HDCP ?????

HDCP is a right pain. It supposed to be a standard but isn't.
I'm trying to get a 5x2 HDMI Switch to work so I can output a signal to both my Projector and TV but no joy so far. Even with all connected equipment at HDMI 1,3, not mentioning the name of the switch as the manufacturer is being very helpful and the box is with them for testing and on there rig it works.

There current theory is that the equipment may have to be switched on in a specific order (I think display devices last as they negotiate the description key) but they are doing more investigation.

Will let you know how I get on.

For you to enjoy high definition pictures, your devices must both support HDCP. Currently there are only three port types that do this - DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort. The connected devices have to handshake before the signal is sent across and then they have to re-establish the handshake every 4 seconds or so.

In some cases, devices which find they are connected to a non-HDCP compliant unit will automatically downgrade the quality of the signal. In some cases you get a message as above. My understanding is that there is no hard and fast rule.

It seems you've been particularly unlucky with your Sky boxes and nobody blames you for cancelling your subscription. The question becomes where to go that has similar facilities (when they work)? HDCP is here to stay, so I'd ensure this issue is not something to do with your projector before taking drastic action.

Frank,It seems that HMDI leads can lose the signal&that disconnecting the Sky box from the mains,then the HMDI leads for about 30 seconds the reconnecting them corrects this problem! all is now working perfectly, after posting on Digital Spy I found that Sky are aware of this problem... Jim

Jim,

That's the handshake being lost. Provided the cable is well built any dropouts are due to brief handshake issues on either end. This is why disconnecting for 30 seconds (a long time in computing terms) allows the unit to reset. A lot of HDMI-enabled units had real trouble with handshake in the early days (2006!).

Reporting back, the issue I'm having is with an Octava HDMI 5x2 switch outputting to a Pioneer Plasma and Infocus IN82 projector.

Firstly the switch appears to work perfectly except with the Infocus IN82 (It can take up to 5mins to sync if at all) and when the plasma is turned off the Infocus loses sync and can take another extended time to resync.

While I've not got my problem resolved I must praise the UK Octava distributors they have suggested multiple things to try, tested the unit in their rig, sent me 11m of HDMI cable to try rather than via Infocus M1. They have also now supplied a unit to Infocus to try to resolve the issue.

Also credit to Infocus for working with UK Octava on this.

While I don't have a solution, that works 100% I am confident they will resolve it and I've been totally impressed by the UK distributor of Octava's customer service along with Infocus's it's good to see the manufacturers working together. Apart from Naim I've not seen this level of service for years.

Will keep you posted

stuart is any of your sources outputting 1080p

do you really need hdmi ??

Hi Neil,

Media PC, Blue Ray Player output 1080p. Also Tiscali TV has HDMI connection also DVD has HDMI out so HDMI switch made the most sense.