| Intel Finally Releases HDCP Copy Protection Spec To AV Companies |
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| Home Theater News Industry-Trade News | |
| Written by Scott Selter | |
| Thursday, 12 April 2007 | |
 Consumers,
dealers and AV manufacturers worldwide have been pulling their hair out
over the problems that have been associated with the new HDMI
connectivity that is associated with most HDTV related devices ranging
from projectors, plasmas and other flat TVs to HD devices like cable
boxes, satellite DVR as well as Blu-ray and HD DVD players.
Simply put, when HDMI is used on its own (without the HDCP copy protection) it works like a champ. It’s one cable for video and audio that plugs in nicely and works reliably. When the HDCP protection is added, the problems start for dealers, integrators and consumers alike. Receivers with less than stellar chipsets struggle to maintain steady signal pass through. Cables of lesser quality also cause problems. It has been the unknown specs from Intel that make it hard – if not impossible – to make one HD copy protected component speak to the next. Sources close to the publication say that Intel has recently released the actual specification for HDCP copy protection so that companies that make AV gear, HDTVs, computer monitors and beyond can start to augment their products so that any source will reliably and easily plug into any other HDCP component. The fact that Intel did so badly with HDCP copy protection is a huge blow to consumer and dealer support for the copy protection that Hollywood studios demand in AV gear, and now PCs that have HDTV capability. Hopefully, the release of this spec will create the ability for companies across the industry to make equipment that actually can talk to another HD component in a way that has true ease of use and fantastic feature sets. Like this article? Bookmark and share with any of the sites below.        |
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