Sunday, January 16th 2022
Intel and Windows 11 Deprecating SGX Breaks 4K Blu-ray Playback
It took a while for this discovery as it's probably rare for people with modern PCs to also have Blu-ray optical drives. Apparently PCs with Intel 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake," and older 11th Gen Core "Rocket Lake" processors, as well as the latest Windows 11 OS, are unable to playback protected 4K Blu-ray video discs, as the DRM component is broken in the absence of Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX). Intel introduced SGX with 6th Gen Core "Skylake," and deprecated it with "Rocket Lake." To be clear, playback of Blu-ray discs at 1080p isn't affected.
CyberLink, makers of the PowerDVD software that's bundled as an OEM application with optical drives to play back protected Blu-ray video; put out a statement on its website confirming that they're unable to help with this situation, as they don't control the DRM, the Blu-ray Association does. "The removal of the SGX feature, and its compatibility with the latest Windows OS and drivers, has caused a substantial challenge for CyberLink to continue supporting Ultra HD Blu-ray movie playback in our player software," it stated. Just to clarify, this only affects playback of Blu-Ray content at 4K—1080p is not affected.Many Thanks to Steevo for the tip.
Sources:
Cyberlink, Bleeping Computer
CyberLink, makers of the PowerDVD software that's bundled as an OEM application with optical drives to play back protected Blu-ray video; put out a statement on its website confirming that they're unable to help with this situation, as they don't control the DRM, the Blu-ray Association does. "The removal of the SGX feature, and its compatibility with the latest Windows OS and drivers, has caused a substantial challenge for CyberLink to continue supporting Ultra HD Blu-ray movie playback in our player software," it stated. Just to clarify, this only affects playback of Blu-Ray content at 4K—1080p is not affected.Many Thanks to Steevo for the tip.
45 Comments on Intel and Windows 11 Deprecating SGX Breaks 4K Blu-ray Playback
hadn't seen a need for 4k yet, does this throw a wrench in makeMKV for ripping?
Ditto also just ended up getting an Xbox to play 4k disc since ever since like I can remember Microsoft made it harder with each new version to play back any legit content with DRM restrictions!
Cyberlink actually has an entire checklist of approved motherbords, cpu, 4k drive, etc required to get 4K BR disc working in Windows and even then still might not work! And it actually increases security vulnerabilites since Windows purposely makes low level changes to OS to meet DRM requirements. This actually one of the main reasons they got rid of SGX with 12th gen Intel CPUs.
DolbyVision files packaged in HEVC files on disks are also excellent, often even better than stremed content, with higher bitrate.
Plus, disks have lossless audio, which is non-existent on streaming platforms.
Disks still rule for the joint audio-video quality. There is no doubt about it. Hahaha! If you can't be bothered to insert a disk into player, how do you manage food intake? Delivery into sofa?
I am actually going to cancel Netflix subscription. Have not put it on for a few months now. Done that, moving on.
If it is on a disk it means there must be a commercial player that can play the content, right? AFAIK DV is still not in BluRay's book of standards, or any other commercial disk for that matter.
For movies and shows I can live with non-lossless audio. And if I want to see a concert I prefer to just go and see it in person. No record can beat that.
For music alone I prefer lossless formats as my hearing is still good and I have the gear to actually make the difference.
If saved as movie file on PC and made available on local network, it will play on DV compatible TV either as Dolby Vision file or HDR file, depending on hardware and software used, such as NAS, Nvidia Shield, Plex, internal player, etc. True, but only locally, I am afraid. If a concert is in New York and I live in Dubai, I can't enjoy it live. You can either purchase concert recording on disk or, in future, stream it live with Dante module on high-end AV processor, if service becomes commercially available.
I'm booking my Vienna New Year's concerts an year in advance.
Still, it's always good to have a memorable concert on disk too, so that you listen to it whenever you want.
I've seen it in 4K HDR on Sky Cinema, so it will be interesting to compare the video quality which I expect to be better on disc.
m.imdb.com/title/tt4998632
Think people just gave up more than pc dvd playing wasn't something people wanted to do seeing one wouldn't need internet like streaming needs :p
I haven't tried in a while frankly but still have a couple pc LG bluray player might have to see what vlc and makeMKV does
Some dvd's i have and can't find decent downloads for so love to just rip and cut the crap drm out and have just the freaking movie on storage :cool:
I pretty much just rip from the internet since it's ezpz to find quality movies/ tv series for free so no need for netflix/ amazon/.. limited and disappearing content monthly fee's.....
And if that company (direct2Drive) goes bust you have a good chance of loosing every thing. Which was one reason i lost a bunch of my games as they lost the info and just denied it ever being created.
Good info here about makemkv :cool:
And yes, I have an optical drive, also a dedicated 4K Blu-Ray player.