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05-30-2020, 11:20 PM
dmwesq dmwesq is offline
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During our stay at home time my family has developed a liking for watching movies outdoors. I have been trying to adapt some of my older equipment to make this happen, and to do that had to make some small investments to round out the equipment needs. However, I am one step short of completing the process, and not sure if there is a solution or if I have to bite the bullet on some bigger purchases.

Here is my current setup. I already own a screen, so I have that covered. I have an older Viewsonic PJD5123 DLP Projector, which is probably the weak link since it has no HDMI input and everything has been modified to work with this. If we use a computer with a USB-C to Serial adapter we can watch content and we have a wireless speaker that pairs just fine with the computer.

I also bought a new inexpensive DVD player, LG BP175 to play DVD's (I will probably replace this as I didn't realize it didn't have a wireless streaming mode - only wired). The DVD has only an HDMI output and I bought an HDMI to serial adapter so we could hook this up to the projector. The picture plays beautifully but there is no sound at all. I'm guessing this could be because of the conversion of the HDMI to the serial port? I don't see any other way to bring audio over unless I find a DVD player that has separate audio out port that we can use, or is it time to bite the bullet and get a new mini projector that will have more current ports to use?
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  #2  
05-30-2020, 11:57 PM
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lordsmurf lordsmurf is offline
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Quote:
If we use a computer with a USB-C to Serial adapter we can watch content and we have a wireless speaker that pairs just fine with the computer.
Quote:
I don't see any other way to bring audio over unless I find a DVD player that has separate audio out port that we can use, or is it time to bite the bullet and get a new mini projector that will have more current ports to use?
Those are the 3 options available.

- computer with HDMI video + mini (or mini>RCA) audio
- new HDMI projector
- DVD player with HDMI video + RCA audio

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  #3  
05-31-2020, 10:28 AM
BW37 BW37 is offline
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There are "HDMI audio extractors" that can pull the audio portion out of an HDMI signal and feed it to another audio amplification system via analog or SPDIF, usually both. Amazon lists dozens of them, many are also HDMI splitters or switches. I have used them successfully in a couple applications. For instance I feed an HDMI output from a ROKU through one to supply a DVI signal and separate analog audio to an old CRT TV.

I wish I could recommend a particular unit, but what I bought a couple years ago is no longer available anyway. Like most small, inexpensive electronics today, the market is very fluid and the quality is always somewhat suspect. As the saying goes, YMMV but it might be worth a try.

BW
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  #4  
05-31-2020, 11:56 AM
lingyi lingyi is offline
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Assuming your DVD player has digital audio out, which would be unusual if it didn't, you can use a digital to analog adapter like these:
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_s...language=en_US
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  #5  
05-31-2020, 05:04 PM
dpalomaki dpalomaki is offline
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There are also HDMI-to-YPrPb + R/L audio converters that might work for you
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  #6  
06-04-2020, 03:45 PM
dmwesq dmwesq is offline
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Thanks for the responses. This has become a much more difficult task than I originally thought. It seems like I'm introducing too many splitters, converters, and workarounds and still not getting things to work. Right now I'm leaning towards the simplest solution even though it will cost a bit more and just buy a new projector.

I thought I had things figured out today but then the newest bluray I bought did not work well with the serial adapter, even though a previous bluray did work but had some other limitations. The current bluray, a Sony BDP-S6700 keeps switching every second or two from the main screen to playing media. Neither of the other two blurays or dvd players I hooked up did that, so I have no idea why this one is doing it. The support from one of the stores stated "The BluRay player may be applying a more robust form of copy protection to all outputs and will not pass the signal to the analog input of the projector."

