WEBVTT - TechStuff Classic: TechStuff Looks at TV Connectors 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.039 --> 0:00:14.360 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:16.759 job in Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:19.599 Radio and I love all things tech. It's time for 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:23.360 a classic episode. This episode originally published on February third, 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:25.960 two thousand and fifteen. It is titled tech Stuff looks 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:29.680 at TV Connectors. Then the title pretty much says it all. 0:00:29.960 --> 0:00:33.400 It's all about the various connectors to television's. Uh, there 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:35.360 have been a ton of different ones over the years, 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:39.599 and um, a lot of them are are essentially obsolete now. 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:42.360 So you're gonna be hearing about some stuff that you know, 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:44.400 you just don't need to worry about unless you happen 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:48.080 to have a vintage TV on your hands. But let's 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:52.199 go back and listen to this classic episode. I did 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:54.160 have a topic suggestion for you all that came to 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:56.800 my mind when I was hooking up the TV I 0:00:56.840 --> 0:00:59.800 got for Christmas. I'd like to think I'm tech savvy, 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:02.560 but my head spins when I'm asked what's the difference 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:05.080 between different connectors like H D, M, I, R C, 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:09.520 A V G, a USB, A V slash, F, etcetera. 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:13.240 Like most consumers, I don't really know the difference outside 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:16.760 of being told one device requires another connector. It would 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:19.680 be informative if tech stuff covers the most common connectors, 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:22.280 trying to explain the differences and why certain ones were 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:26.000 adopted and later discarded. It it'd certainly helped my understanding 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:29.120 of the issue. Well, Daniel, that's what this episode is 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:32.000 all about. Guys. We're gonna look at TV connectors and 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:35.440 kind of demystify things, explain what all the different ones are, 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:38.600 at least the ones that you're most commonly going to 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:42.160 encounter with televisions these days. I'm even looking a little 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:45.080 bit beyond the United States with a couple of these. 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:48.320 So there's gonna be some connectors I'm going to mention 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:51.160 that people, depending upon what region they're and may never 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:53.880 have seen and may never encounter. But I thought it 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:56.440 would be fun to kind of go through them all. Now, 0:01:56.440 --> 0:02:00.720 I'm going to begin with analog connections. Now, analo connectors 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:06.400 transmit video signals through continuously varying the voltage across that connection. 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:10.320 That's how they generate the images you see. And you've 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:14.200 got different elements that make up an image, the brightness 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:16.640 of the screen and the color. Those are the two 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:20.200 main ones, but they're synchronization issues as well. There's a 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:22.840 lot of stuff that has to come through for you 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:25.760 to get video, and of course audio is another component. 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:29.160 Some of these connectors also carry audio. Some of them 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:32.200 carry video only, and you have to use a separate 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:36.080 connector to get audio into your television or from your 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:40.720 television to some other component like an amplifier. So let's 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:43.760 begin with one of the most common, the radio frequency 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:48.320 connectors are f connectors. That's the oldest way to transmit 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:53.520 video signals to your television using radio frequency power. And 0:02:53.560 --> 0:02:57.160 these are coaxial cables. Now you might wonder what does 0:02:57.240 --> 0:03:01.240 coaxial cable mean. We've seen coaxial cable, you probably are 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:03.600 able to imagine one off the top of your head, 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:06.839 but what does that actually mean. So the term coaxial 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:11.000 actually means that you have a a form linear form 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:14.520 in this case, because it's a cable that has uh 0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:20.840 multiple substances that are all aligned along the same axis. Ultimately, 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:24.920 this means that you've got kind of a concentric circles. 