If you have an 11th or 12th generation Intel processor and have opted for Windows 11, you can no longer play DRM-protected 4K Blu-Rays. And the fault does not lie with Microsoft, but rather with Intel, which threw away a technology that the company itself had launched a few years ago.
It’s finish : 4K Blu-Ray playback is no longer possible under Windows 11 and with the latest Intel processors. By consulting the technical sheet of the 12th generation processors of the foundry, we realize that the latter no longer support SGX technology (Software Guard eXtension).
Called into question for its lack of reliability for several years, SGX nevertheless offered the means, among its many assets, to read Ultra HD Blu-Ray. With Windows 11 and recent Intel processors, that possibility is over, and even software giant Cyberlink has given up.
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Movies on 4K Blu-Ray are not supported by recent Intel processors
Appeared in 2016 with the Skylake platform and developed by Intel, SGX is a set of security-related instructions. This technology makes it possible to define memory areas (called enclaves) whose content is protected. It ensures that no external process, even if it has elevated privileges, can read or save data there. But since 2017, SGX technology is the target of threats and flaws of all kinds. Prime+Probe, Plundervolt, Ghost-type attack, to name a few.
Intel therefore recently decided to stop charging and no longer support its own security technology. So with Windows 11, the latest versions of Rocket Lake (11th Gen) and Alder Lake (12th Gen) processors are not compatible with SGX.
In doing so, Intel also condemned the playback of Ultra HD Blu-Rays under Windows 11. Because to play Blu-Ray discs in 4K definition, the system needs to rely on DRM, which is precisely managed by SGX technology. And even though SGX has been replaced by a new technology called TDX (Trust Domain eXtensions), 4K Blu-Ray playback remains impossible, as TDX continues to rely on SGX certification.
Read also: PS5 – the more efficient 4K Blu-Ray player than that of the Xbox Series X
No hope for future compatibility?
Cyberlink, to whom we owe the PowerDVD software, looked into the matter, but finally abdicated. No workable solution has been found and there really isn’t much hope that another publisher will make 4K movies on Blu-Ray playable on a PC running Windows 11 and Windows 11. an 11th or 12th generation Intel processor. Note, however, that this only affects 4K playback. 1080p movies are not affected..
For users who want to continue playing their UHD Blu-Rays on their Windows PC, there are only two options:
- either stay on Windows 10 and not migrate to Windows 11. Remember that Microsoft has planned to maintain Windows 10 until 2025. They therefore have 3 years left before having to take the plunge.
- either keep its old processor and not acquire an Intel Alder Lake or Rocket Lake CPU.
Source: BleepingComputer
