Posted by 123 on 01/17/85 11:51

http://editorials.teamxbox.com/xbox/1608/Editorial-The-Secret-HDMI-Pact/p1/

DVD never had such limitations on it which is why its so popular.

Here is what is on the above url.

Editorial: The Secret HDMI Pact
By: César A. Berardini - "Cesar"
June 7th, 2006
The first thing I did when I got my hands on the HD-DVD drive mock-up
Microsoft had on display at E3 06, was to check its back side. When I
found that there was only a power socket and three USB ports, I
approached a Microsoft representative to ask where the HDMI port was,
or if they plan to release an HDMI Xbox 360 AV cable when the external
HD-DVD drive launches. His response was:

“If Sony is not using HDMI to play Blu-ray Disc movies, neither are
we.”

To which I immediately replied, “But the AACS spec demands the use of
HDMI or DVI in order to playback HD content at its full resolution”.
Before I finished my words, he repeated,


“If Sony is not…”

I was a little surprised that a Microsoft representative would provide
such an unsubstantial explanation for the lack of HDMI on the Xbox
360. Since when does Microsoft do things based on Sony’s actions?

The ITC Pact

Now, guess who are the founding members of the AACS LA committee? IBM,
Intel, Microsoft, Matsushita (Panasonic), Sony, Toshiba, The Walt
Disney Company, and Warner Bros. Studios. As you can see, there you
have the inventors of HD-DVD (Toshiba) and Blu-ray Disc (Sony), and
the manufacturers of the two next-generation consoles that will play
high-definition movies - the Microsoft Xbox 360 and the Sony
PlayStation 3.

As you can also see, of its eight founders, six of them are consumer
electronics manufacturers, with the other two being the only movie
studios on the committee. When you add to that the fact that one of
those manufacturers (Sony) also owns several movie studios including
Columbia, Tri-Star and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, you realize who has the
ball in their court.

These CE manufacturers, whose business is to sell high-definition
movie players, and in the case of Sony and Toshiba, also impose their
next-generation DVD formats, know that many consumers around the world
purchased HD televisions that lack HDMI interfaces. This is a fact
that simply can’t be ignored, especially when they also manufacture
HDTV displays! Telling consumers that their HDTV sets will not be able
to play HD movies at full resolution because they lack a HDMI input,
would be a total disaster.

So, if the Image Constrain Token implementation is optional, why not
keep passing the buck a few more years until high-definition
televisions become affordable and include a HDMI connector as a
standard input? That would allow existing owners of HDTVs that lack
HDMI inputs to play HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc movies using component
video without having to watch a downgraded image.

Avoiding the use of the Image Constraint Token is a win-win situation
for the users, all the CE manufacturers, and even if a few movie
studios aren’t happy with the possibility of their movies being copied
over analog connections, most of them have expressed their
disagreement towards using the ICT.


The HDMI Pact

This pact between Hollywood and consumer electronic manufacturers
might never be officially announced and all the parties involved will
probably offer the classic “no comment” line. It’s even possible that
after establishing that secret pact at the AACS LA, Sony and Microsoft
had their own HDMI-related agreements.

Since the pact between Hollywood studios and CE manufacturers is
rumored to postpone the use of the Image Constraint Token until 2010
(possibly until 2012), neither the Xbox 360 nor the PlayStation 3 will
need a HDMI connector since consoles’ lifecycles are usually five
years.

By 2010, definitely by 2012, the successor to the Xbox 360 and
PlayStation 3 will have already arrived and Microsoft and Sony will
have included a HDMI connector in those next-next-generation systems,
but in the meantime, there is no need to use HDMI in order to play
high-definition movies at their maximum resolution. That’s why Sony
can offer a model without HDMI and clarify that it will still be able
to playback Blu-ray Disc movies without any image degradation.
Microsoft has followed suit.

If you were expecting a first-party HDMI cable for the Xbox 360, well
my friend, I’m sorry to inform you that it might never happen.

Be happy for the fact that you won’t need a new HDTV to watch HD-DVD
on your Xbox 360 and Blu-ray Disc movies on your PlayStation 3. As for
the fact that the Xbox 360 won’t have an HDMI cable, well… welcome to
the HD Era.

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