The Impeding Dilemma of Component Video
February 19th, 2006 | by Dennis Barker
Those of us who cover the consumer electronics beat are concerned about a potential major problem with the upcoming high-definition optical disc formats. It doesn't matter whether it's Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD. And no, I am not talking about the format war. This problem is a given right now, as neither side will even think about talking to each other, giving an inch, or losing face.
So, if I'm not writing about the impending format war, what exactly am I talking about? The big problem with both of these formats is component video. Now, why would component video outputs be such a concern, as they've been passing DVD signals and HDTV signals from set-top boxes and cable boxes to digital TVs for years? Component video has been around almost ten years, providing superior image quality to digital televisions everywhere.
The problem with component video is that right now it will not pass 1080i—forget about 1080p—signals on either HD-DVD or Blu-ray players. Neither next-generation optical disk camps want to talk about this serious "little" problem. Why won't these new players (or future recorders) pass along a 1080i signal? Because component video is an analog connector, not a digital one. The content providers (Hollywood Studios) are so concerned about piracy that they want the hardware manufacturers to turn off component video altogether. I'm not sure if that will really happen. But what I do think might happen is that component video out will only pass 480p resolution—no better than current DVD players. 1080i or 1080p signals from HD-DVD or Blu-ray will only be passed by HDMI. If that happens, and you don't have an HDTV with HDMI, do you really need HD-DVD or Blu-ray?
Essentially, by turning off component video on these new next-generation optical disc players, more than 3 million digital TV sets that have been purchased in recent years will not be able to receive HD signals from an optical disc player. Of course, some of the manufacturers have said that those people (early adopters) will just have to buy a new HDTV with HDMI connectivity. Is that really the answer people want to hear—even early adopters? And, you're not just disenfranchising consumers who have bought HDTVs in recent years with component video but not with DVI or HDMI connectors; you are also leaving out people who have purchased AV receivers in recent years that feature component video switching and even upconversion. It's a big problem.
This is a major dilemma, and no one is talking about it. The content providers want all audio and video signals sent via HDMI, as it features robust copy protection and it's an all digital connector (versus the old analog component video connector). But many newer sets only include one HDMI input and several component video. And, if you own a newer HD satellite box or even a cable box, the connector of choice is HDMI for the most robust signals. It's only new 2006 HDTVs that will now feature two HDMI inputs. Depending on the manufacturer, it may only be high-end sets that will include more than one HDMI input. And, right now, stand-alone HDMI switchers are costly and cumbersome to use.
What is the consumer to do? Right now, there is no answer. It's already February, HD-DVD players will ship next month, and the first Blu-ray players the following month. And, still no word on the fate of component video from either the hardware manufacturers or content providers. Will it be turned off completely, will it only pass down resolution 480p signals, or will it depend on a code embedded in the software (on a specific disc) to either "turn on" or "turn off" the connector? Will you even know when you purchase the latest title such as MI-3 that it's "component video-enabled?" These are all valid questions, but without a single answer, because no one is talking. None of the manufacturers I know really want to talk about it, because they say that they are at the mercy of the content providers.
So, this is the serious issue surrounding the next-generation optical discs. What can you do? I don't know. Maybe the best thing to do is not to rush out and buy one of those new optical disc players until the dust has settled. If you're buying a new HDTV, make sure that it has a minimum of two HDMI inputs. If you're buying a new AV receiver, make sure that it has at least two HDMI inputs and one HDMI output. An AV receiver that upconverts all incoming video signals to HDMI is even better.
All I can say is stay tuned for more developments.
Post Your Comment...Comments
Tantrum on Feb 19th, 2006 at 10:10 PM:
Hollywood is going completely insane. No one will want to fork out $500+ for a new player, pay $30 for a movie and then fork out even more for a new TV that has an HDMI input on it. Gimme a break. And Hollywood is complaining that sales are down!? Get with the picture!
DVDJ on Feb 20th, 2006 at 10:10 AM:
>neither side will even think about talking to each other, giving an inch, or losing face.
Bill on Feb 20th, 2006 at 10:25 AM:
DVDJ you are a troll, go away. Obviously you are too dense to see what the author is getting at when he says neither camp is talking to each other. Of course they are, but not in the public light, to the media etc.
You state that studios like Paramount and Warner will release movies for both formats, yet you also say the format war will be over before you know it? Doesn't that sort of contradict each other? How could a format die if its receiving support from the movie studios?
And Impeding is spelled correctly...you need to get a job.
Talez on Feb 20th, 2006 at 9:50 PM:
Learn the difference between HDMI and HDCP.
Ian Bell on Feb 21st, 2006 at 2:22 PM:
To Talez,
Who are you directing that to?
