Will HDCP content display over an analog video output?

Overview

Devices that play HDCP content, such as Blu-Ray players and cable boxes, are required to authenticate the display endpoint (i.e. a compatible television) over an HDMI, DVI, or DP connection. When an HDCP device is connected to a 4K1142, XD1132, or XD1230 player via HDMI input, HDCP authentication will occur among the source device, the player, and the display device. If HDCP authentication is successful, the player will disable analog video output and send the protected content to the display over the HDMI output.

HDCP authentication requires a digital video signal; if the player is only connected to a display device via the analog video port (VGA), the display will not communicate with the player, and authentication will fail after timing out. In other words, HDCP content is never supposed to play over an analog video connection.

Exceptions

We have observed some cases where the content from an HDCP source successfully plays over the analog video output of a player. In such cases, the HDCP source device is incorrectly sending content even though the HDCP authorization process has failed. Since the display endpoint has not been authorized, the player does not disable the analog video output.

Since this scenario exhibits unexpected/incorrect behavior on the part of the HDCP source, we don’t recommend building a digital signage setup that relies on this use case.