Blu-Ray and HD-DVD Playback Under XP

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Blu-Ray and HD-DVD Playback Under XP

Posted by ryuzaki0 on Thursday September 7, 2006 @06:33AM from the sooper-high-def dept.

An anonymous reader writes "In the last few weeks the first HD-DVD and Blu-Ray drives for PCs have slowly trickled onto the market. Up to now, it has not been clear what system requirements you need to actually be able to play HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs. The operating system was the main cause of concern; many rumors cropped up that the new generation of video discs would not work under Windows XP. Hardware.Info put the question to Cyberlink, the company behind Power DVD, if the lack of a protected videopath in Windows XP would make it impossible to enable HD-DVD or Blu-Ray playback. They have answered the questions, and provide a complete checklist of what you need to play Blu-Ray and HD-DVD movies in HD resolutions on your home PC."

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1 goat, 1 long knife by also-rr · 2006-09-07 06:36 · Score: 4, Insightful

...and a penatagram to use for the sacrifice Personally I hope that Blu-Ray and HD-DVD _never_ get cracked, or at least if they do it's never ported to Windows in an easy to use fashion. It's hard to think of any other way to get the formats dropped faster.

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1. Re:1 goat, 1 long knife by Darkforge · 2006-09-07 07:31 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Personally I hope that Blu-Ray and HD-DVD _never_ get cracked, or at least if they do it's never ported to Windows in an easy to use fashion. It's hard to think of any other way to get the formats dropped faster.
  
  Besides, I still don't understand your thinking. If it isn't cracked I ain't buying in.
  That was the grandparent post's whole point. If (in a magical fantasy land) the formats didn't get cracked, no one would buy in, and the formats would rot, which would be a good thing.
  
  With that said, I think everybody agrees that the formats certainly will be cracked, so, meh.
  
  --
  When I moderate, I only use "-1, Overrated". That way, I never get meta-moderated!
What you need to watch HD-DVD by slightcrazed · 2006-09-07 06:37 · Score: 5, Insightful

A shit-load of cash and a bunch of new hardware, apparently. Seriously, I need a DUAL CORE CPU just to watch a fricken HD DVD? Are you serious? What is a new HD DVD set top box going to look like, a cray supercomputer?
What a deal! by shawnmchorse · 2006-09-07 06:37 · Score: 5, Insightful

I would only need to purchase a whole new computer, video card, and monitor to support playback of movies in somewhat higher resolution. Hold me back...:p Do they really think that introducing new hurdles like HDCP and a "secure video path" to be able to watch this stuff will encourage people to buy and actually use it? Or do they just not care?
1. Re:What a deal! by Trailer+Trash · 2006-09-07 07:42 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  In a year or two the standard $500 pc from dell will have all of this stuff built-in, and the vast majority of people will neither know nor care that their pc has special hardware that enables this playback. These same people today don't know that their dvds can't be copied legally.
  
  Just to gauge the reaction, I explained the DMCA to my mother one day in plain English and she was aghast. People who don't hang out on here all day tend to not know these things.
  
  --
  Do you have ESP?
2. Re:What a deal! by BalanceOfJudgement · 2006-09-07 08:06 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Just to gauge the reaction, I explained the DMCA to my mother one day in plain English and she was aghast. People who don't hang out on here all day tend to not know these things.
  And it's really not for lack of intelligence or comprehension. It's due to a systematic, purposeful lack of education - the content companies are much happier with few people even knowing what DMCA means, much less what it actually does.
  
  --
  
  We are the fire that lights our world.. and we are the fire that consumes it.
3. Re:What a deal! by keep_it_simple_stupi · 2006-09-07 08:47 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Well that's just freakin awesome then. My kick a$$ in every other way $1000 Dell 2405 LCD monitor won't display HD movies because it doesn't have HanDiCaPping techology. Well they can kiss my a$$ I'm not buying in. I'll stick with DVD thank you very much.
4. Re:What a deal! by delinear · 2006-09-07 21:32 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  No, I definitely think they're on to something here. Quality is king and people will always go for quality even if it costs them the earth. I mean, when was the last time you ever heard of someone downloading a low-fi, shaky cam version of the latest movie release rather than shelling out £5 to see it on a huge cinema screen with full surround sound? Oh, wait... never mind.
Break open the bank, folks by consonant · 2006-09-07 06:40 · Score: 2, Insightful

HD content from a Blu-ray or HD-DVD disc requires quite a bit of processing power; Cyberlink recommends using a dual-core processor like the Intel Pentium D, Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2. As a graphics card you should at least use a nVidia GeForce 7600 or ATI Radeon X1600 series with a minimum of 256MB video memory.
Nice. And that's just for watching movies. At least we now know who Microsoft's been collaborating with to ensure everyone buys new machines...

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[Slashdot Comments We Liked]
Who cares? by Quiet_Desperation · 2006-09-07 06:40 · Score: 3, Insightful

You have to need psychotherapy to even consider buying into this format war.
I'll wait until there's a format where, when I push the Menu button after inserting a disc, I DON'T get "operation prohibited by disc". Prohibit my shiny white ass, disc makers!
DeCSS for Blue Ray/HD-DVD? by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-07 06:44 · Score: 2, Insightful

OK, I am now waiting for a DeCSS-like solution for Blue Ray/HD-DVD.