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:28.519 So you have a core and then an outer layer, 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:31.080 and then a layer even further out from that and 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:34.120 then whatever you know, it can keep going as many 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:36.640 times as you need, depending upon what you're doing. With 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:42.000 co axial RF cable, you're talking about essentially three main 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:45.560 layers and then a coating. So you have a wire 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:49.400 conductor as the core of the cable. Around that is 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:53.360 the dielectric, which is an insulating medium, and around that 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:56.920 is the outer conductor. Then on the very outside you've 0:03:56.920 --> 0:03:59.200 got the protective layer that coats the cable and make 0:03:59.240 --> 0:04:02.360 sure that it doesn't get damaged. It doesn't end up 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:05.560 causing interference with other cables, it doesn't get interference from 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:10.280 other things. It's insulated somewhat. Uh So, the physical dimensions 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:13.240 and the material you use to make those different layers 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:16.279 is what determines the impotence and the attenuation of the 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:21.680 cable at different frequencies. What does that mean. Impotence is 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:25.520 the effective resistance of an electric circuit or component to 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:29.440 alternating current. That's dependent upon the combined effects of ohmic 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:33.280 resistance and reactants. And I could go into more detail, 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:35.480 but really that could be its own episode to go 0:04:35.520 --> 0:04:40.480 into the basic terms of uh of electricity and voltage 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:42.240 that sort of thing. If you guys think that that 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:44.880 would be a really fun or interesting podcast right to 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:46.480 me and let me know. I'll be glad to go 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:49.560 through that and kind of explain what all those terms mean, 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:52.160 because they can be pretty confusing if you're not familiar 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:56.360 with them. Attenuation, on the other hand, that refers to loss, 0:04:56.560 --> 0:05:00.640 in this case signal loss frequency laws. So in an 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:03.760 ideal situation, if you have a cable and you're putting 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:06.400 a signal into the cable, you know you're putting a 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:09.800 certain amount of energy into one end. Ideally you would 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:13.400 get the same amount out on the other end. But 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:17.520 that's not the way the world works. We actually lose 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:20.400 some of that power that goes into the cable, and 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:24.599 the longer the cable, the more loss you tend to encounter. 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:28.279 Other factors also play a role, including the materials you use. 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:31.840 So this is where a lot of those high end 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:36.840 cable manufacturers really try and and sell their products. They 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:40.200 say that the materials they use are much higher quality 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:42.920 and you're going to suffer much less loss as a result. 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:49.120 While that might be true over great distances, in general, 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:53.480 for the average consumer, the length of cables that we 0:05:53.600 --> 0:05:57.080 typically need somewhere in the three to nine ft range. 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:03.480 It's really negligible. It's it's not really detectable unless you're 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:07.320 talking about super cheap cables that don't have very good shielding, 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:10.080 in which case you could get a lot of interference. 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:14.400 So in the US we use the F connector, which 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:16.960 is standard in many parts of the world, although there 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:20.600 are other types of connectors as well, and a lot 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:23.400 of the old peripherals that you would connect to televisions, 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:26.560 like older video game consoles, connect through an OURF connector. 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:31.200 It's also used for terrestrial antenna and cable connections. And uh, 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:35.880 you know it's called our radio frequency connectors because it's 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:40.240 actually using radio frequency power. Um, that's that's the key 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:43.120 to that. It's pushing those radio frequencies through a cable 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:46.520 as opposed to through it through the air. Now, next, 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:49.719 the next most common that I would say you you'd 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:52.320 encounter on the back of an average television is composite 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:57.160 video also known as r c A connectors. Now, this 0:06:57.240 --> 0:07:00.800 is a video connector. Typically it's yellow. Will also find 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:03.920 it usually next to red and white r c A connectors. 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:07.360 The red and white, however, are for audio. The red 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:09.159 is for the right channel and the white is for 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:11.960 the left channel. Sometimes it's black, not white, but it's 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:16.840 still the left channel. The yellow connector is just video. 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:20.560 Composite video is an analog video transmission cable. It can 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:24.480 carry video at standard definition resolution, but not higher. So 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:27.280 you're not going to get high definition or beyond using 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:29.880 this kind of these kind of cables. UM, and all 0:07:29.920 --> 0:07:33.720 the video information is encoded on a single channel. Uh. 