[OFFICIAL]MHL - Looks like microUSB - all HDMI info here

[Stryfe]

The MHL standard specifies a 5pin port that can output HD video up to 1080p/60 and 192 kHz 7.1 channel audio to HDTVs. And that

 

[EarlyMon]

July 4, 2011:

This subject has advanced quite a bit since the pre-release days. The historical record of this thread, and initial videos on MHL are all found in this post now.

You can feel free to skip this stuff.

The deal is simple: your phone has what looks like a microUSB port, but it's an MHL port. It is capable of acting directly like the microUSB you're already used to on Android - or with an adapter can serve full HDMI and charge at the same time - or with an MHL TV (coming soon) do the same without an adapter.

(don't let the dates throw you off - mod thing. )

Spoiler

yeah but if this port breaks... you lose a lot.. a major CON in this new connector standard.

Errrr... if the OG EVOs USB port breaks you lose almost as much (well you can ahve fun with your HDMI port until things run out of juice). I don't see this new port breaking inherently worse than the port breaking in the current device.

reading the above this new port does a lot more. its hooked into a lot of features in the device according to the above. if the port were to malfunction, it could potentially cause some issues downstream.

hey im not trying to be a wet blanket, just my observation. im getting the device on launch day. the "Superman" port is not scaring me but i felt the urge to post my opinion.. ;-)

The OG Evo's USB port is very temperamental and if you get too rough with it, you'll be taking a trip down to the Sprint store for a replacement device. I hope they make this port beefier so it take more of a beating.

Oh no worries. I just don;t see how you would be worse off if this port broke than if your current usb port broke. It seems like yu would be equally SOL once your battery runs out. So, in the immediate sense, breaking the port on the 3D would be worse. By the end of the day, come charging time, both phones would be equally dead in the water.

Exactly, nothing more critical would be loss than a standalone USB port. So you wouldn't have HDMI until port repaired, but you can just DLNA to another device. And even with charging, you could still have spare batteries (hopefully the same cheapo Chinese ones that I bought for the Evo 4G).

It looked to me like (a video I saw) we will have an adapter that allows from playing content on < HDMI 1.4 and simultaneously plugging things in. Aside from (most likely) having to buy this sepparatly, I truly have no issues with it. Now I am just corssing my fingers that we get netflix on this beast. This way I can watch netflix in the bedroom on the blue moon that I feel like watching in there rather than the living room.

MHL is so new it's hard to find standalone cables. I went to monoprice for something else and on a whim I searched MHL. Nothing. Google revealed a bunch of nothing as well. Pretty cutting edge standard.

In the process of testing MHL with various HDTV manufactures. Just received the expanded RCP Protocol library. No official MHL Rev# as of yet. Included in the new RCP expansion is Dolby SRS surround sound 8.1 audio and enhanced 3D video support. The new RCP is going to allow us to expand development towards, laptops, desktops, HTPC, in the hopes of creating a docking station. Next were going to run EVO 3D on a full out gaming system and see if we can take advantage of current EVO 3D mirroring technology to play 3D content via our gaming system. Ported over our original BT library on this EVO 3D and k/b, mouse, and D-pad is working. I'll post some updates later. I know cabling is a concern and the packaging we received includes MHL dongle and std wall charging unit. Once you recieve your EVO 3D you will be able to plug right into HDTV with out the need to purchase any new cables. Assuming of course you already own a std hdmi cable.
BSOD

^Another one that proved false.

in order for you to be able to charge your phone while you watch videos connected to your TV,you have to have a TV that surports MHL. so whats the point of having this tech on the EVO3D now? i don't think anyone is going to run out and spend a whole bunch of money on a new TV just to be able to charge their phone while they watch videos. there's an adapter that you can buy to be able to do this on your current TV and im willing to bet that sprint will conveniently sell them. i hate being force to buy things just to be able to use some of the features of my phone. it's bad enough that we have to buy a special case if we want a kickstand.maybe sprint should include the adapter with the phone.

