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[Xbox-Scene]

The Secret HDMI Pact-- Posted by XanTium on June 8 00:07 EST
From teamxbox.com:

The first thing I did when I got my hands on the HD-DVD drive mock-up Microsoft had on display at E3 06, was to check its back side. When I found that there was only a power socket and three USB ports, I approached a Microsoft representative to ask where the HDMI port was, or if they plan to release an HDMI Xbox 360 AV cable when the external HD-DVD drive launches. His response was:
"If Sony is not using HDMI to play Blu-ray Disc movies, neither are we."
To which I immediately replied, "But the AACS spec demands the use of HDMI or DVI in order to playback HD content at its full resolution". Before I finished my words, he repeated,
"If Sony is not..."

I was a little surprised that a Microsoft representative would provide such an unsubstantial explanation for the lack of HDMI on the Xbox 360. Since when does Microsoft do things based on Sony's actions?
It is impossible that Microsoft would have decided to drop HDMI after learning Sony wouldn't include it on its base PS3 model, since Sony announced the world-shocking news a day before the Microsoft's Pre E3 briefing.... or did Microsoft already know, well before E3, that Sony was not implementing HDMI output on one of its PS3 models? It seems that indeed could be the truth.
A week after E3, a German newspaper spilled the beans on a supposed secret pact between Hollywood studios and consumer electronics manufacturers to disregard the implementation of AACS's "Image Constraint Token". This would mean that the lack of HDMI would not prevent HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc hardware from playing high-definition content over analog connections at full resolution.

This pact between Hollywood and consumer electronic manufacturers might never be officially announced and all the parties involved will probably offer the classic "no comment" line. It's even possible that after establishing that secret pact at the AACS LA, Sony and Microsoft had their own HDMI-related agreements.
Since the pact between Hollywood studios and CE manufacturers is rumored to postpone the use of the Image Constraint Token until 2010 (possibly until 2012), neither the Xbox 360 nor the PlayStation 3 will need a HDMI connector since consoles' lifecycles are usually five years.

Read More: teamxbox.com

[pirichios]

omfg
thats not very smart from M$
"if sony is not neither are we" gosh i swear so we basically just got to be as good as them not better. very smart M$ very smart (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

This post has been edited by pirichios: Jun 8 2006, 04:54 AM

[NumarkTTX1]

can someone explain what this means in the great scheme of things?

[Satanic Sheep]

but Sony did, on one model, I think that will be the only model released in the UK.

[mrdan]

I would take anything that a rep says with a grain of salt.

[fisix]

it costs money to license the interface, the hdcp implementation, all that crap. and each license adds $$ to the base cost of the hardware, which is just further money out the pocket for a console addon, or it makes the price too high for a large number of consumers to buy it.

if they don't need it to compete with the ps3, then it's in everyone's best interest that they don't add it in. i suppose you could argue something about the quality of the end video, but i don't think the interface is going to add enough quality that it would compete with a high-end hddvd player. plus, considering that many hdmi displays only have one hdmi input, building in contention over that port isn't all that great.

don't get me wrong, once the 360 is cracked and we can run something like xbmc on it, then the incentive to have a better interface has more umph, but not really till then. and even then, i bet the difference between the actually quite good analog output of the 360 and some potential dvi/hdmi output won't be all that discernable.

having used both interfaces with sub $1000 dvd upscaling players, i'd rather save the money and have a cheaper hddvd add-on.

[BuforTjstass]

Maybe the entertainment industry is going to abandon the AACS spec. Maybe they have realized it will just frustrate consumers. It could bring class action lawsuits from people who purchased older "high def" tv's that are not compliant.
Even if they don't abandon it, it will be broken fairly quickly anyway, I think.

[pirichios]

QUOTE(fisix @ Jun 8 2006, 06:01 AM)

it costs money to license the interface, the hdcp implementation, all that crap. and each license adds $$ to the base cost of the hardware, which is just further money out the pocket for a console addon, or it makes the price too high for a large number of consumers to buy it.

if they don't need it to compete with the ps3, then it's in everyone's best interest that they don't add it in. i suppose you could argue something about the quality of the end video, but i don't think the interface is going to add enough quality that it would compete with a high-end hddvd player. plus, considering that many hdmi displays only have one hdmi input, building in contention over that port isn't all that great.

