Error message: "your display environment does not support protected content playback"

[heavysoul]

Hi, hope someone can help me (and hope this is the right place to post this).

I've just purchased a Sony Vaio FZ31M - complete with Blu-ray. I've just tried to play my first Blu-ray movie - Casino Royale - and it was fine viewing on the laptop (pretty good picture acutally). But when I connect to my Loewe TV with an HDMI lead, I get the following error message:

"your display environment does not support protected content playback".

The movie plays using WinDVD BD for VAIO (looks like it's version 8).

Any ideas? Is it the TV or laptop?

Any help/advice appreciated.

Thanks... HS

[ForceMd]

Originally Posted by heavysoul

Hi, hope someone can help me (and hope this is the right place to post this).

I've just purchased a Sony Vaio FZ31M - complete with Blu-ray. I've just tried to play my first Blu-ray movie - Casino Royale - and it was fine viewing on the laptop (pretty good picture acutally). But when I connect to my Loewe TV with an HDMI lead, I get the following error message:

"your display environment does not support protected content playback".

The movie plays using WinDVD BD for VAIO (looks like it's version 8).

Any ideas? Is it the TV or laptop?

Any help/advice appreciated.






Thanks... HS

Blu-ray playback works fine using my Vaio FZ260/E laptop connected to a Sony Bravia 46V2500 TV. I connect the HDMI to the TV and the laptop automatically recognizes it as a second monitor (asks me if I want dual display or to use the Bravia as my only display; I was able to play blu-rays using both methods.) It just might be your TV. What model is your TV?

[heavysoul]

Originally Posted by ForceMd

Blu-ray playback works fine using my Vaio FZ260/E laptop connected to a Sony Bravia 46V2500 TV. I connect the HDMI to the TV and the laptop automatically recognizes it as a second monitor (asks me if I want dual display or to use the Bravia as my only display; I was able to play blu-rays using both methods.) It just might be your TV. What model is your TV?

My TV is a Loewe Xelos A32. I did see another thread on here where others had a similar problem - but I couldn't really follow it and get the answer!

When I connect my Vaio to the TV with an HDMI cable - it works in as far as I can view the internet and also play sound/music. It just seems to have a problem when I start the Blu-ray DVD!

Again, any help or advise would be appreciated.

TVM... HS

[ForceMd]

The only thing that I can think of off of the top of my head would be either a) it is an HDCP handshake problem between the laptop and the TV, or, b) it is a software issue.

I can't be too sure if it is either though. Can you try to connect your laptop to another TV? or use another (blu-ray capable) software player?

[gavomatic57]

Either the laptop GPU will only carry HDCP to the laptop screen and not to a separate screen, or you need to update your GPU drivers. I'm assuming you are running Vista yeah?

[BStecke]

HDCP would be my first guess as well.

[BronxBombers]

I'm having this same problem with my Vaio VGN-FZ485U. Does anyone know of anything we can install or options we need to change to get this working?

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by BronxBombers

I'm having this same problem with my Vaio VGN-FZ485U. Does anyone know of anything we can install or options we need to change to get this working?

Sorry i just hope that i could help you more than this, but it sounds like a software issue with your laptop. why don't you contact customer support, i am sure that they can tell exactly what is the problem.

[Brian Cash]

maybe your laptops output for video is 1080p and your tv is not thats the only thing i can think of

[BronxBombers]

The Sony reps don't know what the hell they're doing. I got the picture and now I'm working on sound I just downloaded a firmware update. Thanks guys!

[blbakes]

I bought a sony viao AR730E because it had Blu-Ray technology we wanted to use for watching movies on our HDTV. We tried to connect with HDMI cables to our Samsung LCD HDTV. We recieved the error message "...does not support protected content playback". After trying many things I contacted Samsung. Tech support said that we could not connect with HDMI cables since it could be used to copy content. He said our only recourse was to use a 15/10 VGA or RJB cable. This does not transmit the clarity we purchased the Blu-Ray for. If anyone has sucess with non-Sony tv's I would love some help.

[syncguy]

This seems to be a HDCP related problem. HDMI carries HDCP (copy protection protocol) from your player to display and if the display does not support HDCP, the player will not display protected content (for most cases).

Check whether your TV supports HDCP. If not, most likely, it will not display 1080p. Try a lower resolution such as 480i to check whether that would work. Have you got any other output from your laptop (e.g. composite, S-video), if so try those and set the resolution to 480i.

[Terriermk]

had same problem with my Vaio AR61M and sony replied "HDCP protection wont allow you to display a blue ray image on two displays at once. When you connect your TV you should transfer the display to the TV using single mode display. You cannot use dual display if you want to play blue rays." Hope this helps.
My problem is different. I have bought one Blu-Ray DVD to try King Arthur. It plays now on the TV but not HD quality. Have updated the WIN-DVD player as suggested with slight improvement but not brilliant. Still waiting for Sony's next reply. Any thoughts anybody?

[blurayblues]

Terriermk - you're spot on. The HDCP produces that unhelpful error message when it meets a dual display. It seems to think that the the same data going to 2 places is an attempt to copy protected stuff.

