VPC-SA Problems with Screen Capture Protection

I'm having HDCP (Screen Capture Protection) issues with CyberLinks DirecTV2PC app on a VPC-SA. The app displays an error to the effect of "your graphics adapter does not support screen capture protection" whenever I try to stream a video from my DirecTV DVR. This happens if I use the SA's LCD, or if I connect an HDCP compliant monitor via HDMI.

I also have the same app installed on a one year old VPC-EB and it works perfectly. Also, Sony pre-installed CyberLinks PowerDVD BD on the SA and with it I can play Blu-rays just fine. My understand is BD requires HDCP.

I have the latest combined hybrid video drivers from Sony, but I can't find any settings for HDCP. According to the AMD/ATI web site, the Radeon adapter is HDCP compliant. Any idea why the DirecTV2PC app is not detecting screeen capture protection? Is there anything I can do to make the app work? I have contacted Sony, AMD, and CyberLink, but so far no progress.

Steve

 

Are you in STAMINA mode? I remember, in the past, for whatever reason, only the Intel IGP drivers had HDCP, for whatever reason.

 

In Stamina mode I hear the audio but the screen is green. Also after a few seconds the audio gets choppy like the processor can't keep up.

What you say seems to go with what I see. I only get the HDCP error in performance mode (Radeon HD 6630M). According to the AMD/ATI web site, the 6630 is HDCP compliant. So either there's a bug with the 6630 driver, or, the hybrid package provided by Sony is causing the issue.

It would be interesting to see if I wiped out the Intel HD hybrid driver and just installed the ATI 6630 driver, if that would solve the issue. I wish there was somebody knowledgeable at Sony I could talk to. All I get are people whose job it is to get rid of you as fast as they can.

Steve

 

Good memory Jeremy! After getting bumped to level 3 support at Sony, I was able to confirm that the ATI chipset and drivers do not support HDCP on the VPC-SA. This is by design according to Sony, they claim the Intel HD3000 chipset and adapter were chosen to support HDCP on the SA.

So now I'm back to a green screen when I try to play video using the Intel adapter. I've tried different power management settings, using an eternal monitor over HDMI, but no luck.

Has anyone been able to get the DirecTV2PC app working with Sony's Intel HD 3000 adapter?

 

Hi. I also have a Sony VPC-SA laptop and I'm having the same issues with DirecTV2PC on that computer as those described by stevenme. When trying to watch recorded content via DirecTV2PC and in “stamina” mode I get the green screen and some audio. When in “speed” mode I get the same (paraphrased) error of "your graphics card does not have screen capture protection". I have the latest drivers according to both the Sony updating tool SonyCare and the ATI website.

I have noticed that, when in “stamina” mode, when I selected a non-HD recorded movie I was able to get both video and audio to play on my laptop. This particular movie was V for Vendetta aired on BBC America. I thought the problem had been fixed and immediately tried a HD recording but that just reproduced the green screen problem. Has anyone else noticed a difference between SD and HD content?

But after hearing stevenme's report on what the Sony level 3 support person said, I have an additional and probably dump series of questions.
Does the HDMI port on the VPC-SA get its feed from the Intel graphics chip, ATI video card, or both? I bought a laptop with an HDMI port (and HDMI’s inherent HDCP capability) specifically to address the HDCP requirement of things like DirecTV2PC. And if, as described in stevenme's first post, playing blu-ray on the laptop screen and via the HDMI port to a TV is possible then does that suggest it is a problem with the DirecTV2PC program because blu-ray requires HDCP? And finally but most importantly to me, if the laptop can only process the HDCP stuff with the intel chipset, what benefits does the dedicated graphics card serve?

I talked to a technician at my local Sony Store who said he had not heard of this issue, but that he was interested in it and would get back to me in a week after he's had time to contact and hear back from Sony's internal support division. If I hear anything I'll report back.

Thanks.

 

It's directly connected via a MUX to either card, as far as I know, and shouldn't cause HDCP issues. My best guess involved the AMD GPU drivers being wonky in switchable mode. I dunno, actually

 

You may want to submit a ticket to Cyberlink.com on the issue. I received this back from them, so they are investigating, but the more folks running into this issue the more likely (or quickly) they are to fix it.

Dear Steve,

Thank you for writing back.

I would like to inform you that, your issue case is under escalation and our Product & Development team they are working on it to resolve the issue.

Please feel free to contact us back for any further clarification or for any assistance related to CyberLink Products.

Thanks and Regards,

Gaurav
CyberLink Technical Support