A method for determining the color depths of the video data for a selected frame in High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) video data transmitted over a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), in which (a) the beginning of the selected frame is marked with a vertical synchronization (VSYNC) signal and (b) a mark in a window of opportunity (WOO) for the selected frame indicates whether or not that frame is encrypted. The method detects, for the selected frame, the length of the interval between a VSYNC signal and the location of at least one of (i) the start of the corresponding WOO and (ii) the mark indicating whether or not the selected frame is encrypted, and then determines the color depth of the video data for the selected frame based on the detected length.