dexter11 Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 My latest revelation came during a recent visit to AMD for a day of briefings, mostly about the Barcelona quad-core Opteron and the Torrenza direct-connect coprocessor interface. During that visit, I got the briefest of updates on ATI’s new GPU (graphics processing unit) technology. It will ship with software that plays movies on Blu-ray discs. The AMD rep spelled it out in words that would have been undiplomatic coming from me: He said that the new chips will “block unauthorized access to the frame buffer.” In short, that means an unauthorized party can’t save the contents of the display to a file on disk unless the content owner approves it. There is a short list of parties who will be unauthorized to access your frame buffer: You. There is a long list of parties who are authorized to access your frame buffer, and that list includes Microsoft, Apple, AMD, Intel, ATI, NVidia, Sony Pictures, Paramount, HBO, CBS, Macrovision, and all other content owners and enablers that want your machine to themselves whenever you’re watching, listening to, reading, or shooting monsters with their products. Read the full article here. source: hup.hu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kieth Posted April 13, 2007 Report Share Posted April 13, 2007 I have a dumb question, seeing as how I'm a computer un-geek. What does all this mean for me? Kieth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexter11 Posted April 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2007 What it always meant. If you play honest and buy the films you want to watch then you get some disadvantages for your money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphitus Posted April 13, 2007 Report Share Posted April 13, 2007 Looks far more draconian than that even. They talk about restricting access to the *framebuffer* The framebuffer is where what is to be displayed on screen, is written. So not letting you have access to the framebuffer is about as draconian as it can get. You cannot read it, you cannot write to it. Only applications by the approved companies may. The article is skimpy on details and is devoid of technical knowledge, so i'm hesitant to jump to conclusions, but if the above comment is true, then linux simply would not be able to display X on the affected graphics cards, unless ATi release drivers that are "permitted" to display... James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted April 13, 2007 Report Share Posted April 13, 2007 In short, don't buy ATI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphitus Posted April 13, 2007 Report Share Posted April 13, 2007 In short, don't buy ATI nvidia is listed too, so maybe it's intended for general adoption? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted April 13, 2007 Report Share Posted April 13, 2007 That's a real bummer if it is gonna be done this way. You think they would have learnt based on the record companies doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artificial Intelligence Posted April 13, 2007 Report Share Posted April 13, 2007 Just hope Intel starts to make some decent cards then... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarecrow Posted April 13, 2007 Report Share Posted April 13, 2007 Just hope Intel starts to make some decent cards then... It ain't very likely. Maybe some Indian or Malaysian chipmaker will come to rescue... :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphitus Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 Just hope Intel starts to make some decent cards then... Intel's listed too. As said above, the article is short on technical details.... so i wouldn't be getting too concerned yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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