Our pals over at Infinite Loop and Engadget are reporting that while Apple’s new laptops might have snazzy Mini DisplayPorts, some iTunes content is all sewn up in High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) ridiculousness—a new version of DRM for video that requires all devices in the chain of video transmission to be authorized to play back content. In other words, if you want hook up a projector or an older monitor to your new machine in order to watch certain iTunes content, you’re going to get the above error message. The solution? You’ll need an HDCP-compliant display.
Apparently this has been brewing on the Apple discussion boards for a few weeks now, with one poster reporting on October 26:
Just got a new MacBook last week and finally found a mini Display Port -> VGA adapter so i could use my 19” external display. I rented a movie from the iTunes store yesterday and when I tried to play it on my external display, it gave me a warning/error that the display was ‘not an authorized HDCP display’ and it would not play. Plays fine on the small MacBook screen, just nothing external. To make it even worse, i tried all the movies that I have purchased from the iTunes store with the same result… NONE of them will play on anything but the MacBook’s small 13” screen. This is crazy unacceptable.
Word.
I say its one less excuse to call Microsoft the bad guy.
I wonder if by "found a mini DisplayPort -> VGA adapter" he means the one Apple offers on the MacBook BTO options. I'm curious if that doesn't work. It should, it is an analog signal after all.
Still, this is not something I expected from videos that play through unprotected DVI ports.
Wow, that's crap. I'm glad I run an older iMac (2007), sending video through the mini-DVI to composite video for my 26" tube, which is plenty for my tiny house. That should do me for a while, until I get me a new place and a new TV.
But the thought of not being able to take a MacBook on the road and enjoy your content on whatever large screen is available is very crummy indeed.
Wow, now I am really glad I have never purchased a movie on iTunes. Yeah, long live the DVD!
Well that's a darn good reason to not buy movies from the iTunes store. Get them on DVD and rip them yourself. You'll end up with higher quality (there is no such thing as an HD download), and no DRM. That's why I don't buy music there either - lousy quality and restricted use. CD's are even cheaper if you buy them used.
totally unacceptable.
An unkind way to force people to buy new hardware in a recession.
@Stan, don't be ridiculous. A 720p download is higher quality than the DVD standard supports, and there are no restrictions on iTunes Plus downloads. Time to update your information.
On the plus side (if Blu-ray is a plus), I fail to see how this restriction is enforced, but the implementation of HDCP for a Blu-ray drive is somehow prohibitively processor-intensive.
And then they ask us why do we steal movies from the bay of pirates... I wonder why?
@Andres DeCosta: Get educated before opening your ignorant mouth.
"High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) is a form of digital copy protection developed by Intel Corporation to prevent copying of digital audio and video content as it travels across DisplayPort, Digital Visual Interface (DVI), High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), Gigabit Video Interface (GVIF), or Unified Display Interface (UDI) connections, even if such copying would be permitted by fair use laws. The specification is proprietary, and implementing HDCP requires a license.[1]"
"DisplayPort is a digital display interface standard (approved May 2006, current version 1.1a approved on January 11, 2008) put forth by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). ... DisplayPort includes optional DPCP (DisplayPort Content Protection) copy-protection from AMD, which uses 128-bit AES encryption, with modern cryptography ciphers....Newly featured in version 1.1 is the support of HDCP .... DisplayPort is a competitor to the HDMI connector (with HDCP copy-protection), the de facto digital connection for high-definition consumer electronics devices."
The same thing would happen if you hook up a BluRay player or the Apple TV to a non-HDCP display. (Most computer monitors) If you digital to digital, and the content is HDCP encrypted, then it works only on a HDCP display. That is the rule. The 30", 23" and 20" Apple Display aren't HDCP and hence won't work. You would have the same issue on XBox 360 or Playstation 3. But not many people are connecting those to their computer monitors. I would suspect even the new NetFlix rentals for XBox are HDCP encoded.
On the note about the component working for the iMac because it is analog. I am actually surprised to hear that a HDCP encrypted movie is allowed to play In that case.
I do my own ripping and I have seen many a movie on BluRay and HD-DVD, and there is no comparison. The HD formats are far superior to DVD. The iTunes HD Rentals / TV Shows are pretty decent over DVD as well. I only wish there were ways to rip them, but yet HDCP gets in the way of that too.
In the end, Apple is following the rules that were laid out by the Movie Industry for HD content.
Doh.... none of you guys get it. Who do you think mandates that the *content* (note that word) is locked down? Apple? Or your local 'friendly' American and Japanese (Sony) content sharks (movie studios).
Exactly the same story as the iPod, and every dummy blames Apple the hardware manufacturer. It's the greedy content owners dummy!