Video Asylum

Posted by Rotwang (A) on January 11, 2015 at 13:55:15

In Reply to: RE: A solution posted by Kidomaha on October 29, 2014 at 17:20:50

In reply to Kerry, your question specified "analog outputs", but analog outputs are necessary to connect DVD and Blu-ray players to the inputs of some older HDTV sets that don't have an HDMI input. For this reason, the entertainment industry has been more concerned with one particular type of analog input, than with analog outputs in general. To be more specific, they are concerned with a particular type of analog signal which is called a component video signal. And, they were mostly worried about component video inputs, when they were included on some consumer digital video recorders. High definition analog video signals that contain copy protection are also easier to hack than HD digital signals. For these reasons, the entertainment industry would like eliminate analog component video inputs from consumer digital video recorders as a way to restrict the ability of the public to make high quality copies of material from sources such as DVD and Blu-ray disks. The easiest way to do this is to put pressure on the equipment manufacturers to gradually phase out all analog input and output jacks on video equipment in favor of digital HDMI.

If you're a "newbie" and need a more detailed explanation, then it's necessary for you to understand the different types of analog video cables and signals. There are many types of analog video cables, but the analog cable that is most commonly used to make a high definition copy from a HD source is the component video cable. Component video requires a bundle of five individual cables, three are for video and two are for audio (unless a separate digital channel is used for the audio). Component video jacks can be identified by a label such as "Y Pb/Cb Pr/Cr". Some other types of analog cables are also capable of transferring high definition images, such as the VGA cables that are used with computer monitors. However, they are less commonly used with consumer TV equipment than component video cables, so they are of less concern to the industry than component video.

The component video cable should not be confused with the more common composite video cable. The composite video cable was used with VCR machines and older DVD players. The composite video cable is a bundle of three cables. It has a single analog video cable combined with right and left channel analog audio cables. Like the component cable, the composite cable uses RCA plugs. But, the composite video cable is not a threat to the entertainment industry today, because a composite analog video signal has a narrow bandwidth, so it's limited to standard definition video and can't be used to copy high definition video. S-video analog cables were also popular at one time, and while they are superior to composite video cables they can't carry a high definition picture. The most common way to copy HD video with an analog cable is to use a component video cable, so this is the analog cable that the entertainment industry wants to do away with.

The HDMI cable that has replaced analog cables is molded into a single digital cable that is designed with built-in copy protection, so it's useless for making HD copies (or so we are told). Someone somewhere has probably hacked HDMI, but most people don't know how to do it yet. Therefore, the use of an analog component cable (possibly in conjunction with a cheap video sync stabilizer circuit) is the best way to get around the HDMI road block for those who want to copy HD material in HD. For this reason, there has been pressure from the entertainment industry on equipment manufacturers to eliminate component analog inputs and outputs from video equipment and replace them with digital HDMI inputs and outputs.

Analog inputs are still found on some HDTV sets and that includes both composite and component inputs. But, you won't find component analog inputs on non-professional grade digital recording devices anymore. The HDMI cable was sold to the public as an improvement that helps eliminate the tangle of cables behind the TV set and delivers a better picture. This is a true advantage of HDMI and most people are satisfied with this simple explanation. But, it's also about the entertainment industry trying to control the ability of the public to make HD video copies of HD material. You can't blame them, because they need to make a profit to stay in business. I hope this explains how certain types of HD analog signals can be hacked more easily than digital signals for piracy, and that makes them a threat to the entertainment industry.