HD Video Recording

[dragonfyr]

Jeff,

The enhanced DRM schemas that will become possible with forthcoming Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, holographic systems, as well as encoded broadcasts do not simply use an ID bit.

The changes to the schema are comprehensive and you cannot use the current generation of kludgy approaches to judge the new generation that is forthcoming! The new schemas being proposed and developed will be much more comprehensive in their content use management.

My comments are not aimed at the current generation, as they are relatively easy to bypass. Rather they are targeted towards the next generation which is and will be evolving very quickly in the next several years. And it will definately impact users. And if you have any issues with current attempts at use management, you will absolutely hate what is being proposed.

Edit:

Note: Many enterprises are adopting the new Bly-Ray or HD-DVD precisely because of the DRM management capability!!! Consumers need to become aware of the formats from a perspective other then that of capacity! You need to look at it from both sides! The consumer perspective and the enterprise/content provider perspective! As the vested interests vary based on whether you are 'buying or selling'!!

Remember, companies are chosing platforms based upon both market penetration and the ability to protect and manage their intellectual property. And while not necessarily a bad thing, it may run counter to your goals and desires! And certainly what you 'think' you can or should be able to do!

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1845993,00.asp

Among other facets is revocation:

"If an exploit is published for a particular player, that player may be "turned off," or disabled, according to Setos, a process known as "revocation". He described a scenario where an exploit was published for a particular model of player. The player provider would then be obligated to update the player via BD+, while the serial number of an actual hacked machine could be detected and disabled."

When was the last time you heard this feature touted as an enhancement for Blu-Ray?

If you haven't, you are obviously not thinking of this technology from the content provider's perspective!

[el jopez]

I couldnt have agreed with dragon more.

Blu Ray is backed by many companies right now primarily for its size.

Only two big names are backign HD-DVD, MS and Intel. Unlike Blu

Ray, HD-DVD claims to do away with all region coding as well as allow

the use to make backup copies of the movie or content on disc to othe

discs or to hard drives. MS is all for putting options and a

completer "multimedia experience" in the hands of its users, and

intel wants to cash in with it.

Within the last week Hewlett Packard began to show its disdain for Blu

Ray (an original supporter) and is beggining to show interest in HD-DVD

because it beleives in the end user, who wishes to copy the disc per MS's arugment.

On to point two.... the biggest and baddest software developer in the

world, Microsoft, through rumors is having many pc users crying foul

over its next gen incarnation of its OS system, "Vista". With

Vista is is understood, as dragon has alluded too, a brand new set of

DRM standards unlike those being used at this time. Note, MS

believes in giving its users choices and options in legally collecting

and organizing there media files, however at a price.

Imagine for example a DRM'ed movie file that can be viewed multiple

times with one catch, that the file is not DRM'ed by software alone,

but through the hardware, namely the processor and the monitor.

Next gen screens could be equipped with technology to prevent someone

from copying their favorite movie and sending it around the globe

online if they are only allowed to use the DRM sequence the orignal

viewing moinitor assigned to it. The same goes for the processor

possibly encrypting music, movies and other forms of digital

entertainment locking it to a specific computer. Now how would

you share the data throughout the house? Well, why not purchase a

Media Extendor to your multiple tvs, or an Xbox 360 which is a perfect

match for a HTPC with Windows MCE. Wait... thats spending more

money on extra products you really dont need all in the name of legal

content. hmmmmm

Intel is rumored to have a new class of proccessors designed for the

Vista Media Centers (a now default part of the OS out of the box)

dubbed Viiv which would have built-in transcoding. For the

companies, this is a victory for copyright laws and intellectual property. For consumers

its a crippling blow for choices and wide flexibility.

Current Gen HTPC are quite potent. Period. The software and the

hardware exists to have a superb setup. Will it be outdated in six

months? Yes but thats the tech market. Next gen is

bittersweet, the possibility of newer functions and features is great

however the newer DRM schemas that are in the works will be quite ....

ahm shall we say debilitating?[:|]

Joe

"or right down depressing"

[toddvj]

I use a HTPC, but I don't have any TV tuners as of yet. I use it primarily for DVDs, I have Windows MCE 2005 with "My Movies." Right now on my limited budget, my primary concern is adding more storage. I currently have ~700gb, but I'm going to be bringing that up to 1000gb within the next couple weeks. Someday, I will add some TV tuning ability, but there are limitations. First, it won't help me record HBO, and as mentioned, MCE only allows one HDTV tuner, but I'm sure that will change eventually. For me, this would be more of a "backup" in case my show didn't record on cable.

As far as technolog going out of date, that is the beauty of HTPC. Instead of replacing a whole component for Hundreds of Dollars, you usually only have to replace one thing at a time.

[JJkizak]

I have been using the MY-HD 120 tuner card with DVI daughter card since dec 2003 and have recorded over 120 programs to the hard drive in the 24 meg MPEG2 data stream. The 120 plays them back flawlessly at 720p and 1080i. You can only record Hi-Def to the firewire input of the D-VHS JVC deck in 720p mode and it cannot be copright protected or it will not record. (I have the deck). I can also PTT to the deck from the MY-HD 120 card with flawless results. I can also record to the 120 card from the deck.

(firewire 400) to the hard drive. It all works perfect and the quality is outstanding. You can also import m2t files from your video editor, change the file ending from m2t to ts, install in the My-HD player file and it works perfect.

You have no excuse now that i told you how to do it. Forget BluRay because the DRM means that you need a new monitor, burner, Vista OS, and HDTV with the proper chips that allow you to view the disc at the mercy of the Hollywood studios. Why do you think Bill Gates and the Chairman of the Board for Sony had heated words over this same subject.

P>S> There is no software (that I know of) that will flawlessly play m2t files. (streamed high def). The My-HD card will play these files flawlessly.

JJK