There has been an increase in problems with HDMI interfaces and HDCP compliance issues since Christmas. I have posted on this problem previously. As I expected this issue seems set to rear its ugly head following the Christmas buying season.
I would make the following observations.
There is wide spread misunderstanding that HDMI is just a another digital connection. It is not. There is a digital rights management issue that goes with the package. That Package is the whole issue of the HDCP compliance problem.
The System basically works like this, although it is very complex. There are six digital keys, that have to handshake between the sending and receiving device. For many devices this handshake has to be continuously repeated. This is the repeater architecture question.
Any device that receives and passes on digital data in HDMI is held to a higher standard then an end device, such as a display.
If you want to know who's windows to smash this is the outfit responsible for this nonsense.
http://www.digital-cp.com/home
However they are doing this at the behest of the unsatisfactory individuals inhabiting Hollywood
The purpose behind all this is piracy prevention. However the pirates, especially those in the Far East crack the problem quickly and then the studios want something else. This is an arms race. We the consumers are funding it. However Digital Home protection squeeze a kings ransom out of the manufacturer's in license fees.
Now the Hollywood crowd are just paranoid about devices that output HD signals and even more about devices that receive and output HD signals. The rules here are getting increasingly draconian.
Therefore it is no wonder that I have been fielding requests for help from individuals who have just acquired HD DVD devices. This has been an increasing problem with digital cable and satellite boxes, including HD DVR boxes. For instance my Gefen switcher will not pass an HDMI signal from my latest Direct TV HD DVR, but it would the last one.
Now all this is in my view and others a flagrant violation of existing fair use laws. This unsavory Hollywood crowd need their pants sued off them.
This is an organization that is valiantly trying to help and needs the support of all of us.
http://www.eff.org/issues/digital-video
In addition we need to lobby our federal legislative representatives. Steve Jobst is right. We need to outlaw DRM. It is an unfair burden on the consumer and in my view fraudulent, as you have to do a lot of digging to get to the facts, they don't want the consumer to know. They want the customer to think it's all the manufacturer's fault, which it isn't.
Worse the ground rules change like shifting dessert sand with minimal disclosure and release of inadequate technical details, which creates impossible problems for manufacturers. Basically Hollywood will not be happy until HD devices only output to end devices such as displays.
To add insult to injury the new rules call for new HD devices to downgrade to 480i to the analog outputs, and that includes component video.
These are posts I have done previously.
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?p=328741#post328741
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?p=344883#post344883
I have also done quite a few posts today in response to customers who can't view there new high definition players when connected to the HDMI ports of their receivers.
Now this issue is not one to ignore. It's time to kick up one hell of a row, especially in this election year.
