Dawn of a new error
Author : Tim Kridel
16 May 2012
Blu-ray players are losing the ability to output HD content over analogue connections. But as Tim Kridel explains, the impact goes far beyond DVDs and digital media formats.
If there’s one thing that everyone in pro AV can agree on, it’s that analogue’s days are numbered. But there’s no consensus about exactly where, how and when, even in the case of the “analogue sunset”: the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) requirement that limits a Blu-ray disc’s or player’s ability to output analogue video.
The pro AV industry currently is between two AACS deadlines. The first was Dec 31, 2010, the last date that vendors could manufacture Blu-ray players – both standalone models and those built into PCs – with HD analogue video outputs.
That date also is when Blu-ray discs could begin including a Digital Only Token (DOT), which disables the player’s analogue output, and an Image Constrain Token (ICT), which limits analogue output to no more than 520,000 pixels per frame. The next AACS deadline is Dec 31, 2013, when manufacturers have to eliminate analogue video outputs from their Blu-ray players.
To read Tim's full article and see the implications to your business of the analogue sunset, click the link to open the May edition of our Active Magazine.
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