If you are in the market for a new HDTV or Blu-ray DVD player, you best make sure it is HDCP compliant as well as HDMI compliant. These two technologies are a must in the new digital age. While standardization is still hard to nail down in the digital audio and video world, these two technologies have risen to the top when it comes to compatibility concerns.
What Is HDCP?
HDCP is the abbreviation for High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection. It was developed to protect copyrighted data as it is distributed between electronic devices. As media and entertainment companies that produce movies and television shows are very interested in protecting what they produce, hardware manufacturers of digital devices saw an opportunity to draw them into compliance with their products over other competitors by offering them ‘security’. Movie companies immediately bought into this and jumped on board pushing the use of HDCP in use with Blu-ray, HDMI and HDTV as a standard to help discourage piracy.
So How Does This Affect Me?
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The new inclusion of HDCP in movies, televisions, dvd players and other electronic devices has grown enough now that there are compatibility issues between non-HDCP compliant devices and those that are compliant. In typical Hollywood fashion, movie producers jumped at the opportunity to make a buck even though they knew it would be at the expense of their consumers. This leaves you getting the shaft if you do not have an HDCP compatible TV or electronic device. As HDMI is the only way to connect HDCP compliant devices, you have to also make sure they are HDMI compatible as well.
Will This End Movie Piracy?
No. No matter what copyright security features the industry comes up with, someone will always crack it. It is a perpetual game that Hollywood insists on playing and one we keep having to pay for. Unfortunately, this will probably not be the last time you will have to upgrade a perfectly good electronics device to meet the new security ‘standards’ of the entertainment industry.
Suggestions?
Right now, if you are in the market for a new movie media electronic device (like an HDTV or Blu-ray DVD player), you should make sure it is HDCP and HDMI compatible. Otherwise you might be staring at a blue screen instead of the latest hig-def 3D movie.
