Amazon Firestick with older TV

[Simon_M]

I want to get an Amazon Firestick. My TV is an older Samsung from 2011. The model is D Series e.g. UE40D6500. Will it work with a Firestick? There is no info on Samsung website. It does 1080P but doesn't work well with an Apple TV except for trailers - not protected.

From what I read HDCP was invented by Intel in 2000's and refreshed for 4K TVs about 10 years later. and HD Ready TVs should work?

 

[nev]

If it's got an HDMI socket then yes it should work.

 

[jeremyduncombe]

Yes, it should work. I bought one recently and it works just fine with my 12 year old Panasonic TV.

 

[Simon_M]

Yes, it should work. I bought one recently and it works just fine with my 12 year old Panasonic TV.

Thanks - was it a Firestick 4K or (probably) the Firestick?

The problem I experience with other devices connected to the TV are to do with HDCP. So 2.2 is required for 4K viewing and a lower version for 1080P. I'm under the impression that all TVs that are sold in the EU are required to have HDCP so that they can be fully compliant with standards and say "HD Ready " or "HD 1080" - the TV manual is pretty useless at saying what's included.

I was considering a Firestick 4K because although my TV doesn't have 4K (8 years old) I might upgrade at some point. So I assume that a Firestick 4K will behave as the ordinary one if the TV isn't 4K e.g. not introduce more problems?

 

[jeremyduncombe]

My TV is ‘HD ready’. I bought a 4K Firestick - it only cost a little more than the ordinary version, and will future proof me in case I decide to upgrade my TV. I don’t know anything about HDCP, I just know that I plugged it in and it worked straightaway.

 

[Simon_M]

In the Black Friday event I bought the 4K Firestick. Both types of Firestick had £20 off the usual price. I’m very impressed with the service. For Apple TV+ I can watch in normal HD both trailers and episodes of the new programs.

With my 2nd generation Apple TV the new episodes wouldn’t play - trailers would work because they don’t have any form of video protection, but the episodes wouldn’t play. The Apple TV does indicate an authorisation problem hence why I thought there was a problem with the TV. So for £30 my problem has gone away.

If I was upgrading the TV then I know it has to be HDCP 2.2 as all new TVs are - so I would be buying a compatible TV. Looks like the only problem was with the Apple TV box being unable to accept and display Airplay protected TV shows.

For anyone who gets a similar HDCP issue, another solution is a splitter 1:many Adapter. These don’t reveal the target system (might be one of many) so don’t fail the HDCP check. If anyone wants to pirate a protected TV broadcast these boxes facilitate this, but the HDCP is otherwise just a pain for anyone else who doesn’t have just the right TV.

I read somewhere that each manufacturer has to keep the “keys” private otherwise they get deactivated and if the manufacturer doesn’t update the firmware then you are “screwed”. Apple no longer support my TV box (5 years old). Ironically these little boxes have a resale value because they are the last generation to be hacked e.g. jail broken.

At the end of my trial for TV+ I’m not sure I would continue it but Netflix is a different story - after their trial period I may subscribe (otherwise it’s back out to the garage to do some woodturning).