First UHD Blu-Ray Drive for PC to be Put on Sale From Next Month - But There's a Catch...

[WelshDdraig]

Source: Engadget

 

 

As the title suggests, the first UHD Blu-ray optical drive for the PC is about to be shipped form next month onwards.

Please note:

Spoiler

Before people say "Optical Drives in PCs? Who needs them?" - I actually and frequently use both my DVD drive and Blu-ray drive in my PC, and am sure many other people who have home theatre setups would as well.

Anyway, back on topic:

Pioneer has announced 2 models of optical drives to be sold, the:

BDR-S11J-BK and the BDR-S11J-X

(Very attractive names there )

 

These will allow those of us on the PC to watch UHD Blu-rays.

It comes with a copy of Cyberlink PowerDVD which is one of a few programmes out there that can actually decode Blu-rays - and the newest 4K UHD ones.

BUT - there's a catch...

 

Much like with Netflix 4K - to be able to watch UHD Blu-ray, you MUST have the following:

A Windows 10 based Machine

HDMI 2.0a connection that's HDCP 2.2 capable

AND - A 7th Generation Intel KabyLake processor...

 

WHY????

Why do we need such DRM that forces users to upgrade a perfectly working machine just to watch a new Optical Standard...

(One a plus side, you don't have to use Edge for this - so that's a bonus.) 

 

There is no announcement of prices yet for these 2 drives, but since they are capable of reading and writing Blu-rays.

(only reading for UHD ones) - they might be a little more expensive than regular Blu-ray optical drives.

(I'm going to guess around £80 - £90, any more than that and they are nuts.)

 

My thoughts?

Again, why make us upgrade a perfectly working PC to just watch the newest optical standard?

Is it just DRM or do we need the encoding of the CPU?

 

Your Thoughts?

Please leave them down below!

[suicidalfranco]

how will it handle encryption key updates?

[WelshDdraig]

1 minute ago, suicidalfranco said:

how will it handle encryption key updates?

I'm going to say: most likely firmware updates - that's how my LG one in my PC does it, although I'm on the original firmware and not encountered an issue yet.

[tlink]

2 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

how will it handle encryption key updates?

with its always online requirement /s

[Mira Yurizaki]

UHD Blu-Rays require some DRM that Microsoft was forced to implement care of those production studios. From https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/11/netflix-4k-streaming-pc-kaby-lake-cpu-windows-10-edge-browser/

 

Quote

In an effort to placate the studios, Microsoft introduced "PlayReady 3.0" with the Windows 10 Anniversary update. PlayReady 3.0 is a hardware-based DRM (digital rights management) system that requires dedicated decoding hardware, either on the CPU or on the graphics card, preventing the video stream from being captured in software or via an external capture device.

 

There's also the matter of hardware decoding support for 10-bit HEVC, the 4K codec used by Netflix and other streaming services. Currently, only Intel's seventh generation Kaby Lake processors support 10-bit HEVC decoding. Older sixth generation Skylake CPUs only support 8-bit HEVC decoding. Technically, Nvidia's 10-series graphics cards—including the GTX 1080, GTX 1070, and GTX 1060—feature 10-bit HEVC decoding and PlayReady 3.0 support, but aren't listed as compatible.

 

I'm still going to blame the studios for this.

[Wolther]

9 minutes ago, Abyssal Radon said:

Forcing people to upgrade to use a fucking UHD Blu-Ray player? Are you fucking kidding me? Why not use both DP1.2a+ and HDMI 2.0/2.2HDCP? This is annoying, partially because it would be nice to able to watch 4K movies on my computer. I really hope people starts working on software to rip these movies and starts sharing with others. This kind of behavior should be shunned. Also can't GPU's encode 4K UHD content better that a Kabylake CPU? This makes absolutely no sense.

Take it how you will but.. 

Quote

The other important aspect of Kaby Lake is Intel’s transition to a new video engine. According to Chris Walker, the general manager for mobile client platforms at Intel, the web’s content platforms are moving to HEVC and VP9 for video encoding and decoding—and at higher resolutions. Skylake accelerated 1080p HEVC encoding and decoding natively in hardware, but it lacked dedicated support for 4K HEVC encoding/decoding at 10-bit depths, or VP9 decoding—two things that Kaby Lake does natively in hardware.

These advances are important for the same reason that Netflix and Google have led the way toward using both codecs: They provide equivalent video quality at a fraction of the bandwidth, especially as 4K video becomes more widespread. 

-http://www.pcworld.com/article/3113457/components-processors/intels-kaby-lake-chip-is-a-must-have-for-4k-video-fiends.html 

I guess it cuts bandwidth by a significant amount 

[Dabombinable]

Well shit...this means that an Xbox One S is still the best value 4K Blueray player around. Because I can guarantee, few people will ever get Kabylake with Skylake still around and in some cases, cheaper. And then there are the people still on Sandybridge right through Broadwell who also really don't need to replace their current platform.

[Joshosaurus]

I wonder how long until this is also cracked so UHD blurays can be ripped

[Drak3]

3 minutes ago, JJHW149 said:

I wonder how long until this is also cracked so UHD blurays can be ripped

Chances are extremely high that UHD already got cracked by modding a UHD player.

