Actually now I think of it that doesn't matter since you could just pull the subtitles from the weakly protected 720p version then apply them to the higher resolution versions. Ripping the 4K video through LVDS or HDMI capture would still be annoying though.
I don't know the burden is as big as you imagine. I used to run a torrent site that was 99% recorded shows through capture and we still had every single broadcast show uploaded within minutes -- and no uploaders were getting paid, they were just bored and doing it for the Internet points.
edit: also to add, we would get employees at the studios send us discs with the new shows before release, but I had agreements with at least one studio to not allow uploads until after broadcast if we received any of their media
Another complication for LVDS capture is that HDR content is always tonemapped/filtered (OLED ABL etc) before it is sent to the panel, and that processed version is what you would get with LVDS capture. It might be usable, but it would be a downgrade from other capture or decryption methods which grab the unprocessed HDR video.
With a $20 HDMI grabber you get 4K HDR video with full Dolby Vision or HDR10 metadata, without any tonemapping applied, én masse.
Combine that with some software mods to hide the UI at all times and you've got a perfect recording.
Re-encoding is the slowest and most annoying part of this process, but release groups re-encode everything anyway, so that's not an issue either.
DRM only hurts the legitimate customers, no one else.
I'm subscribed to the highest tiers of Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Paramount+, YouTube Premium, CuriosityStream, Nebula and Zattoo.
Yet often enough, I have to rip media from bluray because the streaming version only has audio or subtitles available in the local language or the quality is subpar.
>> I have to rip media from bluray because the streaming version only has audio or subtitles available in the local language
This. It's a huge problem for us expatriates living outside of their native countries - I want my son to be bilangual and as part of that I try to at least play cartoons in my native tongue - but Disney/Netflix/Prime usually only have the local language option, even though as soon as we are physically in my home country magically the same shows have dubs in local language. So all of these corporations have these options available, but decide not to show them for whatever reason. So more often than not I have to ask family to send us actual DVDs/Blurays of kids shows so we can watch them in the language we want to watch them in.
And no, VPN doesn't always help - it's flaky, it's frustrating in its stability, one day it works the next day it doesn't, it's not the thing I want to mess with nearly every other day just to play some cartoons.
edit: But the subtitle tracks are also available on software-only DRM levels that are easy to break.