Onkyo passes BT Sport Ultra HD compliance for HDCP 2.2
Onkyo is the first AV receiver maker to claim compatibility with BT Sport’s Ultra HD IP-delivered channel, saying its products have been tested for compliance with BT’s HDCP 2.2 encryption system.
It’s a deserved piece of drum beating by the brand. AVRs are increasingly coming to market with HDCP 2.2 enabled HDMIs, but Onkyo was the first brand to champion the copy protection, releasing receivers as far back as 2014 – a prescient bit of specifying if ever there was one. Of course, compliance with the BT 4K channel also implies compatibility with other 4K content sources, including Ultra HD Blu-ray, 4K streaming devices and upcoming set top boxes, such as Sky Q.
"Back in 2014 Onkyo’s Research & Development team predicted, correctly, that HDCP 2.2 copy protection was going to be an essential part of most future 4K TV offerings," says Onkyo UK Sales Manager David Mugford. "They pulled out all the stops to become the first AVR brand to bring the system to market, including it on the majority of their models that year. Competitor brands, however, were caught out and so the majority elected to keep quiet about the fact their so-called ‘4K-compatible’ AVRs weren’t equipped to handle the copy protection system. Most took another year to widely include HDCP 2.2-equipped models in their line-ups."
He adds: "The upshot is that consumers who bought non-HDCP 2.2-equipped AVRs in 2014 will now have to replace them at considerable expense, just 18 months later, if they want compatibility with BT Sport Ultra HD and other upcoming copy-protected TV services. As BT has now confirmed, those who invested in Onkyo AVRs will have no such issues."
