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Anonymous User
Not applicable

Connection issue....... HDCP???

Hi folks, hope some of you can help.......

 

I am at work, so have no access to my TV, stick or box. My partner is at home and has has reported problems watching our Now TV stick and box. She is getting a message on screen which I have a photo of and have attached. 

 

I've never seen this before but a quick google search suggests it is some sort of filter to stop copying material, although I'm not 100% sure and can't get and answer on chat.

 

Does anyone know what this is, do I need to buy an HDCP thingy or is there a much simpler fix?

 

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

Steve69260471_722308954889559_2112778276433821696_n.jpg

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
schnapps
Legend 5
Legend 5

Hi @Anonymous User 

 

See if swapping the stick to a different HDMI port on your television resolves it.

 

If you are using an external HDMI switcher box, try plugging the NowTV devices directly into TV to see if the HDCP message remains.

 

You can normally clear the HDCP message by either pressing the HDMI input source button on your television remote controller or temporary disconnecting the power to the stick.

 

If the HDCP error message persists see if going into the stick menu settings under Display and instead of Auto try 1080p or 720p forced settings.

 

Some more info linked below about the HDCP error, was a purple screen with the message, now using the newer nowTV branded devices & software it looks identical to the picture you have posted.  

 

https://help.nowtv.com/article/purple-screen-no-picture-on-now-tv-box-stick

View solution in original post

5 REPLIES 5
schnapps
Legend 5
Legend 5

Hi @Anonymous User 

 

See if swapping the stick to a different HDMI port on your television resolves it.

 

If you are using an external HDMI switcher box, try plugging the NowTV devices directly into TV to see if the HDCP message remains.

 

You can normally clear the HDCP message by either pressing the HDMI input source button on your television remote controller or temporary disconnecting the power to the stick.

 

If the HDCP error message persists see if going into the stick menu settings under Display and instead of Auto try 1080p or 720p forced settings.

 

Some more info linked below about the HDCP error, was a purple screen with the message, now using the newer nowTV branded devices & software it looks identical to the picture you have posted.  

 

https://help.nowtv.com/article/purple-screen-no-picture-on-now-tv-box-stick

RoyB
Legend

@Anonymous User 

 

The advice on the screen seems eminently sensible to me; did you or your wife work through it?

 

Certainly, for setups that have been working fine previously, but where a small glitch has made the Stick erroneously decide that the TV hasn’t got HDCP, it should straighten everything out.

 

This misinformation, in the link that @schnapps gave, is shameful though:-

 

Your TV has in-built High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) – a bit of software that protects you from pirated content.

 

Actually, HDCP is a protocol that protects NowTV from you pirating their content.

 

So the NowTV app on the Stick asks the TV “Have you got HDCP?”, a guarantee that the TV will play by the rules, and not allow the content to be copied. And unless the TV says “Yes”, the NowTV app won’t allow the Stick to send the TV any NowTV content.

 

In your case, it’s actually the NowTV app on the Stick complaining that it thinks the TV hasn’t got HDCP, due to the handshake having gone awry.

 

Other apps on the Stick can perfectly well send stuff to the TV without requiring HDCP to be present, typically anything that only provides SD quality. So unless these apps ask the TV about HDCP, the question never arises, and the transmission goes through to the TV.

 

If you did, wittingly or unwittingly, have any pirated content, do you think it would ask about HDCP? Answers on a postcard, please.

 

So what about these pirates? Well, they all have expensive black boxes bought on the dark web that just lie about having HDCP, accept the transmission, strip out the HDCP protection from the stream, and away they go.

 

You can read more than you probably ever wanted to know about HDCP here:-

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-bandwidth_Digital_Content_Protection

 

but the takeaway quote is

 

the main practical effect of HDCP has been to create one more way in which your electronics could fail to work properly with your TV’

 

As here, for your wife.

Set a Payment PIN on your account so that no-one but you can buy memberships on it. Check your bank accounts monthly for any other unexpected payments to Now. That way you can at least nip them in the bud, while you and Now figure out whose fault they are.
Anonymous User
Not applicable

Hi Roy,

 

 

Thanks for the info, problem solved. I took advice from the link on schnapps reply, to try both the stick and the box on another TV and they worked fine. I then hooked them both back up in the living room and they worked fine, so I'm assuming it was a glitch.

My understanding was that the HDCP is a measure to stop you from pirating content from the box, a Sky box, BT etc etc.

Thanks for confirming that. I certainly haven't tried to download or install anything on the box, or do whatever it is you have to do to pirate content. I wouldn't know where to start in all honesty. At least I know what the issue is now though, if it does arise again so cheers guys.

 

Kudos!

schnapps
Legend 5
Legend 5

Hi @Anonymous User 

 

The HDCP screen message seems to happen a lot with both the NowTV and Roku Players where i have experienced it myself first hand more than once with my various Panasonic TV's.

 

Just type in the word HDCP or Purple screen in the search engine box on the top of the NowTV Forum pages and see how many people have reported this message popping up on various branded TV sets.

RoyB
Legend

@Anonymous User 

 

Yes, the paranoid piracy protection has all of us erroneously marked as peglegged eyepatch wearers from time to time 😛

 

There are quite a few handshakes going on over an HDMI cable, from the basic HDMI handshake through the HDCP handshake to the CEC handshake, plus the ARC handshake, on ARC-enabled ports.

 

Any or all of which can go wrong, giving the infamous purple screen, the message your wife got, or ARC not coming on.

 

Usually, when everything has been fine previously, the fix is to shrug your shoulders, put the affected devices back in standby, and bring them On again.

 

But the handshakes are necessarily complex, as there is a lot going on in them, and the ease of use of these modern devices relies on the dialogue that lets each device know what the other can do:-

 

TV: “Hey, I’m a 4K TV with HDR, 10-bit colour mapping, CEC and ARC! What are you?”

Stick: ”I’m a little NowTV Stick, with a 720p movie to show, no HDR, 8-bit mapping, no CEC, and ARC doesn’t apply, as I’m not an audio device. But I need you to have HDCP before you can have my movie”.

TV (a bit disappointed) ”Oh. Well, I can see I’m going to have my work cut out upscaling your movie. And yes I have HDCP. But you really want HDCP for your pissant only just marginally HD movie?”

Stick (hearing only the last bit): “Humph, no HDCP? Right then, just show them this error screen”.

 

Or something like that....😜

 

I’ve simplified a bit, as HDMI, HDCP, and probably the others don’t just come or not come, they have levels. And those need to match as well. So I can’t put my whizzy-dizzy 2018 UHD player through my 2015 HDMI soundbar up to the TV without losing the HDR and other goodnesses, as the soundbar hasn’t got the level of HDCP this requires. I suppose I’m lucky the 2015 TV does have it.

 

So I go direct to the TV, and get my HDR, but then the sound gets compromised, as all the sound goodness can’t get back down the ARC link, and would need EARC, which is only just coming out....

 

So the net effect of HDCP is not just to complicate the lives of us consumers, it is to prematurely obsolete our equipment as well. Those who want an upgraded NowTV, be careful what you wish for, and hope your TV can cope......

 

Set a Payment PIN on your account so that no-one but you can buy memberships on it. Check your bank accounts monthly for any other unexpected payments to Now. That way you can at least nip them in the bud, while you and Now figure out whose fault they are.