for its own protection. This leads to yet another set of questions, the first of which is this: Will consumers be able to wire their own Ethernet connections through their existing Ethernet routers? Or will Blu-ray's connection to the Internet (as well as HD DVD's) be separate and exclusive, like CATV service? We may learn more over the next few days.

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posted 01-22-2006 01:59 PM                       

quote: Bobby Henderson

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Remember the old cliche of the average American being unable to program a VCR? Well, a lot of that is true. The vast majority of Americans just don't feel like going to the trouble of trying to do all that stuff just to save a few bucks.

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posted 01-22-2006 06:23 PM                       

quote: Mike Blakesley

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You do have to feel a bit of sympathy for those companies though.

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quote: Bobby Henderson

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[Piracy] is a far greater problem when it comes to computer software. Yet you don't hear the software industry bitching as loud as Hollywood. Strange.

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quote: Bobby Henderson

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The music industry's crappy sales are all due to crappy product. Simple as that. There is no other cause to blame. Declining DVD sales are the same thing -crappy product.

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posted 01-22-2006 10:53 PM                    

quote: Mike Blakesley

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I wish I had a nickel for every time I've heard one kid say to another, "don't buy that...I'll burn it for you" or "Don't buy it, I'll just download it."

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posted 02-14-2006 11:23 AM                       

quote:

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AACS copy protection for Blu-ray disc and HD DVD delayed again

Last Friday, the meeting of the AACS LA was to resolve the final specifications of the new Advanced Access Content System (AACS). But insiders are reporting that no such agreement was reached. Instead, it is said that an important member of the Blu-ray Disc Association is still voicing concerns about the interaction of AACS and the additional BD+ protection for Blu-ray movies. The next meeting is scheduled for February 23rd and 24th.
Anzeige

Without the AACS specification, the copy protection keys that manufacturers of drives and media need cannot be produced. For instance, manufacturers such as NEC, Pioneer, Samsung, and Toshiba are eagerly awaiting the specifications so they can implement AACS in their equipment.

Hollywood movie studios are insisting that such protection be included in all drives. Without AACS, high-resolution movies can't be played back. A Mandatory Managed Copy (MMC) can, however, be made. Only if the holder of the copyright gives explicit consent may a limited number of copies of the original disc be created; the movie may also not be streamed via a Media Center or to mobile devices without express consent. An online connection is required to check for rights to make a permitted copy. The holder of the copyright may, however, completely rule out copies or demand a fee.

AACS can renew device keys, thereby blocking manipulated drives. BD+ provides additional protection for Blu-ray discs: here, a program in a Java Virtual Machine constantly monitors the movie's data stream and stops playback if there is any manipulation. To prevent the data stream from being grabbed on its path from the player software to the graphics card, Microsoft's Certified Output Protection Protocol (COPP) will monitor the connection. Among other things, COPP is designed to prevent movies from being output to a virtual graphics card that redirects the data into a file. Graphics cards can be upgraded to COPP by means of a driver update; Windows XP supports COPP upwards of Service Pack 2, as will the upcoming Windows Vista.

In turn, HD output is only possible if the graphics card encrypts the digital monitor signal at the DVI output via HDCP or if it has an HDMI output. Likewise, the monitor must support HDCP / HDMI. Without this encryption, the movie will only be played in standard resolutions. The first graphics cards that support HDCP are to hit stores in the 2nd quarter; current models cannot be upgraded because they lack the special BIOS chip required.

Now that the AACS specification has been postponed once again, the sales releases announced for the first Blu-ray burners, HD DVD drives, and stand-alone players at the beginning of March will probably not be possible; we can expect the delay to move the schedule back at least one month. As one Blu-ray manufacturer told heise online, "We need at least two or three weeks to apply for the keys and implement the system." (Craig Morris) / (jk/c't)

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