Oct/090
Power-saving Mitsubishi’s 23-inch monitor
We know it’s been tough finding a 23-inch, full HD monitor that’s just nondescript enough to cause not so much as a passing glance, but it looks like Mitsubishi finally has the monitor for you. In addition to that 1,920 x 1080 resolution, its new RDT231WLM-S model packs a decent 5 ms response time, a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, a full range of ports including HDMI and DVI, and an “ECO Professional” mode to cut down on power consumption whenever possible. Unfortunately, it also makes use of a TN panel, and it eschews any modern conveniences like a built-in webcam or USB hub — but, hey, at least it’s one monitor that won’t collect fingerprints left and right. No price or release just yet, but we’d expect those details to be fairly inexpensive and fairly soon.
Oct/090
Kanex Mini DisplayPort Adapter
Your Mac mini cranks out its video via DisplayPort and audio via a mini Toslink. Chances are your home entertainment system doesn’t like either of those. It will, however, like the Kanex Mini DisplayPort Adapter, which can turn a DisplayPort video signal into a 1080p signal over HDMI, and will even integrate either digital or analog audio into the mix. It’s USB powered, so there’s no need for a clunky power adapter, and while $70 isn’t particularly cheap for a chubby cable ($50 for the USB analog audio model), it’s about the cleanest way to get your Mini pumping tunes and vids through your system.
Sep/090
Toshiba’s Wireless universal docking station
Wireless docking stations have been around for years now, but the main issue has been bandwidth. Sure, it’s easy to send a wireless mouse signal through the air, but try shoving 720p video, four USB signals and a little bit of arrogance though those highly-spaced particles. Toshiba’s new dynadock wireless U USB docking station does a commendable job of doing the best it can with what it has, tapping into wireless USB technology in order to nix the need for your laptop to actually be seated into your docking station. The device can be setup to auto-connect when your machine is in range, and a one-touch undock button carefully shuts down all of your peripherals as you exit. There’s six USB 2.0 sockets (included two of the Sleep-and-Charge variety), integrated 7.1 audio and support for a VGA / DVI monitor with resolutions as high as 1,680 x 1,050. Nah, that’s not quite 1080p, but we’ll take it for now. The $299.99 asking price, however, is a bit harder to swallow.
Sep/090
700MB Movie Download in One Minute via Wireless USB
Up until now, wireless USB has not really managed to hit it mainstream, probably due to the fact that it’s still a rather young technology, which implies some pretty high costs (the price of wireless USB adapters is still quite high). However, things might change dramatically in the future, as Samsung has announced the development of a new System-On-Chip (SoC) designed specifically for the upcoming ultra-wideband (UWB) market.
The fresh Samsung W-USB SoC is a single chip solution featuring a built-in ARM core, a UWB physical layer, and a memory controller. It uses advanced CMOS process technology and 3.1-10.6 GHz-band UWB technology, and also provides an SD card, an MMC, a NAND flash memory, and a high-speed USB 2.0 OTG (On-The-Go) interface without additional logic circuitry.
One of the most important things worth mentioning about this highly innovative chip from Samsung is its level of versatility. Apparently, this chip will work on a very wide array of consumer electronic products, including here digital cameras and mobile phones, wireless printers, beam projectors, wireless hard disks, wireless displays, and wireless speakers. In other words, you’ll be able to stream photos from your mobile phone directly to a TV set, or listen to the music stored onto an MP3 player directly via your wireless speakers.
Besides versatility, the chip should also provide a fairly high speed, of around 120Mbps. According to Samsung, this translates into the possibility of downloading a 700MB movie in under one minute.
Other two important issues related to the W-USB SoC are that of security and power consumption. As far as security is concerned, Samsung’s chip features a 128-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption algorithm and a static signal that makes hacking through wiretapping and signal tracing difficult. The power consumption level has also been maintained at a minimum, since we’re talking about somewhere around 300mW (milliwatt).
Sep/091
Output VGA Video Via USB Ports
Here’s something you don’t see everyday. Remember that USB 2 HDMI PC adapter? I can’t remember the company. Anyway, it was supposed to mux audio video signals from your audio card and USB port and output them to HDMI signals.
looks like WITECH came up with another similar USB-video idea. Their Multi-I USB video card provides two standard VGA output connectors and one USB-B input. By hooking up the device at an PC’s USB port you can output video via the two VGA ports at a maximum resolution of 1400×1054. This uses the DisplayLink technology which can convert USB data to video output. You can also interconnect more Multi-I devices (also known as daisy-chaining) so that you can broadcast single input signal to tens of displays at the same time.
