Do I need HDCP? (1 Viewer)

WelshTom

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May 13, 2005
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Hi there,

I am in a bit of a dilema and was hop0ing someone could throw some light on my problem. Basically I am about to buy a new LCD TV, which is quite a bit investment so I want to buy the right one. I have been looking and have found a 30" screen with a resolution of 1280 x 768 and a DVI input, but no HDCP. No problem I thought as I will be runing everything through my HTPC anyway.

But then I started thinking about when Blue-Ray and HD-DVD drives start arriving for the PC, will they only be able to display films onto a TV with HDCP? I know they are planning this with stand alone players, but will it be needed for HTPC's too? Will we also need new graphics cards?

Not sure if anyone out there can help, but any suggestions will be welcomed!

Thanks
 

Brocklander

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  • September 15, 2004
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    I wouldn't touch a new display without HDCP. You will not be able to play BluRay or HDDVD at a HD resolution - from a dedicated player or from your HTPC - without HDCP protection, and yes this means sometime in the future having to get a graphics card that supports it.

    But on the other hand, is it worth it? If you don't want to play HD material from those discs, along with whatever else they put the same protection on in the future, then you don't need it. There's also the likely chance that someone will get around the protection the same way they have with DVD output over analogue.
     

    jawbroken

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    August 13, 2005
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    Is this going to mean the death of HD CRTs? That is a shame. Then again, I have no plans to move to Blu-Ray or HD-DVD any time soon anyway...
     

    SiLenTYL

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  • April 23, 2004
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    yes exactly Brocklander..

    i understand that HD content on a PC running windows Vista will be downscaled to dvd resolution...which is a pity..im not sure exactly when HDCP enabled graphics card will be released, but im guiessing it will have to be soon

    atm, im running some 1080i movies on my ol 68cm CRT TV, using composite(lol) ...as nVidia have screwed with the whole component-out issue...i would be getting a HD resolution on my TV(which is a hell of a lot better than 720x576)..but due to nVidias crappy drivers, my settings are lost, not used or simply decide not to work at the drop of a hat!

    ive tried reverting to old drivers, but then some other features wont work..like the nVidia PureVideo decoder, which i use everyday for TV :( and im not reverting to an older version of that *sigh*

    if u plan to play high definition content ( HD-DVD's, Blu-Ray, recorded videos, trailers etc) on a TV, then get yourself a proper HDCP enabled TV, and wait till u can upgrade your TV-out card to one that supports it also.....otherwise u'll be getting DVD resolution only when u watch your HD movies
     

    rtv

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  • April 7, 2005
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    Note: The property owner might restrict the non-HDCP devices to lower resolutions..
     

    gxtracker

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  • July 25, 2005
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    rtv said:
    Note: The property owner might restrict the non-HDCP devices to lower resolutions..

    Very true. While I also wouldn't touch a new TV without HDCP just in case, I do know that the confusion surrounding HDCP at the moment is making it harder for me to belive that it will become mainstream. Most likely it will be there to protect specific content - but not everything.

    Even the battle between Blue-Ray and HD-DVD is causing confusion. So much so that if they do go live with both formats, the consumer is just going to get confused.
     

    Tech Geek

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    January 29, 2006
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    gxtracker said:
    Even the battle between Blue-Ray and HD-DVD is causing confusion. So much so that if they do go live with both formats, the consumer is just going to get confused.

    That's why some manufacturers are changing their player specs to include support for both formats on the same player. No matter what format wins you aren't stuck.
     

    Brocklander

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  • September 15, 2004
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    There isn't a doubt in my mind that the studios will do whatever they can to lock down their content, and of course having to buy new hardware isn't exactly going to upset component manufacturers either.

    The first 'real' HDMI HDCP card is here too, a Sapphire X1600 Pro, 128MB.

    sapphire_card.jpg
     

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