JP
Samsung’s two new ‘Touch of Color’ LCD monitors, the T260HD and T240HD, which began shipping last month promised the best of both worlds: hook up to your PC or Mac for work, enjoy the ATSC / ClearQAM tuner and dual HDMI ports for play. However users are reporting that the displays’ HDMI ports are not HDCP compatible, leading to problems playing Blu-ray content. [Updated with Samsung's response - the monitors are HDCP compatible - after the cut]
HDCP is the anti-copy protection used by studios to ensure that high-definition media is not illegally duplicated. Without support for it in the playback device, HDCP-encrypted content will not display.
Some reports claim that Samsung’s tech support have confirmed that only the monitors’ DVI ports support HDCP, but others say neither connection will operate. Samsung’s own webpage for the T260HD suggests that the HDMI ports are suitable for hooking up a Blu-ray player.
I’m waiting to hear back from Samsung, hopefully with some clarification; I’ll update this post when that happens.
Update 1: We’re waiting for absolute clarification from Samsung’s Korean engineers. Hopefully should have that on Monday.
Update 2: We’ve received the following confirmation of HDCP from Samsung’s engineers:
“All Samsung Touch of Color Monitors and HDTV Monitors support HDCP through their HDMI and DVI connections. This is true for all Samsung LCD monitors, except for our XL30 and 305T monitors”
If you’re still having problems with connecting up your Blu-ray player, we’d recommend you get in touch with Samsung support.
[thanks Xolan for highlighting the issue]
2 Responses to “Samsung T260HD & T240HD Touch of Color HDCP woes”
Borge August 4, 2008
I connected the PS3 to the Samsung T240HD via HDMI and played a couple of Blu-ray movies and the played with no problems with sound. When the home screen of the PS3 displayed you have to used JUST SCAN to get the 1080p display mode but there is a small bar in the top and bottom of the screen. However, when he select to play the game in the PS3 (Grand Theft Auto IV) the screen was filled completely displaying the 1080p that the game support. Great for watching TV, even if conencted to Non-HD Cable.
NeutralMrNishi August 21, 2008
In response to Borge: There should always be a black bar on the top and bottom of the sreen if you are playing (Blu-ray or PS3 games) in 1080p.
This monitor is a 16:10 where 1080p is 16:9, so 1920×1200 vs. 1920×1080.
If the monitor is normal view or full, it’s upsacling from 1080 to 1200, making it taller, but on JUST SCAN it keeps it at the native 1080.
My T240HD ais HDCP compliant on both HDMI connections and the DVI-I connection.
+1