Qflix
Encyclopedia
Qflix is a proprietary technology developed and licensed by Sonic Solutions
and Pioneer Corporation
to add CSS
copy protection
/DRM
to recordable DVD-R media.
Qflix is an implementation of the DVD Forum
's DVD-Download specification, including extensions to the optical drive command set defined by the Mt. Fuji group of the IT industry. Sonic hopes to establish Qflix as a standard for recordable CSS
and charge royalties
for its use.
Recordable CSS (also known as CSS Managed Recording) was first announced by Sonic Solutions at the end of 2005 and was enabled by the DVD CCA
in an amendment late in 2007. By using recordable CSS, movies can be burned to DVD
in encrypted form just as on regular mass-manufactured DVDs.
Burning CSS to recordable DVD requires special DVD burners and special-made recordable DVD-R media. A first Qflix drive from Pioneer including special Qflix media became available end of 2008. Prices of drives and media are higher than standard DVD drives and media. Dual-layer Qflix discs (DVD-9s) are expected to be available in the second half of 2009.
Recordable CSS DVD media are not writable in standard DVD burners and will not be recognized as blank media. Using Qflix technology with DVD-RW, DVD+R, and DVD+RW is technically possible but has not been pursued by the companies involved.
It is possible to use standard DVD recordable media to record CSS with more advanced disc writer technology, such as the DTR PDR. This removes the redundant requirement for the use of expensive custom media and all of the related infrastructure costs.
s is ProtectBURN Video or SecureBurn from Protect Software
. Non-CSS alternatives for recordable DVDs, primarily incorporating anti-ripping, are available from Fortium, Macrovision
, Sony
, XProtect and others.
A working alternative to the Qflix system is offered by Australian company DTR Limited. It relies on a special DVD recorder named the PDR (Protected Disc Recorder) that is capable of writing not only CSS content to standard DVD recordable media, but it is also able to perfectly replicate almost all optical disc copy protection systems. As it doesn't require any kind of special media, there are no additional costs or requirements for new media types. Furthermore, the higher burning speed and reliability (including playback compatibility) of the discs producted by the DTR system have been proven to be in advance of that provided by the Qflix system.
Sonic Solutions
Sonic Solutions, acquired by Rovi Corporation in 2010, was a computer software company headquartered in Novato, California. In addition to having a number of offices in the U.S., the company also maintained offices in Europe and Asia.-History:...
and Pioneer Corporation
Pioneer Corporation
is a multinational corporation that specializes in digital entertainment products, based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. The company was founded in 1938 in Tokyo as a radio and speaker repair shop...
to add CSS
Content Scramble System
Content Scramble System is a Digital Rights Management and encryption system employed on almost all commercially produced DVD-Video discs. CSS utilizes a proprietary 40-bit stream cipher algorithm...
copy protection
Copy protection
Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy obstruction, copy prevention and copy restriction, refer to techniques used for preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media, usually for copyright reasons.- Terminology :Media corporations have always used the term...
/DRM
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
to recordable DVD-R media.
Qflix is an implementation of the DVD Forum
DVD Forum
The DVD Forum is an international organization composed of hardware, software, media and content companies that use and develop the DVD and formerly HD DVD formats...
's DVD-Download specification, including extensions to the optical drive command set defined by the Mt. Fuji group of the IT industry. Sonic hopes to establish Qflix as a standard for recordable CSS
Content Scramble System
Content Scramble System is a Digital Rights Management and encryption system employed on almost all commercially produced DVD-Video discs. CSS utilizes a proprietary 40-bit stream cipher algorithm...
and charge royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
for its use.
Recordable CSS (also known as CSS Managed Recording) was first announced by Sonic Solutions at the end of 2005 and was enabled by the DVD CCA
DVD Copy Control Association
The DVD Copy Control Association is an organization primarily responsible for the copy protection of Blu-ray Discs and DVDs. The Content Scramble System was devised for this purpose to make copyright infringement difficult, but also presents obstacles to some legitimate uses of the media...
in an amendment late in 2007. By using recordable CSS, movies can be burned to DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in encrypted form just as on regular mass-manufactured DVDs.
Burning CSS to recordable DVD requires special DVD burners and special-made recordable DVD-R media. A first Qflix drive from Pioneer including special Qflix media became available end of 2008. Prices of drives and media are higher than standard DVD drives and media. Dual-layer Qflix discs (DVD-9s) are expected to be available in the second half of 2009.
Recordable CSS DVD media are not writable in standard DVD burners and will not be recognized as blank media. Using Qflix technology with DVD-RW, DVD+R, and DVD+RW is technically possible but has not been pursued by the companies involved.
It is possible to use standard DVD recordable media to record CSS with more advanced disc writer technology, such as the DTR PDR. This removes the redundant requirement for the use of expensive custom media and all of the related infrastructure costs.
Usage
Qflix drives, media, or software are available from or used by Allied Vaughn, Amazon CreateSpace, Blockbuster, CMC, CinemaNow, Dell, Pioneer, PLDS, Plextor, Primera, Rimage, Ritek, and Verbatim/MKM.Alternatives
An alternative including CSS and anti-ripping for recordable DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s is ProtectBURN Video or SecureBurn from Protect Software
Protect Software
Protect Software is a globally operating, Germany based company that develops and markets licensing, access control and secure distribution technologies for creative works. This includes digital media and computer software...
. Non-CSS alternatives for recordable DVDs, primarily incorporating anti-ripping, are available from Fortium, Macrovision
Macrovision
Rovi Corporation is a globally operating, US-based company that provides guidance technology, entertainment data, copy protection, industry standard networking and media management technology for digital entertainment devices and services...
, Sony
ARccOS Protection
ARccOS is a copy-protection system made by Sony that is used on some DVDs. Designed as an additional layer to be used in conjunction with Content Scramble System , the system deliberately creates corrupted sectors on the DVD, which cause copying software to produce errors .Despite being promoted...
, XProtect and others.
A working alternative to the Qflix system is offered by Australian company DTR Limited. It relies on a special DVD recorder named the PDR (Protected Disc Recorder) that is capable of writing not only CSS content to standard DVD recordable media, but it is also able to perfectly replicate almost all optical disc copy protection systems. As it doesn't require any kind of special media, there are no additional costs or requirements for new media types. Furthermore, the higher burning speed and reliability (including playback compatibility) of the discs producted by the DTR system have been proven to be in advance of that provided by the Qflix system.
See also
- DVD Copy Control AssociationDVD Copy Control AssociationThe DVD Copy Control Association is an organization primarily responsible for the copy protection of Blu-ray Discs and DVDs. The Content Scramble System was devised for this purpose to make copyright infringement difficult, but also presents obstacles to some legitimate uses of the media...
- Content Scramble SystemContent Scramble SystemContent Scramble System is a Digital Rights Management and encryption system employed on almost all commercially produced DVD-Video discs. CSS utilizes a proprietary 40-bit stream cipher algorithm...
- Copy protectionCopy protectionCopy protection, also known as content protection, copy obstruction, copy prevention and copy restriction, refer to techniques used for preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media, usually for copyright reasons.- Terminology :Media corporations have always used the term...
- Digital rights managementDigital rights managementDigital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
- DTR LTD
External links
- http://www.dtrltd.com/
- Qflix Product Site
- FluxDVD
- Nero
- Protect Software GmbH
- DVD Copy Control Association
- DVD-CCA Managed Recording Amendment
- [ftp://ftp.avc-pioneer.com/Mtfuji_7/Spec/Fuji7r092.zip Mt. Fuji standard]