[Michael DeAbreu]

When did the laywers replace the engineers?

Downloaded the TMT 5 trial. Dolby TrueHD disabled at the request of Dolby Labs. Complete silence on the TrueHD track. The one feature that I'm most interested in is the one I can't test.

Fortunately, I missed this. An uprgade to pDVD10 stripped user's of the ability to playback BD folder rips. Apparently, the legality was in question so they disabled the feature, only to re-enable it it in pDVD11.

When did the lawyers replace the engineers? I remember a time when it was all about the best audio-video experience.

 

[jem]

The only BD I have had problems with is a disc of Rick Wakeman's Six Wives of Henry VIII live. This thing kills my HTPC, slows it to a crawl until I have to manually reboot. I have no idea what the problem is. However, other than this, I've had no other problems with BD discs, or ripped BD's. And if anyone has any idea what the problem is that BD I mentioned, I'd love to hear it. Now back to your regularly scheduled forum.

 

[spensar]

I know the sentiment.

I built a HTPC a couple of years ago, had the combo HD DVD/Blu-ray player. The babying and maintenance, needed to make it almost play as easily as a cheap stand alone player led me to ditch it. If I was single and lived by myself, I may have continued for the hobby, tinkering interest in it but not as a mainstream solution for the family.

 

[Michael DeAbreu]

Why bother encrypting BD's?

When True Grit came out with a new copy protection scheme, AnyDVD and DVDFab released patches a few days later. Other than to annoy people, why do they bother? My guess is the license fees we pay. Who cares if the DRM is completely ineffectual. It seems stupid for us to pay the BD consortium to encrypt the discs, then pay someone else to decrypt them.

 

[ScaryBob]

The brain trusts that run the studio figure that encryption will stop piracy. It might stop the casual movie copier but it will never stop piracy. There's too much money being made by the organized criminals who do large scale pirating. The 'war on piracy' is like the war on drugs, ineffectual as long as there is a demand and money to be made.

All the big studios are accomplishing is creating more sophisticated criminal pirating gangs and creating a bigger demand for an unencumbered product that is only available from criminal organizations. You would think that US lawmakers would have learned their lesson with prohibition. Still they continue to enact more laws, like the DMCA that makes criminals out of ordinary citizens and creates more organized criminals.

 

[Michael DeAbreu]

I'll go further and suggest that they know full well that this type of DRM is completely useless, but it is a great revenue stream.

And, I'll go further still and suggest that "piracy" is non-issue. They know it, but perpetuate the myth so they can lobby for more stringent "technological measures" and justify expensive but ultimately useless DRM. Which of course we pay for everytime we see a AACS or BD+ logo on our discs, players and software.

 

[ScaryBob]

Most technology licencing has very little to do with DRM. Dolby, DTS, AAC, BD+, HDMI, etc, are simply technology standards for delivering and playing back content. There is no need for encryption with these standards. Encryption is simply another layer on top.

 

[audacity]

Sure, Blu-ray provides high quality video, but you still have the problems with physical media. Finding it, buying it, not damaging it. You have the problems with restrictive DRM; i.e. Mac users or tablet users are locked out of the party and need to circumvent the DRM (and break the law in some countries).

With the popularization of streaming video and all of the related "quality of life" features that come with it, I think the fate of Bly-ray has been sealed.

 

[Michael DeAbreu]

AACS and BD+ and HDCP are proprietary encryption and content management DRM. Unecessary but not free.

The Advanced Access Content System (AACS) is a standard for content distribution and digital rights management. It is developed by AACS Licensing Administrator, LLC (AACS LA), a consortium that includes Disney, Intel, Microsoft, Panasonic, Warner Bros., IBM, Toshiba and Sony.

BD+ is a component of the Blu-ray Disc Digital Rights Management system. It was developed by Cryptography Research Inc. and is based on their Self-Protecting Digital Content concept.

High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. Arguably, HDMI is just a wrapper for HDCP encryption and a host of handshaking problems documented in other threads.

The rest, VC-1, H.264, Dolby, DTS are the only licenses I care to pay for.

Perhaps another reason to keep the useless DRM (and other licensed technology) is to squeeze competitors out of the marketplace. Open standards open the field to small innovative companies. Android vs Symbian. Linux vs Windows. USB vs just about any other proprietary interconnect.

 

[Michael DeAbreu]

X-men First Class Blu-ray Fiasco

The digital copy din't work with a 2 year old Mac Book Pro running OSX. It was read as a blank DVD.

The movie didn't play in powerDVD 10. A quick Google search reveals that the disc doesn't play on the PS3 or many Samsung players.

Cheated once again. I sincerely thank Future Shop who quickly issued a refund even though usual store policy is not to accept opened software. From now on, my policy will be not to accept any DRM'd piece of crap that doesn't play.

WARNING

Your Blu-ray Player requires an update in order to play this disc.
The manufacturer of your Blu-ray Player recommends that you go to the website below to obtain the latest update available. please go to this website and follow the manufacturer's instructions to update your Blu-ray Player
http://cyberlink.com/BDUpdate

For additional information on Blu-ray Player updates please visit the Blu-ray Update Website at
http;//blu-raydisc.com/forBestResults

Twentieth Centuryt Fox is not responsible for the content or practices of manufacturers' websites. Each manufacturer controls and is responsible for its own website.
​

 

[Michael DeAbreu]

BD Live

BD Live

Downloaded 5-6 minutes of previews and blocked access to the top menu or pop-up menu.

Went into the Windows Firewall and blocked all in-coming and out-going traffic for the CyberLink PowerDVD player. Unfortunately this doesn't stop the MCE plug-in.

