Good Day for Blu-Ray
Shortly after 'Team Blu-Ray' announces additional security measures for the format, the Wall Street Journal reports a pullback in HD-DVD support for the holiday season.
In two unrelated but significant developments today, the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) gains additional ground on the HD-DVD format; this coming on the heels of last months announcement of support for Blu-ray from Twentieth Century Fox studios. In the first of these developments, the BDA has announced that they will incorporate into their Blu-ray format the most comprehensive security yet seen in optical media, with two measures beyond what is presently proposed by the DVD Forum.
The three primary means of protection adopted by the BDA include the Advanced Access Content System (to be used by HD-DVD as well), "BD+," and a ROM Mark. What "BD+" brings to the table is a means via which the encryption engine used in disc manufacture and production may be updated in order to stem piracy should the preceding encryption be cracked. On top of this, the inclusion of a 'ROM Mark' - a mark that may only be stamped onto discs by mastering equipment - provides added security by ensuring that Blu-ray players may only play discs with the aforementioned mark present. Though the DVD Forum claims that the AACS security measure provides more than enough peace of mind for studios, anti-piracy is of such concern in Hollywood these days that Blu-ray's more comprehensive approach may succeed in winning some converts among Hollywood executives.
And in the second development, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the steam seems to have gone out of HD-DVD's 'first mover' advantage, with a significant pull-back in support being announced from both studios and manufacturers for this years holiday launch. Among the announcements are Paramount's move to cut it's previously planned HD-DVD releases this winter from twenty movies down to zero, and NBC Universal's move from sixteen titles in the fourth quarter down to twelve. Even Time Warner, HD-DVD's largest studio backer, now says it's plans are up in the air. In addition, it seems that the only stand-alone HD-DVD players available this winter will be manufactured by Toshiba themselves, with an estimated retail price of roughly $1,000.
HD-DVD's loss is Blu-ray's gain, and it seems that today's news has strengthened the hand of the BDA and possibly the appeal of the Blu-ray player to be included with Sony's upcoming PS3.