Bypass HDCP!

[koga73]

So, I got a blu-ray drive and an 8800GT (both HDCP capable). My tv (27" sony lcd) that my computer is hooked up to is not HDCP complient. So clearly this is a problem for me.

Ive looked around and found these things called HDCP strippers, but once one is on the blacklist its no good anymore. Is there any other way to bypass HDCP? A program?

If there isn't a program, couldn't one be made by getting the stream of data before it goes out of the computer. This way, the program could just trick the hdcp device into thinking it is hdcp also, and then stripping the hdcp away, and sending it out. And to avoid being blacklisted, generate the private keys!

Any sugestions of what I can do without buying a new TV.

 

[rodney_ws]

Although personally I don't feel like you're trying to do anything wrong, I'm pretty sure the RIAA/MPAA would see it differently. HDCP is about control... pure and simple... and I'm going to go out on a limb and say you'd be breaking the law if you bypassed HDCP.

I am curious to see if you get any responses.

 

[tonyn84]

Is it the tv that's not hdcp compliant or is it the cable you're using to connect? My old ass plasma doesn't even mention hdcp in the manual but it worked just fine over a vga connection instead of dvi/component.

 

[dizz]

Sorry rodney_ws, but I totally disagree. I doubt there are any “laws” anywhere that address the specific act of by passing HDCP in its self & of its self exclusively.

There are of course laws that deal with “Copyright”; but if you are a “consumer” who bypassing HDCP so that you may “watch” HD content in your own home, then you are almost certainly not breaking any laws.

Regards, Dizz

 

[koga73]

The tv is not hdcp. From what i've read, it will still display the movie, just downconverted.

 

[diplomat696]

who are you kidding i am sure the riaa/fcc/mpaa etc etc etc will always find something wrong and a way to sue us !!! LOL

Kick

Kidding really but not completely, I do not see why just so you can play your own stuff you could not bypass HDCP to be honest either. Whether you can or not possibly a different story (sorry not much help here!!) I do agree with dizz though for what its worth.

Have you tested the lack of hdcp thing just using the lower resolution as suggested by tonyn84?

 

[Jim_L9]

Have you tested it on the TV? They haven't yet enabled the bit that forces the resolution down on movies, but it is supposed to be done at some future time.

 

[mrmez]

AFAIK, HDCP applies to DIGITAL transmission of signals. Ie: HDMI and DVI.

If you transfer the signal across VGA/DSUB then HDCP is not applied to the signal and can be viewed with any monitor/gfx card combo.

Failing that, i think AnyDVD HD has HDCP removal.

The whole thing pisses me off really. BluRay is encrypted right. So ur pc decodes the video and audio. But before it sends it out its gotta encrypt HDCP into it again. You can probably play BR on a smelleron with out that BS.

 

[heliotrope00]

HDCP must die!

1 There is no encryption or copy protection that cannot be circumvented. (Remember when SONY's billion-dollar disk protection scheme was felled by a dude with a felt tip?) Blu-ray and HD-DVD copy protection already have been circumvented, and the days of HDCP are, of course, numbered. The only people truly limited by such ill-conceived 'copy-proofing' schemes are law abiding consumers. A pirate's life for me.

2 HDCP cannot be fully implemented, and is virtually useless as it is currently implemented. Currently, you can still play HDCP content over composite, component, VGA, etc., Although downscaled. With composite, I'm told the downscaling is not all that significant. Below certain screen sizes, it should be imperceptible. One can still easily copy such content through a composite or component line with little loss in resolution. So, while it does not really prevent copying of such content, it does make it an expensive headache for the average consumer to enjoy the full capabilities of Bluray, HDTV, and HDMI. This encourages consumers to simply forgo any or all of these (as I am considering with my new HTPC build.) If HDCP is ever fully implemented (which would mean HTCP content will play only through an all-HDMI/DVI device chain) then most of their potential market will be cut off, because customers have one or more non-compliant devices in their system, or because they must use component or composite connections at one or more points. Furthermore, I have read several reports of some systems having a lag between the audio and the video caused my multiple seconds-long security handshakes along the device chain.

