News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

February 26, 2008

news

No HDTV? No Apple TV rentals

Posted Feb. 26, ’08, 6:15 PM PT by David Dahlquist
Category | Apple » News

appletv.jpgNot all Apple TV owners are created equally, and what I mean by that, is not all Apple TV owners are HDTV equipped—which is a problem.

Jeff Carlson at TidBITS upgraded his Apple TV to Take 2 and decided to celebrate by trying out a movie rental. Much to his dismay, Apple TV wouldn’t let him play his movie because he doesn’t have an HDTV, which is apparently required for Apple TV. So why won’t an Apple TV rental play on a regular computer monitor (which is what Jeff was using)?

You guessed it—DRM. Or to be more specific, HDCP (High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection), which is a form of DRM that prevents you from playing video over DVI and HDMI connections if you don’t have compatible hardware that can decode the signal.

This will obviously amount to much unneeded frustration for legitimate purchasers, all in the name of anti-piracy. In Jeff’s case, he simply wasn’t able to watch the movie at all, as anything rented directly to Apple TV can only be viewed on Apple TV (whereas a movie rented on a Mac via iTunes can be transferred between an iPhone, iPod, or Apple TV—weird.)

Fortunately for Jeff, after contacting Apple about his problem, he was granted a swift refund. But let this be a warning to Apple TV owners who lack HDCP support, component video input, or certain appropriate DVI inputs. Until Apple gets their act together on this, stick to iTunes on your Mac for movie rentals.


11 Comments

Dave-O said:

And how would you suggest Apple get its act together? No one, except apparently Jeff Carlson, was under any delusions about this. No rentals without copy protection.

February 26, 2008 8:05 PM
Cameron Hunt said:

But you can rent a movie on iTunes and then watch it on the Apple TV, right?

February 26, 2008 8:27 PM
Dan Moren Author Profile Page said:

@Dave-O: While I think we're all familiar with the concept of DRM insofar as it's used to manage how long we can have a rental or the number of copies we can have, I think fewer people are aware of the fact that HDCP means they may not be able to watch their movies without compatible devices. I somehow doubt that Jeff is alone in this.

And, hey, you say "copy protection" I say "spawn of the devil." Tomato, tomahto.

February 26, 2008 8:31 PM
Jeff Carlson Author Profile Page said:

@Dave-O: I hadn't realized that HDCP DRM would be applied to rentals; movies I've purchased from the iTunes store have played fine on my setup, so why should I expect that they wouldn't work now?

I understand why the studios would want to apply the DRM. I don't agree with it, and I think they're continuing to throw money at a problem they can never solve, but that's how they are. It's just unfortunate that even when you do the right thing (legal purchase, legal hardware, etc.) you get screwed. But they don't care; they'd prefer I bought a DVD anyway because that's *real* money, not this nebulous Internets stuff.

It's too bad we all have to suffer through this period of entertainment execs trying to get a clue.

February 26, 2008 10:37 PM
krautpastry said:

I've been using my Mac Mini (Single Core!) as a media server for for almost two years. I don't have a flat panel TV, just an old tube TV. The movie rentals work very well, DVD quality. Apple TV is interesting, but I get so much more from my Mac Mini a computer that I can build my own media apps on and a small footprint media server that can do backups and share files over my home network. You don't need Apple TV to enjoy media.

February 27, 2008 5:37 AM
The Dood said:

I believe this is the case with just about any copyrighted HD content (Sky HD, BluRay, HD-DVD). As much as I loathe DRM, piracy is a problem and the movie industry would be risking high quality copies to be made simply by playing the rental on the AppleTV and "recording" on the other end. In other words, this was not Apple's call.

February 27, 2008 9:27 AM
Dave-O said:

@Jeff, you aren't purchasing, you're renting and it has been established since long before rentals were available (as long as the new iPods have been out, in fact) that rentals required a protected path.

@Dan, so we haven't made a big enough deal about the copy protection on the latest iPods yet? Or the fact that you can't rent HD movies on computers? Or the fact that playing Blu-ray movies at full 1080p quality requires HDCP?

I have never endorsed copy protection. I'm just sick of these stories on MacUser where people are shocked, shocked! to find DRM employed.

I'd also point out that the standard setup for an Apple TV is to connect it to a TV, so most people don't have this particular problem.

February 27, 2008 11:11 AM
Dan Moren Author Profile Page said:

@Dave-O: As long as DRM is preventing consumers from using media they have paid for in completely legitimate ways, then I don't believe we have made a big enough deal out of it, no.

And insofar as being long established that rentals require a protected path, I don't believe that's the case. I consider both Jeff and myself pretty knowledgeable about the state of Apple affairs, and if we were both surprised to find that HDCP was being used, chances are there are average consumers who would likewise not know.

While you're right and most people will use the Apple TV with an HD TV, I wouldn't be surprised to find that some use it, or would want to use it, connected to a monitor or other device that doesn't support HDCP, so it's worthwhile, in my opinion, to inform them of this fact before they have to go through the same rigmarole that Jeff did.

February 27, 2008 11:49 AM
Dave-O said:

Didn't know? I don't make a living on this stuff, I just read this site and Daring Fireball. How could you not know?

Raise a stink all you like, but the problem is hardly confined to the Apple TV. There is no (sanctioned) mechanism by which you can watch an HD movie on a digital display without copy protection (again, how could you not know?). Clearly this is a case where we can't vote with our wallets; and stories lambasting the practice of treating customers as de facto thieves are in order, but they need to be all-inclusive.

February 27, 2008 12:39 PM
Yazi said:

No wonder distributors are losing money... You take a techological achievement, hobble it with DRM, and prevent those who want to do the right thing from enjoying their purchases/rentals, and it makes me happy the pirates are winning.

F*** the MPAA.

February 27, 2008 1:58 PM
Dan Moren Author Profile Page said:

@Dave-O: You're right, I should have know that HDCP was required, and in fact, the Apple TV specs do point that out; in all probability, I did at some point know, but then I apparently forgot—likely because my brain was full.

I don't think Jeff, David, or I are pointing the finger at Apple as the root of all DRM evil. We happen to be writing in fora that are particularly targeted at Apple, so of course, that's going to play largely into our experience. Clearly, we'd all hoped that Apple would have the clout and wherewithal to avoid subjecting their customers to onerous DRM restrictions, and I think we're all disappointed that that's not the case. And if this were SonyUser, I think we'd be making similar complaints about Blu-ray.

February 27, 2008 2:21 PM

Leave a comment

 



IDG IDG NETWORK:   CIO   Computerworld   CSO   GamePro   GamerHelp   IDG Connect   Infoworld  
   JavaWorld   LinuxWorld   Macworld   Network World   PC World   PC World Canada   Playlist   Techworld