Consumer Alert!

CES happened and the format war has played out in the high-definition DVD market, with HD-DVD in one corner and Blue-Ray in the other, each touting certain technological reasons why their format is better. At the show each group launched their product release dates and specs, and while everyone in the media’s focus has been on the format war, few have looked at the heavy-handed copy protection schemes employed by both formats.

To be clear, the media owners do need to protect their property rights, but what they are doing with the high-definition DVD formats is simply treating everyone like a criminal. It’s a completely heavy-handed and consumer unfriendly scheme that utilizes both a non-backward compatible encrypted digital connection, and an Internet connection used for disc and player verification/shut-off.

Non-Compatible TVs Abound
To remove the possible chance of copying, the groups have decided that the only way you get to view high-def video from a DVD player is to use an HDMI input. The problem is that these connection types have only been around for about 2 years in any quantity, and the connection has gone through numerous revisions as the product has evolved with HDMI's multiple versions not always able to play nicely with each other.

The industry is trying to tout that HDMI connections are compatible with DVI connections which themselves have really only been out in any quantity for the last 3-4 years. Check any home theater online forum, and you find consumers noting that HDMI is indeed compatible, but not 100%. The two connection types don’t always work.

Why HDMI?
HDMI has digital encryption and copyright protection built in. The DVD player “talks” to the TV to decide whether it’s “authorized/safe” to view the signal being sent. If the DVD player thinks the TV is not authorized and safe, you don’t get to view the signal.

If you thought that was bad, any of the truly early adopters with HDTVs older than 4 years of age are essentially left out in the cold since the industry’s stance on this is, “No HDMI, no high-definition signal”.  No HDTV RPTV older the 4 years of age has an HDMI input nor DVI for that matter. The industry’s response, “Buy a new TV”. Maybe these idiots don’t know that TVs generally last 10 years or more, and that consumers generally don’t like replacing $3,000-$6,000 TV every 4-5 years.  If they’re targeting the early adopters to sell the new format, they sure are doing their best to piss them off.

The industry’s stance on this is nothing short of preposterous, and glaringly consumer unfriendly. This essentially leaves the millions of early adopters of HDTV out in the cold by applying what amounts to be the upgrade cycle of the computer industry to the home theater industry. This also goes against the general history of home audio/video electronics in respect to backward compatibility. Hell, the VCR was backward compatible with every TV ever made.

These new high-definition DVD players will allow you to connect an HDTV with component inputs, but you’ll have to watch a down-scaled 480p version of the HD content. That’s a complete joke and not backward compatibility, but if you thought that leaving the early adopters out in the cold was bad enough, the copy protection scheme goes further with a far more ominous big-brother treatment.

The Internet Connection
Through further research online I found a great web site made by The HD Disc Consumer Advocacy Alliance from which I was able to find out how much more over-bearing the copy protection of the new high-definition DVD players are by requiring an Internet connection to play high-definition DVDs as well.

Why on earth would you need an Internet connection to play movies? You don’t need one now and shouldn’t need one in the future. According to manufacturer web sites the Internet connection is needed to, “Take advantage of the online capabilities of the new DVD formats”, but there’s something much more going on here. According to The HD Disc Consumer Advocacy Alliance, high-definition DVD players download serial numbers for manufacturer DVDs, and crosscheck any DVD you attempt to play against the list to ensure the legality of your DVD. After that, the DVD player decides if it will allow you to watch the movie or scrap the DVD to make it unplayable.

If it’s found that your DVD is a serial number that the manufacturers feel has been compromised by pirates, they can essentially turn that disc off by red flagging that serial number to indicate the DVD is bad. Taken a step further, if it is also determined that your DVD player has attempted to watch more than a certain number of pirated DVDs your DVD player can be told to deactivate completely.

So even though you purchased the high-definition DVD player and purchased the movies, if the movie industry deems them compromised they can shut off both your movies and your player. Not having backward compatible connections was bad enough, but to constantly check up on everyone watching high-definition DVD as if they were criminals makes these formats essentially the most consumer unfriendly formats in consumer electronics history.

I was an early adopter of the DVD format back in 1996 when the format first came out. How many illegal DVDs have I watched in that 10 years of movie watching… zero. That’s right zero.

Consumers are smart enough to realize that only the original DVDs offer the best picture and sound quality, and are willing to pay for it. DVDs are also priced low enough that it’s usually not worth the hassle to copy DVDs. With all the technical advances made in the computer industry, it is still more trouble to actually try to copy DVD than it’s worth.

Treating every consumer like a criminal is simply the wrong way to go. While the movie industry may threaten, “No protection, no movies”, what happens when consumers become so aghast at the heavy-handed copy protection scheme that they simply make the format dead on arrival by choosing not to buy into the new format.  Even without the copy protection and compatibility issues, the high-definition DVD formats may be DOA anyway.