My AR21S, being a desktop replacement and quite large, lives permanently under my HD TV, along with my PVR. So, I only occasionally use the built-in screen. So I have set up my graphics card to always use the Flat Screen when it encounters 2 displays. Also, I set the power setting to do nothing when the lid is closed. That way I can switch on the laptop and immediately close the lid when it starts to boot. I never touch the laptop again until I have to switch it on again next time. I have a remote keyboard. I have a desktop icon to "Eject" the CD / DVD when necessary, when I want to play films or CDs.

Sony have been totally unprofessional over the issue of these "Blu-Ray" laptops.

It all worked ok on the laptop itself, but when connecting to a HD display they've come up short.

Firstly I had the problem described here.

Secondly, when I did get this sorted, there was no sound. Eventually, after 6 months, Sony released a Firmware upgrade for the nVidia graphics card last November, specifically to fix the sound problem. At last I could play my Blu-Ray movies. Yeah right.

Thirdly, some of them seemed ok(ish) but most of them didn't sync the sound properly with the picture. Here we come to the Graphics Driver. Despite the "1080p" sticker on the laptop, it just won't play properly at 1920 x 1080 resolution - "Full HD". The latest released driver doesn't offer the Modes with the necessary resolution required for full HD. You need 1920 x 1080 (non interlaced, or "p") AND a refresh rate of 50 or 60 Hz.

I tried the 1920 x 1080 (interlaced, or "i") setting, but at that resolution I was only offered 30Hz refresh rate. So, at that slow refresh rate, the picture lags the sound.

I've had to reduce the resolution to 1280 x 720 (non interlaced, or "p") to get the refresh rate of 60 or 50Hz, necessary for lip-syncing.

Sorry for the long ramble, but it's ticked me off to have to go through all this.

So, terriermk, I do, technically, have HD output between my laptop and my HDTV, but only at the lowest end of the "HD" definition, 720p.

Thanks to someone in the Sony forums, I did download a later nVidia driver which DOES offer all the higher "Modes", including the 1920 x 1080 (p) 60Hz Mode. It installed ok and ran ok on the laptop. However, when I tried to run WinDVD BD, it wouldn't run, and gave a message about not being able to create an overlay of some kind. The Intervideo WinDVD Help screen talks about this message. Guess what the message says? :_

"Error - Cannot Create Overlay
If you consistently see a Cannot Create Overlay error message, the problem may be with your resolution. Your first step should be to lower the resolution to 800x600 and set the color to High Color.

It might also be that your graphics card does not use a hardware overlay surface. This surface is needed to display video and play back DVDs on supported CPUs.

Without a hardware overlay surface, demands on the graphic card increases and performance may be compromised; even the fastest CPUs may not be able to compensate for the lack of a hardware overlay surface.

Cards that use software overlay surfaces can fail to work or suffer from decreased performance and video quality."

How do you like the first paragraph? "...lower the resolution to 800x600 and set the color to High Color...".

Ridiculous! The whole Sony - nVidia - WinDVD BD setup is just not up to the job. Yet Sony released this laptop at this time last year, as 1080p ready. Rubbish. The whole max resolution, non interlacing, and max refresh rate combination, necessary for Full HD, pushes the technology beyond its limits.

By the way, the driver I downloaded is one of several not officially released by nVidia, for various reasons. The team which setup this website has acquired them all (loads of them) tweaked them to run (although non-official), and offer them on a testing for purpose basis. The point seems to be, that you decide which application is most important to you, and which you can live without, and decide accordingly. Dangerous business testing them out, and needing to roll back drivers when they don't work.

So, it IS possible to get HD, but only at the lowest end, at least for my setup - the Vaio VGN AR21S.

I hope this helps in some way.

[Terriermk]

Wos - what an explanation. Thanks for that. Not being at all techi, I need help to fully appreciate what you have said. Fortunately my son is so he can translate. I am still waiting for the latest reply from Sony.

[nachu]

Hi,

I am a novice to Blu Ray and its business, but having been enamoured and then stuck with this, might as well learn more. I had the same problem with my AR 730E Vaio notebook, which I bought. I hooked it up to my HP flat screen TV. The same msg as displayed here on this site came up. I tried every possible display setting but it came to naught.

Wonder where I go from here? Change my TV? My notebook? Or is there a quick fix, not too techie for me. I am from the stone ages, so HELP!!!!

I did read the previous posts, but the only thing I haven't tried is hooking it up to another TV.

Nachu

[syncguy]

Originally Posted by nachu

Hi,


I did read the previous posts, but the only thing I haven't tried is hooking it up to another TV.

Nachu

It is worth trying another TV that has worked elsewhere. Is your TV HDCP compliant. Would your TV work for lower resolutions.

[Obiit]

From the spec of the laptop it looks like the graphics chipset may not support HDCP. Try this http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvdhd.html on trial and see if it works.

Both WinDVD and PowerDVD don't much like dual monitors so set your TV as the only and primary monitor and see how you go.

HTH

[toolman46and2]

I watched a Blu-ray on a projecter screen from my Dell Laptop, I could not use both displays at the same time. Disable the screen on the Laptop when using the TV, it seemed to work on mine.

[knickers]

Can I ask. I checked that I could view DVDs (not blue ray) on my Sony HDTV via an S Cable with my FZ31M, but didn't get sound. I presume I need to do something else to get this through the telly and then the stereo surround system?

Can anyone help. Oh and by the way I haven't tried playing blue ray disks on the laptop yet but I have updated the latest VIAO updates - will this include the latest update for Win DVD BD: the version I have installed is 8.0DXVA B09.254

Many thanks