don't get me wrong, once the 360 is cracked and we can run something like xbmc on it, then the incentive to have a better interface has more umph, but not really till then. and even then, i bet the difference between the actually quite good analog output of the 360 and some potential dvi/hdmi output won't be all that discernable.

having used both interfaces with sub $1000 dvd upscaling players, i'd rather save the money and have a cheaper hddvd add-on.

i agree with you a 100% i just think that this shouldnt be an atitude they should take a liking to.
i mean in a console war imho you as the company who is trying to compete must dictate what must
be released, i may not know buisness but a response such as "if the competition does not do it, we dont"
does not sound like a concept that brings more money to you as a company(not that they need it of course  ). Although i am not very fond of
$ony i really believe that they have dictated what gets released in the past couple of years remember how the ps2 was the first home gaming console to implement dvd playback if i am not mistaken. and then now most video game consoles feature the playback of dvd's. I guess though that since this "secret hdmi pact" took place the implementation of this technology will be unecesary i guess....which in turn is cheaper for customers... i hope

[Altima NEO]

QUOTE(BuforTjstass @ Jun 7 2006, 09:05 PM)

Maybe the entertainment industry is going to abandon the AACS spec. Maybe they have realized it will just frustrate consumers. It could bring class action lawsuits from people who purchased older "high def" tv's that are not compliant.
Even if they don't abandon it, it will be broken fairly quickly anyway, I think.

Definately gonna piss a bunch of people off. Not just people with High Def tvs, but computer people with digital monitors/video cards that dont comply with the spec. People that inlucde myself.

[paranoia4422]

QUOTE(Altima NEO @ Jun 8 2006, 05:35 AM)

Definately gonna piss a bunch of people off. Not just people with High Def tvs, but computer people with digital monitors/video cards that dont comply with the spec. People that inlucde myself.

The HDCP standard will never survive, you guys are right and someone would lawsuit because alot of thing were sold with HD capabillities before HDCP existed, and its not like piracy wont see a product that takes a  HDMI-HDCP, decrypts it and outputs it to a capture card, its going to happen anyway HDCP is worthless waste of time and money in the long run.

Oh and jesus christ who are they kidding once we have bluray/HD-DVD pc drives they cant stop it from being cracked like every other security implementation

[FreshOuttaMaps]

I think what it boils down to and what they are doing their best not to say out loud is that 1) the Xbox 360 isn't capable of outputting digital video from its A/V port at all, and 2) there's no need to worry about it because ICT won't be implemented before the following generation of consoles arrive. So it sounds bad on a feature comparison but in reality it doesn't affect people too much. I sure would prefer a DVI cable over VGA, though.

However it does leave the 360 short in terms of playing hi-def CableCard content as a Media Center Extender when all the pieces are in place for that, which definitely does fall within its life cycle, but I don't think MS is too worried about that as its not a major selling point for the console. Without implementing HDCP, MS would need to downgrade the video output.

[JoBlo69]

the HD-DVD drive is just that, a drive. Not the hardware that reads/encodes the video, all that is done with the hardware of the xbox 360. A HDMI port would have to be a video out on the console its self... nod the external hd dvd drive...

MS shot there selfs in the foot when they released the xbox 360 without an HDMI port on it...

I could see in the near future MS offering a xbox 360 package above the "platinum" edition

xbox 360 with a 100 GB hdd and a HD-DVD/DVD drive built in with HDMI output...

[throwingks]

QUOTE(Altima NEO @ Jun 8 2006, 12:35 AM)

Definately gonna piss a bunch of people off. Not just people with High Def tvs, but computer people with digital monitors/video cards that dont comply with the spec. People that inlucde myself.

You do not have HDMI 1.3. Stop playing.  

[Orionn]

QUOTE(Xbox-Scene @ Jun 8 2006, 05:14 AM)

Since the pact between Hollywood studios and CE manufacturers is rumored to postpone the use of the Image Constraint Token until 2010 (possibly until 2012), neither the Xbox 360 nor the PlayStation 3 will need a HDMI connector since consoles' lifecycles are usually five years.

I can't be bothered finding a reference, but I was under the understanding that the DVD makers (ie. film studios) had the option of turning the ICT off on the DVD (in a similar way of choosing to make a DVD region free). Initially, they'll leave them without the ICT, but later they'll set it on.

[kronium]

You're not reading between the lines.  The rep was insinuating that there was already an agreement between MS, Sony and the Hollywood Studios.

This post has been edited by kronium: Jun 8 2006, 09:25 AM