HDCP or High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection is a specified method of digital copy protection developed by Intel Corporation for protecting copyrighted digital audio and video content that uses the Digital Video Interface (DVI) by encrypting its transmission between the video source and the digital display.

All authorized devices are given a set of unique secret device keys licensed by Digital Content Protection LLC. HDCP's main purpose is to protect high definition content during transmission from a source device to a display device, which is done by:

• Authenticated process that prevents non-licensed devices from even receiving content.
• Encrypting digital data sent over by DVI, DisplayPort, GVIF, HDMI or UDI interfaces prevents eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks by other devices.
• Devices that have been compromised can be blocked from receiving data by key revocating procedures.

 

Latest version HDMI 1.3 supports following interfaces:

• DVI,
• HDMI,
• GVIF,
• DP,
• UDI.