Hardlok Posted May 27, 2006 Posted May 27, 2006 DVD Forum to assemble HD-DVD region coding team The Register Yet another reason that customers might decide to pass on the next generation of optical storage, is the strong possibility of region coding. In this report from the Register, they are indicating that there is a possibility it will come someday. This is all the format needs right now, more controls and restrictions. According to the report the DVD Forum has met and decided to put together a team to create a region coding scheme for HD-DVD. At the moment, HD-DVD media and players lack the ability to enforce region coding. Which is a way to prevent discs bought in one country from playing in another. It is quite an annoyance and many players have secret menus if you press the right buttons on your remote to defeat it. In addition, other players that possibly come from Asia will not incorporate the "feature." However, if the customer base adopts these newer discs, this may not be so easy to work around again. At a meeting held in Seattle earlier this week, the DVD Forum's Steering Committee agreed to form a working group to "develop a specification and enforcement plan for RPC [Region Protection Coding] on HD DVD Video, including region map and requirements in consultation with the studios". The report goes on to say that Blu-ray is of course, not going to be left out of the party as they are catering to Hollywood as well. It has been widely reported that they have been tinkering away at a similar scheme for their high tech discs. In their scenario, they will pare down the existing 7 zones that were used for DVD, to 3.
Corona11 Posted May 28, 2006 Posted May 28, 2006 I went down to Best Denki and found out that Panasonic do not mod their portable DVD players anymore...I wonder if the US FTA has anything to do with this, like when PS2 mods became ILLEGAL, will DVD player and future HD-DVD and Blu Ray player modding slowly become illegal too?
finclk Posted May 31, 2006 Posted May 31, 2006 I went down to Best Denki and found out that Panasonic do not mod their portable DVD players anymore...I wonder if the US FTA has anything to do with this, like when PS2 mods became ILLEGAL, will DVD player and future HD-DVD and Blu Ray player modding slowly become illegal too? I think it's best to get region free DVDs like Philips or Pioneer. Personally, i'm not touching Hi-Definition DVD players until it's clear one side is winning (Blu-Ray or HD-DVD). It's ridiculous to buy a DVD player and can only watch movies from a few particular studios. It's expensive and cumbersome for a studio to produce in dual formats although WB has mentioned its interest to produce movies in both formats. Ultimately, in my opinion, only 1 format will win or the DVD player manufacturers will start producing machines which can play both formats. It's smarter for now to just get normal DVD player with HDMI capabilities and use it on HD-TV which will already have some noticeable improvements over standard playing formats. Already playing HDMI on HD-TV will produce noticeable improvements, I can't imagine how much better HD-DVD or Blu-Ray will be. Maybe another 3-5 yrs before it's safe to move onto the next technological standard. For now, it's HDMI DVD player and HD-TV (at least 42" or bigger) will suffice :)
mooz Posted June 1, 2006 Posted June 1, 2006 Apart from the widely-anticipated Regional Coding problem, the early adopters of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray have to cope with expensive players, expensive DVDs and limited choice. Then you begin to wonder why you have been paying thru' your nose for being an early pioneer (or guniea-pig). Then again, how many movies (for me, its less than 10) do you truly treasure enough to pay twice or 3 times current prices to watch on HD format ?
htfreak Posted June 1, 2006 Posted June 1, 2006 Mooz.. you have to understand the important role that early adopters play. Without these guinea pigs, we will probably still be living with VCR tapes and black and white TV's. If everyone thinks the way you do, most new technologies would never have taken off and you would not have been able to enjoy the level of quality that DVD's provide nowadays. Just my two guineas. ;)
mooz Posted June 1, 2006 Posted June 1, 2006 Mooz.. you have to understand the important role that early adopters play. Without these guinea pigs, we will probably still be living with VCR tapes and black and white TV's. If everyone thinks the way you do, most new technologies would never have taken off and you would not have been able to enjoy the level of quality that DVD's provide nowadays. Just my two guineas. ;) Have to agree with you, Jeff, on the sacrifices that early adopters make. I have just off-loaded my VCR to the Karang Guni man. Still keeping my black & white TV for museum sale. ;D
Audio Posted June 7, 2006 Posted June 7, 2006 Guinea pig here at your service! :) HD-DVD player flying on it's way to Singapore. Blu-Ray will acquire in July once they release. Passionate enough to be early adaptor. :) (Audio)
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