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Blu-Ray and HD-DVD Playback Under XP

Posted by ryuzaki0 on 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."

52 of 278 comments (clear)

  1. 1 goat, 1 long knife by also-rr · · 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.

    --
    Think of the Children; Sleep with your Sister
    1. Re:1 goat, 1 long knife by jmorris42 · · Score: 4, Informative

      > 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.

      You mean like DVD was dropped? Nope, once they commit billions to pushing a format that have to follow through. At least once it hits a critical mass. If the crack doesn't appear until after millions of players are fielded and thousands of titles are released they are stuck.

      Since Vista dropped the requirement for TPCM we have all known the next gen DVD formats were going to get cracked. As soon as a software based player is available it is toast. And I'll tell ya something else. Mplayer won't need a dual core CPU and a 256MB video card for playback either.

      Regular DVDs could be played back with a 1X DVD drive, a Pentium 90 and a video card with hardware scaling and color space conversion (i.e. xv support). A little back of the envelope math tells me a fast single core Intel or AMD cpu is more than enough. If your video card can do scaled video and colorspace on 1920x1080 windows you should be in the ballpark. If you have XvMC support you should be golden. HD video isn't THAT many more bits or pixels per second, despite what the marketing would have you believe.

      Besides, I still don't understand your thinking. If it isn't cracked I ain't buying in. Didn't buy DVD until DVD Jon make it usable. So if this stuff ain't cracked it can all rot in hell for all I care.

      --
      Democrat delenda est
    2. Re:1 goat, 1 long knife by CastrTroy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The dual core and 256 MB of video RAM does seem a little steep. I currently watch lots of quicktime trailers at 1080p, and haven't noticed any dropped frames with an AMD 3200+ and an ATI x550 (128 mb). I don't even see how dual core would come into it. I highly doubt that the number of cores will make a difference if you're just running a single process to display the video.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    3. Re:1 goat, 1 long knife by Darkforge · · 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!

    4. Re:1 goat, 1 long knife by benwaggoner · · Score: 3, Interesting

      A QuickTime trailer is typically H.264 Main Profile @ 10 Mbps CBR. HD DVD supports VC-1 or H.264 High Profile @ up to ~27 Mbps, plus picture-in-picture video overlay, plus subtitles and graphics, plus up to three 7.1 audio tracks mixed in realtime (main audio + commentary + UI effects).

      Ther's a LOT more going on with these formats than just playing back a single moderate data rate file! Look at the above, and you can see why multiple threads + GPU decoder and rendering asssist are extremely helpful.

      --

      My video compression blog
    5. Re:1 goat, 1 long knife by indil · · Score: 5, Informative
      Too late. High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (the Blu-ray and HD-DVD DRM) was broken years before it was ever put on the market. As expected, the industry has pulled the rug out from under itself by using a custom and unproven (and incidently, unsecure) encryption algorithm. Apparently, they had a requirement to keep the hardware gate count <= 10,000. According to the cryptanalysis, the following are possible for HDCP-compliant devices:

      • Eavesdropping on any data
      • Cloning any device with only their public key
      • Avoiding any blacklist on devices
      • Creating new device keyvectors

      And all you need to do that are 40 devices. You can extract their keys and quickly calculate the master key, which can then be used to circumvent the DRM.

      From the paper:

      An attacker can reverse engineer 40 different HDCP video software utilities, he can break open 40 devices and extract the keys via reverse engineering, or he can simply license the keys from the trusted center. According to the HDCP License Agreement, device manufacturers can buy 10000 key pairs for $16000. Given these 40 spanning keys, the master secret can be recovered in seconds. So in essence, the trusted authority sells a large portion of its master secret to every HDCP licensee. With the master secret in hand, one can eavesdrop on all device communications, spoof any device, and clone any device, all in real time. One can produce a device that, by parroting back the KSVs of its peers, cannot be disabled by any blacklist. With a reasonable amount of computation, an attacker can also produce new device keys not on any key revocation list.
    6. Re:1 goat, 1 long knife by jmorris42 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      > Ther's a LOT more going on with these formats than just playing back a single moderate data rate file!

      Nice features to have, but most of us will only be watching the movie. One HD video stream and one audio, either decoded ijn software or passed out on an optical plug. And do the math on the movie itself. Assume a dual layer BD-ROM (by the time a crack appears these will actually be shipping in quantity) with a single movie. That gives you 50GB of data for a two hour movie. Compare to a DVD with 9.6GB for a two hour movie. I make it out to a maximum 5 fold increase in raw bitrate spread over 12 times the pixels with the audio datarate remaining constant. If you try uncompressed audio you can kiss the video quality goodbye.

