HyperHDR: prepare for building & buying components, step 4: Additional stuff

 Guide for building your own ambient system:

Additional stuff or things that you may or may not need

  • HDMI splitter, if you purchased a video grabber with loop like Ezcap 269 then probably you don't need it. You can connect devices just like on my old setup:



    Otherwise choose something with HDCP 2.2, HDR and 4k60 support like Feintech VS01201:




  • Flirc device if you want to have a remote controller.



  • Voltage/level shifter, 5V is most common logic level for LED. But Raspberry Pi and popular ESP boards provide only 3.3V. But it works in most case. But if doesn't then you will need a 3.3V to 5V level shifter. Or to do the "dirty" trick ;) for SK6812/WS2812b but I'll describe it later.
    Example of such level shifter:




  • Double sided glue tape most of LED strips come with very weak glue. It fell off from TV few days after I installed it. Obviously 3M mark on them was acronym of  "3 meters" and not the popular company's name.

  • ESP module (preferable based on ESP8266 or ESP32 with CH340G or CP2104 serial microchip) for using with WLED over Wifi or for high speed serial port in HyperHDR. SK6812/WS8212b are really problematic for Raspberry Pi. Be prepared that you may need it. And popular Arduino Atmel series are just to slow for our purpose.

  • Cables, all sort of USB/HDMI/power cables and some (probably AWG18, depending on amperage) cables for making optional connection/extender from the controller to the led strip.

  • Wooden frame if you don't want to install the led strip on the back of your TV.

  • Soldering station rather obvious tool

  • Digital multimeter it's mandatory to check connections and verify voltage.

Comments

Nico_P said…
Great articles and great stuff on your blog!
One thing I do not fully understand is, if I were to buy the HDMI splitter from FeinTech, will I need the edition with downscale?
If I understand it correct, lets say source is 4k@60hz bluray with HDCP 2.2, it will display 4k@60hz on both outputs.
If the connected endpoints then is a 4k TV and other is a Rullz video capture card, which supports 1080p@30hz, wont it fuck up the colors as there is no HDCP 2.2 support on 1080p?
awawa said…
Sorry, been busy with just released version 14 of HyperHDR ;) FeinTech VSP01201 has a scaler. It's not written directly but it can downscale the image. I found that information on their page somewhere and indeed it can do it.

It can't change framerate so yes, there will be 4k@60hz on both devices. If the second device can't handle 4k60hz then it will try for example 1080p60 for him. But it can't change it to 4k30 (or 1080p30) even if the second device supports it. Colors probably will be damaged as with the Ezcap 269.
saml said…
Hey so I finally got my HDMI 2.0 splitter in the mail that supports downscaling on one of the sides, but I noticed it it's RGB 8:8:8 instead of 4:4:4. Is that a huge difference that would affect the 4K output at all?
awawa said…
I'm not sure about that RGB "8:8:8" mode...if it's standard RGB 8 bit unlimited mode then it's almost the same as 4:4:4.
saml said…
So now I've run into a different problem.. My TV only supports 4:2:2 I guess, and the splitter can either do two 4:2:2 4K signals with HDR, or one 4K and one 1080p with no HDR. Are there any good splitters that can scale 4:2:2 down to 1080p and maintain HDR?
awawa said…
Check out VSP01201 or something else that fits your setup from feintech catalogue. VSP01201 always accepts and sends HDR to both outputs even if one of them is 1080p.
awawa said…
https://feintech.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/VSP01201-diagram-copy-mode.png
xcarecrow said…
hi, i am pretty new with all of this, i am still in the reading about everything before buy phase. So do we still need grabbers and splitters together to make HyperHDR work or with just any of these straight to raspberri pi 4 would be enough. thanks in advance
https://www.amazon.com/HDMI-Splitter-1x2-4K-60Hz/dp/B07VP37KMB/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=ROFAVEZCO&qid=1614950712&sr=8-2

https://www.amazon.com/Splitter-18GBps-Vision-Aozzy-Scaler/dp/B07QGBH36M?ref_=ast_sto_dp
awawa said…
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awawa said…
There two general situation for consider:

1) your video player has two video output that be used simultaneously, one for TV and one for the grabber (for ex. most modern video graphic card in PC): you only need a USB grabber .For most users even cheap $10 Macrosilicone MS2109 clone is enough.

2) your video player has only one video output then you need a splitter + USB video grabber OR a video grabber with a loop like for example Ezcap 269. The splitter OR then video grabber with a loop should have 4k HDR pass-thru capabilities.

Have not tested these splitters you posted.
Null Geppetto said…
Hi, is there any more detailed diagram on how to connect the additional components (like the voltage shifter and the ESP module)? Many thanks!
awawa said…
The level shifter is described: here and here: SN74AHCT125N

Each of my ESP solution (HyperSerialEsp8266, HyperSerialEsp32, HyperSPI) has detailed pinout summary in the project description. For HyperSerialWLED please refer to the WLED support forum for current information as its pinouts was changed (or is changing constantly recently) that sometimes leads to some serious problems.
Unknown said…
Hi,
I am starting to order the parts for an ambilight project.
My question is, does the splitter need to dowscale one output and absolutely keep hdr? I understand the passthrough to the tv, but I thought the second output to the video grabber doesn't need hdr since hyperhdr has an option to restore hdr color. Thanks in advance for all the help
awawa said…
Hi
All of popular HDMI splitters forwards HDR to the second output anyway, but most of USB grabbers incorrectly process colors. So the final effect is the same as you the solution you've described: HDMI splitter output no-HDR to second output by simply removing HDR meta-tags... unless you invest in something that can correctly downgrade HDR to SDR using hardware hybrid gamma calculation and BT2020 color transformation like HDFury Diva ($499, tax excluded)