If everyone waits to launch new tech in their devices because it isn't the set standard yet we wouldn't get anywhere. It has to start someplace, right? They already mentioned they would be including some sort of adapter so that we can plug in a charger and hdmi at the same time if need be.

Frankly, I think the whole MHL thing missed the boat and is now poised to gain mindshare and kill off what I've been waiting for - What is HDBaseT? - HDBaseT

your right,it has to start somewhere,but i don't think it's a good idea to use tech that's going to cripple your phone which this new tech does unless you have an adapter.if sprint includes it with the phone then there will be no problem,but if they don't and if you don't want to spend more money on an adapter,what are you suppose to do?? it's useless.you can't charge your phone while watching videos on your HD TV.

With the original EVO you already had to go out and buy a new cable (micro HDMI to HDMI). I literally don't see this as any different. It's pretty standard that phones only come with a means of charging and data transfer (where the standard seems to be USB today).

Just some info I came across -

BizLink - HDMI

No idea if they're trying to get to the measly 50 mA/5 V available on the HDMI, tho.

A pigtail breaking out HDMI and USB (for power) would seem to be ideal, to me, for users of legacy TV equipment.

MHL Consortium aims to put HDMI in every smartphone

MHL Frequently Asked Questions

Can u use a normal HDTV or do u need a MHL HDTV?

If you want the TV to charge your phone, you will need one that supports the MHL standard. On a regular HDTV, it will work as a regular HDMI input from the phone.

So if i use a samsung MHL to HDMI adaptor shown in the link below, i can use any HDTV and charge my phone, so then i dnt need a MHL HDTV ay


Samsung Galaxy S II (I9100) MHL Cable | SGS2 Accessories

Ive just found the answer to my questions, You will be able to connect an MHL phone to a non-MHL TV through the use of an adapter, without the an adapter on non-MHL TV, it works the same as HDMI cable. Just no charging feature

Thanks for the quick reply anyways matey

adapter? not necessarily. MHL is so new that no one is selling cables for it yet. But there are a couple of cables/adaptors that you could use to achieve what you want.

Case 1: MHL phone --> non-MHL TV:
1) MHL cable where one end is micro USB(male), other end is HDMI(male). In this case, no charging occurs
2) MHL cable / Y-adaptor where one end is micro USB(male) and other two ends are HDMI(male) and USB-A(male). The HDMI goes to TV, while the USB-A goes to a computer or A/C wall charger. In this setup, you CAN charge and do HDMI mirroring to the TV. It's just that the TV isn't the device that's charging the phone.

Case 2: MHL phone --> MHL TV:
1) same cable as in #1 above. Difference is now the TV is charging your phone while you HDMI-mirror.
2) cable / Y adaptor from #2 above really isn't necessary anymore, although you could still use it.

Expect to see all sorts of different combos of connector ends on MHL cables. Typically it's going to be some form factor of USB on one end, and some form factor of HDMI on the other.

Check out that link - it's the Y-adapter and more, if I'm reading the picture correctly.

Said to be sold this June in the UK - I found nothing similar in the US or by search Samsung sites (including by part number from the Samsung UK site).

yeah, i've seen nothing in the US either.

Early, you still secretly hoping that MHL flops?

An adapter, in my mind, is a no brainer. I would hate to be streaming from my phone and just have it die only because I don't have a brand spanking new TV (or other compatible device). I am sure we will have something like this in the US. It would be utterly foolish not to...

Yeah, I dunno.

If it lowers costs on the phone side and raises reliability (one less connector for HDMI), then that's good for the consumer and so I guess I'm always for that.

Somehow tho, this strikes me as a iPod-connector knock-off and not a good one - it's just another all-in-one connector at the end of the day.

I've got an older Sammy HDTV in the bedroom with some whacked iPod adapter input - not standardized, a Sammy special - that never took off so they dropped it.

Seems like Sammy - a big HDTV maker and SGS2 maker - is all over this, and the spec costs money, it's not open for publication. Just all sounds like an opportunity for some kinda brand lock-in that makes the hair on the back of my neck tingle.

YMMV - and plus, I am often reactionary on some new tech (no known reason, I just am).