 

[Michael DeAbreu]

Seriously? Download a Code to Watch Independence Day.

I thought I had made my peace with Blu-ray. I'd gotten used to starting a Blu-ray 10 minutes before I intended to watch it, just to avoid all the UOP content. I've almost stopped being offended by three federal departments accusing me of theft and terrorism. I still produce my notarized undertaking not to be offended by the commentary track. I kind of actually enjoy the cosmopolitan achievement of reading the Interpol warning in every known language.

However, Independence Day: Resurgence takes DRM to a whole new level. Because my Blu-ray player doesn't have an Internet connection, I had to enter a 20-digit alphanumeric code. RCDZ-59DT-UDNJ-X410-W25D

Codes are available from the hilariously named PlayMyBluray website or twitter feed (1399 tweets, 24 followers). Hilarious, because at this point I'm pretty sure it is their Bluray, not mine. Or you call their toll-free customer support or text (data rates apply).

It's no surprise this is from 20th Century Fox. Their badly coded javascript menus will always peg one of my dual core CPUs at 100% usage. Personally I hope this format dies hard, then dies harder, so that I can finally live free to have a good day to watch it die hard again with a vengeance.

 

[gdkitty]

Wait, what?
To play it locally... you need to enter a CODE? Jeez.


Generally, the ones i have got recently are pretty good at being able to skip stuff and get to the menu, etc to play.

But that would be a deal breaker for me.

 

[audacity]

Ultra HD Blu-ray is DOA.

It's telling that Sony, the founder of the Blu-ray format, didn't think it was worth including a 4K Blu-ray player in its 4K-capable console (PS4 Pro). The rationale from Sony? That physical formats are dead, everyone streams movies now.

And they're right!

My suggestion: don't encourage movie studios by buying their plastic discs with DRM on them. If possible, you could return your Blu-ray disc to the store and tell them that their DRM didn't work for you. Make DRM cost them something; make them eat the cost of the return!

 

[vmpv]

Audacity, what about those of us who don't trust having our purchases in the "ether"? I buy most of my music on disc and as little as possible on itunes just waiting for the day that hacking or some other failure "wipes" my purchases and I get the standard "sucks to be you" response...

sorry to go a bit off topic...

 

[audacity]

Meh.

1. Like most people, I typically don't watch the same movie again and again, so it's usually a better deal to rent than buy.

2. The value for the dollar is so much better for streaming (vs buying), that I don't mind that I don't have it forever. I'm sure I'll be able to stream it again in the future if I want to.

 

[scrooloose]

No high end audio options; Dolby TrueHD, DTS MA, Dolby ATMOS or DTS:X from streaming services yet. I won't argue that streaming is the future but if you want to maximize your listening and viewing pleasure today, disc is still king!

Now, I stream a lot as well but I just purchased a Panasonic 4k Bluray player and will enjoy the few disks I watch but I also resent all the advertising and warnings they force you watch. Talk about biting the hand that feeds them!

-Mike

 

[vmpv]

Audacity. while I personally agree with you regarding movies, my comment was directed at the suggestion that physical formats are dead. I literally have $1000's invested in Vinyl, CD, Dvd and Blu-Ray music and I'm sure there are people who likewise have oodles of money invested in movies on physical media.
To unilaterally declare physical media is dead may just alienate enough people to hasten the demise of Sony and the like.
I would not for a minute consider investing the money I have spent on music on a promise that my purchases would be protected in cyberspace.
But yet I buy e-books like crazy...:nerd

 

[TorontoColin]

There's no rule that says you must go one way or the other. You can have thousands of physical disc based movies and continue to watch them regularly, but also not purchase more in that format. I haven't bought a blu-ray in years now, but that doesn't mean I'm throwing away the ones I have and like.

Audacity, what about those of us who don't trust having our purchases in the "ether"? I buy most of my music on disc and as little as possible on itunes just waiting for the day that hacking or some other failure "wipes" my purchases and I get the standard "sucks to be you" response...

You think Apple would respond that way? I very much doubt that. But that's just another justification for subscription services, especially for music, which are so comprehensive. Or, you could back up your iTunes purchases to your own storage.

Meh.

1. Like most people, I typically don't watch the same movie again and again, so it's usually a better deal to rent than buy.

2. The value for the dollar is so much better for streaming (vs buying), that I don't mind that I don't have it forever. I'm sure I'll be able to stream it again in the future if I want to.

I'd also add that I don't want to have all my purchased movies forever. I bought so many DVDs, and when everything migrated to HD, I had little interest in watching them anymore. The same will inevitably happen to my blu-rays when 4K takes off. I'm not going to want to be streaming the same 1080p version years from now.

 

[ExDilbert]

That's the problem with physical media. It's only good until the playback devices stop working and can no longer be repaired or replaced. By then, the movies will be on Netflix or some other service and probably in a better format. I went through that with multiple formats for both music and movies, never mind a small fortune in software. I decided a number of years ago to only rent movies or subscribe to movie channels or services.

I never have and probably never will buy a BD movie. Have a few DVDs but rarely watch any of them. I always hated that format because of the terrible menu system and the way they force messages and promotional content on viewers. I hate BDs even more. I prefer to play DVDs on a HTPC in order to skip the garbage.

BD players for the PC have largely disappeared due to new copy protection schemes that are costly and difficult to support. Both of the software players I had, and paid over $100 for, have been taken off the market and are no longer supported. Got to play maybe a dozen rented BDs on those. Soon after that the DVD and BD rental companies closed. That guarantees I will never buy a BD disc since I no longer have a BD player. I appreciate the higher definition and improved sound on BDs but DVD quality is good enough for most movies. The rest can wait for UHD streaming.