By Samsung’s looking to introduce a cable that will send video signal through the microUSB cable and convert it to HDMI for easy viewing on your HDTVs. Previously, the Galaxy S phones were only able to do video-out through the 3.5mm headphone jack, but it wasn’t the best solution for those with widescreen and high definition television sets.
This new cable – something I didn’t think was a technical possibility – will allow you to watch your content on your TV at a comfortable aspect ratio (and presumably at a comfortable resolution, as well). It’ll be launching “soon” for $50 – quite the bargain for such a desirable product.
The cable will be compatible with all Galaxy S smartphones including the now-available Samsung Vibrant and Samsung Captivate (T-Mobile and AT&T respectively). Check out the product site for more information.
[via BriefMobile]
I wonder if this will be possible with older phones as well…with some hacking of course
i hope u can charge the fone at the same time since the microUSB is where u charge it and will be used for the HDMI out as well..
oh wait, the pic shows that there is a microUSB port at the side of the HDMI cable, i wonder whether this is used to charge the fone?
@chris
There’s a plug printed near the usb mini socket on the hdmi connector, so i think that yes, it’s used to charge the phone whilst using the hdmi cable :)
@Chris that is more than likely the case. You can see the charging icon just above the port.
It would be nice if it works on phones like the Incredible.
Does anyone really use these features?
I mean, why would I want to hook my cellphone up to my TV?
I’ve never understood this.
@C
What if you phone can output 1080p video? Let’s say you are at a friend’s house, no one has any movies, but you have some movie on your phone. Plug it in, and enjoy the high-def show!
@C Some use cases:
You’re on vacation in Mexico with friends and family. One evening you’re all in one of the larger rooms at the resort. They want to see a slide show of photos you took that day, and some other family photos you brought along with you. You plug your phone into the TV and start the slide show. Later you also show some of your own HD video that you shot.
.
You can give a business presentation with a slide show or video from your phone.
.
You and a friend plan to watch a movie together. The phone becomes a quick convenient way to carry the movie without worrying about damaging or losing a disk. If your friend already has the necessary phone to HDMI cable, then you don’t even have to carry a cable.
@C:
I could personally see this being very useful when on vacation or business trips. Hotel pay per view is pricey!
Does it do audio out as well?
What does this Mean for the EPIC??
Once a netflix streaming app becomes available, this will be great. The TV.COM app is already available. Also, you can play audio — both what’s stored on your phone plus Pandora, Slacker, etc.
Yet another reason for me to love my vibrant
@chaos
That is a very good point you bring up about the audio out. That would be the selling point for me. If it does not do audio out, then I refuse to pay $50 dollars for it.
Could be nice if I could use it on my HTC desire!
I am guessing that this will be only for videos taken with the phone as there will be no way for copy protected material to go over USB. I do not know what the bandwidth is for USB, but it is probably less than HDMI so the resolution will be fairly low.
USB 3.0 (I know we are talking 2.0 here) is less than half the bandwidth of hdmi 1.3. I am sure you can figure it out from there ;)
I have a captivate and it’s basically a mini game console hooked up to my 42in. The resolution is so so since its component.
I play 1080p from my external hard drive on my HTPC all the time…
I hope some one can port this to the Nexus One!!.. Come on Dev’s.. lets get it done!
$50? Do they think they are worst buy?
@chaos- HDMI includes both video and digital audio. I suppose that doesn’t necessarily mean it will carry both signals though…
If this cable is a reality then why wouldnt it fit on and htc microUSB ports, we can already plug in an A/V-2-microUSB cable ( http://androidandme.com/2010/04/news/droid-incredible-does-tv-out-video/ ) so why wouldnt we be able to view the same image through this hdmi cable. Im just saying. http://store.androidandme.com/htc-av-cable/11A75A7232.htm
Yo, 3 phones, this works with ALL Galaxy S smartphones. But why is the cable already listed as out of stock? That was fast.
Just because USB has slower transfer rates than HDMI does not mean that it doesn’t have fast enough transfer rates. I, too, watch 1080p video from external hard drives all the time.
Even if it doesn’t have audio out, you can use a male to male (or male to RCA) audio cable to hook into your TV.
The likelihood of this working on anything besides a Samsung Galaxy S phone is roughly nil. The cable plugs into the “MicroUSB port”, but the signal itself has nothing to do with USB. Samsung just put extra pins on the connector that don’t interfere with USB operation, but can be accessed using their special cable to connect those extra pins to a real HDMI port.
At most, they might be repurposing the two USB power pins for HDMI power, and repurposing the D+ and D- pins for I2C. I suppose it’s also possible that the cable might be “semi-active”, with the phone outputting non-differential signals and relying on some extra components in the cable connector itself to convert them into proper differential signals on the other side of the connector. In theory, that could allow Samsung to eliminate 8 of the 19 pins from the “microUSB” connector itself (basically, moving the electronics from inside the phone to outside the phone). If they did that, and repurposed the 4 usb pins for power and i2c, they’d only need to shoehorn 4-7 more pins onto the microUSB connector (depending on how much they offloaded from the inside of the phone to the outside, embedded inside the cable’s phone connector shell).
