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In Reply to: OK posted by Eric LeRouge on February 01, 2003 at 14:02:06:
It's not "just some specs and a logo." It is real technology. In the case of DTS or Dolby or Meridian, those companies provide the reference implementation of the code that is ported to specific chipsets. Also, those companies are involved with testing and modifying the code to get the best possible performance for a given chipset. These companies also have patents on their technology, and will (quite rightly) sue any company that tries to steal it.If you are making a DVD player, you will have to license Dolby technology. If you want DTS compatibiltiy, you have to license DTS technology. If you want MP3 compatibility, you have to license technology from Fraunhofer. If you want MPEG4 AAC, you will have to licence technology from Dolby, which represents FADS (Fraunhofer, AT&T, Dolby, and Sony.)
"Cheap emulators" are not allowed as they probably violate patents, and also violate the terms of the DVD licensing agreement. To have a player that is a real "DVD player," you have to play by the rules of the licensing agreements.
Follow Ups:
Hello,I don't question the importance of technology, and especially in the case of DTS, which has consistently invested in quality material. I value their technology and branding very much. I also value Fraunhofer's public + private approach, which is based on a level of open-source specs (too bad the result is so lossy).
I just wonder (from a consumer point of view) about :
- the proportion of 'immaterial' value being too high compared with the cost of the hardware used in signal processing and in sonic restitution, and, perhaps more importantly,
- some of this technology is not necessary. I was always amazed at the fact that most entry-level players don't need any DTS, DD, etc on board, if the AV receiver has the appropriate decoders (most do). MP3 is different, since you need the software on board, but some decoders are simply redundant. You say Dolby Digital is necessary for playing any DVD-V, perhaps that's the case but I wonder why since most AV receivers have a DD decoder.Many people are actually paying twice for the technology, either because they don't know, or because they feel more comfortable having the logos on both the player and the receiver. In many cases, a consumer buying for $500 on an AV receiver and a DVD player may be paying some technology twice (the actual % would be interesting to know).
As for "Cheap emulators", I think a) They don't have to be cheap, b) There's no reason why in the long run they shouldn't be as good as, if not better than, official chipsets etc. The experience of the PC industry suggests that multiple sources are technically viable, and that competition is always a good thing for the consumer. If nobody had tried to emulate the PC bios and Intel chips, chances are we would still be paying > $3,000 for a PC... :)
The DSD route clearly is heading for a monopoly (or duopoly?) situation, with no guarantee for the consumer as to the price they will have to pay for that technology in the future (the lack of reflexion about these issues on the part of some DSD proponents will never cease to amaze me).
The more sources of technology, competitive vendors involved, and alternative sources of innovation, the better, IMO.
Just my 02...
Best
Eric
I wanted to add this to the previous post: In the meantime, I saw the thread above on Audio PC and most likely this is one of the more cost effective route for a consumer in today's market...
The day the PC industry gets seriously involved in audio, a lot more value will be passed on to the consumer.
It is much harder to reverse engineer a codec than the BIOS of a PC, which is difficult enough. And besides, as I said earlier, if you want to make a legal DVD player, you have to license the mandatory technology. Those are the rules set up by the DVD Forum. There is no financial incentive to go outside of the rules.Look at it this way...do you think the 8 bucks you pay to go see a movie has anything to do with the cost of the paper in the ticket stub you get to keep?
Do you think the $120 you pay for a DVD player is just for a box of parts?
Jim
Eric,DD decoding is necessary because you have to have some method of playing back the mandatory inclusions (either a DD track of some format or a PCM track up to 24/96K) without need of an external decoder.
Your assumption is that this is going to be attached to an AV receiver. While that is almost always true today, think back to when the DVD-V standards were being developed. That was most definitely not the case.
Besides, when you upgrade DVD players, and put that old player on the TV upstairs (as an example) you probably wouldn't have a DD decoder available there either.
Hope this helps.
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