High-Bandwith Digital Content Protection (HDCP)

A system for protecting copyrighted digital content that uses the HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) or DVI (Digital Visual Interface). It prevents high-definition signals from being illegally intercepted and copied by encrypting the data transmission between the video source (e.g. a set-top box or DVD player) and the digital display device (e.g. TV or projector). To view digital HDCP protected content, both the sending and receiving device must support HDCP.

Although it is possible to watch HDTV broadcasts without having a HDCP-compatible television at the moment, this may well change in future, so buying an HDCP-compatible TV may be a good investment.