Chapter 1

tion Issues?” for CSS info). Newer RPC2 DVD-ROM drives let you change
the region code several times (RPC stands for region protection control),
but once an RPC2 drive has been changed five times, it can’t be changed
again unless the vendor or manufacturer resets the drive. The Drive Info utility
can tell you if you have an RPC2 drive (it will say “This drive has region
protection”). See “DVD Utilities and Region-Free Information,” for more
information about circumventing DVD-ROM region restrictions. Since
December 31, 1999, only RPC2 drives have been manufactured.
What Are the Copy Protection Issues?
Content protection system architecture (CPSA) is the name given to the
overall framework for security and access control across the entire DVD
family. Developed by the 4C Entity (Intel, IBM, Matsushita, and Toshiba) in
cooperation with the Copy Protection Technical Working Group (CPTWG),
CPSA covers encryption, watermarking, and the protection of analog and
digital outputs. Many forms of content protection apply to DVD, as detailed
in the following seven sections.
Analog CPS (Macrovision)
General DVD 21
Copying to videotape (analog) can be prevented with a Macrovision 7.0 circuit
in every DVD player. The general term is Analog Protection System
(APS), also sometimes called copyguard. Computer video cards with composite
or s-video (Y/C) output must also use APS. Macrovision adds a
rapidly modulated colorburst signal (Colorstripe) along with pulses in the
vertical blanking signal (AGC) to the composite video and s-video outputs.
This confuses the synchronization and automatic-recording-level circuitry in
95 percent of consumer VCRs. Unfortunately, it can degrade the picture,
especially with old or nonstandard equipment.
Macrovision may show up as stripes of color, distortion, rolling, a black
and white picture, and dark/light cycling. Macrovision creates problems for
most TV/VCR combos (see “Will I Have Problems Connecting My VCR
Between My TV and DVD Player?”) and some high-end equipment such as
line doublers and video projectors.
Macrovision was not present on the component output of early players,
but it is required on component output of newer players (AGC only, because
there is no burst in a component signal). DVDs contain trigger bits that tell
the player whether or not to enable Macrovision AGC, with the optional
addition of two-line or four-line Colorstripe. The triggers occur about twice
a second, which enables fine control over the video. The producer of the
disc decides the amount of copy protection to enable and then pays
Macrovision royalties accordingly (several cents per disc). Just as with