May/100
Enjoy Full HD Through the Gefen USB to DVI HD Adapter
This adapter right here is built especially for those people who often use their laptops for way too many purposes, including entertainment. Whenever you want to watch a movie through the HDTV, from your HD-supporting laptop/netbook, difficulties may appear because your portable system did not come with a HDMI out. And here is where this USB to DVI HD adapter from Gefen steps in. Because it uses an USB port, it will be able to connect to all netbooks, a desktop computer, or any other gadgets that are able of supporting high-definition resolution.
The Gefen USB to DVI HD adapter allows for high definition video to be passed on to the large TV in the entertainment room easily, without any fuss or quality loss. You no longer have to sacrifice video quality because all you had was a VGA out at your disposal.
The Full HD 1080p resolution is supported by this very practical adapter, which means that you can forget about the frustrating times when you considered your notebook a piece of junk and wished you could exchange it soon. With the right adapter you can make any device do your bidding, no matter how old or affordable it was in the first place. From a PC for example, this new Gefen gimmick will support the 1,920 x 1,200 resolution without any difficulties.
Gefen’s USB to DVI HD adapter doesn’t even need a separate power supply, as the USB port is sufficient for it to draw the power needed in order to offer you a very good your home entertainment experience.
May/100
Commercial HDMI Cable Installs Issue
HDMI is quickly making headway into commercial A/V with the proliferation of HDMI interfaces on displays and source devices including laptops, Blu-ray disc players, and digital satellite and DVRs.
End users of commercial A/V systems, well aware of HDMI in home A/V, are asking integrators to implement HDMI in commerical A/V installations. As a result, the industry is quickly transitioning toward digital video and adopting HDMI as well as DVI, DisplayPort, and SDI.
Integrators working with HDMI in commercial A/V face essentially the same challenges as residential custom installers – maintaining signal integrity, ensuring compatibility between devices, and working with HDCP.
However, there are special considerations for addressing these challenges in professional A/V integration, due to the much larger scope and complexity of commercial systems compared to a home system. Here, we tackle three major issues.
Signal Integrity
In a commercial A/V environment, audio and video signals typically have to travel much longer distances than in a residence. Cables usually have to be installed in tight, limited spaces, and integrators want to be able to terminate them easily. Transmission requirements can range from as little as 25 to 50 feet, to several hundred feet, and even up to several miles when sending A/V signals between corporate or university campuses. Standard HDMI cables may be sufficient in applications with relatively short distance requirements, but will not be adequate for longer distances, for which other mediums including twisted pair and fiber optic cable should be considered.
To help ensure signal integrity in short-range applications, select high quality 2 metres HDMI cables rated by the manufacturer for the distance required. When using long HDMI cables to cover distances significantly beyond 50 feet, a cable equalizer may be necessary, especially at high resolutions including 1920×1080.
A cable equalizer attaches to the end of a long cable run and restores HDMI signals by compensating for cable losses. To provide for advanced HDMI features and capabilities such as deep color and 3D, high-speed 2 metres Mackuna HDMI cable should be selected if there is a potential for future system expansion or upgrades.
For distance requirements exceeding around 100 feet, an alternative to standard HDMI cables is a transmitter and receiver set that sends signals over twisted pair cable. Twisted pair is a proven medium for extending digital video signals, and integrators often prefer twisted pair cable since it is inexpensive, easy to pull through conduit, and can easily be field-terminated to custom lengths. When very long transmission distances are necessary, fiber optic cable and fiber optic A/V devices are the solution. A/V signals can travel for miles over fiber with negligible loss.
Device Compatibility
HDMI and other digital video formats utilize EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) communication, originally developed for use with analog VGA ports. EDID communication is a two-way data exchange that allows a display to convey its operational characteristics, such as its native resolution and refresh rate, to the source device, which then generates the necessary video characteristics to match the needs of the display.
This automates and optimizes compatibility between the source and display, without requiring the user to configure them manually. In pro A/V applications where computers are the most common source devices, EDID communication can save significant time and effort in system setup.
EDID was intended for a single connection between one source and one display. The situation becomes considerably more complicated when a signal needs to be split or routed. Distributing a signal to multiple displays may not be a problem if they are identical, but what if they are different, at various native resolutions? An integrator may select one display to establish EDID communication with the source, and then roll the dice on the others.
With either approach, the switching or distribution device always maintains EDID communication with all connected sources, even with a signal switch or split. An HDMI matrix switcher may include more sophisticated EDID management, due to the fact that separate EDID communication is required for each input / output tie.
