Question Use phone as 4K Android TV box - Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

Hi i was planing on using my phone as an Android TV Box for 4K movies, emulators, Android games and streaming from GeForce Now on my 4k Sony TV. Would be awsome to be able to use my old phone as an sort of Nvidia Shield.
I have an 4K 60hz USB-C to HDMI dongle but when i connect over HDMI i get the sharp "4K image" but with the phones aspect ratio and black bars, if i use DEX it uses the whole screen but only in 1080p.
Imagine a custom rom made to repurpose old phones into an entertainment hub og even a low end desktop with Android TV Launcher or a more desktop like launcher like DEX.

The S21 supports DisplayPort over USB-C up to 4K 60. Basically you can use a Type-C > HDMI adapter

Thats the problem, when I use a USB-C to HDMI the TV shows 4k resolution but with the phones aspect ratio so I get black bars.

I was hoping that it would be possible to disable the phones screen and only use external display and that way get the correct aspect ratio.

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Tv-Out Quality

I recently purchased a 3.5mm to video/audio cable for my samsung captivate and I am noticing that the quality of the videos on the 46" LCD TV is not that great compared to when i watch the same videos on my computer. The cable I purchased is a Scoshe brand that I found locally from Fry's Electronics.
Is the sub-par quality due to the phone output or the cable itself? What has been your experiences with TV-Out?
Thanks.
You're using a VGA cable, you'll never get HD quality content. It's akin to trying to run a VHS on your new 46" TV. It'll just never look as good as the HD content you've come to expect in the last few years.
For me, it works well enough on my GF's old 90's tv if we're going to watch a movie or some TV shows. I would never use it on my TV at home though.
dude not vga, rca, aka composite video. composite is a notch above vhs and a notch below dvd. so yeah it's the tv out and the cable.
hopefully the micro usb to hdmi will work on the captivate with a future update. there are reports that it works on the epic. if not you can share with dlna via allshare.
i have a $50 media box thing from netgear and it works but the phone cant push the video to it you can only tick the video for playback (dont add to playlist) and let the other end play the video. also windows media center can be a dlna server and an xbox can play it as a media center extender, the ps3 is also dlna certified. there are also upnp apps in the market that should work with xbox. and ftp and webdav apps that will let you mount the phone as a webdrive or access with a browser. i know many of those options are great in the home but useless for travel and if your home you dont need it anyway.
the netgear device i have is very portable but unfortunately you still need a usb wireless adapter to use it, im sure there are similar devices that have built in wireless but may be more expensive.
Thanks for the respones. Would you suggest getting a "higher quality" cable or am I just basically stuck with what I got? The pictures and videos look blurry (and pixelated) when I view them on the TV and I just want to know if it has anything to do with the cable.
gormander said:
Thanks for the respones. Would you suggest getting a "higher quality" cable or am I just basically stuck with what I got? The pictures and videos look blurry (and pixelated) when I view them on the TV and I just want to know if it has anything to do with the cable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
live with it till the usb to hdmi thing works
edit; if the cable feels very thin and fragile it may have poor noise rejection, some are not sheiled very well. also if the you had to mix the colors around to get it to work that's not good. video cables are a different impedance so you need to use the yellow one for video. i know 3.5mm av cables dont follow a standard format and i dont know if you had to mix and match connectors to get a picture. but on a 46 inch tv you wont get good quality no matter how high the cable quality is, it's just an old inferior technology and why the make s-video, componant video, vga, dvi and hdmi.
I have a 46 inch LCD and have attached the phone to it. A HD movie looks ok, but not near as good as running via the PC at 1080p via HDMI. When and if they get the microUSB to HDMI working, we should see an improvement.

