Tweet
D-VHS: It had to happen....
From http://www.wired.com/news/technology...,41045,00.html
LAS VEGAS -- The DVD, which has plenty of problems already, could be dealt a further blow from a new format that comes in a package we're all familiar with: VHS tape.
Now, with DVD bogged down in legal problems surrounding DeCSS and copy protection, and the failure of the industry to come to an agreement on a single standard for recording, JVC is hoping lightning will strike twice with its VHS format through a new Digital VHS, or D-VHS.
JVC introduced the new D-VHS tape at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) along with a high definition television (HDTV) set that protects high definition content from being copied. Video on D-VHS tapes is uncompressed, so it's enormous. A 75GB hard disk would only hold around 30 minutes of the video, according to company officials, making the trading of HD content over the Internet impossible.
D-VHS can record and play back up to four hours of video in high definition mode -- up to 1,080 lines per screen width, or more than double the resolution of DVD, according to Allan Holland, national product specialist in the consumer video division at JVC. It can also record at the standard VHS resolution of 240 lines per screen width.
JVC was originally the Victor Company, which developed the VHS format in the mid-1970s and was bought out by Japanese investors that renamed it Victor Company of Japan. It won a format war in the early 1980s with Sony's Betamax technology to become the de facto home video recording and playback standard.
With twice the resolution of DVD and a high definition recording option, D-VHS could give DVD a major run for its money, since the recordable standard for DVD still isn't set and now DVD discs are vulnerable to piracy.
D-VHS also has the benefit of full backwards compatibility with VHS tape. "You could have one piece in your stereo for everything with D-VHS," said Holland. "Of course, as the developers of VHS, I'd like to think we're going give DVD some major competition."
A new Macrovision copy protection system prevents the duplication of tapes by copying from one digital deck to another. The content is encrypted with a High Definition Copy Protection (HDCP) system JVC developed that is similar in function to the Content Scrambling System (CSS) on a DVD.
The HDCP system can't be broken, however, because only high definition sets will have the HDCP decoder, according to Dan McCarron, national product specialist in JVC's color TV division.
JVC's high definition television set uses the Digital Video Interface (DVI) that Intel developed for PCs and high definition television sets. DVI ports on PCs will not have the HDCP decoder, so PCs can't be used to break HDCP like it did with CSS.
So, with the combination of massive video size and the fact that HDCP decoders are only in high definition sets, McCarron thinks it has the answer to Hollywood's concerns over content protection.
"One of the reasons Hollywood studios support this is because the video is uncompressed," McCarron said. "By compressing it, it's easier to transmit over the Internet because it's smaller. Because of its size when uncompressed, it's harder to trade or copy."
JVC is mustering Hollywood support. Fox Home Video, Universal Pictures and New Line Cinema have already agreed to support D-VHS and JVC claims more are looking to jump on board.
But don't declare your DVD player obsolete just yet. The JVC D-VHS deck, which should be available around May, will sell for approximately $2,000, while blank media will cost between $10 and $15. JVC's only TV to support HDCP is the D'Ahlia system, which will sell for a whopping $10,000 when it ships this summer.
LAS VEGAS -- The DVD, which has plenty of problems already, could be dealt a further blow from a new format that comes in a package we're all familiar with: VHS tape.
Now, with DVD bogged down in legal problems surrounding DeCSS and copy protection, and the failure of the industry to come to an agreement on a single standard for recording, JVC is hoping lightning will strike twice with its VHS format through a new Digital VHS, or D-VHS.
JVC introduced the new D-VHS tape at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) along with a high definition television (HDTV) set that protects high definition content from being copied. Video on D-VHS tapes is uncompressed, so it's enormous. A 75GB hard disk would only hold around 30 minutes of the video, according to company officials, making the trading of HD content over the Internet impossible.
D-VHS can record and play back up to four hours of video in high definition mode -- up to 1,080 lines per screen width, or more than double the resolution of DVD, according to Allan Holland, national product specialist in the consumer video division at JVC. It can also record at the standard VHS resolution of 240 lines per screen width.
JVC was originally the Victor Company, which developed the VHS format in the mid-1970s and was bought out by Japanese investors that renamed it Victor Company of Japan. It won a format war in the early 1980s with Sony's Betamax technology to become the de facto home video recording and playback standard.
With twice the resolution of DVD and a high definition recording option, D-VHS could give DVD a major run for its money, since the recordable standard for DVD still isn't set and now DVD discs are vulnerable to piracy.
D-VHS also has the benefit of full backwards compatibility with VHS tape. "You could have one piece in your stereo for everything with D-VHS," said Holland. "Of course, as the developers of VHS, I'd like to think we're going give DVD some major competition."
A new Macrovision copy protection system prevents the duplication of tapes by copying from one digital deck to another. The content is encrypted with a High Definition Copy Protection (HDCP) system JVC developed that is similar in function to the Content Scrambling System (CSS) on a DVD.
The HDCP system can't be broken, however, because only high definition sets will have the HDCP decoder, according to Dan McCarron, national product specialist in JVC's color TV division.
JVC's high definition television set uses the Digital Video Interface (DVI) that Intel developed for PCs and high definition television sets. DVI ports on PCs will not have the HDCP decoder, so PCs can't be used to break HDCP like it did with CSS.
So, with the combination of massive video size and the fact that HDCP decoders are only in high definition sets, McCarron thinks it has the answer to Hollywood's concerns over content protection.
"One of the reasons Hollywood studios support this is because the video is uncompressed," McCarron said. "By compressing it, it's easier to transmit over the Internet because it's smaller. Because of its size when uncompressed, it's harder to trade or copy."
JVC is mustering Hollywood support. Fox Home Video, Universal Pictures and New Line Cinema have already agreed to support D-VHS and JVC claims more are looking to jump on board.
But don't declare your DVD player obsolete just yet. The JVC D-VHS deck, which should be available around May, will sell for approximately $2,000, while blank media will cost between $10 and $15. JVC's only TV to support HDCP is the D'Ahlia system, which will sell for a whopping $10,000 when it ships this summer.
)
Comment