Blu-ray is the most advanced physical format today. In addition to games on PlayStation and Xbox, it is the format par excellence used to watch movies in Full HD and 4K thanks to reaching capacities of up to 100 GB. However, its use is quite limited due to the convenience and popularity of streaming platforms and rental sites like Google Play Movies, and now there is bad news for lovers of the physical format on their computers.
Despite the fact that Intel‘s 12th generation processors were launched on November 4 , it was not until more than two months later that some users began to realize that these chips lack a key element when it comes to playing Blu -ray. Specifically, Alder Lake 12th generation processors, and Rocket Lake 11th generation processors, cannot play original 4K Blu-ray movies on Windows 11.
SGX is not on Intel chips since 11th gen
The bug seems to be related to the decryption of the DRM used by these discs. Today’s chips use the Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) to decrypt movies for playback. The feature was introduced with Skylake (6th generation), but has been missing on Intel chips since the 11th generation .
The biggest Blu-ray movie playback software on Windows is PowerDVD , developed by the CyberLink company. Its developers have received many complaints regarding compatibility problems generated by the new Intel chips. The company has stated on its website that they cannot do anything in this situation, since they do not control the DRM. Who controls it is the Blu-ray Association .
Intel had plenty of reasons to remove SGX from their processors. After Specter and Meltdown, various researchers found that there were other vulnerabilities in Intel chips. Specifically, since 2017, 7 vulnerabilities have been discovered that affect the most secure parts of processors. Among them, there are several that allow to inject malicious code at a low level, as well as spy on the memory content to steal all kinds of data.
Use other physical players, the best solution
Therefore, Intel gains a lot by removing this feature, even if in return it prevents playing Blu-ray movies in physical format for those who have readers on their computers. There is more benefit to removing security issues for tens of millions of people than breaking functionality used by a lucky few tens of thousands. Also, they have replaced it with better encryption, although this one does not have the keys to play Blu-ray.
AMD processors are not directly certified to play 4K Blu-ray on Windows, so this feature is now broken. The only thing that can save users is that the DRM is removed from the disks, or simply stick with processors from previous generations. To do this, you need to have a 7th, 8th, 9th or 10th generation Intel , as they are the only ones with HDCP 2.2 and SGX . In turn, CyberLink recommends not to update to Windows 11 . To play movies you will have to use dedicated players, such as a console.
