[Q] Use Arc S as hdmi media dongle - Xperia Arc Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi there!
I have an old Xperia arc s unused into one of my drawers and a no-smart lcd tv with an hdmi input. I was buying an android hdmi dongle so i would have been able to watch films on my NAS, some videos on youtube and so.
Suddenly i've rembered of that one semi broke (yep, touch screen doesn't work good anymore) smartphone on my drawer with an hdmi out, so i was figuring out what rom should i use (now it have some kind of custom rom with no hdmi support) and if there's something like a unified remote server for android that i can use as a remote.
Thanks in advance!

Related

Galaxy Nexus as TV box

(skip down to "Questions" if you're in a rush)
Gentlemen,
I have a GNex that I no longer use for phone duty (was replaced with Nexus 4), and am contemplating converting it to a steamer tv box (a la Google TV).
I have a MHL adapter coming today, and I have the portrait-orientation dock as well. Shameful display from Samsung for making mirroring not work past 4.0.3 with the dock, thus a 3rd party MHL adapter is now needed. I have diNovo Mini on controller duty.
I did some testing (GNex on 4.0.2 + Samsung Dock) on a 22" 1080p monitor, and everything just looked huge and bad and blurry with the factory ROM. I installed the latest build of ParanoidAndroid, put the phone in Tablet mode, and shrunk everything as small as it will go. Couldn't test it with the monitor (Dock doesn't mirror with JB) yet, but at least on the device screen, things look more favorable.
Questions --
1 - Is there a recommended ROM for this (other than Paranoid) that will let me Tablet/Phablet layout + scale elements to not look like hell blown up to a 42" 1080p screen ?
2a - Are there any useful media apps I should know about (other than XBMC, Netflix, TV.com, Streamie) ?
2b - Are there any useful utility apps I should know about (other than Sixaxis Controller) ?
3 - Is there a better launcher than stock for this use? (I tried TVLauncher and didn't care for it).
4 - Or, forget about the whole thing and wait for my OUYA to show up in March?
Thanks.
iMediaShare has lots of channels and content for streaming.
Ubuntu comes out soon, you could run XBMC through that and have more control of the UI. I believe Ubuntu goes to a full desktop mode so it'll look good on a monitor/large display.
This would also allow for more powerful remote desktop use too.
I was under the impression that it only mirrors the output, so you need something like http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1934495 to proceed.
You don't really need full Panadroid, just a DPI change to force tablet mode all the time.

