IDC expects over 13 percent of all software will be available in DVD-ROM format by the end of 1998. In most consumer analog VCRs this upsets the synchronization and automatic recording level circuitry. However, it can degrade the picture, in both old or nonstandard equipment as well as in new devices such as some line doublers. The discs contain header information which tell the player whether or not to enable Macrovision and in what form. Macrovision obtains royalties when the discs contain flags to turn on the circuits, so as with videotapes, some DVDs are Macrovision-protected and some aren't.
CGMS information is sent along with the video signal from a disc.
The standard is not yet finalized but a draft was proposed by Hitachi, Intel, Matsushita, Sony, and Toshiba in February, 1998. This is intended to apply to the next generation of digital TVs and VCRs as well as DVD players. Movie studios, fearing the potential for perfect digital copies, asked for additional copy protection in the DVD-Video standard. Players and DVD-ROM decoder cards have a decryption circuit that decodes the data before displaying it. No unscrambled digital output is allowed until just before being displayed by the decoder.