Optical Disc Users Will Pay Premium in Windows 8 Era, Microsoft Says
Partner pushback over costs of codec licensing for “traditional media playback” were behind Microsoft’s decision not to offer optical disc or digital TV tuner support within Windows Media Player in Windows 8 devices, Microsoft last week said in a blog post. “Our partners have shared clear concerns over the costs associated with codec licensing for traditional media playback, especially as Windows 8 enables an unprecedented variety of form factors,” according to the post, attributed to Bernardo Caldas from the Windows business group, and Linda Averett, head of program management for the developer experience team.
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The media landscape “has changed quite significantly” since the release of Windows 7, with the “vast majority” of video being consumed on the PC and other mobile devices coming now from online sources such as YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, and “any of the other myriad of online and downloadable video services available,” said Caldas and Averett, who cited IHS Screen Digest research forecasting consumption of online movies to surpass that of physical discs this year.
Online sources are growing “much faster than DVD and broadcast TV consumption, which are in sharp decline,” whether that’s measured by users, time spent, or percentage of sources, Caldas and Averett said. Globally, DVD sales have declined significantly year over year, “Blu-ray on PCs is losing momentum,” and watching broadcast TV on PCs has also “declined steadily,” they said. At the same time, optical media and broadcast TV require a specialized set of decoders and hardware that cost “a significant amount in royalties,” they noted. Because the decoders were built into most Windows 7 PCs, “the industry has faced those costs broadly, regardless of whether or not a given device includes an optical drive or TV tuner,” they said.
Considering the changing landscape and the cost of decoder licensing (see separate report on Dolby this issue), Microsoft decided to make Windows Media Center available to Windows 8 customers via a premium upgrade package, Caldas and Averett said. Windows Media Player will continue to be available in all editions but without DVD playback support. Consumers who want optical disc playback on Windows 8 PCs will have to rely on one of the “many quality solutions on the market,” they said.
In the past Microsoft addressed decoder cost concerns by limiting availability of DVD or TV experiences to specialized “media” or “premium” editions, Caldas and Averett said, but customers also wanted a “much simplified” Windows 8 editions lineup. Buyers will now have two choices for purchase. Windows Media Center, with support for online playback, will be available in Windows 8. Supported audio formats include Dolby Digital, AAC, WMA, MP3 and PCM, Microsoft said.
The upgrade Windows 8 Pro, for “tech enthusiasts,” includes either Windows 8 Media Center Pack or the Windows 8 Pro Pack, and adds DVD playback to Windows Media Center, along with broadcast TV recording and playback and VOB file playback, they said. Pricing for the packs and for retail versions of Windows 8 will be announced closer to the release date, they said, adding that Media Center Pack pricing “will be in line with marginal costs.”