Club CDFreaks - Knowledge is Power - View Single Post - How can I tell if my TV is HDCP complient?

**Seán** · 10-02-2006

From what I recall, the broadcast flag has no effect on older AV equipment, TV tuners, etc. that does not support it as they would simply ignore this. I would strongly advise against installing the firmware update on your AV receiver, since the SIRT-165 does support DVI-HDCP from what I have read around and if you were to update its firmware such that it recognises the broadcast flags, it will likely activate HDCP on all flagged content which would make these broadcasts unwatchable via the DVI connection without a HDCP compliant TV.

The Component video (Y/Pr/PB) connection does not support HDCP since this is an analogue connection; however it is up to the manufacturer to decide how to handle its component video outputs when it detects broadcast flag. Some will reduce the picture quality output to standard definition and some others will turn off the component video-out to force users to use a DVI-HDCP compliant display or recorder.

Unfortunately, both HD DVD and Blu-ray players will require HDCP displays for both their DVI and HDMI outputs, which means that once these come out, you will need to look for a model that features at least 720p or 1080i over component video output as the DVI/HDMI outputs will not work with your displays.

Until about a year back, here in Ireland the vast majority of HDTV displays with DVI that were on sale between the UK and Ireland were not HDCP compliant either, however now nearly every 30"+ HDTV display I come across is HDCP compliant or HD-Ready (which implies HDCP compliant). About 2/3 of 20" to 29" LCD TV's I come across now are also HDCP compliant, which likely means that once the next generation of DVD players launch, chances are that the content providers are going to say "Well, since virtually all HDTV's on sale are HDCP compliant, let's stick with HDCP enforcement on players" without giving a thought to all the unlucky consumers who bought earlier models. On the other hand, very few if any LCD PC monitors regardless of their size are HDCP compliant, which means that there will be a lot of unhappy PC users who decide to fork out on a HD DVD or Blu-ray PC drive only to find that their monitor and likely also their graphics card are not compliant!

10-02-2006	#5 (permalink)
Seán News Coordinator, Reviewer & Senior Moderator Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Republic of Ireland (North West) Posts: 2,594	Re: How can I tell if my TV is HDCP complient? From what I recall, the broadcast flag has no effect on older AV equipment, TV tuners, etc. that does not support it as they would simply ignore this. I would strongly advise against installing the firmware update on your AV receiver, since the SIRT-165 does support DVI-HDCP from what I have read around and if you were to update its firmware such that it recognises the broadcast flags, it will likely activate HDCP on all flagged content which would make these broadcasts unwatchable via the DVI connection without a HDCP compliant TV. The Component video (Y/Pr/PB) connection does not support HDCP since this is an analogue connection; however it is up to the manufacturer to decide how to handle its component video outputs when it detects broadcast flag. Some will reduce the picture quality output to standard definition and some others will turn off the component video-out to force users to use a DVI-HDCP compliant display or recorder. Unfortunately, both HD DVD and Blu-ray players will require HDCP displays for both their DVI and HDMI outputs, which means that once these come out, you will need to look for a model that features at least 720p or 1080i over component video output as the DVI/HDMI outputs will not work with your displays. Until about a year back, here in Ireland the vast majority of HDTV displays with DVI that were on sale between the UK and Ireland were not HDCP compliant either, however now nearly every 30"+ HDTV display I come across is HDCP compliant or HD-Ready (which implies HDCP compliant). About 2/3 of 20" to 29" LCD TV's I come across now are also HDCP compliant, which likely means that once the next generation of DVD players launch, chances are that the content providers are going to say "Well, since virtually all HDTV's on sale are HDCP compliant, let's stick with HDCP enforcement on players" without giving a thought to all the unlucky consumers who bought earlier models. On the other hand, very few if any LCD PC monitors regardless of their size are HDCP compliant, which means that there will be a lot of unhappy PC users who decide to fork out on a HD DVD or Blu-ray PC drive only to find that their monitor and likely also their graphics card are not compliant!