Do ALL HDMI have HDCP?

When I started this blog I didn't know how much work it took to keep it relevant and complete enough for people. Now there are people asking `Do ALL HDMI connectors have HDCP support'? The short answer is NO. To be sure, it should state HDMI(HDCP) if it DOES support HDCP.

HDMI Licensing, LLC, the licensor for all HDMI partners, does not require HDCP compliance as mandatory for all their licensees. That being said, HDMI licensees get a discount for putting HDCP on their HDMI connectors:

http://www.hdmi.org/about/faq.asp

If the Adopter implements HDCP content protection as set forth in the HDMI
Specification, then the royalty rate is further reduced by one cent (US $.01)
per unit sold, for a lowest rate of four cents (.04) per unit. Adopters must
license HDCP separately from Digital Content Protection, LLC, an Intel
subsidiary.

The Wiki states:

... nearly all HDMI connections support HDCP ...

Hitachi 42" "1080 ready" advert - Caveats

So Hitachi's riding on the HDTV bandwagon with frequent ads - "Are you 1080 ready?" How good is this one? Check this out by Tech Reporter Oo Gin Lee at his HDTVSingapore blog: HDTV Singapore: Hitachi's 42 1080HD Plasma - Don't buy first

In addition to Gin Lee's words, the Hitachi 42" real specifications, which they don't state on the TV ads, is 1024 vertical by 1080 horizontal. NO TYPO HERE. The 16:9 physical aspect ratio is reproduced by 1080x1024 pixels in reality, which means you have real WIDE pixels for a start. For a traditionally compliant 1080 panel, it has like 1920x1080 pixels, a perfect 16:9 ratio achieved by the pixels.

In their brochure here: http://www.hitachiconsumer.com/sg/products/download.aspx?file=42PD8900TA.pdf they state in WORDS that they are HDTV ready, but there's no HD-Ready logo, dude. And without mention of the HDCP logo and not having a pixel count within the `at least 720P in 16:9 ratio' I don't see how it can get the HD-Ready logo. I see the brochure as either INCOMPLETE or ... well, you know, excessive spin.

Anyway, I think HDTVsingapore has asked for a clarification, let's see what they come up with.

UPDATE: OK they replied to ginlee. http://hdtvsingapore.blogspot.com/2006/06/hitachi-responds-on-its-1080-hd.html

There's no magic. It is indeed a low number of vertical lines. Quoting:

To enjoy full spec of HD, the panel should have a resolution of 1920 x 1080 for
the 16:9 screen aspect ratio.For Hitachi's 42PD8900TA with resolution of 1024 x
1080, the vertical lines is actually slightly scaled to get the 16:9 aspect
ratio.

SLIGHTLY indeed. Almost a 50% downscale, and they call it SLIGHTLY. Incredible spin.