Goodbye, HD component video: Hollywood hastens the ‘analog sunset’

“Listen—do you hear that creaking sound? Don’t be too
alarmed. It’s only the coffin lid slowly closing on your ability to
get high-definition video via the analog component-video
connections on your Blu-ray player.

“After decades of effort, Hollywood is finally “plugging the
analog hole,” as it’s inelegantly been called, thanks to new
restrictions imposed by the licensing administrator for the AACS,
the copy-protection scheme used in Blu-ray players.

“For example, as of January 1st of this year, manufacturers have
not been permitted to make new Blu-ray players with component-video
jacks capable of outputting high-definition (HD) video; instead,
video sent via the component outputs is limited to SD (standard
definition, either 480i or 576i).”

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