Forums Forums Enthusiast Forums A - Z Gadgets & Tech 'Does not support HDCP' - Sony TV/Sky box problem

Apologies if we’ve already covered this subject. I bought a Sony Bravia TV a year ago and it’s developed an intermittent problem. Every so often, a message comes up, saying something like ‘This display does not support HDCP’. Then the screen goes a solid blue colour and stays like that.

The TV is connected to a Sky box and the only way I can eventually restore things is by switching off the TV and the Sky box and waiting till everything resets. It’ll be okay for a while, maybe several days, before the same thing happens again.

I’ve Googled the problem, but no one seems to have a definite answer. Some say it’s just a matter of getting a decent HDMI cable (which I have), others say it’s something to do with how you switch your devices on. I’m totally baffled. We have a Samsung TV connected to a Sky box in the next room and this has never happened to it. Is the problem with the Sony TV or the Sky box? If anyone could help, I’d appreciate it, because it’s incredibly annoying.

As far as I can gather HDCP is an anti piracy device which I understand doesn't do much to deter piracy but causes problems for legitimate TV users this apparently occurs when the HDCP doesn't recognize another device, I would hazard a guess to it being your TV via HDCP that doesn't recognize some content being shown so switches the TV off I believe it is quite a common problem, I know this doesn't solve your problem, I have read a HDMI splitter might work but may be worth looking into , good luck.

Thanks, Casper. I've read up on it now and the whole thing seems a bit of a shambles - there are a lot of people out there fuming over it. As I understand it, most modern devices such as TVs, recorders, consoles, computers, etc, have this HDCP system built in and if a non-HDCP device comes into the loop, it's just blocked. It means some older devices without HDCP can become useless even though there's nothing wrong with them. And, as you say, the anti-piracy aspect of HDCP is apparently easily negated. What was that about the law of unintended consequences?