[mythtv-users] HDCP Key out?

[Robert McNamara]

On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 8:33 AM, Brian J. Murrell <brian at interlinx.bc.ca> wrote:
> On Tue, 2010-09-14 at 09:13 -0600, Brian Wood wrote:
>> Thought this might be of interest to folks here:
>>
>> http://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/10/09/14/1211205/HDCP-Master-Key-Revealed
>
> Dunno what this really means to/for HTPC users though.  I already get an
> HDCP-handshaked (AFAIK and presume) connection between my Acer Revo and
> my television, which also passes the DD/DTS from Myth on the Revo to my
> receiver on the optical connection.
>
> What I need now is the HTPC (i.e. Myth) to be able to _reliably_ read
> and play DVDs (even with all of the non-compliance going on lately as a
> copy protection mechanism) and B/R discs.  I know the latter is
> coming.  :-)  Although it's still limited to not-so-recent titles AFAIU.
>
> b.

It means not a lot to HTPC users, at the moment.  The data contained
on the HDMI cable is the raw, uncompressed output of the box, meaning
it's more or less a digital copy @ ~1485 Mbit/s of the same exact
thing you would get from the component cables (meaning it's still
necessary to lossily recompress it when capturing it).  So you either
drink from the firehose, which isn't really feasible and probably
won't be for some time, or you build hardware to lossily compress it,
at which point it's no longer a perfect capture (and you're basically
doing what the HD-PVR does minus one digital to analog conversion),
and you still need to do it in real time.

Now, the usual suspects will pop up and say that this sidesteps the
Image Constraint Token (ICT).

And a more informed someone will mention that the ICT is *only* a part
of the Blu-ray specification, and that *0* discs ship with it enabled,
and that it is not relevant in any way to broadcast media.

Then people will pop up and say that it sidesteps Selectable Output
Control (SOC).

And more informed people will mention that SOC only applies to new run
releases, and if one were really worries about that, there's still the
HDFury+HD-PVR option which is functionally (and resultswise) basically
the same exact thing as trying to capture the raw HDMI output.

Then the same people will revert to the "it's just the toe in the
door!  THEY'RE COMING FOR OUR DATAS!" doomsaying, and there will be
much gnashing of teeth.

And the wheel of time turns, and what is old is new again.  ;)

Robert