DIGITAL DIGEST - http://www.digital-digest.com
DIGITAL DIGEST | LiveUpdate Newsletter - Issue 56
20 September, 2006

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TOP NEWS SUMMARY:

1. Introduction

2. News in Brief

3. High Definition DVD Myths - Part 2

4. How to cancel/change your subscription email address/settings
- how to maintain the subscription to this newsletter even
if your email address has changed

5. A simple thank-you and some concluding words

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1. Introduction

Welcome to another issue of Digital Digest's "LiveUpdate"
newsletter. In this issue, I spotlight some of the biggest myths
surrounding high definition DVDs.

-- DVDGuy


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2. News in Brief

Microsoft bragged for years how their "Windows Media" was un-
crackable but, low and behold it was cracked not to long ago.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60165.html

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Apple's DRM was hacked to help you remove DRM from your iTunes
downloads.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60166.html

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Microsoft will be releasing four different version of Windows Vista,
all with a different price tag.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60167.html

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The popular open source browser FireFox is releasing a Beta 2
version for download.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60168.html

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The iPod rival is here and ready to duke it out with Apple.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60170.html

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Pioneer is working on a Blu-Ray/HD-DVD dual format burner.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60171.html

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Sony is in the works of bringing you the Worlds fastest DVD recorder
that can reach up to speeds of 18X.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60172.html

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Microsoft is releasing the second beta edition of Windows Media
Player 11 to download.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60173.html

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If you plan on using your PS3 for watching high definition blu-ray
DVD's, get ready to fork out some more dough after you pay the
inflated price for the PS3

itself.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60174.html

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If your like me and grew up playing those classic arcade style games
and you own a PSP, well fear not cause those game titles are coming
for the PSP.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60176.html

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Slysoft updates its AnyDVD software to overcome new types of
copyright protection.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60177.html

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Sony is playing favorites when it comes to the two PS3 models they
are going to release.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60178.html

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Now (or the real near future to compete with the PS3 and Nintendo
Wii) is the time to get you a XBOX, as they are going on sale.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60179.html

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A innovative idea has just came up that they will produce a "Triple
Layer" DVD/HD-DVD that will consist of single, dual layer, and
single HD-DVD layer on 1

disc.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60180.html

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ImgBurn once again goes under the knife for another huge update!

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60181.html

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Apple plans to offer quality movies on iTunes.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60182.html

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BenQ has decided to retire for the optical recording market.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60183.html

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RIAA brings eDonkey down with the rest of them.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60184.html

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Wii is it priced so low?

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60185.html

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QuickTime comes out with a new version with all sorts of
improvements from H.264 codec to putting movies on your iPod.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60186.html

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Roxio says simplify your life with their new Easy Media Creator 9
software.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60189.html

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Ahead software released a update to its infamous Nero Premium
Reloaded edition.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60190.html

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Microsoft trying to get a piece of the video streaming pie as it
takes on YouTube with its own branded software called "Soapbox".

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60191.html

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Samsung now boasts it has the new largest LCD TV out right now, its
an amazing 75"!

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60153.html

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Toshiba has hired the LiteOn It corporation in assisting with its
hardware fabrication.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60155.html

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The best freeware combo that money can't buy (although donations are
welcome and severely appreciated)! DVD ReBuilder + ImgBurn

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60157.html

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Use PowerDVD's new compatibility tester to see if your PC's hardware
will play Blu-Ray and/or HD-DVD.

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-60163.html

-- jmet


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3. High Definition DVD Myths - Part 2

Continuing from last issue's High Definition DVD Myths, in which we
covered the "Blu-ray has more capacity than HD DVD", "HD DVD games
on Xbox 360" , "Only HDMI 1.3 supports 1080p" and the "MPEG-2 is
better than MPEG-4/VC-1" myths. Here are some more:

5. DVI/HDMI only high definition output - True and false. The specs
for both Blu-ray and HD DVD include something called "Image
Constraint Token" (ICT). When ICT is enabled, full 1080i/p output is
only available on digital (HDCP enabled HDMI) outputs, and analog
output is limited to a maximum resolution of 960x540p, a quarter the
resolution of 1080i. This seem to suggest that high definition
output is limited to HDMI digital output, but the key here is
whether ICT is enabled for the movie in question (movies with ICT
will be clearly marked). Studios, no doubt under pressure from the
fact that most people still have analog equipment, has distanced
themselves from enabling ICT and many have said it would be many
years before the first ICT enabled movie will be released.
Hopefully, by the time ICT is standard on discs, HDMI connections
will have become the standard connector type.

