Why HDCP? What does it effect?

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spaceman

[H]F Junkie
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Why do I need to be concerned if a monitor is HDCP or not? If my monitor is for PC games and occasional "other" video does it matter if it's HDCP? I see that VISTA and PC game DVDs are grandfathered in this respect? Am i going to get hosed for spending 4-500 less on a monitor? Will the Red Sox ever win again?
 
Only worry about HDCP if you want to view content from HD-DVD or Blu-ray on your computer. Content on HD-DVD and Blu-ray is 1920x1080p resolution, but if you don't have HDCP, you can't see it. Without HDCP, the max resolution you can get from a HD-DVD or Blu-ray drive is 720x480.

You may think HD-DVD and Blu-ray are out of your price range now, but within two years, those drives will be under $100. How long do you plan to keep your monitor?
 
Is that for movies only or games too? I don't care much about movies.
 
KenAF said:
Only worry about HDCP if you want to view content from HD-DVD or Blu-ray on your computer. Content on HD-DVD and Blu-ray is 1920x1080p resolution, but if you don't have HDCP, you can't see it. Without HDCP, the max resolution you can get from a HD-DVD or Blu-ray drive is 720x480.
Click to expand...
First of all not necessarily all HD-DVD or Blu-Ray movies will have HDCP. Atleast in the beginning when people don't necessarily have HDCP support movies will most likely be distributed without it so people can see them at full resolution even without HDCP. Maybe later when HDCP becomes a "standard" function in graphics cards and monitors movies will require it. (source )
Second the resolution of HDCP movies without HDCP hardware is 540p (half of the full resolution or 1/4 depending on the way you think about it).
 
I wouldnt worry, buy what you need now. It will be at least 2010 before studios start requiring the image constraint token to be added. None of the current titles on the market use the ITC, and the large studios have already stated its currently in limbo until consumer adoption is at a reasonable point.

And Ken's resolution is incorrect, when activated, the ITC would allow output of 960x540 through analog, not 720x480, which is dvd resolution.
 
Only worry about it if you plan on watching hd movies on your comp. I'll use my tv for that, so I don't worry about hdcp for my comp monitor.
 
Darkatom said:
So all we need to watch HD-DVD content is a capable monitor?
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Plus a HDDVD drive, plus a software player (PowerDVD or WinDVD both are working on High-Def versions.)
 
I have a 42" plasma for movies and a 26" lcd tv for regular viewing...I could care less about watching anything other than short video clips on my comp monitor. It would really only be an issue if your monitor doubles as your main tv.
 
Darkatom said:
Could someone plz explain how nvdia's pure video affects us now?
Click to expand...
PureVideo is basically a codec for H.264, VC-1, WMV, and MPEG-2 which utilizes GPU instead of CPU.
DeathCloud said:
Is there anywhere that has a list of all the TV's out now that are HDCP compliant?
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Every TV with HDMI should also support HDCP. Anyway here is a list of HDCP monitors/TVs. And if you are from Europe all HD compatible (includes HDCP support) are marked with HD Ready badge.
 
geeman said:
PureVideo is basically a codec for H.264, VC-1, WMV, and MPEG-2 which utilizes GPU instead of CPU.

Every TV with HDMI should also support HDCP. Anyway here is a list of HDCP monitors/TVs. And if you are from Europe all HD compatible (includes HDCP support) are marked with HD Ready badge.
Click to expand...


That is exactly what I was looing for, thanks
 
geeman said:
First of all not necessarily all HD-DVD or Blu-Ray movies will have HDCP. Atleast in the beginning when people don't necessarily have HDCP support movies will most likely be distributed without it so people can see them at full resolution even without HDCP. Maybe later when HDCP becomes a "standard" function in graphics cards and monitors movies will require it. (source )
Second the resolution of HDCP movies without HDCP hardware is 540p (half of the full resolution or 1/4 depending on the way you think about it).
Click to expand...

You getting HDCP and AACS/ICT mixed up.
 
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