HDCP Stripper?

[ldeveraux]

Please delete if this is against the rules.

I'm trying to record a stream that is blocked by HDCP. I don't pretend to understand how that really works or what it entails, I just know that when I try to record video, it's black. Years ago I bought an old HDMI splitter that would strip the HDCP from the signal and allow recording through an old Elgato HD60. That worked to a point but no longer does, at least not on this platform. I upgraded to a HD60X but still no luck. I've bought about a half dozen HDMI splitters off Amazon that folks recommended would strip the HDCP, but none have worked. I've tried with the Elgato software as well as OBS. Does anyone have a foolproof setup or method to get this done?

[Fudoh]

The reason why older splitters might not work is that different sources have different HDCP levels and the complexity of the HDCP encryption has been rising over the years.

Getting a HDMI 2.1 splitter or extractor like the one was Bob was showing recently is probably the easiest way. Not sure what splitters you recently bought that didn't work.

I've also run into situations where those splitters only work if one of the outputs is indeed connected to a HDCP-capable sink (like a TV).

The only 100% fool-proof solution would do a D/A conversion followed by a A/D conversion, but that's easier said than done, especially when you're aiming at resolutions higher than 1080p60.

[ldeveraux]

The reason why older splitters might not work is that different sources have different HDCP levels and the complexity of the HDCP encryption has been rising over the years.

Getting a HDMI 2.1 splitter or extractor like the one was Bob was showing recently is probably the easiest way. Not sure what splitters you recently bought that didn't work.

I've also run into situations where those splitters only work if one of the outputs is indeed connected to a HDCP-capable sink (like a TV).

The only 100% fool-proof solution would do a D/A conversion followed by a A/D conversion, but that's easier said than done, especially when you're aiming at resolutions higher than 1080p60.

Do you have a link to the recommended splitter? I don't remember seeing it anywhere.

Am I going about this the right way? Do I need the Elgato or is OBS a better option? I've been simply adding the Splitter in the signal chain while still using the monitor, so it shouldn't be that. I'd honestly be happy with 1080p right now, it's better than nothing

[768peeistrash]

Who are you calling an hdcp stripper?

[Fudoh]

Do you have a link to the recommended splitter? I don't remember seeing it anywhere.

https://www.retrorgb.com/hdmi-2-1-audio-extractor.html

Am I going about this the right way? Do I need the Elgato or is OBS a better option?

doesn't matter. Whichever app you prefer.

I've been simply adding the Splitter in the signal chain while still using the monitor,
so it shouldn't be that.

splitter goes right at the console's output. Then one output into the monitor and the other one
into your capture box.

[jd213]

Is it safe to assume that most HDMI splitters on Aliexpress will at least strip HDCP for HDMI 1.4 and lower?

[ldeveraux]

Do you have a link to the recommended splitter? I don't remember seeing it anywhere.

https://www.retrorgb.com/hdmi-2-1-audio-extractor.html

The first is out of stock and the second is $80. Seems more expensive than it should be

Am I going about this the right way? Do I need the Elgato or is OBS a better option?

doesn't matter. Whichever app you prefer.

I didn't even mean the app, do I even need the Elgato hardware? Seems like OBS will screencap as long as I can strip HDCP. Not sure where the Elgato would even be used here.

I've been simply adding the Splitter in the signal chain while still using the monitor,
so it shouldn't be that.

splitter goes right at the console's output. Then one output into the monitor and the other one
into your capture box.

See above. The Elgato has an HDMI output, I should use that?

[Fudoh]

I didn't even mean the app, do I even need the Elgato hardware? Seems like OBS will screencap as long as I can strip HDCP.

I lost you there. With OBS you're using the Elgato as your HDMI capture interface. How else would you get an external HDMI Signal into your PC ?

The Elgato has an HDMI output, I should use that?

if you have to use a splitter before the Elgato's input, I wouldn't use the Elgato's passthrough output any longer, but use the splitter's second output instead.

