HDCP,PS3 and the Apple Cinema Display...

So today I bought a PS3 and thought I could just connect the HDMI to my 23" Apple Cinema display with an HDMI to DVI adapter. When it didn't work I had to do some research and discovered a nasty little obstacle called HDCP which is a point-to-point encryption between HDCP compliant devices of which the current generation of Apple Cinema displays currently are not. The only way, apparently, to get around this is to buy a $300+ scaler called HD Mate that would enable you to take component video out of the PS3 at only 720p and then scale it back to 1080i only, not full 1080p [a restriction imposed by HDCP], to the Apple display. So after wanting to just throw my now pretty much useless Apple Cinema display out the window after discovering this incredible annoyance(and surely to be resolved with the next generation of Apple displays to support new Blu-Ray equipped Macs), I was wondering if there is any other way to strip HDCP and connect a DVI to HDMI cable to a PS3 without having to buy another expensive piece of hardware just to watch Blu-ray movies on my 23" Apple display? This was only supposed to be a temporary solution until I could afford a 1080p HDTV later this year.

Do you think a DVI-D (dual-link) connector might work? Right now I'm using a HDMI to Female DVI gender adapter (the Apple display is a male DVI connector) and was told it wouldn't work because it is only one-way from the HDMI source. Or do you think the HDCP compliance issue from the PS3 might still impede the signal?

That's very interesting, but almost costs as much as the HD Mate. It would probably let me switch between my Mac Mini and PS3 as a switcher instead of plugging and unplugging between the two. Doesn't say whether or not it is HDCP compliant but would have to assume it is if it does what it supposedly advertises. As for the audio I will probably have to go optical out of the PS3 with a toslink to a Dolby tuner amp which I originally wanted to use as my source selector switcher until running into the HDCP snag. I might have to consider this now instead of the HD Mate. Thanks for the info.

Just had another idea; what about just using an AppleTV has a switcher/converter? It has HDMI input.

Well according to the PDF for the Game Switch, it is not compatible with an Apple LCD display, and it's probably because they are non-HDCP compliant.

System Requirement
1. DVI LCD monitor with built-in speaker or audio output
2. Computer with DVI display output.
3. PC with DVI graphic card installed.
4. Computer is not required for connection with PS3.
5. In case of connection to PS3 alone without PC, a DC 5V 2000mA power
adaptor is needed. This is due to PC USB power supply is unavailable.
6. For best viewing display, it is recommended to use DVI LCD widescreen.
7. Apple LCD monitor not supported.
8. Game Switch is not recommended to cascade with other products such
as- TV-box, switch and splitter. Please connect device according to user
manual.

So that leaves the Gefen HD Mate the ONLY 3PP product out there that will support PS3 and Blu-ray playback on an Apple Cinema Display through component video out to circumvent the HDCP compliance issue and scale to a max resolution of 1080i since HDCP prohibits 1080p native on non-compliant devices. So now I have another dilemma, spend the money for an expensive piece of hardware just to connect my PS3 to my Apple display for gaming and Blu-Ray movies, or just bite the bullet and get a full 1080p HDTV with HDMI inputs and watch them in their full 1080p native resolution? This was only supposed to be a temporary resolution for the latter and I can't fathom spending hundreds of dollars for a device that I won't be using for long in the foreseeable future. That's over $300 I could put towards a bigger screen HDTV.

Found some more detailed info regarding the issue specifically:

Why can’t I use my 23″ Apple Cinema Display?

It’s a good display, with 1920 x 1200 pixels of resolution, 0.258mm pixel pitch, and a 178 degree viewing angle (vertical and horizontal). It has a typical response time of 14ms; I’m told that even LCD TVs with an 8ms response time can show motion blur and cause the picture not to be in sync with the audio. That seems like a staggering claim as DVD playback on my Cinema Display seems flawless. A number of folk have tried to use it as a high def display, usually paired to a Playstation 3. This turns out to be far from simple:

"There is no way to connect a PS3 to an Apple Cinema Display with a digital connection (HDMI or DVI) because the PS3 only works with HDCP compliant monitors (which the Apple display is not). You can only connect the PS3 to the Apple Cinema Display using component cable connected to the HDMate [$US350]. This way, you will get 1080i deinterlaced to 1080p and formatted to fit on the Apple Cinema Display. "

Just for clarification this is said to be an issue for any external HDTV source:


"The Cinema Display has no scaler inside of it and is relying on the video card to give it the exact video resolution and timings it needs. That is why you can not connect the PS3 directly to it, or any HDTV video source. "

I say external because you can use it to view HD content from a Blue-ray disk drive upgrade, Internet downloads, TV tuner card, or HDV camcorder

salsaman69 said:

try a female dvi to male hdmi worked great for my but i dont know if its 1080i or 1080p

Click to expand...

Nope, already tried it. After setting the output in the PS3 display settings (with an NTSC monitor attached) and then switching to the HDMI to female DVI connected to the Apple male DVI cable, the monitor light flashes 3 times and is black. This is because it is not receiving video because of the HDCP on HDMI and DVI output to a non-compliant display. It would work with a non-Apple display that is HDCP compliant. The only way is to take component video out of the PS3 going through the HD Mate which correctly scales and times to sync to the Apple display resolution of 1920x1280 since it will only allow 1080i at 1920x1200 so it has to scale and time the signal in order for it to sync.

Thomas421 said:

Do you have a Audio/Video control center? (in other words a surround system)?

You could try so connect the PlayStation to the video reciever and transmit the video trough the device to the Apple display?

Click to expand...

yes, I was originally going to use my Dolby tuner as a source selector switcher but again it won't work because of HDCP.