Copy protection does not behave the same everywhere. Whether recording is blocked depends on your operating system, your browser, and your hardware — so the only honest answer is to test the device in question. This page does exactly that. Two videos play below: the same film, at the same moment, one protected and one not.
Capture both videos in one image or recording, then look at what you got. Either result is a valid outcome of this test — what matters is knowing which one your device produces before we promise anything to your customers.
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There are two grades of copy protection. Software protection encrypts the video but decodes it in ordinary memory, which recording tools can reach. Hardware protection decodes inside a protected part of the chip that recording tools cannot see — that is what produces a black rectangle. Which grade you get is decided by your browser and hardware, not by us.
| Device and browser | Grade normally available | Recording blocked? | Have we tested it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows — Microsoft Edge | Hardware (PlayReady SL3000) | Expected yes | No — this is the test |
| Windows — Chrome or Firefox | Software (Widevine L3) | No | Yes — confirmed on your own laptop |
| Mac — Safari | Hardware (Apple FairPlay) | Expected yes | Not yet |
| Mac — Chrome | Software (Widevine L3) | Often yes, via the browser | Yes — measured |
| iPhone and iPad | Hardware (Apple FairPlay) | Expected yes | Not yet |
| Android — certified devices | Hardware (Widevine L1) | Expected yes | Not yet |
Read the last column first. Only two rows here are measurements; the rest are what the technology is documented to do, which is not the same thing. The earlier version of this page stated an expectation as a fact, you recorded the screen and disproved it — so this one separates the two.
Worth knowing why that earlier test came out as it did: the page you tested carried only Widevine, so Windows had no hardware option available to it in any browser — Edge included. Your recording was the correct result for that page. This page carries PlayReady as well, which is what finally lets Edge on Windows be tested at all.
This is why the platform would be set to prefer the strongest protection each device can
offer, rather than assuming one behaviour everywhere.
This test page serves content carrying both Google
Widevine and Microsoft PlayReady, and asks your device for the strongest grade it will
grant. The result reported below is what your browser actually negotiated, not a guess.