DRM test: what can this browser do with protected video?
This page asks your browser — the same way a video player does — which of Widevine, PlayReady and FairPlay it supports, and whether it decrypts in hardware or in software. That decides two things: whether protected video plays here, and whether a screen recording of it comes out black. It takes a few seconds and runs entirely in your browser.
This browser
How to read the results
Widevine is Google's DRM, used by Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Android. L1 means decryption and decoding happen inside secure hardware; L3 means software. Desktop Chrome and Firefox are always L3; most Android phones are L1.
PlayReady is Microsoft's DRM. SL3000 is the hardware level, used by Edge and, since Chrome 140, by Chrome on Windows 11; SL2000 is software.
FairPlay is Apple's DRM, in Safari on a Mac and in every browser on iPhone and iPad. It runs on Apple's protected media path, so recordings and screenshots of protected video come out black.
HDCP protects the cable to your screen. A monitor, adapter or capture card without it can show black instead of protected video, even when the browser supports DRM.
What each browser gets
| Browser | DRM it uses | Level | A screen recording shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safari on a Mac | FairPlay | Hardware | Black |
| Any browser on iPhone or iPad | FairPlay | Hardware | Black |
| Edge on Windows | PlayReady SL3000 | Hardware on most PCs | Black |
| Chrome on Windows 11 | PlayReady SL3000 (Chrome 140+) | Hardware on most PCs | Black |
| Chrome on Android | Widevine L1 | Hardware on most phones | Black |
| Chrome on a Mac, Linux or Windows 10 | Widevine L3 | Software | Visible |
| Firefox on Windows, Mac or Linux | Widevine L3 | Software | Visible |
"Hardware on most" means the device also needs a graphics chip and driver (Windows) or a phone model (Android) that supports the hardware path; older machines fall back to software. Checked September 2026. More detail, including what nothing stops, on can you stop screen recording?
Questions
What does this DRM test check?
It asks your browser, through the standard Encrypted Media Extensions API, whether it can use Widevine, PlayReady and FairPlay, and at what security level: hardware or software. It also asks whether your display connection supports HDCP. From that it tells you whether protected video can play here and whether a screen recording of it would come out black. The test runs in your browser and sends the results nowhere.
What is the difference between Widevine L1 and L3?
With L1 the video is decrypted and decoded inside the device's secure hardware, so the decoded picture never reaches ordinary memory and screen recorders capture black. With L3 the same encryption is handled in software: downloads are still blocked, but the decoded picture can be recorded. L2, which is rare, keeps the keys in hardware but decodes in software.
Does Chrome on a computer have Widevine L1?
No. Chrome on Windows, Mac and Linux uses Widevine L3, and so does Firefox (some Chromebooks are the exception). On Windows 11, Chrome 140 and later can instead use hardware PlayReady (SL3000), the same path Edge uses — that is how Netflix streams 4K in Chrome there. Widevine L1 is found on Android phones, TVs and streaming sticks.
Why does protected video go black when I share my screen or use a second display?
Because the protection is working. On devices with hardware DRM, anything that copies the screen — Zoom, Teams or Meet screen sharing, remote-desktop tools, AirPlay mirroring, an iPad used as a Sidecar display, many capture cards — receives black frames. An external monitor or adapter without HDCP can also show black. Watch on the built-in display, or open the video directly on the other device.
The test says this browser has no DRM. How do I fix it?
Open the page in Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari rather than an app's built-in browser (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and many email apps have none). In Firefox, turn on Settings → General → Play DRM-controlled content. In Brave, turn on Widevine under Settings → Extensions. Chromium builds from Linux distributions often ship without Widevine; Google Chrome has it. Tor Browser and LibreWolf leave DRM off on purpose.
Can DRM stop someone filming the screen with a phone?
No DRM can. It removes the clean, downloadable file and, on hardware paths, blacks out screen recorders, so what is left is a visibly filmed, lower-quality copy. A viewer-identifying watermark then makes that copy traceable to the account it came from.