Many media streaming services, like Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and others, use various types of Digital Rights Management (DRM) to protect their content from being copied and redistributed. Most DRM doesn’t actually prevent this behavior, and instead mostly serves to annoy people paying for content, but that’s a discussion for another time. Widevine is a widely-used DRM technology, often found in web and Android applications, but not all Android devices fully support Widevine DRM.
Widevine DRM is used by streaming services like Netflix, HBO, Disney+, Prime Video, Hulu, Sling, DirectTV, and many others.
- Widevine L3: This is the lowest-supported option, where the DRM is entirely software-based. A device that only has Widevine L3 has no Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) for DRM encryption to run in. In most cases, Widevine-protected content will only play in 480p.
- Widevine L2: Devices with L2 support have a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE), but video processing happens in software or separate video hardware. Most of the time, Widevine-protected content will play at a maximum resolution of 540p.
- Widevine L1: This is the highest level of protection, where media is decrypted and processed entirely in the Trusted Execution Environment (TEE). Devices with L3 support can play Widevine-protected content at the highest possible resolution.
Most Android devices that are certified by Google support Widevine L1, sometimes in combination with other DRM methods. However, modified devices (like rooted phones) or uncertified phones may only support L3 or L2. In some cases, broken software updates have caused Widevine DRM to revert to L2 or L3.