      Now tell me again about the picture in picture and multiple 7.1 audio tracks? Forget the PiP, the bits aren't there to support it except for a couple of special features on the second bonus features disc nobody watches more than once anyway. About like the multiple angle feature of DVDs now. And nobody is going to be mixing the multiple audio tracks on their players with HD anymore than they do now on DVDs with commentary tracks. All of that is premixed during mastering.

      No, just about any machine built this year has more than enough power for HD if you don't need to one core burning up doing decryption and reencryption. So what is about to happen is the Free players will work on far more machines than the official versions. People are going to notice, especially when they realise battery life will be a lot longer if they download mplayer.

      --
      Democrat delenda est
    7. Re:1 goat, 1 long knife by jmorris42 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      > 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.

      Why would it be a good thing?

      Fact: DVD is near the end of its life for a high quality movie format. Disney titles for the kids? Another ten years, just like VHS is still clinging to life if that niche. A format to drive a 50" HD monitor? No.

      Fact: Any new format will have all the DRM the industry thinks it can get away with.

      Fact: The original plan was for Vista to be a TPCM only horror, and for HD content to only be playable on PCs with TPCM (ie. Vista and OS X on Intel). Hollywood had banked everything on that and was betrayed. (Nobody ever wins in a 'partnership' with Microsoft.)

      Fact: If either/both of these new formats catch on they will be good enough to last 10-20 years, like DVD's eventual lifespan will probably end up and about like VHS's reign.

      Fact: If both fail, by the time Hollywood is ready to try again we might not be lucky enough to get something so crackable.

      Fact: If Hollywood has TPCM it is possible they might actually design something that can't be cracked. Or at least not cracked effortlessly, as DVDs are now. Microsoft's failure with Vista is our opportunity, we should seize it.

      --
      Democrat delenda est
    8. Re:1 goat, 1 long knife by benwaggoner · · Score: 3, Informative

      Well, many of us will mainly be watching the movie and main audio at any given time, but a vendor hardly would go to market with a player that didn't support big features of the disc (well, Blu-ray lets you do that by having a couple of different profiles, but not HD DVD). That'd be like having a DVD player that didn't support subtitles. To get a HD DVD logo for a player, you need to support the interactive features.

      I gather you haven't seen any of the IME (In Movie Experience) titles. For example, on Bourne Supremacy, on the fly you can have a video commentary track, where the director or producer will pop up as a picture-in-picture to give a face to the narration. Lots of very cool things along these lines will be coming in later titles, and its stuff you'd want to be able to access. And we're talking real-world titles - there are clearly the bits available to do it.

      Also, HD DVD absoutely mixes multiple audo sources in real-time, and this is used in real titles. They were required to be premixed on DVD, but not on HD DVD. This is a good thing, since you don't have to waste bits on doing the base audio when doing commentary tracks. This is also why audio decoding is moving out of recievers into the players, and the players output mixed PCM over HDMI as the optimum output mode.

      You're dramatically underestimating the load of rich media playback, and overestimating the load of decryption. And I'm not aware of any software players that'll be doing any sort of reencryption in software, or why that would be needed.

      I imagine free players like VLC will eventually support playback of non-AACS HD DVD discs. But they'll have similar decoder requirements. We're definitely talking about using GPU compositing, GPU codec decode assist, etcetera.

      And we're not even talking about Blu-ray, which has higher max codec complexity, plus it has to run a Java VM and another encryption layer...

      --

      My video compression blog
  2. DRM, just say no! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://bluraysucks.com/

  3. What you need to watch HD-DVD by slightcrazed · · 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?

    1. Re:What you need to watch HD-DVD by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 5, Informative

      What is a new HD DVD set top box going to look like, a cray supercomputer?

      Nope. It's going to look like a 2.5GHz P4 with 1GB RAM and a USB card running Red Hat.

      --
      This guy's the limit!
    2. Re:What you need to watch HD-DVD by benwaggoner · · Score: 2, Informative

      Plus a bunch of DSPs, including a hardware video decoder.

      This is NOT something that's going to "just work" on a P4M computer!

      --

      My video compression blog
  4. What a deal! by shawnmchorse · · 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 winnabago · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hell, my computer can't even run the diagnostic utility that supposedly tells me how deficient I am. Guess my answer is "no".

      --
      Dammit Otto, you have lupus.
    2. Re:What a deal! by Trailer+Trash · · 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?
    3. Re:What a deal! by Babbster · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don't understand these recommendations at all. First off, as others have noted, HD playback is indeed possible with single-core CPUs. Second, the video card shouldn't have to have 256MB Of memory - video cards have supported resolutions higher than 1920x1080 ("1080p") for years, so video memory should be a minor concern. Finally, unless the HD-DVD and Blu-ray consortia are putting extra restrictions on PC playback (over and above those on current HD-DVD and Blu-ray players hooked up to TVs), HDCP won't be an issue until a content provider decides to enable the ICT flag - no current releases do, and supposedly the major studios have an agreement amongst themselves not to do so for at least a few years.

