There’s still life in the old display yet

The delay in activating HDCP security is great for consumers who can enjoy HD content on displays with analogue outputs

I know I promised to wait until the whole Blu-ray versus HD-DVD situation resolved itself, but at Christmas time I crumbled and bought an HD-DVD player.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily believe HD-DVD will win the war. I bought purely on the sheer value of the player and the fact I could enjoy HD material on my ageing projector after all.

Not so long ago we understood that future set-top boxes and players would demand a secure digital connection to the display using high-bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP) before they’d unleash HD content in its full glory.

It was a real knock-back for early adopters who had invested in a display with sufficient resolution to view future HD material, but which predated digital inputs supporting HDCP security. We were told future HD devices would output a downgraded signal through their unprotected analogue outputs because of piracy fears.

BSkyB was the first to do a U-turn. After initially announcing that users would need a display with HDCP to view its forthcoming Sky HD broadcasts, it realised a number of potential customers would be alienated. So the service was launched with a set-top box that also output HD over its analogue outputs. How long this will last is another matter, but at least it works today.

Then as the first HD-DVD and Blu-ray players emerged, they too output HD over their analogue outputs. I can’t speak for all players, and of course there are benefits to using the digital connection, but at least there’s an option for owners of HD displays with analogue inputs.

It’s important to realise, though, that it’s not the players allowing this – it’s the content. HD-DVD and Blu-ray support the use of Image Constraint Token, or ICT flags. Should a studio include the ICT flag on a disc, the player will be forced to downgrade the resolution on its analogue outputs for that title.

As far as we know, this feature is on all HD-DVD and Blu-ray players, but the content providers have not yet activated it on any discs.

This is great news for anyone with an older HD set, but how long will the situation last? That’s the big question and one made all the more intriguing by the release of a new HD-DVD player by a major manufacturer that only has analogue outputs.

The manufacturer is none other than Microsoft, whose HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360 games console was launched at the end of 2006 at the bargain price of £130.

This external drive equips the Xbox 360 with the ability to play HD-DVD movies, despite the console currently having no secure digital outputs. Simply use the analogue component or VGA cables and you could be enjoying HD-DVD movies on non-HDCP displays right now.

Tempted? I couldn’t help myself. That’s a cheap point of entry for a new technology, especially if you already own the console. It’s even possible to connect the drive to a PC and play HD-DVD movies.

Before you get too excited, it should be noted that the Xbox 360, like all HD-DVD and Blu-ray players, will downgrade the resolution over its analogue outputs should a title have an ICT flag. But since Microsoft currently only offers analogue video options for the console, surely it’s confident the situation is unlikely to change.

Microsoft said it was unclear if or when the studios would start setting the ICT flag, but several had already stated they wouldn’t do so until 2010 or 2011. Microsoft may not have ruled out a future HDCP option for the Xbox 360, but owners of analogue HD displays have a good few years left before they need to upgrade – and remember, their existing collection of non-ICT movies should always work.

Coincidentally, at the time of writing, the cracking of HD-DVD’s encryption, soon followed by the ripping and posting of movie Serenity on BitTorrent, made a mockery of copy protection schemes, and it’s unknown if this will accelerate the use of ICT flags.

While anyone buying a new display for video should ensure it supports HDCP, at least today’s commercial HD content can be enjoyed on older high-resolution displays with analogue inputs.