What does HRESULT 0xC00D2905 (NS_E_COMPRESSED_DIGITAL_VIDEO_PROTECTION_LEVEL_UNSUPPORTED) mean?

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Description:

Windows Media Player does not support the level of protection required for compressed digital video.%0

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NS_E_OUTPUT_PROTECTION_LEVEL_UNSUPPORTED	NS_E_UNCOMPRESSED_DIGITAL_VIDEO_PROTECTION_LEVEL_UNSUPPORTED

NS_E_COMPRESSED_DIGITAL_VIDEO_PROTECTION_LEVEL_UNSUPPORTED

The exact DRM condition

This HRESULT is specific: NS_E_COMPRESSED_DIGITAL_VIDEO_PROTECTION_LEVEL_UNSUPPORTED appears because compressed digital video leaves through a path below the required protection level. The subsystem producing this result is Windows Media DRM output protection, not the media decoder; it performs license-policy evaluation that compares the content owner’s required output protection level or scheme with the active audio/video output path.

Use the failing operation itself to record whether video remains compressed at the connector and its supported OPL.

What to log

The security decision represented by this result depends on license OPL fields, play or copy action, output connector type, compressed/uncompressed state, driver-reported protection capability and selected rendering path. Record the requested action, required OPL values, active connector, negotiated protection mechanism and whether the stream is compressed at that boundary from the same attempt.

The scope stays narrow: compressed digital video leaves through a path below the required protection level. Other content or actions may still be valid.

Troubleshooting order

Preserve this result and 0xC00D2905 before cleanup, fallback or another media item changes the context.
Apply the targeted fix: use a connector/driver supporting the required compressed-video protection.
Associate it with its current Windows Media DRM output protection object and the requested action.
Compare the failure with a known-good case that changes only the property named by this condition: compressed digital video leaves through a path below the required protection level.

Expected state change

It should be modeled as a failed precondition, not as an arbitrary media exception. Demonstrate the precondition by choosing to record whether video remains compressed at the connector and its supported OPL, and remove it by choosing to use a connector/driver supporting the required compressed-video protection. Keeping the result transition intact also shows whether a retry reused stale state or actually reevaluated the corrected input.

Scope and consequences

Compressed digital video leaves through a path below the required protection level.

Fields for a reproducible report

Field	Value
Direct check	record whether video remains compressed at the connector and its supported OPL

Related codes, different contracts

Result	Why it points elsewhere
`NS_E_OUTPUT_PROTECTION_LEVEL_UNSUPPORTED`	the active output path cannot meet the license’s overall minimum protection level
`NS_E_UNCOMPRESSED_DIGITAL_VIDEO_PROTECTION_LEVEL_UNSUPPORTED`	the uncompressed video rendering path cannot enforce the license’s minimum protection
`NS_E_ANALOG_VIDEO_PROTECTION_LEVEL_UNSUPPORTED`	the analog video output cannot apply the policy required by the license

Change the rejected precondition

Recovery should change the failed precondition by choosing to use a connector/driver supporting the required compressed-video protection.

Do not treat every output-protection result as a missing codec; the decoder can be present while the connector or driver cannot enforce the license policy.

Technical references

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