Does the 13900K return support for 4K Blu-ray?

[BrianR74]

I've searched all over and I can't find any reference to whether the 4K technology that was removed due to security concerns, from the 12900K, has been fixed and brought back with the 13900K. Does anyone have an answer to this?

Thanks in advance!

[MUC · Accepted solution]

No, it doesn't.

Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) were used to meet requirements of content protection demanded by the Blu-ray Disc Association for Digital Rights Management (DRM).

For this use case, SGX has been discontinued starting with 11th Gen Intel processors.

10th Gen processors are the last ones that provide SGX support for Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc playback.

In addition, the system must also meet other requirements. The following are suggestions for configuring a PC platform capable of playing Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs:

Motherboards:

ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 (LSPCON: MCDP2800)

Gigabyte Z490I AORUS ULTRA (LSPCON: PS175) 

ASUS ROG STRIX Z490-I GAMING (LSPCON: PS175) 

Those motherboards are the latest to provide the requirements for Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc playback with HDR.

Processor to prefer: Intel Core i5-10400 (G1 stepping) 

Optical Drive:

Hitachi LG BU40N (this drive features a Slimline SATA port and therefore an adapter is needed to connect to one of the above motherboards) 

LG WH16NS60

Both need the Ultra HD Blu-ray certified firmware version 1.00. Newer firmware versions don't support playback any longer. Preflashed drives can be found on the internet. Since this firmware is official, there is nothing illegal operating a drive this way. The drive Hitachi LG BH16NS55 can also be flashed with the WH16NS60-firmware.

Software Player: CyberLink PowerDVD 21 Ultra

I can confirm fully functional playback with the ASRock motherboard, BU40N (FW 1.00!) and Windows 10 22H2 and PowerDVD 21 featuring all available software updates. One should stick to the drivers provided by the motherboard manufacturers. For me, however, the generic Intel UHD630 graphics driver also works:

• 4K 60 Hz YCbCr 4:4:4 BT.709 8 bpc 594MHz
• 4K 60 Hz YCbCr 4:2:0 BT.2020 12 bpc HDR 445MHz
• 4K 60 Hz RGB BT.2020 8 bpc HDR 594MHz („8-bit with Dithering“)
• 4K 30 Hz (or less) YCbCr 4:4:4 BT.2020 12 bpc HDR 445MHz, so chroma subsampling can be omitted when playing a 24p movie, although the source material is usually only available with YCbCr 4:2:0 natively on Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs

Ultra HD Blu-ray playback is also possible using Windows 11.

[BrianR74]

Ok SGX has been permanently discontinued!

Well, I don't plan on down-grading from my 12900K so it really doesn't matter what motherboard. software etc. I have. I'll just have to pick up a 4K Blu-ray player; which would be a lot cheaper than building a new system just to watch 4K Blu-ray's on.

[BrianR74]

Thanks for all the hard work you put into your reply!  The information was enlightening and I'm sure will help others who are looking to build an entertainment system.