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maxyourmacs Author

Level 1

15 points

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

Hello,

Well, I'm surprised there hasn't been more of a storm over this one already but I expect there will be.

Just got a new MacBook last week and finally found a mini Display Port -> VGA adapter so i could use my 19" external display. I rented a movie from the iTunes store yesterday and when I tried to play it on my external display, it gave me a warning/error that the display was 'not an authorized HDCP display' and it would not play. Plays fine on the small MacBook screen, just nothing external. To make it even worse, i tried all the movies that I have purchased from the iTunes store with the same result... NONE of them will play on anything but the MacBook's small 13" screen. This is crazy unacceptable.

Has anyone else run into this yet or have any ideas of something I may be overlooking in order to get purchased movies to play on an external display?

Thanks!

MacBook unibody C2D 2.0/2.0/160, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Oct 26, 2008 8:12 AM

Top-ranking reply

Al Knowles

Level 1

5 points

Posted on Nov 4, 2008 9:58 AM

Same problem here as well. I guess they want to be sure we HAVE to buy an
Apple TV.

Not gonna happen.

I'll buy DVD's at my local retailer before that happens.

View in context

339 replies

May 28, 2010 9:55 AM in response to itstooearly

I heartily suggest that anyone experiencing this issue submit feedback to Apple. There should at least be a warning that this content may not be playable on older displays.

Jun 26, 2010 6:28 AM in response to Tobias Horvath

Regarding Tobias Horvath's asessment that hooking up a TV via a DVI->HDMI adaptere should work, it doesn't.

I have a 2009 Mac Mini with a mini-display->DVI adapter connected to a DVI->HDMI cable, and I get that same HDCP message when connected to a brand-new 2010 Samsung 32" TV.

Jul 12, 2010 12:04 PM in response to itstooearly

EXACTLY 😐 I am a reasonable consumer and I fully understand the risks when downloading digital content, but I agree with other writer suggesting there should be a warning about the HDCP display restrictions. Largely, people today view movies on large LCD or plasma displays, so for Apple or the movie industry to knowingly distribute movies at this enormous cost and prevent viewing in these formats is completely WRONG!!! I literally had my family of five huddled around my MacBook to view this movie-- totally ridiculous 😟 My family was not amused and my wife could've killed me for wasting money on such a restricted media. I demand a refund-- or at the very least, I should be given a NON-HD version.

DarelRex

Level 1

0 points

Jul 25, 2010 4:58 PM in response to maxyourmacs

This evening I used iTunes to purchased an HD episode of "Friday Night Lights" that my wife and I had missed, since we fully expected we would be able to watch it on our new Samsung plasma TV using the MacBook-to-VGA adapter I purchased yesterday at the Polaris Fashion Place Apple Store (opening day!). We had already tried watching a home movie that way, and it had worked fine.

You know what happened, of course. (See original post in this thread.) Now we have to watch the episode on my 15" MacBook screen with laptop speaker sound.

What is this for — to make sure we didn't pirate it? If we had pirated it, it would have played fine on our plasma TV!

My days of buying/renting video on iTunes are over, until and unless this issue is fixed.

jfrii

Level 1

0 points

Oct 21, 2010 5:20 PM in response to maxyourmacs

Just came here to add to the voices. what really upsets me about the situation is that there was NO warning and no heads up when trying to purchase an HD movie telling you about the issue.

i have ceased purchasing from itunes indefinitely. will not ever use it again.

jfrii

Level 1

0 points

Oct 21, 2010 5:54 PM in response to maxyourmacs

I'm not 100% certain that it will work, but i looked around for a mini-DVI to HDMI cable online and found a couple of options including one from startech (not a product shill, there are a couple of others as well.. found them on amazon which has a GREAT alternative to the iTunes store for music at least). it was only $5 so i figured what the heck, i'll try it. i will let you know if it works out.

i really hope it does. still does not inspire me to ever purchase another iTunes product again.

jfrii

Level 1

0 points

Oct 21, 2010 5:58 PM in response to elan360

i could not agree any more! i feel the EXACT same way as you.

Oct 29, 2010 10:22 AM in response to maxyourmacs

I tried watching a rented iTunes film (Freakonomics) on my home beamer yesterday with some of my friends. Apparently that's not possible because the beamer, as well as my desktop monitor, are 'not authorized'.

