"The crux of the issue is how willingly consumers will embrace another
whole new copy-protection idea. If a system doesn't work, the consumer
is inconvenienced, but Hollywood studios feel no pain. The industry
source said, 'The default condition is to stay on the side of protecting
their content.'"
...
"But he cautioned that while AACS' various spec versions are designed to
be backward-compatible, that may not be the case across the board."
Funny how hard it evidently is to learn simple lessons. The old DAT and
high def audio DVD-A and SACD formats are dead or dying exactly for
these reasons. Consumers don't see the advantages great enough to put up
with the hassle. What makes CE vendors think that HD-DVDs would be any
different?
If the "default condition" is to put the consumer last, even though the
consumer is supposed to be the customer of the CE vendors, that consumer
will respond in kind. While Hollywood might not notice any pain,
compared to what it is selling today anyway, the CE vendors will.
The idea of transmitting to analog outputs in a 960 X 640 format is
interesting. (Must be non-square pixels.) A good compromise. The catch
is that Hollywood can shut that off whenever it likes. And if AACS
options, including any new ones, are not backward compatible, why should
anyone expect the consumer to put up with this?
Bert
-------------------------------------------
Blu-ray, HD-DVD rollouts await AACS licenses
Junko Yoshida
(09/04/2006 9:00 AM EDT)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=192500945
Paris -- The commercial deployment and market potential of HD-DVD and
Blu-ray remain conundrums shrouded in mystery, despite assurances that
all parties--hardware vendors, content owners and architects of a new
copy-protection scheme earmarked for both of the competing formats--are
all dressed up and ready to go.
Given that system vendors are already capable of integrating hooks for
the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) in their Blu-ray Disc or
HD-DVD products, why the dearth of hardware vendors rolling out
next-generation, high-definition optical-disk players or recorders?
Despite an abundance of demo products, very few firm product launch
commitments were disclosed at the Internationale Funkaustellung (IFA),
the largest consumer electronics show in Europe, which opened last
Friday in Berlin. Nor were any such announcements forthcoming at the
Blu-ray Alliance's recent pre-IFA press conference in Japan (see related
story, page 24).
Also mysterious is the apparent indifference on the part of either camp
to the prospect of negotiating a truce in the format war. Moreover, a
lingering delay in availability of the final license for AACS adds to
the uncertainty. Without this final license, none of the upcoming DVD
systems can activate AACS copy-protection features such as managed copy,
digital-only token, image-constraint token and audio watermark.
Finally, it's also unclear whether consumers will be willing to pay more
for copy-protected content whose transport from system to system is more
restricted than ever before.
Due in October
In an interview with EE Times last week, AACS spokesperson Michael
Ayers, who is also an attorney for one of the HD-DVD vendors, said the
AACS Licensing Agency is working toward the promised October release of
the final license agreement. AACS LA founding members include IBM,
Intel, Microsoft, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, the Walt Disney Co. and
Warner Bros.
Ayers stressed that all the "technical hooks" necessary to implement
AACS copy-protection features have been made available "through an
interim license" an- nounced earlier this year. They are already
incorporated in chips inside HD-DVD or Blu-ray Disc players and
recorders. Still, the final rules, conditions and licensing details need
to be ironed out before final licenses can be released, Ayers explained.
Some industry observers already fear that consumers may find the
copy-protection scheme overly complicated. Pointing out that "no device
we are aware of supports managed copy yet," Richard Doherty, research
director at The Envisioneering Group (Seaford, N.Y.), said, "The primary
challenge [for AACS] is interoperability." The industry hasn't done any
plugfests to test how all the AACS copy-protection features actually
work among various products in a home, he said. Managed copy, for
example, is designed to enable authorized movement of copy-protected
content onto home networks and portable devices. But it's easier said
than done.
Destination medium
If a consumer wants to make a copy of copyrighted content in his HD-DVD
recorder, he first needs to hook his recorder to a network via Ethernet.
Then, he goes to a Web site made available by a content owner, where he
finds out how much it costs to make a copy in a certain resolution, such
as high or standard definition. The consumer also has to inform the
content owner of a destination medium (a portable media player, for
example) where the copied content will eventually be played back.
Presumably, his HD-DVD recorder system, capable of understanding the
specific content-protection scheme required by each destination medium,
automatically encapsulates the copied content in that scheme.
Today, schemes offered to the AACS LA as alternative managed-copy
technologies include Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Media DRM, Sony Corp.'s
MagicGate, Content Protection for Recordable Media and the Video Content
Protection System. The list, however, is not comprehensive. For one, the
proprietary content-protection system used in Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod
is among those not included.
Industry watchers, meanwhile, are wondering whether HD-DVD or Blu-ray
recorder manufacturers can afford the processing power needed to
implement all these copy-protection schemes, let alone pay all the
separate licensing fees.
AACS' Ayers, however, noted that it is up to the hardware vendors to
decide how many copy-protection schemes--other than AACS--to include in
their HD or Blu-ray systems. It is also up to the studios to determine
the charge for allowing consumers to copy their content. "Managed copy
is an option for content owners. They may not charge anything," he said.
Among other notable AACS features, image-constraint token (ICT)--which
is applicable to analog outputs only--reduces the resolution of the
copied high-definition content to 960 x 640 pixels, which AACS promoters
claim is "superior to current DVDs, twice the resolution of standard
definition." The ICT, too, is activated "at the option of the content
owner," said Ayers. The content owner must notify consumers if ICT is
used on disk.
The digital-only token (DOT), also employed at the studio's option, is
designed to restrict content from flowing out of analog outputs, as a
measure to further protect content from piracy. Content owners can use
DOT to enable new business models such as releasing high-definition
previews of content before the film's theatrical release, for example.
An industry observer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that AACS
is "pretty well-designed despite the fact that it was a committee
effort." But he cautioned that while AACS' various spec versions are
designed to be backward-compatible, that may not be the case across the
board. Regarding, for example, extra features added in the next version
of AACS, he said, "Some devices will be able to exploit [them], but some
won't."
The crux of the issue is how willingly consumers will embrace another
whole new copy-protection idea. If a system doesn't work, the consumer
is inconvenienced, but Hollywood studios feel no pain. The industry
source said, "The default condition is to stay on the side of protecting
their content."
All material on this site Copyright 2006 CMP Media LLC. All rights
reserved.
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