Cannot play video. Connected display not supported

Question

Cannot play video. Connected display not supported

I've been using my iPhone 6 Plus connected to my tv using a lightning digital AV adaptor (which I got from the Apple Store) to watch Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Now. For the past week or two I've only be able to watch Hulu. HBO Now is just a black screen with the sound coming in perfectly. Netflix plays a black screen for 10-30 seconds then gives me the message "cannot play video. Connected display not supported" it worked fine for years but all of a sudden it wouldn't. I bought a new adaptor thinking that might be the problem but it wasn't. Any ideas on why this is happening or ways to fix it?

iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 9.3.2, Netflix is updated

Posted on Jun 13, 2016 5:53 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 29, 2017 3:09 PM in response to iEvan 3.0

I'm also having the same problem on my iPad Air. Not trying to play on a different device though. Netflix has been working fine for years, then all of a sudden I get the same error message, and can't play anything.

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Answer 2

iEvan 3.0

Level 3

977 points

Jun 13, 2016 6:05 PM in response to Rikkitomikodavis

It's probably something to do with HDCP, some nasty DRM (well, all digital rights management is nasty) protocol hiccups. If your TV has a VGA input, maybe try Apple's Lightning to VGA adapter. This analogue protocol does not have any DRM, unless the Netflix app detects usage of an adapter and simply blocks the video output … if your current adapter works fine with other videos (such as those purchased from the iTunes Store), I would suspect Netflix et al are at fault here.

The alternative, I guess, would be an Apple TV, which should be able to play those three sources all by itself.

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