This is ridiculous, Apple. Both attending friends were thinking of upgrading to apple macbooks, now they're obviously not going forward with that.

Chris CA

Level 10

82,476 points

Oct 29, 2010 11:14 AM in response to jfrii

i have ceased purchasing from itunes indefinitely. will not ever use it again.

Indefinitely does not mean forever. It means for an unknown period.

mini-DVI to HDMI cable

This should work.

And this issue is not iTunes specific.
HD movies are required to have HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) by the content owners (movie studios/copyright owners). All devices in line (video cards, cavbles, adapters, monitors) are required to use HDCP.

Dec 1, 2010 1:30 PM in response to xmatt

This is absolutely RIDICULOUS.

I have a 6-core Mac Pro connected to a 23'' Apple Cinema Display and it cannot play HD content I bought from the iTunes Store. Is this a joke? It works perfectly fine when I play the same HD content from my old 2007 MacBook Pro, but my brand new $5000 Mac Pro doesn't play movies or TV shows that are HD that I legally purchased on an Apple Cinema Display. This is preposterous, and one of the first times I am absolutely enraged at Apple.

Real DW

Level 1

0 points

Dec 9, 2010 3:26 PM in response to maxyourmacs

I'm in the same boat I have IMac, which I have downloaded films to buy and rent... have successfully played back through my apple TV. I downloaded a new movie this week and went to play back through apple TV.... Now! I have appearing on the screen this content requires HDCP.

What's going on??? If I have purchased films through ITunes and then play back through my apple TV surely I should not be getting this error. I bought an apple TV so I could watch movies on my TV.

Has anybody got a solution for this or could apple support explain this situation please.

Dec 11, 2010 3:32 AM in response to maxyourmacs

It's a good job that I decided to check first before buying the VGA adaptor for my iPad or I'd be swearing right now. As it is I'll be asking Apple for a refund on a couple of movies that I purchased specifically to entertain the children by showing them via a projector. Why don't Apple et al sort this out? If I buy a DVD I can watch it on any DVD player, anywhere, and with as many people as I want. If I connect my iPad to my HDTV with the composite video cables I can watch the videos on my TV. Why am I not allowed to watch them using a projector? It's the same thing in reality; a lot of people gathering around to watch a movie - no copyright theft at all.

Dec 11, 2010 4:16 AM in response to maxyourmacs

I can confirm that on my 2006 MacPro (1,1) with Apple ATI 5770 graphics card and NEC LCD 2690WUXi HD content MAY be played. Sometimes I get the "error" message, sometimes the HD movie is played.

This brings me to the conclusion this depends on handshaking LCD <-> graphics cards or similar (as mentioned here some posts before).

Unfortunately I have no hint HOW to get that handshaking done, I've powered off the LCD, the MacPro, together, seperately, nothing fixed and after 2 or 3 tries suddenly iTunes plays the HD movie. After some days it breaks again. After another period of frustration suddenly the HD movie is back on my LCD.

Message was edited by: stocky2605

Dec 11, 2010 10:06 AM in response to xmatt

I doubt if this is going to be fixed. I ran into this problem this morning when trying to play "Terminator 2" just purchased from the iTunes Store on my new MBP connected to an Apple 20 inch LCD. While we are planning to purchase the new 24 inch LED displays, I can't find any word about whether they are HDCP compliant or not. Apple will be out of luck, because we will, as of today, buy no more movies from the iTunes Store. This may be part of the HDCP standard; but from my viewpoint, the standard takes the whole copyright protection thing a bit too far. If this starts hitting the TV shows and the music videos, too, then we'll stop buying them from the iTunes Store as well.

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5stone

Level 1

0 points

Dec 26, 2010 8:32 AM in response to maxyourmacs

Like everyone else, I too had the exact same issue last night renting a movie via my Apple TV2. Previously I had no issues renting HD movies but with this new release I did. Feel I should have been warned BEFORE I spent the $5. So I'm incredibly ******. Now I have to waste time trying to figure out how to get through the Byzantine Apple system so I can communicate with a human.

Apple, stop messing about, please.

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