HDTV Bargain?

Drag00n79

Not sure how much of a bargain this is but Technikdirekt is selling a 32" LCD HDTV for €799. Postage is not included.

The "HD Ready" Acer AT3201W LCD TV takes high definition visual home entertainment to another dimension. By combining the very latest technology, superior design and full connectivity with existing home AV equipment, the AT3201W provides everything you need for easy access to the world of high-impact home entertainment.

Features:
- 32 inch Widescreen LCD-TV Display
- 1366 x 766 Native Resolution
- State-of-the-art Design & Technology
- WOW Surround Sound by SRS Labs
- HD Ready with HDCP compliance

More details here

andy1249

This seems to be popping up all over the place , so here goes again ,

Only HDMI is fully compliant with HDCP and will play HDCP protected content , DVI will comply with HDCP in that it will not play protected content , so the HDCP compliant claim here for this TV is misleading in that its compliant only in the sense that it will not play protected content.

The set does not have HDMI , only DVI , DVI will show a HD picture but DVI carries no sound , so the sound will have to come from analog connections through an external amp if you have one , if you dont , then this TV is not for you.

There are currently lots of LCD / Plasma TVs going cheap now due to the fact that they have no HDMI sockets , and this is one of them.

JohnC.

andy1249 wrote:

Only HDMI is fully compliant with HDCP and will play HDCP protected content , DVI will comply with HDCP in that it will not play protected content , so the HDCP compliant claim here for this TV is misleading in that its compliant only in the sense that it will not play protected content.

Are you absolutely sure about that? What I've read seems to suggest that HDCP compliant DVI will play protected content.

[EDIT 1]
I just paid a visit to http://www.digital-cp.com which is the licencing organisation for HDCP.

HDCP is a specification developed by Intel Corporation to protect digital entertainment content across the DVI/HDMI interface. The HDCP specification provides a robust, cost-effective and transparent method for transmitting and receiving digital entertainment content to DVI/HDMI-compliant digital displays.

There is also a specification PDF which has lots of technical stuff that's probably beyond me, but it does also say on page 4

In HDCP 1.2, the HDCP-protected Interfaces are Digital Visual Interface (DVI) and High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI).

[EDIT 2]
Just looked at HDCP 1.1 and 1.0 specs. 1.1 is the same, but 1.0 actually only refers to DVI and not HDMI, as this was about 2 years beofre HDMI 1.0 was released. So it appears HDCP was actually originally developed for DVI, so it wouldn't make sense for it to be designed to not display protected content on DVI.

andy1249

The point is that while some DVI screens are compliant , a lot are not , being old devices or designs that came before HDCP , so just because there is a DVI socket on a device , it does not mean that its HDCP compliant , except in the case of not playing HDCP content ,

HDMI on the other hand is always HDCP compliant regardless , so if you want to be sure , make sure the unit is HDMI ,

I Got this from this site , second paragraph I think ,
http://www.digitalconnection.com/FAQ/HDTV_12.asp

JohnC.

andy1249 wrote:

HDMI on the other hand is always HDCP compliant regardless , so if you want to be sure , make sure the unit is HDMI ,

I'm pretty sure that's not true either. It was an issue which arose when Sky HD was first announced and they were going to require HDMI with HDCP for proper HD. Not all HDMI had HDCP at that point. But Sky dropped those requirements in the end anyway.

Smoggy

as far as I know :

"The "HD Ready" Acer AT3201W LCD"

Anything that is HD Ready will meet all current HD complaint standards.