Intel’s 11th and 12th Gen Core processors do not support playback of Ultra HD Blu-ray disks.
This is all thanks to the deprecation of Intel’s Software Guard Extensions (SGX) technology, a feature that allows content protected by DRM on Ultra HD Blu-ray movie discs to play on Windows systems. The lack of SGX support on 11th Gen and 12th Gen Core processors can be confirmed via Intel’s official data sheets, which list SGX among a handful of other technologies that are no longer supported.
Deprecated Technologies
- Intel Memory Protection Extensions (Intel MPX)
- Branch Monitoring Counters
- Hardware Lock Elision (HLE), part of Intel TSX-NI
- Intel Software Guard Extensions (Intel SGX)
- Intel TSX-NI
- Power Aware Interrupt Routing (PAIR)
CyberLink, the company behind popular software players such as PowerDVD, has highlighted the issue through a support document that confirmed Ultra HD Blu-rays can’t be played with the latest Intel chips. Users have been told to stick with older-generation Core processors, going so far as to avoid OS and firmware updates.
Some people: I like getting my movies on plastic discs, because I actually own them that way.
— Will Dormann (@wdormann) January 14, 2022
CyberLink: Don't update your CPU, OS, or drivers, or you won't be able to play your plastic discs. https://t.co/5x4tWgKjfn pic.twitter.com/hNpesedl9j
“The removal of the SGX feature, and its compatibility with the latest Windows OS and drivers, has caused a substantial challenge for CyberLink to continue supporting Ultra HD Blu-ray movie playback in our player software,” the company explained. “So much so, that it has been determined that it is no longer feasible for CyberLink to support the Ultra HD Blu-ray playback on newer CPUs and the latest Windows platforms.”
“For users who use an older compatible platform and want to keep the Ultra HD Blu-ray playback compatibility on the PC and with PowerDVD, we suggest you continue using the 7th – 10th generation Core i series of Intel CPUs and motherboards that support the Intel SGX feature. You should also consider not updating the OS (e.g., upgrading to Windows 11) and related Intel drivers to the latest versions in order to keep the Intel SGX feature from being removed from your PC.”
Intel abandoned its SGX technology due to the increasing amount of vulnerabilities and attack methods that have been discovered over the years, suspects Bleeping Computer. They include Foreshadow and SGAxe, two speculative-execution attacks that could be used to breach SGX.
Source: Intel (via CyberLink, Bleeping Computer)