First problem - our internet connection, to put it politely, is crap. As soon as prime time hours hit in our neighborhood, ping times rise, download speeds fall, and it's like we're back in the 1990s. Not fun, but broadband options are limited in this area, so we deal with it.
Second problem - our DVR doesn't think we're worthy of watching an Adam Sandler movie. Clicking play teases us for a couple of seconds with some screen changes. Then, out of nowhere, we see the message "Your TV Does Not Support This Program’s Content Protection". Say what???
Our setup is not that complicated. It consists of the following components.
- Samsung Plasma TV - HP-T5054
- Yamaha Receiver - RX-V465
- DirecTV DVR - HR24/500
All of these components support HDCP. So, what is the freakin' problem?!?
Various Google searches led to the same conclusion -- "ditch the HDMI cable and use component cables instead". Well, I could do that, but that would defeat the purpose of having a nice digital connection between the DVR, receiver and TV. And besides, I'm too damn stubborn to admit defeat. I tried a few other tricks - powering components on / off, unseating / seating HDMI cables, etc. Nothing worked. Finally, in a moment of reflection and inspiration, the answer hit me - something is interfering with the "negotiation" process between the TV and the DVR for the content protection. And I bet that something is the changing of video resolutions when I switch channels.
To test this theory, I checked my video options on the DVR. Sure enough, "native" was set to on. This basically says "don't scale any video. Just pass it to the TV and let it handle the various resolutions". This has always worked fine for us. However, it had a noticeable side effect. The screen would blank out momentarily when resolutions changed on the TV. It was almost like hitting the reset button on a computer. So, if the TV reacts this strongly to a resolution change, then maybe (just maybe) it could interfere with the HDCP negotiation process.
I turned the option off, set the display format to 1080i, and started flipping channels. No screen blanking of any sort - exactly what I was hoping for. Next, I flipped back to "Grown Ups", clicked play, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best. Lo and behold, it started right up. No HDCP messages whatsoever.
So, if your equipment is HDCP compliant, but your DirecTV receiver is giving you fits about HDCP compatibility, try flipping your native setting off. It just might be the solution you're looking for.
And, if that doesn't work for you, you can always go back and use component cables instead - at least to get you by until you come up with a more permanent solution.
Hopefully this helps someone. Cheers!
