Managed Copy Coming To Blu-ray Discs In December, Players To Come Later

[admin]

December 4th is when Managed Copy comes to Blu-ray, but it might be a while before you have the hardware to actually utilise this function.

Managed Copy formalizes the "Digital Copy" concept that's already quite popular on Blu-ray (and DVDs). It was adopted as part of the finalized AACS specifications and December 4th marks an important date in the calendar for the introduction of MC.

However, there has been absolutely no development on the hardware front for any players to support MC, despite the December 4th deadline coming up fast. It it thought that the first implementations of MC might be on the PC, and all eyes will be on Cyberlink and Corel to see if they will be able to offer us a hint as to how MC will work.

More:

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/11/07/managed-copy-hits-blu-ray-discs-december-4th-but-you-still-can/

See video demo of Managed Copy:

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/09/10/video-frist-working-blu-ray-managed-copy-demo/

[drfsupercenter]

Hmm, so lemme get this straight.
Managed Copy uses the actual disc (never mind the fact that the guy was using a burned one), then you can copy it to your Blu-Ray player, like Digital Copy for your TV?

Also, I love how the guy was saying what an intensely powerful Blu-Ray player it is, and yet it still takes a long long time to find the disc - longer than my PS3, even.

Honestly I have to say it looks like a sham to me, too much work, especially with the PIN numbers and such, and if you get HD movies how many can you realistically store? Even with my 80GB PS3, it can't be more than about two full length movies.

I'd say the best solution is just to encode the thing on a computer, copy it to the Blu-ray player... Sure there's the sketchy thing about breaking copy protection but that's the infamous grey area of the law, and I don't think people who bought the disc will think twice about it.

Since there's not a redeemable code like Digital Copy, does that mean you can use the same Blu-Ray disc and put a Managed Copy on any player you want? Say, including if I loan it to a friend and he does it?

[admin]

I suppose the next generation (or is that next next, since the current generation doesn't even support MC) of Blu-ray players will have faster MC capabilities, with possibly larger storage or external storage. There will be a PC version of this, hopefully it will be fully integrated with Windows Media Center and other media center software. The actual implementation will always be less usable than what it could be, being born out of committee and reluctantly agreed to by the studios, but illegal Blu-ray ripping is also storage hungry, and standalone compatibility is still an issue.

It's time to separate the digital movie content from the disc that holds it, and I welcome any move in this direction.

[drfsupercenter]

It would be nice if it worked like that Disney "keychest" thing, where if you register your Blu-Ray disc with, say, your email address, you can download the digital version on any Blu-Ray player you sign into.

One thing I hate about DRM and the Digital Copy scenario (Windows Media, at least) is the thing where if you get a new computer you're SOL and have to call the studio whining to get another redemption code... if you're not smart enough to strip the DRM off in the first place, at least... If they had a system that was tied to a unique account and not a serial number it would work a lot better! (Or maybe, to prevent people from registering rental copies, they would have a redemption code too but all that does is give you the "right" to the movie - kinda like how Disney Movie Rewards gives you points for buying it, etc.)

[admin]

Interesting that you mention Disney, because in the Pioneer demo, it was a special test version of a Disney Blu-ray was was being demoed.

The Digital Copy thing is also quite useless because they expire after a year.

The best thing about Managed Copy I suppose would be if it forces Blu-ray standalone makers to add in support for the playback of these "ripped" movies, or on the PC front, better integration with Windows Media Center. HDD manufacturers would be happy too, as even their largest drives today would seem small if one wishes to "digitize" their entire Blu-ray collection.

[Budreaux]

HDD manufacturers would be happy too, as even their largest drives today would seem small if one wishes to "digitize" their entire Blu-ray collection.

Well, sorta. Right now I can take a BR rip and convert to MP4 at less than 2gb and it will look better than a DVD. I've been converting my entire DVD collection over to this format via Netflix and their BR rentals. I actually use less than 1/2 the space I do for ISOs of the DVD and better quality to boot.

But, I know you were referring to the legal digital copies version and yes, that would start eating precious disk space quickly.

[NightTran]

take a BR rip and convert to MP4 at less than 2gb and it will look better than a DVD

what program U use?

[drfsupercenter]

Interesting that you mention Disney, because in the Pioneer demo, it was a special test version of a Disney Blu-ray was was being demoed.

The Digital Copy thing is also quite useless because they expire after a year.

Yeah, I ran into that - now that I finally bought a PSP, I went to redeem the Digital Copy of 21, and surely enough it expired. I managed to get Hancock in there at the last second, I believe it expires sometime this month.

[Budreaux]

take a BR rip and convert to MP4 at less than 2gb and it will look better than a DVD

what program U use?

Ripbot264 for BR -> MP4
FairUse Wizard for DVD -> MP4