How Does HDCP Work? 

'Or S-h-i-t" My sides ow

Step 1: Buy tv/movie from streaming site Step 2: Get told i'm not allowed to watch in HD because something in my setup doesn't support DRM-horseshit Step 3: Yarr Harr the 4k version and remember why i don't try to support my favorite shows..

S.h.i.t? 1:05

Its also terrible at stopping piracy No shit its DRM

You gotta love how many schemes that content providers come up with to try and prevent, yet further justify piracy.

"High-bandwidth digital content protection, or S H I T" Hahahahahaha whoever wrote this is the best!

One of the most common issues I run into in my work (ISP 2nd line helldesk) is customer TVs being incompatible with HDCP. Those are fun conversations where you have to tell a customer his TV is just too old.

1:00 Linus that's not how you spell HDCP XD

I found it hilarious when boxes started appearing that "downgrade" the latest HDCP to an older one, "to help with compatibility" said the manufacturer. They're very useful😉

I'd take 30 cables over hdcp bs.

HDCP sounds incredibly illegal. Okay so that was a joke about CP, but unironically HDCP should be illegal

I think it's cute that the media companies who created HDCP seems to think that people pirate their content by making a real-time recording of the original video with something like a VHS recorder like it's still the early 90s. Instead of just, y'know, ripping the digital file directly from the source.

Great video Linus! Thanks for the info and easy to understand explanations. Love the abbreviation for HDCP. ;)

Yeah... My cable box even prevented me from recording a rented movie to my dvd recorder, saying "Cant record copy protected content" when i pressed the record button on the dvd, connected via SCART, the older, fatter and analog brother of HDMI. But that was easy to bypass. 2 adapters and 6 wire cable, and i was able to record it.

Anyone else see DHCP when they read the title? LOL

As a Linux user, I'm concerned that I do not really 'own' my hardware when such restrictions are in place. I'd be happy to use old technology to circumvent this ridiculousness. Either that, or I'll use the decryption outlined in the video regardless of what content I'm viewing.

HDCP? Linus, you're gonna get in a lot of trouble with the FBI, bud.

Thank you for this video 🙌🏼 I had issues with my Nintendo switch having this error with an older tv I hooked it up to on vacation and out of all the Nintendo switch “help” videos THIS one had my answer. Thank you for this content!

I've used my 42" Toshiba flat screen for my PC for many years now(I think the TV was bought back in 2012). Even when I had 2 tv's(for L4D2 multi local), one with HDMI and the other with DVI-to-HDMI adapter, I never had any issues.

Love the sarcasm, if anything HDCP is causing people to download pre-ripped content due to all the problems it causes. As always thanks Linus you da best!

Thanks for spelling it out Linus, I almost spewed my tea all over my desk.

I couldn't understand why I was occasionally seeing snow on an HDMI input when I switched my 4K TV to my allegedly 4K capable FetchTV STB, so thanks for the explanation. HDCP sucks, particularly when I only ever use the STB to watch free to air TV or catch up TV!

Fun fact. Netflix's hdcp-compliant streaming can be circumvented easily by disabling hardware acceleration... The more you know

lol high-bandwidth digital content protection or SHIT for short. Linus 2017

What if you just bit-for-bit clone the encrypted media? It'd be impossible for any receiver device to tell the difference. Similarly, what if the decryption chip in even a single receiver device gets dumped and shared online? The entire premise of HDCP seems fundamentally flawed but it's somehow a serious thing made by very serious people at Intel and it really exists so I'm confused.

I had a problem earlier with this. my fix was to turn off and on the TV. another way to record stuff is through a different source like TV most set top boxes have RCA inputs so use that to record

when i watched this 2 weeks ago it was interesting, but last week my mum got a new TV and her Amazon fire stick was all fuzzy and messed up, she thought it was the stick dying, soooooo, i got her to watch this and told her "I think the stick is fine, i have a feeling that it's the S.H.I.T (HDCP) that's doing it" so she got an HDMI splitter as you suggested and it's working fine now, good timing on the video!!

