It was bound to happen, almost inevitable, but HD-DVD has been hacked. No sign of DVD-Jon this time though
HD-DVD uses an encryption system called AACS which stands for Advanced Access Content System, basically it is a system that restricts the devices that can play the discs.

But a Canadian hacker going by the name of Muslix64 has cracked it. A video of the software being used to extract Warner Brothers war epic Full Metal Jacked was posted on youtube but Warner Brothers has had it removed already, somebodys obviously very scared! What did they expect though? Nothing is uncrackable, they probably have a thousand people working on protecting a device, compare this to the hundreds of thousands of people who are attempting to crack it!

The package he has created is called BackupHDDVD, also needed is the HD-DVD’s unique content key which must be extracted by other methods, but anyone with ahalf a brain can figure it out.

The software does not backup the menu system of the DVD, but seeing as HD-DVD uses an almost identical disc structure to standard DVD’s, this feature should be following on pretty soon.

We have uploaded a version of the video with the copyright infringing parts pixelated out, what your actually seeing behind the pixels is a perfect digital replica of a HD-DVD disc being played from the computers hard drive. Hopefully youtube shouldn’t remove this video!

HD-DVD burners are still quite an expensive and rare commodity so i dont think pirate HD-DVD discs are too much to worry about just yet, but people trading discs over the internet to watch back via a media streamer or a PC is going to be something that will take off.

The first pirated HD-DVD movie has hit bittorrent, a piracy landmark! Weighing in at 19gb, the perfect digital replication of the Sci-Fi movie Serenity has already been downloaded by thousands!

It is an EVO file and will play in lots of different software packages inluding PowerDVD

Just for our loyal readers we have included a link to the source code so you can do it yourself Be quick though, don’t know how long the link will stay up, grab it while you can!

http://rapidshare.com/files/8318838/BackupHDDVD.zip.html

DISCLAIMER - We don’t support or endorse breaking of any copyright laws, had to say that bit!

In an effort to keep this comparison up to date and accurate, we will be updating it regularly….

The next generation of DVD’s is already upon us, Blu Ray and HD-DVD have started battling it out with players being released from numerous manufacturers. But just what is the difference between the two formats? We have compiled a comparison below to help you make up your mind…..
The various companies and manufacturers backing each format is listed below

Blu-Ray

• Sony
• Dell
• Hewlett-Packard
• Hitachi
• LG Electronics
• Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic)
• Mitsubishi Electric
• Philips Electronics
• Apple
• Pioneer Electronics
• Samsung Electronics
• Sharp
• TDK
• Thomson Multimedia

HD-DVD

• Toshiba
• NEC
• Sanyo
• Memory-Tech
• Microsoft
• Intel

From that line-up you can see that Blu-Ray certainly seems to have more copmanies behind it, although HD-DVD does have one of the biggest players in the world of technology, Microsoft, backing them.

It is also worth noticing that certain companies are backing both formats, such as Apple. The main players such as Sony and Microsoft are going to stick to their chosen format, but several others are providing support and content for both, so bear this fact in mind when evaluating the above list.

Sony Electronics have included a Blu-Ray drive on their Next-Gen console the PS3. This has already seen over 1 million homes in the USA and Japan having a Blu-Ray player underneath their TV, and with its March UK launch Sony hope to increase this number to 4 million. One limitatino of the PS3 is the lack of a hardware upscaler, but the ability to play HD next gen games will make up for that with most people.

Sony’s inclusion of the drive on the PS3 alone means that HD-DVD has some serious catching up to do. Microsoft have released an add-on for the XBOX-360 which allows you to play HD-DVD discs, they have also included Blu-Ray support in their new Operating System, Windows Vista. But will this be enough to fight off the might of Sony?

Resolutions
Both systems are capable of producing resolutions of 720p, 1080i and the full high definition resolution of 1080p

Storage
Here’s a quick table showing the different storage capacitys of the two formats

Backwards Compatibility
Both players are capable of playing all your old DVD movie titles, they will also upscale them to High Deifnition resolutions giving you optimal picture quality on your HD set.

Titles Avaliable
One of the most important factors when comparing the two technologies is the amount of movies avaliable on either format. As Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are initially being released mainly for viewing High Definition movies then if the format you choose does not have the backing of mhe major movie studios then you aren’t going to be watching much!

Blu-Ray has the backing of Sony which also owns Columbia pictures, Tristar and MGM. This means that there are going to be a lot more titles avaliable on Blu-Ray from these groups than will be avaliable on HD-DVD.

Cost
HD-DVD players are initially cheaper than Blu-Ray units, although that will change in the near future. Both players look set to even out their prices to match each other. The cost of producing Blu-Ray discs is far more than HD-DVD but the titles that have been released seem to be of a similar price. Expect to pay about £20 per film.

Durability
Both formats should be as durable as each other. Blu-Ray however requires an extra hard coating to protect thge data stored on it, this is because the first layer of data is only 0.1mm beneath the surface as opposed to HD-DVD’s 0.6mm. This means that Blu-Ray discs are more costly to produce but allow more layers to be used, therefore allowing a much higher storage capacity than HD-DVD

Sales
Below is a constantly updated graph showing Amazon.com’s sales figures for both the Blu-Ray format and HD-DVD. The black line represents HD-DVD sales and the Blue line Blu-Ray, form this graph you can see that HD-DVD title are currently outselling Blu-Ray titles





And if you still can’t decide then there is an answer, Samsung and LG have both independently announced announced that they are producing a Dual Format HD Player, LG are going to unveil their HD-DVD / Blu-Ray player at this years CES show in Las Vegas

The machines model number is BH100 and is being dubbed ‘Super Multi Blue’ There are no specifications or pictures avaliable yet but the show starts tommorow so expect some shots to show up on the net within the next few days.

We hope this quick rundown has given you more of an idea of the basic differences between the two formats, if you want to find out more then check out some of the following sites…..

HD-DVD Wiki Entry
Blu-Ray Wiki Entry
The HD-DVD Promotion Group
The Official Blu-Ray Site