HDCP

Question

Wow! I just received my new, almost six-hundred dollar Dell monitor in the mail. I live in a rural community so many of my purchases are done on-line. I rush home with my new, almost six-hundred dollar Dell monitor and plug it into my new dual-DVI port video card. 'Great Scott', I proclaim! All I'm getting on my new, almost six-hundred dollar Dell monitor is a small rectangular box bouncing across my screen which states, 'No VGA cable attached'! I've never had this problem with a monitor in the past. I normally just plug it into the video card port and it works. What is wrong here? I did all my research and studied the many new DVI configurations and what is compatible with what. So, knowing that technology marches forward (because they can't leave well enough alone), I also know that things are usually made to be backward-compatible. Right? Then I find, in the dark recesses of the internet, something about a new technology called HDCP. I read on. Instead of exclaiming, 'Great Scott', I now exclaim, 'What the ! Because my new, almost six-hundred dollar Dell monitor makes barely a mention of HDCP compliance, never mind explaining the technology and what is required of the consumer who purchases this grand new technology. I learn that this new technology was developed by Intel and adopted by Dell, no doubt, to protect them from evil consumers such as myself. So, even though my new almost six-hundred dollar monitor has been capable of displaying graphics with all the technological savvy of a Pong game interface, it is currently sitting upside-down and backwards (because they can't seem to put the connections anywhere convenient) on my floor until I either do more research into what will make it work for me (because apparently Dell can't make things backward-compatible), or, I can blindly keep spending my money on products until something does work. But, I'm happy that you have seen fit to protect yourselves from the likes of people like me. How about just a clue, Dell, that the monitor will not operate with anything other than another HDCP compliant device! I will never purchase another Dell product or anything HDCP-compliant! Thanks Dell.

DELL-Chris M · Answer

mwb56,

HDCP is not the issue here. All Dell monitors have buttons on them. One of them is Menu. Press this button. Navigate to Input Source. Open it and choose DVI. If you provide me the specific monitor model, I can link you to the User's Guide.

Monitors

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