Lossy data stream decoder techniques are described herein. In response to a request for decoded content from a consuming application, a decoder may validate headers and identify portions of the data that are considered pertinent to the request. The decoder then performs lossy extraction to form incomplete data that is provided to the consuming application in response to the request. The full data for the data stream is not exposed to the consuming application or other downstream components. In this way, the consuming application is provided data sufficient to perform requested graphics processing and resource management operations, while at the same time the risk of piracy is mitigated since the consuming application is unable to get a full version of the data in the clear and the data have been validated by the decoder.

There is disclosed a head-end system in which differently processed copies of content portions are reordered such that copies from different content portions are not interleaved in the final transport stream.

Systems and methods for content-protecting video codecs are described. At least one embodiment of the invention comprises a system for protecting video content comprising computer memory comprising a stored set of instructions for processing video data; and at least one microprocessor configured to process the video data according to the stored set of instructions, the stored set of instructions requiring identification of data to be removed, at least a portion of which is essential to obtaining a visually acceptable reproduction of video, the stored set of instructions being further configured to replace removed data with data-hiding values, wherein the visually acceptable reproduction of video cannot be generated without a key that enables recovery of enough of the removed data from the data-hiding values that replaced the removed data.

Systems and methods for partial frame encryption in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method receives a video bitstream that includes several frames, each frame including several independently encoded compression units within the frame, encrypts a portion of each of several compression units in several frames, and generates an output bitstream that includes the several independently encoded compression units including the encrypted portions of the compression units.

Systems and methods for partial frame encryption in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method receives a video bitstream that includes several frames, each frame including several independently encoded compression units within the frame, encrypts a portion of each of several compression units in several frames, and generates an output bitstream that includes the several independently encoded compression units including the encrypted portions of the compression units.