HDMI cable and DRM/HDCP? Tech support from Vimeo. Can't play their videos on Roku

[Multicore]

A bit over a month ago I started getting errors (-6) when playing movies on our Roku Ultra in The Criterion Channel app. The video streaming service is provided by Vimeo. Other apps including Netflix, Amazon Prime video and Plex work fine. And in CritChan I can play the live stream and short videos (e.g. trailers) but not long videos such as feature-length movies. CritChan works fine on our computers.

Vimeo support has been yanking me around for a month or more with various kinds of blaming me and my equipment: things like rebooting this and that and checking the router. Their most recent deflection is this, which tries to blame my HDMI cable.

Spoiler: Latest from Vimeo support

The reason you’re having trouble right now is because Criterion is using DRM (Digital Rights Management) and HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) in order to comply with the technical requirements, anti-piracy provisions, and territorial restrictions of their agreements with major studios and independent rights holders around the world. These technologies help prevent unauthorized playback and copying, but unfortunately they aren’t compatible with all viewing setups. It sounds like something in your playback setup is not compliant with HDCP. Hopefully it’s not your TV/monitor, but these troubleshooting steps can help narrow down the culprit: Try switching the ends of your HDMI cable (if applicable) Remove any splitters or receivers that may be plugged in between your device and the TV/monitor Try purchasing a new HDMI cable (if applicable) If these steps don’t resolve the issue, but you’re still able to play the content on your computer, I’m afraid we can assume your TV/monitor may not be HDCP-compliant. I’m sorry for the frustration this will likely cause you. The best alternative will be to use a laptop, mobile device, or perhaps an HDCP-compliant projector (if you have one). Or, if you have a Smart TV, you may be able to install the Criterion TV app. You can see a list of TV partners here. And in case you haven’t seen it yet, you can check out this article for more information about DRM and HDCP.

I don't have a TV. The Roku connects to an Epson projector via this HDMI switch and audio extractor. The error is the same if I eliminate the HDMI switch and connect the Roku directly to the projector. I can't easily test with another cable since the projector is installed on the ceiling and the cable is in the wall/ceiling.

Anyway, I don't trust Vimeo's account that the problem is sudden appearance of HDCP non-compliance. If that were true would other Roku video streaming apps work? Would the CritChan live stream work and the short videos on CritChan? And did Vimeo only start using tech that requires HDCP around a month ago?

What do you think? Is Vimeo trying to deflect or is their story plausible?

 

[MaxwellsEq]

A bit over a month ago I started getting errors (-6) when playing movies on our Roku Ultra in The Criterion Channel app. The video streaming service is provided by Vimeo. Other apps including Netflix, Amazon Prime video and Plex work fine. And in CritChan I can play the live stream and short videos (e.g. trailers) but not long videos such as feature-length movies. CritChan works fine on our computers.

Vimeo support has been yanking me around for a month or more with various kinds of blaming me and my equipment: things like rebooting this and that and checking the router. Their most recent deflection is this, which tries to blame my HDMI cable.

Spoiler: Latest from Vimeo support

The reason you’re having trouble right now is because Criterion is using DRM (Digital Rights Management) and HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) in order to comply with the technical requirements, anti-piracy provisions, and territorial restrictions of their agreements with major studios and independent rights holders around the world. These technologies help prevent unauthorized playback and copying, but unfortunately they aren’t compatible with all viewing setups. It sounds like something in your playback setup is not compliant with HDCP. Hopefully it’s not your TV/monitor, but these troubleshooting steps can help narrow down the culprit: Try switching the ends of your HDMI cable (if applicable) Remove any splitters or receivers that may be plugged in between your device and the TV/monitor Try purchasing a new HDMI cable (if applicable) If these steps don’t resolve the issue, but you’re still able to play the content on your computer, I’m afraid we can assume your TV/monitor may not be HDCP-compliant. I’m sorry for the frustration this will likely cause you. The best alternative will be to use a laptop, mobile device, or perhaps an HDCP-compliant projector (if you have one). Or, if you have a Smart TV, you may be able to install the Criterion TV app. You can see a list of TV partners here. And in case you haven’t seen it yet, you can check out this article for more information about DRM and HDCP.

