Sony Pictures announces it will not downconvert over analog outputs!

[Wdam33]

Just saw this over at slashdot...

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060314-6377.html

With the imminent war over which format will be the successor to the much-loved DVD about to get underway, Sony is throwing a bone to owners of some older HDTVs. At a technical briefing last week, Sony said that it will not use the Image Constraint Token to downsample the video output on analog HDTVs.

Edit...

To make this clear...this is Sony Pictures Studios. They will not use ICT. The option is still in the Blue-Ray standard and other studios may use it. Big question is...how long will this last?



-Mark

 

[T2k]

Valid question but I think the eanswer is if we don't buy those discs, we can force them to eventually drop it.

 

[dfergie]

Just saw this too... looks like Blue Ray for me since I have Component inputs...

 

[Digital Dude]

Sony has been keenly aware of the downrezzing issue since the vast majority of JApanese HDTV's lack a digital input. Couple this with the jumpstart and lower price of HD-DVD and it's easy to see why Sony Studios would want 6 million HDTV owners in the US with analog HD inputs on their side.

The HD-DVD camp has pursued DRM with voracity.

 

[T2k]

Just saw this too... looks like Blue Ray for me since I have Component inputs...

Umm what? He clearly said he's talking about Sony Pictures Stuidos, not Sony nor Blu-Ray.

 

[teamerickson]

The title to this topic should be changed. It's very misleading. Is the author in advertising?

 

[T2k]

I agree, it's waay too misleding as it is now.

 

[sampatterson]

It is rumored on avsforum and others that Disney, Fox, and Paramount won't be flagging content as ICT. That means for both HD-DVD and BluRay. The boxes don't downrez unless the content is flagged as ICT.

Also a glimmer of hope for Blu-Ray is that Japan and US are both the same region code. In Japan it is against the law to have ICT or anything like it, so you will be able to buy a japanese player that will not implement ICT, and play American movies on it.

 

[teamerickson]

Also a glimmer of hope for Blu-Ray is that Japan and US are both the same region code. In Japan it is against the law to have ICT or anything like it, so you will be able to buy a japanese player that will not implement ICT, and play American movies on it.

I read somewhere that HD DVD would not have region coding because the copywrite protection is so much better and other issies. I'll try and find where I read that.

Heres the link. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/03/08/euro_hd-dvd_roll-out/

Not sure about the US machines.

 

[seandudley]

It is rumored on avsforum and others that Disney, Fox, and Paramount won't be flagging content as ICT. That means for both HD-DVD and BluRay. The boxes don't downrez unless the content is flagged as ICT.

Also a glimmer of hope for Blu-Ray is that Japan and US are both the same region code. In Japan it is against the law to have ICT or anything like it, so you will be able to buy a japanese player that will not implement ICT, and play American movies on it.

Oops.. did they have a bit of an oversight there?

 

[Ilya]

The title to this topic should be changed. It's very misleading. Is the author in advertising?

Corrected.

 

[Bunkhouse]

I can imagine in 2 years from now, once the market has gobbled up HD-DVD and BLU-RAY, that all the studios will downcovert analog outputs.

Remember the studios were the ones pushing for downcoversion in the first place.