[TriEmbed] Project advice: SmartTV hacking

[Brian Chamberlain]

Hi Scott, Thanks for the advice and suggestions (and very cool
diagram BTW). This client makes media/software for smartTVs. So part of
their development process is that they need to test their content/software
on actual TVs. They have a solution for testing Roku's, AppleTV, game
consoles, etc...since those all have HDMI outputs. But there's a whole list
of major brand TV's and models they want to be able to test in a
similar/consistent way. Their engineering staff is remote so I'm guessing
they'd want to rack and stack these modded TV's somewhere so they can
access the output of the TV via a video stream, controlled by some kind of
IR blaster interface... if that helps paint a better picture.

So, at this point I'm just putting together the SOW (which would include
some exploratory hands-on TV teardowns and investigation) and requirements
gathering. My gut says that there's probably not some silver bullet
solution. Each of these TV's (and maybe even different revs of the same
models) will have very different internals. So every model/brand would be
it's own research project. But perhaps some have debug/diagnostic outputs
somewhere on the main board? Though that really feels like wishful
thinking. But I am also hoping there's some other entirely sane approach to
this.

-Brian


On Wed, Jul 27, 2022 at 12:08 PM Scott Hall <scottghall1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Brian,
> This is done all the time in companies, churches and schools for
> "electronic signage".  First, with the chipsets used, the rendering of the
> video signals is not in a form that can be 'tapped off' to be able to make
> a transmittable signal, unless the motherboard of the TV is already doing
> that for its own features -- in other words already creating an HDMI output
> port.  Essentially what I do when consulting with places is to get an
> external Roku device and forgo the internal "smart" works, then use an HDMI
> distributing amplifier.  If you have more than one signal source, like
> cable, Roku, DVD, etc, then an external HDMI switch is used.  You chain the
> devices together kind of like this:
>
> Cable     ──→╖                  ╓───→ TV or Monitor
>              ╠══════╗    ╔══════╣
> DVR/Camera──→╢4-to-1║    ║1-to-4╟───→ TV or Monitor
>              ║ HDMI ╟───→╢ Dist.║
> DVD Player──→╢Switch║    ║ Amp  ╟───→ TV or Monitor
>              ╠══════╝    ╚══════╣
> Streaming ──→╜                  ╙───→ TV or Monitor
>   Device
>
> a sample link for a 4-to-1 HDMI switch:
> https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00OJMAXZ2/ (really a 4-to-2 switch, as it
> has 2 outputs)
>
> a sample link to a 1-to-4 HDMI distribution amp:
> https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0180PPTNO/
>
> link to a review of switches and dist. amps:
> https://www.gearhungry.com/best-hdmi-splitter/
>
> - sgh
>
> On Wed, Jul 27, 2022 at 10:50 AM Brian Chamberlain via TriEmbed <
> triembed at triembed.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi all, Just wondering if anyone here has any TV hardware reverse
>> engineering experience? I have a client asking if I can pull a usable HDMI
>> signal off of “SmartTVs”. Basically, they want a mirror of what is on the
>> display panel (menus and all). Not just one TV but multiple brands/models.
>>
>> Their current solution is pointing a web cam at the TV from a distance.
>> They’re looking for something more scalable (less space requirements,
>> easier setup, more TV brand selection, etc).
>>
>> My answer to them at this is, “maybe and I’ll look into it”. They seem
>> willing to pay me to do the investigation. Which sounds like fun but I am
>> looking to talk with anyone who might have any experience with this or
>> could point me in the right direction.
>>
>> Thanks!
>> --
>> -Brian
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>
> --
> Scott G. Hall
> Raleigh, NC, USA
> scottghall1 at gmail.com
> *Although kindness is rarely a job, no matter what you do it's always an
> option.*
>
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