HDCP - What the heck?

C

Constantine769

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 16, 2006
Messages
89
First off, I must say, I HATE HDCP!!! (note emphasis on HATE with exclamation points)

Now I have that off my chest, let me introduce you to my Dilemma, similar to my other thread but it received less than good responses. I wish it had more information/help.

This single feature right here has given me problems in selecting the monitor I should buy. Should I get one with or without? I am not sure how much importance this little feature has, but so far I have been reading mixed information about it. Some say its going to get released a long time from now, some say its already implemented in some device and media, and others say its not important at all because one will still be able to play Blu-Ray and/or HD-DVD without it.

One example is the Westinghouse LCM-22w2, it has plenty of inputs, great reviews as i've seen so far, and the price is the best I have seen; but it does not have HDCP.

The Samsung 225BW has the same 22 inch goodness and great picture quality as well coupled with that is a HDCP capability, but it has a far too limited two inputs, DVI and VGA. I might add the price is great as well.

Well the Scepter x22wg-Gamer monitor I am not so sure about, I have read some great reviews about it from reviewers and owners alike, which is great; but I am not familiar with the brand nor its production quality. The has limited inputs as well but it has more than the Samsung and it supports HDCP as well. It is the only monitor of this size and category that I have seen to support 1080p, but it is more expensive though than the other two. Another downside is that I can only order one from Newegg. Although Newegg has great service and unmatchable delivery time with the help of FedEx/UPS, I am not fond of their EIGHT (8) Dead Pixel policy. That is that if your monitor has no more than EIGHT (8) dead pixels, it is acceptable and it is not "BROKEN," therefore RMA is not plausible.

And then we have the Gateway FPD2275W, it is far more expensive than the rest of the monitors listed here but it is the best one I have seen so far. It has all the inputs Westinghouse LCM-22w2 has, it supports HDCP, and the best specs I have seen overall in most areas. The only downside is that it doesn't support 1080p, only 1080i, and it's contrast ratio is not as good as Scepter x22wg-Gamer, although that is not a problem at all.

Thank you,

Constantine

P.S. Which would be best among the four? And if you have any recommendations, what is it?
 
Ah, you're not alone there, any normal person (with a soul) hates HDCP but... if you want to make sure that you can play back most HD-DVD/BlueRay discs you'll need an HDCP enabled graphics card (or HD player), cable and monitor. I say 'most' because not all discs will have HDCP encoding on them.

If you do try to play a disc with HDCP through a digital cable without any of those 3 HDCP enabled items then you will get no image at all. This is not to be confused with ICT (Image constraint Token) which will downsize any HD content (720p/1080i/1080p) to SD (480p) when put through an anologe cable (component/s-video/composite/VGA) but the film companies (soul-less) are not threatening to do this until 2009.
 
Samsung is what I got, the monitor is great if you're not bothered by the backlight bleed.
 
For those who don't need all those connection, this is a really good LCD display

If I do get ps3 or wii, I don't think I want to hook it up to my samsung.
 
I ignored all the deals and went for the best.

I bought the Gateway FPD2275W. I must say I am NOT disappointed. Its worth its price. The sharpness is incredible and so is the black light bleeding, barely noticable and it has plenty of ports.

I am very satisfied with it and would recommend it, for gamers and casual users alike.

If you have any questions about it, don't hesitate to post it here. I'll answer it as soon as possible.

Constantine
 
slaver said:
Might want to check out the AVS forum - people that have used BD and HD-DVD with WIN DVD 8.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=751319
Click to expand...


Yeah, I have heard so far for the PC, all the high definition players will require all of the HDCP components to even play high definition content, whether the disc is protected or not.

It effectively makes it much, much cheaper just to go out, get an HDCP-compatable television and high definition player and just use that for movies. Beats building a new computer from the ground up just to have access to high def content, especially if you have just recently forked over tons of cash to upgrade.
 
HDCP (High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) devolped by Intel and the movie industrials as DRM (Digital Right Management) for Hd-movies released on Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

Problem: All your hardware needs to be HDCP ready and most of the graphic cards don't have the build in HDCP Chip yet! Also your DvD player needs to be HDCP-ready and last but not least your monitor also!

With HDCP the movie industrial complex can even make your movie not/or only playing in low resolution mode when you have the DvD in your home DvDplayer!!!

They made a soft "gentelement's agreement"until the year 2010 de movie compagnies will not deliver their movies with the ICT (Image Constraint Token)
which constrains the movie quality (Not or only in low res.) on non HDCP apparature.

So, everything is not in favor for us rightious consumers so if it says ICT on the (HD)DvD cover don't buy it! Get rid of DRM & HDCP! :mad:

HDCP = High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection.
DRM = Digital Right Management
ICT = Image Constraint Token
HDMI = DVI and sound in one cabel.
 
I'm currently rebuilding my computer, it is three years old and doesn't run current games that well with my tiny GeForce 6800 Vanilla.

I plan on purchasing the 8800 GTX, it has HDCP and all its goodness. So I'm not really that worried about HDCP now since I have the monitor and soon to be computer.

But above all monitors I would recommend the Gateway FPD2275W if you have the cash for it. It was a bit scratchy at first with the VGA connection, but still sharp. After I purchased a Dual-Link DVI-D connector, the quality is like day and light, can't beat DVI connections. I also purchased a DVI-D -> HDMI converter for the PS3 that I will purchase as well in the future when they have stocks. I just hope it works since the monitor does not have an HDMI port. With the current LCDs today, I do not think any one of them has an HDMI port. At least not the 22' ones.

I will post pics if anyone is interested. I think there is a thread here somewhere about the Gateway FPD2275W, but I do not think any of the owners of a Gateway FPD2275W has posted in it because last time I checked, it was pretty empty.

The $400 price tag + $35 tax is worth it, trust me. I have no regrets. :D

Constantine
 
very nice monitor.

would you know what kind of panel it uses?

I'm assuming TN like all the othe 22"s but I could be wrong.

Also...how is the text at native resolution on Word? (what resolution did you have on your previous system?)

I'm in the market for a 22" as well, with Gaming and Office being the 2 priorities. :D

Thanks!
 
FYI, if you do your math right or read it right, $229 is the 19" one. That is not 22" :).

Constantine ;)

EDIT: I forgot to add. The ACER 22" is only cheaper because it can do LESS than the Gateway 22". It has less possibilities than the Gateway. It only justifies the price. As they say, you get what you pay for. Oh yeah, it has no DCDi, thats something.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top