It is to bad that the company had to settle for a maximum of 1400×1050 resolution. Most 22” widescreen LCD’s come with a 1680×1050 resolution so this might be a problem. But the truth is this isn’t their fault. It’s a hardware limitation. Let me explain why. We have to start by knowing that the an Usb 2.0 connection provides a theoretical limit of 480Mbits/second. We have 1400×1050 pixels so that means a total of 1470000 pixels.
Each pixels requires 32bits of data (8 bits per color channel – RGB, and 8 bits for alpha). This adds up to 47040000 bits of data. We divide this big number to 1024 twice. The first value will represent the same amount of data in kilobits and the later the same amount in megabits. So we end up with approx. 45Mbits of data for a single frame. But remember that in order to have smooth video output you need at least 24 or 25 frames per second (30 being even better). So if you do the math you find out that at max. resolution, the USB 2.0 port would need to output data at over 1000Mbits/s (1076 actually).
How is that possible? It isn’t. This is obtained by using the proprietary DisplayLink technology which uses an image compression algorithm. The algorithm works by utilizing some amount of CPU processing power, so if you have a slow CPU you can forget about using that 1400×1050 resolution.
A compression algorithm has to achieve a balance in the compression ratio and resource usage. If they where to make the algorithm more aggressive CPU powered would have been compromised. An image can only be compressed up to a certain point without quality loss. So even with a more aggressive algorithm, there are minimal chances for improvement. We’ll juast have to wait for USB 3.0.
Aug/090
The Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Finally Gets Audio Through USB
Apogee Inc., a manufacturer of AV and computer related products, has announced the long awaited Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter that also sports USB digital audio to be added to the Kanex series of adapters for DVI, VGA and HDMI. Due to this new adapter, the newer MacBooks with mini DisplayPorts can be connected to a HD source a lot easier and have digital audio output through the same adapter.
Opinions about the first Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter without audio where mixed up. The ones that needed it for applications that didn’t require audio were satisfied with it, while the others were criticizing that exact lack. They were complaining about the multiple cables they had to use besides the adapter, like a 3.5mm to RCA to output audio from their MacBooks.
Another problem with the original Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter was with certain HDTV models that ignore all other audio outputs when a HDMI is plugged in, therefore lacking sound. An alternative solution that many used was routing a separate audio system with their HDTV. The new Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter was developed to meet new users’ requests and solve the problems that older ones confronted.
Users kept wondering why isn’t it possible to have audio as well coming through the adapter, since HDMI supports both audio and video signals. The new adapter sports digital audio that is output through the USB ports from the MacBooks. USB audio was built-in the adapter with HDMI output to allow the audio to pass through. Actually, two USB 2.0 ports are also located very conveniently, next to the Mini DisplayPort to allow easy access to plug both cables in.
Specifications are still similar to those of the old Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter, which is still in version 1.3b and supports resolutions of up to 1080p. It even looks similar to the current adapter, with the only noticeable difference for the new one will be the extra USB cable next to it. The new adapter also supports uncompressed audio such as LPCM. Release date for the Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter with USB audio was stated around Sep. 2009. No other product information, availability or pricing was currently announced.
Aug/090
Digi AnywhereUSB Combines USB and Ethernet
USB and Ethernet are probably the best known and most popular wired connectivity options nowadays, so it was to be expected that, at some point, some company would come up with a solution to combine these concepts. In fact, this is exactly what has happened, Digi announcing the AnywhereUSB TS and AnywhereUSB/2 devices, both being a part of its AnywhereUSB family of products.
Digi’s AnywhereUSB products eliminate the need for locally-attached host PCs and break the traditional five-meter USB cabling distance limitation. Customers can access and monitor their devices anywhere an Internet connection is available to simplify operations and reduce IT support.
The first product announced today, the AnywhereUSB TS, is touted by the company as being the industry’s first combined USB and serial over IP hub. It combines Digi’s Realport USB-over-IP and Realport Serial-over-IP technology in one product, allowing customers to easily network both USB and serial devices with one solution. The device features four USB ports, four serial ports and one Ethernet port.
The second product unveiled today, the AnywhereUSB/2, is a compact USB hub featuring Realport USB-over-IP technology. This allows the product to easily connect USB devices anywhere on a wired or wireless network, especially since it features two USB ports and one Ethernet port.
“We are growing the product line to address specific customer needs,” said Stephen Popovich, vice president of business development, Digi International. “In addition to allowing customers to connect both serial and USB devices with one hub, the AnywhereUSB TS provides customers greater flexibility to migrate from serial to USB devices. This is common in healthcare with equipment like blood analyzers or glucose meters and in retail environments.”
Sadly, we haven’t been able to spot any pricing-related details in the company’s statement, so if you’re interested in finding out more on this issue, it’s very likely that you’ll have to contact the manufacturer directly.
