Don't buy an HDTV just yet

**JPaul** · 03-02-2006, 08:13 PM

If you're one of the first adopters who mortgaged the house to buy the earliest HDTV displays, don't expect to get full HD resolution when you take out a second mortgage for a high-def disc player when they come out later this year. Today the copy-protection rules for Blu-ray or HD DVD — the two formats competing to be the standard for HD discs — are being unveiled. Called Advanced Access Content System (AACS), the rules clearly show the major movie studios are determined to stymie potential piracy, but their efforts may short-change people with older HDTVs. AACS says the new players won't output a full-HD signal from their component-video connections, since those jacks are analog instead of digital and thus have no copy protection. The "down-rezzed" signals will be limited to a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels — exactly one-quarter the 1,920 x 1,080 pixels that you'll get through the copy-protected digital connectors on the players. The potentially huge problem with this strategy is that the only HD inputs on a lot of older HDTVs are component video. Estimates vary, but it's believed 3 to 6.6 million such displays are in U.S. households. And the sun will set on analog video for good after Dec. 31, 2013, when AACS-licensed players can't be made or sold with any analog video outputs, including the familiar yellow composite-video jack.

In addition to the "image constraint" issue, AACS has a few unresolved points, so the first players that are due to come out this spring won't have all the features promised by HD DVD and Blu-ray. For one thing, you won't be able to copy material from a disc to, say, your PC via the "managed copying" function. On the vaguely less depressing side, you should be able to upgrade hardware when these features get finalized — so all you'd have to do is get an upgrade disc or download the upgrade from the manufacturer. Looking for someone to blame for all this? Pick your target: AACS was jointly developed by Disney, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, and Warner.

http://www.nzbzone.com/content.php?sect=news&nid=252

**Yoga** · 03-02-2006, 08:15 PM

Oh new similies

**Snee** · 03-02-2006, 08:19 PM

Originally Posted by JPaul

If you're one of the first adopters who mortgaged the house to buy the earliest HDTV displays, don't expect to get full HD resolution when you take out a second mortgage for a high-def disc player when they come out later this year. Today the copy-protection rules for Blu-ray or HD DVD — the two formats competing to be the standard for HD discs — are being unveiled. Called Advanced Access Content System (AACS), the rules clearly show the major movie studios are determined to stymie potential piracy, but their efforts may short-change people with older HDTVs. AACS says the new players won't output a full-HD signal from their component-video connections, since those jacks are analog instead of digital and thus have no copy protection. The "down-rezzed" signals will be limited to a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels — exactly one-quarter the 1,920 x 1,080 pixels that you'll get through the copy-protected digital connectors on the players. The potentially huge problem with this strategy is that the only HD inputs on a lot of older HDTVs are component video. Estimates vary, but it's believed 3 to 6.6 million such displays are in U.S. households. And the sun will set on analog video for good after Dec. 31, 2013, when AACS-licensed players can't be made or sold with any analog video outputs, including the familiar yellow composite-video jack.

In addition to the "image constraint" issue, AACS has a few unresolved points, so the first players that are due to come out this spring won't have all the features promised by HD DVD and Blu-ray. For one thing, you won't be able to copy material from a disc to, say, your PC via the "managed copying" function. On the vaguely less depressing side, you should be able to upgrade hardware when these features get finalized — so all you'd have to do is get an upgrade disc or download the upgrade from the manufacturer. Looking for someone to blame for all this? Pick your target: AACS was jointly developed by Disney, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, and Warner.

http://www.nzbzone.com/content.php?sect=news&nid=252

Ghey, but not surprising.

**enoughfakefiles** · 03-02-2006, 08:19 PM

Originally Posted by Yoga

Oh new similies

They've been there all the time

I see they've got HD channels now on sky plus. Do you have to pay extra for them.

**JPaul** · 03-02-2006, 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by enoughfakefiles

Originally Posted by Yoga

Oh new similies

They've been there all the time

I see they've got HD channels now on sky plus. Do you have to pay extra for them.

No mention on NTL just now but they said something about later in the year, I think.

SKY HDTV is here http://www.sky.com/hd

**Gripper** · 03-02-2006, 08:35 PM

Still saving up for a colour tv

**Busyman** · 03-02-2006, 08:36 PM

Originally Posted by enoughfakefiles

Originally Posted by Yoga

Oh new similies

They've been there all the time

I see they've got HD channels now on sky plus. Do you have to pay extra for them.

I pay an extra $5 for HD over here.

Also..https://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/showt...yB#post1275496

**JPaul** · 03-02-2006, 08:36 PM

Cable plans HDTV launch in 2006

Tuesday, October 4 2005, 16:22 UTC - by Neil Wilkes and James Welsh
The merged NTL and Telewest company plans to rollout HDTV services towards the end of 2006 and into 2007, it was revealed today.

Speaking on an investor conference call, NTL CEO Simon Duffy, who will be president and CEO of the combined company, said that HDTV rollout will begin "probably in the back-end of next year."

"In terms of the offerings, it's a wonderful medium for sports and live events, but it's also a competitive advantage - over time - against satellite because in the end we have more capacity so we can do more channels on HDTV than they can," explained Duffy. "It's also a competitive advantage over DSL, just given the bandwidth differences."

Neil Smith, Telewest's deputy CFO, noted that Telewest's HDTV rollout plans were "slightly ahead" of those in place at NTL.

"The analogue switchoff we've previously announced will be complete by 2006, which will free up capacity for HDTV delivery," explained Smith. "I think the HDTV delivery plan is slightly ahead of NTL's but we probably will talk to make sure we're delivering a compatible service."

Compatibility will be key to ensuring a smooth operational integration between the disparate systems owned by NTL and Telewest. Long-time Digital Spy readers will recall the maze of confusion that existed in 2001 and 2002 after NTL acquired the operations of Cable and Wireless ConsumerCo, with different service tiers being offered on NTL's original network and those on the re-branded but still distinct "ex-CWC" system. Even today, the distinction persists, with different digital TV services being offered on each part of the network, necessitating discussion of "Langley" and "Bromley" (the towns where the super head-ends for NTL's original network and the ex-CWC network are located respectively) availability whenever a new service is announced. It remains to be seen how well the integration process goes this time around, and whether service parity will be reached by the combined company before any consumer-facing rebrand takes place.

Stay with Digital Spy for the latest developments as they happen and read what cable consumers make of it all on our cable forums.

NTL position http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds24956.html