DisplayPort and Media Center…

[RehabMan]

This is just one of those, “Don’t make the same mistake as me” posts.

I recently built myself a new development machine.  I used a DH67GD (instead of the slightly cheaper DH67BL) because I thought I needed DisplayPort for my Dell u3011 for 2560×1600 support (on board Intel SNB graphics don’t support dual-link DVI).  After the build, I discover that Media Center doesn’t consider DisplayPort HDCP compatible.  So, I can’t watch cable card content with that setup… and can’t switch to DVI because of the previously mentioned limitation with HD 3000 graphics.  So, I ended up having to buy a discrete PCIe card with support for 2560×1600 dual link DVI…

In the end, didn’t need to spring for the extra for DisplayPort as it is useless at least until Microsoft fixes the HDCP issue (Windows 8?).

BTW, it is a nice setup with a Core i7-2600K (I bought the K as it was same price as the non-K even though I have no plans to overclock), 16GB RAM, OCZ Vertex 2 SSD, 2x Caviar Black 1TB in RAID0, NVidia GT430, and Lian Li case.  And the Dell u3011 is one hell of a nice monitor.

[mikinho]

Sadly it is a limitation of Microsoft Windows 7 Media Center.  Even though DisplayPort 1.1 and 1.2 are technically capable of HDCP and your graphic card and display support it, Windows 7 Media Center does not.  See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2392252 for more information.

If it is Copy-Freely content you can restore and then maximize Windows Media Center and it will play but not Copy-Once or higher.

[Aaron Ledger]

I am extremely jealous. I want a u3011 🙂

[RehabMan]

[quote=mikinho]

Sadly it is a limitation of Microsoft Windows 7 Media Center.  Even though DisplayPort 1.1 and 1.2 are technically capable of HDCP and your graphic card and display support it, Windows 7 Media Center does not.  See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2392252 for more information.

If it is Copy-Freely content you can restore and then maximize Windows Media Center and it will play but not Copy-Once or higher.

[/quote]

Yup.  I discovered all of the above during the process.  At first I feared there was something wrong with the u3011 (which I purchased off ebay). I was relieved to find it was a problem with Windows instead.

Clearly it is a bug in Media Center… two bugs really.  1) not accounting for DHCP compatible DisplayPort, and 2) the requirement to restore/maximize for content that is copy-freely.

[mikinho]

I’ve had some discussions on this and the technically not a bug.  DisplayPort isn’t approved for usage (dumb).  And the bug with the 2nd is that it works at all.

I do have a Connect request to get DisplayPort working in W8 FWIW.  And I think it will go through, especially since it affects laptopstablets frequently and the push for tablets in W8.

[mikinho]

btw… I also love my U3011.  If you ever need some side monitors for it I can recommend a few that blend nicely with it.

[Aaron Ledger]

Wouldn’t 2 u3011s work as sides 😀

[mikinho]

I wanted something powered from a single machine.  Finding a single card that did 3 outputs at 2560×1600 wasn’t possible (at least ~6 months ago).  I’m able to do 1920×1080, 2560×1600, 1080×1920 (portrait) well though.

[Aaron Ledger]

You’ll just have to get a 6950. IIRC, it can do 3x 2560×1600.

Edit: maybe not. It looks like it might only do 2. What’s a millionaire to do?

[mikinho]

My current video card can actually do 2x 2560×1600 & 1x 1920×1080 but moot point as I can’t afford any more monitors 🙂

[RehabMan]

[quote=mikinho]

btw… I also love my U3011.  If you ever need some side monitors for it I can recommend a few that blend nicely with it.

[/quote]

I’ve got an old Dell 2001FP (1600×1200) rotated 90 degrees.  I really like how the height matches moving the mouse between monitors placed next to each other.  Now if I had more desk space and more money, two or three U3011’s would be awesome.  Ah… to dream.

[RehabMan]

[quote=mikinho]

I’ve had some discussions on this and the technically not a bug.  DisplayPort isn’t approved for usage (dumb).  And the bug with the 2nd is that it works at all.

I do have a Connect request to get DisplayPort working in W8 FWIW.  And I think it will go through, especially since it affects laptopstablets frequently and the push for tablets in W8.

[/quote]

I guess DisplayPort not being approved (is this some goofy disagreement between the DP and HDMI people or something?) didn’t stop Dell from marketing their product as HDCP compatible, did it…

And I’m kind of confused about why there would be a problem sending copy-freely content over an “unprotected” display connection?  I mean, there is no DRM protection on this content, so it can be copied, transcoded, re-muxed, saved, edited, uploaded to servers on the internet, archived, etc (copyright issues aside).  Why would anyone care if they could also be transmitted over a non-HDCP compliant connection?  Or is this a Cable Labs certification issue?

Good to hear you have a connect request for W8 to fix.  It seems obvious to me they should fix it… without having their customers tell them.  Hopefully they will also look at the 29/59 bug too.  Sometimes I’m a little embarrassed that I used to work there.  Really.

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