dvi-hdcp upgrade? (1 Viewer)

I am contemplating buying a 42-43" rp tv. I've seen some deals on mitsubishi and hitachi sets. My question is how important is the new dvi-hdcp standard? My understanding is that a lot of the new models coming out this summer will have it, so it does appear to be becoming the defacto standard. Is it possible to manufacture adapters for sets that don't have it so that in the future you can get hd movies at full resolution? It seems a shame to not be able to view hd with full resolution if that comes to pass. I've been reading the threads, but I haven't seen anyone address the issue of whether adapters might be possible (or likely)
Unfortunately, for the near future it would appear that the deals will only be on the sets without this standard, so in order to get the dvi-hdcp it means paying more.

thanks for input.

Lawrence

P.S. I wanted to mention that I've seen some people say "no big deal,you can always use the component video inputs" implying no loss of definition and others say "you'll be out of luck". Its confusing.

Since HD-DVD will output only on HDMI (which DVI-HDCP is compatible with except for control data and audio) I have to disagree with you Paul. The whole point of HDMI/DVI-HDCP is that they are encrypted connections which prevent recording. If HD-DVD was going to be output on component video Hollywood would not have forced the encrypted connections so quickly on consumer sets.

Lawrence if you are going to buy a HDTV I recommend one with a HDMI/DVI-HDCP connection. Though many think that pre-recorded HD-DVD should output on component video it will not happen! Neither the government nor angry consumers will stop Hollywood from making HDMI the only output for video on pre-recorded HD-DVD. It may not be right for the consumers who have spent thousands on a HDTV without a HDMI/DVI-HDCP input, but Hollywood is the owner of the content and therefore can do it.

As for adapters for HDMI/DVI-HDCP under the DMCA(Digital Millennium Copyright Act) anyone that sells or even buys a device that converts HDMI/DVI-HDCP to component video can face serious legal penalties. That may not stop such devices from being sold but they would be both expensive and hard to get because of that.

If your trying to get a HDTV on a cheap then your best bet is waiting for this years models to come and buy one of last years models when the stores are clearing inventory(easiest method). Since most of last years HDTV models from the major manufacturers have DVI-HDCP it shouldn't be hard to find one of them on sale. Mitsubishi is the only major TV manufacturer that still doesn't have DVI-HDCP on it's HDTV's.

An example of how worried Hollywood is over illegal copying of content is that future DVD players that can scale video to 720p/1080i can only output on a DVI-HDCP connection! If that's any indication of Hollywoods paranoia then can you imagine them outputting pre-recorded HDTV over a component connection that doesn't have any encryption?

you're confused because others are confused we can predict, but nobody knows for sure what will happen. personally, i'll prepare for the worst-case scenario that if you don't have HDMI/DVI-HDCP you will only get down-rezz. the reason it often costs more is that many manufacturers are using it as a feature to differentiate between models with other improvements in the package.