interactive high definition (copy protection) (iHD)

To protect the content of optical storage media, HD-DVD and the Blu-Ray disc work with different copy protection techniques.

The Blu-Ray disc follows a very rigid copy protection that does not allow any copies, while HD-DVD relies on a copy protection method developed by Microsoft, Disney and Toshiba, called iHD (Interactive), which is also supported by Windows Vista. Unlike the Blu-Ray disc, the user can make a protected copy of the HD-DVD, the so-called Mandatory Managed Copy.

On the HD-DVD there are special applications in JavaScript, which can control the player functions via the programming interface iHD-DVD. The user can use it to set up menus and perform post-processing of the HD-DVD, such as showing titles, subtitles and authors.