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The Lightning Digital AV Adapter Surprise

panic.com

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Re: The Lightning Digital AV Adapter Surprise

#41

Post by allerratio »

jws wrote: post #28
dangrossman wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most non-Apple smartphones have micro-USB ports for charging, and most made in the past few years also support sending an HDMI signal through this port, either via MHL [1] or SlimPort (notably, Nexus 4). All it takes is a $10 adapter cable rather than a $40 SoC transcoding things. 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_High-Definition_Link#Mob...

They also have hardware in the phone to generated HDMI (although electrically modified to fit on the USB connector). Given that only a tiny percentage of people will ever plug their phone into HDMI, it makes sense to have that minority pony up $40 instead of making everyone pay an extra dollar for the hardware they will never use.

That's already part of the soc and also most likely part of the Apple AX SOCs of the iOS devices as Apple uses PowerVR for graphics.

Re: The Lightning Digital AV Adapter Surprise

#42

Post by dublinben »

sblom wrote: post #38
vvhn wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is a non-zero chance your stove and microwave are 'running linux'. Unless Linux comes with a BSD license, there is, in fact, zero chance. Apple is known to run a NetBSD variant on the airport routers - I'd say that is what is likely or whatever the hell a "stub version of iOS" means.

What does BSD vs GPL have to do with my stove or microwave?

The GPL requires that any changes (made to code used in released products) be released under the GPL. I'm unaware of any home appliance manufacturer that freely releases the OS of their products under the GPL, as they would have to if they were using Linux.

Re: The Lightning Digital AV Adapter Surprise

#43

Post by bobdvb »

sblom wrote: post #38
vvhn wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is a non-zero chance your stove and microwave are 'running linux'. Unless Linux comes with a BSD license, there is, in fact, zero chance. Apple is known to run a NetBSD variant on the airport routers - I'd say that is what is likely or whatever the hell a "stub version of iOS" means.

What does BSD vs GPL have to do with my stove or microwave?

There is a false assumption that manufacturers don't use Linux because of GPL. Most products don't use Linux because they don't need it, and they use something like FreeRTOS or another commerical RTOS. Plenty of companies use Linux in all sorts of home appliances, mostly TV products, but an increasing number of fridges from companies like Samsung do have Linux and they do release the code. What manufacturers don't do is release the applications that they run on the OS (despite the false assumption that they should).

Re: The Lightning Digital AV Adapter Surprise

#44

Post by adamisen »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #30

One must wonder why they chose to expend significant R&D to make a complicated, power-sucking adapter for use on a mobile device that provides sub-par output and costs quite a bit more than a "dumb" cable. Maybe I'm missing something, but I feel like Lightning is just the next Firewire without all the usefulness that FW had (low latency, dedicated bus that wasn't USB, lots of pro audio gear that worked with it, abili…

Hopefully it's in pursuit of a connector that's somewhat forward & backward compatible for the next decade. It would be nice to learn more about Lightning. In particular the 1600x900 limitation is irritating. It'd be reassuring if this is something that will be addressed with a firmware update (similarly with the artifacts, though I have somewhat less hope for improvements there).

I'm gung-ho for Lightning but if it turns out to be nothing more than a fancy way to make USB expensive and proprietary I'll be having another think. If it guarantees accessory compatibility for 6-10 years it's worth a couple compromises but I do expect 1080P output as advertised.

Re: The Lightning Digital AV Adapter Surprise

#45

Post by micampe »

millerc wrote: post #29
pifflesnort wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This provides no useful information whatsoever. I wouldn't be hugely surprised if they wrote code to the ARM MCU (if it has 2GB of RAM to work with), but what does "stub copy of iOS" even mean? Also. Jimmy Hoffa is buried inside that microcontroller. I won't corroborate this further, but this is the dead-on truth.

No need to be sarcastic. I find it interesting that somebody goes through the trouble of creating a new user account, just to confirm a theory that nobody could confirm without getting in trouble. It doesn't prove anything, but it certainly fits the context. I would say the theory (and the extra bit of information) merit being analyzed further. FWIW, a "stub copy of iOS" would mean in this context "a copy of iOS wher…

> creating a new user account

that gives me less confidence, not more.

Re: The Lightning Digital AV Adapter Surprise

#46

Post by Someone »

If this thing decodes the vodeo stream and gets the code the run from the iOS device when connected, might we see a future iOS update that enables full HD, or would the video decoder hardware be the limiting factor here?

Also, for jailbreakers: find that code, and improve it.

Finally: I find it a pity that Panic reports this now. It would have been funny if it were published exactly one month later (or is the clock in their CMS off by a month?)

Re: The Lightning Digital AV Adapter Surprise

#47

Post by mjs »

stephengillie wrote: post #37
rangibaby wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lightning is a replacement for Apple's old and huge dock connector. You're probably thinking of Thunderbolt.

Thunderbolt definitely is designed as a replacement for Firewire, USB, 10 Gbit Ethernet, HDMI, and all other current wired connections. It's been advertised as such for a while. I first heard about Lightning just 2 days ago. I'm now confused between Thunderbolt and Lightning, and frustrated that I'll have to go learn about their differences.

All that setup and no "very very frightening" joke?!

Re: The Lightning Digital AV Adapter Surprise

#48

Post by raverbashing »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #30

One must wonder why they chose to expend significant R&D to make a complicated, power-sucking adapter for use on a mobile device that provides sub-par output and costs quite a bit more than a "dumb" cable. Maybe I'm missing something, but I feel like Lightning is just the next Firewire without all the usefulness that FW had (low latency, dedicated bus that wasn't USB, lots of pro audio gear that worked with it, abili…

My opinion: bandwidth

The lightning connector doesn't have enough bandwidth to drive a HDMI connexion directly

Of course, compressing (inside the iPad) for streaming, sending this through a limited bandwidth channel and then decompressing is complicated, but looks like it's the easiest solution (because all components - especially sw ones - are off the shelf)

It's like a mini Raspberry-pi in that adaptor, amazing! (if not slightly overpriced)

Re: The Lightning Digital AV Adapter Surprise

#50

Post by jwr »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #30

One must wonder why they chose to expend significant R&D to make a complicated, power-sucking adapter for use on a mobile device that provides sub-par output and costs quite a bit more than a "dumb" cable. Maybe I'm missing something, but I feel like Lightning is just the next Firewire without all the usefulness that FW had (low latency, dedicated bus that wasn't USB, lots of pro audio gear that worked with it, abili…

What "dumb" cable did you have in mind?

Because once you accept Lighting as the connector, there is no "dumb". You have USB and this is where you have to start. You don't get DVI/HDMI signals, analog audio, or anything else.

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