 

[Dabombinable]

Just now, huilun02 said:

That's just dumb. I hope people adopt Ryzen en mass soon and this player flops. 

It is pretty much another example of DRM screwing over paying customers. Studios still wonder why their products get pirated....

[Belgarathian]

You now what... I'd pay extra to watch Netflix 4k, or any other service. Am I going to upgrade my CPU (which is plenty powerful), and my GPU which is capable of 4K? 

 

Hahahaha no. I'm going to get my 4K fix from sources, legal or otherwise, that don't require me to spend $1000 NZD on an upgrade because of hardware DRM. 

[spartaman64]

wait does it have to be hdmi? displayport wont work?

[Zodiark1593]

Would it not be easier for Studios to tell PC users to F-off instead of implementing expensive, blatant draconian measures that will be circumvented in time? 

 

GPUs as far back as the GTX 960 can decode HEVC very well, so the restriction is purely arbitrary. 

[WelshDdraig]

1 minute ago, spartaman64 said:

wait does it have to be hdmi? displayport wont work?

Not sure it has to be HDMI - would be stupid if it is forced. I would assume:

It has to be "HDCP 2.2 capable" - which would mean Display Port 1.4 or higher. 

Just had a look and the Anything from the GTX 10xx series has DP1.4

The RX 480 - as far as I can see, only has DP1.3 - so you would have to have a modern NVidia GPU.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, JJHW149 said:

I wonder how long until this is also cracked so UHD blurays can be ripped

There are 4K movies being ripped online iirc. There is always digital download

[dalekphalm]

I can see those requirements for playing 4K UHD Blu-Ray movies on the computer... But what about just opening the disc? Say... to extract its contents? I think we're still waiting on the new encryption to be cracked though.

[VagabondWraith]

This is worse than game companies and their microtransactions and stupid DLC's, as well as Sony or Microsoft "buying" exclusive game content that the other platform won't get. This is worse because it requires an upgrade to a $350 dollar CPU when people already have capable hardware anyways. To hell with that. I hope these fail miserably.

[dalekphalm]

2 minutes ago, VagabondWraith said:

This is worse than game companies and their microtransactions and stupid DLC's, as well as Sony or Microsoft "buying" exclusive game content that the other platform won't get. This is worse because it requires an upgrade to a $350 dollar CPU when people already have capable hardware anyways. To hell with that. I hope these fail miserably.

Well to be fair, you can probably buy the i3 Kaby CPU. Still... I wonder if Ryzen CPU's will be compatible?

[Guest]

1 minute ago, dalekphalm said:

Still... I wonder if Ryzen CPU's will be compatible?

Let's hope so or else that would be a deal breaker for someone building a HTPC 

[VagabondWraith]

3 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Well to be fair, you can probably buy the i3 Kaby CPU. Still... I wonder if Ryzen CPU's will be compatible?

I was speaking more in terms of me going from a 6700K to a 7700K just for UHD Blu-ray. But yeah, an i3 would suffice otherwise.

 

I'm really not liking this trend of hardware being tied to certain other pieces of hardware when it's absolutely not needed.  Modern GPU's are more than capable alone of playing UHD movies.

 

Reminds me of that game a few months back that required a Kaby Lake processor to play that thankfully received enough backlash for them to halt it.

[Squirrel724]

1 hour ago, Alexp10v2 said:

AND - A 7th Generation Intel KabyLake processor...

You need Kaby Lake because the previous generations of processor don't have the hardware decoders needed for the UHD content. Same reasoning for the HDCP 2.2 graphics requirement. I'm sure most CPUs and GPUs in the future will be including the hardware decoders needed for UHD content.

 

9 minutes ago, VagabondWraith said:

Modern GPU's are more than capable alone of playing UHD movies.

It's not a matter of raw performance but rather that the older hardware lacks the hardware decoders required to play this UHD content.

[Zodiark1593]

10 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

Let's hope so or else that would be a deal breaker for someone building a HTPC 

Does Ryzen even have an IGPU? Might need to wait for Vega, provided the powers that be even talked with AMD about including the Drm. 

 

Ordinarily, while I tend to lean neutral, a good part of me is hoping that both AMD and Nvidia kick the hornets nest by giving these studios the rightfully deserved finger. 

[Dabombinable]

You know what? Buy the disc, download a 4K rip off the internet, the studio gets their money and you can play the movie. You are allowed 1 copy afterall....

[dalekphalm]

2 minutes ago, Dabombinable said:

You know what? Buy the disc, download a 4K rip off the internet, the studio gets their money and you can play the movie. You are allowed 1 copy afterall....

The 4K rip is likely from an online stream service, and won't be nearly the same quality as the UHD rip would. That's alright for some people, but those people probably aren't going to bother buying a 4K UHD disc to begin with.

[Dabombinable]

Just now, dalekphalm said:

The 4K rip is likely from an online stream service, and won't be nearly the same quality as the UHD rip would. That's alright for some people, but those people probably aren't going to bother buying a 4K UHD disc to begin with.

Not always. It depends on who ripped it. Also, looking at the file size is a big give-away.