The Downside of HD-TV (and DVD)

[2099net]

I've known about this for a while, but this small box-out in a "Future of DVD" article in a British DVD magazine seems to sum up the situation perfectly:

DVD was developed as the movie industry’s equivalent of CD – a leap in terms of quality, a chance to incorporate new features and an opportunity to flog old material on a new format. The other advantage to the manufactures was that it was initially difficult to pirate. Now, of course, the format can also act as a recording medium, which puts the final nail in the coffin of VHS tape – but at the same time makes it much more vulnerable to piracy.

The film, television and video industries have seen the havoc that internet file-sharing has brought to the music industry and are determined to try and stop it happening when digital TV replaces analogue TV. Anyone with a half-decent home PC and special software can already compress video files and post them on the internet – the video industries want to make it as difficult as possible. Japanese digital TV broadcasters are already using a system that is likely to become widespread in the US and Europe. The system is called Copy Protection for Recordable Media (CPRM) and it physically binds a digital recording to a CD, DVD or memory card. In other words, once a recording has been made, it can’t be copied onto another medium. So, if you recorded a TV programme protected by CPRM on a blank DVD and your friend wanted to watch it, you couldn’t make a copy for them; in order to watch it they would need the original disc.

If a DVD recorder is not CPRM-compatible, the digital broadcast is scrambled when it is recorded and thus unwatchable. Japanese DVD recorders with built-in CPRM compatibility have now come onto the market and so have special CPRM DVD-R discs.

In the US digital TV broadcasters will be able to use a system known as the ATSC Flag, a digital code that is broadcast along with the images and sounds. It means that video recording equipment (including DVD recorders) that is compatible with the ATSC Flag will be controlled by the broadcaster, who can decide whether viewers can record programmes freely, record only once or even not at all. From 2007, all DVD recorders and VCRs launched in the US will have to be compatible with the ATSC Flag. In Europe, the Digital Video Project (DVB) which sets the standard for European digital TV, is working on a similar system and it’s a fair bet that future DVD recorders will incorporate some form of technology that controls what they can record.

Now, I'm all for stopping piracy, and I'm sure that most, if not all members of this forum do too. But surely controlling if a programme can even be recorded or not is going too far? I mean, how many people watch TV "live" these days? We're all so busy that I guess most "timeshift" their viewing multiple times a week.

And then there's the issue that while people can record what they want now, it's not stopped sales of movies (previously on pay-to-view TV) or TV shows on DVD from going through the roof.

People always seem to overreact to the situation. Remember when the MPAA complained VHS would "destroy the movie industry"?

[Maerj]

What does this mean for the TiVo industry? The whole thing there is about being able to watch what you what and when you want. Will this new technology stop Tivo's from working? If so, you are gonna have whole lot of unhappy people. Maybe instead of being so concerned about taping off of television, they should be working on a way to make the HD picture look better instead of it being so pixelly.

[Jack]

Yes, I do think its going too far to control what can and what can't be recordable - just another example of something digging itself into a whole.

Personally, I don't think they need to be worried about piracy affecting DVD sales as much as the music industry. The reason my sound too pyscho-analitical, but I honestly believe this is the case. Music is a auditory medium, and movies are a visual medium. Therefore, if someone wants music, they are automatically not as concerned with whatever visuals are involved - nice packaging, CD artwork, whatever. But with movies, since its a visual medium, people automatically are more concerned with the visuals involved, such as the packaging, how it looks in their collection etc. That's why I think piracy won't affect movie sales as much - people like to have movies in their collection more than they do CDs. Not everyone is like that, I know, but there's several people I know of who are always getting random music off the internet, but they buy their movies. Still, I'm not saying it won't affect them, I'm sure it will (probably the sales of TV box sets more than anything else).

Oh, will you look at that - I look like a crazy person!

[Escapay]

Aw sh!t, how am I gonna watch my soaps now? I always tape them with my trusty old VCR.

Escapay

[orestes.]

This is going too far. I need to tape my soaps too!

I usually watch everything right now but soon I'll have to be taping like crazy. Couldn't this do more harm for television?

I mean if they block soaps for instance people who record them won't be able to do so and they would miss too much and probably lose interest and their ratings are already much lower than before.

I can see cable channels like HBO going for this more than networks. The networks don't need anything else that will help them dig their graves faster.

[Disney Guru]

Hey, no bashing of the HDTV, I recently bought a 20 Inch HDTV, and I love it.

[orestes.]

Sweet I need a new TV. My TV is so old I still get the DuMont network.