I want to complain about AnyDVD's release notes

[James]

Trust me, i have done my share in the past, i am sure you have downloaded many of our "reverse enginered products".
But we never asked people to buy other products, just because we couldn't crack something.

Just to make it very clear: This statement doesn't mean, that we're not able to crack something.

 

[Peer]

This "advice" in fact doesn't come from Slysoft, it's your personal advice isn't it James.

So let's make it an official advice from SlySoft.

But we never asked people to buy other products, just because we couldn't crack something.

I think you don't get the point. "Cracking" is to some extent our business. The more there is to crack, the better. Sure, we're going to handle BD+, there's no doubt about that.
From a business point of view, the better the protection, the less competitors, the better for us. So it's pretty silly to imply that we'd be afraid not to be able to crack BD+.
The money-making part of us would rather embrace it.

Apart from being business people we are also movie enthusiasts. And that part of James is speaking when he makes his statements concerning Blu-Ray. And I fully second them - so does the rest of us.

I'm not going to repeat them here again for the 100th time - who doesn't get them just doesn't want to get them.

The market will work itself out.

Unfortunately not.

And that's actually what this is about.
The whole "format war" is in fact really a sort of democratic process, yes, that's right. But most people don't have the facts and without facts, democracy is not more than a word.
I read it a lot here: "I don't care about politics, I want to watch my movie".
It's a valid point, granted, but in this situation it's just like playing chess and only considering your next move. You'll lose. Fact.

I once knew a country not far from here. The people elected a president even though apx. 80% of the world's population knew that he was incompetent and only had his personal goals in mind - bad things were going to happen.
The people didn't care, the president told them things they wanted to hear. Time passed and bad things did happen. The economy of the country in a bad state, inflation out of control, a messy war started.

Oh, well, I'm drifting off topic, so back to us.
Here we have a wannabe president, who is luring us to elect him "come....nice little doggies....nice round and flat thingy with beautiful moving colors for watchy-watchy....".
And all are hypnotized by the intriguing prospects of nice round blue thingy.

Let's zoom forward a little. Wannabe president became president.
Now look at this extremely special constellation. The president owns the [SIZE=-1]executive, legislative and judicial system in one! Cool.
And knowing the unscrupulous things this president had done to his people in the past to maximize his profit, he surely [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]will [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]know how to take advantage of this new situation in a most beneficial way.
[/SIZE]
In this democracy, both parties are cheating and lying, the ones with the blue hats more than the red hats, but the point is: if you don't think for yourself, you'll lose. Another point is: most people don't think (or have other things to worry about).
Sony is an extremely aggressive company with not much respect for their customers.

And what we can try to do is direct people to the things they should know. They need a "heads up".
If that is a small side note in a changelog, I'm fine with it.

 

[hotdog453]

And the award for greatest reach in comparing Sony and Bush goes to... peer!



I kid, I kid. I love you. <3

 

[deaacs]

First what facts do you have that HD-DVD is consumer friendly? Do you mean cheaper? The fact is blu-ray is already considered the clear winner in this so-called war and the consumer has already made a clear choice and that choice is blu-ray. Blu-ray is outselling HD-DVD by 3 to 1. Go to Best Buy and look at the available titles. In a recent visit I saw two shelves of HD-DVD titles and 6 shelves of blu-ray titles. The blu-ray titles are also the best movies available. Go to Blockbuster video and ask for an HD-DVD movie and you will get laughed at, as they ONLY carry Blu-ray movies.

You should set your priorities before making a decision. If your priority is simply to get the player that has the most movies then yeah BluRay may be ahead - but if your motivation is to get a player where you can import movies, and you don't need to upgrade your player's firmware every 18 months then HD-DVD is the clear winner.

I bought a Wii partly because I could install a mod-chip into it and play all region. I may not have purchased the system if I couldn't do that. Half of my DVD collection consists of non-region4 discs - if I was to move to HD I would certainly not get a player that would prevent me from doing the same thing. The choice is obvious - for me.

By the way, Blockbuster is a joke as it is, who cares what cookey ideas they have. By the way, without the PS3 BluRay would be dead in the water.