I don't have a TV. The Roku connects to an Epson projector via this HDMI switch and audio extractor. The error is the same if I eliminate the HDMI switch and connect the Roku directly to the projector. I can't easily test with another cable since the projector is installed on the ceiling and the cable is in the wall/ceiling.

Anyway, I don't trust Vimeo's account that the problem is sudden appearance of HDCP non-compliance. If that were true would other Roku video streaming apps work? Would the CritChan live stream work and the short videos on CritChan? And did Vimeo only start using tech that requires HDCP around a month ago?

What do you think? Is Vimeo trying to deflect or is their story plausible?

It is feasible. But if other encrypted channels that use HDCP still work, I would suspect something strange with the player code in the Roku.

 

[Multicore]

It is feasible. But if other encrypted channels that use HDCP still work, I would suspect something strange with the player code in the Roku.

That and the way some videos in the specific app work and others don't.

Is there a way to check when encryption is in use?

I suspect there exist fairly stiff barriers inside Vimeo that make it hard for customer support agents to raise issues to engineering.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

There are HDMI test sets which will show HDCP flags and versions. None of them are cheap! If you search for HDMI + HDCP tester you will see a few are available.

Given the cost, you could probably buy a different decoder!

 

[Multicore]

The user guide for the projector Epson Home Cinema 3100 doesn't mention HDCP. The guide for the HC 3200 mentions HDCP 2.2.

There is a firmware update from Sep last year. Might be worth trying. We're still using the factory firmware.

Would be useful if the projector could say something about the incoming signal.

 

[formdissolve]

The user guide for the projector Epson Home Cinema 3100 doesn't mention HDCP. The guide for the HC 3200 mentions HDCP 2.2.

There is a firmware update from Sep last year. Might be worth trying. We're still using the factory firmware.

Would be useful if the projector could say something about the incoming signal.

Yeah was going to say that.. but it would be absurd if a projector branded as "cinema" didn't support HDCP.

I'm guessing the app version on the Roku has something amiss.

 

[Multicore]

Yeah was going to say that.. but it would be absurd if a projector branded as "cinema" didn't support HDCP.

It's not a recent projector. It's from 2017 ish.

I'm guessing the app version on the Roku has something amiss.

But how to get Vimeo support to escalate the issue to engineering? I could go down to Best Buy and get a new TV and HDMI cable and show them that they are all modern HDCP compliant. Then maybe they move on to the next debugging step. Their last message to me read (in the OP Spoiler) like they are saying that if I can't get the HDCP working then I'm SOL.

 

[JSmith]

The HDMI switch won't strip HDCP, whereas most HDMI splitters (duplicating the output) will strip HDCP. So the sending device will still see a HDCP compliant device, but the projector will receive a signal that doesn't care about HDCP. So try a cheap splitter ($15 or so), or if you want to go the whole hog, look at HDFury devices.


JSmith

 

[Multicore]

So try a cheap splitter

Ok. I'll keep that one in my pocket for the moment.

After the conversations on this thread I emailed Vimeo back and asked them to confirm that the Criterion Channel Roku app 1) did not require HDCP before May 2024, 2) since then requires it only for long videos and not for short ones and not for the Criterion24/7 live stream. If those are not true then their assertion that my equipment is incompatible with their app is unlikely to be true.

I got a reply saying they are escalating to "the product team".

 

[formdissolve]

Ok. I'll keep that one in my pocket for the moment.

After the conversations on this thread I emailed Vimeo back and asked them to confirm that the Criterion Channel Roku app 1) did not require HDCP before May 2024, 2) since then requires it only for long videos and not for short ones and not for the Criterion24/7 live stream. If those are not true then their assertion that my equipment is incompatible with their app is unlikely to be true.

I got a reply saying they are escalating to "the product team".

HDCP has been around for decades, however it's possible the app requires HDCP 2.2 and maybe your projector doesn't have that.. you should try to update the firmware for sure.

 

[Multicore]

HDCP has been around for decades, however it's possible the app requires HDCP 2.2 and maybe your projector doesn't have that.. you should try to update the firmware for sure.

Thanks @formdissolve . I did the firmware update (1.01 to 1.06 yesterday) and that didn't affect the pathology. Unfortunately I didn't find change logs for the firmware.

The projector provides some info about the signal but I couldn't find anything about protocol states or encryption modes. This display was while playing the Criterion24/7 live stream in the affected Roku app.