A bit dramatic, but perhaps not far from the truth. Why do I say this? You guys know I'm not big into prognostication. I have no proof. Only conjecture and anecdotal evidence that supposes it so. But it's looking more and more real. Thought I'd comment here and get thoughts:
What is my basis? The 360's HD-DVD solution is one a quality one (one that I've invested in), but it is dependent upon HD-DVD's basic copyright protections not being hacked for awhile. Why? Because the player (or 360 console) do not support HDCP. A decent amount of time without being hacked would, in turn, mean less pressure for the industry to feel like they need to implement HDCP (HD copy protection) tokens to further attempt to protect their content from piracy.
Now it all has changed. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD have been fully cracked (link). Industry am cry.
Now let's think: If you were an industry business, who's priority was to protect your content from frivilous copy and the loss of billions of dollars associated, would you not ramp up the timeline for HDCP's implementation? Of course you would. You can bet your sweet *ss that they're in board rooms right now trying to figure out how soon they can reasonably do it.
How does this impact 360 owners? 360's HD-DVD setup does not support HDCP. In fact, HDCP is only supported via digital outputs, of which (HDMI, DVI) the 360 has none. So when HD-DVD movies are launched that require the HDCP token to be sent, the movies will fail to pass the test, and the resolution will be downgraded from 1080p/i or 720p all the way down to 480p (or slightly better). Worst part is, I don't really see a way around it. The 360 was designed and released before the HDCP details were finalized, so the hardware probably isn't compatible with it at its core. Perhaps the new 360's (the HDMI systems) coming in the summer can handle the job...but I don't see how today's can.
Ultimately, the 360 add-on may become worthless for all movies that have HDCP enabled on them.
Couldn't this affect PS3 owners too? Damn straight. Blu-Ray has been cracked too, meaning all movie studios will probably start their implementation of HDCP earlier than expected. Which means if you're not using you PS3's HDMI connection, prepare for your movies to be downsampled to 480p. PS3 owners are in a slightly better position because at least they won't have to go out and buy a whole new system. Still, TCHBO too. Just to a lesser extent.
What about the HDTV owners that don't have an HDMI port? Sorry for ya. Thank the hackers. They forced the industries hand.
[QUOTE="Guess_With_ReX"]Damn! Now I can't watch movies.......o wait I still gota a DVD, which is the thing to own. that, my friend is quite true. DVD ftw.
[QUOTE="Guess_With_ReX"]Damn! Now I can't watch movies.......o wait I still gota a DVD, which is the thing to own. I watch a lot of movies on my 360. it's really the center of my entertainment experience. Media Center, all that stuff.
I predict a lot of people trying their best to seperate gaming and movies as much as possible. What, you don't watch movies too? You don't like high definition?
[QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"][QUOTE="Guess_With_ReX"]Damn! Now I can't watch movies.......o wait I still gota a DVD, which is the thing to own. I watch a lot of movies on my 360. it's really the center of my entertainment experience. Media Center, all that stuff. me too its the only dvd i have.................and i played back up >_> dvds on it. >_> >>blue ray and HDDVD, just remember, once Blue ray and HDDVD get really che ap, a new media will be out which will pretty much dominate them both. Atleast thast what it hink
I care not for either format, DVD will most likely to continue to domanate them both. I dont think consumers are ready to change so soon after DVD becmoing the standard.
[QUOTE="Guess_With_ReX"][QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"][QUOTE="Guess_With_ReX"]Damn! Now I can't watch movies.......o wait I still gota a DVD, which is the thing to own. I watch a lot of movies on my 360. it's really the center of my entertainment experience. Media Center, all that stuff. me too its the only dvd i have.................and i played back up >_> dvds on it. >_> >>blue ray and HDDVD, just remember, once Blue ray and HDDVD get really che ap, a new media will be out which will pretty much dominate them both. Atleast thast what it hink I own all 3. DVD is good enough on my HDTV, to be honest.
The xbox360 outputs digitally, it's a custom output but it's digital, same with the original xbox, basically all you'd need is a x360 to hdmi cable, or x360 to dvi cable, though that can be solved by getting a x360 to vga cable, and putting a vga to dvi block on that.
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