usb to hdmi - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Flump
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 07:40:19 pm
content: a friend has a computer which is in a different room from the tvbut she wants to watch home movies and look at picturesfrom the computer, the tv has a hdmi port.so i wondered if a usb to hdmi adaptor would carry the picture and sound ?there seems to be a lot of difference in the prices like from £10 to £70 but mostof them look similar so i wonder why the big difference in price.i already told her she needed a long vga cable but after i bought it for her i realisedsound wont go to the tv so ill have to keep that cable for my own use some timeand i dont want to make another costly mistake.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 07:48:31 pm
content: Cable? Meh. MK808B or one of the many similar devices, a DLNA player on the stick, a DLNA media server on the computer (even Microsoft Windows Media Player), an access point (typical as part of the home router). Done.

author: Flump
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 07:57:26 pm
content: the lady in question is 50+ and lives alone so it needs to be a nice simple solutioni dont know anything about your sugestions but they sound a bit to complicated for her

author: davorin
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 08:04:54 pm
content: The lady is 50+ but stores the movies on her computer? (o;You could maybe tell a little what kind of TV she has...like if it has the capability for a WLAN adapter to be attached...Even if you could for for a USB/HDMI adapter, which I've never seen before...she would have to switch the display output to the adapter...Another drawback is, how to control the movie selection/playback..dunno if those USB/HDMI adapters support CEC...Somehow the lady must get the movies from somewhere and store it locally...so why not store on a USB stick and plug it either onto the TV, if it has the capability, or use a small and cheap media player which accepts a USB dongle...

author: Rasz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 08:21:02 pm
content: just buy a long hdmi cable, problem solved

author: davorin
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 08:23:57 pm
content: There are even wireless HDMI adapters available...but then again...he never mentioned the PC has a HDMI output...Burn the movies to a rewritable DVD (o;

author: Sebastian
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 08:48:09 pm
content: If the TV supports DLNA, set up a DLNA Server on the PC. I can recommend Serviio.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 08:48:59 pm
content: Quote from: Sebastian on July 29, 2014, 08:48:09 pmWas already rejected. Too complicated ...

author: Flump
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 08:53:03 pm
content: the computer she has is old so just usb ports on it, the tv has a hdmi porti didnt think she would have to switch the output on the computeri thought it would automatically stream like the vga outputshe has home movies her kids take and lots of pictures on the pc

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 08:54:51 pm
content: does it have DVI?

author: Flump
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 08:58:58 pm
content: Quote from: Bored@Work on July 29, 2014, 08:48:59 pmi am not going to reccomend anything to her unless im confident we can sort any instalation issuesor future running ises out over the phone and i never heard of dnla so im looking for a simplerideally plug and play solution like plug a cable from here in to the tv , select source and it works

author: Flump
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 09:03:10 pm
content: wrapper - i dont know, im trying to find outwill post the make and model soon as i can findout

author: davorin
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 09:06:14 pm
content: Maybe the TV brand/model would help...also the PC model, OS and the like....And there's still the question how you would control the playback remotely...there mus be a sort of media software running on the PC which accepts remote commands...So it is not only the way from the PC to the TV, but also the way back...

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 09:13:29 pm
content: Quote from: Flump on July 29, 2014, 09:03:10 pmIf there is, then you can use passive DVI->HDMI adapter. And if you are lucky with GPU, then it even will output sound over HDMI.

author: davorin
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 09:20:50 pm
content: How does she get the movies onto the PC?Dunno about other countries....but so far I only know Switzerland, the country I live in, where it is legally allowed to download movies, music, you name it (o;Okay..I can only suck it at 250MB/sec...*sniff

author: Rigby
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 09:24:23 pm
content: http://www.amazon.com/Twisted-Veins-Adapter-Supports-Ethernet/dp/B00FX867JC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1406669012&sr=8-3&keywords=50%27+hdmi+cable&dpPl=1I don't have this cable, but I have a similar one, and it works great.

author: TheBorg
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2014, 10:36:30 pm
content: Such as this? Expensive though.http://www.amazon.com/SIIG-Wireless-HDMI-Audio-JU-HM0211-S1/dp/B004VB9F50This is cheaper, but looks to be just VGAhttp://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Multimedia-WPCTVPRO-VStream-Wireless/dp/B00AKYVMG2/ref=pd_cp_pc_2

author: gxti
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 12:48:09 am
content: You won't be able to play HD video over a USB video adapter unless it's USB 3. And a laptop that doesn't have HDMI or DisplayPort out definitely does not have USB 3.EDIT: unless those devices crush the crap out of the video stream. Maybe she's old enough that she won't notice.

