CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

Clarence · Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 1:42 pm Post subject: hack your own HDMI input device?

Interesting. Looks like the HDMI input module for a LCD HDTV.

I wish it had some info on the output connector.

$9.99 (qty 5 available)

HDMI HDTV VGA YPbPr1 Audio A/V Converter LCD Receiver
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270162722154

http://auo.com/auoDEV/products.php?sec=lcdTV&func=items&items_id=8&ls=en

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:34 pm Post subject:

Looks like an interesting toy. Did you buy all 5?

CRT_Ben · Joined: 28 Aug 2006 Posts: 1684 Location: Northern Virginia

Clarence · Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:48 pm Post subject:

No, I already have too many projects laying around. I haven't even played with my HDFury yet.

But the auction closed with no bids, I bet you could send the seller a $100 offer for all 5 shipped.

Inflated shipping costs seem like a loophole to set a minimum price. Plus I think the sellers' ebay fees are only calculated on the winning bid, not on the total price with shipping.

Brian Hampton · Joined: 22 Apr 2006 Posts: 1173

It is interesting,..

But my Hdfury solved my HDMI problems before I even had any.

Anyone hoping to hack something that works like that and spend less then the ~$140 or so the Hdfury costs has got to be very talented or very lucky or both.

-Brian

Joust · Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 6:16 pm Post subject:

its one of those deals where he inflates the shipping $ to pay for it.
those should be banned. IMHO

Joust · Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 6:21 pm Post subject:

also, this thing would output digital. not much good without a lot of detailed information about it.
I'd take one for $5 to play with but not much more than that. If it worked out after a lot of r&d and then I could get a lot of them cheap, it might be worth the effort. but for one, or even 5 ....forget it.

ecrabb · Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 7:06 pm Post subject:

Like Joust says, the output is probably digital (TTL) to drive an OEM LCD panel.

I think it's an OEM power/CPU module for an LCD HDTV. It's a power supply tuner, scaler, switcher, and panel driver. Add a compatible LCD panel, maybe a voltage multiplier for the backlight, and an IR sensor, and you could probably scratch-build an LCD TV. The module even has its own LVPS. It was probably a fairly expensive component and you could probably get specs from the manufacturer... But, like Joust says, unless you could get a palette of them, the time invested could be a big waste. It's probably also hardware-limited to one or two LCD panel resolutions like 1366x768 or 1280x720.

SC

CZ Eddie · Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 1601 Location: Austin, TX

Brian Hampton · Joined: 22 Apr 2006 Posts: 1173

Hey,

This is why you have to call it shipping and handling.

Personally once I pay I consider the thing mine and I don't want people handling it but that's another story.

Anyway, selling shipping is all too common it's just part of the game on ebay. If I wanted to list up old video games I have just to keep from throwing them away I would put them up for a penny and charge a dollar extra on shipping for each of them. It's just part of how it works and has been as long as I've known about ebay.

So long as buyers can read ,.. it shouldn't be a problem.

-Brian

CRT_Ben · Joined: 28 Aug 2006 Posts: 1684 Location: Northern Virginia

It's not a problem for the informed buyer, and I respect what you guys are saying, but think of it this way -

For the sellers like you and I, that don't pull this shipping BS, we're paying full ebay fees. The sellers that build the cost of the item into shipping, aren't. So for people like Phil who make a living online, the scumbags have a clear advantage as their operating costs are lower. As you pointed out the ebay fees are not cheap so the advantage is significant for volume sellers. Pretty crappy, huh? That's why I hate Wink

Clarence · Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 2:21 pm Post subject:

Another reason is that typically shipping is not reimbursed on returned items. So inflated shipping charge cuts down on returns.

So I can at least see the method to their madness. As long as the shipping chares are disclosed, I don't mind.

I wish ebay had a sort by total cost (price + shipping)... it's a pain when you're looking for a cable, camera battery, adapter, ink cartridge etc and you have to sort through the 99c items with $14.99 shipping.

justtaint · Joined: 21 May 2007 Posts: 191 Location: Chicago

Clarence · Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 5:04 pm Post subject:

Yep, I noticed they added "Price + Shipping" a few months ago. Maybe ebay read my post. Wink

If they're still reading, I want them to add an option to filter out items with "Reserve Not Met". I don't like undisclosed reserves. I won't even add a "Reserve Not Met" item to my watchlist.

And I've never understood why a seller would list an item with a undisclosed reserve and then give the starting price at less than the reserve? If your reserve is $500, why set the starting price at $250? Why not just start it at $500?

I follow the used Canon lens market on ebay and lenses listed with NR end up selling for much higher than lenses listed with a reserve, even if the reserve is lower than the selling price of recently closed identical items.

justtaint · Joined: 21 May 2007 Posts: 191 Location: Chicago

You set a low starting price to entice more bidders/watchers. What's more enticing than a $500 lens with a $1 starting price? Sure, some people realize the reserve price is much higher, but it still gets them to bid or at least watch the auction.

I somehow missed that this thread was over a year old. My apologies for dredging up an old post.

Clarence · Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 6:39 pm Post subject:

justtaint · Joined: 21 May 2007 Posts: 191 Location: Chicago

Agreed, but which case, high starting price with no reserve or low starting price with a reserve, ends up with the seller achieving the most profit? I don't know.

Its been a while since I've sold an item on Ebay (thanks to Craigslist), but I seem to remember if you have a BuyItNow and a reserve, the BIN doesn't go away until the reserve price is achieved. That could have changed in the years since I've sold something, but I thought that was a way to keep the BIN price option available for longer.

Dave Lister · Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:50 pm Post subject:

Listing fees are based on your start price so listing with a lower start price and a reserve keeps listing costs down, as long as the item sells so you don't have to re-list it.

Overcharging on shipping is not allowed as it is fee circumvention.

I got an e-mail from a US seller today that wanted to charge me US$157 to send a CPU to me in Australia, other sellers have quoted US$25.
Guess who's auction I won't be bidding on?

Ebay is a sinking ship, their attempt at forcing Paypal only in Australia has failed and they are in for a shock when the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) tell them that they also cannot force everyone to have Paypal in order to sell, currently Ebay expect all sellers to have Paypal in their listing (you can't list without it) but that is against the Trade Practices Act 1974, no matter how big Ebay think they are they cannot get past our Trade Practices act if they want to trade in Australia.

They also tried underhanded tactics to get as many people to sign up for Paypal as possible before the ACCC hands down it's final decision, they have sent Ebay a draft notice of their decision but that is just a formality.

The ACCC have acted within a few months on this for the first time ever, normally it takes years for them to act.

Major Australian companies are against Ebays plans and have sent in their views to the ACCC along with over 1000 Ebay users, another record for the ACCC which has never had such a response from the Australian public.

GEBrown · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 729 Location: Denver

Kwint Sommer · Joined: 04 Jun 2008 Posts: 31 Location: MIT