Is Standard-Definition DVD Good Enough?
Almost all of my TV viewing is prime time HD broadcasts, and while standard-definition DVD isn’t close to the resolution of HD, when I switch to DVD I really don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything. Standard-definition DVDs still look amazing on my 1080i 65-inch RPTV. The only movies that could really benefit from a high-definition DVD format are nature documentaries like March of the Penguins, or movies that are badly transferred. March of the Penguins was the first DVD I ever thought could use more resolution. DVDs like Training Day and Saving Private Ryan take on an almost HD look with how clear their transfers are.

The simple truth is that standard-definition DVD pulls you into the action so well that it’s easy to forget you’re watching a movie and become engrossed in the story line which is the actual goal of any format.

I’m a total home theater technogeek, but with how heavy-handed the media owners are being with copy protection, it has me really evaluating the actual need for the high-definition DVD formats. When I evaluate the current DVD standard, I deem that they already do the job almost perfectly.

Are High-Definition DVD Formats DOA?
“SACD” and “DVD-A”. Say any of those acronyms to the average person and they’ll likely look back at you with a blank expression. The audio industry thought they were the latest and greatest audio playback format, and they are if you’re an audiophile. The problem was that most people aren’t audiophiles, and the magnificent gains in subtlety and nuance that DVD-A and SACD offer over CD aren’t apparent to the normal person.

At a time when consumers were looking for smaller, mobile, and convenient formats such as MP3, the industry was going the opposite direction with bulkier more expensive players with media on more expensive and fragile discs.

What’s funny, and in parallel to the copy protection scheme of the high-definition DVD formats, the makers of DVD-A and SACD didn’t go with a digital protected connection, but rather went the exact opposite to try to prevent copying of an audio format they deemed to be as good as the master copy. When DVD-A and SACD came out they went with full analog connections with the excuse that the signal has so much data that they couldn’t cram it into a single digital connection.

If you didn’t have a 6-analog channel input on your receiver all you got to hear were two-channel versions of DVD-A and SACD. When DVD-A and SACD sales were sluggish out the gate, along came single Digital Audio connection, but only between one manufacturer's DVD-A/SACD player to the same manufacturers receiver.

So again, the early adopters are told to buy new gear because the connections they have don’t meet the copy protection standards that the media owners wanted to force onto consumers.

Is Standard-Definition DVD Considered Perfect?
The main trouble with the DVD-A and SACD that prevented the formats from gaining any substantial ground is that the general consensus among consumers was that CDs were perfect. Consumers smartly questioned why they should replace a format that is good enough, durable, and built into the their lives with a new product that’s not easily accessible, costs more, makes their equipment obsolete, and forces them to upgrade. The same question arises with standard-definition DVD versus high-definition DVD.

The current DVD format is the fastest adopted consumer electronics movie format in consumer electronics history, and the reasons are obvious. DVDs offer great video quality with the capability to look spectacular whether you have a standard-definition TV or HDTV.

The format is relatively durable, and the price has always been right. For the last few years DVDs could be found for as little as $8-$16. DVD players are in cars, computers, homes, and in portable devices. The standard-definition DVD format definitely has the moniker of “the perfect format”. After all, they are backward compatible with practically any TV and audio device made in the last 60 years. Standard-definition DVD is an easy-to-use, high-quality format that is not heavy-handed with a consumer unfriendly copy protection scheme. Standard-definition DVDs are indeed a perfect product.

If media owners refuse to give HD movies unless the heavy-handed, consumer unfriendly format of the high-definition DVD formats is forced on consumer, they can keep their movies. I’m happy with standard-definition DVD, and if I need HD movies I’ll get an HD movie channel. My HDTV receiver doesn’t require a digital copyright management scheme, and allows me to view pristine HDTV via a component cable connection without an Internet connection nor signal downgrading.

Recommendation
HTadvice.com recommends an all out consumer ban on the new high-definition DVD formats until the manufacturers make a consumer friendly format that has high-definition backward-compatible connections, and doesn’t require a big-brother Internet connection to play a movie. Treating every consumer like an untrustworthy criminal is not the correct way to go about fighting piracy.

Get more detailed information about this topic and the heavy handed protection scheme at:
2005 The HD Disc Consumer Advocacy Alliance

What you can do:

• Send the following URLs to as many people as you know that are interested in the high-def DVD formats:
  http://www.htadvice.com/home/spot_light_february_2006.html
  http://www.dvdste.org/faq.html
• Write your congressmen, senator, or any consumer rights advocacy group
• Talk about the issue with fellow hobbyists

Update
March 2006 - Sony announces BluRay will allow 1080i playback via non-HDMI connections.
This is a definite win for the consumer. Now all that's needed is a less burdensome copy protection scheme and BluRay will become the consumer friendly format.