Vista reduces video quality

Microsoft has denied a recent report saying that Vista's digital copyright management system reduces image and sound quality.

The world's number one software company claims that Vista's digital copyright management system is completely stable. There is no way that Vista reduces quality if the video or audio signal is output by a connection that is not accepted by Vista.

Microsoft claims the system only reduces the quality of digital content at the request of copyright holders of that content. This is just a counter-piracy protection solution for copyrighted content, especially high-quality movies.

However, Mr. Peter Gutmann - lecturer in computer science at Auckland University - said that the Vista Content Protection feature will be a suicidal act of Microsoft. Vista had problems during development and could not display audio video images at the standard level.

Dave Marsh, director of Microsoft's video-related program management, affirmed that the copyright protection system applied in Vista is similar to the system being applied on existing audio and video devices. on the market.

It is true that Vista itself has the ability to reduce audio image quality. But this feature is only enabled in accordance with the copyright protection policies regarding the content being performed.

For example, content copyright holders on HD-DVD or Blu-ray discs may require only video to be played at the highest quality if the signal is output under a fully supported connection. HDCP copyright protection system.

However, if this is the case, in the case of a PC or TV user without an HDCP connection, they will not be able to watch HD-DVD or Blu-ray video at the highest quality. In these cases, Microsoft claims that audio image quality is still much higher than the image quality on regular DVDs.

Marsh also dismissed the report's claim that Vista would reduce the quality of any video content displayed. According to Marsh, only content that requires users to pay royalties will be degraded.

" True Vista can restore the quality of high-resolution video images. But I'm sure users will feel extremely disappointed to find that I have to spend a large amount of money to buy high quality video but the results are not as good , "Gutmann said.

" So far I have received some feedback saying that some Vista PCs cannot run HD-DVD discs ."

Mr. Gutmann said that to "resolve" the Vista Content Protection system requires interference with the PC's CPU. March also acknowledged this but added that Vista Content Protection was developed on a platform that ensures a balance between the need to protect copyright and user enjoyment.

Hoang Dung