author: SirNick
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 01:27:43 am
content: Conversion from USB to HDMI isn't directly possible. There are (poorly-named) USB-to-whatever adapters, but they're actually just video cards with a USB interface instead of PCI. Problem is, USB doesn't have the bandwidth for raw video. If you've ever been.. eh.. luck enough to use a laptop with an external monitor connected with a USB interface, you'll quickly realize how painfully slow those things are. Full-screen video at 30fps? Not happening.Good HDMI cables can go quite a distance, but when you cross the threshold of reliability, they turn sour pretty quickly. When you're at the threshold, problems can be intermittent and thus absolutely no fun to troubleshoot. Success with HDMI-over-UTP extenders varies widely. VGA over UTP will work but may ghost a little.The media player market is in shambles right now. AppleTV works really well if you're totally invested in the iTunes ecosphere. Many other players (Roku, Chromecast, FireTV) have Plex clients available, but then you get into support issues like getting media onto the server device, and training grandma how to use the client. But, you'll have some of those problems anyway just having media on a PC. If you want to avoid that, pick a box, sign her up for Netflix, Amazon Prime, and/or Hulu Plus, and hope she has a good Internet package.Basically: This stuff is all a lot harder than it should be. You can thank the MPAA and various content producers / distributors for that. The technology is there. But, the content guys are trying to strong-arm the consumer into doing things their own way, while consumers respond by pirating everything on the Internet. Anyone interested in taking advantage of local online storage of legally-acquired media is pretty much trapped in the cross-fire. Vendors that try to manufacturer hardware to make it possible either get sued, lose (or never gain) the ability to license all the necessary (....well... "prolific" anyway) codecs, find themselves unable to strike deals with distributors, or otherwise die on the vine. Progress is grand.

author: lowimpedance
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 04:07:25 am
content: Well given that its home movies and photo's , the 'burn to DVD' idea actually starts to look like the 'simple' solution that's going to be easily understood by the elderly lady !.Or she buy's a TV with USB and just uploads the holiday movie/photos to a memory stick and plays them from there on the TV.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 04:40:59 am
content: 50 is not elderly, at least I keep telling myself thatAnyways, most modern TVs that have HDMI usually have a VGA input, since you already got the long VGA cable, just get an audio cable as long (TVs that have VGA usually have audio in). Connect it with a VGA KVM switch with audio and you are done.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 05:25:16 am
content: Quote from: Flump on July 29, 2014, 08:58:58 pmSee, that is the point. Instead of investigating suggestions you dismissed suggestions right away because you don't know them. Apparently the only kind of solution you know is cable, so the only answer you won't dismiss immediately is cable. But why then do you come here, wasting our time, if you don't want to hear any other answer but the answer you already know, cable?I could have given you more suggestions, requiring investigation, like Miracast. But what is the point, if you can't get up and invest them?

author: Galenbo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 07:56:44 am
content: Quote from: Bored@Work on July 30, 2014, 05:25:16 amIt's even worse. Doesn't know that VGA doesn't carry sound, unable to buy a sound cable, looking for a USB solution because all the other computer ports are on "the back side" And afther that, I'm sure "the old +50 lady" will want a remote control, none of both already thought about that.Solution in this case: Buy a sofa to put behind the PC, or buy a PC to put before the sofa.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 08:21:17 am
content: They do make RF remotes for PCs, just saying

author: cimmo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 08:21:42 am
content: Copy the movies and any other content (pics/music) on an external hard disk, buy a media player box, plug HDD>MediaPlayer>HDMI port, grab media player's remote control and that's it.Fine print, make sure media player box is clever enough to recognize NTFS or you'll need to reformat the HDD to FAT32 - doable, but not recommended. I say this because there are still supposedly 'smart' tvs being sold that only recognize FAT32 formatted external media. No doubt some vendors are also flogging media player boxes similarly crippled.2nd fine print - some media player boxes do not properly recognize HDDs greater than 2TB. So just get a 2Tb drive or smaller.

author: Scrts
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 08:41:24 am
content: Maybe Chromecast won't be too complicated?

author: Towger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 09:14:47 am
content: Quote from: Scrts on July 30, 2014, 08:41:24 amExactly my thoughts... all this messing with USB to HDMI dongles and long HDMI cables. Google's Chromecast will do the job in most cases.

author: Sebastian
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 01:25:18 pm
content: DLNA isn't complicated at all. If you want to use Serviio, just install it on the PC, set the folder where the movies are and you are basically ready to stream.Watching a movie from the DLNA Server on the TV, or some box if the TV doesn't support it, is about as complicated as switching channels.

author: allikat
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 01:50:14 pm
content: Personally, I'd not be depending on a PC to put the signals on the screen if it doesn't have a native HDMI output of some sort.Really, the choices come down to: Some hack of the PC with either an internal or external video adapter a real long cable and some form of remote control, or (and this is the preferred solution) a networked media player that will pull the data from the PC over a network link to display on the TV itself.Something along the lines ofhttp://www.scan.co.uk/products/patriot-pbo-alpine-hdmi-1080p-all-in-one-media-player-using-android-22would probably be the ideal solution. Hook it up to the network and the TV and 5 minutes of setup and you're done. I am not recommending that product in specific, but something like it is probably the best option for connecting to a machine of unknown (and probably low) spec.

