Video-Out with Spectec's SDIO Adapter [Archive]

Darius Wey

07-19-2006, 10:00 PM

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.spectec.com.tw/en/sdv-840.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.spectec.com.tw/en/sdv-840.htm</a><br /><br /></div><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20060720-SpectecSDVO.jpg" /><br /><br />The past few years have brought nothing but a steady decline in the number of video-out solutions for PDAs. But now Spectec has jumped into the market with a new SDIO video-out solution (SDV-840) that supports a 1024 x 768 (60Hz) NTSC/PAL output. While it's highly unlikely that you'll get the smooth video playback performance on the big screen that's present with the Axim X50v/X51v, you can at least get the next best thing by displaying your PowerPoint presentations and pictures instead. According to <a href="http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=3180">the::unwired</a>, the SDV-840 has a RRP of around US$100.

Jason Dunn

07-19-2006, 10:12 PM

Wow, nice! I've been waiting for something like this to be offered for a more general type of device (i.e.: non-Axim X51v).

alese

07-19-2006, 10:44 PM

I guess it's not good enough for video, but I wonder how it works on for instance Universal for "normal" work and PowerPoint?

Jason Dunn

07-19-2006, 10:47 PM

I guess it's not good enough for video, but I wonder how it works on for instance Universal for "normal" work and PowerPoint?

I'm willing to bet it would do just fine - those applications aren't very bandwidth intensive. Of course, until someone reputable reviews one, it's hard to say for sure.

Damion Chaplin

07-19-2006, 10:50 PM

Too bad SDIO is a dying breed...
Make it bluetooth and we'll talk. :wink:

alese

07-19-2006, 10:54 PM

Too bad SDIO is a dying breed...
Make it bluetooth and we'll talk. :wink:

SDIO is still faster than bluetooth.
Maybe if someone would do something like that with WiFi...

bkerrins

07-19-2006, 11:24 PM

Damion Chaplin

07-19-2006, 11:46 PM

Seems to me that any file I have that I want to display using this would probably not be stored on my internal memory but rather my SD card...so if I remove the card to plug in the adapter...well, not sure it's going to help me, unless it has storage too.

:lol: Of course. An excellent point! :lol:

SDIO is still faster than bluetooth.

Yes, well, at least BT is actually being included in current devices...

How about MiniUSB? I guess it would need host capability... :?

Darius Wey

07-20-2006, 02:44 AM

I'm willing to bet it would do just fine - those applications aren't very bandwidth intensive. Of course, until someone reputable reviews one, it's hard to say for sure.

alese raises a good point, and it's also what I hinted at in the original post. The plus side of the X50v/X51v is that most of the workload is left to the 2700g, which in conjunction with many other factors, offers better performance than the CPU alone. To have this SDIO video-out solution working on a PDA without a dedicated GPU, one begins to wonder what the processor workload is with video playback (minimal hardware acceleration, in this case) and video-out combined. Of course, as you've mentioned, without seeing it in action, one can't say for sure.

Menneisyys

07-20-2006, 08:07 AM

Menneisyys

07-20-2006, 08:11 AM

Speaking of the card, it's a very good alternative to the not-really-compatible Margi Presenter-to-Go SD for Select (see this article (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=292&more=1) for my review of the current "display your PDA screen on an external monitor" stuff if interested). It seems it's compatible with all SDIO devices, unlike the Margi card.

Also, the analogue output of the card is really welcome (if you have an analogue TV set you'd like to hook up your PDA to see, say, a picture show. Of course, watching video on this stuff with high-resolution output seems to be next to impossible. The latets versions of TCPMP and Pocket TV is able to use mostCF VGA output cards to output QVGA-resolution videos at 15-20 fps; not sure about this particular card.)

alese

07-20-2006, 12:02 PM

SDIO is faster than BT. BTW, there is also a USB/BT-based device to do all this: the Mobility Electronics Pitch Duo Presentation Device (http://www.mobilityelectronics.com/handheld/presentation/pitch-duo.htm).

