Multiple screenshots of Blu-Ray and HD DVD movie titles during play-back could be used to create copies of the original titles.

A German computer magazine reports that the first software players bundled with Sony's Blu-Ray and Toahiba's players allow screenshots of the movies to be created in full resolution. CT said it tested both HD DVD and Blu-ray devices with software that takes a snapshot of every single picture of a movie and then recombines these into a new film.

CT said the conversion software, which reintegrates the audio as well, worked on Windows XP systems. It said it tested a Sony personal computer with a Blu-ray drive and a Toshiba notebook with a HD DVD drive.

Both makers say that the updated software (Intervideo's WinDVD player) will soon prevent this. Toshiba confirmed the security hole, which affects the computers already sold, and announced updates for the player software and graphics card driver. These new software versions should disable the screenshot function.

According to Toshiba, however, the original WinDVD version does not violate the security stipulations in the AACS LA. Toshiba therefore does not expect the first WinDVD version to be blocked by an update of the AACS key. By switching the keys, which would be necessary for new HD DVD movies, the AACS LA could force users to update their software, thus closing the copy protection hole.