4 ms·

Most people’s TVs at this point are basically a 1080 monitor hooked up to a computer (cable box) so I don’t see this as a big challenge. If a monitor is needed

Most people’s TVs at this point are basically a 1080 monitor hooked up to a computer (cable box) so I don’t see this as a big challenge. If a monitor is needed they are quite inexpensive at this point compared to what they used to cost.

lostlogin 6y ago
Is cable that common? Assuming you mean cable tv, it seems that at peak it was only just over half of all homes that subscribed and is falling. Presumably this is due to Netflix et al. However wiki numbers stop a few years back. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_television_in_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_television_in_the_Unit...
- faceplanted 6y ago
  Even without cable boxes, basically every TV has an input you can plug something into, even if you've got one of the extremely old ones you can get an adapter.
- rtkwe 6y ago
  The point about it being hooked up to a cable box isn't particularly relevant unless you're only watching OTA digital TV all your media comes from what can be roughly described as a computer attached to a monitor. And even if you are just watching digital OTA TV any relatively modern TV will have an HDMI port.
ascagnel_ 6y ago
The issue is that the Pi uses a relatively uncommon port (mini-HDMI) for their devices, and while the “Christmas Morning” kit that they’re selling includes the correct cable, it would’ve been nice if this larger device upgraded to use the far more common full-sized HDMI port. This way, they could’ve used a cable they likely already had available instead of needing something special or keeping track of a new cable.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- jwr 6y ago
  Yes! This was such a terrible decision. At a first approximation, 0% of users will use two monitors. Including two HDMI ports on the board was a marketing gimmick ("look ma! two 4K monitors!"), which forced us all into a world of dongles and non-typical cables.
- shimfish 6y ago
  It's not even mini HDMI. It's micro HDMI. And those cables are insanely fragile. I went through 3 in as many days when I got my Pi 4 recently.
- macintux 6y ago
  And HDMI itself isn’t a great choice if you’re hoping to let people use old monitors. I have an old one with DVI and VGA, so I have a DVI-HDMI dongle and HDMI-HDMI mini cable and my first dongle didn’t work because the form factor of the monitor case didn’t allow it to fit. Quite a pain. Of course DVI would rule out old TVs, so I don’t know what the “best” choice is, if there is one.

lostlogin 6y ago

Is cable that common? Assuming you mean cable tv, it seems that at peak it was only just over half of all homes that subscribed and is falling. Presumably this is due to Netflix et al. However wiki numbers stop a few years back. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_television_in_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_television_in_the_Unit...

faceplanted 6y ago
Even without cable boxes, basically every TV has an input you can plug something into, even if you've got one of the extremely old ones you can get an adapter.
rtkwe 6y ago
The point about it being hooked up to a cable box isn't particularly relevant unless you're only watching OTA digital TV all your media comes from what can be roughly described as a computer attached to a monitor. And even if you are just watching digital OTA TV any relatively modern TV will have an HDMI port.

ascagnel_ 6y ago

The issue is that the Pi uses a relatively uncommon port (mini-HDMI) for their devices, and while the “Christmas Morning” kit that they’re selling includes the correct cable, it would’ve been nice if this larger device upgraded to use the far more common full-sized HDMI port. This way, they could’ve used a cable they likely already had available instead of needing something special or keeping track of a new cable.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
jwr 6y ago
Yes! This was such a terrible decision. At a first approximation, 0% of users will use two monitors. Including two HDMI ports on the board was a marketing gimmick ("look ma! two 4K monitors!"), which forced us all into a world of dongles and non-typical cables.
shimfish 6y ago
It's not even mini HDMI. It's micro HDMI. And those cables are insanely fragile. I went through 3 in as many days when I got my Pi 4 recently.
macintux 6y ago
And HDMI itself isn’t a great choice if you’re hoping to let people use old monitors. I have an old one with DVI and VGA, so I have a DVI-HDMI dongle and HDMI-HDMI mini cable and my first dongle didn’t work because the form factor of the monitor case didn’t allow it to fit. Quite a pain. Of course DVI would rule out old TVs, so I don’t know what the “best” choice is, if there is one.