Screen does not support HDCP - HELP

[SussexWolf]

Sky Q 2TB box and new LG C4 tv. All working fine, then HDMI switching stopped working reliably, then the dreaded blue HDCP screen tonight. The tv definitely supports HDCP and has HDMI 2.1 ports. It was all working fine before, same cables. Having read this forum, rebooted the Sky box, and all working again. Clearly it's a Sky Q box issue. 

Hopefully we will be moving soon, and I will send this junk back to Sky. 

[Tomahawk1978]

I had this blue screen fault on and off for months but finally resolved it this weekend. I had a sky HDMI cable, the one with the pink connector one end and black connector the other. I then swapped it for a different HDMI cable but it was another sky one with pink one end and black the other - same problem. I then swapped the HDMI cable with a completely new unbranded HDMI cable and the problem has gone. The picture is also way better. Hope this helps for others. I have a Samsung TV btw.

[Chodley]

I seriously doubt the picture is any different - though placebo effect is real - unless you've changed the video output settings.

[Tomahawk1978]

the colour/brightness definitely changed. maybe not the quality

[SussexWolf]

I was also having the BSOD after changing my tv, and also found the Sky Q box would not reliably switch the AV input on the tv. I tried different settings, and swapping around the HDMI cables I had, having initially used the Sky one, but the problems persisted. As a last resort, I then ordered a new HDMI 2.1 certified cable from Amazon, and similar to @Tomahawk1978 the problems have gone and my picture is definitely improved - even my wife commented on this before knowing I had changed the cable. 

So my recommendation would be to try a new HDMI 2.1 certified cable if everything else fails. My UGREEN only cost £7 from Amazon, so no need to  shell out for a super expensive one either. No, I don't get any commission for mentioning the company of the cable or the supplier! 

[Chodley]

Unless the cable let the box switch to 10bit (and you're on UHD HDR content) or  TV decided to use a different picture settings profile for some reason (both of which are possible) then the picture quality cannot change. It's a series of numbers describing the image. Millions of them per frame, 50 times a second. Those numbers either get through the cable intact or they get mangled and that causes grey snow or blank screens. They can't half kind of make it. It's not like the old analog signals where "close" to a good signal is possible

[SussexWolf]

The fact the signal is digital, and the HDMI pin layout is backwards compatible through its versions, does not mean that either the ports or cables cannot have an impact on picture quality when at least one of the devices supports the more recent HDMI standards. In my case, my LG C4 supports HDMI 2.1 inputs. Put simply, a HDMI 2.1 certified cable allows a greater bandwidth and hence dynamic range, than a cable certified to a prior iteration of HDMI standards. There is now even a HDMI 2.2 standard, which further increases bandwidth, although as yet there are few if any devices which can take advantage of this. 

[cuke]

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@SussexWolf wrote:

I was also having the BSOD after changing my tv, and also found the Sky Q box would not reliably switch the AV input on the tv. I tried different settings, and swapping around the HDMI cables I had, having initially used the Sky one, but the problems persisted. As a last resort, I then ordered a new HDMI 2.1 certified cable from Amazon, and similar to @Tomahawk1978 the problems have gone and my picture is definitely improved - even my wife commented on this before knowing I had changed the cable. 

So my recommendation would be to try a new HDMI 2.1 certified cable if everything else fails. My UGREEN only cost £7 from Amazon, so no need to  shell out for a super expensive one either. No, I don't get any commission for mentioning the company of the cable or the supplier! 

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I've been using HDMI 2.1 certified cables for a few years now and never once had any connection issues. Thus I'd also recommend them as I doubt if the Sky supplied ones are of as a good quality as those. In fact all my cables for every device connected to the tv are now the same. They're not expensive so worth a pot for anyone having issues.

[PandJ2020]

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@cuke wrote:
They're not expensive so worth a pot for anyone having issues.

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That's the thing... But I overhead a salesperson in a rather well known store stating that the £60 cables they sell are far superior for those precious bits...

The Q only requires 2.0 so the supplied cable should suffice.  (Does for me)

[SussexWolf]

The Sky supplied cable used to work absolutely fine on my 8 year old Sony 4k tv, but it didn't work reliably on my 2024 LG C4. Same box, same cable, different tv. Tried updates, changing settings on both box and tv, and still had issues. Changed the cable to a £7 HDMI 2.1 certified cable, and works perfectly. I can't really say anything else.