Aug/090
Verizon Wireless Intros AD3700 Global Mobile USB Modem
If you live in the UK but also need to travel everywhere around the world, you might want to have a Mobile Broadband USB modem that not only connects to local networks but features global connectivity as well. This is where the AD3700 comes in. The AD3700 Mobile Broadband USB modem is Verizon Wireless’ response to people who need to be connected no matter where they are in the world. Let us take a look at this interesting gadget, shall we?
Well, the AD3700 can connect to more than 175 destinations such as EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized), GSM (Global System for Mobile communications), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution), HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) and even UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System). Basically, wherever you may be, you will be connected no matter what network resides there.
All that users need is to activate the global feature on their Verizon Wireless account and they will be automatically forwarded to the fastest network available in order to receive the fastest Internet speed that is possible on that network. The device features the VZAccess Manager software that installs automatically and allows for easy management of connectivity, swivel hinge USB, is windows Vista/XP/2000 (who uses 2000 anymore?) compatible and weighs around 1.6 ounces.
With a two-year customer agreement on a Mobile Broadband plan, you’ll be paying 79.99 USD after a 50USD mail-in rebate. Pretty interesting stuff, don’t you think? Though I have to admit I would be more curious as to how much connecting from a different part of the world is going to cost. I mean, who wants to end up like someone I read about who paid a huge bundle of cash because he downloaded a movie in Mexico?
Aug/090
Output VGA Video Via USB Ports
Here’s something you don’t see everyday. Remember that USB 2 HDMI PC adapter? I can’t remember the company. Anyway, it was supposed to mux audio video signals from your audio card and USB port and output them to HDMI signals.
I looks like WITECH came up with another similar USB-video idea. Their Multi-I USB video card provides two standard VGA output connectors and one USB-B input. By hooking up the device at an PC’s USB port you can output video via the two VGA ports at a maximum resolution of 1400×1054. This uses the DisplayLink technology which can convert USB data to video output. You can also interconnect more Multi-I devices (also known as daisy-chaining) so that you can broadcast single input signal to tens of displays at the same time.
It is to bad that the company had to settle for a maximum of 1400×1050 resolution. Most 22” widescreen LCD’s come with a 1680×1050 resolution so this might be a problem. But the truth is this isn’t their fault. It’s a hardware limitation. Let me explain why. We have to start by knowing that the an Usb 2.0 connection provides a theoretical limit of 480Mbits/second. We have 1400×1050 pixels so that means a total of 1470000 pixels.
Each pixels requires 32bits of data (8 bits per color channel – RGB, and 8 bits for alpha). This adds up to 47040000 bits of data. We divide this big number to 1024 twice. The first value will represent the same amount of data in kilobits and the later the same amount in megabits. So we end up with approx. 45Mbits of data for a single frame. But remember that in order to have smooth video output you need at least 24 or 25 frames per second (30 being even better). So if you do the math you find out that at max. resolution, the USB 2.0 port would need to output data at over 1000Mbits/s (1076 actually).
How is that possible? It isn’t. This is obtained by using the proprietary DisplayLink technology which uses an image compression algorithm. The algorithm works by utilizing some amount of CPU processing power, so if you have a slow CPU you can forget about using that 1400×1050 resolution.
A compression algorithm has to achieve a balance in the compression ratio and resource usage. If they where to make the algorithm more aggressive CPU powered would have been compromised. An image can only be compressed up to a certain point without quality loss. So even with a more aggressive algorithm, there are minimal chances for improvement. We’ll juast have to wait for USB 3.0.
Jul/090
Mini HDMI ( HDMI Type D) cables on the way
Several companies have prototyped miniature High Definition Multimedia Interface cables, bringing the size near or below that of USB.
The smallest cable, developed by US-based Molex Inc., uses the same 19-pin connection as existing HDMI cables but in roughly half the size, Nikkei Electronics Asia reports. Japan’s Yakazi Corp. and an unnamed third firm have also created prototypes. Meanwhile, Japan Aviation Electronics Industry is working a larger HDMI connector for cars.
All these cables are based on the next HDMI standard, due for release this quarter with products hitting the market in the second half of the year. Smaller connectors retain the 19-pin design of their predecessors, ensuring backwards compatibility.
Molex’s cable uses a type D connector that’s about the same size as a Micro USB connector. The small size suggests that we could see more HDMI outputs coming from mobile devices, such as smartphones. As a reader in our forums noted, this opens the door for easy HD video feeds from phone to TV.
I hope this development leads to that sort of implementation. Being able to plug a phone into a TV to watch all of its stored content is just what downloadable HD video needs to really take off. Something tells me content producers wouldn’t like this, because it’s just another way to circumvent traditional television, but it’s worth a shot.