So, after 6 years (since the demise of the classic apple 30-pin connector), it looks like we have uncompressed video output from an iDevice again (if you didn’t know, Lightning hdmi output was a compressed stream).
Thanks to usb-c adapters hubs and docks, the new iPad Pro can output real display port (up to 5K) and hdmi (up to 4K?).
So, since it’s so powerful, it decodes the latest codecs (h.265), and is dead silent, one could run a long hdmi cable to the sofa (an active cable may be needed to bring 4K over longer than 7m/23ft) and connect it straight to the iPad Pro (which would then pull movies off a NAS, you could even ethernet wire it if you find a compatible usb-c hub with hdmi 2.0 and ethernet).
That said, I have a number of questions (hope somebody is experimenting already with the new ipads video output capabilities) about how it actually works:
- can it output actual 4K60Hz over hdmi 2.0? what about HDR?
- does it output multi channel audio from mkv movies? only compressed DD/DTS 5.1 or also lossless 7.1 formats? What about Atmos? Will apps like Infuse be updated to take advantage of the new video output? (I see an “Output 5.1 over HDMI” option within Infuse currently, I guess compressed formats have been supported for years)
- which popular streaming services actually work? would they output 4K and HDR?
- what about live video from over-the-air-TV-to-network apps (HDhomerun and the like)?
- is it possible to turn off the ipad screen?
The new Mini is powerful but macOS is not a “hot” platform for video playing apps (Kodi for macOS is basically neglected by their dev team)...I have more hope in the Firecore people and the MrMC people on iOS/tvOS...hence a thread about using this beast of an iPad as an HTPC, and maybe even bring an HDMI socket near the sofa in a nice clean way...
Thanks to usb-c adapters hubs and docks, the new iPad Pro can output real display port (up to 5K) and hdmi (up to 4K?).
So, since it’s so powerful, it decodes the latest codecs (h.265), and is dead silent, one could run a long hdmi cable to the sofa (an active cable may be needed to bring 4K over longer than 7m/23ft) and connect it straight to the iPad Pro (which would then pull movies off a NAS, you could even ethernet wire it if you find a compatible usb-c hub with hdmi 2.0 and ethernet).
That said, I have a number of questions (hope somebody is experimenting already with the new ipads video output capabilities) about how it actually works:
- can it output actual 4K60Hz over hdmi 2.0? what about HDR?
- does it output multi channel audio from mkv movies? only compressed DD/DTS 5.1 or also lossless 7.1 formats? What about Atmos? Will apps like Infuse be updated to take advantage of the new video output? (I see an “Output 5.1 over HDMI” option within Infuse currently, I guess compressed formats have been supported for years)
- which popular streaming services actually work? would they output 4K and HDR?
- what about live video from over-the-air-TV-to-network apps (HDhomerun and the like)?
- is it possible to turn off the ipad screen?
The new Mini is powerful but macOS is not a “hot” platform for video playing apps (Kodi for macOS is basically neglected by their dev team)...I have more hope in the Firecore people and the MrMC people on iOS/tvOS...hence a thread about using this beast of an iPad as an HTPC, and maybe even bring an HDMI socket near the sofa in a nice clean way...