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Old 12-29-2005, 06:48
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Post Progress in negotiations for final AACS copy protection specification for HD discs

AACS incorporates a wide array of copy protection and restriction technologies, one of which is called the Image Constraint Token (ICT). Recently a bone of contention among the studios, ICT would enable certain scenarios where a user would be entitled to see content, but not in its original resolution. This way, analog displays and other unauthorized devices can still receive and play content, just not as rich. According to the IT Media report, the AACS LA members agreed to implement ICT in such a way that countries that prohibit the use of quality restrictions on digital media, can continue to do so without inhibiting the production of AACS-compliant devices to those countries.

This news comes on the heels of major developments last Friday in the HD DVD/Blu-ray format battle. Keeping a promise made last October, Hewlett-Packard announced it was joining the HD DVD Promotions Group, and is now adopting an official stance of neutrality by supporting both standards jointly. Also, Toshiba - HD DVD's principal proponent - announced it may delay its promised shipment of HD DVD drives and players to Japan, stating production was being hampered by a lack of agreement on the part of AACS LA members with regard to two issues: ICT and region codes.

Both content providers and component manufacturers have historically been concerned about leaving open a kind of technological "back door" through which consumers could use analog displays to capture and record high-definition content. Even though no high-definition analog monitor exists, or apparently ever will, an existing analog player could still conceivably be utilized as a go-between to capture a high-definition signal, and transfer it in its entirety to a high-def recorder. With no digital equipment in the analog monitor or TV to restrict the output, the recorded image could possibly attain full quality, enabling the TV to bypass AACS.

Last July, Toshiba stated its high-def players would automatically restrict the resolution of the signal it sends to any analog display. High-def signals would only be sent, said Toshiba, through High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) connectors, which only plug into digital high-def receivers. Any signal received through any other type of connector would be constrained by ICT.

But by how much? The issue is quite important for several reasons: First, there are three analog TV transmission standards around the world, which utilize different vertical resolutions. NTSC, the standard used in North America, utilizes 525 lines, while the PAL system used throughout Western Europe and East Asia; and the SECAM system used in France, Eastern Europe, and throughout Africa; utilize 625 lines. Digital vertical resolutions tend to be multiples of 64, not 25. As a result, a high-def picture which appears normal when constrained for one region, may be blurry or substandard for another. The licensing agreement for the production of intelligent digital displays, updated last 25 October, clearly states that a constrained image would be limited to 540 lines of vertical resolution for the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. This would render analog TVs pointless when connected to high-def players, in most any country outside of North America.

Another reason is a bit more practical than geographical: Toshiba and Sony (the leading proponent of Blu-ray) are both members of the HDMI governing body, as well as members of the AACS LA governing body. As manufacturers, both have an interest in keeping their costs low. But the method in HDMI used to employ its version of the ICT constraint is yet another spoonful of alphabet soup: High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP). Intel developed HDCP, and remains the principal supplier of its equipment for HDMI-compliant displays. Intel is also now a principal member of the HD DVD Promotions Group, which means it's already on Toshiba's side.

If both Blu-ray and HD DVD players end up marketed simultaneously worldwide, then with the distinguishing factors between them being trivial for most consumers, what could end up determining the victor in the marketplace could be price. Toshiba, therefore, may have an interest in maintaining Intel as a close ally.

Region codes live on, for now, while HP straddles two worlds
A third reason for ICT's importance as an issue in AACS is political. Believe it or not, in Japan, the use of any image constraint device in broadcasting and recording is actually illegal. But according to reports, the law which prohibits the use of ICT expires in 2011, and may not necessarily be extended. Furthermore, according to this morning's IT Media report, the law apparently does not prohibit the sale of ICT equipment, just its use. So conceivably, high-def disc players could be sold in Japan which include ICT in their AACS systems, though which also include calendars that would trigger ICT once the law expires.

Most movie studios are on record as having opposed any use of ICT whatsoever. Japanese media reports quote regional representatives of 20th Century-Fox - a staunch Blu-ray supporter - as opposing any technology which would present an annoyance to the customer: for example, a lousy picture on an older display. According to reports, only Warner Bros. - which recently chose to support both camps, after having exclusively supported HD DVD - has advocated the use of ICT.

This is where the issue of the region code once again rears its ugly head. In order for players to be able to determine for themselves which content cannot be restricted by ICT under the laws of their respective countries, content must still include those pesky region codes that have proven unpopular among current DVD customers. According to the IT Media report, AACS LA members belonging to the Blu-ray Disc Association have reached limited agreement regarding the use of region codes in high-def media. "Region 1" will cover North and South America, and East Asia excluding China. Europe and Africa will constitute "Region 2," and China, Russia, and miscellaneous countries fall in "Region 3." Note the lack of direct correspondence between these regions and the three analog transmission standard coverage areas: Both France and Great Britain, which utilize different standards, fall under Region 2. (There are eight region codes currently in use with DVD.) These codes may or may not end up being used in HD DVD.

The report stated that Warner Bros. was the most vocal advocate of abolishing region codes altogether, assuming a position previously adopted by the DVD Forum's steering committee that they had proven not only unpopular but ineffective. On paper, it would have appeared opponents of region codes outnumbered supporters by a substantial margin. Nonetheless, lack of consensus among AACS LA members about how to address the issue of East Asian pirate videos flowing into European and North American markets, apparently led to the reluctant decision to leave region codes on the table for now, though amendments to the IT Media report imply that they may yet be stricken from AACS.

Further complicating this issue (as if we needed another complication) was the announcement last week of the formation of yet another industry consortium - the High-Definition Audio/Video Network Alliance, this time including Mitsubishi, JVC, and Samsung. Using simplified, carefully chosen language, HANA's inaugural press release stated the new consortium would tackle five issues facing consumers, including the global standardization of high-definition set-top boxes, remote controls, and content streaming between devices. Without stating so directly, HANA associated itself with both the content constraint and region code issues. Mitsubishi is a member of the Blu-ray Disc Association, though its Verbatim disc division will be producing HD DVD-R discs; meanwhile, JVC and Samsung are currently producing both Blu-ray and HD DVD drives. Any agreement this new consortium could reach on industry standardization may take years to produce; in the meantime, discs, players, and recorders for both high-def formats should already be produced.

As we stated earlier, HP announced last Friday its membership in the HD DVD Promotions Group, after having exclusively supported Blu-ray up to this point.

In a press release issued Friday, HP's general manager for personal storage, Maureen Weber, said the reasons for her company's move were to place HP "in a better position to assess true development costs and, ultimately, provide the best and most affordable solution for consumers." Previously, HP officials publicly warned the Blu-ray Disc Association that the group's continued opposition of mandatory managed copy (MMC), along with the iHD interactive layer championed by Microsoft and used in Windows Vista, would make production of Blu-ray equipment cost prohibitive. Since that time, the BDA appeared to reverse its stance on MMC - partly by altering its interpretation of "managed" - but did not waver in its support of the Blu-ray Java (BDJ) interactive layer developed by Sun Microsystems.

Incidentally, Sun - the principal developer of BDJ - is a founding member of the new HANA group. In its inaugural press release, HANA stated that it would advocate the use of FireWire (IEEE 1394) technologies to connect HD-supporting devices such as players and displays. Such a move would fly in the face of Toshiba, Intel, and the other supporters of HDMI. So it would appear a fresh new set of battle lines is being drawn, just in time for the holidays.


From tgdaily .
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