Why Can't I See My Blu-Ray Player Signal?

August 30, 2011

Dear Q-Ru,

I've recently run into a problem on a project where I needed to incorporate a Blu-ray player into our video switching system to be displayed on our main screen. When we hooked up the HDMI output of the player to our switching system, we couldn't seem to see the signal on our input displays or program outputs. However, when we hooked it up directly to any of our display monitors or projectors it worked just fine. All other video devices we hooked up to the switching system worked without an issue, it was only the Blu-ray player that gave us this problem. Do you have an idea what the issue could be?

Thanks,

Randy W.

Randy,

What you are experiencing is most likely an HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) compliance issue. HDCP is a copy protection scheme to eliminate the possibility of intercepting digital data midstream between the source to the display. In other words, it prevents (or tries to prevent) the illegal copying of the media being output from the device (in this case a Blu-ray disc).

The format, designed by Intel and licensed by Digital Content Protection, LLC, uses an authentication and key exchange procedure before video and audio is presented. Products compatible with the HDCP scheme such as DVD players, satellite and cable HDTV set-top-boxes, as well as few entertainment PCs require a secure connection to an HDCP compliant display. This process is often described as the handshake.

So when you connect the Blu-ray player directly to a display device that is HDCP compliant you see the media (i.e. connecting a Blu-ray player to your flat panel display or projector). But if you have any device in the signal path that is not HDCP complaint or interferes with the "handshake" in anyway, the signal will be interrupted and not pass through. So in your situation, it would appear that your video switching system was not HDCP compliant, which prevented you from being able to route the Blu-ray player signal to your display.

There are a couple of methods to resolve or work around this situation. The simplest solution is to utilize an HDCP compliant switching system. However, this may not be feasible in many situations. One "work around" solution is to use the HD analog component output of the Blu-ray player instead of the HDMI output. This is a lesser quality video signal, but you will not have any compliance issues. Plus various adapters are readily available on the market to get you from HD analog component to whatever flavor output you need for your switching system.

Another solution to hit the market recently are HDCP communication correction devices or adapters. These adapters go in the line of the signal path after the non-complaint HDCP device and resolve any communication collision by altering the data timing and issuing a new HDCP key. There are several manufactures that make these types of devices ranging in size, reliability and price.

Hope this information helps resolve your issue.

Sincerely,