Atlona's VGA to HDMI adapter ditches the brick, does 1080p on USB power

Laptops or desktops stuck with only VGA output often need a little help to get their content onto an HDTV, and Atlona is there for them. It's introducing another in a storied line of HDMI adapters, this one taking VGA input and turning it to HDMI output. That's not particularly special, but that this one does it powered only by a single USB port is. It'll also pull in analog audio over a 3.5mm plug and add that to the mix, then pump the results at a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1200. Of course, all that functionality is going to cost you: $120 for the adapter, but it does at least include a six-foot HDMI cable. They're up for order now ahead of a date with the postman next week, and there's another picture waiting for you after the break if you're really into the orange and black scheme.

[Shokz Posted Feb 19th 2010 6:05AM]

Are there actually any HDTV's out there that don't have a VGA + 3.5mm input? That said, I could still probably make use of one of these...

[Jimbob Posted Feb 19th 2010 7:11AM]

@Shokz #

My Phillips Ambilight!

[JoeRodricks Posted Feb 19th 2010 7:38AM]

@Shokz

Are there actually any HDTVs out there that take 1920 x 1200 over VGA?

[dzhiurgis Posted Feb 19th 2010 8:44AM]

@Shokz
The real question is:
Will any of these will do 25fps?

[mrmadcat Posted Feb 19th 2010 9:12AM]

@Shokz

Most of the Samsung models...

[BdgBill1 Posted Feb 19th 2010 9:49AM]

@Shokz
Most Plasmas do not have VGA input and most LCD's do. My Hitachi plasma does not have VGA. I'm definitely looking for something like this device as I am about to upgrade my homebuilt PVR for HD.

[strommsarnac Posted Feb 19th 2010 10:36AM]

@Shokz

Yep. Lots of them. Many now only come with HDMI.

This would also be nice for connecting a VGA based KVM to newer PC monitors seeing as many of them now are only coming HDMI.

[strommsarnac Posted Feb 19th 2010 10:42AM]

@JoeRodricks

Not that I know of. Consider two things though. With this device the TV doesn't need a VGA port. And, many monitors are now coming only with HDMI, so this will allow VGA only devices to connect to them (i.e. KVM switches).

[tkrow21 Posted Feb 19th 2010 11:17AM]

@JoeRodricks 1920x1200? I've only seen a select few LCD monitors / TV hybrids with that resolution.

[MoonWalkerCTE Posted Feb 19th 2010 6:15AM]

For that money I would rather buy a new graphics card like the GeForce 9800 GT for less than $90 comes with an HDMI adapter in the box too. Or Radeon HD 4850 for $110

[N0b0 Posted Feb 19th 2010 6:19AM]

@MoonWalkerCTE
Good luck putting that in a laptop

[Heratiki Posted Feb 19th 2010 6:51AM]

@MoonWalkerCTE Apparently you missed the part where he said Laptops... Just sayin...

[MoonWalkerCTE Posted Feb 19th 2010 6:51AM]

@N0b0 Whats the point of even buying it if your PC does not have HDMI its probably for a reason. It will most likely not have the required performance to do any HD or gaming for that matter. Your better of saving up for a better laptop.

[Jimbob Posted Feb 19th 2010 7:15AM]

@MoonWalkerCTE

There are good reasons to use this over HDMI on a desktop too. My HTPC has HDMI out but I use the DVI out and a converter because it removes the HDMI encryption that caused my TV is go nuts after resume from standby.

[cc82 Posted Feb 19th 2010 8:25AM]

@MoonWalkerCTE
I have a Thinkpad, primarily for work, but occasionally like to hook it up to my tv to watch Netflix, Hulu, etc... Came standard w/ VGA... which works fine w/ my tv for 1080 resolution.

[Dafrety Posted Feb 19th 2010 11:49AM]

@MoonWalkerCTE
Oh hai! My Dell Vostro 1500 with a Core 2 Duo (2.2 GHz), 4 GB RAM, and a Nvidia 8600M GT only has VGA and S-Video. This would be very useful for me, as I have no intention of ditching it anytime soon.

[pohatu771 Posted Feb 19th 2010 2:51PM]

Not everyone is using high-resolution screens for gaming. A large, high-resolution display is great for recording studios... they aren't graphically demanding, but the bigger display, along with fitting more on it, saves a lot of time in scrolling up and down or left and right.

[MoonWalkerCTE Posted Feb 19th 2010 4:05PM]

@pohatu771 then why use HDMI?

