Issues Displaying Blue-ray, Netflix and iTunes videos in Classrooms

Dear Faculty and Staff,

As multimedia continues to grow and play a bigger role in our classrooms, it is important to understand how modern copy protection can impact the display of video to your classes.  Modern copy protection can interfere with your ability to play digital content from many sources, including; Blu-ray disk players and Apple products (MacBooks and iOS devices).  Additionally, a number of online subscription-based services, such as Netflix, are affected.

 IMPACT:

HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) prevents some content from being displayed on “non-compliant” or non-licensed equipment including:

• Sending HDCP content such as Netflix or iTunes Videos to an older TV or Projector
• Sending HDCP content such as Netflix or iTunes Videos through a video conference system

Additionally, HDCP does not allow for the copying of content even under fair use guidelines. As the university updates the majority of our audio-visual equipment, this issue will become less prevalent and HDCP protected content will display normally through our in room display technologies. However, for the moment, the vast majority of rooms on campus do not currently support the playing of HDCP enabled content.

ACTION:

Faculty are encouraged to test videos in advance of their class, using the actual room projector or display equipment.

Should playback fail, it may be possible to locate alternative non-HDCP protected content.  For assistance, please contactcopyright@trentu.ca

We have an HDCP compatible projector available for circulation, however this will not scale in our large classrooms.

Equipment reservations are available via the myTrent portal > select Resources> select Media Services Equipment Request.

Thank You