Hey all! Fell deep into the rabbit hole of DIY ambilight and here we are.
First off, thanks for the board approval to be able to post.
Second I've read and searched a lot, and I know I'm probably one of the least DIY-capable among you, but hoping to find a happy solution in between bought kit and DIY solution.
I have a Samsung TV, nVidia Shield 2019 (non pro/no usb port), and a virtual machine PC in another room serving up some Linux goodies via wifi (Home Assistant, Pi-Hole, etc). I want to add an ambilight solution to my setup, but am trying to see how I would do it by adding Hyperion.
1. Hyperion NG (self compiled) is running on the VM PC (PC is not anywhere near TV). VM = DietPi distro if it matters.
2. Great beta program called Android Screen Grabber (https://hyperion-project.org/t…roid-screen-grabber.2708/) which I installed on my Shield. I verified that it connects and I saw the screen output in the webui of Hyperion.
3. I see tutorials and kits all coming with Arduino Uno and WS2112B with a setup like this:
First question is this, am I even able to use such a setup with my nVidia Shield TV? Is the USB connection that's coming out of the controller box (Arduino Uno I think?) strictly for power and can be plugged into my TV USB port? Or does that USB plug need to go into my grabber device (e.g. RPi)? Hopefully it's just for power, and so my next follow up question is...
What is the simplest way I could use this setup and add wifi ability? I would want this kit to connect via wifi to my Hyperion NG server that's in the other room, to then have Hyperion beam back the info to the Android app running on the Shield. Phew. Seems complex when I write it out. But I guess just trying to see if I can avoid buying additional components (like an RPi) and use the VM in the other room to the max. I found this: https://hyperion-project.org/t…-esp32-for-hyperion.3004/ Which made me question if there was an easier way to add wifi to an Arduino Uno and then discovered shields: https://www.adafruit.com/produ…-NSwqTwtfQIxoCDN8QAvD_BwE
Would this work? Would I be able to power the LEDs, Arduino, and its wifi shield off the 5v USB from TV? Again I'm not that great with wiring or soldering, so am trying to avoid if possible. But also not wanting to pay Philips $500+ (box, bridge, lights).
I know this setup is not going to get me DRM-free content (4K-HDR-CEC-ARC-LOLLLL) holy grail ambilight. The mere thought of looking at HDMI splitter reviews is making my head spiral. I figured I could try to obsess over that once I get SOME content working first.
Thanks for reading!