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:37.600 That means that the quality of that picture, it's probably 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:41.480 not gonna be as high as using alternate means of 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:45.160 delivering a signal to your TV. UM. That's where a 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:47.720 lot of the other connectors that came up have kind 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:50.640 of gotten the advantage, at least in the marketing world 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:55.400 by being said to be greater quality, like S video 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:58.920 or separated video. Now, that's a connector that carries two 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:04.280 encoded video signals. One is for the brightness or essentially 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:07.280 black and white, and the other is for the color 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:11.480 of the image. Uh. The cable also transmits in standard definition, 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:15.000 but it's better video quality than composite, it's just not 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:18.400 at high definition levels of resolution. So a lot of 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:21.040 people got confused about that when S video first came out, 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:24.960 including myself. I was not familiar with S video and 0:08:25.000 --> 0:08:29.200 this was when really your three options were composite video, 0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:32.920 S video, and component video. Those were the three main ones, 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:36.240 and uh S video look like it was pretty easy 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:39.199 because it was one cable, although it only carries video, 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:43.079 not audio. Um so you'd have to use separate cables 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:46.120 to get audio to and from your television. Uh So, 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:48.760 if you were hooking up a VCR, for example, you 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:52.520 would need to have audio uh our c A connectors 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:56.120 to get that to your TV. Well S video like 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:59.160 it was easy because it was a single video cable, 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:01.559 and it was supposed to be higher quality than composite, 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:05.280 but it wasn't really explained well at least not to me, 0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:08.480 that it wasn't high definition. It was still standard definition. 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:10.920 So yes, it was technically a better picture, but it 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:14.600 wasn't a higher resolution. We'll be back with more about 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:17.000 TV connectors in just a moment, but first let's take 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:27.880 this quick break. Moving on with more analog choices. We've 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:31.679 got v g A or video graphics array. Now this 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.160 is not common on a lot of TVs, but there 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:37.760 are some televisions that have it. Cables that are v 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:40.720 g A cables have three rows of pins. There are 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:43.720 fifteen pins total on the connectors. It's meant to connect 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:48.239 a PC and a display together, so not necessarily a television, 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:51.520 but some form of video display like a monitor. But 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:53.559 some TVs do have them, and they allow for the 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:57.599 transmission of analog display resolutions to a television, and it 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:01.640 could carry high definition resolutions to the display. So this 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:04.640 one could actually do a higher resolution and say s 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:09.400 video or composite, then we've got component video. These are 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:12.800 the red, green, and blue connectors that you might see 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:15.880 on the back of some televisions. And you might think 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:18.760 that those different colors indicate that each cable carries only 0:10:18.840 --> 0:10:22.200 one color to the TV, because if you are familiar 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:25.040 with the way television's work, you know that there pixels 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:27.760 and TVs are made up of subpixels of red, green, 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:30.600 and blue, and that it's the combination of red, green, 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:33.560 and blue in different ways that creates the various images 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.560 we see on television and the different colors we see 0:10:36.559 --> 0:10:40.320 on television. So surely component video that's red, green, and 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:44.920 blue carries those colors, right, Not exactly. The green connector 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:47.760 is actually in charge of carrying the video image in 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:50.200 black and white, so the brightness as well as the 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:54.359 synchronization data, the other two connectors carry the color information, 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:58.840 but essentially green is left up to the brightness as well. 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:01.839 It's not their analog video cable, but this one can 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:04.480 carry singles of up to ten a DP or higher. 