How Does HDCP Work?
Techquickie
·Techquickie
·2017-05-06
·
981 words · ~4 min read
0:00
you know it wasn't too long ago that if you wanted to get a crisp image and
0:04
surround sound from your shiny new DVD player it wasn't unrealistic to be using
0:11
11 different analog cables mercifully the HDMI cable came to
0:18
our rescue a few years back with the most recent version
0:23
2.0b capable of carrying 4K at 60 HZ
0:27
with up to 32 channels of surround sound
0:31
and even HDR all on that single cable
0:35
wow but of course with all the cool
0:39
copyrighted content flowing through that one convenient pipe the powers that be
0:45
wanted to make sure that it couldn't be copied without permission which is why
0:50
most HDMI source and Display Devices set
0:55
toop boxes graphics cards TVs even the chomecast also supported feature called
1:01
high bandwidth digital content protection or
1:05
the idea behind hdcp is to keep
1:10
devices from recording content at its
1:13
original quality which obviously doesn't
1:16
mean that you can't capture anything off of your TV or computer if that were the
1:22
case twitch wouldn't be raking in all that game streaming money hdcp
1:27
restrictions only kick in with specifically encrypted content most
1:33
commonly movies and TV shows chances are
1:37
you've encountered it if you've ever tried to create a backup of a Blu-ray
1:41
you bought or if you've tried to run a screen capture software while watching
1:46
Netflix which does use htcp compliance
1:50
streaming now I know what you're thinking G Linus what could possibly go
1:55
wrong with such an overwrought anti-piracy scheme well plenty of things
2:01
there are a number of issues with hdcp that have ended up frustrating average
2:06
users far more than the people trying to
2:09
make a quick Buck Distributing pirated copies of Blade Runner as you might
2:14
guess the fact that HDMI and hdcp with
2:18
it has gone through several revisions
2:21
means that trying to hook up a newer device to an older device can result in
2:26
your content of choice completely refusing to play and even if all your
2:33
equipment is relatively new you can still run into dreaded hgcp hand shaking
2:39
errors you see hand shaking is a process
2:42
where each HDMI device recognizes the other and exchanges encryption Keys
2:48
although this usually happens without a hitch some setups especially on the
2:53
bleeding edge or due to poor after sales
2:57
support from the manufacturers as often happens happens with TVs can be finicky
3:02
and if you don't turn your devices on in the correct order or your magic
3:07
eightball is giving you some bad news
3:10
you'll only see snow or a blank screen
3:14
instead of getting an actual picture this can even happen if you're not
3:18
trying to watch encrypted content my TV
3:21
at home I can't access the
3:25
BIOS and on the subject of TV let's say
3:28
you're running something like a sports bar and you want to show the big game on
3:33
lots of screens with HDMI htcp can cause
3:37
problems here as well since dumb Splitters that you would normally use
3:42
with an analog connection won't work due
3:45
to the digital handshaking and encryption processes instead you're at
3:50
the mercy of your cable or satellite provider who gets to decide how many
3:56
displays their set toop boxes will support typically a number so they can
4:01
cram extra set top boxes down your throat for a nominal fee but that isn't
4:05
to say that there aren't workarounds the most common way to defeat some of these
4:10
hdcp frustrations is with a proper HDMI
4:14
splitter many of which ignore hdcp and
4:18
sometimes allow new and old equipment to play together more nicely of course they
4:24
also allow you to send your HDMI signal to multiple screens but the splitter
4:30
still has to be recognized by your Source device which can be hit or miss
4:35
depending on the firmware and exactly what version of hdcp your gadgets and
4:40
the splitter itself support so your mileage may vary so the most frustrating
4:46
yet unsurprising thing about all of this is that while htcp is great at angering
4:52
normal consumers it's actually terrible at stopping piracy as the encryption
4:57
scheme it uses is relatively weak and
5:00
has already been cracked including the most recent version at the time of
5:04
filming 2.2 so perhaps one day we'll be able to
5:09
convince our corporate overlords to ditch
5:12
hdcp but given that these are the same Geniuses that gave us things like root
5:17
kits on audio CDs mandatory online gameplay and product activation we may
5:22
be in for a bit of a weit speaking of weight what are you waiting for Do you
5:27
want to build a beautiful website do you want to use tools that make it easy to
5:31
put together something whether it's for your store or your sports team that you
5:36
coach or uh a restaurant that tells other people who you are and what you're
5:41
about well stop waiting because Squarespace for only 12 bucks a month
5:46
lets you do just that all of their gorgeous templates feature responsive
5:50
design all of their websites include a Commerce module they've got cover pages
5:56
which is a feature that allows you to set up a beautiful onepage online presence in minutes they've got their
6:00
logo designer they've got like tons of great features and they've got 247 tech
6:05
support via live chat and email so stop waiting start a trial with no credit
6:09
card required and start building your website today when you decide to sign up
6:14
for Squarespace on an ongoing basis make sure you use offer code Techquickie
6:17
Linked In the video description to get 10% off thanks for watching like dislike
6:22
check out our other channels leave a comment with the suggestion And subscribe