Pretty stupid. Causes more issues than solutions. Actually still not a solution, since there are almost always multiple sources of content (dvd and stuff). Companies need to face the fact that there will always be pirates. Any protcol or anything protection they make will eventually be broken, (I've seen cases where software was cracked and out before the official release). If there is a new protection method it may hold for a year or 2 at the most like Denuvo, with that after one game was cracked after 6 months, games started getting cracked left and right. Maybe they have a slight increase in the amount of sales while the security isn't broken, but most people pirate anyways are more likely willing to wait.

I'm surprised you guys didn't mention one of the most frustrating problems with HDCP, users that have monitors over 120hz cannot watch content on HDCP-compliant streaming or devices. I cannot watch Netflix if my monitor is set to 144hz, sometimes to the point where even if I change it and try again it still doesn't work, so I have to restart my PC.

Just a basic question, looking for help. I just bought a new TV that is HDCP 2.2 and my UHD player is HDCP 2.2 as well. However, my audio receiver is older and only accepts optical input. Will I have HDCP video issues if I use the optical out to my older receiver?

linus what would make it possible for my smart tv to record on demand content such as netflix?

Correct its a nightmare. For example, my perfectly good but old DVI Monitor just will not work when connected to an HDMI PC. Spent a fortune on adapters, splitters, strippers, converter cables etc. but always a blank display even when just trying to use Windows, let alone movies and stuff. A curse on Intel

HTPC does not prevent you from copying a bluray. That is the AACS encryption, like CSS was the encryption method for DVD. The nexflix example was correct though. If you want to copy a bluray, you need to disable the AACS encryption

High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection - aka S.H.I.T. Couldn't have said it better myself Linus, and I wrote a paper on this!

I just purchased a Denon A/V receiver. One of the things I wanted to do was use my receiver to listen to real time audio editing using my Win 10 PC. The receiver and laptop don't handshake due to HDCP between the laptop and receiver. Is there a way to get the receiver and laptop HDMI to communicate?

Since the TV gets the full resolution stream, couldn't a recording device pretend to be a TV too (for example, spoof any identifiers along with using a compatible encryption key)? Surely the encryption key could be extracted from a TV.

At the start I was asking myself? Since when we can't copy original BluRay or Netflix content. Then I watched the whole video and turned out, Linus knows what he talks about.

Ah a fairly large RU-vid channel that isn't automatically pro-tech-drm-type-shit. How refreshing. Loving the bluntness here :D

hi wondering if you know of something that would allow me to use my cable box as a input into my Blackmagic Atem Switcher?

linus u do a great job and its coll as well keep up the good work

3:25 Priceless

what do i need to display my cameras. i have a dvr that using a vga out to my hdtv . i tried using a hdmi to vga adapter and still nothing . any help.

I've tried playing legally paid for movies through itunes or google play on my ipad and output that video (w/ adapter) to the analog screens in my car for the kids and get blocked every time. The interesting thing is that without a splitter, it works just fine with this setup with downloaded content from both amazon video and netflix. Why does it work with those apps and not with itunes and google play?

please do an episode on iso image files. Booting from an iso image file on a usb drive. THANKS for all your hard work

When you dont understand any of what Linus is saying, but you watch anyways.

This is exactly why I download all my movies. I have so many unopened blueray and dvds in my cabinet.

You should make a video on why composite needed 4 cables (YRGB)

I wonder if this is my problem. I've been recking my brain trying to figure out why I can't stream some content from my computer to my tv. I'm not using a hdmi cable but I am getting inconsistent/intermittent handshaking problems and issues playing certain file types?...

