I would like to use my Droid Razr as a video display (both an inexpensive 2.4gHz camera and a car camera that has an AV out jack). How is this possible?
Thanks in advance,
Andrew
it is very simple....
not possible...
Thank you for the definitive answer.
You can't use it as a display by connecting it directly, but you can use it as a remote display if you plug the devices into a computer with an AV in and the ability to stream the input over a network.
This could be done in a car with a basic car computer or old laptop under the seat or even a raspberry pi as long as the AV adapter chosen was able to record directly as mpeg4 so that the CPU wouldn't have to.
It would be an interesting project, but if you want a simple "buy an accessory" answer, you'd be better off with a spare car DVD LCD screen.
Related
Guys,
I bought a cradle from ebay (leeonline) because I cannot get a 4 in 1 adaptor from HTC. I tried using the vga-out (17 inch CRT Monitor), rca video out (our Television Set), Brandless USB hub, Generic/standard USB Keyboard and Generic/standard USB Mouse on it all at the same time. Everything works.
Now, I really no longer bring my laptop to work. My athena is all I need for Word Processing, Spreadsheets etc. There are quirks though. Sometimes, the mouse stops working or the athena hangs. (It may be the amount of programs installed.) Then again, It is still faster to boot than my laptop. The other downside is that even with the cradle plugged to the adaptor, It will still consume energy from the battery of the unit.
What I have done to my athena may not be new to most people but I would like to hear from other people what attachments or modifications they have done to make their athena more useful and powerful. In this way, we can all benefit from these ideas. Thanks!
Thanks!
yetdy said:
Guys,
I bought a cradle from ebay (leeonline) because I cannot get a 4 in 1 adaptor from HTC. I tried using the vga-out (17 inch CRT Monitor), rca video out (our Television Set), Brandless USB hub, Generic/standard USB Keyboard and Generic/standard USB Mouse on it all at the same time. Everything works.
Now, I really no longer bring my laptop to work. My athena is all I need for Word Processing, Spreadsheets etc. There are quirks though. Sometimes, the mouse stops working or the athena hangs. (It may be the amount of programs installed.) Then again, It is still faster to boot than my laptop. The other downside is that even with the cradle plugged to the adaptor, It will still consume energy from the battery of the unit.
What I have done to my athena may not be new to most people but I would like to hear from other people what attachments or modifications they have done to make their athena more useful and powerful. In this way, we can all benefit from these ideas. Thanks!
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to do that, but the novelty wore off eventually. Now i just bring in a mini notebook. It's easier than carrying loads of bits about and connecting things to monitors (though that option is still there if necessary).
Pretty cool though if you like your gadgets.
Leoni is correct, however he can always leave the other stuff connected to the cradle and use it sorta like a docking station, but you would need a second cradle for the home TV. I'm glad this thread started because I myself was considering getting one for my TV. However, what should I do about the audio coming from my device (will I still be able to connect audio to my AV receiver)? As far as the 4 in 1 cable I would be able to get to the audio jack on the Athena however the down side is that not all USB flash drives would be supported with the 4 in 1 cable. Yetdy can you tell me how you work around getting audio streamed?
I think there are a few ways to stream audio.
#1 S-Video if I'm not mistaken is supposed to stream audio to your TV.
#2 Audio Jack to RCA Audio converters connected directly to the TV or amplifier would also help assumming you are using the 4-in 1 adaptor. Cradle cannot help you out with this option.
#3 Of course there is bluetooth connection which is what I am going to use. Got a bluetooth transmitter and receiver from ebay but is currently busted (bad seller). Another is to get a BT that has a changeable earphone/buds. Change the earphone to an audio jack to RCA Audio jack and follow #2.
Hope this helps.
yes and no
yetdy said:
I think there are a few ways to stream audio.
#1 S-Video if I'm not mistaken is supposed to stream audio to your TV.
****You are mistaken, S-video is video only (the pins are luminance, chroma, ground and something else I can't remember off the top of my head) ****
#2 Audio Jack to RCA Audio converters connected directly to the TV or amplifier would also help assumming you are using the 4-in 1 adaptor. Cradle cannot help you out with this option.
****if it is anything like the one I got from ebay then no, as it covers up the headphones out port from the athena but does not replicate it on the back ! the athena also carries audio out from the same USB connector that you charge it from (this is why the socket on the athena is an unusual/different shape compared to your plug on USB charger) if they had replicated this port propely on the dock then you could have got audio out that way, but the dock connector for that is also wrong (standard USB shaped socket, not the odd one from the athena) ****
#3 Of course there is bluetooth connection which is what I am going to use. Got a bluetooth transmitter and receiver from ebay but is currently busted (bad seller). Another is to get a BT that has a changeable earphone/buds. Change the earphone to an audio jack to RCA Audio jack and follow #2.
****it is feasible to have the athena transmit stereo bluetooth to a nearby device !****
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just my 2 pence worth
If you want to play audio on your home theatre speaker, you could also consider the option of plugging an FM transmitterinto the headphone jack, then use your FM receiver to play through your theatre speaker.