Again, tho, the takeaway is that if this is really good for the consumer, then I'm for it.

PS - as I stated earlier -



Maybe if they're smart enough to allow both on TVs - but - I doubt it.

The samsung Y-adaptor will be out in a month or so. U can then charge ya phone while watching media from ya phone, but i thought of somthin, y would u need this if u can stream from ya phone to ya ps3 etc.. dont get me wrong a sgsII in the samsung dock would look real neet and to use ya tv remote to view ya phones content will be flashy, but its a lil bit much money to buy the accessories needed just to be flash to ya mates, wen ya can stream free to a ps3 with no cables etc...

Can this MHL mirror the phone just like a tv out, coz playin games on ya tv via ya phone is fun

Expectation from the CTIA vid (as I recall, could be wrong) is that full display mirroring to a TV via the MHL port is allowed.

To stream to your PS3 via DLNA, the content has to be stored on the device - DLNA is a file serving protocol. I've yet to see it support stream-in (say to the phone) to stream-out (say to a PS3). Doubt it ever will perform stream-relay until we have much faster networks - and probably not even then.

Thanks for ur reply,

I hope MHL does do mirrorin coz i stream movies on my mobile instead of downloadin them and then watch them on my phone usin an app called "Megaveiwer pro", so to be able to stream from my phone and watch them on my tv would be nice.

Im lost with ya streamin answer, ps3 streams any content from my SGS nicely, and videos at 1080p with full surround sound, so stream can do anythin MHL can do but with no cables, just u dnt get a nice fancy menu and u cnt control it via the tv control, but hey if u have a ps3 control then all good.

So will audio be transferred over this magical cable as well? Unless I am mistaken, the current HDMI out on EVO only outputs video, right?

The spec allows it over HDMI, even mini - HDMI - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Got a cable, used it a week, left it somewhere in an airport or hotel with a charger - cannot remember at gunpoint - but so far as I recall - audio worked...

Seems we had a demo of it by ... by NeoteriX, here it is:

http://androidforums.com/htc-evo-4g...vo-playback-hd-720p-movies-over-hdmi-out.html

Clowns had best allow it on MHL - got to, srsly.

Guess I am wrong then. I thought, at least early on, that audio was not enabled for whatever reason. Will be nice to see full mirroring, assuming audio is included

The full HDMI mirroring available for the OG Evo (via root) supports audio... so one way or another, we'll have sound for Evo 3D.

Ok, so just for my personal knowledge, does this mean that the full HDMI mirroring was only available via root?

On the Evo 4G - Yep.

And only within the last few months. A month back or so, I was looking into custom kernels and noticed this new thing called HDMwIn, so I googled it and found out full HDMI mirroring had been accomplished on the Evo 4G. So as long as you have a kernel that is modded to support it, and you get the mirroring app, you're all set.

I tested it on stock as well as CM7. got perfect video and audio output to my TV.

That's what I thought. I wonder why on earth anyone ever thought it was a good idea to only mirror SOME video and no audio on the EVO 4G. Hopefully they actually give real HDMI mirroring. I don't know that I would ever find myself watching a 3d movie on a big screen and even considering listening to the audio over the phone...

Looking back through the Evo threads, I think the no-audio thing was simply an issue some people had due to bad cables, etc. If an app output was on HDMI, it included audio. Once the root-only full mirroring was fully out, it had audio as well (there are two apps for that on the Evo, per Murphy's Law, some seemed to have issues with one or the other during the app development, now cured). AFAIK.

From what I remember of the 26 min vid of the HTC or Sprint Rep during CTIA, HDMI functionality was complete. The current phone content (IE games, apps, screens) would be shown exactly on the TV as they are on the phone and A/V would be mirrored. In regards to video, if the phone was connected to a TV, the TV would show the vid, but the phone would not. In essence, the E3D would be the computer and the TV would be the monitor/speakers.

Stupid question:

So, I have to have a TV with a MHL Link too? Or, is MHL on the EVO 3D's side, and on the TV's side I use HDMI?

ftfy

MHL can do this:

phone MHL -> (cable) -> MHL-capable TV

phone MHL -> (adapter cabling) -> HDMI-capable TV

See above, post numbers in the early 20s.

