For years now, movie studios and the consumer electronics industry have been pushing to close the so-called “analog hole” \u2013 i.e. the ability of DVD and Blu-ray players to output unencrypted high-def video over analog connections. Last week saw a major push in that direction when it was announced that new Blu-ray players will cripple the resolution of video transmitted over Component. I’m sure the lawyers must see this as a great victory, but what does it really gain anyone?<\/p>\n
Although analog, there’s no technical limitation preventing Component Video connections from transmitting high-def video up to 1080i resolution. Yet this strikes great fear into content providers, who are terrified that the unencrypted nature of analog video is a gateway to piracy. <\/p>\n
As such, DVD and Blu-ray players have already been hobbled for a few years now to a maximum of 480p resolution when playing DVD video. Nonetheless, Blu-ray players have continued to allow up to 1080i backwards compatibility over Component for true high-def Blu-ray video. This has always seemed asinine to me. It’s OK to transmit a true high-def signal unencrypted, but not an upconverted standard-def signal? What kind of moron pirate would want to bootleg upconverted video, when it’s easier and faster to copy the video at its native resolution and later upconvert it downstream if necessary?<\/p>\n
The requirement for Blu-ray backwards compatibility has always been a sore issue for the CE industry. Component Video was a necessary evil at the time of the format’s inception, when HDMI still had limited install penetration in homes. All along, Blu-ray manufacturers have been actively planning for the forced obsolescence of Component. All Blu-ray players since the very beginning have been programmed to enforce the 480p limitation for DVD content (which can be upconverted all the way to 1080p over HDMI). Players also have a provision to limit Blu-ray content to 540p over Component if the disc being played were authored with a feature called the Image Constraint Token. However, the threat of ICT was never actually utilized until recently.<\/p>\n