In January of this year, Popular Mechanics published some information about a video dropout problem experienced with some PS3 owners who were using Westinghouse flat panel TVs. The problem was caused by an inability for the two devices to properly exchange HDCP keys during the handshake, causing the HDMI connection to reset. Scores of people chimed in proclaiming that the problem was clearly with the Westinghouse TVs, as they had tested their PS3 on multiple flat panels and only the Westinghouse product had the blinking problem. Scores of other people chimed in to indicate that the problem was clearly with the PS3 because they were able to use all of their other HDMI sources (e.g. Xbox 360 Elite, etc.) with their Westinghouse TV and only the PS3 blinked. Sony and Westinghouse proceeded to have a little war about who's HDCP/HDMI implementation was not fully up to spec, and I think that war is still being fought. In the meantime, PM's advice for how to deal with the blinking was to manually re-seat the HDMI cable. Apparently the soft HDCP reset that is occurring after handshake failure is somehow different than a hard reset.
Fortunately, my PS3 works fine when connected to my Sony LCD. My Denon AVR, on the other hand, does not. I get the very same HDCP reset blinking behavior, but only sometimes. For 1080p passthrough, it works like a charm. So my PS3 experience is flawless. For upconverted analog signals, such as the 1080i component line coming from my home theater PC, or even the Denon's on-screen display, sometimes there's blink. And once there's blink, I've found that the only way to get it to stop is to reach back and unplug the HDMI cable between the TV and the AVR. Note that the AVR's upconversion is flawless and looks great; between blinks I get crystal-clear video from my HTPC, but the blinks obviously ruin the experience.
High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection is a turd in my drink.
It does absolutely nothing to enhance the end-user experience of high-definition video. It exists solely to protect the exorbitant profits of high-def content providers. And apparently, either the implementation is too difficult to get right or the spec is inherently flawed.
A note to content providers who mandate the use of encryption technologies in order to boost their profits: make sure your technology is transparent before you force it on us. I'm already annoyed by the limitations HDCP puts on my ability to use the high-def content that I've already purchased; now it sometimes renders my entire home theater useless until I re-seat the cable a few times. How is this a solution??
Update: I spent most of last night futzing with this problem. I've discovered that manually re-seating the cable is not a reliable fix at all. However, if I just let it blink for about five or ten minutes, it'll eventually sink up and then has no problems at all until I cycle the power. So I guess the current work-around is to just turn the TV, AVR, and computer on well before I want to use them... and go have a snack. Or something. Still not pleased. I'm looking at you, Intel...