However, PC based high def playback will almost certainly be limited
to DVI/HDMI output (provided that both the output and input DVI/HDMI
supports HDCP - most graphics card's DVI connectors do not support
HDCP as of currently). In cases where VGA output is only available,
then playback will either be limited to quarter resolution (with
warning text overlaid on top of the movie) or a blank screen will be
given (with warning text as well). The PC requirements are tougher
to prevent illegal copying, but it looks like it will prevent
legitimate playback as well for people who haven't spent money on
the latest graphics cards and monitors.

6. All high def players will require Internet connections - Mostly
false. This is one of the earliest and most controversial rumours.
The idea that all players will require Internet connections (for
copy protection reasons), which means people will have to dial-in
every time they watch a movie or get their broadband routed to their
lounge room, seems to spell doom for the high def formats. The truth
is that standalone players will most likely not require an Internet
connection to be able to playback movies, and the reason for this is
precisely why people were against this in the first place - it's
totally impractical. It could also be potentially dangerous, as
hardware players will most likely not have a firewall or other
security measures to prevent hacking. However, computer based
software players might have this requirement built in, although
looking at Cyberlink/PowerDVD's high def DVD requirements page does
not indicate this at all.

7. 1080p has better quality than 1080i. Mostly false, but it
depends. The confusion comes from the fact that 1080i/p on high def
DVDs is a slightly different concept to 1080i/p for HDTV broadcasts,
especially for film content. And the concept that a progressive DVD
player has better quality than a standard interlaced DVD player also
confuses the issue.

The first thing to note is your TV. Most high def displays are
either plasma or LCD based (or LCoS for projectors), and by nature
they are progressive. All of them will accept an interlaced signal
(eg. 480i, 576i, 1080i), but their internal circuitry will convert
it to a progressive picture and that's what you see on the screen.
Some 1080 line displays can't accept 1080p input and only 1080i
inputs, and this has lead some people to believe that only a TV
capable of accepting and displaying 1080p is a "true HD" set and
that this set will be better quality than one that only accepts
1080i. This is not entirely true.

For a high def DVD (film content), the movie is stored in 1080p on
the disc. Even if the connection is only 1080i, it is enough
bandwidth for the full 1080 lines of information to be sent and if
the display's internal circuitry can properly recombine and convert
the signal back to the progressive fashion, then what you see on the
screen will be practically identical to the same signal being sent
over 1080p. What actually happens is that half of the lines (the odd
numbered, called a "field") are sent first (the nature of
an "interlaced" connection), then the other half and the display
recombines them into a full picture (progressive). In this case, the
i/p difference is only in the transmission. It's like someone taking
this newsletter and then splits it up and sends you the first and
second half of this newsletter separately, and you recombining them
into a single file again - the final file will be identical to
original. It's not this simple because there are other things like
motion and frame rates involved, but essentially, this is what
happens. In this case 1080p and 1080i should be identical, and you
are certainly seeing all 1080 lines of information regardless of
which input type you use.

There are a few "ifs" in the statement above and the reason is that
some displays' internal circuitry does not do the interlaced to
progressive conversion properly. To quote an article in Home Theatre
Magazine (http://hometheatermag.com/hookmeup/0506halfrez/):

"Cheap, unsophisticated signal processors simply take a single 540-
line field and synthesize all the missing lines of information to
create the number of lines of the display, which can be 720, 768, or
1,080, depending on the display's native resolution. This method of
scaling results in a softer picture accompanied by motion artefacts.
Seeing as little as half of a display's full resolution is not all
that desirable. This method is sometimes referred to as bobbing."

So in this case, 1080p will be better than 1080i if the display
accepts both input formats. More information on 1080p vs 1080i can
be found in our High Definition DVD FAQ:
http://www.digital-digest.com/highdefdvd/faq.html#faqA02

And that's it for High Definition DVD Myths (for now).

-- DVDGuy


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4. How to cancel/change settings/email address for your subscription
to this newsletter

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5. A simple thank-you and some concluding words

Just a note to thank all the thousands of people, including you, who
joined the Digital Digest LiveUpdate list. I've spent quite a bit of
time developing this site, and making it what it is today, and
really do appreciate your continued support.

I hoped you enjoyed another issue of the LiveUpdate newsletter.

Thanks!!

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