blu-ray/hd-dvd drives for pc,any news?

[filmman]

hi
with the launch of blu-ray and hd-dvd players has anyone heard any news at all about drives for pc? such as prices and will they work with xp?
thanks ian

[Rasczak]

will they work with xp?
If you want to watch high def movies then neither BluRay or HD DVD will work with Windows XP - you will need to upgrade to Vista (plus have an HDMI/DVI-HDCP graphics card). Effectively this means no high def disc playback on PCs until December (when Vista launches). The possible caveat to this is if a firm releases an HDMI equipped AACS compatible PCI card - I don't know if one is being prepared or not - but I doubt it TBH.

Given that a vast number of people got PC DVD drives before set-top ones - and then simply plugged their PC into their TVs raises the question of how will this limitation effect takeup of the new formats?

with the launch of blu-ray and hd-dvd players has anyone heard any news at all about drives for pc?
Various annoucements have been made but nothing for the UK yet. Give it a couple of months and we will probably have a drive or two available here. Frankly though I would wait until you are certain there is a complete solution available to you (i.e. a drive is available, software is available and you have the necessary hardware). Otherwise you might find you buy a drive and a cheaper/second gen drive, is available before you can use the former!

[dan1979]

(plus have an HDMI/DVI-HDCP graphics card).


ATI are advertising their latest cards with H.264 decoding as HD-DVD and BRD ready - no mention of HDCP on them

See here (7.5MB)

http://www.ati.com/products/pdf/H264_Brochure.pdf

[Rasczak]

ATI are advertising their latest cards with H.264 decoding as HD-DVD and BRD ready - no mention of HDCP on them
nVidia are doing the same - the DVI output on the relevant cards should be DVI-HDCP compatible when used with Microsoft Vista.

[filmman]

thanks for the help,it looks like a long wait to the end of the year. it seems a bit odd that microsoft that i believe backs hd-dvd would not have it compatable with xp which is on the majority of pcs, unless the new media centre edition supports it?

[Rasczak]

it seems a bit odd that microsoft that i believe backs hd-dvd would not have it compatable with xp which is on the majority of pcs, unless the new media centre edition supports it?
Media Centre does not support it. The reason for the lack of support in XP/MCE (etc) is nothing to do with Microsoft not backing the format - it's solely linked with security. In order to meet AACS requirements - primarily ensuring that High Def video is only output over protected sockets (HDMI or DVI-HDCP) and that Managed Copy complies with the relevant protection - Microsoft has had to design a new OS from the ground up.

[filmman]

Media Centre does not support it. The reason for the lack of support in XP/MCE (etc) is nothing to do with Microsoft not backing the format - it's solely linked with security. In order to meet AACS requirements - primarily ensuring that High Def video is only output over protected sockets (HDMI or DVI-HDCP) and that Managed Copy complies with the relevant protection - Microsoft has had to design a new OS from the ground up.
thanks for the quick reply,it strikes me that peple will buy the players rather than wait for the drives.

[HSC]

NEC have announced a HD-DVD drive for PC's that will be available towards end-Q1.

to my knowledge most of the current outputs on nvidia cards (not sure about ATI) are hdcp capable (although not activated).
MS also announed a few months ago that a patch via windows update should be available to allow playback on xp pc's also.

so hd-dvd news for a pc playback solution would be a plausable option for us HTPC users.
the only problem I can forsee initially will be ironing out hardware issues and having the relevant codecs available (performance).
I can also forsee noise being an issue as next-gen disks will need to be spun fast in order to maintain the very high data rates...


for a VERY informative and exciting look at what Vista will offer have a look at the Bill Gates CES keynote speech video over at microsoft.com (skip to the 1hour marker if you just want to see that bit).
this also includes a capability demo of hd-dvd on Windows Vista.
http://www.microsoft.com/events/executives/billgates.mspx

including why the interactive layer and managed copy was the major reason for MS supporting hd-dvd over blu-ray

[Rasczak]

MS also announed a few months ago that a patch via windows update should be available to allow playback on xp pc's also.
Have you got a link for that? Microsoft have frequently said that AACS playback will be via Vista PCs only. Certainly if Microsoft release a patch for XP then the entire AACS system will be compromised - good for us but bad for the studios.

[JohnG]

I've been reading rumours that Vista won't be with us until 2007 now :(

[Rasczak]

I've been reading rumours that Vista won't be with us until 2007 now
It's currently schedule for release in December 2006 - so it certainly won't need much slippage to fall into 2007 :( Lets hope it makes it on time!

[HSC]

Have you got a link for that? Microsoft have frequently said that AACS playback will be via Vista PCs only. Certainly if Microsoft release a patch for XP then the entire AACS system will be compromised - good for us but bad for the studios.


like a lot of things (and as I work in IT) cant remember where I read it - just that I did

besided - not much point in releasing a drive in q1 that cant play any software...??

in terms of Vista release again rumour about release dates abound.
however i am sure MS are in no rush to release until its as ready as it can be (makes a change)

a public beta is due for general release in Q1.
so in my opinion a production release wont be more than 4-6months behind that.....

but that again is speculation......

[filmman]

its also quite interesting that on the bluray website that there are a total of 10 drives from various manufacturers shown.