hdmi News - Page 23 of 23 - CNX Software

August 1, 2013August 1, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

HDMI to VGA Adapters Now Cost About $10

I remember when the Raspberry Pi first got out, many people wanted to connected it to a VGA display, and at the time, a cheap HDMI to VGA adapter would have cost $30, about the same price of the low-cost ARM11 board. Since then things have changed since it’s possible to find HDMI to VGA adapters for less than $10, and even less than $7 on Aliexpress. The one linked and pictured above has an HDMI male connector and a VGA female connector, and the following features listed in buyincoins: Support 1080p and 720p. Built-in chipset. No external power required, power supply from HDMI signal. Don’t support audio output. Can use for connecting devices with VGA port to HDTV. HDMI – standard type A port male. VGA – VGA video port, female. The title seems to imply it’s an HDMI to VGA adapter, but the description tells you it’s for […]

April 30, 2013April 30, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Quick Review of YS-189 HDMI Switcher

Since I have quite a few devices with HDMI, and I got tired of getting behind the TV to plug or unplug the device, and sometimes I may want to cycle through them for testing, I bought an HDMI switch from Dealextreme for about $11. The device, called YS-189, features 1 HDMI output and 3 HDMI inputs so that you can connect 3 devices to one HDMI port of your TV. There’s also a 5V power jack, which is normally not needed, or so they say, and a small remote control (battery included!) with three buttons to switch between the inputs. First I’ll show a few pictures of the device, and talk about my experience connecting 3 Android mini PCs. Here’s the package with the black box and the remote. At the back there are more details about the device including specification and “user’s manual”. Now a picture of the […]

January 10, 2012January 10, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Always Innovating Unveils Open Source Android 4.0 HDMI Dongle STB

Always Innovating announced the “HDMI Dongle”, an open source portable STB that runs Android 4.0 on a Texas Instruments OMAP4 processor clocked between 1 and 1.8GHz with 256MB to 1GB of RAM, a microSD slot, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a remote control that provides NFC & accelerometers. The HDMI Dongle is a device of the size of a USB stick that can be plugged into any HDMI port to transform a any HDMI (and USB) capable TV into a smart TV. The USB port is used to power the device. The company says the HDMI Dongle is “technically compatible with GoogleTV”, which probably means it is not yet supported, but a software upgrade could enable Google TV for Android 4.0. The device provides a full-compatible Android experience and any application for this operating system can run on the dongle. The HDMI Dongle can stream and decode from the Internet 1080p H.264 […]

January 5, 2012January 5, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Roku Streaming Stick HDMI/MHL Dongle

Roku has unveiled the Roku Streaming Stick – an HDMI dongle about the size of a standard USB flash drive that will simply plug into a TV to instantly transform it into a Smart TV. It basically includes everything you’d find in a Roku player (built-in WiFi, processor, memory and software) and will deliver all the channels present on the Roku platform. It will be possible to use just one remote for the TV and for streaming and no cables or power adaptor are needed. Another advantage of the Roku stick, is that when it becomes outdated and the hardware needs to be upgraded to be able to take advantage of new software capabilities, it’s possible to simply purchase a new low cost Roku Streaming Stick (or another equivalent product) without having to replace the much more expensive TV. The Roku Streaming Stick will plug into MHL-enabled HDMI ports on […]

October 30, 2011October 30, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

MHL (Mobile High Definition Link) Turns Your Phone into a Set-Top Box, Game Console and more

MHL (Mobile High Definition Link) was introduced at Mobile World Conference 2011, some progress has been done since then. For now Two HDTVs are MHL compliant: the Toshiba WL800A and the Samsung UN46D7000. The Toshiba TV already have a firmware upgrade that provides MHL support, a firmware upgrade will come later for the Samsung HDTV. MHL provides market disruptive features that such as the ability to charging MHL compliant phones and tablets, control them with the TV remote through one simple MHL connector (micro-USB to HDMI). In the demo below, they show the phone connected to the Toshiba WL800A and being controlled with the TV remote control to play videos (including trick modes: pause, ffwd, etc..), play Android games and use a web browser. Once you install Google TV 2.0 in your phone (you’ll probably need Android 4.0) or tablet, you can get a great TV experience via your mobile […]