TP Vision investigates streaming quality problem on Philips TVs – Image and sound – News

Users of Philips TVs with the MT5891-soc report that they can only watch streaming services such as Netflix and Disney + in SD quality. The Widevine drm certificate required for HD streams has been adjusted. TP Vision is investigating the problem.

On the Tweakers forum report several owners of Philips TVs the same problems. Streams from Netflix, Disney + and Prime Video are no longer displayed in 1080p or 4k and hdr is also missing. In all cases it turns out to be TVs with the same MT5891-soc from MediaTek. It concerns both OLED TVs and LCD TVs that were released by TP Vision in 2017 and 2018.

User vrilly discovered that the Widevine certificate of a TP Vision TV hardware platform has been updated. That is featured in a Telegram channel that keeps track of the modification and revocation of DRM certificates. It’s about Device 6787 (TPVision TV PH7M_EU_5596) and the security level has been adjusted from Level 1 to Level 3. Streaming services use the Widevine drm and Level 1 is required to stream in the highest quality.

According to various users, trailers are still displayed in 1080p or 4k, but actual films and series get stuck at 540p or 480p, without HDR display. The fact that trailers can still be seen in high resolution can be explained by the fact that they are not protected with DRM.

It is not clear why the Widevine certificate has been changed. Tweaker Vrilly suggests it may be related to a vulnerability in the SOC that could allow the DRM to be bypassed. TP Vision may be able to fix this with a firmware update.

TP Vision is aware of the problems and is still conducting internal investigations into the exact cause. Diederick Houtman, Head of Product Management at TP Vision, tells Tweakers that the DRM implementation is also being looked at, but that it is currently not yet clear what exactly is going on. The findings have also been forwarded to the research & developmentdivision of the manufacturer in Asia. Houtman hopes to be able to provide more information in the coming days.

The MediaTek MT5891-soc is also used in TVs from other manufacturers, for example in the Sony AG8 series. There are no reports of Sony TVs with similar issues yet de Widevine Revocation Tracker does not show recent DRM changes for Sony TVs, for example.

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