HDMI on new macbook pros?

[WilliamG]

And if Blu-ray fails, there's nobody to blame but studios and Sony. Sony, for not getting hardware out at any reasonable price originally, and the studios for not getting out some really enticing movies right away. I'd be surprised if we see any Blu-ray drives in Apple hardware tomorrow, because it would mean new Apple Cinema Displays need to be announced too, since they don't do HDCP right now. But hey, I'd love to be surprised, since I'd be all over that.

 

[Rokln]

And if Blu-ray fails, there's nobody to blame but studios and Sony. Sony, for not getting hardware out at any reasonable price originally, and the studios for not getting out some really enticing movies right away. I'd be surprised if we see any Blu-ray drives in Apple hardware tomorrow, because it would mean new Apple Cinema Displays need to be announced too, since they don't do HDCP right now. But hey, I'd love to be surprised, since I'd be all over that.

Actually, Sony has lowered prices faster than DVD when it was first launched (and this is accounted for % dropped not just price X -> Y). There may not be many super high quality Blu-ray movies out yet, mainly because studios were waiting on the sidelines until one side took the win and they could start re-mastering their collections on only one format (HD-DVD or Blu-ray).

Back on topic, if Apple does not bring HDMI out for at least the MBP I will probably step out of buying one. I was really looking for to the new line (MB or MBP), but I was really hoping for HDMI so I could plug the laptop into my television and use it to play some files or just to work. Plus it would stop me from having to build a HTPC, even though I do want to.

 

[CaptainChunk]

Back on topic, if Apple does not bring HDMI out for at least the MBP I will probably step out of buying one. I was really looking for to the new line (MB or MBP), but I was really hoping for HDMI so I could plug the laptop into my television and use it to play some files or just to work. Plus it would stop me from having to build a HTPC, even though I do want to.

You can already do this with an HDMI to DVI cable, or with an HDMI cable with a cheap HDMI-DVI adapter on one end. Since the DVI output signal on the MBP isn't HDCP encrypted, signal will pass to an external HDMI display with no problems. I do it all the time with my 50" Pioneer Elite plasma. For this type of usage, there's no real need for an HDMI output on the MBP.

HDMI would only be necessary if the machine's hardware actually supported HDCP and had a Blu-ray drive. Unless Apple has had a major OS service update to address HDCP being developed in secret (which I seriously doubt), this will 100% NOT happen tomorrow.

 

[raymondu999]

Some people is calling DisplayPort though. Video out wise, I believe that's better than HDMI?

 

[CaptainChunk]

Actually, Sony has lowered prices faster than DVD when it was first launched (and this is accounted for % dropped not just price X -> Y). There may not be many super high quality Blu-ray movies out yet, mainly because studios were waiting on the sidelines until one side took the win and they could start re-mastering their collections on only one format (HD-DVD or Blu-ray).

Yes, and initially they lowered the prices on PS3 consoles, making them no-brainer buys over their horridly slow and buggy 1st and 2nd generation set-top players that were ALL priced higher than a base 40GB PS3 (I'm still trying to figure that one out). And finally, Sony started shipping Profile 2.0 set-top players this Fall after their competitors had been producing them for quite some time.

And as it currently stands, BD titles are no cheaper than they were when BD first launched. $25-40 per title at retail is pretty much the norm.

I've seen a lot of remasters of older films on BD that don't look significantly better than the DVD remasters did. Doing a quality BD remaster on an old film (like prior to 1980) is a significant investment because the master film print is often in questionable condition. More often than not, the studios won't go through the process of remastering for a new print and will instead just re-scan the existing master. The films that have transferred best to Blu-ray are newer films that used high-resolution digital intermediates in post production.

Some people is calling DisplayPort though. Video out wise, I believe that's better than HDMI?

For computer displays, DisplayPort is technically superior to HDMI. But it doesn't stand a chance to replace HDMI with consumer A/V devices. HDMI is a standard created by intellectual property owners and lawyers more than it is a standard that promises superior audio and video performance.

 

[Michael CM1]

Actually, DRM has everything to do with this, at least in an indirect way. iTunes is DRM because it has to be. That was the deal that was negotiated with the Big Four when the iTunes Music Store launched. And Apple has gotten a lot of mileage out of that deal by negotiating very reasonable fair usage rights on downloaded songs. But that doesn't mean Steve Jobs isn't anti-DRM. This article pretty well sums up his stance on the situation.

Blu-ray support for Apple is a far more complicated beast and it still has a lot to do with DRM. Apple has sat on the Blu-ray steering committee since its inception yet they've done nothing about it and it's too little, too late. HDCP is a form of DRM, yet Apple hasn't implemented it in anything, save for the HDMI output equipped on the Apple TV. Here's what would happen if Apple offered Blu-ray on the new MBPs tomorrow:

1. You'd only be able to use it for BD data and theoretically, disc authoring.

2. Consumers would be very upset that they can't watch commercial BD movies on their new laptops while Sony has been able to do so for almost 2 years. The graphics chipsets might be HDCP compliant, but Mac OS and every Apple display currently manufactured isn't.

It would be a total disaster for Apple if they released a Blu-ray equipped product tomorrow. If anything, I wouldn't expect to see official HDCP compliance from Apple until Snow Leopard. But I'm not holding my breath on that one...

Apple dug their own grave on this one....or did they? Blu-ray simply won't have the same commercial life DVD has enjoyed. Why? The use of optical media for film distribution is becoming obsolete in favor of DRM-protected streaming content. Besides, paying $30-35 for a typical BD title is obscene. And I don't expect to see that change, either. BD will turn into one of those novelties like Laserdisc was.

OMG. Another one of these.

OK you have it right about all the DRM stupidity. It's funny how Sony actually thinks that stops people from working around it. However, there could be some iTunes update with BD functionality and it seems that new ACDs are coming out. Even if they aren't, you aren't required to buy an ACD. In fact, they're quite overpriced in my opinion.

Now I'm gonna call "hey stupid!" on the last part. A bunch of people have this fantasy of downloading or streaming EVERYTHING as if that is even remotely possible. You can't buy HD movies from iTunes, so how exactly am I supposed to watch movies in HD? I don't think you can buy HD movies ANYWHERE digitally, but I could be wrong. Considering the video quality of streaming content (it beee-lows), I don't know how you can compare it to BD movies.

As far as the price of BDs, you need to try shopping around. Yes, some people sell BDs for more than $30. But I see drug stores that sell new release DVDs for $25 as if I've never been in another store before. You need to try Amazon.com (I found Lost Season 3 for $58 last year when it was $80 EVERYWHERE else). Target has begun to carry more BDs and has lowered some prices to $25, sometimes to $20. Fry's Electronics VERY often runs specials on BDs for about $15. The discs are still way more expensive than DVDs, so just give it time. The players have already dropped like rocks from $800 last summer to $250 (I saw a Panasonic for that much this week). Once the players hit $199, you will probably see the popularity boom.

As far as Laserdisc, I never remember so many stores carrying Laserdiscs. BD players are much more prevalent now. Oh yeah, BDs aren't the size of Jupiter. In fact, their cases are much thinner than DVDs and save shelf space.

I could go into how so many people don't even have broadband yet, but I think I already made my point. BD and digital downloads will co-exist, and I think the studios are figuring this out. A lot of new BD movies are coming with digital copies, and they'd better all start coming that way. It would be a lot easier to just get rid of all DRM and let iTunes and other apps rip movies, but that sounds too good for the movie studios to let it happen.