PC Mag says Droid X HDMI out is a cheat and a tease

[redgtconv]

PC Magazine says theat the Droid X HDMI out will only output your pictures and your recorded video. It will not output Blockbuster movies, YouTube or other video, and is therefore a cheat and a tease. I was not aware of this.
I really need a phone and was looking forward to this one despite being disappointed with no front facing camera. Now with this info, I am starting to think about waiting for the next phone.
Was anyone else aware of this and is there anyway around this?
Also, is this common among all of the phones coming out with HDMI output?

 

[mach330]

Just heard about this too. Kind'a sux. I'm sure rooting will enable this.

 

[soapinmouth]

Its the same.with the evo hdmi is protected that's howe it is rooting won't change that maybe we can get tv out through the usb like the incredible though

 

[Vihzel]

Is it because of any protection issues?

 

[clemsondave]

I assume you have to pay to view the Blockbuster videos on the X. Why would copy protection stop you from watching in on a TV? Wouldn't the X become like a dvd in this case? If I bought a dvd, I could certainly watch it on any TV I wanted to.

I thought dvd protection issues only show up on the side of the recording devices. Or, splitting to mutiple devices.

 

[Vihzel]

Wait... does this also include videos that you put onto the device? Like movies?

 

[rootedEris]

I assume you have to pay to view the Blockbuster videos on the X. Why would copy protection stop you from watching in on a TV? Wouldn't the X become like a dvd in this case? If I bought a dvd, I could certainly watch it on any TV I wanted to.

I thought dvd protection issues only show up on the side of the recording devices. Or, splitting to mutiple devices.

no. that was analogue.
this is a digital. the encryption (handshake) is on both ends of the cable(at the ports). if the encryption is compromised in any way shape or form, no signal.

 

[you2]

I can understand it for movies (DRM crap) but not for things like youtube. I think the problem is that in order to get the movie houses to agree they have to err on the side of DRM. Kind of sucks.

 

[rootedEris]

yes it sucks but the digital content protection is here to stay. I argued the very point of this thread yesterday. why the phuck put hdmi if youre going to dictate what i can shoot out?

 

[kishin14]

Wait... does this also include videos that you put onto the device? Like movies?

You can use hdmi out to watch any user content that you put on the phone. That's why it's not that big a deal for me. I really didn't intend to watch youtube vids or stuff I downloaded from the blockbuster store (which probably wouldn't look that great blown up in 1080p anyway). But I have a ton of AVIs and WMVs of movies and TV shows I've recorded in the past and I rip Blu-ray and DVDs into MP4s all the time. Now I'll be able to play these on any TV that is hdmi capable just by bring my Droid x along.

The only thing it doesn't support is MKVs, which I also have a ton of. But I'm sure there will be an app that allows you to play them out eventually.

 

[lexluthor]

You can use hdmi out to watch any user content that you put on the phone. That's why it's not that big a deal for me.

Agree.

If I can watch anything I put on the phone myself over hdmi, I can live with that.

As long as it's not only for pictures and videos you actually take with the phone, it's fine for me.

 

[supersaki]

no. that was analogue.
this is a digital. the encryption (handshake) is on both ends of the cable(at the ports). if the encryption is compromised in any way shape or form, no signal.

Are you talking about HDCP?

From another post I read, it sounds like you can only output your recorded video/pictures. Not stuff on your SD card, no youtube, no blockbuster. Which would mean it's some kind of imposed restriction independent of HDCP.

 

[rushmore]

Even at 45nm, the device is too small and has other sensitive radios in the device to be baking it with high bitrate, 720p content. We are about one more nm fabrication level away from true 720p in a form factor like this for a phone.

The EVO fans and other Snapdragon users doubted this and took the marketing features as gospel, but now see the results themselves. Even a 45nm chipset is too big for this form factor with other chips that could be impacted, due to heat. There are other devices not too much bigger that do output 720p, but most use a special dock to do it or are not also phone & internet devices.

All those pretty, smooth high res colors/images still need the voltage & bandwidth to make them happen.

 

[Vihzel]

Oh phew! I was like... what's the point of having HDMI out if you can see photos and watch videos from the video camera? Well... now everything makes sense. I wish they would allow Youtube but I understand that there are copyright issues always going on in there. You often see that something has been taken down due to copyright issues.

