Verimatrix introduces embedded multi-device DRM
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Editor
| 02 April 2020

Aiming to offer point-to-point protection for online and offline video playback on any device content protection firm Verimatrix has launched a new toolkit to support the implementation and integration of embedded video security solutions.

The new Verimatrix Embedded DRM, a part of the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS), is designed to allow system integrators and device vendors to ensure that premium content distribution is compliant to industry standards by enabling close proximity secure ‘handshakes’ between devices and displays.

The solution offers point-to-point protection to address the gaps that occur when video content is delivered beyond the common TV, computer or mobile device connections. The company cites by way of example how premium content, such as Hollywood movies, requires a secure connection all the way to a compliant display, such as a video player in an airplane connected to the video displays located in each passenger seat. Failure to encrypt the ‘handshake’ from the player to each display can be a compliance violation and a content protection gap.

Verimatrix further warns that playback devices not continuously connected to a license server or otherwise reachable for content authorisation and entitlement require mechanisms other than traditional digital rights management (DRM) or conditional access (CA) systems to protect the valuable content they display to viewers. For such applications, the industry has defined two point-to-point protection standards for guaranteed device interoperability: high-bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP) for premium content forwarded to external displays or TV sets and digital transmission content protection (DTCP) for content protection on the compressed level.

The Verimatrix Embedded DRM toolkit includes customised software libraries for integrated or installable HDCP and DTCP applications and customised HDCP or DTCP source code for compiling directly into embedded systems. Specifically for HDCP, Verimatrix Embedded DRM offers HDCP 2.x stacks that address these use cases and meet the content owner requirements – even for 8K premium content.

“Content owners require their content to be protected throughout the entire delivery chain, including download, streaming, storage and playback all the way up to the display, but there are several scenarios in which content cannot be secured by typical DRM or CA systems,” said Martin Bergenwall, SVP of product management at Verimatrix. “[Verimatrix offers] Customised HDCP and DTCP software libraries and source code for playback use cases that go beyond traditional one-way or two-way communications, ensuring that any previous gaps can be closed with state-of-the-art security.”