I don't know what the motivation is for Slysoft to ask everyone to buy HD-DVD, unless maybe they are having a harder time creating software to handle blu-ray, but at any rate, Slysoft will learn as others will, that HD-DVD will die a slow painful death. You can't argue consumer sales and with blu-ray beating HD-DVD by 3 to 1 there is no doubt who the clear winner already is.

Uh-huh, and I suppose you supported Sony's "Super Audio CD" format too, and their "betamax" format before that? Did those "superior quality" products beat the competition? Hmm, I can't remember.. No!

One other fact to consider when making the choice for yourself is this. The biggest supporter of HD-DVD is Microsoft. Microsoft can't get windows right so how the hell are they going to get video right?

Can't get Windows right? So what operating system do you use? I've used Windows XP now for 7 years - it seems to be just right!

I don't know about you, but I don't want Microsoft in my life an more than they already are. Another fact to consider. If you use HD-DVD for computer backup or copying files you will have 10GB per disc LESS the the 25GB of blu-ray for data storage.

Yes, however your data will be more secure - and if you want even more security then you should use DVD-R - and if you want better still use CD-R, and if that doesn't do it for you then you should look at alternatives to disc-based-media for permanent data storage/back-up since there are far better options. What are you going to burn onto a 50GB disc that isn't a bunch of movies/video files?

Most people only think about movies, but should also think about computer usage as well. The HD_DVD blanks are considerably more expensive when you figure price per GB.

Yes, but they're better quality. Would you get the cheapest car tires over your familie's safety?

I am a video producer and as far as video is concerned blu-ray titles are far less compressed than those of HD-DVD, just do the math 15GB for HD_DVD to put video on or 25GB for blu-ray.

So what? Even with the first generation of encoders the difference in video quality on HD with maxed bitrates is minimal. When have you ever heard of a DVD using the maximum bitrate? No? Not even "SuperBit" does it because it isn't worth it. I notice you didn't mention Audio - probably because you know HD-DVD has better Audio codec's.

Pretty easy choice, not to mention that if you check supermediastore.com or meritline, you won't fin an HD-DVD burner. All professional video companies and most all movie studios are using blu-ray.

That's because there's a very limited market at the moment for the blank discs.

BluRay is better for the publisher,
HD-DVD is better for the consumer.

BD+ is quite possibly the most sinister widespread DRM ever proposed, particularly with its ability to run native code.

That and ICT which both suffer from - and revoking player keys that HD-DVD doesn't do.

@Webslinger - well written!

Then I have to come in, start issuing warnings, etc. and then people think, "Webslinger's the bad guy." I'm a moderator. I have to enforce the forum rules.

Hey, I try to help by not causing you problems! Haha, I always have a good laugh when I see you warning noobs!

@knobber - oh they have a filter all right, and it's name is Webslinger.

The problem for me is that I do have friends that prefer BluRay. They don't own it, but even after explaining why it's crap they still prefer it. When I *first* heard of the two formats - before BD+, ICT or even AACS I thought it was better - but that was based on very limited early information - I've been siding with HD-DVD ever since - though I still think ICT goes far too far (why else does our Copyright Act explicitly allow circumventing that technology?)

They're just giving them away. HD DVD...not so much.

People don't value stuff you give them for free.

@James - Not being a SlySoft customer I don't receive these update emails, (and if I did I'd be like "what? AnyDVD? but I don't use that!), but I fully support your intentions to side against BluRay. Hey maybe soon I'll take the plunge and write a comprehensive comparison based on original research and put it up onto one of my sites! It's simply amazing how many times misinformation can circle around the web and no one bother's to actually do a full comprehensive research - they just plagiarize from other websites!

The whole "format war" is in fact really a sort of democratic process, yes, that's right. But most people don't have the facts and without facts, democracy is not more than a word. Sony is an extremely aggressive company with not much respect for their customers. And what we can try to do is direct people to the things they should know.

Very well written peer, don't think I don't like the rest of it too I just want to quote the above sub-text and say: I agree. And I'm feeling more motivated too about writing a new "essay". The funny thing is I like self-learning, I wonder why I ever put it off! LOL :doh: I'm an idiot.

