PVP-OMP: Protected Video Path
Output Protection Management (PVP-OPM) technology makes sure that the PC?s video outputs have the required protection. The feature affects the operation of graphics cards and their video outputs. According to Microsoft, in case the HD video content is not authorized and copy protected, the outputs will be possibly turned off. In addition, any digital video output from a graphics card (HDMI of DVI) should feature the HDCP protection. Since the DVI output currently does not offer any protection when playing premium content such as HD-DVD and Blu-Ray DVD, PVP-OPM will be required to turn off or constrict the quality of unprotected DVI.
As a result, a regular DVI monitor will either get slightly fuzzy or go black. In case of analogue outputs (ie TV-OUT, YPbPr outputs, S-Video, Composite), they should support Macrovision and CGMS-A protection. The latter will mean a downscaling of the video information (resolution) when an unprotected output such as analog VGA is present.
Before PVP-OPM the operating system will verify whether a valid graphics subsystem is present (authentication), to avoid sending content to a hacker?s emulation device, which would behave like the graphics chip.
PVP-UAB: Protected Video Path - Bus Encryption
This is a second stage of protection. PVP provides encryption of HD content as it passes over the user-accessible PCIe bus to discrete graphics cards. PVP-UAB is designed to protect video samples from unauthorized access as they pass over a user-accessible bus.
PVP-UAB provides the last internal link in the Longhorn content protection chain, to ensure that the HD video content makes it from the Longhorn Protected Environment to being rendered on the card without a copy of the content being stolen. The PCIe bus involves complex key mechanisms, authentication, and encryption. The decryption will be done by the GPU, if the content is valid.
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