[D. Cooke]

I appreciate the level of technical expertise held by most participants in this forum but must confess that my understanding of technical matters could best be described as rudimentary. So can someone explain in terms a raw rookie can understand what the heck is going on with these DVI/HDCP announcements? Is this new format (if that's what it is) completely incompatible with all this ancient equipment I bought lo these many months ago (Loewe Aconda, DTC-100, purchased January 2001)? Am I going to have to put the $3600 Aconda in the kids' room for VHS tapes less than a year after I bought it? Might there be a period of transition - like, ideally, 15 years - in which signals are broadcast on DirecTV, Dish and cable the old way and the new way?


Geez Louise, this hobby is getting hard to explain to my wife.

 

[ADent]

Quote:

Originally posted by D. Cooke: So can someone explain in terms a raw rookie can understand what the heck is going on with these DVI/HDCP announcements? Is this new format (if that's what it is) completely incompatible with all this ancient equipment I bought lo these many months ago (Loewe Aconda, DTC-100, purchased January 2001)?

Yes
Quote:

Am I going to have to put the $3600 Aconda in the kids' room for VHS tapes less than a year after I bought it?

No
Quote:

Might there be a period of transition - like, ideally, 15 years - in which signals are broadcast on DirecTV, Dish and cable the old way and the new way?

Yes.


Your current equipment will most likely work for a very long time (at least 2005).


New equipment, if all this stuff is truly implemented like the manufactures want, will not display a full resolution output compatable with your current equipment. 540p max, I think.


Firewire/5C is compressed. DVI/HDCP is uncompressed. Both physical standards are used in computers today, but the access control/encryption is new.

 

[tomdkat]

I'm with you. What does this all mean!!! AAAAhhhhhhh!!!!!!


Here is the DTCP (firewaire) site: http://www.dtcp.com/

Here is a site with techie HDCP info: http://www.digital-cp.com/


Misc sites: http://content.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20000218S0008


I know this isn't a LOT of info, but it's what I found...


Good luck... http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif




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Peace....

 

[Larry Hutchinson]

DVI is just a cable that will be used in the future to connect digital decoder boxes (analogous to your DTC100) to digital display devices. HDCP is an onerous copy protection mechanism for the DVI cable.


This does not make your current equipment obsolete. It will probably be 5 years or more before DVI/HDCP becomes common.


Some will claim that DirecTV will send a signal that causes your DTC100 to down-rez its HDTV output to standard def. I personally don't think that will happen for 10 year or more -- if ever.


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STOP DVI/HDCP; Boycott JVC