 

[heavychevy]

Its the same.with the evo hdmi is protected that's howe it is rooting won't change that maybe we can get tv out through the usb like the incredible though

wrong

 

[10splaya22]

Are you talking about HDCP?

From another post I read, it sounds like you can only output your recorded video/pictures. Not stuff on your SD card, no youtube, no blockbuster. Which would mean it's some kind of imposed restriction independent of HDCP.

Im pretty sure I read somewhere that you could play your own files on your sd card thru the HDMI

 

[rootedEris]

Are you talking about HDCP?

From another post I read, it sounds like you can only output your recorded video/pictures. Not stuff on your SD card, no youtube, no blockbuster. Which would mean it's some kind of imposed restriction independent of HDCP.

i dont know about that. I think what youre trying to say is that it is content drm?

allow me to clarify my post:

What i mean is that the communication line is open....because personal media works. Moto locks copyrighted media down in the software by whatever means....which is what needs to be hacked. We need a "hdmi out enabler" of sorts. a hack or app that can authenticate the X whenever, where ever

edit: i think That means we need custom roms.....

 

[kwest12]

wrong

Please explain that... I'm really hoping you're right and that rooting will allow unlocking of the HDMI capabilities. If you have insight into how this will work, please share.

Im pretty sure I read somewhere that you could play your own files on your sd card thru the HDMI

I most certainly hope you can play your own media via HDMI. Otherwise it's pretty much a bust... really nothing else to say about that.

i dont know about that. I think what youre trying to say is that it is content drm?

allow me to clarify my post:

What i mean is that the communication line is open....because personal media works. Moto locks copyrighted media down in the software by whatever means....which is what needs to be hacked. We need a "hdmi out enabler" of sorts. a hack or app that can authenticate the X whenever, where ever

edit: i think That means we need custom roms.....

aaaaand now the DX is disappointing me even more. FML --> http://androidforums.com/motorola-d...ootloader-flashing-roms-abandon-all-hope.html

 

[rolandct]

It says in the user manual that only user created media (created by the phone) can be played via HDMI. Which to me means no AVIs. This of course completely sucks, however DNLA and my Xbox 360 should solve my issues.

 

[AJ_EVO]

Are you actually surprised by this? You may not be familiar with HDMI and HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection). It's to prevent/reduce piracy. You can thank the RIAA. Read this for a better understanding: High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[kishin14]

It says in the user manual that only user created media (created by the phone) can be played via HDMI. Which to me means no AVIs. This of course completely sucks, however DNLA and my Xbox 360 should solve my issues.

User created could also mean created on your computer. Besides there are several reviews that state the droid x does support divx encoded AVI files. It wouldn't make any sense that you can put them on your SD card with no encryption attached and not play them through HDMI.

 

[rootedEris]

Please explain that... I'm really hoping you're right and that rooting will allow unlocking of the HDMI capabilities. If you have insight into how this will work, please share.



I most certainly hope you can play your own media via HDMI. Otherwise it's pretty much a bust... really nothing else to say about that.




aaaaand now the DX is disappointing me even more. FML --> http://androidforums.com/motorola-d...ootloader-flashing-roms-abandon-all-hope.html

well my theory regarding this is that if the phone can be rooted, then an app can be made that can exploit the hdmi by accessing it with no restrictions/ and or unlocking it for ALL media.Im not 100 percent sure this is possible though....


me too, man.


yes, this is of great concern to me as i am pro-open source. they built this car that can do 300 mph but are locking it down to 120 mph with software

 

[Scooter70]

One of the reviews that I saw said that it will play anything that shows up in the gallery. On my Droid, the movies on the sd card are in the gallery so I think the X should be able to play mp4/avi vids over hdmi just fine.

 

[redgtconv]

I am a Netflix subscriber and I routinely watch movies and tv shows on my tv, streamed through my laptop. But my laptop does not have HDMI out. So, I was hoping to use the Droid X for this. Apparently, I won't be able to do that, right?

 

[Vihzel]

Wait... since the Droid X has DLNA, it has to be able to play supported-format movies from the X to other devices... or else the DLNA would be severely limited.