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10.1 HDCP
10. APPLICATIONS NOTE AND TIPS
HDCP is a content protecon mechanism which uses encrypon to prevent high value content from being
delivered to non-authorized devices. For example, Blu-ray players use HDCP on their HDMI outputs to ensure
that the HDMI output cannot be routed to a digital recording device.
The SmartMatriX² is fully HDCP compliant, meaning that you will be able to use the SmartMatriX² to accept
HDCP protected sources and route them to any HDCP protected outputs. As Analog Way is a licensed HDCP
adoptor, this also means that the SmartMatriX² is prevented from displaying any HDCP protected images on
any non-HDCP compliant outputs (as is the case for all licensed HDCP compliant devices).
HDCP can only be used on certain connecon formats, including DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort. Keep in mind
that simply because a connecon is using a DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort connecon, it does not guarantee
that the devices connected are maintaining an acve HDCP connecon. For example, you may nd video
recording or capture devices equipped with an HDMI input, however HDCP licensing forbids these devices
from capturing HDCP protected content.
HDCP is not supported on connecon formats such as composite, component, Svideo, SD-SDI, HD-SDI,
3G-SDI, or VGA. This means that any source which becomes protected by HDCP cannot be converted to
these formats. For example, while you may nd a Blu-ray player which can directly output a composite video
signal, HDCP licensing forbids converng the HDCP protected HDMI signal back to composite or any other
non-protected format.
To help troubleshoot HDCP in your installaon, each input and output page is equipped with HDCP status
informaon to indicate in realme when HDCP encrypon is being used.
Certain devices such as Macintosh computers can be misleading to use in conjuncon with an HDCP compliant
presentaon switcher such as the SmartMatriX². This is because devices like the Mac computers can be used
to output both HDCP protected content (such as a movie downloaded from iTunes) as well as non-HDCP
protected content (such as a Keynote presentaon or the desktop). When a computer rst connects to an
HDCP compliant device such as the SmartMatriX², it learns the capabilies of the device through the EDID
connecon. Upon seeing the HDCP compability of the aached SmartMatriX² devices like the Mac computers
will immediately aempt to use HDCP encrypon at all mes, despite the content currently displayed on the
computer screen. Since this source would now be considered an HDCP protected source, the SmartMatriX²
would be required to prevent it from being displayed on VGA or SDI outputs and only allow it to be displayed
on outputs protected by HDCP. To work around this problem, the SmartMatriX² allows the HDCP features of
a parcular input to be disabled, which in turn informs the Mac computer to avoid using HDCP, and allows
content such as Keynote and the desktop to be displayed, as this input will no longer use HDCP protecon.
Please note that disabling the HDCP features of the input do not circumvent HDCP protecons, and thus do
not allow you to view any content which requires this protecon.
For more informaon about HDCP, please refer to our whitepapers on HDCP, or visit the HDCP foundaon
website.
10.1 HDCP
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