[ldeveraux]

I didn't even mean the app, do I even need the Elgato hardware? Seems like OBS will screencap as long as I can strip HDCP.

I lost you there. With OBS you're using the Elgato as your HDMI capture interface. How else would you get an external HDMI Signal into your PC ?

The Elgato has an HDMI output, I should use that?

if you have to use a splitter before the Elgato's input, I wouldn't use the Elgato's passthrough output any longer, but use the splitter's second output instead.

I'm not recording from a console, it's a video on my computer. I'm looking to either record streaming video (no need for the Elgato) or do exactly what you've suggested: record the video with the Elgato. I was hoping there was a standard way to do this and I'm coming up empty haha.

[Fudoh]

May I ask what's the source of the stream ?

I don't really know how on-screen HDPC enforcement works, but this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnFs5KG-CYQ

seems like a solid recommendation. When you take the hardware acceleration out of the equation, then there should no longer be a difference for OBS whether you're recording your desktop or any actual streaming content.

[ldeveraux]

May I ask what's the source of the stream ?

I don't really know how on-screen HDPC enforcement works, but this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnFs5KG-CYQ

seems like a solid recommendation. When you take the hardware acceleration out of the equation, then there should no longer be a difference for OBS whether you're recording your desktop or any actual streaming content.

It's one of those, I'll give it a quick look.

[NewSchoolBoxer]

Fudoh knows much more about this than me but where I follow, his advice is correct. Copyright protection in digital video doesn't exist in analog video so the D/A to A/D route will work. You're basically capped at 1080i / 720p for Component due to evil television manufacturers but RGB over VGA can push above 1080p but no 4k.

Another option is to convert the HDMI to SDI and then capture that in OBS or whatever. SDI is this amazing and ancient digital format that video broadcast studio use which has no copyright protection since they don't need to block video from themselves. Blackmagic sells somewhat expensive HDMI to SDI converters and that can then be captured. You wouldn't have the quality loss that you'd get in the D/A to A/D route.

I don't think this applies to you but I've not seen any proof that 240p / 288p can exist in SDI. At least the Blackmagic converters don't support it.

[Guspaz]

It's not quite so simple. First, converting from digital to analog and then analog to digital doesn't work to bypass HDCP because you can't convert the digital signal to analog in the first place without stripping HDCP (you can't convert the encrypted digital signal directly to analog). And if you can decrypt the digital signal to allow converting it to analog, then why not just decrypt the digital signal and capture it still digital? The conversion to analog and back to digital doesn't add anything.

Second, SDI is almost always chroma subsampled. 4:2:2 YCbCr, usually. So converting HDMI to SDI may result in a quality loss if you're starting with a 4:4:4 RGB HDMI signal and your SDI converter only supports 4:2:2 YCbCr. The tech specs of the BlackMagic micro converters, for example, explicitly state they only do 4:2:2. But their mini converter lists both 4:2:2 and 4:4:4. This is often not a problem because basically all video distribution happens in 4:2:0 YCbCr.

[kitty666cats]

If you search “HDCP stripper” on eBay there’s a bunch of cheap HDMI splitters. They’re the same design as those other cheapo ones that are hit-or-miss as far as HDCP stripping goes, just in a slightly different enclosure. Might be worth looking into, they’re less than $8 USD heh

[ldeveraux]

I'm not looking for a solution for games, it's video online that I purchased that I want to save to my HDD and watch later. But hte platform blacks it out when I go to record with my Elgato. I was able to record the video with OBS with 2 issues. The video didn't look great, maybe it was 1080i, 1080p, 720p, whatever it was didn't look terribly HD to me. The second was after recording ~4 hours of video the audio was well out of sync. I didn't have the patience to look into fixing it so I gave up for now.

I tried a half dozen of those HDCP strippers off Amazon, not worked with this streaming platform. Unless I was doing something wrong, which is very very possible

[NewSchoolBoxer]

Well that's true that SDI is chroma-compressed YCbCr. I'd expect the streaming service to be 4:2:0 YCbCr as you're saying though. I like this chicken and egg problem but yeah the demand to split or remove HDCP is so common that cheap splitter and converter grey market solutions exist. I just don't have one myself to give a recommendation.