Wow, Techquickie seems to have totally missed the point. HDCP being a lousy software protection protocol, isn't at all important to the manufacturers. The fact that they can change it on you and make you buy everything (all from the one supplier to guarantee compatibility won't be an issue) is what it's all about. They don't even have to change anything. Imagine your system was working fine, but your old TV gets stolen or is irreparably damaged. New devices will have a new HDCP standard. You have to replace not just the TV, but EVERYTHING! Phones, cables, xbox PlayStation, everything! In order to get your system going again. This has nothing to do with copyright protection. It's corporate greed trying to force you into a very expensive way of dealing with them. It never ceases to amaze me how stupid people are these days: Apple admitted updates slowed old iPhones when the new model came out. This should have bankrupted apple years ago. That's what would have happened when I was a child. Not any more, people just accept this crap. So expect to see a lot more things like the HDCP scam in other industries. Imagine if you took your new car in for a service that is required to maintain your new car warranty. A new model of that car is released, so they deliberately make your car run richer to reduce it's performance and fuel economy. Would you buy another car from that car maker? What about if they stuff up the wheel alignment so it pulls left all the time? Or any one of dozens of other irritating things they could do. It will happen the way things are going, because that is what is happening today in other industries. Stop rewarding bad behavior of businesses obviously trying to unscrupulousness scam you, don't buy from them before it becomes an accepted practice in that industry.

1:03 I like how he spells it

Honestly this is why I like component cables still existing for now. Oh you still spit out 1080i and 1080p over analog? Lel. The amount of times I could have gotten by DRM and HDCP = to the amount of times it has screwed legit stuff

My favorite Death Grips album 0:44

When I first built my computer I was using a Display Port cable and Amazon wouldn't allow me to watch Prime content because of HDCP. It wasn't until I replaced it with HDMI cable that I was able to. I've got an Amazon Fire TV 4K and you need a compatible HDCP 2.2 TV, HDMI ports, and audio system.

1:04 this is why I love you Linus (no homo)

i use my laptop for screen mirroring and i use it for Fire TV Stick but the problem is NOW TV uses HDCP and it says that my tv is not HDCP enabled (non-compilant) but i can do it with my NOW TV box, i'm not trying to pirate anything i only want to watch it on a bigger screen.

So the tv needs to support hdcp 2.2 for the 4k blu ray player and 4k disc to work?

Ok. iPhone 6pluss, netflix account, and appleTV. Before iOS 11 was released I was able to use iPhone and my Netflix account to download Netflix shows onto my phone - then screen mirror thru AppleTV to project the show onto my television's bigger screen. With the first iOS 11 download that stopped. Now.. it all works the same except the last step. Meaning- I can see Netflix account mirrored from iPhone onto the tv while I am selecting my downloaded show.. but the minute I hit play on the show my TV screen goes black. I suspect (now) that it is HDCP... any tips to make this work again?

I plan on using the splitter method to bypass HDCP. However, are there splitters that that work with multiple inputs rather than outputs? I want to have my PS3 and PS4 plugged into one device, but because of HDCP my PS3 will not work.

How could you miss that handshake fails at 144Hz... A bane to all of us with nice overdriven TN film Gaming displays... I have to run at 120Hz just in case I accidentally load netflix or something that tries to force a handshake.

does it mean that i should buy a new 4k tv for it to work or can i still use my full hd tv?

reminds me of that time my linux install wouldn't start but windows did. turns out that one of the hdmi in the ports of the tv I use as a monitor had faulty audio

interesting and true. good video!

Watching this video on a HDCP-stripped signal because of the wonderful HDMI-splitter trick :)

Love It. Made my day.

I like that "also stands for 's-h-i-t'"

1:03 Echoes Act 3 confirmed as Linus' Stand

This explains a lot of my issues.

1:36 What? I've ripped plenty of Blu-Rays without any sacrifice to quality. Seriously though, if you're using capture software/devices rather than something like HandBrake to rip Blu-Rays, you're doing it wrong.

This has been an annoyance to me; I never imagined when I PVR'd that one time I was on local morning news that it would be trapped on that PVR forever. Now it sits, like an aging VHS tape, in the basement, holding that recording.

will you do a video on Alcubierre drive

Movies on Itunes won't play in HD because of HDCP and now the sound cut out too. I have an lg 24" ultrawide monitor and a custom-built pc that is fairly new. Why does Itunes not let me watch my movies?

Hi Linus Can you make a "Quickly as possible" video explaining about the components of a smartphone processor (Snap Dragon) Thanks :D

Did anyone else see that at 4:28 Linus said "a splitter" but showed the oposite (multiple inputs, one output)?