Sounds nice, but $50!! WTF Sammy
50$ is firstly a little bit pricy, but it saves the trouble of trying to figure out how to use all Share and hopefully when this comes out..its just plug and play.
Imagine you’ve recorded a vacation video using your Samsung Galaxy S and you just head back to the hotel room, while charging the phone at the same time..Project the video on the Screen..
Now that is just priceless (literally your SGS has just turned to a Professional Vid Cam.)
Samsung is a member of the MHL consortium (Mobile HighDef Link) which includes Silicon Image. SI has been working on an HDMI to micro-usb connection since 2008. The consortium published the specs on July 2nd.
If this is MHL, then it will handle HDCP and be full 1080p. It will also recharge your phone while it is connected to your HDTV.
However, to the best of my knowledge, MHL won’t be available until early 2011 which would explain why you can only back order.
http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/mobile/mobile-phones/mobile-phone-accessories/ECC1HU0BBEBSTD/index.idx?pagetype=acc_detail&subsubtype=data-cables-kits&tab=accCompatible
Doesn’t list galaxy s as a compatible product. I saw this a month ago, and dismissed it – without any confirmation I’m taking this with a pinch of salt.
Sent from my galaxy s super phone
since your phone is now your camcorder, yeah you need hdmi
Surely we’ll be seeing cheap knock offs of this on ebay soon then?
@Bitbang3r
When you say, “Samsung just put extra pins on the connector that don’t interfere with USB operation, but can be accessed using their special cable to connect those extra pins to a real HDMI port” do you mean that Samsung already had those extra pins inside the connector in the phone itself? If so, then it’s clear to me that this was all a preplanned marketing scheme so people would be forced to buy an expensive cable in order to have HDMI out, whereas other phone companies such as Motorola (Droid X) and HTC (EVO) have been kind enough to already include an HDMI out port on the phone. This seems like a clever plan by Samsung to screw over the consumer and getting them to spend an extra $50 on something that should already be included in the phone like the Droid X or EVO.
I’m glad that Samsung is making HDMI out an option, even if it means paying for an adapter. I like the fact that it’s a common port and reduces the number of “holes” in the body where dust and gunk can accumulate. If I decide to use HDMI, I’ll buy the connector then, but right now I don’t have plans to do so and probably won’t for a while.
And I too am willing to bet that some cheap knockoff adapters will be on ebay in no time, so maybe it won’t cost us $50 for HDMI out.
Thats great news. I wondering how this cable works. My best guess would be that the 3 non-power pins of the mini-usb connector are also connected with an internal HDMI tranceiver. One has to be for the data clock and the other two can actually used as data channels. Well HDMI normaly uses 3 differential data-channels, but the “minus” data-lines could be just connected to ground and one channel could be completely left out which would just reduce the data rate a bit.
It’s finally been manufactured! The Samsung MicroUSB to HDMI output cable is finally reality! Find it at these online vendors. The first is recommended, cheapest and free shipping. Oh and if you’re wondering how you charge it while watching movies as every news article out there did…it’s got a MicroUSB input on the side so you plug your normal charger into it.
http://www.estocksurplus.com/samsung-hdmi-cable-microusb-hdmi-p-10849.html
http://www.daydeal.com/product.php?productid=45400
http://www.cellularaccessory.com/ecc1hu0bbeb.html
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@corydzbinski
Um if you look at the website and the compatible products you will realize that this is not for phones and nowhere does it even mention galaxy s phones ugh
The 2nd and 3rd links do mention Samsung Galaxy S by name.
This is not for the US variants of the Galaxy S phones. The US Galaxy S class phone released do not support this cable so do not buy it!
I have called every level of Samsung support and had the joy of waiting on hold for a combined total of 2 hours while the techs did some research. As an owner of the Samsung Epic and a 42″ 720p HD Samsung TV, 09 model so no real capabilities, I now now that in order to do TV-out with any Galaxy S phone you need a microUSB to HDMI cable which supports DLNA. The DLNA feature allows for proper conversion of the TV standard HD signal. However this cable is not out yet but Samsung will have it out in the next 2 months. Expect to pay around $50.
I only post this because all information posted on different forums is so varied, it led me to call costumer support. And I would like to clarify on the confussion.
So if the cable does not support DLNA it is a waste of money.
Before anyone tries to correct me I realize that DLNA is a technology for networking HD devices. It confused me, but Samsung says it allow allows the conversion layer needed.
DLNA is a wireless service!
Why do you want a cable? Its working without cable.