Content Protection
The first is that all devices in the system, from source to display, must be HDCP-compliant. That may seem obvious to a residential integrator, but commercial A/V integrators may not be fully aware that just a single, non-HDCP compliant device, such as a simple HDMI switcher, can disable Blu-ray disc playback for the entire system.
Second, commercial system designers need to be aware that HDCP rules allow for a maximum of 127 devices downstream from the source, with up to seven levels of repeaters allowed. A residential installation is not likely to approach these limits, but system designers may be concerned if they’re working on a large commercial project that calls for HDCP compliance throughout. Certain source devices including Blu-ray disc players have been known to allow for much less than 127 downstream products, often even less than 16.
Some residential and commercial A/V integrators have decided to work around the issues related to HDCP by deploying analog-based video signal routing. This is a temporary solution, since the ability to deliver to analog high definition video output may be impacted in the future by the AACS-mandated “analog sunset,” and possibly other content protection provisions that could limit or disable analog output on HDMI-equipped devices.
Apr/100
Apple iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter
Look, there’s no arguing that Apple charges a boatload for its first-party adapters, and this isn’t the first time that one of those overpriced dongles has caused an uproar (Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter, anyone?). But when the company trots out an iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter and promises to enable users to “see their videos and slideshows on the big screen,” it should probably make a few clarifications. Instead, more than a handful of consumers are revolting over on Apple’s own webstore, noting that any video laced in any type of DRM (iTunes flicks and Netflix streams included) won’t output at all. Contrary to popular belief, this adapter doesn’t actually mirror the iPad’s display, which is fairly absurd in our eyes — teachers are even stating that Apple’s own Pages and Keynote apps won’t output via the dongle, making this effectively worthless for blowing up presentations for all to see. We (sort of) get the DRM thing, but not including support in your own presentation app? Unacceptable. A tipster has noted that Apple informed him that “it’s up to the app makers to enable the video out function,” so we suppose all that’s needed to solve a lot of controversy is for some switch to be flipped in some direction. Any other hang-ups with this thing that the world should know about?
Oct/090
PSP to HDMI – Converter Box
Props to Lenkeng for dressing up their otherwise anonymous VGA-to-HDMI converter box with a PSP-related angle — the LKV8000 comes with the necessary cables to take your PSP-2000 or above’s 480p video output and push out a 720p HDMI signal complete with stereo audio. Not a bad idea — except that we can’t think of an HDTV that lacks either component or VGA jacks and that doesn’t have a built-in scaler to do the same job. Maybe you’re just out of ports? In any event, this guy needs a Stateside distributor before we can tell you pricing or availability, so you’re stuck swapping cables for a while, Sparky.
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
Dell 24-inch U2410 IPS monitor
Already seen in Japan, the 24-inch UltraSharp U2410 professional monitor is up for retail on Dell’s US store. The IPS-panel features a 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution, 6-ms response, 178-degree viewing angles, 1000:1 typical contrast, and 12-bit internal processing (1.07 billion colors), and 96% AdobeRGB and 100% of sRGB color space coverage. Connectivity options are vast with jacks for DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI, component, composite, and VGA. That’s a lot of rig for $599. Hit the link below if you just have to have it since you won’t find it promoted on the Dell US monitor pages just yet.
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
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.
Aug/090
New 120Hz / 3D-Enabled DLP Projectors from ViewSonic
ViewSonic today announced the availability of the all new PJD6211, PJD6221 and PJD6381 flexible, eco-friendly projectors with enhanced 3D display and short throw capabilities. These projectors are ideal for classroom, corporate and gaming audiences as they come equipped with advanced network management capabilities, multiple inputs and 120Hz refresh compatibility for a truly immersive 3D experience.
All of ViewSonic’s DLP projectors are Energy Star certified and feature ECO Mode configuration options. This can save up to 40% in energy consumption and extend the lamp life of the product up to 6,000 hours, decreasing the total cost of ownership.
Features at a Glance
PJD6381– 3D ultra short-throw DLP projector
- Ultra short throw ratio of 0.68 (one of the shortest throw ratios of DLP available in the market)
- 1024 x 768 XGA resolution
- 2,500 ANSI lumens
- 3,500:1 contrast ratio (detailed, brilliant images)
- 3D capability (compatible with leading Texas Instruments (DLP Link) and NVIDIA (3D-Vision) )
- 120Hz refresh rate (eliminate shadowing and distortion of screen images)
- Includes RJ45 network management software allowing users to manage all of their networked projectors
PJD6211 & PJD6221 – 120Hz / 3D Ready DLP projectors
- 1024 x 768 XGA resolution
- Up to 2,700 lumens
- Up to 2,800:1 contrast ratio (bright, crisp images)
- Includes RJ45 network management
- Two VGA input composite and S-Video inputs (for increased connectivity with multiple devices)
- VGA output port (for connecting an external display or secondary projector for multiple screen viewing)
- 3D capability (compatible with leading Texas Instruments (DLP Link) and NVIDIA (3D-Vision) )
- 120Hz refresh rate (eliminate shadowing and distortion of screen images)
Jul/090
What’s the Matter with HDMI?
