Guidance Needed: Building an HDMI-to-VGA Converter for My 720p Monitor - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: ibnekhalid
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 02, 2025, 06:58:44 pm
content: Hi everyone,I’m a computer engineering student working on a project to build my own HDMI-to-VGA adapter. My monitor’s HDMI port is damaged, but the VGA port works fine. While I know adapters are available online, I want to create my own solution to learn about hardware and signal conversion.I understand that HDMI uses digital signals and VGA uses analog signals, so I assume I’ll need a chip to handle the conversion. My monitor’s resolution is 720p, and I only need video conversion—no audio.Here’s what I have and what I know:I have one HDMI cable and one VGA cable, both of which I’m ready to cut in half to connect to a circuit. (should I consider buying HDMI and VGA female ports if that would be more reliable?)I know how to solder and have basic circuit design skills using Proteus.I have experience in C++ but haven’t worked with Arduino or hardware programming yet (though I do own an Arduino and am eager to explore it).Here’s what I need help with:What kind of chip or components should I use to convert HDMI signals to VGA?How can I ensure compatibility with a 720p VGA monitor?I’d appreciate any guidance, resources, or suggestions for similar projects. I’m doing this both as a learning experience and as a practical solution for my monitor.Thanks in advance for your help!

author: benj38
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 03, 2025, 12:08:32 am
content: This may serve as a starting point:https://www.analog.com/en/resources/analog-dialogue/articles/hdmi-made-easy.htmlQuote from: ibnekhalid on March 02, 2025, 06:58:44 pmYes, connectors would provide you with a much nicer result than soldering the cables directly to the PCB.

author: wasedadoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 03, 2025, 01:36:23 am
content: Quote from: ibnekhalid on March 02, 2025, 06:58:44 pmHDMI signals run at much faster rates than any Arduino hardware. You may need to consider possibly new to you concepts such as matching PCB trace lengths to equalise signal delays. Be prepared to learn a lot before you eventually succeed with this project.

author: JoeyG
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 03, 2025, 02:46:06 am
content: 1.Why build and not buyhttps://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005006713553963.html?2.HDMI has some securityhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-bandwidth_Digital_Content_Protection3.Teardown examplehttps://www.stc-cable.com/news/hdmi-to-vga-converter-disassembly/4.Analog devices is more of a "many" blocks solution and also mentions secuityhttps://www.analog.com/en/resources/analog-dialogue/articles/hdmi-made-easy.html

author: JoeyG
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 03, 2025, 02:51:54 am
content: Many adapters herehttps://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-hdmi-to-vga-converter.html

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 03, 2025, 03:18:23 am
content: How about fixing broken HDMI port instead? As of converter, it's a quite worthless project. Proper/full documentation of video converter chips is scarcely available from public sources (you won't get it going with non specialized parts unless you make something really monstrous). And if you find documentation, you'll be just cloning typical circuit in the end. Just a waste of money and time with hardly learning anything while doing the project.

author: jonovid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 03, 2025, 03:22:44 am
content: buy more then one HDMI to VGA converter off aliex& reverse engineer one of them as a project.I have played with many types of cheap aliex VGA AV RGB video & HDMI video converter boxs so I can rip video from video games.with limited success.

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 03, 2025, 03:37:56 am
content: I'll echo what the others have said: just buy one from Ali as they are extremely cheap. They are usually based on a single chip, with optionally an EEPROM to load HDCP keys from, and the PCB is a reference design.