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Do i need HDMI to watch bluray/hd-dvd on my computer?

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - Do i need HDMI to watch bluray/hd-dvd on my computer?

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GNStudios   06-07-2006 at 02:11:53 PM

Do i need a gfx-card and a monitor with HDMI to watch bluray/hd-dvd movies on my PC? (in FULL quality, no downscaling)

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Strangestranger   06-07-2006 at 02:49:40 PM
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i don't think there is a definite answer yet. for one all you need is a DVI connection with HDCP decoding abilities. second i heard they won't make HDCP encryption a requirement until 2010 or 2012. that is not for sure though. quick answer no you don't need HDMI. A DVI is just as good the only difference is that you get sound through the HDMI socket as well but if your using a comp then it isn't need due to you already having a sound card or onboard.

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GNStudios   06-07-2006 at 02:55:36 PM
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thanks!

sounds like good news. btw how do you know if your monitor gfx-card support HDCP?

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FITCamaro   06-07-2006 at 03:04:17 PM
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Anything available today doesn't.

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GNStudios   06-07-2006 at 03:05:59 PM
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damn... I´ll have to wait then. Next generation cores from ATI and nVidia are sure to have HDMI this fall anyway...

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Strangestranger   06-07-2006 at 03:12:35 PM
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new monitors like the dell 2407 the newer one of mine have the HDMI. im not sure what other monitors have it though theres sure to be others.

also remember it is the gfx card makers not the chip maker like ati and nvidia who have to support HDCP. there is nothing stopping them from doing it. the GPU's of today can easily support the resolutions.

most likely there is liscence fees to be paid if they use HDCP so the gfx card vendors like asus don't do it.

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FITCamaro   06-07-2006 at 04:25:11 PM
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The screen you're outputting too also has to have HDCP. Its a chain from the disc drive to the video card to the display device. Thats why its so gay. Those of us who are just fine with our current display get the shaft so the movie companies can be happy. Great philosophy. Fuck the customer, do it our way.

So all of us people with HDTVs capable of displaying 1080p will be fucked when they start implementing HDCP in movies. I don't know about you people, but me and my family don't buy a new TV every few years. We get a good one when we buy it and won't replace it until it dies.

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Strangestranger   06-07-2006 at 04:56:57 PM
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i know it aint right but all you can do is beat up the next pirate DVD seller you see. it won't fix things but it will make you feel better.

also it could not be around for a few years so current tech is fine, perhaps.

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kinky777   06-08-2006 at 03:51:01 AM
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you need hdcp compatible devices

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mpjesse   06-08-2006 at 04:46:04 AM
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Quote :

The screen you're outputting too also has to have HDCP. Its a chain from the disc drive to the video card to the display device. Thats why its so gay. Those of us who are just fine with our current display get the shaft so the movie companies can be happy. Great philosophy. **** the customer, do it our way.

So all of us people with HDTVs capable of displaying 1080p will be ****** when they start implementing HDCP in movies. I don't know about you people, but me and my family don't buy a new TV every few years. We get a good one when we buy it and won't replace it until it dies.



Tell you what, HD-DVD has huge potential to win the format war if they drop HDCP. Sony has been so rightwing about HDCP that it might end up costing them the whole shebang. HD-DVD could get a strong foot hold if HDCP is dropped for PC's.

I think that at this point HDCP is a little bit too much. The new encryption scheme (AACS) that's being used in bluray and HD-DVD is incredibly powerful. There's a new key every 5 seconds or some such sh*it. At this stage it would require a supercomputer that no geek has access to to crack the new AACS. I think even DVD Jon is going to have trouble with this one.

Yeah it's possible to capture the video output and completely bypass AACS (which is the reason for HDCP), but I don't think that's likely to really catch on with pirates. It never happened with DVD's and it was possible to do that for years before DVD Jon came along. But who knows...

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GNStudios   06-08-2006 at 08:11:48 AM
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i´m absolutly sure that someone will crack the encryption. The question is when.

Imagine HD-DVD and Bluray used diffrent protection and one of them got cracked. Consumers would favor the cracked one and studios the other. Just another proof that the industry doesn't give a cr*p about the consumers intrest, they don´t even try to understand the situation they´re in.

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Strangestranger   06-08-2006 at 11:44:36 AM
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supercomputers? i thought that was why people invented distributed computing :P

i have heard that the HDCP is crackable. i read somewhere you would need about 40+ machines cause the keys are about 40 characters long.
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1005 this guy thinks he konw how to get past it.

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FITCamaro   06-08-2006 at 02:45:25 PM
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Yeah they're already forming strategies to crack it.

MPJessie I agree with you but with or without HDCP, I think HD-DVD is going to win this format war. I know one thing regardless of the format. I'm going to be pissed if I have to have a damn ethernet cable plugged into my fing DVD player just so I can watch movies that I paid for.

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FITCamaro   06-08-2006 at 02:57:29 PM
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Quote :

damn... I´ll have to wait then. Next generation cores from ATI and nVidia are sure to have HDMI this fall anyway...



The core doesn't have it. Its the card manufacturers who have to put it onto the card. Current gen GPUs support HDCP, but card manufacturers have not put the required chip and HDMI port on the card to use it.

Yes next gen DX10 cards will have HDMI ports. Personally I'm not a fan of HDMI. I think DVI and digital audo is fine. Theres too many issues surrounding HDMI. That and they can't seem to agree on the god damn standard, just like Blu-ray. Can anything Sony is involved in get settled anymore?

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Strangestranger   06-08-2006 at 03:14:31 PM
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technically as long as HDCP isn't required to watch them, i am favouring blu-ray. the reason being HD-DVD can only go as high as 720p or 1080i whilst blu-ray can go up to 1080p. i would rather have that.

i say technically cause i don't trust sony not to put far to much copy protection or to charge too much for the players. still i would like to make full use of my monitor when i watch movies.

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GNStudios   06-09-2006 at 08:47:20 AM
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Quote :

technically as long as HDCP isn't required to watch them, i am favouring blu-ray. the reason being HD-DVD can only go as high as 720p or 1080i whilst blu-ray can go up to 1080p. i would rather have that.



seriously? is blu-ray the only format to support 1080p? why bother about hd-dvd then?? :?

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FITCamaro   06-09-2006 at 04:14:02 PM
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HD-DVD supports 1080p.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD-DVD

Even if it didn't, can you honestly say that you can tell the difference? Unless you're someone whos completely anal about video, you can't. And most people sit about 6-7 feet from their TVs anyway so you definitely can't. All HD cable and satellite signals are currently broadcast in 1080i anyway so that beautiful picture you get is in 1080i, not 1080p.

Also read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p

Go down to where it talks about how a 1080i signal can be converted to 1080p using deinterlacing. So really we don't need to have the space and bandwidth required for 1080p to get 1080p. The player or device would just have to have the processing power to do the deinterlacing in real time.

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mpjesse   06-09-2006 at 04:36:51 PM
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I've been checking out the new 1080p sets at Circuit City. I personally can see the difference between 1080i and 1080p. It's not huge, but it's there.

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ivoryjohn   06-09-2006 at 05:25:17 PM
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Displaying 1080i vs 1080p is a visible difference because of the interlacing, but transmitting 1080i vs 1080p would be no difference.

A quality TV can accept 1080i transmission and convert it to 1080p giving you the same quality display as if it were natively 1080p all along.

HD-DVD disks are encoded in 1080p, but the Toshiba players are transmitting 1080i which is more compatible, and allows the quality TV's to convert to 1080p, and since only high quality tv's can display 1080p, they all should be able to handle the conversion.

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