I assumed HDMI had some form of encoding, thanks for the correction. Looks like v 2.1 does.
I think the syncing idea between the spy device and db is still useful. The video itself has stuff to use for reducing the search space by making sure they puck the same instants to fingerprint and exfiltrate.
Try some Ovaltine in OJ sometime (we ran out of milk). Definitely worth adding to the “trying weird shit” list.