[mythtv-users] capture and transmit HDMI

[Simon Hobson]

James Miller <gajs-f0el at dea.spamcon.org> wrote:

> Let me see if I understand in broad terms what's at stake in this blog posting and its relevance to this list: this would provide a way of, for example, getting HDMI output streaming from, say, a STB, in to a recordable format, correct?

Yes, I believe that is the primary use case.
Since ${world+dog} seem to be moving towards a system where the transmission is not accessible without using (at more income to the provider) the provider's box(es), there is a use case to do with an HDMI signal what the older methods do for an analogue signal. Ie, rent one or two basic "view only" boxes from the provider, and hook them into your choice of PVR.

As I mentioned earlier, HDCP is a thorn in the side of that since "in theory" the "content industry" would not allow such a device to capture protected content and make it available in a non-protected form. If it does do that, then one has to wonder how long before one or both of "key gets revoked" or "manufacturer gets sued to oblivion" happens. But that's straying into territory that is dangerous to discuss on this list for legal reasons.

Though I've also seen equipment of that type sold for the purpose of capturing your game play off the console video output. That, in theory again, shouldn't need to bypass HDCP since it's not playing protected media - but I wouldn't put it past the manufacturers to HDCP protect the output anyway "because they can" and they have a thing about protecting everything (as a proxy for protecting their own revenues).