Adapters

techieman33

Well-Known Member
So I've been tasked with finding all the adapters we might need to convert to HDMI. In the past we've normally just gotten them with the projector and screen rental. But their bag isn't always available. Especially now as we enter dance recital season and will have a screen and projector for a month an can never get a straight answer from the dance companies if they're going to use video, or if they'll need some adapter until they walk in the door and what to try it out that instant.

Anyway, here's what I've got so far.
USB C to hdmi
Display port
Mini display port
DVI
VGA
Mini HDMI
Micro HDMI
Apple Lightning

Anything else I'm missing?
 
No more adapters to add, but I do have a few notes:

Where you can, buy self-powered adapters. We ended up with a bunch of HDMI >VGA adapters that work fine on everything EXCEPT Apple- they underpowered the HDMI bus on some Macbook Air models. We had to buy a bunch more with micro-USB inputs for power.
By the same ticket, get adapters with power pass-through for Lightning and USB-C. Keeps the device from going dead while presenting!
Do you need audio breakouts from the adapter to run to your audio console too?
 
No more adapters to add, but I do have a few notes:

Where you can, buy self-powered adapters. We ended up with a bunch of HDMI >VGA adapters that work fine on everything EXCEPT Apple- they underpowered the HDMI bus on some Macbook Air models. We had to buy a bunch more with micro-USB inputs for power.
By the same ticket, get adapters with power pass-through for Lightning and USB-C. Keeps the device from going dead while presenting!
Do you need audio breakouts from the adapter to run to your audio console too?

Thanks, you made some good points. I forget how stupid Apple gets sometimes. Gotta sell all those dongles.
 
I bought one of these: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15746 , a 2U 'road case', a brush-cover for the U below that device, and a bunch of adapter cables for every signal type imaginable. Labeled the connectors with numbers, the buttons with the same numbers, now we just put that out on a table and run cat5 to the 'wall' with the presentation control system and pretty much anyone can run an event in our studio with whatever computers or magic boxes they bring. (this box/system doesn't handle SDI but all of the broadcast gear does)
It supports PoC from the receiver to the sender. Audio at the receiver is broken out with an HDMI audio extractor that then plugs it into our little Shure automixer (SCM-262 I believe? there's some internal switches/settings that give priority to the mics over the line inputs) that also has 'presentation only' wireless mic receivers plugged into it and is plugged into the matched audio input for the presentation control system. Bonus to this set-up is that we're not trying to passively convert anything that doesn't have that support built-in - VGA+3.5mm goes to VGA, HDMI to HDMI, USBC to HDMI, DP to HDMI, MDP to HDMI, DVI+3.5mm to DVI, composite to composite. I don't think I have mini, micro, or lightning set up right now (I'm not at the Studio this week so can't easily check). One thing to note with that unit is that "VGA1" appears to really be Y/Pr/Pb and "VGA2" is VGA/RGB so we're not using "VGA1".
 
EXCEPT Apple- they underpowered the HDMI bus on some Macbook Air models.

Yeah that has flummoxed some of my techs. !#%$ Apple...

Otherwise it looks like you have the most used covered. You are not likely to get SDI/HD-SDI from the recital company.

...be lucky to get a 320x240 .AVI over VGA...

:)
 
Depending on what projectors you are using, I've had terrible luck with Apple brand USB C to HDMI on the new touchbar macs. Usually the slightly more expensive metal generic brand adapters work.
Surface. Some have HDMI, MDP and USB C. Apple USB C to HDMI work. Apple MDP to HDMI work but the MDP to HDMI and VGA combo adapters usually do not. Had unreliable luck with the HDMI port working at all.
2015-2017 Thinkpads usually have VGA and HDMI. HDMI tend to not like creating a second display when used with a video switcher if the Thinkpad has both an integrated and discrete GPU unless you disable the discrete GPU. Or you can only mirror displays.
 
Remember that a VGA to HDMI will require an encoding device. VGA is Analague and does not carry a digital signal that can just be converted to HDMI. So It'll be a Blackmagic/AJA device which will require power and maybe some setup to properally turn VGA to HDMI. (It will be your most expensive device, and maybe the one least needed?)
 

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