Intel and Windows 11 Deprecating SGX Breaks 4K Blu-ray Playback

[btarunr]

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.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[newtekie1]

I'm sure all 2 people that still watch Blu-rays on their computers will be devastated.

 

[Selaya]

hey i do but not 4k, so i really cant care less

 

[thestryker6]

You've always had to jump through way too many hoops to get 4k BR working on PC so unlike BR I never even bothered trying and just got an Xbox One S when it was on sale. Disappointing state of affairs as the DRM never stopped piracy of 4k discs, but it sure made it hard and expensive to do legit.

 

[sam_86314]

Thankfully, I don't play by the stupid rules that movie studios imposed on Blu-ray drive manufacturers.

MakeMKV media player integration FTW.

But also I have no plans to switch to Windows 11 or 11th-gen Intel, so...

 

[Zubasa]

You've always had to jump through way too many hoops to get 4k BR working on PC so unlike BR I never even bothered trying and just got an Xbox One S when it was on sale. Disappointing state of affairs as the DRM never stopped piracy of 4k discs, but it sure made it hard and expensive to do legit.

Pretty much, the cheapest Blu-Ray player is a console, and you don't even need the latest one. Even the PS3 can play back Blu-Ray.
Funny thing is not even the PS4 Pro can play back UHD Blu-Ray, that says a lot about how relevant those are.
Fact is I can't even remember the last time I played a Blu-Ray movie.

 

[watzupken]

You've always had to jump through way too many hoops to get 4k BR working on PC so unlike BR I never even bothered trying and just got an Xbox One S when it was on sale. Disappointing state of affairs as the DRM never stopped piracy of 4k discs, but it sure made it hard and expensive to do legit.

I agree. I used to try to use a PC to playback Blu Ray discs, but has become too much of a hassle to do so. While I still kept my blu ray drive, I rarely connect it to the PC anymore. Best to get a console with Blu ray drive. Updates are automatic, and it is usually very easy to use.

 

[Tek-Check]

All parties need to sort out this mess for ordinary users who want to enjoy their movies on PC. Both Intel, AMD and BD Association need to come up with a solution rather than forcing users to buy a stand alone BD player.
And those saying "I do not care" could show more solidarity with home theatre fans. It is in everyone's interest that PC users can also enjoy their collections of movies.

 

[BSim500]

Blu-Ray DRM has always been a huge broken mess. Even without the absurd PC restrictions ("no, no, you're not allowed to take screenshots... or skip the intros... or breathe..."), even many standalone players by premium brands suffered from the "we'll support this model for 3-5 years and then stop making updates, which means no updated AACS so in +6 years time you won't be able to play the newest movies". Been there and done that with a Sony player. I never bought a replacement, I just stopped buying new Blu-Rays... It's always been the worst kind of planned obsolescence whose long-term compatibility / stability as a standard has been way out of whack vs CD / DVD.

 

[chrcoluk]

DRM I feel is actually at the point where it increases piracy instead of (potentially, never been proven) reducing it.

 

[qubit]

I'm sure all 2 people that still watch Blu-rays on their computers will be devastated.

tsk, you're such a meanie!

But seriously, I don't know anyone who's got a 4K Blu-ray player and the discs, let alone plays them on their PC, so I can't see this being missed.

 

[zlobby]

Laughs in 4K Dolby Vision rips. It's not that any new movie deserves its ticket money.

Honestly, I can't even finish most of the recent movies. It's 50% cringe with the other 50% being lame CGI.

DRM I feel is actually at the point where it increases piracy instead of (potentially, never been proven) reducing it.

There is a huge study by the EU that showed exactly this. Top kek through and through, although it's common sense if you think about it.

 

[Dobermann]

I'm sure all 2 people that still watch Blu-rays on their computers will be devastated.

i am one of them
so I'll have to rip every 4k bluray disc, meh

 

[softreaper]

Hey, I'm seemingly the first here to have a bluray 4K player for my laptop (external). Only using it to backup my personnal BD UHD library as long as my Xbox One S died and got nothing at decent prices to watch my movies (here, in France, more than 150€ for low end BD UHD player vs 75€ for an external BD4K compatible drive)

But, as i'm a Ryzen owner (which do not have SGX alternative) and a proud owner of Libredrive firmware, i don't care. SGX requirement was a joke and can easily be bypassed by some softwares like xReveal (Free BD Decrypter, just missing keys that are freely available on the web) and once backed up, you don't need a software or noisy drive anymore

They dropped support because too much peoples don't care about BD4K on pc (Most peoples don't have a 4K monitor, it's costly and got stupid system requirements (intel only which become even more costly))

Remember when DVD drive was cheaper (and provided with DVD playback software) than their living room alternatives?

 

[Prime2515102]

I'm sure all 2 people that still watch Blu-rays on their computers will be devastated.

Do you mean the people that appreciate that a standard Blu-ray has better image and sound quality than most 4k streaming? Streaming was most definitely a regression in A/V quality (and a HUGE one) but most people just forgot how shitty Netflix, etc. actually looks and sounds.

But yeah, most people don't give a shit.

 

[newtekie1]

Do you mean the people that appreciate that a standard Blu-ray has better image and sound quality than most 4k streaming? Streaming was most definitely a regression in A/V quality (and a HUGE one) but most people just forgot how shitty Netflix, etc. actually looks and sounds.

But yeah, most people don't give a shit.

My comment actually had nothing to do with streaming.

 

[Dr_b_]

tsk, you're such a meanie!

