HDCP is killing HDMI
People have been complaining quite loudly about HDMI switching devices and lockups that occur because of it.
It’s interesting that the media (as usual) gets it wrong and places the blame on HDMI. HDMI is just a delivery system, a cable, and some specs on how to shove a whole bunch of data down that cable. On the other hand, there is HDCP. This copy protection “scheme” is suppose to authorize display devices (HDTV) with content devices (Blu-Ray/HD DVD). Sounds good in principal until you add one more thing.
The switch.
Most receivers today that have an HDMI switcher in them to do just that. Switch from HDMI device to HDMI device. The problem is that when it switches it cuts off the connection to other device, the HDCP handshake is broken, and boom goes the player.
Short of getting rid of HDCP (that has my vote), the only way to fix this is for the receiver to be the HDCP device. Kind of like playing “man in the middle”, but I think that the HDCP group wants the player to directly talk to the display device.
Another “hack” would be the HDMI switch inside the receiver broadcasting the display device HDCP signal back down to the connected devices like say your satellite receiver and your Blu-ray player. The players would be happy because they are getting their HDCP signal fix and there should be no lockups. This also would save the receiver company from having to pay the HDCP licensing fee.
A compromise needs to be hammered out quickly because I think that critical mass will happen next year when the new receivers start shipping that support the HDMI 1.3 bandwidth and can decode the new audio formats. By that time this HDMI/HDCP mess had better be a non-issue.
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July 27th, 2006 at 8:42 am
Ah, I get it. This area has always been a little fuzzy until just now!
July 31st, 2006 at 6:50 pm
HDCP is killing HD. I don’t even know why is it useful to protect HD over DVI or HDMI. Do you know a 1080p capable recorder with DVI/HDMI input ? Me neither.
As for the component downsampling, it is pointless as well. The only recorders with component inputs are W-VHS, and this format has been dead and buried for a long time.
It’s always the same stuff, with Big Content companies telling everyone in the electronics business how to futz up their products in a way that is just going to annoy the people who are honest and buy their content. Pirated content downloaded on the net doesn’t have DRM and doesn’t need HDCP compliant hardware to be seen.
August 1st, 2006 at 11:47 am
I agree. I just bought a new Samsung DLP recently (a new model), and the handshake with my Time Warner cable box which I have connected via HDMI is often off. When I first turn on the machine, if the handshake doesn’t happen, I have to change the channel to an HD station once everything is on. It’s a big inconvenience considering the money I’ve spent on a quality system and cable service.