Comments on: The Impeding Dilemma of Component Video

By: C Anderson

C Anderson — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 08:32:23 +0000

The device is here! In its 2nd version, it's worth having (was a bit rough in version 1). HDMI to component video, right up to 1080p. Creates a component video stream that matches the resolution and interlace/not of the HDMI source.

http://www.curtpalme.com/HDFury2.shtm

By: C Anderson

C Anderson — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 08:32:23 +0000

By: Chris J.

Chris J. — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 16:27:54 +0000

It seems that a box will become availble on the black/white markets that will input HDMI and appear HDCP to the provider. Then that same box will output compontent in full 1080p/1080i/720p. How could this box not be pretty simple to make? A supplier engineer would just have to reproduce the thing in the back of a HDMI/HDCP-complaint monitor. Doesn't sound that magical, does it?

By: Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 03:42:29 +0000

If the player only supports HD over protected HDMI it will not be an issue when these players first arrive as most people who will spend the huge sum for the players will most likely have the required display units.
This protection will not stop people downloading movies as most of them are medium quality XVID which could be encoded from a 480 output and still be fine.
It will also not stop people making dvds from BD or HDDVD.
People will more likely be trying to break the encryption or get a signal after decoding, maybe by pulling apart a 1080 TV and getting the signal from the display driver after decoding has taken place, building something to convert the signals used to drive the display panel back to a digital stream.
My late uncle was a horse shoe constructor, but there was a difference, he did the heating etc while the shoe was on the horse and this made him unique, the only problem was it was stupid and he didnt last very long at all, he still says one thing today, "Be it rain or be it weather, we are all the result of the man with the beard, Amen"
What has this got to do with HD-DVD or its nemises cousin Blu Ray, well in 1967 a guy named Steven Thompson made a statement to a lucky few "The factories will produce many toys and gimmicks, and soon you will depend on these, why not go outside and enjoy the sun, son. Do we really need any of this, from the mobile phones we update every 6 months, to the movies we watch that sound or look a bit better (not his exact words) every few years, why not go outside and enjoy the sun,son.
Do we really need any of this to be happy? do you have to buy your parter 1000s of dollars worth of gold, son or are we just conforming to other peoples standards so we just fit in without thinking.. so go enjoy the sun, son its free and not leaving anytime soon, son.

By: steve

steve — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 22:47:06 +0000

There is absolutely no way I am going to buy any hi-def dvd player that won't support older components in hi-def. Backwards compatibility is a must. WTF are the studios thinking??? Their real financial problems don't come from piracy, but from movies that plain out suck.

By: JoeCool

JoeCool — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 11:56:27 +0000

It's simple: No component out at full resolution, no HD-DVD purchase. I'll be damned if the major HDTV investment I made five years ago is going to become obsolete because the flaming idiots at the studios are worried about piracy. Maybe if everyone votes NO! with their checkbooks the manufacturers will remember where their sales come from and stop listening to the dang dipschlitz studio lawyers!

Just my 2¢

By: YYZ

YYZ — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 00:50:26 +0000

Imagine if the DVD player had made it's debut with only Component video (new at the time) and optical or coax audio out and didn't offer any RCA jacks.

Selling a new-tech primary output device such as an HD-DVD or BR player without backwards compatible Component video is going to be a hard sell indeed !

BTW, my personal solution for upscaling DVD to 1080i to get a bit more mileage out of my DVD collection: Region free and HDCP-output free (via Component out) Samsung 2004 DVD-HD841 model DVD player. (Samsung is actually getting sued to recall these units). There are other similarly functioning players out there, you just have to look for them.

By: Ian Bell

Ian Bell — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 13:25:56 +0000

Sony Will NOT Downconvert HD Movies On Old HDTV's

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?secti...

"In an important aside, Don Eklund, SPHE's senior vice president for advanced technologies, said that Sony's initial Blu-ray discs ? and all of its Blu-ray titles for the forseeable future ? will be free of the "Image Constraint Token" that's built into the Blu-ray and HD DVD standards. This controversial digital flag instructs the player to down-res the video signal from its analog component-video outputs to a standard-definition image to prevent high-resolution recordings ? but at the same time prevents viewing of HDTV images on any TV or device not equipped with a copyright-protected HDMI digital input. That would eliminate any gain in image quality for HDTV early-adopters who bought displays prior to two or three years ago, when DVI and HDMI digital inputs were introduced.

Eklund noted that Sony's key piracy concern isn't with analog HDTV signals but with the digital HDTV signal coming off the disc, which both Blu-ray and HD DVD are protecting with the robust Advanced Access Content System (AACS) endorsed by the Hollywood studios. If analog copying does become a problem down the road, the policy could change, he said ? but for now, "we have no plan to implement the Image Constraint Token. All of Sony's titles will come out of the analog output at full definition." He added that other studios still have the discretion to activate the token for all or individual titles."

Yay for Sony.

By: Seth Bokelman

Seth Bokelman — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 17:02:04 +0000

Wow, I was planning on buying a new player this year, but if this is the case, I won't be buying one for several years. My TV is barely over 3 years old, it cost me $1800, and it only has component inputs. If the studios or hardware manufacturers think I can justify buying both a new TV and expensive new DVD player any time in the next 3-4 years, they're insane, and no one is going to buy their products.

From what I've seen via HBO and Cinemax HD, movies don't even look THAT much better in HD, due to the depth of focus of film content, versus content shot on HD video, which really POPS off screen at you in comparison.

By: DBang

DBang — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 10:25:23 +0000

I cannot say exactly how it will work for Blu-ray or HD-DVD, because I haven't played with any hardware yet. What I can speak to is how HDMI+HDCP and Component work, because I'm a firmware engineer on a DVD player. What happens is:

(note this is for current DVD)
1) if you are displaying via HDMI, the component outputs are shut off.
2) if you are displaying via component and the content is flagged as copyrighted (therefore HDCP is active), the component signal is limited to 480p--if you select anything higher it turns component off.
3) if you are displaying via component and the content is not flagged as copyrighted (therefore the video is "in the clear"/no HDCP needed), then you can display up to 1080i via component.

That means that the current crop of units already (in most cases) have all the hardware they need to drive 1080i out the component connection, but they cannot because of HDCP.

It's a requirement by the studios. It sucks. It's also going to be a major problem for PVR-type devices, whether home-built or company made. And it is very likely to seriously damage PC video-card upgrade sales.

I own a 5-year old Mistubishi HDTV. They promised to make available upgrades to the current standards, but then chose to define that as Firewire + HAVI & 5C, which they supported. The industry went the other direction and Mits is doing nothing for their early-adopters, so we are S.O.L. I don't even have DVI.

So when the HD players come out later this year, will I buy one? If the only way to get that HD signal to my set is HDMI, no way. I'll wait until my TV burns completely out.

Hollywood needs to be sent a message on this one. I hope the masses won't just buy new stuff like the sheep they tend to be and accept the further erosion of fair-use.

As for the "format war," there won't be one. Period. This is less like VHS vs. Betamax and more like DVD+R vs. DVD-R. Confusing as all get-out for the consumer, but 6 months down the road it won't matter because dual-format players WILL be available.