That was how I used to play my music in the car, through the car's srereo speakers.
eaglesteve said:
If you want to play audio on your home theatre speaker, you could also consider the option of plugging an FM transmitterinto the headphone jack, then use your FM receiver to play through your theatre speaker.
That was how I used to play my music in the car, through the car's srereo speakers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wont work if the Athena is in the ebay dock/cradle, as it covers up the audio out port, but does not replicate it.
Ice coffee,
Maybe you can share some other options here. You may have other ideas that may be useful to us. I just got my athena last month and cradle last week so I cannot really say with authority what it can and what it cannot do. If you can help us out in maximizing the athena with its cradle, many will appreciate it.
None of the video outputs from the 4-in-1 carry audio, the only options are BT a2dp or the headphones jack. Seems a bit long-winded to me though - I'm sure there are less fiddly mods out there. I just used to use the magnetic keyboard as a stand, slipped a BT keyboard over the top of it and the 4-in-1 for usb hub etc. This left a free audio jack to use as I wished. Seems like the docking station is more of a hindrance than a help.
HTC Advantage
Docking station
Keyboard
Mouse
Hifi Bluetooth A2DP adaptor
USB Hub....
I think my EEE pc is a more convenient device on the whole than the above setup would've been if i'd carried all that with me I wouldn't have had any space to fit my work stuff!
I came accross another docking station for $119.00 USD that has the audio option on the side along with 2 standard USB ports instead of 1. I think it's a bit too pricey, due to the fact that on flebay they do have a2dp stereo bluetooth adapters for like $50 USD. Besides with that and your bluetooth headsets it might still be possible to answer a incoming phone call on your bt headset without having to hear the audio coming from your A/V receiver (considering you left the phone on). Leoni, both options have their own drawback (no powering source with the 4 in 1 cable for all USB storage devices and the inaccessable headphone jack when using the docking station). But anyway I'm going to order the 4 in 1 cable too and see which one works best for me on a day to day use.
as I said the only simple option is to use bluetooth and as tootalk2000 pointed out you can get adaptors on ebay for £25 ish, I suppose the other more complicated option would be to, take your cradle apart and replace the USB connector into the phone with this,
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2in1-Audio-US...oryZ3728QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
and then take the other end of this apart and make it fit in your cradle, it would actually be quite easy to do as there is a lot of space in the cradle.
ice_coffee said:
as I said the only simple option is to use bluetooth and as tootalk2000 pointed out you can get adaptors on ebay for £25 ish, I suppose the other more complicated option would be to, take your cradle apart and replace the USB connector into the phone with this,
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2in1-Audio-US...oryZ3728QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
and then take the other end of this apart and make it fit in your cradle, it would actually be quite easy to do as there is a lot of space in the cradle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awwwww shux, someone just gave me some experimenting to go do. I'm ordering one of those jacks today, and hopefully it will come around the same time as cradle. I'll just super glue it to the back portion of the cradle and plug it in externally. Due to the fact that the USB port is still on there you would still be able to sync even when the ear phone jack is still in use.
tootallk2000 said:
Awwwww shux, someone just gave me some experimenting to go do. I'm ordering one of those jacks today, and hopefully it will come around the same time as cradle. I'll just super glue it to the back portion of the cradle and plug it in externally. Due to the fact that the USB port is still on there you would still be able to sync even when the ear phone jack is still in use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol my thoughts exactly.
Do you guys think you can connect our phone to a tv using the cable below so you can view your apps, movies, pics on ur tv?? I have a DVD player in my car, it would be really cool to use GPS through the screen if its possible.
http://cgi.ebay.com/TV-Video-out-AV...hZ023QQcategoryZ35210QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem
This is for samsung, but still uses mini usb.
Our USB-style sockets don't have the functionality. They're just for power, audio, and sync.
Oh okk..dammit..lol.thanks bro
actually, the qualcomm chip actually does support TV out..
HTC didn't implement it though, so the functionality is just sittng there dormant
not that i disagree though...I'm almost positive you can get a micro-sd or a bluetooth hardware solution to accomplish video output
i know the TV out isto 3 phono, and can display in Pal or NTSC but it would be useful if there is a VGA one or a good way to do it,
any ideas
monkeyturnip said:
i know the TV out isto 3 phono, and can display in Pal or NTSC but it would be useful if there is a VGA one or a good way to do it,
any ideas
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Search for these kind of cables:
http://www.nextag.com/Cables-to-Go-25FT-61235427/prices-html?nxtg=28c70a1c052e-34FA18FCC0551E95
RGB to VGA
monkeyturnip said:
i know the TV out isto 3 phono, and can display in Pal or NTSC but it would be useful if there is a VGA one or a good way to do it,
any ideas
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with you. I wanted to use a PC monitor for Remote Desktop control of a couple of PCs and servers with the TP2 (as I do with the Athena). Using the TP video out and converter cables will have the cables outweigh the phone by a factor of about 2 to 1.
I believe the output on the Blackstone is composite, not component in which case I don't think that would work.