author: Flump
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 07:03:22 pm
content: Quote from: Bored@Work on July 30, 2014, 05:25:16 amHello, please read thread title's and first postsI specifically asked for information about USB to HDMIif I had wanted advice about streaming from the PC to TV I would haveused a different topic such as " how do i stream from pc to tv"I will look in to other ways of doing if i find out I cant do it this way.Quote from: gxti on July 30, 2014, 12:48:09 amThank you gxti this is exactly the kind of info i wantedQuote from: miguelvp on July 30, 2014, 04:40:59 amThanks miguelvp this is looking to be the easiest solution so far, no configuring anything just plug cables in and push a buttonto switch screens, thank youQuote from: miguelvp on July 30, 2014, 08:21:17 amThey also make wireless keyboards and miceI appreciate all the other replies too, even the ones with no relevance to USB to HDMII know you are just trying to help but I want to make this as easy and reliable for her as i can soplugging a couple of cables in and pressing a button on a box on her computer desk is way betterthan trying to set up streams and servers etc, she lives alone and I cant go to her when things go wrong.

author: SirNick
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 07:06:54 pm
content: Quote from: Scrts on July 30, 2014, 08:41:24 amThat would be the device that has no direct method of control at all?I have one, and use it regularly, but the lack of a remote can be pretty frustrating even as a Gen-X-er. First time I used it, the app on my phone crashed when the phone went to sleep mode, and left me with no way to pause the video until I terminated the task, relaunched the app, and waited about two minutes while it realized there was an existing connection and returned to the control screen.It has gotten better as apps and player are updated, but I'm still loathe to pause a video to grab a drink or whatever. I usually just run so I don't miss too much.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 07:37:22 pm
content: Quote from: Flump on July 30, 2014, 07:03:22 pmWhen I made my first PC media center (before HD was available) I did look for wireless mice and keyboards, and it was hard to find ones that will work from far away, after 10 feet or less they'll be unresponsive. The only ones I found and still have an early model are from:http://www.gyration.com/A bit pricey and they are usually intended for presentation rooms.Another thing I have that works long range (and it's old tech as well) is an ATI remote wonderI had it working on XP, not sure about Win7 64bit haven't tried it yet. But the Raspberry Pi running XMBC recognized it right away.I'm sure now there are more choices.

author: SirNick
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2014, 10:03:18 pm
content: Definitely. Aside from a ton of Bluetooth and proprietary RF keyboards (with and without integrated touchpad, joypad, etc..), if you configure something like lirc, you can use just about anything that produces IR.

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2014, 12:15:28 am
content: Quote from: Flump on July 30, 2014, 07:03:22 pmMy solution is not inexpensive, but it actually works: put a Mac mini under/next to the TV. It has HDMI out, which plugs into the HDMI port on the TV and carries audio. If she can operate a web browser, she's all set. Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. She'll get Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, plus whatever the individual channels (Comedy Central, etc) offer. Set up some bookmarks in Safari. Obviously iTunes is there too. The latest Mac minis don't have optical drives, so if you need to play DVDs, spring for the $70 drive.Bonus: you can ssh/vnc into her computer if you really have to fix something remotely.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2014, 12:24:27 am
content: Chromecast. It's wireless and $35

author: allikat
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2014, 02:41:45 am
content: If the PC has USB2 you can probably get a functional VGA or DVI output from it, but as others have said, you need USB3 for an external HDMI adapter, which would usually mean a PC with a native HDMI output anyway.It would be possible to use an adapter on a USB>DVi to output HDMI, but you'd need one that could take sound from the soundcard (or one of the Nvidia cards that will let you plug an internal digital connection for sound). Really, you may well be better off to see about replacing the video card for something that can produce the HDMI signal itself. Struggling with an older machine to make it do things that are outside its' capabilities will only end in stress.If you don't want a separate streaming box, then a new GPU like this onehttp://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-xfx-radeon-r5-230-passive-1066mhz-gddr3-gpu-625mhz-80-streams-d-sub-dvi-hdmiwould solve the problem on any machine with PCI-express (any version of the slot, they're all compatible with each other pretty much).

author: mbwiz
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 07, 2014, 01:58:42 am
content: Buy external hard disk and small playerhttp://www.amazon.com/1080P-HDMI-Multi-Media-Player/dp/B006LEYQK4Copy movies on hard diskConnect to small player watch on TVEasy for old people

author: sammyhwang
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2014, 02:41:34 pm
content: USB to hdmi?You're talking about an external video card. Your computer can't output video to a usb, so the "usb to hdmi" cable is basically a video card. Powered by 5 volts and running on USB protocol, I wouldn't expect any good movie performance on even a external small display, let alone a TV. If you computer has any kind of video port (VGA, DVI, anything) then it would be easy to convert the signal.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2014, 03:28:25 pm
content: 1080p USB->WiDi->HDMI 50 feet range, under $100http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7624371&CatId=467But the reviews are pretty bad, then again the users might not be technical enough to figure it out.