3 According to my latest research, it is still impossible to 'split out' the audio in a surround sound system while sending the video on to an HDTV. Apparently, the creators of HDCP assumed we all wanted to enjoy high resolution 5+ megabit per second high definition audio through a pair of tinny built-in TV speakers. Good thinking.

4 HDCP requires customers to spend extra money on extra electronics in every component of their home theater system. For their extra money they get no extra benefits, but rather a decrease in the capability and compatibility of their system. Sign me up.

5 The owners have jealously constrained PC harware manufacturers' implementation of the technology, and even now, with 'HDCP compliant' hardware (such as there is) you cannot get full HDMI resolution audio through those PC-base HDMI components. (I could be wrong on this point, as there are 2 sound cards now available which send audio over HDMI ports, however their specs are somewhat vague, and I have difficulty beleiving that current chipsets would have the native capability of handling the full 5+MBPS bitrate of full HDMI audio, when until very recently the maximum acheivable output was 1.5 MBPS via S/PDIF). I recently tried (very hard) to configure an HTPC with harware support for HDMI/HDPC/Bluray with Dolby Digital and DTS surround, and ultimately threw my hands up in disgust. The technology just isn't there.

In short, HDCP deserves to die. Horribly. It is a stupid technology implemented stupidly by stupid people.

 

[Goanna05]

I am in the same boat. I have an HTPC with a Blu-Ray drive and I use either WinDVD or PowerDVD to play movies, but whenever I put a movie in after a few minutes I get a warning telling me my system isnt HDCP compliant.

So, then I close everything and run the HD wizard from cyberlink to see if it comes up okay, and sometimes it doesn't (because I have a 7.1 receiver with HDMI switching between my PC and TV). If I switch the receivers input back and forth then it will resync and say HDCP is supported, but again a few minutes into the movie it gives me the error again.

It is really quite annoying. The only workaround is AnyDVD HD by Slysoft, but it's pricey and I really dont feel like I should have to pay $85 for yet another program just to watch a movie. The drive itself and the movies are already expensive. At this point I will just keep watching DVD's.

I just can hope that in the near future, some sort of free, open source application comes out that can do the same as AnyDVD. I have no interest in copying the bluray disc to my hard drive first and then watching the movie (those programs already exist), I just want to be able to pop a disc in and watch it!

 

[rodney_ws]

Sorry rodney_ws, but I totally disagree. I doubt there are any “laws” anywhere that address the specific act of by passing HDCP in its self & of its self exclusively.

There are of course laws that deal with “Copyright”; but if you are a “consumer” who bypassing HDCP so that you may “watch” HD content in your own home, then you are almost certainly not breaking any laws.

Regards, Dizz

I'm pretty sure the DMCA frowns upon bypassing any system used for copy protection. The scope of the DMCA is broader than it needs to be... hell, I'm not sure the lawyers/judges have figured out just how broadly to apply it... so to say doing something like this is legal seems a bit foolhardy unless you're a copyright lawyer with years and years of experience.

*EDIT* Oh wow... a year old reply... whoops!

 

[sminlal]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say you'd be breaking the law if you bypassed HDCP.

My understanding is that in the USA the DMCP (Digital Millenium Copyright Protection) act prohibits bypassing encryption used to protect copyrighted works. It even prohibits any attempt to circumvent such protection.

Technically speaking this means that ripping DVDs or selling software which can rip encrypted DVDs is illegal in the US. But to my knowledge no individuals have ever been prosecuted for it. I do believe that DVD ripping software is no longer carried in US stores, though - at least in the reputable ones.

 

[rodney_ws]

Sminlal, that was pretty much my thoughts on it, but another poster was really adamant that you CAN (legally) bypass HDCP. The DMCA is what happens when politicians interfere in an area where they have no experience. It's a giant cluster $^&@ of a law that needs to be scrapped.

 

[arthurh]

This topic has been closed by Arthurh