Although you can get active converters to convert composite video to VGA/RGBHV, there will be a considerable loss of quality, especially in the fine detail. Basically, it will look very blurry.
There's plenty of them on Ebay, search for EXTUSB video , or "Touch pro video"
Yep, bought one of those composite/VGA converter boxes and can definitely confirm the loss of quality/bluriness. Also too bulky to carry around conveniently and requires a power supply. Hooked my Archos up yesterday (TP2 arrived today...!) just to remind myself, as it has the same screen res and also outputs via composite and apart from it being blurry, the image also flickers, which is quite annoying. Hadn't really noticed it before, cause it's not that noticable when watching video, but when viewing text or a presentation, that would be seriously off-putting! May just be my converter box, but thinking about the conversions the signal has to go through, I can't belive other converters are going to be much better.
BO$$
"Reqiures powersupply" ?
I cannot remeber that I used power supply with it, but yes, it does have a power-supply connector to allow charging while using tv-out.
Appologies, I was posting without properly referencing the post I was replying to.
I was relpying to crypticalpha's post, regarding composite to VGA converters. My converter box requires a powersupply in order to output a picture on the monitor/projector, else you can only get sound.
Since I have not yet held my TP2 in my hands, nor owned the TP1, I cannot comment on its TV out functionality.
I had assumed the phone itself would not be required to be connected to a power source, but it is actually good to hear that confirmed!
Kind Regards
BO$$
i think this one does work. and its cheap aswell
http://cgi.benl.ebay.be/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=130310497614
I bought a HTC adaptor for charging & 3.5 headphones etc. Then I thought I'd be clever and save money and use a Nokia N95 TV out cable, but when I plug it in the TP2 sees it as Headphones.
Any ideas of how to get it working?
daveke0201 said:
i think this one does work. and its cheap aswell
http://cgi.benl.ebay.be/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=130310497614
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can vouch for this being a good, cheap TV out cable; I bought it and it works well - the USB and 3.5mm jacks also work so you can plug a secondary sound source in or charge / sync it as well as using the TV out functionality.
One 'problem' though: using Core Player without the TV cable, the video playback is smooth as a baby's bum: with the TV out cable, it's slightly choppy. Is this to be expected or does anyone know how to improve video playback through TV cable? If so, it makes a great solution to travelling and being able to bring good TV and films with you on the phone!
No, it does not exist yet (to my knowledge).
Essentially what it'll do is connect any HTC extUSB equipped phone to any kind of ipod docking station.
My car's head unit has an ipod cable along with steering wheel controls so what I want to do is be able to connect my TP2 to the head unit via the ipod cable such that I can control the TP2's audio from my steering wheel (and possibly on a more advanced note display the track info, though I'm not too optimistic on that). Yes, I know it would be easier using the extUSB to 3.5mm adapter but then I'd have to control playback on the phone (or possibly through MSVC if it ever listens to me correctly).
I know the pinouts of the extUSB port and the Ipod connector. No problem making an adapter there for strictly the audio and charging part. The fun part is adapting the Ipod's control signals (for next/prev track, play/pause, etc). I have not come across any kind of technical data sheet indicating the kind of signal the HTC phone is looking for to control playback. I have a E100 remote that I'd rather not reverse engineer yet. For some reason I believe drivers will need to be involved in this one.
Anyone who can help out with playback control signal info for extUSB, I'll gladly send one of these adapters out when I get around to making them.
Wiring the E100 would be your best bet...theres a tiny SMD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface-mount_technology probably looks like a black blob on the E100) that controls the signalling for the extUSB. There really isn't another way to wire it...I mean, you can dump the SMD, snoop through it and build your own, but really...you have a E100, just wire it up. You won't get track/title info (I don't think HTC even outputs that via the extUSB) but it'll give you full control, as far as what the E100 is capable of.
This actually has been done before for a HTC Dream.
It was discussed here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=465412
The original site is down but you can see the final product here http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/28/inelegant-hack-connects-t-mobile-g1-to-ipod-dock/
I was hoping some enterprising chinese company with a lax view on copyrights and such would mass produce one but it never happened
Hi guys, I read these forums occasionally, but this is my first time to post. My problem is (seemingly) pretty straightforward.
When I connect my Droid RAZR MAXX or ASUS Transformer to my HD monitor, the video displays fine, but there is no sound. I suspect this is because the monitor does not have any speakers, but I was hoping there would be a way to just let the audio play from the device. That's what my laptop does when connected via VGA (which might not support audio anyway; I don't know a lot about the different inputs/outputs).
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
arnax
VGA does not support audio. Ive never done any of these but maybe they will work. Get a hdmi to VGA adaptar and then use an auxillary cord to hook up to monitor. Plug a headset into your phone to hear it that way. Or the simple solution get speakers for ur monitor.
As far as I know there is no way to use hdmi without the audio being played through the hdmi. Not just for phones but everything hdmi.
Thanks, I tried using headphones with my phone and that worked, so I suppose hooking up speakers to it should work too. I don't believe my monitor has a way to hook up speakers directly unfortunately...