Macs and HDCP in Amazon Instant Video

[m.g.mcc]

I am getting extremely frustrated (and exasperated) by the inability of my Macs, all on Yosemite, to play HDCP protected videos in HD with Amazon Prime.

Mac Mini Intel i7 with 8GB RAM connected by HDMI to brand new Samsung 27" monitor.
Mac Mini Intel i5 with 4GB Ram connected by HDMI to LG 24" monitor.
MacBook Air 11"
MacBook Pro 13" Retina (2015 version)

All are recognised by iTunes as meeting HDCP requirements and, in the case of the 24" monitor, a PC running Windows 10 and connected by DVI cable does play HDCP video in HD, with its "Edge" browser and with Chrome browser. A Google search hasn't helped me find a solution. I have ordered a new HDMI cable whose spec does say it is HDCP compliant, although I don't think this is the problem and it doesn't explain the issue with the MacBooks.

Any help appreciated.

 

[bobtomay]

Make sure you have the latest versions of Flash and Silverlight installed.
While you should only need to restart the browser, I've found that restarting the computer after updating Silverlight works best.
Depending on the site, you will get a HDCP error due to one of those instead of a prompt advising you to update the extension.
I've found the issue to be an outdated Silverlight extension more often than not with both Netflix and Amazon while iTunes, Vudu and others continue working without a problem.

Verifying your HDMI cable is HDCP compatible is a good call also. I've been recommending the Amazon Basics cables as a good value.
If iTunes, Vudu or others are streaming in HD, it's likely not the cable.
But, I have seen a cable replacement fix the issue once with Netflix.

 

[m.g.mcc]

Thanks for the reply. I do have the latest version of Silverlight but, just to be sure, I downloaded and installed it again. Netflix works OK with HD content, it is just Amazon Prime that won't play ball. Amazon gives the message about not being able to play HD because my display doesn't meet HDCP requirements.

 

[m.g.mcc]

Found the answer on this page. Amazon Instant Video can stream TV shows in HD on a Mac but not movies Need to use a Windows PC to stream their movies in HD.

iOS devices will stream HD though

 

[frenchiechic]

did anything work for you?

Did you ever find a solution for this? I am just now having this happen while streaming from my mac and using Airplay to watch Amazon Prime. It works on the MacBook but doesn't want to load with Airplay.

I am getting extremely frustrated (and exasperated) by the inability of my Macs, all on Yosemite, to play HDCP protected videos in HD with Amazon Prime.

Mac Mini Intel i7 with 8GB RAM connected by HDMI to brand new Samsung 27" monitor.
Mac Mini Intel i5 with 4GB Ram connected by HDMI to LG 24" monitor.
MacBook Air 11"
MacBook Pro 13" Retina (2015 version)

All are recognised by iTunes as meeting HDCP requirements and, in the case of the 24" monitor, a PC running Windows 10 and connected by DVI cable does play HDCP video in HD, with its "Edge" browser and with Chrome browser. A Google search hasn't helped me find a solution. I have ordered a new HDMI cable whose spec does say it is HDCP compliant, although I don't think this is the problem and it doesn't explain the issue with the MacBooks.

Any help appreciated.

 

[m.g.mcc]

I never got a total solution to this. Something did change in that Macs with a built-in screen - MacBook and iMac - can now stream Amazon Prime HDCP movies in HD but, as soon as an external monitor is involved, HDCP material doesn't work, even if the monitor and cabling support HDCP.

 

[frenchiechic]

try this

Thank you. I found a work around for newer tv's that works for now...
Enable Develop on your mac by going to preferences - advanced - check box to enable then for user agent, use another source (I opened a new tab and picked Firefox). Finally it worked!
It automatically is set to go with the current version of Safari which is causing this issue.
This is a pain in the **** but it works.

 

[creativetags]

Workaround

I found HD content wouldn't play in Chrome or Firefox but would play in Safari on my iMac.