Budget Workaround for HDCP
Budget Workaround for HDCP
I have not used the box with gaming equipment for which it is marketed; but rather with sources of film and television programmes. The box captures standard- and high-definition source material from a FreeSat box, a terrestrial TV set top box and a DVD player, all of these sources being made about 5 or 6 years ago. The box recognises and responds correctly to the major TV standards in the UK, especially 576i (4:3) and SD and HD in various 16:9 formats up to and including the usual 1080p.
The box creates huge mp4 files from HD source material and I suspect this is because it has a relatively low-powered processor which does not have the time to do very much compression. Post-processing using a computer will rewrite the files into something around a quarter of the size.
The box does not recognise the HDMI stream from a modern conversion box purchased in 2018 to turn component video (from a legacy video tape recorder) into HDMI, so I imagine the compatibility with HDCP is with only earlier versions of the standard.
The supplied software seems to require registration but to me this is very much an optional extra which I do not need to pursue.
I’ve scored 4 stars out of 5 because the box is excellent value for money and works well with most of my sources, but does not do the one thing I really want, which is to capture the HDMI output from a converter box taking unencrypted component video from legacy source material.
Postscript: If anyone from Intel is reading this – your HDCP system is already largely broken, and consistently an absolute menace to legitimate home users of video recordings. Publish the keys now, and let everyone use video naturally, without having to jump through hoops.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: New