HD-DVD & Blu-Ray on a laptop display questions

[Renoir]

Have a few questions with regard to playing high def dvd's on pcs/laptops

1) What connections do laptops use to connect the laptop display to the system?

2) Does the image constraint token only apply to analogue connections?

3) Is HDCP required to view full resolution over any digital connection?

4) If yes then what part of the spec mandates this? AACS?

Thanks

[KraGorn]

Hi,

Not had any direct experience with laptops like this, but these questions are pretty generic I think:

1) Most laptops use VGA, very few have DVI.

2) ICT is as yet an unknown quantity since it isn't implemented to any marked extent either in hardware or software, however from the principle behind it then I think it's quite probable the ICT will cause digital degradation too.

3) AFAIK yes, HDCP compliance is a requirement for hidef playback in both HD and BD systems.

4) AFAIK it's part of the licensing agreement required to obtain the access keys and technology required to decode the media .. whether it's part of the AACS agreement I have no idea.

[Renoir]

1) Most laptops use VGA, very few have DVI.

Are you talking about the internal connection for the laptop display or are you talking about the output connectors for an auxiliary display? I know most don't have a dvi auxiliary port but I'm interested in the internal connection.

2) ICT is as yet an unknown quantity since it isn't implemented to any marked extent either in hardware or software, however from the principle behind it then I think it's quite probable the ICT will cause digital degradation too.

If HDCP is mandatory for full res over any digital connection even when ICT isn't implemented as is the case with current discs then I can't see why ICT would have any bearing on the digital side of things.

3) AFAIK yes, HDCP compliance is a requirement for hidef playback in both HD and BD systems.

Yes that appears to be the case from what I've read

4) AFAIK it's part of the licensing agreement required to obtain the access keys and technology required to decode the media .. whether it's part of the AACS agreement I have no idea.

This is interesting. Is aacs (and the additional blu-ray measures) mandatory for all discs or is it a similar situation to dvd where people could author discs without CSS? My point being that If HDCP is required due to aacs being present and aacs is optional for authors then at least some discs won't require HDCP to get full res playback over digital. As you can see the source of the HDCP requirement is important.