But seriously, I don't know anyone who's got a 4K Blu-ray player and the discs, let alone plays them on their PC, so I can't see this being missed.

Have one in mine

 

[TheUn4seen]

Do you mean the people that appreciate that a standard Blu-ray has better image and sound quality than most 4k streaming? Streaming was most definitely a regression in A/V quality (and a HUGE one) but most people just forgot how shitty Netflix, etc. actually looks and sounds.

But yeah, most people don't give a shit.

People who actually care about superior BR quality and have hardware which lets them appreciate such quality, i.e. a treated room, semi-professional laser projector worth as much as an average apartment and an equally expensive audio system? I happen to know such a person, he would laugh very loudly at the idea of using a computer with Windows as a source.

For most people watching movies is just a thing they do as low priority entertainment, not their core activity. In this context streaming is a huge progress for the vast majority of people - convenience is king and the quality only has to be "good enough".

 

[Tek-Check]

It is important to fight for the quality of audio-video entertainment. Just because convenience is what majority of users would agree to by easily consuming low bit rate streaming 4K content at ~25 Mbps, it does not mean that all users should give up the fight for high quality AV and home theatre. 4K disks are more superior in audio quality and HDR often looks better than on streamed content. Also, disks are purposefully purchased for specific movies/documentaries/series. Millions of streamers are discovering that streamed content is not that great. I have 4K Netflix, Prime and a few others and have not watched too many things for a while as content quality is quite mediocre. Thewre will be an exodus from streaming platforms bacause of that, just like increasing number of people are leaving traditional social media to find the quality of life and spending free time elsewhere. Why pay every month if the content quality is not consistently good?

AMD, Intel and BD Association need to step up the game. By removing buggy SGX, Intel dropped the ball as they have not replaced it with next gen solution. There are good options for legit PC UHD Blu-Ray, such as TPM-linked or similar. There needs to be a push to enable a new gen of security, but nothing like DRM. There's got to be the way.

I have PC BD UHD drive and 9th gen Intel CPU on HTPC. I do not want to be forced to buy a stand-alone BD UHD player or rip my own movies just to be able to play 4K collection or ripped files from the same collection. Ridiculous. People will show a middle finger to disk-based cinema entertianment if the industry does not work out easier way to consume owned and legit 4K disks on PC platform. They cannot force people to buy more expensive stand-alone devices for this purpose.

It's enough to have HTPC with capable disk drive, player, 4K TV and decent surround system. It does not need to be expensive and this must be re-enabled in new way. Groups of home cinema fans of UHD disks on PC need to lobby CPU vendors and BD Association and push them for a new solution.

 

[qubit]

Have one in mine

You're one of the two people who have it then.

 

[zlobby]

It is important to fight for the quality of audio-video entertainment. Just because convenience is what majority of users would agree to by easily consuming low bit rate streaming 4K content at ~25 Mbps, it does not mean that all users should give up the fight for high quality AV and home theatre. 4K disks are more superior in audio quality and HDR often looks better than on streamed content. Also, disks are purposefully purchased for specific movies/documentaries/series. Millions of streamers are discovering that streamed content is not that great. I have 4K Netflix, Prime and a few others and have not watched too many things for a while as content quality is quite mediocre. Thewre will be an exodus from streaming platforms bacause of that, just like increasing number of people are leaving traditional social media to find the quality of life and spending free time elsewhere. Why pay every month if the content quality is not consistently good?

AMD, Intel and BD Association need to step up the game. By removing buggy SGX, Intel dropped the ball as they have not replaced it with next gen solution. There are good options for legit PC UHD Blu-Ray, such as TPM-linked or similar. There needs to be a push to enable a new gen of security, but nothing like DRM. There's got to be the way.

I have PC BD UHD drive and 9th gen Intel CPU on HTPC. I do not want to be forced to buy a stand-alone BD UHD player or rip my own movies just to be able to play 4K collection or ripped files from the same collection. Ridiculous. People will show a middle finger to disk-based cinema entertianment if the industry does not work out easier way to consume owned and legit 4K disks on PC platform. They cannot force people to buy more expensive stand-alone devices for this purpose.

It's enough to have HTPC with capable disk drive, player, 4K TV and decent surround system. It does not need to be expensive and this must be re-enabled in new way. Groups of home cinema fans of UHD disks on PC need to lobby CPU vendors and BD Association and push them for a new solution.

All 12bit DV streaming rips are having excellent quality. Scene really cares about rip quality.

BluRay only uses HEVC Main10, i.e. 10bits for color.

 

[Frank_100]

Feels like a bug.

Feels like the same type of error as not having AVX 512 on i9's.

 

[Prime2515102]

My comment actually had nothing to do with streaming.

Well sure it did. If someone is watching video on a computer and it's not an optical disc, it must be streamed. Last I checked you can't buy downloads.

 

[newtekie1]

Well sure it did. If someone is watching video on a computer and it's not an optical disc, it must be streamed. Last I checked you can't buy downloads.

I love how you think you can tell me what I was saying with my comment. It has nothing to do with streaming. It has everything to do with the fact that a 4K Blu-ray player can be had for under $150 now. There is no point in having a Blu-Ray player in your PC to play 4K movies.

 

[Kapone33]

I love how you think you can tell me what I was saying with my comment. It has nothing to do with streaming. It has everything to do with the fact that a 4K Blu-ray player can be had for under $150 now. There is no point in having a Blu-Ray player in your PC to play 4K movies.

Even less than that for a decent one. Though streaming services have made DVDs a moot point (for me).