HDMI ouput & netflix

Hi guys,
I just bought my hdtv adapter in order to connect my tab to my TV trough HDMI and happily see netflix everynight..... The thing is that for any reason when I plug the cable de image in the TV is a clone of the image in the tablet, but the uggliest point is that when I put a movie in netflix not only the image in the TV is not escalated ( I see the movie in part of the TV screen) but subtitles are not in the TV screen but they are in the tablet.
Any idea how can I can get it fixed. Is there any hdmi output control software or something like that?.
I'm trying yo get my TV dispay as an extension of the galaxy note display.
Thanks!.
I just found out, to my disappointment, the same behaviour with netflix and the allcast dongle.
Sent from my GT-N8000 using Tapatalk HD
GioDoe said:
I just found out, to my disappointment, the same behaviour with netflix and the allcast dongle.
Sent from my GT-N8000 using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you think it's a netflix app issue or the hdmi output resolution that it's unable to fit the whole tv screen?. I hope there is a software to fix it.
Unfortunately, I do not have a clue. I will probably try and buy an android stick to bypass the problem
Sent from my GT-N8000 using Tapatalk HD
ofx66 said:
Hi guys,
I just bought my hdtv adapter in order to connect my tab to my TV trough HDMI and happily see netflix everynight..... The thing is that for any reason when I plug the cable de image in the TV is a clone of the image in the tablet, but the uggliest point is that when I put a movie in netflix not only the image in the TV is not escalated ( I see the movie in part of the TV screen) but subtitles are not in the TV screen but they are in the tablet.
Any idea how can I can get it fixed. Is there any hdmi output control software or something like that?.
I'm trying yo get my TV dispay as an extension of the galaxy note display.
Thanks!.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would have expected stock was better than this. Seems like a lot of devices have issues with UI overlays and HDMI output. Sounds like even Samsung's stock hwcomposer is a steaming pile of ****. Or this is one of the consequences of Netflix's weirdo JPlayer.
Oh wait, never mind, stock is 4.1, JPlayer isn't used... Probably just Samsung brokenness.
For example, my Xperia T has the following issues when outputting Netflix over MHL:
UI overlays do not appear
Anamorphic video is not scaled properly. (For example, Star Trek: Enterprise on Netflix is anamorphic 640x480 video - e.g. it is stretched to display as widescreen and the pixels do not have a square aspect ratio, but when output over MHL it is displayed as if the pixels were square.)
Entropy512 said:
I would have expected stock was better than this. Seems like a lot of devices have issues with UI overlays and HDMI output. Sounds like even Samsung's stock hwcomposer is a steaming pile of ****. Or this is one of the consequences of Netflix's weirdo JPlayer.
Oh wait, never mind, stock is 4.1, JPlayer isn't used... Probably just Samsung brokenness.
For example, my Xperia T has the following issues when outputting Netflix over MHL:
UI overlays do not appear
Anamorphic video is not scaled properly. (For example, Star Trek: Enterprise on Netflix is anamorphic 640x480 video - e.g. it is stretched to display as widescreen and the pixels do not have a square aspect ratio, but when output over MHL it is displayed as if the pixels were square.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that what I've just noticed. The UI overlay does not properly works... I can't see subtitles in my tv screen.
Isn't there any player or another kind of soft to play netflix movies thorugh? or even better, a fix to it...
BTW... i bought the hdmi adapter for my galaxy s3 and now the image in the mobile escales perfectly to 1080p however the overlay issue is still there..., I'M NOT ALE TO SEE THE #"!#$&/( SUBTITLES... :crying::crying:
I hope there's a fix.
ofx66 said:
Yeah, that what I've just noticed. The UI overlay does not properly works... I can't see subtitles in my tv screen.
Isn't there any player or another kind of soft to play netflix movies thorugh? or even better, a fix to it...
BTW... i bought the hdmi adapter for my galaxy s3 and now the image in the mobile escales perfectly to 1080p however the overlay issue is still there..., I'M NOT ALE TO SEE THE #"!#$&/( SUBTITLES... :crying::crying:
I hope there's a fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly, this seems to be inherent to the HDMI mirror process, as I get the same on my Xoom and all my Moto phones: clear audio and video, but no overlays (controls, subtitles, etc.)
same with Play Movies
I have the same problem with my note 2, note 10.1, over hdmi adapter or allsharecast dongle both with netflix and play movies. Subtitles only on the tablet.
I have contact samsung and google about yhis annoying issue and they both try to blame each other instead of giving me a solution.
What I don't understand is how such a basic thing is not possible
When you use BS player and software encoder the subs is showing in the TV and the phone-tablet. I remember it was the same with the first Nvidia gforce graphick cards with comp-scart output on windows XP. I think it is a hardware problem. I think we need a new genaration og GPU hardware. Question is, what about Nvidia Tegra 4 chipset phones or Shield device???
Have someone got an android phone (could be LG X2) with a real HDMI output purhaps it is a MHL-HDMI problem
It's a hardware issue, yes- the movie is rendered via the hardware-accelerated video channel that also outputs thru the HDMI (and/or Miracast) streams. However, since subtitles (and other such overlays) are decoded and rendered outside the main video stream (that's done on a seperate video channel) that's normally overlaid over the display stream.
This issue isn't limited to just Exynos chips, either- I know for sure the Tegra2 and one of the QCT Snapdragons is like this, too; I suspect the issue actually comes from Hollywood, as DRM protection implies you can't manipulate the buffer that's displaying the external streams (yes, even for your own (non-DRMed) content, sadly), but don't quote me on this.
In order for a player to give you subtitles that display on external devices they'd have to render everything in software, and I don't think every stream will play smoothly that way. I do remember seeing a video player that does do subtitles on the All-Share Cast stream; I think it was the Archos one.
I think what you most have, is just a setting problem.
I have galaxy s3 and samsung tv connected through hdmi adapter.
By default this behaves exactly as my windows media pc, app. 10 pixels are cut on all sides. When you change your tv settings not to overscan, the image is perfect. In samsung tvs (tested 50" plasma and 22" lcd) you do this in by setting the size of the display, from 16:9 to customized. I have Finnish ui, so i do not know the exact terms.
In this way most of the programs work ok, including e.g. Xbmc.
But this does not fix netflix, it is seen on tv as 4:3 without any subtitles. So i would blame netflix first.
Chromecast.....nuff said
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda app-developers app
I have purchased the Note 3 and the subtitles are displayed properly on my TV now. I don't know if it is a fix from either Android 4.3 or from Samsung.
Sent from Note III (N9005)
Xda premium