Non HDMI TV use.... Q's and hopefully answers.,

Ok I'd like to know if an HDMI to composite converter will work with chromecast...?? And I have some answers.
An HDMI to VGA converter . i can confirm that definitely DOES NOT work.
An HDMI to composite (cvbs) converter DOES work. I have one of the cheap small square white ones you see a lot with phono audio outputs and the yellow av out. it requires USB power to give me a signal so sorting out 2 USB ports for use with a CC is a minor pain.
Picture quality is clearly not close to Hdmi , think 'fuzzy'. but on our lcd, with a boost of saturation, noise reduction etc watching material is perfectly acceptable. Sound seems good as I'd expect.
Problem is our TV has HDMI but no hdcp (dont ask) rendering it mostly useless and new TV is not on the cards yet, so this has helped.
Sent from my Nexus 7
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2393029
Sent from my XT897 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Taa, however not super helpful as there's only one post with a definitive 'yes it works' not specifying what was being used, rest is conjecture and fluff. But positive signs.
Consider this the fluff-free thread on all non HDMI solutions
Have Ordered HDMI to composite so will update on success and type of unit.
Sent from my Nexus 7
I updated OP with findings.. HDMI to composite works, had a few flake outs reboot seemed to sort. picture ok/acceptable
Sent from my Nexus 7
bkmaracas said:
Ok I'd like to know if an HDMI to composite converter will work with chromecast...?? And I have some answers.
An HDMI to VGA converter . i can confirm that definitely DOES NOT work.
An HDMI to composite (cvbs) converter DOES work. I have one of the cheap small square white ones you see a lot with phono audio outputs and the yellow av out. it requires USB power to give me a signal so sorting out 2 USB ports for use with a CC is a minor pain.
Picture quality is clearly not close to Hdmi , think 'fuzzy'. but on our lcd, with a boost of saturation, noise reduction etc watching material is perfectly acceptable. Sound seems good as I'd expect.
Problem is our TV has HDMI but no hdcp (dont ask) rendering it mostly useless and new TV is not on the cards yet, so this has helped.
Sent from my Nexus 7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Calrad makes an HDMI to Component video adaptor that should work for you, providing your TV has component video inputs. part number is 40289. It should cost around $179 retail though, so my recommendation would be to take the $150 and invest in a newer TV!
I have a Chromecast connected to an old Sony 20-inch 4:3 (not widescreen) tube standard definition TV with only S-Video and Composite inputs.
Here's how mine is connected:
Chromecast
HDMI to HDfury2 Component (bought for I forget... more than $100 a long while ago, from a previous setup)
Component to AVT-3190 HD/VGA to Component/S-Video/Composite down converter (bought for $119 used on eBay)
S-Video to TV
Audio (analog) to TV
Both the HDfury and Chromecast require USB power, but I have them both connected to an iGo MicroJuice power adapter that has 2 USB outputs ($9.99 from Best Buy clearance).
The down converter has a wall wart too, so it's 2 power plugs.
Result:
Video
It's a bit fuzzy, but what do you expect for 720p/1080p being downconverted to 480i?
Aspect ratio is correct, because the AVT-3190 down converter has switchable aspect ratio conversion (ARC), so not only is my video downscaled to 480i, it's also being letterboxed, so the vertical resolution is even less than 480i for widescreen casts. This wouldn't be a problem if you have a widescreen display.
Audio
Is fine. I'm getting analog output from the HDfury2. It also has optical digital output, but I haven't tried it as I'm just using the TV speakers.
What doesn't work:
Automatic power/input control via HDMI-CEC. Obviously this doesn't work because HDMI-CEC isn't supported by the HDfury2 as there's no way to translate that into its just video and audio output.
Given that this is about $200+ of gear to make a $35 device work, it's probably not smart. But my case is special, and I'm sure there are others with special cases as well (projectors, in-wall displays, etc), so there you go.
If you have a HD-capable display that just lacks an HDMI input, you would just need the HDfury2, not the down scaler, so that cuts the cost in half. That's how Chromecast works with my old HD projector.

HDMI MIrroring in 4K

Goodmorning everyone
I bought an HDMI adapter, it works fine with Note 8.
There is no need to make any changes, as it is already set up to work with both DEX and HDMI Mirroring.
Reaches a 4K resolution,tried and fully functional.
Works with S8/S8plus/Note8
Buy this Link: https://www.amazon.it/TRENDnet-TUC-...&qid=1506032642&sr=8-1&keywords=hdmi+trendnet
http://www.trendnet.com/products/USB...ters/TUC-HDMI3
Is this using the full 4k resolution, or outputting in 1080 and then upscaled by the monitor? Does this work with mouse and keyboard also?
I'm thinking of this as a Dex replacement that is more portable.
this adapter is self-tuning to screen resolution,it can not support mouse and keyboard.
To do that You will need the Dex.The second native and 1080p and it suits the screen

Chromecast 3 (2018)

Hi everyone!
Does anyone knows a method (either hardware or software) to force the Chromecast to output at 720p?
Background:
I have a DVI monitor and I used a simple HDMI to DVI adapter to plug my laptop in it.
My laptop died and I decided to use a Chromecast and my phone as a replacement.
After the Chromecast arrived and I plugged it in, I turned on screen mirror and hooked my kb/m to the phone and everything, only to realize that the sound was also being streamed to the Chromecast.
Needless to say that my monitor doesn't have audio output.
So I got one of those HDMI audio diverter to draw the audio and feed it to my audio system, so far so good.
I used my laptop to game was well, so after starting some withdraw from games, I decided to grab my PS2 console and got on of those PS2 to HDMI dongles and play some old-school games, then I started facing an issue: swapping cables.
To fix that I got one of those 3 port HDMI hubs and plugged both devices to it.
However the monitor is 720p, the HDMI audio diverter knows that and replicates this information to it's input port which makes the Chromecast display in 720p.
But the hub does not, it report it's 1080p making the Chromecast send 1080p video signal and the display only shows a black screen because of it not knowing how to deal with that.
So if there's a way to force the Chromecast to display in 720p it would be my salvation.
So if anyone out there knows any possible solution, please, I would be really grateful.
Thanks everyone!

Unsupported TV?

Hi guys
I got a little big issue with dex and my TV, My TV is FHD , when I connect my S20 FE wirelessly to my TV and bring up dex, The output is FHD
But when I connect it uGreen Type-C to HDMI, Dex says that the monitor/tv resolution is not supported by dex, and the output is 1366x768.
I thought the cable has issue, and tested it on a samsung monitor, and works perfectly on FHD, so the cable is OK.
May anyone please help me with this issue ?!
check the settings on your TV, maybe there are different input settings for HDMI or one of your ports is different from the others. google your TV's model and the phrase HDMI resolution etc.
3mel said:
check the settings on your TV, maybe there are different input settings for HDMI or one of your ports is different from the others. google your TV's model and the phrase HDMI resolution etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi , I did that all hdmi ports are FHD , and tested them with my laptop hdmi, all of them shows FHD. I think dex uses a special standard , that my tv cant support it.
Samsung DeX HDMI max resolution is only FullHD (1920x1080)
I’ve got Plugable UD-CAM dock and it works perfectly fine with my Dell Latitude 7480 laptop and USB, Ethernet and WQHD (2560 x 1440) Dell monitor. Pretty much the same is applicable to my Samsung Galaxy S9 with only 1 exception - HDMI resolutions above FullHD (i.e. 1920x1080) are grayed-out in...
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