Editing Antifeatures (section)

=== HDMI ===

The idea that computer interconnects are designed with encryption to stop the user tampering with the signal, to limit people creating digital copies regardless of intention (legal personal use), how certain devices can not work with it and it can cause other devices to work less optimally (lower resolution output).

The input signal to your HDTV (either over the air or via Cable) is compressed. But HDTVs are only allowed to offer the uncompressed datastream (HDMI) as output (even though the input is compressed!). This is specifically to make it harder for people to record HDTV programs.

In [http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=726&tag=trunk;content Windows Vista], playing anything that the operating system decided was 'protected content' - the 'ding' of an alert box, for example - would instantly slow your network down to 1% of its full speed and disable various other communications devices for the duration.  The theory behind this was to stop you being able to copy the 'protected content' off the machine in real time.  This was regardless of whether your monitor or speakers were using HDCP.

Microsoft, in its Windows Vista guide to implementing HDMI and HDCP, encouraged hardware and software developers to '''go above and beyond''' the definitions and actively provide more features to restrict what users can do.