Contentless HD discs?

[Kariudo]

but there is a difference between choosing to not take part of things like that and being told, "skrew you, you can't watch movies because you don't have high-speed internet"

why shouldn't I be able to watch HD movies if I have all the right equipment? (meaning the HD player and an HD tv)

[BasharOfTheAges]

we're discussing something that is proposed for years down the line here... If you decide to be in the small minority of people that don't have high-speed connections by then, then you don't participate. It's entertainment - not a necessity of life, so you're not entitled to it, you make the choice to be involved with it on a purely voluntary basis. Getting upset over it because you don't have the necessary line is the same as getting upset over not having other hardware, like the TV or the player.

The big deal I was getting at was the whole hobby thing we're involved with here and how that would be impeded when there isn't anything on the disc to rip. This would require real hardware hacks and/or invalidate any reason for buying DVDs in the first place.

[Kariudo]

unless the prices for cable internet come down, or the US gets the cheap high-speed internet that uses power lines (available in Europe IIRC) I think it would be more than a small minority.
Remember that this also has to deal with where you live...high-speed internet isn't gonna reach to the boonies.

I'm saying that it's wrong to bar the people who would be otherwise able to watch HD things based on the fact that they don't have a high-speed connection.

as for our hobby, it would only be a matter of time before someone would make something to capture the media as it was coming to your computer.

[BurningLeaves]

It's entertainment - not a necessity of life, so you're not entitled to it, you make the choice to be involved with it on a purely voluntary basis. Getting upset over it because you don't have the necessary line is the same as getting upset over not having other hardware, like the TV or the player.

X2


[quote=""BasharOfTheAges"]The big deal I was getting at was the whole hobby thing we're involved with here and how that would be impeded when there isn't anything on the disc to rip. This would require real hardware hacks and/or invalidate any reason for buying DVDs in the first place.[/quote]

With new technology always comes ways of destroying it though it does seem like a hassle I doubt any kind of copyright protection, even something like this will be fool proof, as smart as the people are who are designing it, they are no smarter then the people on the other side of the fence looking to take it apart. Or at least thats my hope

Websites such as <a href="http://www.movielink.com/store/web/home ... lID=model2"> this</a> seem to be popping up all over where you purchase and legally download movies straight to your computer, I haven't checked this out myself to see if there are any quality issues or what type of copyright there might be on these files but I think this is more likely to be the new trend in movie purchasing rather then the above mentioned one.

[post-it]

@BurningLeaves .. you've got the right idea .. linking to movies PPV.

@Kionon .. yes it was tryed - I remember it! .. this is along those lines where the second you rent the Disc and Player the Phone line is used to verify that you can play the movie .. but what he is talking about is a little different:
1) you buy the Disc.
2) the codes are sent and verified.
3) the Movie is then sent to the machine where it erases the Disc and places a "CODE" on the Disc that "Only Your DVD Player" can play that video .. because each player has its own "CODE" to authorize that movies playing.
[[ in short form .. your player is the only thing allowed to play that movie -- no more sharing movies between friends and no more making AMV's from "encrypted anime!" ]]

.. as far as not having an Internet Connection, Sirus is already sending many TV Channels via Sattilite and a Sirus Radio type device for "Video On The Go" for cars already .. so an Internet Connection is not part of the equation anymore!

@BasharOfTheAges .. have they stated a possible implementation starting/testing date yet??

[Willen]

Although it can be done with newer packaged media, I have a feeling that just like DIVX, the customer will avoid it like the plague.

What is currently being done is providing extras via this method where if you have your player connected to the internet, you can access online content like trailers (Freedom HD-DVD), activities (Shrek the Third HD-DVD), and a few others. I'm not really sure if they are actual downloads and not just extras on the disc unlocked by visiting a specific server with the HD-DVD player.

We'd need a big upgrade in the current internet's backbone to support the amount of data needed to be transferred for High Def content delivered this way. At least in a reasonable amount of time or at an acceptable level of quality (i.e. no stuttering or stopping of the video due to connection issues).

Plus, are the movie studios going to keep running the servers needed to deliver the content and are they going to pay for the necessary bandwidth required to stream HD content online?

We've already got access to this technology through our cable companies via video-on-demand. It's been around a while and I don't see Blockbuster's or Netflix's business being affected much by it. And what's better, with VOD you don't have to connect your player to the internet or store content-less discs that only provide access to video from a remote server (I have enough trouble finding places to put all my content-filled CDs and DVDs).

[BasharOfTheAges]

@BasharOfTheAges .. have they stated a possible implementation starting/testing date yet??

All i know is that it's part of the specs that 3rd parties have to support if they're making players that want to be certified (i.e. to even say on their packaging that their devices can use the trademarked terms HD-DVD and Blue-ray, they need to follow the guidelines).

@Willen: From what i was told, the content would be stored on an internal HDD at least temporarily (however proprietary and unfriendly they want to make that is up to them) So the total bandwidth they'd save is significant - especially if it keeps the last 50 or so movies you've watched internally.

As for consumer avoidance - they just need to take baby steps and the average consumer will not feel it hinders them in the least. The popularity of video on demand services shows the consumers are already somewhat comfortable with accessing their content from an external network - if the features of HDDVDs and Blue-ray discs catch on like they're supposed to, companies will slowly move to having more features available through the internet that they could have just put on the disc in the first place. After a point, this will become the norm - then they switch to having the majority of content accessed online for a lower price than the movies used to cost - people will love that. It's just 1 step away from that to 100% contentless discs.

[post-it]

.. T_T .. why does this sound like the big corporations are hiding something and we are the Lo-Techs in Johnny Mnemonic T_T

[Willen]

The big problem is that the media isn't easily shared between multiple machines. What if I want to play it on my home theater one day, then on my portable player on another occasion? Am I supposed to buy what is essentially a stripped down laptop to playback these content-less discs? Well say goodbye to the $79 Walmart special 7" portable DVD player.

Plus, if watching the movie means sitting around staring at a blank screen or "loading" message for a few minutes to have enough of it buffered, I'm not sure if Joe Customer is willing to put up with it. Some people already take issue with the long disc loading times of current HD players.

According to Michael Bay, this is essentially what Microsoft wants to move the industry to - downloading movies and saying goodbye to packaged media. http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=722

The time may come for this kind of delivery system, but it's a while away. There's too many things that aren't ready yet that need to be in place for a smooth customer experience.

[Zero1]

You would probably need at least 6-8 mbps down speed for decent quality H.264, which is a problem for people such as myself since I have an 8mb service, but my location dictates that I will only ever get 2mbps of that.