Mini-HDMI cable for 5D
 

I'll be testing with a DP1 HDMI field monitor this weekend and need to find a Mini-HDMI cable to connect it to my 5D Mark II. Canon's official HTC-100 is sold out most places, and some reviews on Amazon make it sound like the generic cables don't always work.

Does anyone know if the Quantary 6 foot Mini-HDMI to HDMI is compatible? I can pick one up at the local Ritz camera and save on shipping.

For nine bucks you can get a mini adapter from Radio Shack. The only downside is that it puts some stress on the connector, so you need to be careful with it. I use it at home and I baby it. I wouldn't recommend it in the field on a shoot.

HDMI Female A to HDMI Male C Swivel Adapter - RadioShack.com

Tramm, I Googled Mini HDMI and came up with a place to order for about $5.00.

I get mine from MonoPrice.

3 ft. / $4.05: 3FT Mini-HDMI (Type C) to HDMI (Type A) Specification 1.3a 30AWG Cable | Mini-HDMI to HDMI Cable

6 ft. / $5.07: 6FT Mini-HDMI (Type C) to HDMI (Type A) Specification 1.3a 30AWG Cable | Mini-HDMI to HDMI Cable

Can't beat the cost... I bought several; I keep one near my living room HDTV,
one in the camera bag, one in the laptop bag and a spare in the desk drawer.

HDMI Cable
 

Tramm....when you get your HDMI cable and DP1 monitor..please let me know. I will be purchasing both soon. This way I will know for sure that I am getting the right cable and length and have it when the DP1 arrives. ( I have learned over the years never to assume anything). Thanks!
Tom

I am thinking we should all buy what Hudson is buying cause we know it will be working with Magic Lantern soon....

^^ I hear you Chris. Seeing Tramm talk about messing around with an HD monitor got me all excited! Can't wait to see what he's cooking up in the ol' Magic Lantern. It would be incredible to be able to monitor in full HD wink wink ;)

Monitor in HD? Hell, I want to record in full HD. Enough with this H.264 nonsense. :D

LOL! Yeah, that would be nice too.

My DP1 arrived this morning and I did a quick power-up test while at the office. The screen looks great and the Quantarray cable works fine. Attempting to load Magic Lantern with the HDMI cable plugged in causes err70, so I'll be hacking on supporting it in the firmware this weekend once I get the config file loading working.

See what I mean guys, ? :)

Nice! I just gave them a call to see when the general public can get theirs. I would like to
be able to see what it can do from a editor/cameraman perspective. I am enjoying the momentum that is resulting from your great work with the 5D.
Tramm, Im trying to find the same cable you are using in a 3 foot length. Can you tell me if it is a HDMI A to HDMI C Male to Male ?
Quantaray only makes a 6 foot length and all I need for the Glidecam rig is 3 feet. But I know
better than to assume anything...specially when it comes to cables.Thanks!

Tramm-May need composite instead of HDMI
 

Ive bumped into a problem with trying to implement using the HDMI signal with the X-10 system (with the canon and DP1 mounted on it). It necessitates drilling small (3/8") holes near the top and bottom of the vertical pole (see image 2)
These holes do not accomodate the HDMI plug size. BUMMER. I may have to opt for using the compsoite out of the 5D and send that to the smallHD DP1.
Im sure the cable carrying the composite signal would pass thru the drilled holes . This was an unforseen bump in the road.

One of the problems with composite out was that the video signal out, when connected, created very loud interference with the mic coming in. Some kind of shielding issue, that I don't think is surmountable. That is why I was hoping HDMI in would handle it.

And with Tramm on the case Im sure HDMI will handle it. It just my unique situation
with the Glidecam rig (see link to pix 2 emails up) that seems to make HDMI problematic and AV the possible alternative solution. Ive tried to think of every way
possible to get the HDMI cable thru the 3/8" drilled holes and snaked down the sled tube....but Im almost out of options.

From what I can tell, that's it.

I've posted the first photo of Magic Lantern using the DP1 HDMI display. The firmware needs to be booted with the cable plugged in and the bitmap display doesn't line up anymore, but the first step is mostly working.

EDIT: The log file shows the switch to 480 mode, although the frame buffer doesn't seem to change size. This gives me hope.
[pre]
4125: 17140.743 [BmpDDev] ChangePhysicalScreen (PUB) 0x43F80008
4126: 17146.936 [BIND] bindReceiveNewTFTOLC
4127: 17146.995 [GUI_E] GUI_Control:59 0x88f05c
4128: 17147.088 [MAGIC] Event: 0, 3b, 88f05c, 7
4129: 17151.243 [GUI] HDMI_VIDEO_CODE 5
4130: 17151.347 [DISP] SetDisplayType (PUB) 5->3, fDisplayTurnOn=1
4131: 17151.401 [DISP] WARN PB Reset(2783)
4132: 17151.602 [HDMI] ConnectHDMI : Already Connected
4133: 17151.718 [HDMI] Pana_TurnOnHDMI (Audio = 1)
4134: 17151.767 [HDMI] hdmiWaitForStat (stat = 1)
4135: 17153.689 [HDMI] hdmiWaitForStat : OK (3)
4136: 17153.886 [DISP] SetPBForHDMI DispType=3 fChange=1 HDMIInit=0
4137: 17154.190 [HDMI] ### 0x17d31d, EOS 5D Mark II
4138: 17154.243 [HDMI] Pana_TurnOnHDMI : EDID_COLOR_444
4139: 17154.271 [HDMI] Pana_TurnOnHDMI : FULL_HD_60
4140: 17154.393 [HDMI] hdmiWaitForAvreq (V = 1, 3, A = 1, 1)
4148: 17239.091 [IMP] [FEN] _ProcessFencingC 1510
4156: 17357.661 [HDMI] hdmiWaitForAvreq : OK (V = 0, A = 0, sink = 2)
4157: 17357.686 [HDMI] Pana_TurnOnHDMI : End
[/pre]

5D to DP1
 

Nice looking image. So does this ...

