4 ms·

Is there any info on the level of DRM support? Widevine has multiple levels which means watching Netflix, Hulu, etc on a PC with Chrome will limit your video to

by sxp 6y ago

Is there any info on the level of DRM support? Widevine has multiple levels which means watching Netflix, Hulu, etc on a PC with Chrome will limit your video to 480p or 720p. In some cases, Edge will increase the video resolution to 1080p. I haven't found a way to legally access 4k video on a PC. I'm guessing the same limits apply on the RPi. You can test this by going to a video page like https://www.netflix.com/watch/80018585 https://www.netflix.com/watch/80018585 and typing `document.getElementsByTagName('video')[0].videoHeight` to see the size of the actual video stream.

joshstrange 6y ago
This is reminiscent, for me, of the days of unskippable DVD ads and generally terrible DVD/Blu-ray experiences. Downloading a movie would give you a clean file with no ads and you could seek wherever without limits but purchasing a legal copy would give you a terrible experience. This kind of DRM and limitations feels so incredibly stupid when you can find high quality 1080p/4K rips of content from every major streaming platforms. So as it stands right now you can bend over backwards to get some support for Widevine to stream low quality OR you can download the full 4K with zero restrictions. I'm not interested in a discussion on the morality of downloading content, just pointing out how backwards the experience is even when you pay. I'd gladly pay $100+/mo for the experience you can achieve via piracy but it doesn't exist and that's a pretty sad state of things. Spotify(/Amazon/Apple/etc), largely, "solved" piracy by providing a great experience for an affordable price, making it so that it was actually more expensive and more work to pirate music. TV/Movies still doesn't have a spotify-equivalent which sucks. Even things like Apple TV (The app, not the service or the product, <insert eyeroll emoji>) and Amazon Channels, that both attempt to tackle this problem by unifying multiple "feeds" into 1 app/experience, both fall short and don't have nearly the breadth of content I'd want.
booi 6y ago
Is this true? It seems insane that you cannot watch 4k video on arguably the most powerful platform there is..
- Mindwipe 6y ago
  If you mean a PC here, some video providers support 4K video to PCs. Netflix do. Amazon don't. But the hardware has to support PlayReady SL3000 (or Fairplay on a modern Mac), expose that to the relevant parts of the OS and have an HDCP 2.2 chain to the monitor (and all monitors).
- lstamour 6y ago
  On Windows, in Microsoft's Chrome-based Edge browser, with the HEVC extension installed[1] (might not be required), I see 2160 when I run that command on the test video in that URL. Using an Nvidia graphics card hooked up via HDMI to a 4K TV in HDR mode, with HDCP 2.0 enabled according to the TV. I've also had success streaming 4K using the Netflix app for Windows, as well as using Safari on a Mac. A 4K plan from Netflix is also required. That said, when I tried to stream HBO Max or Disney+ in 4K HDR10 from the same web browser, I wasn't able to. Best I could get was 1080p, I think, for either. For those other services, I had to stream instead using my TV or set-top box to get full resolution and full HDR quality. [1]: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/hevc-video-extensions/9nmzlz57r3t7 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/hevc-video-extensions/9nmz...
Mindwipe 6y ago
It will be Level 3, so limited. Widevine levels are based on hardware support for features, and I can't really see any way the Raspberry Pi could ever have a closed protected video path for example. Indeed, all Widevine Level 1 devices are either closed devices with signed bootloaders (TVs), or with a Google written OS (Chromebooks) or both (Android phones). (Also, where Edge gets higher resolution it's generally because it is using Microsoft's PlayReady as a Content Decryption Module, not Widevine. And on Windows PlayReady can access the APIs to check those similar hardware level features.)

by sxp 6y ago

joshstrange 6y ago

This is reminiscent, for me, of the days of unskippable DVD ads and generally terrible DVD/Blu-ray experiences. Downloading a movie would give you a clean file with no ads and you could seek wherever without limits but purchasing a legal copy would give you a terrible experience. This kind of DRM and limitations feels so incredibly stupid when you can find high quality 1080p/4K rips of content from every major streaming platforms. So as it stands right now you can bend over backwards to get some support for Widevine to stream low quality OR you can download the full 4K with zero restrictions. I'm not interested in a discussion on the morality of downloading content, just pointing out how backwards the experience is even when you pay. I'd gladly pay $100+/mo for the experience you can achieve via piracy but it doesn't exist and that's a pretty sad state of things. Spotify(/Amazon/Apple/etc), largely, "solved" piracy by providing a great experience for an affordable price, making it so that it was actually more expensive and more work to pirate music. TV/Movies still doesn't have a spotify-equivalent which sucks. Even things like Apple TV (The app, not the service or the product, <insert eyeroll emoji>) and Amazon Channels, that both attempt to tackle this problem by unifying multiple "feeds" into 1 app/experience, both fall short and don't have nearly the breadth of content I'd want.

booi 6y ago

Is this true? It seems insane that you cannot watch 4k video on arguably the most powerful platform there is..

Mindwipe 6y ago
If you mean a PC here, some video providers support 4K video to PCs. Netflix do. Amazon don't. But the hardware has to support PlayReady SL3000 (or Fairplay on a modern Mac), expose that to the relevant parts of the OS and have an HDCP 2.2 chain to the monitor (and all monitors).
lstamour 6y ago
On Windows, in Microsoft's Chrome-based Edge browser, with the HEVC extension installed[1] (might not be required), I see 2160 when I run that command on the test video in that URL. Using an Nvidia graphics card hooked up via HDMI to a 4K TV in HDR mode, with HDCP 2.0 enabled according to the TV. I've also had success streaming 4K using the Netflix app for Windows, as well as using Safari on a Mac. A 4K plan from Netflix is also required. That said, when I tried to stream HBO Max or Disney+ in 4K HDR10 from the same web browser, I wasn't able to. Best I could get was 1080p, I think, for either. For those other services, I had to stream instead using my TV or set-top box to get full resolution and full HDR quality. [1]: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/hevc-video-extensions/9nmzlz57r3t7 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/hevc-video-extensions/9nmz...

Mindwipe 6y ago

It will be Level 3, so limited. Widevine levels are based on hardware support for features, and I can't really see any way the Raspberry Pi could ever have a closed protected video path for example. Indeed, all Widevine Level 1 devices are either closed devices with signed bootloaders (TVs), or with a Google written OS (Chromebooks) or both (Android phones). (Also, where Edge gets higher resolution it's generally because it is using Microsoft's PlayReady as a Content Decryption Module, not Widevine. And on Windows PlayReady can access the APIs to check those similar hardware level features.)