Very Nice Bro

HDCP is meant to protect digital content from unauthorized devices as well as Man-in-the-Middle attacks. However, it is also flawed as there are videos and tutorials as to how to bypass HDCP.

3:20 If the bios were unlocked in a TV, we would see a LTT video titled "Overclocking my TV part 1/4"

my ps3 and much newer tv had a problem with the handshake protocol and simply wouldnt work until i got another cable. i tried several but the one that finally ended up working also happened to be the cheapest piece of crap cable i could find.

UNRELATED QUESTION: Can someone tell me if either the ports, or the cable itself is the thing that has to be up to standards? For example, say a video card (cause that's the most popular output device I can think of) comes with a DisplayPort 1.4 output, and you have a monitor with a DisplayPort 1.4 input, do you need a DisplayPort 1.4 cable as well to take advangtage of the full bandwidth? Or are all DisplayPort cables the same? (in regards to how much data they can carry) Thanks for any help!!

Is it common to have issues with HDCP, when it comes to 'regular usage'? I use HDMI with lots of different devices & TVs & I don't think I've had to deal with any HDCP errors. I'm currently using HDMI with 4 TVs (2008*, 2009, 2018 & 2019) & a monitor, & I'm using about 4 cables, each of a different model (probably at least 1's over a decade old). The date range of the devices I use span at least 2009-2019. So, maybe the handshake errors come with more specific use, &/or are not very common? * -ish

This is why i bought a splitter that is also a scrubber so far i have not found one thing it won't work with that i own. best $24 i ever spent. :)

i recall seeing a decrypter passthrough implementation on an altera cyclone development board. Isnt there some chinese gadget to do that without all the extra pins and ports? say 1 hdmi in, 1 hdmi out, and the power plug? (maybe even self powered?)

Honestly my first thought when I read that was that it said HPCP. Lol that's a Hellfire Pilot Control Panel in an AH-1W. lol. Basically for everyone its how a pilot selects a Hellfire missile to shoot.

did anyone else get the S**T on 1:03 ?

I just got a new 4k monitor. It had HDMI 2.0 as does my ps4pro and I'm using a certified fast cable but ps4 wont recognise monitor as 4k. Both options greyed out. 1080p and hdr work. Could this be an hdcp problem. I'm getting no where.

Hmm, I keep getting a "Unable to display signal" message on my Sony Bravia when I try to hook my new computer up to it through HDMI (with my GTX 1070 as the source), but maybe that splitter idea will fix things for me

I have a chromecast ultra and a monitor that is 4k and HDCP2.2 compatible, but I just can't get the chromecast to spit out 4k. Any idea why?

That is why I had to put a HDMI switch between my TV and DVR. without it the DVR actually overheats and crashes often. but the switch is getting old and needs replacing, unfortunately the one I got to replace it doesn't block the HDCP signature and doesn't fix the problem.

Next Vid GSM VS CDMA please

If your freesync monitor is going black sometimes while freesync is enabled using HDMI, disable HDCP. It fixes this issue(October 2020)

So if I have an older yamaha reciever that had hdmi 2.0 instead of HDCP 2.2 then when I run everything thru it my picture on TV won't be in hd

How does HDR work? Is it just a term for displays with a high contrast ratio?

It has given people problems because that is *all it does*. Its only function and feature is to break functionality, because some companies imagine that makes them more money. For a handful of lawyers it even does, but certainly not for producers.

The HDCP on my setup means I have to start my amplifier after the tv has started or I do not get audio.

Please do a video on how to download more RAM, my mainframe is getting hacked

It's annoying to have to keep turning HDCP on & off when I'm using my PS4. I typically have my elgato capturing everything, but have to toggle it whenever I wanna use Netflix or RU-vid

Linus knows all about that HD CP.

I always thought that HDCP stands for Sugar Honey Ice Tea... joking aside, I thought it was High Definition Copy Protection. Then again, it doesn't just cover video/audio, right?

Any suggestion for a good splitter?

I've gotten that "HDCP unauthorized. content disabled."(at 2:29) many times on our Roku 3's.

So, then why does it say Hdcp on my elgato capture software when i try to record some game footage from my xbox?