[cdf74dc9 Posted Feb 19th 2010 6:26AM]

Sound like a good idea. Plug this in my rear and fire up the projector. Why would anyone want to buy a portable netbook then buy this? Might as well buy a laptop so you don't have to deal with the mess.

[richb93 Posted Feb 19th 2010 6:45AM]

@cdf74dc9 Plug this in my rear and fire up the projector.

1080p ass FTW.

[Plexus Posted Feb 19th 2010 7:51AM]

@richb93

Are you sure you want that in your rear ?

[bitingback Posted Feb 19th 2010 6:40AM]

Can someone explain what the timing switch is for?

[JoeRodricks Posted Feb 19th 2010 7:37AM]

@bitingback

It's for timing.

Probably adds an artificial delay to the audio to make up for the delay inherent in converting the analog VGA to digital HDMI.

[DAZA Posted Feb 19th 2010 7:37AM]

@bitingback I believe it's to do with clock synchronisation, I wish I could tell you more but I'll leave this for someone who knows more. My understanding is the TV is expecting the signal to come every so often and if it does not receive what it expects at the right time the image will be distorted/corrupted.

[bitingback Posted Feb 19th 2010 7:44AM]

@DAZA (+ JoeRodricks)

Thanks for that! If only it looked a bit nicer...

[Digiboi Posted Feb 19th 2010 9:10AM]

@bitingback
It is for TV's that don't send an EDID signal on the HDMI to indicate the max resolution they support or if you have an older HiDef tv, select between 720p and 1080i.

I am seriously considering this because my tv supports 1080i/720p but my AV receiver supports 1080p. I can't get my HTPC to stay at the correct resolution unless it has both a VGA connection and the HDMI connection to fool it. Soon as I unplug the VGA, it autodetects the 1080p support and I lose the picture.

[Balatro Posted Feb 19th 2010 6:41AM]

Nice to see one for VGA as well! I was happy to see the Kanex one that converts mini-DP/audio to HDMI, though it's about half as much. Then again I think that converter doesn't include an HDMI cable.

[3rdsun Posted Feb 19th 2010 9:55AM]

@Balatro
I was looking for one of these for my netbook for a long time now. Hope it get cheaper though

[MoonWalkerCTE Posted Feb 19th 2010 6:43AM]

why cant i reply

[BOGRASH Posted Feb 19th 2010 7:32AM]

@MoonWalkerCTE because you died last year

[richb93 Posted Feb 19th 2010 6:46AM]

So then, who's up for modding this into a Dreamcast? ;D

[stridermt2k Posted Feb 19th 2010 7:38AM]

This is the kind of product I get requests for from my customers.

It doesn't matter what kind or how many connectors something has, somebody is going to want to interface it one step....BEYOND!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-uyWAe0NhQ

[cc82 Posted Feb 19th 2010 8:24AM]

Eh, my tv has vga input, I can run 1920x1080 from my laptop no problem.

[Ksult1 Posted Feb 19th 2010 8:46AM]

Seems like a good way to avoid analog signal loss in a relatively long run. VGA is terrible in that sense.

[mrmadcat Posted Feb 19th 2010 9:15AM]

This is exactly what I want but not at that price tag :( Make it about GBP £20 and then we'll talk :)

[Esat Dedezade Posted Feb 19th 2010 9:31AM]

Would this work with the VGA only Xbox 360?

[KAL326 Posted Feb 19th 2010 9:52AM]

@Esat Dedezade Probably, but you would probably be better served with a set of component cables as it will do 1080p over component. Also you would need the VGA cable for the xbox and then this which would be a bit pricey. Also, most likely your box shipped with the HD component cable.

[Esat Dedezade Posted Feb 19th 2010 10:34AM]

@KAL326

Thanks for the info. I do have a vga cable already and I''m running it on my monitor at 1080p anyways so for this price it's probably not worth the difference in quality. Cheers!

[Caprice Dates Posted Feb 19th 2010 10:41AM]

@Esat Dedezade Dude they have an HDMI adapter and component cable for the 360, so how is your 360 VGA only?

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/catalog.aspx?sd=2&g=0&c=10&st=xbox+360&p=1

[dez Posted Feb 19th 2010 10:31AM]

Think of it as a $120 HDMI cable with a free adapter.

[jcroscigno Posted Feb 19th 2010 2:17PM]

This is all fine and good I suppose, but isn't there a possibility of HDCP conflicts? I seem to remember that VGA doesn't have HDCP and therefore won't plaly some HD content (or something like that)...

[ribo Posted Feb 19th 2010 2:26PM]

Atlona seems to have quickly and quietly become king of obscure conversion adapters... (no, I'm not a shill)