HDMI splitter

[thewolfe]

Is this an unusual item. http://www.dougsstuff.com/HDMI_splitter.jpg Most everything I find is a box with a powercord and 2 or 3 HDMI ports.

I know this is a little bit outside computer stuff, but not really in ensure you guys are up to the task.

[Heretic]

I know amazon has few splinters like that. I just don't know it you could adjust different monitors to different settings or if you would have just cloned monitors on each of the ports.

[Krom]

I'd think most of these might break HDCP, or if they don't break HDCP then they can only route the signal to one device at a time and it is just a HDMI switch rather than a "splitter".

Granted HDCP is already permanently broken since someone decrypted the master key for it, but that doesn't mean your bluray player/tv will work well together through one of these.

[roid]

I'd think most of these might break HDCP, or if they don't break HDCP then they can only route the signal to one device at a time and it is just a HDMI switch rather than a "splitter".

Granted HDCP is already permanently broken since someone decrypted the master key for it, but that doesn't mean your bluray player/tv will work well together through one of these.

It'd be cool if you could enter that master key into these boxes hey?
*ponder ponder*


edit:
hehehehehe
And this is from a year ago, $267 back then and it'll only get cheaper and easier.

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industr ... ey-cracked

..."researchers" at the Secure Hardware Group of Ruhr University of Bochum (RUB) in Germany claim to have cracked Intel's HDCP using hardware.

And they did it for around $267 and parts you can obtain and use on your own.

So how does this differ from the cracked master key - accomplished back in 2010? Well, the cracked master key allows the generation of new keys that will work with players, etc - thus removing the issue of "revoked" keys from inhibiting the copying of Blu-ray and other protected content. The trouble is, the presence of this master key wasn't terribly significant since there would need to be hardware created in order for it to have any practical use in circumventing copy protection on any large scale.

This new crack, since it involves hardware, is the realization of that vulnerability. Now, with a $267 board, you can run HDMI into a box and get unprotected digital or analogue content at 1080p resolution out of it. Here's how they claimed to have done it:

Intel's HDCP encryption was cracked using a "man-in-the-middle" (MITM) attack with an inexpensive field programmable gate array (FPGA) board. The build used an ATLYS board from Digilent, a HDMI port equipped Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA, and a serial RS232 port for communication. The board was able to manipulate and decode the communication between the Blu-ray player and the HDTV without being detected.

Whether or not that's terribly practical is another question entirely.
...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-bandw ... ey_release

Intel has threatened legal action against anyone producing hardware to circumvent the HDCP, possibly under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.[11]

This is why i mention "entering the key in". It'd likely be illegal to ship it with the key ALREADY in, but perfectly ok to ship it with just the ability to enter the key yourself (ie: just google for it).

[Foil]

My guess is that the unit in the OP is just a physical splitter. Obviously it would break HDCP (or more likely, wouldn't work at all) if you tried to use it for simultaneous monitors or sources.

It would only be useful in a case where you were only using one source/monitor pair at any given time (e.g. to hook up two gaming consoles to a single HDMI port on a TV, where you only want to use one console at a time).

[thewolfe]

How about for splitting a HDMI port on a TV?

[Foil]

Same thing. If you only have one source (e.g. game console, dvd player) on at a time, it might work. Otherwise, almost certainly not.

[thewolfe]

I have a DVD player and a TiVo box plugged into the two HDMI ports I now have in the back of the TV. Now I need a third for a Verizon set-top box. I have a third HDMI port on the side of the TV but is not convenient to use that one so I was hoping to split one of the two that I have in the back.

[fliptw]

you want an HDMI switch.

but you might as well splurge on a mid-range receiver and speakers..

[snoopy]

you want an HDMI switch.

but you might as well splurge on a mid-range receiver and speakers..

Yeah, if your willing to spend the money:

I have an audio receiver that has like 4-5 HDMI inputs, it sucks the audio track off, and then outputs the video to a single HDMI output that takes the picture to the TV. It's slick.

[Foil]

That's pretty cool, snoopy. I assume it handles HDCP well, as long as you don't switch away from the source?

[snoopy]

Yep.

When you switch sources, the TV just re-negotiates the link with whatever the new source is.

[roid]

http://torrentfreak.com/warner-bros-and ... cy-121220/

Warner Bros. and Intel’s daughter company Digital Content Protection have filed a lawsuit against a hardware manufacturer that creates devices enabling consumers to bypass HDCP copy protection. The devices, which presumably use the leaked HDCP master key to convert digital to analog signals, can be useful for connecting digital devices to analog displays. However, they could also be used by pirates to copy pay-per-view, on-demand, and other premium content.

So i guess they do exist already