[Q] TV Guide/IR Blaster

Hey all,
I've been using CM for a while, but I always have a lingering regret of going back to stock for the sole purpose of having the TV app. The greatest thing about it was it had a simple TV favourite interface with remote controls and access to other media systems.
Has anyone discovered any apps similar to this? Meaning to take advantage of the IR blaster for the one and have a nice interface with cable TV.
geeibara said:
Hey all,
I've been using CM for a while, but I always have a lingering regret of going back to stock for the sole purpose of having the TV app. The greatest thing about it was it had a simple TV favourite interface with remote controls and access to other media systems.
Has anyone discovered any apps similar to this? Meaning to take advantage of the IR blaster for the one and have a nice interface with cable TV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use the Highly Customizable remote (IR Blaster) called "smart remote" I'ts a little pricey but I believe its well worth it, you can set up anything and everything with it. I have my Denon receiver, BlueRay, Directv, Panasonic Viera TV, and my HD streaming box all connected to the app and if you set it up right you can usually turn all devices on with click of one button, including switching inputs on TV &/or receiver at the same time..here it is on the play market...https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.remotefairy~~~~~it's made for the HTC One, Hope this helps you!!!
geeibara said:
Has anyone discovered any apps similar to this? Meaning to take advantage of the IR blaster for the one and have a nice interface with cable TV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using Smart Remote. Also a little pricey but it controls everything I own and even things like HVAC units. Nice interface and easy to set up.
Sent from my HTCOneVZW using Tapatalk

[Q] Is there any way to get the Screen Mirror feature for Grand Duos?

Hello , I have my GGD a year ago and a SmartTV too. I can stream contents to the TV through Wifi Direct, but only media (vids, pics and audio), but I want to see the screen phone in the TV (looking the maps, games and other apps) just like the Xperia L of my father does. is there any chance of doing that? Or maybe is not possible at all... Thanks in advance.

Convert android mobile into android tv help.

Hello all im after a simple question answered if its at all possible and maybe a little direction on how its acheived.
I have an old galaxy s4 GT-i9505 with a broken screen running as a makeshift android tv.
Its plugged directly into a TV through mhl and serves its purpose very well.
Its mainly used for Netflix/Kodi or any other Tv catchup type app.
Its currently being controlled a number of ways, mainly with a amazon firestick Bluetooth remote, (s4 runs much better than a stick BTW) but certain apps (Netflix, various tv apps) dont recognise the centre button.
However this isnt an issue as I have different methods to control apps that dont use my remote too well (droidmote).
What my main question is, when installing an app say Netflix on an android phone how can I get the app to think its being installed onto an android tv device like FireTV,firestick,nexus, or any generic android tv box?
Is there a way to modify my rom to enable fooling detection of Android tv?
If this is not possible is there any android tv rom I might be able to use on the gt-i9505?
Last question Id like answered, is there anyway I can map the buttons on my Bluetooth remote to ger the centre button working?
I would be very grateful if any devs who may read this help out by letting me know if any of this is possible, ive exhausted Google search but came up with nothing.
Thanks alot.
Just to add to this, am I able to use gapps for Android tv? Or should I use the micro option?
Again really appreciate any help or pointers.
+1

Categories

Resources