NAB presentations about Blu-ray, VOD, and Silverlight

OK. So here are my questions about your presentation(s):

With all the different codecs, interactivity, DRM etc. flying around at the present time, how will all these upcoming and present consumer boxes be compatible with each other? We have Apple TV, immenent Netflix service running on 4 or more new CE boxes, PS3/blu-ray 2.0, XBox Live, Cable Company DVRs/Tru2way, video/audio codecs, IPTV set tops, sat boxes, Vudu boxes, Silverlight, HDi, BD-J, Playready, BD+, DD+, Adobe solutions, different max bit-rate capabilities, etc., etc., etc...It's like the friggin' wild west out there. If I can't figure it all out, then how will my parents?

1) How can I, as a consumer, be sure that the CE download box (or PC?) I buy or rent will support whomever I choose as a service to sell/rent me downloads? right now everything seems to be shrouded in secrecy, unlike the optical disc format wars in 2005.

2) How will downloads be interoperable? I just read where the old Windows DRM servers are going to be turned off, so downloads using said DRM will be stuck on those boxes they are on. Will I be able to move my downloads from one box to another? If so, is there a spec that all services/studios will follow to ensure compatibility?

3) Is there a standards body that will test CE devices and services for compliance? Is that DLNA? I see MS is a member of that, as is Panny, Philips, Sony, etc...Where does HANA fit in to this? Or will it be a de facto standard that wins the day? Are we looking at another standards war?

4) Why isn't there more press about the nuts and bolts of how all this will work? Everything I read suggests downloads are right around the corner (you say in your presentation that capabilities and infrastructure is here now!), but very little is written about how it will all work together. If the industry heads off in their own directions, nobody will buy anything. If the industry coalesces around standards, downloads will be a molten hot, lava bomb. But I see zero evidence of anyone wanting to play nice. Is someone (MS?) or a group of someones (DLNA, or some other group) going to step up in a big way and say this is the way it will be (with $billions and scores of products) to back it up?.

5) What about peeling off a copy of a download I've purchased to a portable device to take on the road? Will there be a standard way of doing this?

6) Can you point me to more resources to read up on this stuff?

I am particularly interested in the answer to this. Has there been any rumblings about any association (like the BDA or DVD groups) to start standardizing any of this stuff?

As it stands, there are a lot of options, but no compatibility/interactivity between anything. Plus with all the rumblings about ISPs imposing bandwidth caps, it makes me hesitant to invest in something like AppleTV, which would be useless if Comcast (my ISP) imposes a bandwidth cap.

I know it's an emerging market, but curious if any coordination is going on behind the scenes or if it's just a mad rush to throw anything at the market to see what sticks (which is how it appears to me).

Ben - you're so correct about the VCD level of interactivity. That's one thing I lament about the demise of HD DVD. HDi has got to be a more lightweight way of delivering interactive content than a whole Java program! A lot of these VOD services don't even have subtitles. Basic menus are all but non-existent. I would think a closed eco-system like Xbox Live is easiest to implement these types of things but I really don't see it.

I think for Nancy Drew, which Warner put on straight on VOD, there was one HD version of the film and then one SD version with some interactive "bubbles"; why waste people's time & money in renting two versions - one just to see interactive stuff. I hope this changes soon.

Anyway, thanks for sharing the slides on your blog. It's very informative. I hope that people would stop comparing things based on pure bitrate and take into account the improving efficiencies of the codecs. With better technology, less can be more.

Is it HDi?

Or is that a secret?

That's the issue. Hook a PC up and I get WAF issues. Hook a CE box up and I may get obsolescence.

Am I safe with a PC? Will movies be made for release with the PC in mind, or will studios prefer the relatively "closed ecosystem" of a CE Box, or game console. Will encrypted drives be employed? Will the best content be on open or closed systems?

I'd hook up a dedicated media center PC tomorrow if I knew it was the right decision going forward. I've learned that the best tech for consumers doesn't always win the day when it comes to movie studios.

I've debated this issue myself, and came to the conclusion that a PC based solution is best if you want something right now and want to insulate yourself against all the impending changes that will happen. The trade-off is you've got to do all the configuring and set up yourself, and there's a good chance things won't work from time to time (although, it appears to be a lot more stable now than even a year ago). I don't mind the configuring and tweaking, and I know I can set everything up to make it easy for the wife and kids... so this is the route I'll probably take.

Ideally, there'd be a separation between the hardware, software and services so the consumers can pick and choose between them, but this is unlikely to happen. A PC comes closest to being able to offer this.... but it wouldn't be seemless.

Something like the XBOX with blu-ray, or the PS3 with a better online service would come close if the content is there and appropriately priced.

I am reading a series of articles by Alexander Cameron. 224 pages. Free download.

PTV/VoD: The Open 4th Platform

Sometimes one has to take matters into their own hands.

Very enlightening stuff about the future of television as we know it (or don't know it).

I knew it was Silverlight! It's getting a ton of press out there. It seems that the line between "browser based" video and "video downloads" is very blurry (and perhaps irrelevent). Didn't you say that surround audio support is not there yet?

And just when I think that's the way to go, I hear this...


Note that he said "A new version, not "THE new version". I'm thinking that it may be a "consumer appliance" version...

And then there is this...

The HP MediaSmart Connect - coming soon



Question becomes - hook up a media PC now and change it out later for something like the HP (bulky box, 3.0 on the WAF scale), wait for the HP, or one of the other CE "download boxes" (probably a misnomer, as I suspect they will be multi-fuction) coming down the line by 4Q 2008. I don't know whether these boxes are going to do "IPTV", or be coupled with a blu-ray drive (which I am not interested in, so why pay the extra $200-$300?).

Sorry to completely derail your NAB thread Ben, maybe I should have started a seperate thread. But there are so many questions, and few answers. Again - why doesn't MS just lay down their blue-print of what is coming in the A/V space, so we can make some decisions? These "Netflix" boxes coming in 4Q - will they be running MS software, or Linux, or something else? Are they all "compatible" with each other? Is the HP MediaSmart Connect one of these boxes? And what happened to the "protected pipeline" of Vista. Are studios planning to use this, to the exclusion of other solutions? Recent BD+ and AACS cracks must have dissapointed them greatly.

I need professional help (in more ways than one).

As an add to the above post - where does cable card and tru2way or satellite boxes fit into all of that?

Seems awfully redundant to have a PC or CE box capable of being a DVR sitting right next to my DVR. But then again, maybe the plan is that everything will be VoD over the pipe, making DVRs or large local storage somewhat irrelevant (at least for commercial content).

Well, it's likely that there's always going to be something better just on the horizon. The market is pretty young, so this is even more true now.

Still, a nice HTPC with a good case might be your best bet if you're willing to play around with it. Any service microsoft comes out with will likely work with windows products (pc) as well as any appliance they put out.

As far as your DVR, if you have cable/FiOS, you could buy a pre-made HTPC with a CableCard in it and have it act as your DVR as well. If you have DirecTV, they'll be adding a USB tuner/capture device that you can buy and add onto your HTPC....

You can drive yourself nuts with these kinds of games. Decide what is most important to you, and the look at what's out there and get the solution that best fits your desire right now. Then enjoy it.... better stuff is always on the horizon, at some point you just need to enjoy what's available now.

Hmmm. Well I think what exists today and what will be around six months from now are two very different things. There is a lot going on if you pay close attention...

Toshiba reveals 2010 roadmap


...except NO ONE seems to want to talk about it.