Matt on Feb 24th, 2006 at 9:09 AM:
Just because you have HDMI doesn't mean you'll be able to display full-resolution video off Blu-ray or HD-DVD. Your display device also must support HDCP - if not, you'll get a 540p image over your HDMI connection.
HDMI = Connection
HDCP = Protection
The content providers and hardware manufacturers have their heads up their asses on this one. Expect adoption to be VERY slow on this technology.
All this confusion and barrier to innovation just to protect some low-quality content from piracy. Now everyone has to buy another HD display (even if you already have one - if it doesn't have HDMI+HDCP you are screwed) just to view Blu-ray and HD-DVD in their full resolution... No thanks.
Sean on Feb 24th, 2006 at 3:27 PM:
99.9% of the home theater products manufactured today with HDMI connections use HDCP.
Ken on Feb 26th, 2006 at 6:38 PM:
Will I be ok with DVI that supports HDCP such as my 50we610 Sony Wega ? Will a simple DVI to HDMI converter do the trick ?
Thanks,
Ken
Hugh on Feb 27th, 2006 at 8:37 AM:
Ken, you "should" be ok with the adapter.
AC on Feb 27th, 2006 at 5:23 PM:
As one's who's typically an early adopter I've waited (this time) for the next generation(s) flat screens to fall in price another level or two and for an inprovement in the selection of receivers out there because of the HDMI issue. The limited lifespan of component video is becoming clearer and clearer to me: if you don't have HDMI connectivity, you will likely have a difficult time connecting your home theatre components within about 3-5 years, that's my guess.
Think about it: you'll have new displays that are HD, new content that is blu-ray or HD-DVD, and cable boxes and receivers that are HDMI capable. So why, today, would one look to purchase a non-HDMI system or component, unless one was looking to upgrade in the next few years?
content providers won't be any more happy with HMDI connections, however, regarding pirary.
And while "impeding" is spelled correctly, the word should be "impending," should it not? Unless it's a very clever play on words.
DBang on Mar 1st, 2006 at 10:25 AM:
I cannot say exactly how it will work for Blu-ray or HD-DVD, because I haven't played with any hardware yet. What I can speak to is how HDMI+HDCP and Component work, because I'm a firmware engineer on a DVD player. What happens is:
(note this is for current DVD)
1) if you are displaying via HDMI, the component outputs are shut off.
2) if you are displaying via component and the content is flagged as copyrighted (therefore HDCP is active), the component signal is limited to 480p--if you select anything higher it turns component off.
3) if you are displaying via component and the content is not flagged as copyrighted (therefore the video is "in the clear"/no HDCP needed), then you can display up to 1080i via component.
That means that the current crop of units already (in most cases) have all the hardware they need to drive 1080i out the component connection, but they cannot because of HDCP.
It's a requirement by the studios. It sucks. It's also going to be a major problem for PVR-type devices, whether home-built or company made. And it is very likely to seriously damage PC video-card upgrade sales.
I own a 5-year old Mistubishi HDTV. They promised to make available upgrades to the current standards, but then chose to define that as Firewire + HAVI & 5C, which they supported. The industry went the other direction and Mits is doing nothing for their early-adopters, so we are S.O.L. I don't even have DVI.
So when the HD players come out later this year, will I buy one? If the only way to get that HD signal to my set is HDMI, no way. I'll wait until my TV burns completely out.
Hollywood needs to be sent a message on this one. I hope the masses won't just buy new stuff like the sheep they tend to be and accept the further erosion of fair-use.
As for the "format war," there won't be one. Period. This is less like VHS vs. Betamax and more like DVD+R vs. DVD-R. Confusing as all get-out for the consumer, but 6 months down the road it won't matter because dual-format players WILL be available.
Seth Bokelman on Mar 4th, 2006 at 5:02 PM:
Wow, I was planning on buying a new player this year, but if this is the case, I won't be buying one for several years. My TV is barely over 3 years old, it cost me $1800, and it only has component inputs. If the studios or hardware manufacturers think I can justify buying both a new TV and expensive new DVD player any time in the next 3-4 years, they're insane, and no one is going to buy their products.
From what I've seen via HBO and Cinemax HD, movies don't even look THAT much better in HD, due to the depth of focus of film content, versus content shot on HD video, which really POPS off screen at you in comparison.
Ian Bell on Mar 14th, 2006 at 1:25 PM:
Sony Will NOT Downconvert HD Movies On Old HDTV's
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?secti...
