The two rivaling formats, the SACD and DVD-A, who should eventually become the follow ups of the current audio CD, are now also noticed by the major news websites. MSNBC reports more about the protections that are used on both formats.
Both formats seem to use watermarking technology to prevent unauththorized duplication. Watermarking protections have for now always been bypassed or cracked.
Sony and Philips have developed Super Audio CD discs that contain two watermarks. One is for visual verification. The second is invisible, authenticates the disc for playback and is introduced during the mastering process. Without the watermark, the disc won't play in a proprietary SACD player. Dual layer SACDs exist that contain a second session of legacy CD content that can be played on some existing CD players, but the higher quality SACD tracks can only be played on SACD players. |
DVD-Audio discs use similar encryption technology from a company called Verance. The company's chief technology officer, Joseph Winograd, said the acoustic watermarks cannot be heard by the human ear. The watermarks must be present for the player to recognize the disc and play the content. A bootleg DVD-Audio without the watermark would fail to play, Winograd said. Verance was contracted to provide the watermark solution by 4C Entity, a consortium of technology companies '” IBM, Intel, Matsushita and Toshiba '” charged with creating an industry encryption standard for protecting audio content for DVD-Audio discs.
More information on both formats can be found here. Also be sure to read our SACD article and discuss audio related subjects in our Audio Forum.
Source: MSNBC.com