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:08.479 So this is truly able to give a high definition 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:13.679 video feed to your TV. And honestly, it's the kind 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:16.840 that I prefer over all others. And I'll explain why 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:20.079 in a little bit. But I need to talk about 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:24.679 one other analog connection that is not found here in 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:26.920 the United States. This is one that if you are 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:28.800 in the U s you probably have not seen one 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:30.880 of these, but if you live in Europe you probably have, 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:35.240 and that is SCART S C A R T. So 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:37.600 unless your TV is an old set from Europe, you're 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:41.360 not gonna see this. It was another analog transmission cable. 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:44.240 It has twenty one pens and carries both video and 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:48.080 audio and originated in France, which is why its full name. 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:51.240 And please forgive me because I'm going to butcher. This 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:57.800 is the Sindicat de Constructors Dapa real Radio. I should 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:01.640 roll my art on that one radio receptor de Tevisier. 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:04.640 And for all of my French speaking friends out there, 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:13.200 um Monsieur mid Dame Jan Papa. All right, so those 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:15.199 are your analog connections. Those are the ones that are 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:20.199 going to create the video through varying that voltage. Then 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:24.800 we have digital connections now. These deliver video as a 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:28.559 bit stream, so essentially zeros and ones. Right, this is 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:34.320 not a variable voltage delivery system. It's purely digital. Now, 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:39.360 there's a common misconception that digital these days is better 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:42.040 than analog are Some people go the other way, saying 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:45.760 analog is always better than digital. The digital is better 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:49.880 than analog argument goes something like this. It says, since 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:54.080 televisions these days are digital devices, they're not analog TVs. 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:56.720 We have digital TVs now. If you're buying a new 0:12:56.760 --> 0:13:00.920 one anyway, and since a lot, if not most, if 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:04.240 not all, of the main ways we get content these 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:08.480 days is also digital, then you want to have digital 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:12.160 connectors and digital cables so that you never have to 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:15.920 convert from digital to analog and back to digital again. 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:19.679 So in other words, if I'm watching a Blu Ray 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:23.360 and I want to connect the Blu Ray player to 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:27.760 my TV, I should use a digital cable because that's 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:31.800 a digital form factor or digital format rather. Uh. And 0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:34.640 then it'll go through a digital cable to my digital 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:37.120 TV and never have to convert to analog where I 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:40.960 might have some signal loss or artifacts or some other problem. 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:45.199 That's the common misconception. Uh. The reason I call it 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:48.559 a misconception is not because of the conversion issue. That 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:52.160 really is a thing, but conversion issues are a thing 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:56.960 with pure digital as well, because every form of digital uh, 0:13:57.320 --> 0:13:59.679 information that will go to your TV is encoded in 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:03.000 a different way, and these different encodings mean that they 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:06.439 have to be decoded. You actually do have digital to 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:11.200 digital conversions. Uh. It's it's not like every television can 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:14.360 show every digital format and its native resolution. In fact, 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:18.360 it's trying to show any type of data to the 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:22.880 TV's native resolution, which often means it has to upraise something. 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:25.840 In other words, it has to add an extra information 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.640 to make up for the fact that the resolution of 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:31.320 the incoming stream is not the same or is lower 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:35.280 than the native resolution of the TV. That with that 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:41.560 in mind, sometimes we get bad digital to digital conversions. 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:45.320 There's digital error correction that's supposed to mediate this, but 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:48.920 occasionally you get a set or a series of components 0:14:49.560 --> 0:14:52.360 that don't work so well together and it's it's a 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:57.080 disappointing experience. So, in other words, just because we're moving 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:00.680 to more digital formats and more digital set it doesn't 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:05.320 necessarily mean digital cables are automatically better than analog. On 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:08.640 the other side of this is the idea that analog 0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:12.480 is always better because digital is a series of zeros 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:14.320 and one, so it's always going to be a step 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:16.720 letter type thing. It's always going to have these these 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:20.600 sharp drop offs at some point, no matter how large 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:24.080 a uh bandwidth you're talking