"In an important aside, Don Eklund, SPHE's senior vice president for advanced technologies, said that Sony's initial Blu-ray discs — and all of its Blu-ray titles for the forseeable future — will be free of the "Image Constraint Token" that's built into the Blu-ray and HD DVD standards. This controversial digital flag instructs the player to down-res the video signal from its analog component-video outputs to a standard-definition image to prevent high-resolution recordings — but at the same time prevents viewing of HDTV images on any TV or device not equipped with a copyright-protected HDMI digital input. That would eliminate any gain in image quality for HDTV early-adopters who bought displays prior to two or three years ago, when DVI and HDMI digital inputs were introduced.
Eklund noted that Sony's key piracy concern isn't with analog HDTV signals but with the digital HDTV signal coming off the disc, which both Blu-ray and HD DVD are protecting with the robust Advanced Access Content System (AACS) endorsed by the Hollywood studios. If analog copying does become a problem down the road, the policy could change, he said — but for now, "we have no plan to implement the Image Constraint Token. All of Sony's titles will come out of the analog output at full definition." He added that other studios still have the discretion to activate the token for all or individual titles."
Yay for Sony.
YYZ on Mar 29th, 2006 at 12:50 AM:
Imagine if the DVD player had made it's debut with only Component video (new at the time) and optical or coax audio out and didn't offer any RCA jacks.
Selling a new-tech primary output device such as an HD-DVD or BR player without backwards compatible Component video is going to be a hard sell indeed !
BTW, my personal solution for upscaling DVD to 1080i to get a bit more mileage out of my DVD collection: Region free and HDCP-output free (via Component out) Samsung 2004 DVD-HD841 model DVD player. (Samsung is actually getting sued to recall these units). There are other similarly functioning players out there, you just have to look for them.
JoeCool on Mar 31st, 2006 at 11:56 AM:
It's simple: No component out at full resolution, no HD-DVD purchase. I'll be damned if the major HDTV investment I made five years ago is going to become obsolete because the flaming idiots at the studios are worried about piracy. Maybe if everyone votes NO! with their checkbooks the manufacturers will remember where their sales come from and stop listening to the dang dipschlitz studio lawyers!
Just my 2˘
steve on Jul 1st, 2006 at 10:47 PM:
There is absolutely no way I am going to buy any hi-def dvd player that won't support older components in hi-def. Backwards compatibility is a must. WTF are the studios thinking??? Their real financial problems don't come from piracy, but from movies that plain out suck.
Adolf Hitler on Nov 15th, 2006 at 3:42 AM:
If the player only supports HD over protected HDMI it will not be an issue when these players first arrive as most people who will spend the huge sum for the players will most likely have the required display units.
This protection will not stop people downloading movies as most of them are medium quality XVID which could be encoded from a 480 output and still be fine.
It will also not stop people making dvds from BD or HDDVD.
People will more likely be trying to break the encryption or get a signal after decoding, maybe by pulling apart a 1080 TV and getting the signal from the display driver after decoding has taken place, building something to convert the signals used to drive the display panel back to a digital stream.
My late uncle was a horse shoe constructor, but there was a difference, he did the heating etc while the shoe was on the horse and this made him unique, the only problem was it was stupid and he didnt last very long at all, he still says one thing today, "Be it rain or be it weather, we are all the result of the man with the beard, Amen"
What has this got to do with HD-DVD or its nemises cousin Blu Ray, well in 1967 a guy named Steven Thompson made a statement to a lucky few "The factories will produce many toys and gimmicks, and soon you will depend on these, why not go outside and enjoy the sun, son. Do we really need any of this, from the mobile phones we update every 6 months, to the movies we watch that sound or look a bit better (not his exact words) every few years, why not go outside and enjoy the sun,son.
Do we really need any of this to be happy? do you have to buy your parter 1000s of dollars worth of gold, son or are we just conforming to other peoples standards so we just fit in without thinking.. so go enjoy the sun, son its free and not leaving anytime soon, son.
Chris J. on Jan 6th, 2007 at 4:27 PM:
It seems that a box will become availble on the black/white markets that will input HDMI and appear HDCP to the provider. Then that same box will output compontent in full 1080p/1080i/720p. How could this box not be pretty simple to make? A supplier engineer would just have to reproduce the thing in the back of a HDMI/HDCP-complaint monitor. Doesn't sound that magical, does it?
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Ian Bell on Feb 19th, 2006 at 9:23 PM:
Ok this is going to be a huge problem for these manufacturers because there are only a small number of TV's out there with HDMI inputs on them. Most of the newer sets have this connection, but go back a few years and you will be hard pressed to find a TV sporting HDMI, let alone DVI.
With that being the case, both camps will have an incredibly tough time selling players, let alone movies because there will simply not be enough people out there with compatible TV's. Hollywood is not thinking straight here...