My TV has DVI but my costly amp (DENON) has none. When I bought it, I thought WOW component input/output. The 'upconverting' DVD's also leave me out in the cold. I use an upconverting Helios (not an endorsement) just because it's the only DVD to upconvert an output to component. I'm not out to endorse the Helios, it has tons of features but my power supply just went kablooy and I'd buy a more expensive unit IF IT ONLY HAD COMPONENT OUT! I might even buy a HD if it didn't also mean changing everything. These companies are idiots.
Well meaning posters note: NO just because there IS a component out on a DVD player DOES NOT mean it is the upconverted signal. I just had a salesman lie to me about that one, day before yesterday.

by AllennellA (See profile) - October 2, 2007 11:54 AM PDT

According to the article, studios will be required to state whether downconverting is enforced. Well, HD-DVD titles are starting to show up at my local Costco, but I didn't see anything on the packaging one way or another. So what should we be looking for???

Cheers!
Speleo.

by speleofool (See profile) - May 9, 2006 4:58 PM PDT

The vast majority of consumers still don't have HDTVs so all of this is irrelevant to them anyway...

by Jeema (See profile) - April 21, 2006 5:14 AM PDT

Yeah, I know I'm pretty much preaching to the choir here, but
in the interest of bolstering public opinion I'll say it anyways...

First thing that i'd like to point out is that 95% of all movie/tv/dvd piracy is done via internet distribution - primarily over p2p networks. Even with the current dvd quality standard the overwhelming majority of all distributed copyrighted media is downscaled into 1/2 to 1/3rd the resolution and transcoded into a 'lossier' format to meet more conservative bandwidth requirements. This is to say that the vast majority of piracy is already done at a fraction of the current dvd standard and a sub-fraction of _either_ proposed high-definition media standard.

Given the current limitations of end-user boradband networks (DSL,Cable...) its impractical to try to distribute 4+ gigabyte media not to mention a blue-ray or hd-dvd 20+gb media stream. If statistically almost all 'pirated' media is downscaled from current standards for bandwidth and storage reasons then downscaling the analog output on HD media is going to have almost zero impact on any piracy within the projectable future.

Keep in mind as well those who are set on breaking whatever copyprotection the industry arms itself with will do just that. In fact most copy-protection schemes have only sucessfully added to the development and production cost of CD/DVD distributed content, and here we are with a new wave of outlandishly expensive (yet easily subverted) DRM technologies hungrily perched at our doorstep ready to drive up the cost of movies and music to loyal consumers.

And here I am with a $7,000 ceiling mounted CRT projector in my home theatre setup thats actually capable of the absurdly -high resolutions the next-gen media formats are promising, however my high end inputs consist of component color BNC's and a HD-15 (svga d-shell sub). As you've probly guessed, i'm a bit of a videophile, and as such it's going to be people like myself who end up the only victim of downscaling the image quality, and if thats the case... i simply wont see the need to purchase one...

It seems its in the hands of the production companies, and they better wise up to the fact consumers won't shell out $200-$1000 for crippled hardware or they're likely to take a dive on the whole thing and see a next-gen invenstment buried next to the laserdisc.

by Exx0dus (See profile) - April 19, 2006 2:28 PM PDT

So let me get this straight, they want to sell HD-DVD and Blu-Ray movies to people, which would be a market consisting of those who started buying HDTV's since 2001 to 2005 and now 2006, but they are using HDCP and AACS, which effectively alienates that entire market of people who purchased hdtv's from 2001 to 2006. So basically, who the heck are they selling this to, this means there is no market for these devices. Current 1080p sets dont even have HDCP chips in them yet. So again, where is the market they plan on selling high def movies players to?
It would appear they want their market to consist of people who bought tv's that havent been made yet!!
am I nuts? or am I right?

by johnnj2003 (See profile) - March 8, 2006 4:47 PM PST

They know that any copy protection scheme can, and sooner or later will, be broken. By not allowing HD thru componant outputs, I think they're banking on new TV sales to rise and thus make them yet more money. Its called planned obsolesence. But in this economy with the upcomming auto layoffs and attack on pensions, it may, and I hope does, bite them in the a--!

by Crankster53 (See profile) - March 7, 2006 7:29 PM PST

The whole world should just boycott next-gen video formats if it has come down to this. These people are just making us pay more just for a couple million pixels.

BOYCOTT BLU-RAY AND HD-DVD!!!!!

by montyalbo123 (See profile) - February 27, 2006 8:30 PM PST

everyone who keeps complaining about this needs to stop. what they need to do is get themselves a new TV. i mean lets face although you love your old school mitsu(or whatever brand it is) crt, its just not even close to the quality you get from a plasma or a high end dlp set, so you probably won't notice the HD dvd. if you look at your tv manual most of those tv can only display 540p which means your set would downconvert the signal anyway or worse not even diplay it. you all need to stop all this b**ching and buy a new TV. simple as that!

by evillalo (See profile) - January 26, 2006 11:38 AM PST

This is complete B.S!!!! I can't believe as a consumer, that I should have this crap pushed on me. I purchased my HDTV in 2003 and only has component video sources. I have purchased hundreds of dvds and shelled out money on nice players. Now if I choose to upgrade my player and collection of movies I am going to be downconverted so that they can protect their F****NG pockets. I have never copied movies, (too time consuming, plus I love bonus features)and this is a slap in the face. I think I will purchase a player from overseas that outputs component 1080i and tell the next gen produces to kiss my ***!!! I will now start copying all movies!!!!

by darth_thorn (See profile) - January 26, 2006 9:57 AM PST

For some it may not matter, but I was one of those suckers who believed in the futurability clause of Mitsubishi 3 years ago when I payed top dollar for my platinum series WS-65511 CRT HD TV. The industry already shot down the use of IEEE1394 firewire because of its two way audio/video streaming ability. Though, the encryption program was strong for firewire, they felt it was weaker than DVI/HDMI due to its dependency on software encryption vs. DVI/HDMI single direction audio/video streaming. Now, I am one of those millions stuck with 3 firewire connections and no DVI/HDMI inputs for the new generation of HD components. Why buy one when I can never get higher than the standard definition of 540i/p? HD-VHS was dead the minute HD-DVDs came into discussion. There are no current substitutes.

Anyone who says most consumers can't tell the difference between 540p and 1080i/p are crazy. It's bad enough that Mitsubishi snubbed its consumers when it backed out of its policy and started supporting HDMI. Now we have to eat it from everyone else. Where is the representation for Firewire? Why must I wait several more years for the industry to possibly break down and start supporting IEEE1394 on home theater components? Where is the FCC support in regulating this to be fair for all consumers who bought products of the digital age of TV?

Sony and Toshiba can shove it. I am happy with the current DVD format and my HD-DVR from Dish!

by Alvi21 (See profile) - January 23, 2006 12:22 PM PST