 

[captain_video]

First what facts do you have that HD-DVD is consumer friendly? Do you mean cheaper? The fact is blu-ray is already considered the clear winner in this so-called war and the consumer has already made a clear choice and that choice is blu-ray. Blu-ray is outselling HD-DVD by 3 to 1. Go to Best Buy and look at the available titles. In a recent visit I saw two shelves of HD-DVD titles and 6 shelves of blu-ray titles. The blu-ray titles are also the best movies available. Go to Blockbuster video and ask for an HD-DVD movie and you will get laughed at, as they ONLY carry Blu-ray movies.

I'm not sure where you're getting your facts but I find it hard to believe that Blu-Ray players are outselling HD-DVD models. They have been priced 2-3 times higher than HD-DVD models from day 1. Depending on who you believe, both camps are claiming victory in the format war. Best Buy is probably getting some kind of kickback from Sony and the Blu-Ray camp because they have done a pitiful job of promoting the Blu-Ray hardware and software format from the beginning. Go to your local BB and see which players are sitting on display where everyone can see them clearly. Then try and find the HD-DVD models that are buried in the back of the store in some obscure area. It has nothing to do with the popularity of either format but rather the way in which they're being marketed at the retail level.

FYI - I can get both BD and HD-DVD movies from Blockbuster online as well as Netflix. I also have a local BB store that carries both formats so who's laughing now?. The fact that BB decided to publicly back Blu-Ray tells me that there is some serious payola taking place under the table. The company is in dire straits financially and I have no doubt that Sony saw this as a perfect opportunity to push Blu-Ray onto the public with a little corporate bribery.

I don't know what the motivation is for Slysoft to ask everyone to buy HD-DVD, unless maybe they are having a harder time creating software to handle blu-ray, but at any rate, Slysoft will learn as others will, that HD-DVD will die a slow painful death. You can't argue consumer sales and with blu-ray beating HD-DVD by 3 to 1 there is no doubt who the clear winner already is.
One other fact to consider when making the choice for yourself is this. The biggest supporter of HD-DVD is Microsoft. Microsoft can't get windows right so how the hell are they going to get video right? I don't know about you, but I don't want Microsoft in my life an more than they already are. Another fact to consider. If you use HD-DVD for computer backup or copying files you will have 10GB per disc LESS the the 25GB of blu-ray for data storage. Most people only think about movies, but should also think about computer usage as well. The HD_DVD blanks are considerably more expensive when you figure price per GB. I am a video producer and as far as video is concerned blu-ray titles are far less compressed than those of HD-DVD, just do the math 15GB for HD_DVD to put video on or 25GB for blu-ray. Pretty easy choice, not to mention that if you check supermediastore.com or meritline, you won't fin an HD-DVD burner. All professional video companies and most all movie studios are using blu-ray.

As long as studios back the HD-DVD format it will be around for a long time, especially with the introduction of dual format players. I can't argue with the technical advantages of BD over HD-DVD, but then again, Beta was also a better format than VHS and look how that ended up. OTOH, if it weren't for the fact that many titles simply aren't available on HD-DVD in the US I'd be sticking with HD-DVD exclusively. Recent sales of HD-DVD players have no doubt skewed your numbers considerably. Consumers look for the cheapest way to get what they want and the vast majority of them don't know squat about the technical aspects of either format. They just know that if they can buy an HD-DVD player for $200 or less or a BD player for $400, which do you think most people are going to choose? They just know that both formats are Hi-Def. However, if they find that the titles they want are only available in Blu-Ray then they may take the high road and choose that format over HD-DVD. If and when combination player prices drop to a competitive level, the format war will become moot and neither will be a clearcut winner.

While it would be nice to have an HD-DVD burner I can currently record HD programs on standard DVD-R discs using my existing DVD burner that play back in HD on my HD-DVD player. It does require multiple discs to burn an entire movie, but I used to be a laserdisc owner and have no problem with swapping discs. When HD-DVD burners become available, media prices will fall just like any other format. Last time I checked, BD blanks weren't exactly cheap either. BD burner prices are also through the roof so there's a limited market for them at the moment.