about. At some point it 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:27.560 is either a zero or a one, whereas an analog 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:32.760 system is a continuous signal, and therefore it is much 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:36.160 more natural and free flowing, and you're going to get 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:41.280 a much more warm or or satisfying experience from it, 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:46.440 which maybe in the very earliest days of digital was 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:50.520 true when we weren't really good at encoding, or we 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:54.480 weren't using very good samples bit samples, But these days 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:58.320 it's it's pretty much a bogus argument. I mean, there's 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:02.120 we've reached a point where it's beyond the ability for 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.560 a human to perceive the difference, assuming that you're using 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:10.920 well calibrated equipment. Obviously, if you were to take one 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:13.920 system and not calibrated very well, and you took another 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:17.520 system and calibrated it extremely well, you're gonna notice the difference. 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:21.320 But assuming a level playing field, you aren't really going 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:25.280 to notice that difference. So really comes down to personal preference. 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:29.320 So why did I say I like those, uh, those 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:34.000 component cables so much as opposed to digital ones. Well, 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:39.360 here's another thing that separates analog from digital. It's the 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:43.520 potential for dr M measures such as high bandwidth Digital 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:47.920 Content Protection or h d c P. Now, this is 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:50.760 a form of copy protection that was created by Intel, 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:55.000 and it's meant to prevent the copying of digital audio 0:16:55.240 --> 0:17:00.080 or video content across various devices. So, for example, but 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:03.280 let's say that I have a Blu Ray player again, 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:05.879 and let's say I've got a device that can burn 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:10.760 to Blu ray, and I am a dirty, nasty pirate, 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:15.160 and I decided I want to steal in a movie 0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:17.640 and distribute it on my own, or make copies, real 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:21.159 cheap copies and sell them on the street. So I 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:23.880 go out and I buy a copy of my favorite 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:28.160 Blue Ray, which is of course Bio Dome with Polly Shore, 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:30.720 and I put it into the system and I start 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:35.160 making copies of well, I could just end up ruining 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:38.440 the market obviously, and then Paul Shore would never experience 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:41.760 that great career comeback that we're all hoping he has 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:46.160 in the very near future. Uh. So, HDCP is meant 0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:49.200 to counteract that. It's supposed to prevent people from either 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:55.120 sending hd CP content to unauthorized devices or two devices 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:57.920 that have been hacked to allow for copying materials. So, 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:00.639 in other words, if I've got my lew ray player 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:03.920 and it's h d CP compliant, and I've hooked it 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:07.119 up using something like an hd MY cable to another 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:11.000 another peripheral, another system in order to try and copy 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:13.440 the material that's being shown on that Blu ray player 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:16.280 or being played by that Blu ray player. But because 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:20.879 of that HDCP protection, it won't go to my hacked 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:24.920 system or my unauthorized system, and I won't be able 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:29.800 to make those copies. I'm prevented from doing it. Uh However, 0:18:30.440 --> 0:18:33.760 it's not entirely true. There's a hacked master key to 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:36.120 h d CP that was leaked way back in two 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:40.240 thousand ten, So technically you could end up with a 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:42.800 computer that has this on it and you could end 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:47.160 up recording stuff from other devices, and and you're using 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:50.040 this master key. It fools the whole system into believing 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:53.879 that you're using an authorized device, so there's no problem. However, 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:58.119 this would essentially just record whatever was playing at that 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:01.000 time on the Blu ray player or whatever other media 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:03.720 device you happen to be talking about. It would not 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:07.800 get the entire experience. So if I were copying that 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:10.800 that Blu Ray, I would get the movie, but I 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:14.520 wouldn't get the menus. I wouldn't get the added material. 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:17.080 It would just be whatever was playing at that time. 