controlling HDMI

threecentsflat · Jul 1, 2010

As stated in the (www .blogtalkradio .com/motodev) Q&A session yesterday with Motorola about the Droid X, in answer to the question asked at the 29:00 mark,

"The only time that we are enabling the HDMI driver on the device is when you are in the gallery mode. [...] The HDMI driver is not active any time outside the gallery," where the "gallery mode" is their included photo/video viewer.

I'm wondering how true that is...

(www .pcmag .com/article2/0,2817,2365630,00.asp ) PCMag's review stated that the youtube player and blockbuster player were not able to use the hdmi out at all.

As seen in (xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=703111 ) this thread the evo 4g, which also has hdmi out, is capable of allowing any app that uses VideoView to utilize that output, but that's supported by the phone maker.

Will that usability be true on the droid x?

Could we figure out a way to bypass any limitations Motorola includes, and maybe even send (an upscaled version of) the main screen through the hdmi (not just video but anything we could put on the phone's screen)?

aaronz · Jul 2, 2010

I was just at a motorola event and we were able to run nfl mobile through the hdmi.

Yes the tv was in an ice sculpture and yes it was connected to a droid x via the hdmi cable

Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

threecentsflat · Jul 2, 2010

That's great news, thanks for letting us know!

The more apps with handshakes to the hdmi-out we have, the better for us to get it working completely openly

The whole media-center-and-phone-in-my-pocket is just a great idea imho...

With the hdmi out we could:

put any videos and pictures from any source up on your home tv
connect it to the projector at work and give presentations
go with a few bluetooth controllers to your friend's house and play multiplayer (even online) games on their tv with minimal cords to deal with
maybe even video-chat would be possible if you set up the phone with the camera facing out in front of the tv

... ok, that last one sounds like a pretty lame way to get video-chat, but it would save on having to have a computer/monitor/webcam when you wanted to

Of course this is all far into the future stages of development on the phone, but I'd rather create buzz and excitement to build up a developer and user base

aaronz · Jul 3, 2010

Talked to a moto rep, said it might have been a beta device as licensing is what will prevent this thing from being turned on when it hits consumers hands. At least we know it can be done.

Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

mavermc · Jul 3, 2010

no fun, i'm not much of a C programmer, but if it's just enabling or disabling the driver, I guess it comes down to the security on the phone. If you go into root, I suppose we should be able to start the driver. The only thing I fear is if the driver is signed and only a signed application can access it, then I think we might be SOL

threecentsflat · Jul 4, 2010

I'm not particularly worried... if we get access to enough apps that use the hdmi driver, we should be able to document enough of the method.

I believe while the hardware can reject unsigned versions of the OS (roms), most apps are self-signed (see developer. android. com/guide/publishing/app-signing.html) so that shouldn't be a problem. We just have to figure out which hoops to jump through (following the programs that use hdmi) to get it to work. They'd have to leave the hoops pretty wide open or else risk the need of updating the thing every time a new app is released that needs to get through.

itmustbejj · Jul 7, 2010

This is a mixed bag here. The reason why Motorola limited the hdmi driver is likely so they didn't have to put a fps cap on the droid x like htc put on the evo.

This is pure speculation here but I would imagine the way that the evo devs are going to "truly" overcome the fps cap is to mimic the droid x behavior of toggling on and off the hdmi drivers so that the evo can access up to 60 fps.

You guys are on the other end of the boat where by default your fps won't be artificially capped, but you likely won't have full access to the hdmi drivers at first.

I think the sweet spot for both phones is finding a happy medium where we can toggle the hdmi drivers at will.

den0ts · Jul 29, 2010

Any news on this? I would really like to get rockplayer and youtube working through hdmi. In fact, I would like to get the entire OS through HDMI and possibly a bluetooth keyboard and mouse working so I can use it as a little media center pc.

bughatti · Jul 29, 2010

2 way control

I would lime to see this pushed to.the level of controlling the phone through an hdmi touchscreen.

suzook · Jul 29, 2010

I thought we would be able to see pandora and other apps through the hdmi...This sucks the way it is...also does anyone think the sound is terrible through the hdmi?

sp1kez · Jul 30, 2010

There is no point int he HDMi at all if you can only use it for your pictures and your videos from the phone's camera.

They need to make it show what you see on the phone, but on the screen

I remember there was a windows mobiel program that popped up a small window on your desktop that let you see your phone's screen and interact with it on your monitor when connected through usb

anything like this for android?

suzook · Jul 30, 2010

sp1kez said:
There is no point int he HDMi at all if you can only use it for your pictures and your videos from the phone's camera.

They need to make it show what you see on the phone, but on the screen

I remember there was a windows mobiel program that popped up a small window on your desktop that let you see your phone's screen and interact with it on your monitor when connected through usb

anything like this for android?

NO, the hdmi dock is a half ass design. For the $, it should do everything. MOTO/VZ dropped the ball on this. Hopefully they will open this up with a sw update.

den0ts · Aug 31, 2010

Update: "Real HDMI" in the market

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=769990&highlight=control+hdmi

commie64 · Sep 20, 2010

Hi,

I'm pretty new to Android development. So my understanding after reading a couple threads here is that HDMI access on the stock Droid X is limited to the gallery only, is that right? And the point of the "Real HDMI" app is that it will automatically redirect all output to the phone's display through HDMI, right? So no API exists which gives programmatic control over the HDMI port? That's a shame if so.

Do any of the Android devices allow easier HDMI port control or do we need these kinds of work arounds for all of them?

Thank you very much for any information anyone can provide.

commie64 · Sep 24, 2010

Sorry to be a pest, but can anybody answer my questions? Should I consider posting somehwere else?

Thanks again.

InfamousDX · Sep 24, 2010

commie64 said:
Sorry to be a pest, but can anybody answer my questions? Should I consider posting somehwere else?

Thanks again.

Maybe try posting in the Real HDMI thread over at DroidXForums.com because username GMAN (who made real hdmi) has a thread there. I'm sure his knowledge of the subject is pretty extensive.

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