"EDIT: The log file shows the switch to 480 mode, although the frame buffer doesn't seem to change size. This gives me hope."

...mean that you are hopeful that the switch to 480 mode can be avoided and the output
maintain at 1080?
That would be cool. Sure motivates me to want to find an answer to my Glidecam-Wire snaking dilemma!

That is what I'm working on this afternoon. I've added code to call the descriptively named ChangeHDMIOutputSizeToFULLHD() function while recording video. The DP1 flashes as if it has switched to a new mode, but then immediately flickers again and syncs up with 480p.

Looking in the log file, it appears that the movie recording code is continuously checking for a non-480p video setting and calling ChangeHDMIOutputsizeToVGA() to remedy it.

Log file section where my code tries to fix the resolution:
8590: 29142.589 [MAGIC] Attempting to set full HD
8591: 29142.634 [GUI] ChangeHDMIOutputSizeToFULLHD GUI_GetDisplayType(5)
8592: 29142.864 [HDMI] [EDID] dwVideoCode = 5
8593: 29142.929 [HDMI] [EDID] dwHsize = 1920
8594: 29142.960 [HDMI] [EDID] dwVsize = 1080
8595: 29142.985 [HDMI] [EDID] ScaningMode = EDID_INTERLACE(i)
8596: 29143.005 [HDMI] [EDID] VerticalFreq = EDID_FREQ_60Hz
8597: 29143.023 [HDMI] [EDID] AspectRatio = EDID_ASPECT_16x9
8598: 29143.042 [HDMI] [EDID] AudioMode = EDID_AUDIO_LINEAR_PCM
8599: 29143.061 [HDMI] [EDID] ColorMode = EDID_COLOR_444

And a few frames later:
8725: 29520.692 [DISP] SetDisplayType finish Type=3
8726: 29520.766 [GUI] ChangeHDMIOutputSizeToVGA GUI_GetDisplayType(3)
8727: 29520.908 [HDMI] [EDID] dwVideoCode = 2
8728: 29520.946 [HDMI] [EDID] dwHsize = 720
8729: 29520.975 [HDMI] [EDID] dwVsize = 480
8730: 29521.002 [HDMI] [EDID] ScaningMode = EDID_NON_INTERLACE(p)
8731: 29521.025 [HDMI] [EDID] VerticalFreq = EDID_FREQ_60Hz
8732: 29521.047 [HDMI] [EDID] AspectRatio = EDID_ASPECT_4x3
8733: 29521.067 [HDMI] [EDID] AudioMode = EDID_AUDIO_LINEAR_PCM
8734: 29521.087 [HDMI] [EDID] ColorMode = EDID_COLOR_444

As a layman, I wonder if this is indicative of hardware limitations or is just Canons way
of limiting the functions for more political reasons (read... less competition with other products)?

Is a mini-HDMI plug small enough? If that is OK then use a cable with mini-HDMI both ends pull it through the holes & then use an adaptor plug to make it full size HDMI again For only $2.97 each when QTY 50+ purchased - HDMI (Type A) Male to Mini-HDMI (Type C) Female Adapter | Mini-HDMI (Type C) <--> HDMI (Type A)

Nigel that is a great idea. I did think of that and got the statistics on the size of the mini HDMI. The width (the crucial factor for me) is .5 inch. This means the hole should be .6 inch. The diameter of the sled tube (see link several emails above) is only 1 inch.
Im afraid that drilling 2 - .6 inch holes (top and bottom of the tube) would compromise the
weight bearing ability of the object. My backup plan at this point is just to use the AV out sent to the smallHD DP1 monitor. This rig thrives on balance and the cord must run down thru the sled tube for all things to work. I do appreciate your creativity though.

I suspect that you could shave down the plastic part of the plug to get the desired size. The actual 'works' is just the metal part.

Boy, brilliant minds do think alike. I found an old HDMI cable and shaved the sides down to the metal as a test. It could make a difference. The only possible gotcha is I think the plastic might act as an RF shield....but as soon as I get the DP1 I will try out several scenarios before I start drilling.

The soon-to-be-released beta version of 0.1.5 supports HDMI output now, although the bitmap overlay still doesn't line up quite right and the zebras are all screwy. One advantage to using the HDMI output is that the headphone adapter on the A/V jack can be left plugged in all the time since Canon will use the HDMI if both are connected. I haven't verified if we are also getting audio on the HDMI cable since the DP1 is video only.

Additionally, I'm hoping that the staggered startup sequence will also fix the problems for folks with cards that didn't load 0.1.4 very well.

Tramm, you Rock
I hope you are starting to feel the $upport from people all over the world hanging on your laborious endeavors
J

OK... sounds like some great stuff happening in the near future.