 

[RedFox 1]

I got that, but there is a time and place for everything. Don't try to disguise your "friendly advice" as a new feature. By mixing this in with the new features/bug fixes, this could be construed as being advice from Slysoft. This "advice" in fact doesn't come from Slysoft, it's your personal advice isn't it James. Please keep your personal statements in the forums and out of the update notifications. oliceman:

I'll tell you what, I'll make it easy for you. Nobody forced you to buy this product and it excellent updates and advice. So maybe you can post somewhere else about your likes and dislikes.oliceman:

 

[ron spencer]

I cannot believe that people like the OP still give the storage arguement. If you are the type to save 50 gigs of whatever (say precious family pics) on HD or BR blanks, then you are plain stupid. With the cost of RAID and hard drives so cheap, why would anyone use optical media that will be troublesome to burn....DL DVD is hard enough to burn. The storage thing is a red herring by those who just have no idea what the real arguments are.

For me I do not like region coding..............favor HD
For me I want control of what I buy...........favor HD
I do not like Java VM rootkit in my player....favor HD
In the future I want to burn in HD..............favor HD

so what is so great about BR? Storage space? This seems to be the only thing that comes up....and is a deliberate red herring on the part of those involved and while tehcnically is an advantage, you have to be so totally baked on crack to actually operationalize BR burns for storage.

Who cares that BR stores more? I want flexibility, and that is HD...not BR.

Such posts by the OP are not only trolling, but just show a general lack of intelligence about BR and HD

Oh by the way....DVD NEVER took off until people could burn their home movies....first format to market this will win; so neither are really winning now. Everytime I am in BestBuy I see TONs of DVDs going out the door...minimal BR and HD; sales staff also corroberates this.


Blah!!!

 

[iansilv]

Holy crap! James can write what ever he wants, and if you don't like it, go buy another decryption program. Or better yet- write one yourself!

I think there are shills here.....

 

[iansilv]

I got that, but there is a time and place for everything. Don't try to disguise your "friendly advice" as a new feature. By mixing this in with the new features/bug fixes, this could be construed as being advice from Slysoft. This "advice" in fact doesn't come from Slysoft, it's your personal advice isn't it James. Please keep your personal statements in the forums and out of the update notifications. oliceman:

Slysoft is a company that exists outside of copyright law reaches in Antigua specifically to write a software program to break encryption programs written by over-reaching content providers- what part of that reality do you think your statement applies to?

Something smells fishy with all these recent posts here...

 

[wvtxman]

hd and bd

I have gotten both bd and hd from blockbuster never got laughed at.......::disagree:

 

[bk1987]

blu ray no longer has a advantage in size ,http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/DVD-Forum-approves-v2_0-of-51GB-HD-DVD-format.html

 

[psikey]

The thing that amazes me with AnyDVD is that you continue to get updates without any further payment needed. Simple amazing really but surely un-sustainable without continually attracting new customers.



My view on the whole HD scene:

Unless you have big screens (greater than 32") upscalled DVD can look nearly as good and nowhere near the step-up from VHS to DVD and especially for mainstream consumers.

DVD like CD before it was an instant hit with consumers in a market where "high tech" computer technologies were not around or extremely expensive so copyright issues were not so important.

Then years latter, everybody & their granny could rip & burn CD's & DVD's thanks to cheap PC's & players and amazing software engineers creating software such as AnyDVD, DVDShrink etc. But for a large part of the world copyright laws make it illegal to duplicate disks if you own them or not.

This didn't stop anybody really as the companies producing the software went to "safe" countries and its impossible to police so the "Powers That Be" decided to invent HD with vastly improved encryption systems to try and stop their industries (Music/Movie) from going into rapid decline (its human nature for people to want things free rather than pay if they think they can get away with it).

In this regard you could argue the Blu-ray camp have been more successfull making it more difficult for companies such as Slysoft to bypass the protection yet going over the top especially with region coding etc.

To my mind Blu-ray was always going to get a massive boost over HDDVD due to the forced integration into the PS3 which gives "normal" consumers instant access to HD Movies unlike dedicated players or 360 add-ons. The recent PS3 price restructuring will only strengthen this in my view.

I tend to not watch movies more than once or twice and if I really like them I buy them, otherwise I use rental services such a Blockbuster/Lovefilm etc.