I think the iGO is not really the same think. It can only be used to display presentations, that are actually transfered on the device and then controled by PPC it's not ment to be used for displaying whatever is showing on PPC screen.

orinoco

07-20-2006, 01:27 PM

I have been using the Pitch Duo for abou wo years now. It is OK, but it is a "big device". You need to carry the device itself (which is much larger than any pocket pc) plus its AC adaptor. Works great with both BT and USB interfaces.

I see the benefit of this SD solution to be its size; that is where it may be a really good solution.

Johnny Bravo RJ

07-20-2006, 03:44 PM

I have Margi Presenter-to-go and I don´t like two things:
- it uses the only available slot I have (I own a Qtek S200);
- the files to display need previous conversion to a compatible format - so, it´s always PC-dependable.

I really would like to see a Wi-Fi solution for this.

Jason Patterson

07-20-2006, 11:26 PM

We purchased one of these cards a while back for interaction with Pocket Slides (http://www.conduits.com/products/slides). It's bundled software is only a JPG viewer. You point it at a set of JPG images and are able to navigate back and forth. The output looks great, as is the remote functionality (it has its own IR receiver). The card dongle must be plugged in via AC before inserting it into the device.

The next release of Pocket Slides will have some form of interaction with it. We hope to have more integration (animations) with it soon.

davea0511

07-21-2006, 10:33 PM

Yes! Margi presenter-to-go doesn't work with my JASJAR, let's hope this does.

The one problem I see is that there is no way to use a wireless remote.. is there? I sure love using a wireless remote.

davea0511

07-21-2006, 10:44 PM

Too bad SDIO is a dying breed...
Make it bluetooth and we'll talk. :wink:

SDIO is faster than BT. BTW, there is also a USB/BT-based device to do all this: the Mobility Electronics Pitch Duo Presentation Device (http://www.mobilityelectronics.com/handheld/presentation/pitch-duo.htm).
Oh, now that's cool. It would however be nice if the presentation could be reviewed before hand on the screen, or to view it on the screen as audience see the projector output. Especially if you could point to certain parts of a slide by touching the screen on your PDA. Unfortunately the iGO system merely uses the PDA as an expensive wireless controller, where the application resides on the dongle connected to the projector.

And $270 for the iGO is way too high for me.

Jason Patterson

07-21-2006, 10:48 PM

Yes! Margi presenter-to-go doesn't work with my JASJAR, let's hope this does.

The one problem I see is that there is no way to use a wireless remote.. is there? I sure love using a wireless remote.
The card works in every WM5 device we have tried it in, including a K-Jam. There is an IR wireless remote that doesn't use the Pocket PC IR port (it uses an IR receiver on the dongle).

Oh, now that's cool. It would however be nice if the presentation could be reviewed before hand on the screen, or to view it on the screen as audience see the projector output. Especially if you could point to certain parts of a slide by touching the screen on your PDA.

That's certainly our long-term plan with the card, integrating it with Pocket Slides (you can currently view/annotate on all VGA out devices that Pocket Slides supports)!

orinoco

07-23-2006, 11:16 PM

Jason, not quite sure if when you refer to "the card", you are talking about the Margi SDIO, or the Spectec announced here.

Have you tried it on an ipaq 6515?

Thanks.

Jason Patterson

07-23-2006, 11:19 PM

I was referring to the Spectec card. I haven't tried it on an IPAQ 6515, but it should work if it's fully SDIO compliant. The card seems to be.

It does come with a miniSD-to-SD adapter, if I didn't mention that before.

orinoco

07-23-2006, 11:28 PM

Jason, where did you purchase the Spectec? This would be a great solution. I have used Pocket Slides back since 2003; great product to edit slides on the go. Thanks!!!

Jason Patterson

07-23-2006, 11:35 PM

Jason, where did you purchase the Spectec? This would be a great solution. I have used Pocket Slides back since 2003; great product to edit slides on the go. Thanks!!!

Mobileplanet.com has them. Note that in the current release, we really have no interaction with it; for the upcoming release, you'll be able to export JPG images of the slides/animations.