How the designers of the HDMI standard screwed up, and what’s to be done about it.
HDMI, as we’ve pointed out elsewhere, is a format which was designed primarily to serve the interests of the content-provider industries, not to serve the interests of the consumer. The result is a mess, and in particular, the signal is quite hard to route and switch, cable assemblies are unnecessarily complicated, and distance runs are chancy. Why is this, and what did the designers of the standard do wrong? And what can we do about it?
The story begins with another badly-developed standard, DVI. A few years ago, there was a movement within the computer industry to develop a new digital video display standard to replace the traditional analog VGA/RGBHV arrangement still found on most computer video cards and monitors. Interested parties grouped together to form the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG), which developed the DVI standard.
DVI had all the earmarks of a standard designed by committee, and it remains one of the most confusing video interfaces ever. DVI could run analog signals, digital signals, or both, and it could run digital signals either in a single-link configuration (in a cable using four twisted pairs for the signal), or in a dual-link configuration (using seven). Identifying which DVI standard or standards any particular device supported was not always easy, and the DVI connector came in various flavors and was never really manufactured in any form that wasn’t well-nigh impossible to terminate.
But the worst thing about DVI was something that the computer-display professionals involved in its development really didn’t give much thought to: distance runs. Most computer displays are mounted at most a few feet away from the CPU, so it didn’t seem imperative that DVI work well over distance. This lack of concern for function at a distance, coupled with common use of twisted-pair cable (e.g., CAT 5) in computer interconnection, led to a decision that DVI would be run in twisted-pair cable.
Had the DVI standard been designed by broadcast engineers rather than computer engineers, things probably would have turned out very differently. In the broadcast world, everything from lowly composite video to High-Definition Serial Digital Video is run in coaxial cables, and for good reasons, which we’ll get to in a bit. Long-distance runs of VGA, in fact, are always handled in coaxial cable (though there may be a number of miniature coaxes in a small bundle, rather than something which obviously appears to be coax).
DVI lacked a couple of things which the consumer audio/video industry wanted. It was implemented on a variety of HD displays and source devices, but it was confusing for the consumer because of the many variants on the standard and different connector configurations, and it didn’t carry audio signals. A consortium to develop and promote a new interface, HDMI, was formed; the idea was to come up with a standard which could be implemented more uniformly, was less confusing, and offered the option of routing audio signals along with video.
Here, again, was an opportunity to avoid problems. The difficulties of running DVI-D signals over long distances were well known, and the mistakes of the past could have been avoided by developing HDMI as a wholly new standard, independent of DVI. Instead, the HDMI group elected to modify the DVI standard, using the same encoding scheme and the same basic interface design, but adding embedded audio and designing a new plug. Instead of many DVI options, analog, digital, single and dual link, there was one “flavor” of HDMI (actually, there is also a dual-link version in the HDMI spec–but you won’t find it implemented on any currently available device). This provided the advantage of making HDMI backward-compatible with some existing DVI hardware, but it locked the interface into the electrical requirements of the DVI interface. Specifically, that means that the signals have to be run balanced, on 100 ohm impedance twisted pairs.
We’re often asked why that’s so bad. After all, CAT 5 cable can run high-speed data from point to point very reliably–why can’t one count on twisted-pair cable to do a good job with digital video signals as well? And what makes coax so great for that type of application?
First, it’s important to understand that a lot of other protocols which run over twisted-pair wire are two-way communications with error correction. A packet that doesn’t arrive on a computer network connection can be re-sent; an HDMI or DVI signal is a real-time, one-way stream of pixels that doesn’t stop, doesn’t error-check, and doesn’t repair its mistakes–it just runs and runs, regardless of what’s happening at the other end of the signal chain.
Second, HDMI runs fast–at 1080p, the rate is around 150 Megapixels/second. CAT5, by contrast, is rated at 100 megabits per second–and that’s bits, not pixels.
Third, HDMI runs parallel, not serially. There are three color signals riding on three pairs, with a clock circuit running on the fourth. These signals can’t fall out of time with one another, or with the clock, without trouble–and the faster the bitrate, the shorter the bits are, and consequently the tighter the time window becomes for each bit to be registered.
Consider, by contrast, what the broadcast world did when it needed to route digital video from