First project hardware help needed please!

Hey Nightrider.

I've just finished (literally, like yesterday) getting my first setup up and going, and I went a similar route as you, so I wanted to at least give you answers based on my (very limited) experience:

1.) I run all my inputs through my AVR, but unlike yours, mine only has one output. So I bought the small Ezcoo 1->2 splitter (like in your first link), which works a treat. Since your AVR has two outputs, you don't need a splitter at all. Note, that the splitter it does not support ARC or CEC, but I use neither so I didn't care. The bigger one (in your second link) supports CEC, but not ARC as far as I know.

If you intend to get one as future-proofing with regards to adding more things, wouldn't you rather have all those things into your AVR as you do today, instead of adding a splitter after the AVR? If you're running out of HDMI inputs, you could just get a cheap HDMI Switch module to add in front of your AVR. Ezcoo makes some fine ones. But just get one when the times comes.

2.) I think any cheap dongle thing will work, but they're all slightly different. I specifically chose the https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097R3PB36?tag=hyperioforum-21 one because it had a cable attached (to easier fit the Pi) and because it does 60fps and promises low lag. I wish it only had an USB-A plug instead of a C->A converter, but so be it. Since the capture card reads 4K anyway, and outputs 1080p, there's no need to worry about the input being 4K. (again, future proof)

Aside from those two things, I also bought a https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LG646VS?tag=hyperioforum-21 (or ten!) which was recommended as an optional extra to make a steadier signal, and they're pretty cheap so it didn't hurt to add it. Have yet to add that permanently to my circuit.

As for any other info, I don't know how proficient you are with Linux, but I've never touched a Pi before 2 weeks ago, and never used Linux, so I've had quite a bit of trouble getting everything going. I installed the HyperBian image, which allowed me to not have to learn to install an OS and software, but I had to learn how to give my user root access, because the WS2812B strips require root access. Learned all sorts of new words, like Nano and Sudo. ?

My lack of knowledge, however, stops me from being able to upgrade Hyperion, or trying to play with either Hyperion.ng or HyperHDR. But I don't have a HDR TV yet, and don't know what the difference is between Hyperion and Hyperion.ng, so I have some time to hopefully learn a little more about this whole thing.

I'm dealing with some flickering issues, which I'm assuming are the result of the corner connectors being shite, so that's something I'll need to chase down next weekend.

After degrading the signal (in Hyperion) down to something like 160x120, I've gotten the lag as low as I think I'll get it. I'm gonna guess that the lag is probably at least 50-80ms, down from maybe 300-500ms. I know there's always going to be some lag in the capture card and again in the software, so I'll have to learn to live with it. It's still annoying me, however. ?

I've found that the color rendering of the WS2812B is... so so. Purple is near non-existent, yellow is quite green, and white is basically just a pale blue. I'm still learning to understand the brightness/contrast/saturation controls of Hyperion, but I feel that the software itself is maybe not fully capable of doing what I want it to. As you see in the attached image, at the current saturation level the lion gives quite a red color, but the green matches quite well. If I tone down the saturation a bit further - which gives me a far more orange/brown on the lion - I feel I start to lose the blues a bit in other parts of the video.

It's a work in progress! ?

Apologies, I have no idea whether I've just posted the same thing twice. Or even once! All I see on my end is that "This post was deleted by the author themselves" but I didn't delete anything and have no idea why that message appears.

If you use the 2 output of the AVR you limit the output to the TV, both outputs can only ever deliver the same signal it uses the EDID data of both devices. With a Full HD, that won't have much of an impact. With 4K HDR DolbyVision HDCP DRM DeepColor this leads to the fact that only what the grabber can do is released.

Splitter that has EDID copy from the TV and a scaler for the grabber you can partly bypass that.

regards pclin

That's good to know for when I get my 4K TV, thanks pclin!

As I understand it, the Ezcoo splitters don't convert HDR to SDR, nor remove DolbyVision, so I guess those will cause problems in my future, since I doubt any USB grabber card does DV.

No Grabber Card do DV. Only PicCap on LG TV Can do this.

regards pclin