^
That helps. Thank You!

Here is the link. At 2 min, the rep talks about app/game/phone mirroring. At 18 min, she speaks of the vid-to-tv function.

YouTube - CTIA 2011: Sprint HTC EVO 3D Hands-On Demo

1:07 into the video above.

I am still trying to comprehend how a 12-pin port can convert to full HDMI.

MULTIPLEX MOBILE HIGH-DEFINITION LINK (MHL) AND USB 3.0 - Patent application

OK - finally! A clear vid on MHL, except for the weener doing the interview that won't stop interrupting.

YouTube - Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL)

The guy being interviewed knew his stuff - he had to bork around the cork-screwed questions, so be prepared to watch twice to separate when MDL and when straight HDMI was being discussed.

I saw that demo Vid to. She said you can plug it into hdmi and there is a charging cable that plugs into that cable. It's an accessory so gotta buy it separate, but hey sounds cool to me. Better then going out and buying a new tv to watch your mobile visa on. Lol.

HTC EVO 3D Will Have HDMI Port Compatibility Without an HDMI Port Thanks to MHL [Video]

MHL info. I'm cool with it.

For those that might know, anyone see these in retail outlets yet? I've looked but have yet to see anything like this and sales folks also know of no ETA.

 

[marctronixx]

 

[NeoteriX]

Very nice!! Where did you find one of those?

 

[Kurakka]

I apologize if this has been discussed before, but can some one confirm if the HDMI Type D connector that was used on the original EVO would also work with this new connector type? To me it would work out as I have one of those cables.

 

[EarlyMon]

I apologize if this has been discussed before, but can some one confirm if the HDMI Type D connector that was used on the original EVO would also work with this new connector type? To me it would work out as I have one of those cables.

Nope, not unless the MHL->HDMI adapter (you'll have to buy separately) has that type of HDMI connector.

 

[lafester]

also curious where you found one. looks like the one @ expansys for $16.99 but its on pre-order. does this cable have a micro usb out for charging? I can't tell from the pics but i kind of looks like there is a port on the side.

edit-- looks like it does

 

[EarlyMon]

Product description says "simultaneous charging" - don't see how that can be other than a USB charging port. Nice.

EXPANSYS MHL microUSB to HDMI Adapter (Black) #J135B-001B - Expansys USA

And do my eyes deceive me - or isn't that a full-size HDMI socket? Also nice if true.

 

[lafester]

looks like this is the one to get. the htc one is $38.99 but comes with an hdmi cable.

 

[EarlyMon]

HDMI cables you get from monoprice.com or way good ones for not much from Amazon.

People say cheap HDMI cables are the same as expensive ones - not always true. But -- HDMI cables that say they're rated for HDMI 1.4 along the insulation, available for cheap, are as good.

 

[lafester]

I agree. bought 5 or so from monoprice awhile ago. I think they were $4 ea.

 

[marctronixx]

yes the adapter i have has a usb port for charging. it also has a full size hdmi port which is great. no need for additional cables.

 

[EarlyMon]

Then that looks perfect and a whole lot less confusing that that Samsung array we pictured earlier in the thread.

 

[marctronixx]

sprint plans to sell the adapter starting july 28. ive got the SKU number written down and i can post it up if anyone wants it or you can send CS an email and ask them. i think expansys is cheaper at 17 dollars. not sure what sprint will charge for it.

 

[Emmexx]

sprint plans to sell the adapter starting july 28. ive got the SKU number written down and i can post it up if anyone wants it or you can send CS an email and ask them. i think expansys is cheaper at 17 dollars. not sure what sprint will charge for it.

Thanks Don't worry about posting the SKU. I was just hoping someone might know of a retailer. I will most likely order one at some point if I don't see something in store by mid-week. I need to stop into my local store in the next day or two anyway to see what they might have for accessories on release day.

I'm honestly looking forward to the mirroring function and just don't want to shell out cash twice: once for the MHL connector and again for an HDMI cable that might not be usable with the MHL connector.