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:21.439 So there are other ways to actually hack or decrypt 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:26.520 the protection on disks. Then that's pretty much what pirates 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:30.600 concentrate on rather than just making a direct copy, because 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:34.320 most people want the full experience as opposed to just 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:37.680 the film. Although I don't know why, I mean biodom 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:41.480 by itself obviously a work of art, uh at any rate, 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:46.439 it's this DRM that has had a lot of people 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:50.240 who prefer to have unfettered kind of control of their 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:54.760 electronics up in arms. They disagree with it. They want 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:58.239 to have a device where they can do whatever they 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:01.040 want with it, especially if it means something like burning 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:05.480 a copy of a a movie you own, or a 0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:08.560 music disc you own, whatever it may be, in order 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:11.159 for you to have a backup for your own purposes. 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:16.680 We have in the United States established that personal backups 0:20:16.920 --> 0:20:20.359 are not a copyright violation. You can do that. However, 0:20:20.600 --> 0:20:23.040 this is the sort of technology that prevents people from 0:20:23.119 --> 0:20:26.879 doing it. So while it's not illegal for you to 0:20:27.000 --> 0:20:30.520 make a backup copy, it is it can be illegal 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:33.440 for you to circumvent the technology that prevents you from 0:20:33.520 --> 0:20:36.640 doing that, which is kind of crazy. And that's why 0:20:36.680 --> 0:20:40.040 a lot of home theater enthusiasts prefer the analog set 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:43.440 up where you don't have this DRM issue. Then with 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:46.159 things like hd M I, which i'll talk about in 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:49.680 a second. That being said, we're seeing that a lot 0:20:49.760 --> 0:20:53.040 of a lot of systems, a lot of peripherals, a 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:58.840 lot of television sets don't necessarily support these methods anymore, 0:20:58.920 --> 0:21:00.720 and you have to use things like hd M I. 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:04.200 So we're kind of being pushed into that world whether 0:21:04.280 --> 0:21:07.840 we want it or not. And then go figure. We've 0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:09.960 got a bit more to say about TV connectors before 0:21:10.000 --> 0:21:12.600 we wrap up, But first let's take another quick break, 0:21:20.200 --> 0:21:23.359 all right, So there are other things that can limit 0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:27.080 your ability to use your devices. If you're using something 0:21:27.200 --> 0:21:31.600 like a connector that has hd c P on it 0:21:31.960 --> 0:21:35.440 sub sort of HDCP protection associated with it, for example, 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:38.640 a limit on how many devices you might be able 0:21:38.680 --> 0:21:41.560 to hook up two, or how many displays you might 0:21:41.560 --> 0:21:43.920 be able to hook up to a single device. And 0:21:44.280 --> 0:21:46.000 this might not sound like it's a big deal, and 0:21:46.080 --> 0:21:50.320 for most consumers it probably isn't. But imagine that you 0:21:50.520 --> 0:21:54.560 own a sports bar and as part of the sports 0:21:54.600 --> 0:21:57.399 bar experience, you want to have televisions up all around 0:21:57.440 --> 0:22:00.880 the bar that are tuned to different channels to show 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:03.240 the various sporting events that are going on at any 0:22:03.280 --> 0:22:06.359 given time, and you have them all connected to a 0:22:06.400 --> 0:22:10.800 satellite receiver. Well, if you're using something that has HDCP 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:13.600 protection on it, which is sort of like saying a 0:22:13.680 --> 0:22:17.040 t M machine, uh, you are limited to how many 0:22:17.119 --> 0:22:18.879 of those devices you might be able to hook up 0:22:18.880 --> 0:22:20.680 to that satellite box. For example, a lot of the 0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:24.640 really popular ones have a limit of sixteen displays, which 0:22:24.760 --> 0:22:26.800 is a lot. I mean, if you were a regular consumer, 0:22:27.000 --> 0:22:29.280 that would be probably more than enough. I don't know 0:22:29.400 --> 0:22:33.639 anyone personally who owns more than sixteen televisions, but if 0:22:33.680 --> 0:22:36.320 you have a large restaurant, that might not be enough. 0:22:36.920 --> 0:22:40.119 And there are plenty of people who have said you 0:22:40.200 --> 0:22:42.840 could be doing everything legally. You know, you could be 0:22:43.359 --> 0:22:47.200 following all the rules, but the technology itself has artificial 0:22:47.280 --> 0:22:52.320 limitations put into place to protect against copyright violations, and 0:22:52.480 --> 0:22:56.440 it's affecting people who aren't even committing any sort of 0:22:56.560 --> 0:23:01.119 copyright violation. Okay, so that was a long preamble to 0:23:01.160 --> 0:23:03.680 get into the digital side, but it was important. And 0:23:03.920 --> 0:23:07.200 I should also say that while I prefer analog for 0:23:07.280 --> 0:23:10.840 those purposes, my own home system uses h d M 0:23:10.920 --> 0:23:15.400 I because I've got everything running to a centralized receiver 0:23:16.000 --> 0:23:18.600 to control things, and h d M I was just 0:23:18.800 --> 0:23:21.480 easier than having all these other analog cables that could 0:23:21.520 --> 0:23:24.639 get tangled up with each other. So maybe I'm a hypocrite, 0:23:25.000 --> 0:23:28.640 maybe I'm lazy. I'm probably both. Let's look at digital 0:23:29.080 --> 0:23:33.880 connectors and cables. First. There's display port, which is gonna 0:23:33.960 --> 0:23:37.520 sound weird to anyone who is pretty familiar with televisions 0:23:37.600 --> 0:23:41.240 because there are very few TVs that actually have a 0:23:41.320 --> 0:23:44.560 display port connector. In fact, the only one I am 0:23:44.680 --> 0:23:48.720 personally aware of is the Panasonic t C L six 0:23:48.840 --> 0:23:52.560 five W T six hundred and yes I did read 0:23:52.680 --> 0:23:54.640 that off because I can't just rattle it off from 0:23:54.640 --> 0:23:57.199 the top of my head. There may be others out there, 0:23:57.200 --> 0:24:00.679 but that's the only one I'm familiar with anyway. DisplayPort 0:24:00.680 --> 0:24:04.480 connectors are usually meant to connect various components to computer monitors, 0:24:04.600 --> 0:24:08.400 not to televisions. The display board cable can carry audio 0:24:08.600 --> 0:24:11.640