[mythtvnz] freeview HCDP question

[Stephen Worthington]

On Thu, 22 May 2008 19:08:55 +1200, you wrote:

>A bit OT but not really....
>
>Apparently Freeview boxes receiving HDTV will only output that HD signal 
>to HCDP-compliant devices over HDMI (eg LCD TVs). DRM in action. Anyway, 
>if you don't have a HCDP-compliant device, then it's downgraded to 
>Standard Dev?
>
>I'm curious. What does that mean? Does that mean it's MPEG2 SD, or some 
>weird MPEG4 low-res format? And does it happen automatically (which 
>implies firmware), or would you have to manually configure the Freeview 
>to output SD? I don't own a box - so I have no idea.
>
>Jason

I did not think that Freeview was transmitting anything that required
HDCP.  You only need HDCP if the source signal says it is required,
and Freeview so far does not seem to be setting that flag.

My TV (Panasonic TX-32LX70A) does not have HDCP and is happy playing
all the HD programs I have recorded so far using my Asus G1S
notebook's HDMI port.  Until MythTV can do Freeview, I am using GB-PVR
software under Vista Ultimate with my Hauppauge HVR-900 tuner, and
Cyberlink PowerDVD 8 to play back the files (GB-PVR can not keep audio
sync yet).

There is plenty of HD content on TV3 (1080i) and also on TV1 and TV2
(720p).  It is clearly HD on screen, as you can see all the little
details they put into the titles specially to show off HD
capabilities.

If Freeview ever did set the HDCP flag, there would be an outcry as
most HDMI capable TVs sold in NZ up until very recently did not do
HDCP.