Does anyone know if the DRM/encryption in BD/HD has been cracked yet? Is DVD Jon working hard on this?

Once this crack becomes available, I should be able to play back the cracked BD/HD without having to "upgrade" to DRM-compliant hardware. However, I might have to replace my aging Radeon 8500 graphics card.
1. Re:DeCSS for Blue Ray/HD-DVD? by BalanceOfJudgement · 2006-09-07 08:10 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  It doesn't really matter. Once one person gets the key, they can decrypt the movie and distribute it with bittorrent. Invalidating keys will only anger legitimate consumers and reduce sales.
  As it should be. Best way to get people to hate DRM and finally understand what it is.
  
  That or, just get mad at people doing the cracking, but even dense people can't stay THAT dense for very long.
  
  --
  
  We are the fire that lights our world.. and we are the fire that consumes it.
Re:Very irresponsible journalism by BalanceOfJudgement · 2006-09-07 06:59 · Score: 3, Insightful

We will get Blu-ray and HD-DVD Windows support when the media and software companies decide we're finally allowed to watch the content we rightfully and legally purchased

There, fixed that for you.

--

We are the fire that lights our world.. and we are the fire that consumes it.
That settles it... by MrPerfekt · 2006-09-07 07:13 · Score: 1, Insightful

I tend to be an early adopter and want, no.. need, to have the latest and greatest especially when it comes to TV/Movies. And now, I have absolutely no motivation to get what should be the new peak of HD entertainment. Why?

Well, you're forcing me to use Windows. You're forcing me to get all new hardware, not just the new drive mind you, but the whole shebang. New monitor, new video card, new OS in addition to the new drive. That is lunacy, pure and simple.

Let's not forget the obscene processor requirements for _watching a flat image_. This isn't polygons being generated on the fly. Why do I need a dual-core processor to decode some freaking movie frames? Ridiculous.

BOTH HD-DVD and BluRay have failed on the fronts of being user-friendly and not overly draconian. I'll watch movies on HBO-HD thanks. You can keep your locked down, power hungry format.

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I just wasted your mod points! HA!
Why would you even want it? by CyberLord+Seven · 2006-09-07 07:26 · Score: 2, Insightful

I'll probably build a computer to meet these specs within the next five years, but until my current computers die or fail to perform some necessary function these specs will have to wait.
BTW, are you sure you want to buy BluRay or HDDVDs?
I saw 2001: A Space Oddysey in high definition on HD Movies last July. It looked beautiful. I have the DVD and I watched it after the premiere just to compare the images. The hi-def version was sharper and the colors were brighter. In fact, if you have the DVD and a hi-def television watch the segment where Dr. Heywood Floyd is traveling to the moon base. A stewardess receives a tray of food. Pay attention as she pulls the straws from the tray with her left hand. On the inside of her left forearm there is a brown spot that is clearly visible on the hi-def version. On the DVD you have to know it's there to see it.
It's the same for a white speck on Dr. Floyd's jacket just above his left collar bone when he is addressing the group at the moon base. It's clearly visible in hi-def, but again, you have to know it's there to see it on the DVD.
So what does all this mean for someone like me?
As good as hi-def is, it's not good enough for me to buy 2001 again.
I bought it on DVD even though I already own it on Betamax tape because the DVD not only looked sharper, it also allowed me to start the movie quickly and skip to any section of the film I liked.
I'm curious as to why you would even want hi-def disks since they have only the improved image and nothing else.
NOTE TO DUMB AS A FUCKIN' ROCK "CONTENT OWNERS"! Why is it that any DVD I bought a few years ago allows me to start the movie immediately, or go to any section I want, when any movie I've PURCHASED WITH MY FUCKIN' MOVIE, YOU DIPSHIT, puts me through an FBI screen and ungodly advertisements. IF YOU IGNORANT FUCKS WOULD GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF YOUR ASSES AND REMOVE THIS SHIT FROM BLURAY AND HDDVD I MIGHT BE TEMPTED TO BUY THIS SHIT, BUT SINCE YOU WON'T, FUCK OFF!
Yes, I'm more than a little bit pissed off by this.

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We have always been at war with Eurasia!
What about Linux? by Eravnrekaree · 2006-09-07 07:36 · Score: 2, Insightful

The really important question they should be asking, will they play under Linux?

And, when will HD-DVD-R drives be avialable, so we can make our own data disks?
Not possible? by skrolle2 · 2006-09-07 07:40 · Score: 2, Insightful

FTA:

When your system lacks HDCP compatibility, it will not be possible to play the content in full HD resolution.

No, the DRM technologies are required for you to be ALLOWED to play back the content you purchased in full HD resolution. It's not like the DRM is somehow technically necessary for the playback of HD video, although the article sure makes it sound like it.
Unethical, like printing presses? by GodWasAnAlien · 2006-09-07 08:56 · Score: 2, Insightful

AC is confusing ethics with legality.

The DMCA is unethical because it protects an unethical monopoly business protection model, DRM, which unethically oversteps copyright law, which was already about 100 longer than the "limited time" monopoly protection of the constitution. The constitution attempted to balance a limited monopoly(14 years) with freedom of the press.

Suppressing freedom of the press/publishing is unethical on a large scale (current 120+x years) is unethical, as it limits speech, progress, medicine, science and the arts.