iTunes movie purchases will not play on external display - HDCP auth error

We received our new 24 inch LED Cinema Displays this weekend, and I have verified that when hooked up to one of the new MacBook Pro's they play HD content downloaded from the iTunes Store. Looks like, for now, they are the only Apple external displays that are HD compliant.

A movie that I rented via the AppleTV would not play to to the HDCP authorization error. The message said that my DVI connector was not compatible. None of the info accompanying the promotion of the rental mentioned any HDCP restriction.

Apple refunded my purchase with the disclaimer "Please note that the iTunes Store Terms of Sale states that all rentals are final, so this is a one-time exception."

How do I know which rental will trigger the rejection and am I now stuck with the rental charges on rejected content?

Can't imagine I'll be renting any more movies until this issue is eliminated...

Well It looks like Apple has fixed the issue (at least for me) I can now play Hellboy II on my 23 inch Cinema Display. This is the result of a software update to Quicktime to 7.5.7.

Gripe and they shall listen. ^_^

Al

But you notice that no one from Apple has the courtesy to respond to the concerns expressed in their own hosted discussion board...

Guys really this is insane. The idea that I am restricted has completely turned me off. Oops there is something hiding in your machine that we didn't tell you about! I will not purchase until this is removed. Please if people want to copy something they will. And policing them is not building the right culture. The very idea of itunes store means that people who pirated music and movies before will probably spend money on the real deal now. Such a huge turn off ... listen up big time! Listen to your customers!

So sorry it this has been covered already. I have a new Samsung 240T monitor that is supposedly DVI/HDCP compliant (after reading this forum this is why I go this monitor). But I am still getting a "non-HDCP monitor" message when I try to play HD content purchased from itunes. So what do people think: Is the problem with the monitor or the MacBook? Does apple say that you should be able to play this HD content if you DVI/HDCP compliant monitor.

THANKS ALL!

Disclaimer: I'm a pretty low res guy and until a month ago my only television was a years old 27" tube. I watch a lot of stuff directly on my MB Pro. I have an old Mac Mini hooked up to my new 32" LCD, but the graphic processing is pitiful ...I work for a major apple competitor but use apple hardware almost exclusively at home. I don't watch lot of movies and I have only basic cable. So maybe my wants (after all, none of us really need all this gadgetry 🙂 are more easily satisfied.

I used to buy a few TC shows from iTunes store. But then I discovered Hulu.com. It's free (with limited commercial interruptions) and has some things I used to buy via an iTunes subscription. "Hi-Def" is only 480p but that's more enough for me. The more people that use it, the more advertisers will pay and the more content providers will be be willing to provide content.

the downsides: (1)its streaming only so you can't download and watch later, e.g. on a plane or when you have only a low bandwidth connection. (2) Limited content

the upsides: (1) free, (2) you can maintain a queue of subscriptions and be notified whenever a new episode of a subscribed show is available (this is critical because "hot" show episodes are often available only for a limited period of time and in limited numbers)

So show your concern by taking your business elsewhere, to free services such as Hulu.

Won't buy (any more) TV shows that won't play on my TV. An HDTV to be exact. I can't tell which is which so that means no more video from iTunes.

Has apple commented on this anywhere? I know they are going DRM free on music. I was going to buy a new macbook pro so I could get 4 gigs of ram and a new mini for a media center, but not now. Guess I'll have to be stuck at 2 gigs in the mbp and get an older mini off ebay. Come on apple your better than this. Don't become windows. Ubuntu keeps looking better 🙂

Ok since I did a lot of searching on why apple would start using HDCP. Turns out that Sony uses this on Blu-ray dvds as an added layer against piracy. If you are watching a movie that uses this your monitor/tv needs to have HDCP to decode it. I know Macs do not yet come with Blu-ray drives, but perhaps this is a necessary evil to get to that point. So I guess we should be angry with the money hungry movie industry. They seem to remind me of the RIAA.

<Edited by Moderator>

Since I buy an iTunes movie to my mac mini, does my non Apple display show it througn DVI?

I'm not able to watch HD content on my 23-cinema display using a Mac Pro. This is my only monitor for the computer, and yet it isn't authorized to play.

I just subscribed to the Lost episodes. When I subscribed, both SD & HD context was placed into my downloads folder. I paused all the SD content, let the HD content download. When I try to play the HD content I get the not authorized message or just a grey screen. If I download the SD copy of the show, the two shows get merged into an SD-HD show. Then the show will play... in SD.

...which is exactly as it was intended to be. HD content can only be viewed on an HDCP compliant system (player and receiver), and the only one Apple has right now is a new Macbook/MacBook Pro coupled with the new 24" LED Cinema Display.

Correction to my last post... I can't watch the HD-SD content. I'm getting a grey screen when I play.

This can't be the way it's supposed to work. I should be able to watch shows & movies that I purchase off iTunes on my Apple Cinema Display.

Using Finder, go directly to the SD version of the show you're trying to watch and try to play that (double-click on it). My bet is that it plays. Try the same thing with the HD version and you'll get the grey screen.