HTDV DVD

I talked earlier about HDTV and how it needed some content and a good way to deliver it other than broadcast if it is to catch on. Well it seems Microsoft has come up with an HD DVD. It uses their proprietary encoding, a version of the windows media player format. The new T2 “extreme edition” includes the movie in this format on a DVD. Microsoft has some samples which I can’t view because I don’t have a sufficiently fast windows machine. (The site is only available to users of windows internet explorer or those, such as myself, who know how to change their user agent to pretend to be windows internet explorer. The files are in self extracting archives in the .exe format, meaning they can only be opened on windows. I could probably open them on my slow windows machine and play them on my fast mac, but I am too lazy.)

This brings up a few issues I have with this new format. First off it is from Microsoft, always a bad sign given their track record with standard formats. For example they have intentionally confused the .doc MS word format to make it difficult for other programs or even earlier versions of word to read it.

Secondly it will most likely have copy protections and digital rights restrictions galore. It should be noted that DVDs already have quite a bit of copy protections themselves. However I am afraid that Hollywood and Microsoft will restrict this format so much that it will be difficult to make a DVD player that can play this media, making the market much less competitive and there fore more expensive.

I’d hate to have Microsoft in charge of the standard codec, instead of a consortium as with MPEG (video CD’s (MPEG-1), DVD’s (MPEG-2) and MPEG-4). First off I would hate to have to pay them royalties for every DVD player. Secondly they will probably screw it up.

I also worry that Microsoft will place so many restrictions on this coding, that independent and hobbyist film makers or even small commercial producers won’t be able to use it.

Well, it isn’t much yet. So far it can only be played on the awe inspiring 17” of your computer monitor with the lovely windows media player as a background.

Via Slashdot where there are way more interesting comments than the drivel I just posted.