      In short, I find all of this information suspect and most likely just a way to get people to buy more new hardware. Since Cyberlink makes most of their money from OEM deals, they have a large incentive to do so.

    4. Re:What a deal! by BalanceOfJudgement · · 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.
    5. Re:What a deal! by keep_it_simple_stupi · · 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.

    6. Re:What a deal! by delinear · · 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.

  5. What's not clear? by fmwap · · Score: 2, Funny

    it has not been clear what system requirements you need to actually be able to play HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs.

    Yes it has, 64-bits and a DRM-ridden OS

    I thought we already discussed this?

  6. Break open the bank, folks by consonant · · 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...
    --
    [Slashdot Comments We Liked]
    1. Re:Break open the bank, folks by Lumpy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      funny part is that non drm HD quality and resolution mpeg4 content can play on paltry Celeron 2.4ghz processors with 512 meg of ram and a crappy video card.

      I demo real HD content on a HTPC next to a HDDVD to a customer and they love the HTPC's picture over the HDDVD player. BluRay is not even HD quality yet as they do not have dual layer discs available yet so they are EDDVD instead of HDDVD.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  7. Who cares? by Quiet_Desperation · · 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!

    1. Re:Who cares? by truthsearch · · Score: 4, Funny

      Your disc player will respond, "Bite my shiny metal ass."

      --
      Developers: We can use your help.
  8. "Is my computer BD/HD ready?" command-line tool: by mypalmike · · Score: 4, Funny

    echo "No"

    --
    There are 0x40000000 types of people: those who understand 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point, and those who don't.
  9. DeCSS for Blue Ray/HD-DVD? by Anonymous Coward · · 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 · · 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.
  10. Consumers being held hostage by dgallina · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Forget it. The article may as well suggest paying the movie industry a ransom directly. HDCP is a useless mandated solution in search of a problem.

  11. does not matter. by Lumpy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I am in the high end Home theatre market and most of these people that these are targetted at are not buying it. BluRay right now sucks because you can only get single layer discs so blu ray is n ot full res HD and is on ly slightly better than DVD. HDDVD is better and is actually ready for market, but their choice in movies on HDDVD right now sucks. Plus, even the really rich get put off having to re-buy all their movies.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:does not matter. by chrisjwray · · Score: 2, Funny

      "I am in the high end Home theatre market"

      We call it future shop in Canada.

  12. The list is incomplete by pembo13 · · Score: 3, Funny

    they forgot to mention having to put down your soul, as a deposit, just incase you understand.

    --
    "Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
  13. Re:Very irresponsible journalism by BalanceOfJudgement · · 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.
  14. Surely no-one's going to buy a bluray... by niceone · · Score: 5, Funny

    .. after it just killed that aussie TV guy?!

    --
    ccalam - acoustic versions of new songs.
    1. Re:Surely no-one's going to buy a bluray... by syousef · · Score: 3, Funny

      No you've got it confused. BluRay vs Sting Ray.

      One is a dangerous thing that will rip out your heart with a poisonous barb given half a chance, and the other is a harmless-if-not-provoked sea creature.

      --
      These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
  15. Cripes. by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What's powering the damned players? Is this all OS overhead and panicky DRM safeguards, or are they actually churning out set-top boxes with dual cores, flux capacitors, and proton packs?

    --
    Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
  16. Re:"Is my computer BD/HD ready?" command-line tool by nine-times · · Score: 3, Funny

    dammit. apparently my computer isn't BD/HD ready.

  17. I have an idea. by rice_burners_suck · · Score: 2, Funny

    Let's make it so that in Windows XP, the video is read off the disc, unencrypted, saved to the hard drive in full resolution, and then played through an unprotected videopath. Then, the RIAA, MPAA, and Microsoft can sue Microsoft for making illegal copies of movies. It doesn't matter that Microsoft will be both a plaintiff and a defendant in this case. When a company is so big, it's not uncommon for one department to do something without another department's knowledge, such as sue itself. Hmmm... if their legal department worked the same way as their software, I wouldn't be surprised at all.

  18. Jon says he will by in2mind · · Score: 3, Informative
    Does anyone know if the DRM/encryption in BD/HD has been cracked yet? Is DVD Jon working hard on this
    AFAIK Not yet. But DVD Jon has said in his blog that he will. check his site

    http://nanocrew.net/2006/01/08/deaacscom/

    http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060116-5989 .html

    --
    Wincopy
  19. Why would you even want it? by CyberLord+Seven · · 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.

    --
    We have always been at war with Eurasia!
    1. Re:Why would you even want it? by Vinnie_333 · · Score: 2, Funny
      On the inside of her left forearm there is a brown spot that is clearly visible on the hi-def version.