So now I'm leaning towards a new projector, and just waiting to see if anyone will be getting the one I want in soon, as they all seem to be back ordered.
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  #7  
06-04-2020, 04:18 PM
dpalomaki dpalomaki is offline
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FWIW: found a refurbished HD (1920x1080) projector on the Epson store web site several weeks ago. It lacks some of the bells and whistles (e.g., no s-video in or audio out) but the price was right. It seems to work well in male cave.

https://epson.com/Clearance-Center/Home-Entertainment/Home-Cinema-1060-1080p-3LCD-Projector---Refurbished/p/V11H849020-N

FWIW: I was having problems with an older Panasonic Blu-ray player trying to play recent BD discs. Turns out it needed a firmware update. Worth checking firmware versions in your gear if you encounter erratic behaviors, especially if it is more than a couple years old. Applies to projectors as well as media players.
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06-04-2020, 04:42 PM
dmwesq dmwesq is offline
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I turned the projector off and then restarted it and it played fine. I don't think firmware is the issue - just too many adapters trying to make new equipment work with an older projector. At some point things can only be as good as the weakest link, right? There has to be some loss of quality if I'm taking a digital signal from a bluray player and converting it to an analog video and a separate analog audio so that it would work with the projector. As I said I would love to save the money but my brain is saying go with a newer projector where you don't have multiple points of conversion to deal with.
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  #9  
06-04-2020, 05:00 PM
dpalomaki dpalomaki is offline
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The projector you have is native 800x600, OK for DVD but not a good choice for Blu-ray material. It down scales 1920x1080 material in the component input stream. However, it may be OK for your outdoor shows. It doesn't get dark enough for projection until 9 PM-ish depending on where you are.

I guess drive-in movies are seeing a rebirth of interest. Use the car 4+ speaker surround stereo FM radio instead of the lame mono window speaker. And tinted windows do give more privacy to those in the back seat. [Social distancing????]
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  #10  
06-05-2020, 08:35 PM
dmwesq dmwesq is offline
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Well I took a chance and bought a few accessories recommended by B&H Photo and gave things a try, but the video is still not working properly where it can't find the signal and the audio doesn't work at all. They had recommended coax digital cable into a coax to analog splitter which then outputs through two RCA jacks and into the projector with a mini plug. All I get is some whining noise out of the projector. At this point I am giving p and waiting for my projector of choice to be in stock. I have a friend who is going to lend me a newer projector and I can make sure with a projector with an HDMI connection that all will work properly before I buy one.
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  #11  
06-06-2020, 11:15 AM
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lordsmurf lordsmurf is offline
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B&H salesman are damned-near con artists. They will say whatever BS will sell you stuff. More than once online, I've called them out -- and a few times they responded, with mealy-mouthed non-apologies for their salesman spouting factually-challenge nonsense. I quit using them years ago, for that very reason. Adorama salesman are far more knowledgeable, and far more honest, if not doing your own research.

Trust your gut: get the newer and better projector.

Like you, I often resist newer/better things (and of course, more expensive). The old may still "work", have value, etc. Sometimes workarounds and repairs work great. But sometimes I'm just punishing myself and wasting time. When it comes to audio/video, it's the latter. At some point, our old TVs/projectors and DVD/BD players no longer do the job needed. Grit your teeth and buy it, then you'll ungrit as you start to enjoy the new toys. "Wow, best thing I've done in a while!" That's the response you want. Not "Why isn't this $%#&@ thing working!"

I remember never going to the drive-ins, neither parents (when younger) nor friends (when older) like them. So I never got to go to one. And then I remember when the last one was demolished, before one of my early moves.

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  #12  
06-06-2020, 11:37 AM
dmwesq dmwesq is offline
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Thanks for the tip about B&H v Adorama. I have used Adorama a few times and may have to try them again and see how they are.

Yes, I agree it is time to upgrade. Not looking for anything too fancy, and prefer to go with a mini projector so it is also easy to travel with. I have to say doing research is hard unless you have some level of expertise. Every product has good and bad reviews, and it seems unless you go higher-end every one has some limitations as well. For what we need I was leaning towards the Viewsonic M1+, but it is currently back-ordered.
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  #13  
06-06-2020, 12:24 PM
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- Adorama may have it in stock for $299
- OfficeDepot/OfficeMax supposedly has it in stock for $289
- NextWarehouse has it in stock for $339

I'm not a big OD/OM fan, would rather use Adorama. But I've also used NextWarehouse when nobody else had what I wanted (and sometimes it cost a wee bit more, sometimes less).

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  #14  
06-06-2020, 01:21 PM
dmwesq dmwesq is offline
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Thanks - I'll check. Adorama doesn't have it - I called and they drop ship from Viewsonic. Viewsonic won't have any until end of the month or early next month, but I can wait. Office Depot only has the M1, which is missing a couple of features that the M1+ has.
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