For stream recording, I ran into that problem last year where Crunchyroll installed evil copyright software called something like ivyvine that prevented me from taking screenshots. The video portion of the screenshot is replaced with a black box and recording in OBS black boxes as well. My solution was to have OBS record the desktop as a whole and resize the video window just below fullscreen. I wonder if the screenshot blocking is tied to the Print Screen key that can be rebinded or the process itself since nothing is installed into the browser.

I'd also think you could buy an older PCIe card that has VGA out and record that. My refurbished ThinkCentre PC with Win 10 I bought for $120 outputs HDMI, DisplayPort and VGA.

[Guspaz]

Software that cares about HDCP output (like Netflix or whatever) will simply refuse to display video on a non-HDCP output, which includes VGA.

[ldeveraux]

Software that cares about HDCP output (like Netflix or whatever) will simply refuse to display video on a non-HDCP output, which includes VGA.

Yup, that's why I gave up. After I started this thread I was able to record with OBS, but as I said it didn't look great and there was audio lag. I shelved it until I could find an easier solution, which sadly I haven't.

[orange808]

I'd try a hypervisor.

[ldeveraux]

I'd try a hypervisor.

don't know what that is

[bobrocks95]

For people looking at older HDCP standards (I only need it for PS3 and PSTV) are there no cheap dongles that do it? It seems kind of wasteful space and power-wise to buy and hook up two splitters behind them. Can they at least be powered from the console via USB if they're 5V and low amperage maybe?

Does the Dr. HDMI from HD Fury strip HDCP? It's relatively cheap these days it looks like.

[orange808]

I'd try a hypervisor.

don't know what that is

A VM. If something is absolutely determined to use root kit-flavored methods, sandbox the process.

[Guspaz]

No VM's virtual GPU is going to support HDCP... that's not going to be helpful.

[orange808]

As of late last year, we could partition the GPU and get Netflix up in the browser. I don't know what Netflix has done since. I haven't tried it since. It's an arms race. Netflix has also had a few short periods where people had to disable VM's on their machines completely, but those were shortlived. It's a problematic dance for Netflix right now, because Microsoft is using HyperV elements to partially sandbox Edge and offering the feature as a preconfigured option for Win11Pro users. Although, obviously, the Edge sandbox itself isn't going to be made for bypassing DRM, but it complicates the environment for Netflix when they design countermeasures.

[ldeveraux]

I just want to record the shows I paid for like I used to be able to do. I'm not sure a VM would help with that.

[Guspaz]

You might be able to combine an HDCP downgrader, which will downgrade from HDCP 2.2 to 1.4 and are actually allowed under the HDCP license, with an HDCP stripper that supports 1.4 (which is what I'd imagine most of the HDCP-stripping splitters support).

Monoprice sells an HDCP downgrader, and it's cheap: https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id= ... p_id=15242

However, there was HDCP 2.3 that was newer, intended for HDMI 2.1, IIRC. The HDCP 2.2 to 1.4 converter will only do 4K60 since it's HDMI 2.0.

[ldeveraux]

You might be able to combine an HDCP downgrader, which will downgrade from HDCP 2.2 to 1.4 and are actually allowed under the HDCP license, with an HDCP stripper that supports 1.4 (which is what I'd imagine most of the HDCP-stripping splitters support).

Monoprice sells an HDCP downgrader, and it's cheap: https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id= ... p_id=15242

However, there was HDCP 2.3 that was newer, intended for HDMI 2.1, IIRC. The HDCP 2.2 to 1.4 converter will only do 4K60 since it's HDMI 2.0.

Well I'll give this a try at least, nothing to lose at this point but wasted time.

[ldeveraux]

You might be able to combine an HDCP downgrader, which will downgrade from HDCP 2.2 to 1.4 and are actually allowed under the HDCP license, with an HDCP stripper that supports 1.4 (which is what I'd imagine most of the HDCP-stripping splitters support).

