Blu-ray Disc are coming...

Willen · Post by **Willen** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 9:00 am

Coderjoe wrote:
Willen wrote:Plus, it means the HDTV I bought a few years ago won't be totally useless for HD.
I Wouldn't be so sure about that.

The inital batch of Blu-ray releases will not incorportate the ITC (Image Constraint Token) option for AACS encoded discs. So once I get a Blu-ray player hooked into my older HDTV through component video, I'll be able to get at least 720p or more likely 1080i images on my set. I don't know about future releases though, but I have a feeling that as long as HD-DVD is around, the Blu-ray camp will try to tout this as an advantage for Blu-ray since it seems that most initial HD-DVD releases will use ITC.

True, I won't get full 1080p resolution capable from the players, but since 99% of HDTVs in people's homes won't accept or even display 1080p signals, that is a minor concern. I most likely will have a newer HD set in a few years that will feature full 1080p HDMI capability anyways, so I'm only really looking at the short term. Right now, the only thing I've seen in 1080i on my HDTV is Gran Turismo 4 since Time Warner Cable is being a stingy bitch in my area (10 HD channels that aren't worth watching 90% of the time for an additional $25+? I don't think so).

Coderjo · Post by **Coderjo** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:31 pm

Willen wrote:The inital batch of Blu-ray releases will not incorportate the ITC (Image Constraint Token) option for AACS encoded discs.

I wouldn't count on them NOT turning it on at some point, though.

Willen wrote:Right now, the only thing I've seen in 1080i on my HDTV is Gran Turismo 4 since Time Warner Cable is being a stingy bitch in my area (10 HD channels that aren't worth watching 90% of the time for an additional $25+? I don't think so).

For any non-encrypted over-the-air HD local channels they retransmit, they are legally required to provide them in the clear as well, for no additional charge. The only problem is that you need to have a tuner that can understand the modulation the cable company uses, which is 99.99% of the time QAM. Over the air uses VSB modulation, so not all built-in tuners will be able to receive the clear channels from the cable tv line.

Willen · Post by **Willen** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 5:06 am

Coderjoe wrote:
Willen wrote:The inital batch of Blu-ray releases will not incorportate the ITC (Image Constraint Token) option for AACS encoded discs.
I wouldn't count on them NOT turning it on at some point, though.

Willen wrote:Right now, the only thing I've seen in 1080i on my HDTV is Gran Turismo 4 since Time Warner Cable is being a stingy bitch in my area (10 HD channels that aren't worth watching 90% of the time for an additional $25+? I don't think so).
For any non-encrypted over-the-air HD local channels they retransmit, they are legally required to provide them in the clear as well, for no additional charge. The only problem is that you need to have a tuner that can understand the modulation the cable company uses, which is 99.99% of the time QAM. Over the air uses VSB modulation, so not all built-in tuners will be able to receive the clear channels from the cable tv line.

You don't need to explain this to me, I've been selling this stuff for over 10 years now.

I haven't been able to find any requirements for cable companies to retransmit the HD signal free of additional charges (if it is available). My local Time Warner Cable used to and then they changed the signal encryption (pretty sure they didn't change the modulation since all the QAM capable sets that used to get the local HD feeds suddenly stopped getting them). And sadly, my HDTV doesn't handle QAM.

sigmatron · Post by **sigmatron** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 12:33 am

A 250GB to 120GB hard drive is ~$80 to $120

10 of these is 250 it's smaller and safer to use.

YouTube · Post by **Kionon** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 1:46 pm

sigmatron wrote:A 250GB to 120GB hard drive is ~$80 to $120

10 of these is 250 it's smaller and safer to use.

Explain. For permanent back ups, using standard IDE drives seems silly. They're rather bulky, and quite heavy in comparison to discs or cards.

Willen · Post by **Willen** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:14 am

Kionon wrote:
sigmatron wrote:A 250GB to 120GB hard drive is ~$80 to $120

10 of these is 250 it's smaller and safer to use.
Explain. For permanent back ups, using standard IDE drives seems silly. They're rather bulky, and quite heavy in comparison to discs or cards.

I think he means 10 Blu-ray discs (25GB each) would be equivalent to a 250GB HDD.

Although each one is smaller, all together 10 BDs would probably be about the same volume of a 3.5" HDD. And, since the BDs themselves do not have any moving parts and aren't affected by magnetic fields, they should be more reliable in the long run for storage (as long as you have a drive that can read them in the future). I'd just keep them out of the light and in a cool environment. At the moment though, 10 BD-R discs ($30 each X 10 = $300) are going to be more expensive than a 250GB HDD (~$120).

YouTube · Post by **Kionon** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:41 am

While this is true, I have lost three harddrives in the last eight years, a total of 126GB.

I'd rather pay twice as much as long as I'm guranteed I will not have BD disc just up and die one day.

Coderjo · Post by **Coderjo** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 4:33 am

Kionon wrote:I'd rather pay twice as much as long as I'm guranteed I will not have BD disc just up and die one day.

But you aren't garanteed that. We're just now seeing the short life span of recordable CDs.

YouTube · Post by **Kionon** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 5:28 am

Yes, I'm aware. Which is why I have moved my stuff to DVD. Things from eight years ago are actually *flaking* off the plastic cd. Hopefully DVD+Rs will hold together long enough for the new format to take the market en masse.

sigmatron · Post by **sigmatron** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 10:35 am

Coderjoe wrote:
Kionon wrote:I'd rather pay twice as much as long as I'm guranteed I will not have BD disc just up and die one day.
But you aren't garanteed that. We're just now seeing the short life span of recordable CDs.

yes, but with CD's is a 100 year life span if you put it in a case and put
into a some with ~50 to 90%F.

some thing with DVD's.