Question about HDCP on Monitors

[MoobyTheGoldenCalf]

We all know that Windows Vista will require HDCP for things like high-def Blue-Ray, HD-DVD, etc. And a lot of people are getting bent out of shape about current monitors not being HDCP compatible.

Now this may be a stupid question, but won't video cards need to be HDCP compatible as well? You need to have this on both ends right? I can understand for example a stand-alone Blue-Ray player working because it is directly outputting the video, but a drive on a PC isn't outputting the video, the card is. So will a new monitor AND a new card be required as well?

 

[rbV5]

Originally posted by: MoobyTheGoldenCalf
We all know that Windows Vista will require HDCP for things like high-def Blue-Ray, HD-DVD, etc. And a lot of people are getting bent out of shape about current monitors not being HDCP compatible.

Now this may be a stupid question, but won't video cards need to be HDCP compatible as well? You need to have this on both ends right? I can understand for example a stand-alone Blue-Ray player working because it is directly outputting the video, but a drive on a PC isn't outputting the video, the card is. So will a new monitor AND a new card be required as well?

You're right. You'll want to make sure HDCP is enabled on your video card if you are thinking that graphics card will be used for protected content output. I know most recent Radeon cards are HDCP compliant on the DVI connector (at least 8500 IIRC) but you'll want to check if its important to you.