The only reason I use AnyDVD is to be able to watch the movies on my Bravia HDTV via VGA 1:1 pixel mapping as it gives me the best image without worrying about HDCP issues. I know this could be considered a breach of my local copyright laws (circumventing protection systems) but without sensible fair usage allowances I feel I have no option especially as I can't get over 1GB download speed so streaming HD material is not an option for me.

Unfortunately, due to human nature, I can't see us having relaxed usage rights anytime soon but you can't really blame profit making companies trying to ptotect there revenue streams due to history with DVD's/CD's.

If Slysoft get to a point where they can't crack blu-ray or the "World Powers" manage to find a way to close them down (many companies doing similar things has ceased to operate before) then their revenue stream will dissapear so its understandble why Slysoft may currently favour HDDVD over blu-ray.

Until reliable high speed streaming services exist that can dump the material on your PC/Games Machine/Media Recorder hardrive either with single or multi-play license depending on what you pay (& ability to burn a copy to a disk or two) we are stuck with what we have. Two opposing factions using the grey area of Copyright Laws around the world to make money.

I would like to think that AnyDVD was used legally around the world and for many countries that do not enforce copyright protection it probably does, but I wouldn't wager a bet against the number that use it illegally and for this, the HD producers will continue to increase protection measures.

Ramble over... Just couldn't stop writting once I started All obvious stuff I know.

 

[ivanX]

Personally, I don't have a player to take care of HDDVD or Bluray so I'm a complete neutral.

However, I do think that it's not right that Slysoft decided to integrate this "friendly advice" into their release notes. Release notes are an official company document and should represent a neutral point of view, unless, of course, AnyDVD HD only supported one HD format. But it doesn't. It does both so let's keep the politics of the format war out of release notes.

I remember when it was added that thanks to AnyDVD people could actually play their DVDs because of awkward protection that prevented it otherwise. That's fine but now that AnyDVD HD can "do" both formats there is no need for opinions to leak into release notes. Posting opinions on the forum is fine but not in release notes, no way :disagree:

 

[James]

Personally, I don't have a player to take care of HDDVD or Bluray so I'm a complete neutral.

However, I do think that it's not right that Slysoft decided to integrate this "friendly advice" into their release notes. Release notes are an official company document and should represent a neutral point of view, unless, of course, AnyDVD HD only supported one HD format. But it doesn't. It does both so let's keep the politics of the format war out of release notes.

As a matter of fact, AnyDVD does and will support HD DVD much better than Blu-ray.
E.g., AnyDVD removes user prohibitions like forced french subtitles from import discs, lets you skip over studio logos (I don't want to see the 30 seconds Universal intro anymore), lets you jump directly to titles.
And you have AnyDVD's "magic file replacement(tm)", which allows you to remaster HD DVDs to your liking *without* the need to copy them to harddisk first.
AnyDVD is a very strong tool to give consumers the freedom to watch a movie the way *they* like it. But it only does this for HD DVD discs, not Blu-ray.

 

[markcu]

I can belive that this thread has somehow morphed from a discussion about the release notes to (yet) another war about which format is best. perhaps I just havn't been here long enough to understand.....

Personally I would like to thanks James. He clearly has strong views on the two formats, and after my original post replied 'point taken' and now the comment has been removed from the latest release notes.

I'm not suggesting it was as a result of my post, but I think it does demonstrate (once again) that this is a company that listens, and that is quite novel.

Some one asked about the conversation between james and his boss about supporting blu-ray and to para-phrase the post that james made, it went something like this....

james:- Blu-ray sucks, I dont want to support it.
james boss:- the people who pay your wages want you to.
james:- I'll start work then.

Perhaps James could find the original post (I cant remember which thread it was in) as it was much funnier the way he wrote it)

And apologies if I've misquoted either James, or 'James Boss'

 

[Defiant2TheEnd]

If you like HDDVD, buy HDDVD.
If you like BD, then buy BD.

If you have an opinion about each product then express it. Slysoft produce the software so they can recommend what ever they want.

There's no format WAR, only a great marketing campaign to get people to buy. Studios win. Want to them to be less restrictive, DON'T BUY either format.

If you have money, who cares about the format. Buy what you like.

