Android device with 50Hz HDMI out?

[PAL Stinks]

Hi,

Short - Does anyone know of any Android device (preferably very cheap) that supports 50 frames per second output over HDMI in either 720p or 1080p?

Being a PAL user, I have encountered a bitter issue with framerates. I want to record a projection in a stage act, and all PAL cameras are stupidly capped to 50 fps, despite our HDTVs all supporting 60 fps. This means I need a video source at 50 fps so my projection doesn't flicker. I can get 50 fps out from my PS3 but it has a pause/play icon in the corner making it unsuitable for the act. I currently use my ASUS Transformer TF101 HDMI out at 60 fps and MoboPlayer to get a UI free video feed, but it's fixed to 60 Hz and the output is unrecordable on PAL cameras.

Thus I need a tablet or widget or media player or something that supports 50 Hz HDMI. Utterly stupid, I know, a niche feature that no manufacturer is going to care greatly to use, but I am forced this way. Even Windows 7 has dropped 50 Hz output and I can't use my laptop! But any device that wants to support media recorded in PAL land needs to support 50 HZ, so someone somewhere must support it.

Thanks.

 

[mikedt]

I think HDMI devices assume a minimum of 60Hz now, because just about all HDMI enabled display devices are dual or multi-frequency capable. I'm in China, which is officially a 50Hz PAL country, but AFAIK all Chinese devices output HDMI at 60Hz minimum, same with PCs. But we don't have PS3s here, as they're illegal. Devices with analogue composite outputs always have an option to select 50Hz PAL or 60Hz NTSC. But PAL or NTSC is irrelevant for HDMI, because it's digital. Maybe there's a solution, find a device that has an analogue composite, S-video or RGB output.

Thinking about it, another possible solution could be the projector. What kind of projector are you using? What technology is it? Is it a CRT one? I'm thinking if you was to use an LCD projector. They don't have flicker AFAIK. The projected image is solid and continous regardless of the frequency of the video source. A DLP projector might not work too well with a camcorder, because they use a spinning sequential RGB colour wheel, you tend to get an odd rainbow strobing effect.

 

[PAL Stinks]

Thinking about it, another possible solution could be the projector. What kind of projector are you using? What technology is it?

It's a DLP, and I can't really change it. It needs to be short-throw, and needs to be HD. I bought the cheapest short-throw HD DLP projector available, the BenQ W710ST, and at an amazing bargain it was still

 

[mikedt]

We got short-throw ceiling mounted DLP projectors in the classrooms at school, where I work. We always drive them from laptop VGA outputs, 60Hz of course, and with a 50hz PAL school camcorder there like a rainbow flicker effect. There's a spinning sequential RGB colour wheel inside a DLP projector syncronised to the frame rate, because that's how they work. Normally we're not camcordering lessons. I can't see the sequential RGB strobing effect of a DLP projector when viewing it directly, because it's too fast. Apparently some people can see it though. LCD projectors don't have this spinning colour wheel.

I assume your projector has analogue inputs, like RGB component, S-video, composite, as well as HDMI. Because you can get an HDMI to analogue video converter box, which should have a PAL 50Hz or NTSC 60Hz option on it. It would probably degrade the signal though, but hopefully nothing too noticeable. I know you can get tablets with analogue outputs, they should have 50Hz 60Hz switching. Don't know of any particular ones though. You can also get Android TV boxes as well, that have analogue composite outputs, as well as HDMI, which again should be switchable frame rate.

 

[PAL Stinks]

Good point on switching to analogue. I'll have a look at that.