ATI sued over 'false' high definition claims

A class action suit in the US alleges that ATI Technologies' graphics cards don't support HDCP, despite the company's claims to the contrary. 

The plaintiffs, Stanley Batsalkin and Kenny Vargas, allege that since 'at least 2003', ATI has wrongly said many of its graphics cards support High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP). That spec is part of the Windows Vista operating system.

The filing was made on behalf of themselves and others in a San Jose district court, says sister site the Inquirer. 

The suit alleges that ATI Technologies, ATI Technologies Systems, ATI Research Silicon Valley, ATI Research and 200 'John Does' breached state consumer protection statutes, express warranty statures, implied warranty statutes, negligent misrepresentation common laws and unjust enrichment common laws.

The plaintiffs claim that if video cards or monitors aren't designed to the right specifications, the HDCP 'content protection scheme will not allow high definition audiovisual content to be clearly transmitted'.

ATI, it is alleged, said many of its graphics cards are sold as HDCP ready or HDCP compliant.

Debate raged online earlier this year when it came to light that ATI cards claiming to be HDCP-ready were not. Many owners were angered by the discovery.

The plaintiffs claim that many consumers, themselves included, would not have bought ATI's cards 'had they known the truth about the products'.

'These representations were false and the cards cannot transmit content pursuant to the HDCP specification,' the filing claims.

It adds: 'ATI has begun to revise its website marketing materials to delete reference to video cards being HDCP ready or compliant.'

ATI was contacted for commented, but had not responded by the time of going to press.

Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:

 del.icio.us     Digg this     reddit!