Hdcp WTF is that?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Question

Ok question... I've read every forum I can find yada yada yada. But here is my question so I'm buying my new fancy gateway with the 24inch hdcp complaint monitor... Now of course i want to take some old files off my old computer... WILL I be able to watch them on my new one?

wtf is this and where did it come from?

Answer 1

Yes. Your old files will play just fine.

HDCP allows you to connect a PC, a Blu-ray or upconverting DVD player via DVI or HDMI and watch DVDs or BD-movies or other protected content.

Answer 2

High Definition Copyright Protection.  It's a big steamy load which means that it will be able to receive all signal through H.D.M.I.  Without it, some stuff could be blocked off because of the R.C.A..A.  Pretty much any television will have H.D.C.P.  

If you're planning on using a monitor as a television, please note that it will likely look blurry.  Consider going to a larger television like a 26 inch as it properly matches the output resolution of high definition content.  

If the resolution of the set is larger or smaller than the output, the picture can look blurred, particularly on computer monitors which aren't meant to show television content but rather content that is already processed by a computer.

If you are just planning on using the monitor as nothing but a monitor, then don't even worry about the H.D.C.P. as it doesn't even matter.  Just make sure that your video card has the ability to put out the matching resolution of the computer monitor.  To do that, check your owner's manual to find out what its max output is or just look it up on line.

Answer 3

Some Guy gave a pretty good answer but he never explained where HDCP comes from. HDCP is the copy protection the movie studios demanded be placed on all players. HDCP uses a handshake (two way communication) to establish that the content is not going to anything that can record the video and thereby pirate it. HDCP creates many more problems than it solves. The pirates have already figured out how to bypass HDCP and steel the video they want. We consumers are stuck with a poor system that doesn't prevent pirating but does prevent us from using video signals the way we would like to.

If you hook up an HDMI cable and something doesn't work properly 99.9% of the time it is a handshake problem. If your cable run is short (6' or less) it usually works. However, if you have to run a longer cable you could be in for some trouble. HDCP does not do what it was intended to do (stop pirates) but does drive us consumers crazy with intermittent or poorly functioning equipment. It is a poorly engineered solution that many times simply doesn't work the way it is supposed to. The music industry has finally given up on copy protection as it discovered it didn't stop criminals but did stop consumers from using music they had legally purchased. Hollywood has yet to figure this out.