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USB Cables to Cut Movie Piracy Short

This is the latest trend in protecting high-definition content

Dec 18, 2007 10:26 GMT  ·  By
Back to the USB era
   Back to the USB era

The USB Implementers Forum is working on a set of standards for wired USB that is alleged to transport the compressed high-definition video signals between displays and mobile devices. This initiative comes to support especially the movie industry that is severely affected by pirated Digh-Definition video content distribution.

The new technology the forum is currently developing will refuse to transport the high-definition video signal that has failed authenticity verification. This version of USB includes High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP), an Intel proprietary technology that controls Digital Visual Interface (DVI), High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) or Unified Display Interface (UDI) connection content.

USB Implementers Forum spokespersons have disclosed that the technology will be complementary to HDMI's uncompressed video and that developers can implement HDMI's HDCP encryption in the USB version.

A wireless solution specialist, Kleer, claims that they have set up a new short-range wireless technology that allows distribution of SD video at rates up to 1.5 Mbits/s. Their chip is primarily aimed at the audio industry and is used to transport audio data to wireless earphones.

Kleer is currently researching a solution for broadcasting video signals between portable media players or to wired adapters that link to TVs. The company is hoping to implement their standard worldwide, but they do not expect vendors to have a video solution ready until the Consumer Electronics Show. "The big message at CES will be [protocol] interoperability", said Ron Glibbery, company's vice president of marketing.

The future of digital video content in home systems is still under debate. TV carriers are not so enthusiast in broadcasting premium digital content over wireless networks and they will be the decisional factor in picking wireless or wired solutions for content distribution. One thing is for sure: neither of them are failsafe, and it is a matter of time before new protection methods must be called in.