The First True HDMI-HDCP Enabled ATI Video Card

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The First True HDMI-HDCP Enabled ATI Video Card

HDMI-enabled ATI based video cards on the way

Video protection standards seem to be in a bit of a confused state for just about everyone these days. Many protection schemes exist and while some are innovative for their purposes, they have all been bypassed at some point or another.

Today we have quick details on the first ATI based card to fully support HDMI-HDCP. The card itself is a PCI Express video card with a low profile design. It does not come with a DVI connector but instead has a fully functional HDMI connector that is capable of delivering a full HDCP encoded signal. There is a jack for SPDIF passthrough on the card in which all audio channels are routed through the HDMI interface. The card uses a special Silicon Image HDCP TMDS transmitter, which does the actual encoding and serving of the protected video signals.

Sapphire previously announced that it too has a HDMI compliant card in the works although no details were given on when such a product will ship.



Silicon Image AACS key chip. The digital signal must pass through this chip to be encrypted before going over the DVI output