I do have to say as an early adopter of both format, HDDVD, with less restriction, is a better choice for consumer. I have a mobile HTPC in my truck. It's easier to rip the HD movies on to the hard drive and play it with the help of AnyDVD. I can use a standard large OEM flat panel without having to pay alot more for HDCP compliance monitor. Never had any trouble ripping and playing a HDDVD movies with AnyDVD on my mobile HTPC.

Can someone recommend a mount for a 30" LCD Panel/Monitor for my truck?

 

[LINUS]

Perhaps James could find the original post (I cant remember which thread it was in) as it was much funnier the way he wrote it)

And apologies if I've misquoted either James, or 'James Boss'

I remember this conversation quite well as I was involved, I think you quoted quite right in essence.

I would also like to thank again and again James and Slysoft for the work they have done and are doing!

However, I still fail to understand the argument done in favour of HD-DVD and against Blu-Ray.

If HD-DVD really was a user friendly format, why would we need AnyDVDHD?

Maybe HD-DVD is not as vile as BR, then, that is only a matter of degree, isn'nt it?

I made my point earlier: I want to watch HD-material that I bought with my hard earned money! I do not really care much about anything else, and AnyDVDHD gives me the necessary support to do so!

Also I would again like to direct your attention to a commenaty by Joshua Zyber which points out that the competition of BR and HD-DVD might actually be something that has some effect in favour of us consumers:

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Joshua_Zyber/Commentary:_Living_in_Fear_of_the_Niche/1154

So anyways, as long as James keeps up his good work he is more than entitled to hate BR, no matter whether I understand this motion in full or not (I see of course that BR is worse with respect to terrorizing their consumers than HD-DVD).

 

[Stormlord]

I have both blu ray and hd dvd, thusfar I was more impressed by the marketing, availability of good titles and product quality of blu ray (in general) over HD DVD. Honestly: HD DVD is a joke here in Belgium. There aren't many people who know HD DVD, let alone blu ray in person - but blu ray will definately get more brandrecognition even if people don't have it. Thanks to Sony's much better marketing. HD DVD availability of titles is very poor, same goes for the players (even worse than blu ray).

I.o.w. me = forced to buy most of my blu ray and hd dvd titles abroad + one of my screens is dual link (2560x1600), and that's where AnyDVD HD steps in (removal of region coding and HDCP).

I want James to equally support blu ray & HD DVD. He'll have more of a job proving his worth on Blu ray though.

James: prove your worth and show us that you can crack blu ray protection properly & make the "evil sony/fox/disney empire" finally understand that there is no use in investing so much money in protection endusers don't want. I think there is no real excuse for prioritising HD DVD over Blu ray. Do you really think the HD DVD is any better when it comes to wanting to keep their shareholders happy and rake in the money???

Personally, I don't care so much about BD+ (I have no intention of ripping my HD movies - unless needed to play them, I only want to be able to play the movie I paid for) - I care much more about them adding crap like region coding and HDCP.

I.o.w.: for me priority is on PLAYBACK of all Blu Ray AND HD DVD, not so much on ripping. I'd rather have you invest time in a good player that plays all discs from around the globe WITHOUT HDCP (or getting it work with all versions of e.g. PowerDVD, but they seem to keep having problems - mostly related to lame protection cr*p..) over a ripping tool.

 

[sarah99]

the "Powers That Be" decided to invent HD with vastly improved encryption systems to try and stop their industries (Music/Movie) from going into rapid decline

Nothing to do with it IMHO.
This is all about selling the same product multiple times
Sell the VHS
Sell the DVD
Sell the Special Edition DVD
Sell the HD/Blu
Sell the Special Edition HD/Blu

Sell a flat SD tv
Sell a 720p tv
Sell a 1080i tv
Sell a 1080p tv

The studios sell the same product movie 5 times, the mugs keep buying.
The equipment manufacturers only sell the Tv 4 times

I don't care what format it is in, but will follow James advice and get the HD-DVD when both are available.

 

[James]

James: prove your worth and show us that you can crack blu ray protection properly & make the "evil sony/fox/disney empire" finally understand that there is no use in investing so much money in protection endusers don't want.

We don't have anything to prove, we've already done that several times in the past.

I think there is no real excuse for prioritising HD DVD over Blu ray.

Read what I have written during the last year and think again.