R600, questions

[KTev]

Part of HDCP is a unified secure connection from the computer to the monitor. You need HDCP compliant software, graphic card, and monitor to take advantage of blue ray or HD-DVD.

I don't know if the disk drive is part of the chain. I don't think you need anything on the motherboard.

If at any point in the chain there is a security risk the content is scaled down from 1080p. I think it goes to 720p or lower. Yes your monitor will then upscale it to what ever your monitors native res is. The upscaled content isn't close to the true HD content. If you think it is try playing your games a vga and tell me that monitor upscaling make the game look just as good as 1600x1200.

In this situation a CRT will fair better then a LCD or plasma.

If your screen is of lower res then the input stream (lots of tvs don't meet 1080i) your monitor will down scale to its res. In most cases this shouldn't have the problems that upscaling does, but you are not getting the full benefit of HD content.

Another way to see the slight differences is, that monitor uses both an analog connector and a DVI. A video card with both analog and DVI out can send the same res to the monitor. At first you may not notice the differences, but after using the DVI connect for some time when you go back to the analog you will notice text is fussy and harder to read and the screen is full of artifacts.

Some other things to note about HDCP. Right now I know that the current nVidia cards only support HDCP over single link DVI. So those with the bigger screens (dell 30") that use dual link connections will have issues. I haven't been able to find out if ATI has the same problem.

Games shouldn't be an issue.

HD naming is surround with lots of hype and misdirection. They can call a tv HD if it supports just about anything over SD. Monitors were "HD" in the 90's then. Don't trust any little sticker that says HD. You need to look at the specs. If you want the true HD experience you need HDCP, 1080p, and either a DVI or HDMI connection. The screen should also be 16x9 (wide screen)but most computer monitors aren't wide enough at 16x10. The last thing for the total setup is that HD also includes 5.1 audio (even broadcast HD) so you need the audio setup to.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

I don't know if the disk drive is part of the chain. I don't think you need anything on the motherboard.

Yeah disk drives are part of the chain which was an issue with early BD drives, read/write data, but not HDCP content / movies.

If at any point in the chain there is a security risk the content is scaled down from 1080p. I think it goes to 720p or lower.

Actually it scales down to 1/6 res to 480p.

Another way to see the slight differences is, that monitor uses both an analog connector and a DVI. A video card with both analog and DVI out can send the same res to the monitor. At first you may not notice the differences, but after using the DVI connect for some time when you go back to the analog you will notice text is fussy and harder to read and the screen is full of artifacts.

That's overly generalized, DVI can also show artifacts, especially in the long distances common in HTPC setups. A properly shielded and calibrated VGA connection can be as goo/bad as DVI. Analogue BNC is better than both so it's not that simple.

Some other things to note about HDCP. Right now I know that the current nVidia cards only support HDCP over single link DVI. So those with the bigger screens (dell 30") that use dual link connections will have issues. I haven't been able to find out if ATI has the same problem.

Yeah both have the same limitation, ATi says the R600 won't. However 1080P can be sent over single link you just need the proper signalling and setup (remember 1080P content is not just 60hz, but 20, 24, 30, 50, 60, 100). You can fit 1080P50 in single link with standard blanking, and 1080P60 with 5% reduced blanking. So for now it shouldn't be an issue, it's only for larger panels, and only non-HDCP net content is currently over 1080P anyways.

HD naming is surround with lots of hype and misdirection. They can call a tv HD if it supports just about anything over SD. Monitors were "HD" in the 90's then.

Who are 'they', the standards are set, the deceivers usually are trying to sell you something. EDTV is not HDTV, nor SDTV, nor SCTV.

Don't trust any little sticker that says HD. You need to look at the specs. If you want the true HD experience you need HDCP, 1080p,

720P and 1080i are still HD just not the high end of current widely available content, but the other two are definitely the most widely available of the content. Also, there is no single 'true HD' that's just marketing speak, similar to calling EDTV HDTV. The only thing to consider is 'FULL' 720P or 'FULL' 1080P/1080i, etc. because there is content and playback outside the norm, like Sony's HD cameras (which they IMO misleadingly call full HD 1080), or movies like T2 both of which are encoded at 1440x1080.

 

[KTev]

Thanks for further clearing that up.

The "they" I was talking about is both manufactures and retailers. I think the FCC or some other government body forced ED TVs from being advertised as HD, but there is still misleading information out there. On the sales side most of the people don't know jack and even if they knew what they were taking about explaining it to the customer is a pain.

Taking advantage of HD is such a mess you would think congress was involved.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

The "they" I was talking about is both manufactures and retailers. I think the FCC or some other government body forced ED TVs from being advertised as HD, but there is still misleading information out there.

Probably the consumer protection agency. The practice nowadays is to primarily show what content it can display, not the native resolution, and not mention that while it displays 1080i/p content the image downconverted to only 800x600. The Retailers and Mfrs are both responsible for that shift.

Taking advantage of HD is such a mess you would think congress was involved.

Nah they already relaxed the push to force broadcasters, there's no way they're going to mess with mfrs, heck remember it's the government boobs who think the internet is a series of tubes. :roll:

That's the same dumba$$ who blamed file sharing for creating porn. Damn file sharing's been around a long time! But musta been 'papyrus file' sharing. 8O

As much as it would be nice to have someone who knows tech in government set a standard, that ain't gonna happen, and of course it even got started lobbyists would kill anything tha meant 1 penny less to the mfrs. Best advice, caveat emptor ; the dumb consumers need to edjucate themselves before plunking down a chunk of change. How many think nothing of spending $2K on a computer or TV, yet spend weeks going over $100 purchases like drapes, which have little to hide (Oooh it's not an HD drape, it's only Standard Def. ). The info's out there, people just need to look before they buy.