 

[jcunwired]

Having finally purchased micro usb and micro hdmi cables for every place in the house I can use them, out comes a new standard that renders 50% of this obsolete. Yippee!

While I understand that eventually this will provide lots of great functionality and the elimination of additional cables, now we still need two cables + 1 adapter. The fun never ends, does it?

 

[novox77]

I "invested" in 3 microUSB cables when I got my Evo. Monoprice, $6.00. These MHL cables seem pretty expensive still. I'll probably hold off until they become more mainstream. Not dying to do the HDMI mirroring right away.

 

[flyjbaker]

So I understand there is technically no HDMI out on this thing??? And that is served by using the micro-USB port to an adapter or something??? I would assume there is a cord(or there will be one) that is micro-USB to HDMI???

Also, to capture and play 3D on a 3D television, I assume you record in 3D and then just use the micro-USB to HDMI adapter(I honestly don't know the hardware and the reason for my first question) and then you still have to use glasses to view in 3D on the TV???

TIA

 

[EarlyMon]

So I understand there is technically no HDMI out on this thing??? And that is served by using the micro-USB port to an adapter or something??? I would assume there is a cord(or there will be one) that is micro-USB to HDMI???

Also, to capture and play 3D on a 3D television, I assume you record in 3D and then just use the micro-USB to HDMI adapter(I honestly don't know the hardware and the reason for my first question) and then you still have to use glasses to view in 3D on the TV???

TIA

The port is an MHL port. It looks like a micro-USB and can accept a micro-USB directly - but it's a new Mobile HD Link port.

See earlier in this thread for adapters that essentially give a Y - with full-size HDMI out and a micro-USB on the side so you can charge via USB while watching via HDMI.

The 3D recording is supposed to follow one of the 3D standards such that video will stream via HDMI to your TV much the same way it would from a 3D satellite or cable channel. Whether or not you'll need glasses will depend on your 3D HDTV - most, but not all, of those TVs require glasses.

We're expecting TVs in the near future, from Samsung at least, to have MHL ports on them. In those cases, only one MHL cable will be required and the phone ought charge while displaying video over that one small cable.

Hope this helps!

 

[flyjbaker]

The port is an MHL port. It looks like a micro-USB and can accept a micro-USB directly - but it's a new Mobile HD Link port.

See earlier in this thread for adapters that essentially give a Y - with full-size HDMI out and a micro-USB on the side so you can charge via USB while watching via HDMI.

The 3D recording is supposed to follow one of the 3D standards such that video will stream via HDMI to your TV much the same way it would from a 3D satellite or cable channel. Whether or not you'll need glasses will depend on your 3D HDTV - most, but not all, of those TVs require glasses.

We're expecting TVs in the near future, from Samsung at least, to have MHL ports on them. In those cases, only one MHL cable will be required and the phone ought charge while displaying video over that one small cable.

Hope this helps!

Sorry about that!! I guess it was my ignorance of the name of the port that made me miss this....now I know!

 

[EarlyMon]

Sorry about what? LOL - no worries compadre!

Simple case of having to learn all about a new port technology in order to use a phone. (The simple part is sarcasm - I mean - srsly - for a phone. Oh, well, newer, better, onward and upward. )

 

[flyjbaker]

I am still playing catch up on this thing... And of course I never really used the HDMI out on the 4G until the Netflix app and then I went out and bought a couple of cables just a month ago...now this...hahaha. Oh well, should be holding the 3vo here in a couple of hours.

 

[BlackDynamite]

So what is everyone doing for an HDMI cable? I can't find one for sale anywhere.

 

[lpjzfan2005]

So what is everyone doing for an HDMI cable? I can't find one for sale anywhere.

I would get the MHL adapter from expansyes or the one tmobile sells for the sensation because it has the same mhl port. One can be found on the tmobile website for $20 and the expansyes one is $16

 

[billyevo3d]

any info on mhl 2.0 cable gonna come out or any of u lucky to have e3d already in your hands tryed to hookup ur evo 3d into ur 3d tv ?