Monoprice sells an HDCP downgrader, and it's cheap: https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id= ... p_id=15242

However, there was HDCP 2.3 that was newer, intended for HDMI 2.1, IIRC. The HDCP 2.2 to 1.4 converter will only do 4K60 since it's HDMI 2.0.

Unfortunately I couldn't get signal from my GPU > Monoprice Converter > Elgato HD60X. The second I remove the Monoprice I get signal. For the life of me I cannot figure out how to use Elgato's recording software. I can get video, but no chance at audio, it's just garbled static for some reason. I was able to record through OBS, not sure how well the audio sync is compared to my previous attempt. I also feel like I'm using OBS wrong as recording 1080p60 from a 1080p60 source doesn't look very 1080p60 to me. Is there a tutorial to do what I'm trying to do or have I asked that already?
THanks for the assistance all!

[Triple Lei]

I consistently get an HDCP message with a single streaming service, but I can reliably get around it. Not saying which one, but I use a fair bit and there's only one that gives me trouble.

All my devices (including my Apple TV) go through my TESmart HDMI switcher, which then goes to a chain of USB-powered splitters. For actual splitting, I promise!

Splitter 1: https://youtu.be/GEyoqkJDhEc?si=jnDXjvPChWW1a74Y&t=1429 (splits to TV and splitter 2)

Splitter 2: https://youtu.be/GEyoqkJDhEc?si=KOtU8xgAooQFwbSC&t=1111 (mainly for getting analog audio out, which I've found is faster than the audio I get through HDMI)

Splitter 3: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T6 ... UTF8&psc=1 (recording and playing on tate and non-tate monitors at the same time)

I thought I'd list my splitters so you can see the HDCP isn't anything out of the ordinary. What I do when I see the HDCP message is power cycle my HDMI switcher. Maybe power cycling my USB power would help, but usually power cycling the switcher alone will do it.

Though I'm convinced there's an order to this thing; when playing my consoles, I have to turn on my TV first, navigate to my HDMI input and wait for "no signal detected," then turn on my switcher and scalers or I risk getting no audio. And trying to capture from the troublesome streaming service just now (viewing only on my TV at first), I started playing an episode, then opened my capture program last, and I didn't get kicked out or anything.

[ldeveraux]

I consistently get an HDCP message with a single streaming service, but I can reliably get around it. Not saying which one, but I use a fair bit and there's only one that gives me trouble.

All my devices (including my Apple TV) go through my TESmart HDMI switcher, which then goes to a chain of USB-powered splitters. For actual splitting, I promise!

Splitter 1: https://youtu.be/GEyoqkJDhEc?si=jnDXjvPChWW1a74Y&t=1429 (splits to TV and splitter 2)

Splitter 2: https://youtu.be/GEyoqkJDhEc?si=KOtU8xgAooQFwbSC&t=1111 (mainly for getting analog audio out, which I've found is faster than the audio I get through HDMI)

Splitter 3: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T6 ... UTF8&psc=1 (recording and playing on tate and non-tate monitors at the same time)

I thought I'd list my splitters so you can see the HDCP isn't anything out of the ordinary. What I do when I see the HDCP message is power cycle my HDMI switcher. Maybe power cycling my USB power would help, but usually power cycling the switcher alone will do it.

Though I'm convinced there's an order to this thing; when playing my consoles, I have to turn on my TV first, navigate to my HDMI input and wait for "no signal detected," then turn on my switcher and scalers or I risk getting no audio. And trying to capture from the troublesome streaming service just now (viewing only on my TV at first), I started playing an episode, then opened my capture program last, and I didn't get kicked out or anything.

Glad you got it sorta down to a science, but that's far more complicated than I ever want to be just to combat HDCP. My retro gaming setup is about as complicated and I don't even understand everything in it. I just wanted a simple way to get through HDCP, it just seems to be hit and miss with the adapters that work. Oh well. I was able to stream and record without audio lag from the HD60X with OBS. I guess that's all I'm going to get out of it.