We at ZERO GmbH have completed our first prototype to display our own content in vehicle on-board systems. The touch function of the display can also be used to write ZERO in the most beautiful font ✍️ 😅
So...why all this? With the help of our AMPS platform, our customer can easily show new designs or functions in a vehicle and bring them to life - without having to access the series components directly.
And "easily" really means "easily":
Connect computer viaHDMI => switch on via button or CAN => be happy 🥳
The good folk at WAVLINK have sent me their Dual-Screen USB-C adapter to review. Plug it in to a USB-C socket and you now have two extra monitor ports. It'll even work on a USB-A socket, if it is USB 3.0. But is it any good? No. Not really. Hardware It's a fairly chunky…
The good folk at WAVLINK have sent me their Dual-Screen USB-C adapter to review. Plug it in to a USB-C socket and you now have two extra monitor ports. It'll even work on a USB-A socket, if it is USB 3.0.
The USB cable has a dongle which converts it from C to A. That's handy if you don't have enough C ports. But the cable being so short means it is sort of awkward to place. If you're on a narrow desk, the weighty adapter will just be left swinging.
On the back are four ports - two DisplayPorts and two HDMI.
But you can only use two at a time. I stuck a DP in the left and an HDMI in the right and (eventually) it worked! I was able to get 4k @ 60Hz and 1080p @ 60Hz on my screens.
It also passed through audio, although I couldn't find a way to select which monitor received the output.
There's also the requisite blue LED to let you know it is working.
Sadly, it is a bit of a faff to get set up because it is a DisplayLink adapter, rather than a USB-C hub. The manual spends 11 pages talking about driver installation!
Plugging it in to Linux shows 17e9:6000 DisplayLink USB3.0 5K Graphic Adapter - so it was detected without issue. That said, there were some warnings in dmesg:
Warning! Unlikely big volume range (=672), cval->res is probably wrong.[7] FU [USB Audio Playback Volume] ch = 6, val = -10752/0/16
But plugging it in doesn't give you extra screens. Instead, you need to visit DisplayLink.com to download the drivers. They are only available for Ubuntu Linux. There are also drivers for Windows, ChromeOS, Mac, and Android.
Despite my best efforts, I couldn't get them to work. It looks pretty buggy. Instead, I downloaded a random GitHub repo which installed the right drivers and got it working.
Once that was done, my laptop happily detected both external screens - one HDMI, one DisplayPort. It was able to change resolution, rotation, and refresh rate using Wayland. It even worked through the USB-A socket as well as the C.
It's hard to know who this adapter is for. On the one hand, it does its job brilliantly. It turns your USB3 / USB-C port into a dual output device for two 4k monitors. On the other hand, that's all it does.
Installing the DisplayLink software is a pain. USB-C means that I should be able to plug in an adapter and have it just work. With this, you have to manually install drivers and reboot before it will work. Good luck getting those drivers installed on a corporate laptop!
In theory, it can go up to 5K (5120x1440) on each DisplayPort - but I don't had a screen to test it on. If you need that sort of resolution, that's the only reason I can think for buying this.
It works - but it isn't plug-and-play, the drivers are a pain, USB cable is too short, it has limited functionality, it is too bulky, and is over-priced.
Wie gesagt, ich bin mit meinem AURA15-Laptop von @tuxedocomputers seit einem Jahr sehr zufrieden.
Aber eine Sache nervt mich: Ich habe einen Monitor über #HDMI angeschlossen, der Bildschirminhalt geht über beide Bildschirme. Wenn ich den Computer aus dem Standby wecke und mich wieder anmelde, hat sich in den Einstellungen der Laptop-Bildschirm vor den Laptop geschoben und der Bildschirminhalt ist auf beiden Bildschirmen gespiegelt!
Ich habe #ubuntu mit #xubuntu - Paketen installiert.
For those wondering if DisplayPort is "as good" as HDMI:
DisplayPort supports far MORE bandwidth than HDMI and supports daisy-chaining video, but HDMI has Audio Return Channel, and wider adoption in home theater, and it seems easier to get longer cables for.
DisplayPort 2.1 can do up to 8k 85Hz without DSC or 8K 240hz with DSC (Display Stream Compression). It supports 32+ 1.5Mhz+ audio channels.
Do you have a home theater and you just want to connect your non-opensource stuff together to your amplifier/receiver? HDMI is probably better supported, and Audio Return Channel will make your life slightly easier, plus the cables might be cheaper.
Error message on Apple TV connected to a Samsung TV: “Disney+ has detected an HDCP issue that is preventing your content from playing. To resolve the issue, please try a different HDMI cable and/or bypass your stereo equipment by connecting the device directly to your TV.” Fix: With TV on, hold down the power button on the Samsung remote until you see it go off and then see the Samsung logo - kind of like a hard reboot. Fixed for me every time. #AppleTV#Samsung#HDMI#HDCP
I learnt something about serial connections the other day.
I want to make it so my TV automatically turns on and off with my HTPC. Since almost no desktop GPU supports HDMI-CEC I needed to look for another solution. Turns out the TV has a fully documented serial interface which allows me to control it, so I bought an FTDI usb to serial adapter.
Unfortunately, both the TV and the adapter have male connectors (pins) so I bought a gender changer as well.
Turns out, serial is kind of a mix between USB and Ethernet. Most of the time, it was used to connect a PC to a modem. But in my case the TV counts as a second PC. And if you want to connect a PC to another PC via serial, then you need a special crossed over "null modem" cable. So yeah, I ordered one now.
GameCube HDMI Mod Is Now Available on github (www.timeextension.com)
"DOL-101 Digital Port kit files uploaded to GitHub"