Looking for a cheap solution for video playback

[Kingfisher]

Hi everyone, hopefully someone can help or has some ideas for me to further look Into.

I'm looking at replacing a laser I use to light up a small part of the house with a projector, initial I was going to just send the video output directly from my laptop's HDMI port using a ethernet extender, unfortunately I've discovered that the HDMI port is broken, and to compound issues I use QLC+ to run the entire display and it doesn't particularly like to do video playback, well on my system anyway.

So I'm looking for an alternative solution. I do want my QLC in a way controlling what's being played or shown but it doesn't need to be synced.

Any and all help is appreciated, and feel free to ask me any questions.

Thanks, Dave.

 

[KiwiPhil]

Have you done the easy troubleshooting with your hdmi port? Things like Drivers, pressing Windows key + P ?

do you have a usb3 port? sticking with QLC I would use something like this?

Orico USB 3.0 to HDMI Adapter - Umart.com.au

Buy Orico USB 3.0 to HDMI Adapter - Buy Now, Pay Later + FREE pick-up & same day dispatch!

www.umart.com.au

if you totally don't care about Sync, you can install a standalone version of FPP on a raspi 3b+ or 4. Plug the pi HDMI into the projector and just drop all your video files on there, set a schedule on it and you're away. There are also really cheap signage players on ebay that will do the same thing, just play video.

 

[Kingfisher]

Have you done the easy troubleshooting with your hdmi port? Things like Drivers, pressing Windows key + P ?

do you have a usb3 port? sticking with QLC I would use something like this?

Orico USB 3.0 to HDMI Adapter - Umart.com.au

Buy Orico USB 3.0 to HDMI Adapter - Buy Now, Pay Later + FREE pick-up & same day dispatch!

www.umart.com.au

if you totally don't care about Sync, you can install a standalone version of FPP on a raspi 3b+ or 4. Plug the pi HDMI into the projector and just drop all your video files on there, set a schedule on it and you're away. There are also really cheap signage players on ebay that will do the same thing, just play video.

Sadly no USB 3 it's an old laptop and yeah it's the port, if I wiggle it and hold it in a particular place it will kinda connect so something with the physical connection to the board or a trace and something I have no desire to mess about with.

I am kinda leaning towards just running it on a loop, but id like slightly more control over it, basically just the ability to select the file to play. My display is interactive and I have plans that when you make a donation the computer knows and can activate something, I have found a product that might just work for my needs and have contacted the seller about it so just waiting to hear back, hopefully.

Thanks for your help though.

 

[LettCat]

Have you done the easy troubleshooting with your hdmi port? Things like Drivers, pressing Windows key + P ?

do you have a usb3 port? sticking with QLC I would use something like this?

Orico USB 3.0 to HDMI Adapter - Umart.com.au

Buy Orico USB 3.0 to HDMI Adapter - Buy Now, Pay Later + FREE pick-up & same day dispatch!

www.umart.com.au

if you totally don't care about Sync, you can install a standalone version of FPP on a raspi 3b+ or 4. Plug the pi HDMI into the projector and just drop all your video files on there, set a schedule on it and you're away. There are also really cheap signage players on ebay that will do the same thing, just play video.

By saying sync, do you mean that the video and audio will be out of sync on your proposed devices?
I can't imagine any cases where that would be convenient.

 

[KiwiPhil]

By saying sync, do you mean that the video and audio will be out of sync on your proposed devices?
I can't imagine any cases where that would be convenient.

I use 3 FPP in sync and 1 not in Sync:
FPP - main player plays LED show and audio, second plays a virtual matrix, third player has synced video clips, 4th player runs standalone using atmosFX clips to a window - I don't need it to run synced to a show and xlights doesn't support multiple video channels so there is no need for it to be Synced.

Plenty of Halloween shows also use FPP to run out of sync videos for things like pumpkin heads, ghosts etc

 

[Kingfisher]

By saying sync, do you mean that the video and audio will be out of sync on your proposed devices?
I can't imagine any cases where that would be convenient.

My display isn't set to audio. That's why it being synced to music or really anything doesn't matter. Instead I made my display interactive using a bunch of buttons spread on the fence that act like a keyboard and work with QLC+ to make things happen.

Some buttons play music and a selection of lights are synced, other buttons run bubbles or snow, most just change the patterns or colours. I don't label the buttons either and encourage people to push them and discover the magic.

Kids seem to love it and I don't have to worry about placing everything perfectly or programming in a bunch of songs.

 

[LettCat]

I use 3 FPP in sync and 1 not in Sync:
FPP - main player plays LED show and audio, second plays a virtual matrix, third player has synced video clips, 4th player runs standalone using atmosFX clips to a window - I don't need it to run synced to a show and xlights doesn't support multiple video channels so there is no need for it to be Synced.

Plenty of Halloween shows also use FPP to run out of sync videos for things like pumpkin heads, ghosts etc

Wow, this is turning out to be a huge show!

 

[LettCat]

My display isn't set to audio. That's why it being synced to music or really anything doesn't matter. Instead I made my display interactive using a bunch of buttons spread on the fence that act like a keyboard and work with QLC+ to make things happen.

Some buttons play music and a selection of lights are synced, other buttons run bubbles or snow, most just change the patterns or colours. I don't label the buttons either and encourage people to push them and discover the magic.

Kids seem to love it and I don't have to worry about placing everything perfectly or programming in a bunch of songs.

I recently tried Megaslot after I got my lights sorted out. And you know I loved it! I read a review about Megaslot Casino and I decided to try playing there. It's quite a fun thing and I want to recommend it to you, give it a try, you should like it too

Yeah, a little magic is fun. Press the button and see what happens That's a good idea, I like it. How many variations of effects do you get? 50-100?

 

[Kingfisher]

Yeah, a little magic is fun. Press the button and see what happens That's a good idea, I like it. How many variations of effects do you get? 50-100?

Yeah the idea of the buttons came as most people either walk or bike around the neighbourhood and playing the same few Christmas songs out loud practically constantly might not have annoyed the neighbours but would definitely annoy me.

Honestly, I don't know how many variations I get, and I guess it also depends on how you count them. Per element or group of elements control by one button it could be as few as 12 or well over 50. I think the pixel tree alone last year had over 150 patterns.

 

[Iain]

and yeah it's the port, if I wiggle it and hold it in a particular place it will kinda connect so something with the physical connection to the board or a trace and something I have no desire to mess about with.

I'm a little late to the party, but I've had dodgy cables do this to me as well. I couldn't see any mention of trying another cable?

 

[Kingfisher]

I'm a little late to the party, but I've had dodgy cables do this to me as well. I couldn't see any mention of trying another cable?

Yeah thanks for the suggestion but that was my first thought. The HDMI cables are fine.