[mythtv-users] SiliconDust to Announce CableCard Product atCES[RUMOR]

Robert McNamara robert.mcnamara at gmail.com
Fri Jan 8 01:58:57 UTC 2010


On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 5:48 PM, Tortise <tortise at paradise.net.nz> wrote:
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert McNamara"
> <robert.mcnamara at gmail.com>
> To: "Discussion about mythtv" <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
> Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 11:31 AM
> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] SiliconDust to Announce CableCard Product
> atCES[RUMOR]
>
>
>>>> Blu-ray and Cablecard require a protected video
>>
>> path at the OS level to ensure that the from the source file/disc all
>> the way to the display there is no way to get at an unencrypted
>> version of the video. That is why there is no Blu-ray or Cablecard on
>> OSX either. They didn't implement a protected video path that these
>> content providers required. Now Windows (actually Vista or newer to be
>> more accurate) is the only game in town for Blu-ray or Cablecard.
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>> I see this as relevant to Mythtv users with vdpau NVIDIA video cards -
>> that
>> all seem to be noted as HDCP compliant.
>>
>> The video card is also a part of that HDCP / DRM chain.
>>
>> What I think this means is that where digital content (no matter the
>> source)
>> includes ICT (Image constraint tokens) as best I can tell the NVIDIA card
>> will cut down any HD content to SD when played out over analogue
>> component.
>> Otherwise it would not be HDCP compliant, would it?
>>
>> Without saying why, if that happened I would be annoyed. Anyone else?
>
>> Whoah, easy there.  The ICT is not a part of HDCP, it's part of the
>
> Blu-ray/HD-DVD AACS specification.  Unless you have a licensed AACS
> decrypter (none exists in linux, note the specific use of the word
> *licensed*) and ACCS-encrypted content (read: not cable) you will
> never see any resizing of your video.
>
>> So no, that's not not going to happen.
>
> Robert
> _______________________________________________
>
> I like your confidence Robert.
> Can you be sure there will be no AACS content distributed over cable?  (Or
> DVB-x ?)
>
> What would happen when the broadcaster's content source is Bluray or HD-DVD
> - with ICT embedded?

This really seems to be FUD-- why conjecture about something that has
no basis in fact?  Yes, we all know that content providers would like
to limit our access to material and control the manner in which we
experience it-- but why just plain make up scenarios and try to drum
up strong reactions to them?  There is nothing whatsoever that would
lead one to believe that an ICT-like mechanism will be applied to
cable content.  Nothing.  We could sit here all day and make up
scenarios in when the content providers could irritate us, but you're
putting together two and two and getting "magenta" here.  It is not
possible to send AACS content (and thus, not possible to "embed" the
ICT) via current US cable systems.  They'd have to build a new cable
system around that as the control mechanism.  Once again, anything
they broadcast via the current cable system is incapable of carrying
the Image Constraint Token.  So "embedding" it in current cable
content is not possible.  If the broadcaster were using bluray as
their content source, it would *still* need to be decrypted,
modulated, and re-encrypted with the DigiCipher II encryption variant
used by nearly every single US cable company.  Could they change their
encrypting/rewrite their standards?  Sure.  But there is *nothing*
whatsoever that leads one to believe that they will, and what you are
proposing is not just technically unfeasible in the current system,
it's downright impossible.

So yeah, let's take a breath and not alarm people.

Robert


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