      Great, but I'd prefer not to see the stewardess's brown spot.

      --

      "We shall party like the Greeks of old! You know the ones I mean." - HedonismBot
  20. What about Linux? by Eravnrekaree · · 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?

    1. Re:What about Linux? by smoker2 · · Score: 2, Interesting
      And, when will HD-DVD-R drives be avialable, so we can make our own data disks?
      Don't know about HD but BD writers are available here.

      Single layer only though ...but 25 GB is enough for now I guess. (Not that I'll be investing at those prices !)

  21. Not possible? by skrolle2 · · 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.
  22. If I was in charge of Microsoft by Nonillion · · Score: 2, Funny

    You know, with Microsoft's vast fortune; you think they would be in a position to dictate terms to the MPAA / RIAA, just like they do with computer and hardware manufactures.

    MPAA/RIAA: You will provide DRM (digital restrictions management) in your OS and ANY hardware we see fit. People are ripping us off left and right! Piracy is so rampant, we are going broke paying off politicians and lawyers to ram DRM down everyones throat.

    MICROSOFT: (with me in charge) Fuck you guys, our customers don't want this DRM shit. It crates enormous overhead and will require everyone to buy all new hardware. Our customers are getting tired of this draconian and Stalinist attitude of yours. You are going to be MY bitch, and do EXACTLY what I tell you to do.

    MPAA/RIAA: How dare you speak to us that way we'll sue!

    MICROSOFT: (with me in charge) Bring it on bitch! We have been sued by governments, you'll pose no challenge at all.

    --
    "I bow to no man" - Riddick
  23. My Checklist by segedunum · · Score: 3, Interesting

    To enable HD resolution playback of an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray videodisc your monitor, graphics card and the driver you use have to be compatibe with the HDCP standard.

    Bugger. That's me out in the first round. I'm not going to replace my good equipment, and especially my fantastic 19" CRT monitor, just to get 'high resolution' videos to play.

    Graphics cards are even worse, there is only a handfull of cards out there that sport HDCP support.

    Yes, and even those you buy yourself might have HDCP, but they won't have it switched on. However, many OEMs 'in the know' like HP, do. Sounds like lock-in to me.

    The purchase of a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player will therefore have no added value to a normal DVD player without HDCP.

    Fantastic. I'm sorry, why do I need to monkey about getting high definition content on my PC again, and why would I want to pay more money for HD discs over DVD when there's no benefit whatsoever? That sounds like a lovely way to get a new format to take off. Not.

    I downloaded that checker and bugger, I can't play high definition disks. I'm...really...devastated.

  24. Alternative checklist by Gathers · · Score: 2

    Here's my alternative checklist:
    1. Bittorrent client
    2. Video player

    (3. profit?)

    Seriously though, I wonder when the media industry will figure out that they can fight piracy by making paying for something easier, faster and more convenient then obtaining a pirated copy. Or atleast close to as easy, fast and convenient..

    Now back to figuring out what to call my 47:th Ancient Domains Of Mystery character...

    --
    http://www.physics.byu.edu/research/energy/htm7.ht ml

  25. $2000 laptop that isn't 6 months old = no go by GweeDo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Here are my results after running the application. It appears my dual core 1.83ghz Core Duo CPU needs to be upgraded already. On top of that, my Geforce Go 7800 appears to be lacking. This just goes to show how out of touch with reality the studio's are for trying to push this crap on people.

    --
    Unstable Apps: Our Android Apps Don't Suck
  26. Sombody mod this guy funny by Overzeetop · · Score: 2, Funny

    It would be nice if they supported Linux from the start, especially since the software and drivers clearly exist and there is no extra work involved. It seems that at the very least, it would likely help to discourage the DRM cracking.

    This has got to be the funniest thing on /. for quite some time. Release the drivers to the largest group of MPAA-haters in the universe? Do you think for a minute that any self respecting Linux nut is going to put a closed-source, DRM encumbered driver on his or her system for any purpose other than to find a crack for the encryption? Why don't we all just scratch a check for $10,000 to our local poitician and ask him to so "something positive" with the money.

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
  27. Re:Why? by really? · · Score: 2, Funny

    Because this time it goes to 11???

    --

    "Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead." A. Huxley
  28. Unethical, like printing presses? by GodWasAnAlien · · 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.

  29. HDCP not a requirement! by benwaggoner · · Score: 2, Informative

    It'll play HD movies just fine.

    There is a technology called ICT (Image Constraint Token) that content publishers could turn on (but haven't) that'd reduce your output resolution to 940x540 if using a non HDCP output. But given how many players and sets there are out there that don't support it, all the released HD DVD titles don't use this, and will allow you to use every pixel of your current display.

    --

    My video compression blog