roundaboutnow

Being able to drive over to one of the local Frys in SoCal and pick up a cable or connector adapter or other tech items like KVM switches and network gear the same day has been a life saver on so many projects over the years.

Of the Frys that I have visited, my favorite theme is the Sci-Fi/special-effects Frys in North Hollywood. That UFO "crashed" into the store facade is pretty cool.

PS: I have to say that Best Buy has gotten better in the past few years. Of course they don't have the technology selection of a Frys, but they do have a good store layout and integration with their online operation is pretty good. They seem pretty well organized and they'll price match Amazon, B&H and some other online retailers. Still, I can't imagine Best Buy picking up the brick & mortar market that Frys leaves behind. I wonder if anyone will?

nicholfd said:

dkddkd said:

I am seeing a few quirks with my M1 Mac Mini (16GB | 1TB) - two definitely point to 3rd Party software issues ... the first, which I suspect is Apple related = video issues when waking up from sleep - it happens about 20-30% of the time where I will get a screen of white noise that goes in-and-out, or I will get random patterns that go in-and-out as the computer seems to have issues syncing up with the 1080p monitor ... after multiple attempts to get the machine to wake up with a viewable display, it will finally work ... the two software issues I am running into are Microsoft To Do will unexpectedly quit at least 1-2x per day, and Firefox has an issue that seems to be cropping up 1+ times per day where I cannot get the 7-8 tabs I have open to update (or accept input), but I can successfully quit the program Command-Q and then relaunch and Restore Previous Session (until it happens again) ... I have a 2012 Mac Mini (Quad Core i7 w/16GB) and none of these issues happen on that machine (running Mojave) ... overall, still very happy with the M1 Mac Mini ... these annoyances will go away in due time ...

Your issue of white noice that goes in-and-out is a HDMI/HDCP sync issue.  Ive seen it on my 2012 & 2018 Intel Mac minis when connected to a 4K TV as a monitor.  Try replacing the HDMI cable.  Or it simply could be that display & that Mac mini have trouble negotiating a good/secure connection until after many attempts.
...

HDMI/HDCP is often pointed at as the cause of a lot of display problems. I think something about the nature of the handshake between "source" and "sink" (usually a display) is perhaps not as robust as it should be. There is a constant polling to check for HDCP keys (I'm not sure what the interval is), but a glitchy connection can make things go wonky. Cables are always the first thing to check, along with dongles/adapters.

The fault tolerance of the displays themselves can also be an issue. If the source is less than perfect (as I have seen from some Intel Mac minis), the displays can sometimes give up altogether and go to a completely blank screen.
 
The fact that Macs always have HDCP on by default -- even if non-DRM content is being displayed -- doesn't help. (Commercial AV systems are often hindered by this). Oddly (but fortunately) it is possible to connect a non-HDCP display to a Mac. You won't be able to play DRM content, but at least you'll get your desktop, spreadsheets and the like. In the past, putting an EDID emulator that makes the Mac think it's connected to a non-HDCP monitor has helped, but I haven't had to do this for a while.

AppleInsider said:

Google has rolled out support for Apple's TV app and its Apple TV+ streaming service to its Chromecast with Google TV hardware, meaning users can now watch Apple originals on the Google hardware.
...
The company unveiled its $150 Chromecast with Google TV device back in September 2020. Although it features a similar set of functions to past Chromecast hardware, the new device features a new dongle-like design and comes packaged with a remote.

The Google thing is $50, not $150...

It would be interesting if Google included Airplay too.

I'm seriously considering getting a Roku to replace my 3rd gen ATV. I thought about going with the newer 4K ATV, but several Roku models have Airplay2 and Apple TV, plus Homekit support as well as 4K for a lot less. (I'm not as interested in gaming or other apps, so I can always Airplay mirror from my iPhone.)

byronl said:

roundaboutnow said:

byronl said:

fastasleep said:

tht said:

Not sure how these microLED displays play into AR glasses. The concept picture looks stupid.

Huh? The image has to come from somewhere, and microLED is the most compact and dense display that can be used for this. If you don’t know how the the tech works, just do an image search for dozens of examples. The display is like a small projector off to the side that feeds the image into the waveguides in the lens, which then reflects the image back into the eye. 

how is it not blurry since it’s so close to our eyes?

Focussing elements (really small lenses basically) integrated within the waveguide and associated optics can create a "virtual image" that appears in focus some distance ahead of you. There are things called "holographic optical elements" that are essentially microstructures that can be used to manipulate light, so perhaps they will be used in whatever Apple comes up with. That could be why holographic technology companies may be involved. (Note that the virtual image I describe here is not a hologram per se--what you see is more like a "reflection" of a tiny display screen -- such as a microLED).

edit to add: Maybe it is the picture used in this article that is misleading you. The picture makes it appear that the AR images occur focussed on the surface of the glass. That's not the way it would work, although I suppose it might be possible for AR images to appear like that if the glasses are held a distance away (where the virtual distance aligns with the actual distance of the glasses), and the optics were adjusted accordingly. The optics that are adjusted to focus the AR image when you are wearing the glasses would likely make the image blurry when you hold the glasses away.

nice explanation, thanks!
so, focusing elements and holographic optical elements are two different techniques to have this effect?

The focusing elements (and the optical waveguide) could possibly be holographic optical elements, so not necessarily different techniques. There are other things like micro lens arrays, multi-layer optical coatings, filters and other techniques that may be incorporated too. The drawings in Tht's post #7 and Fastasleep's post #9 allude to this.  Obviously it can get quite complicated. I was a laser technician for many years so I am familiar with optics, holography, and the basic physics involved, but I don't claim to be an expert on these things. I just know enough to follow along.

byronl said:

fastasleep said:

tht said:

Not sure how these microLED displays play into AR glasses. The concept picture looks stupid.

Huh? The image has to come from somewhere, and microLED is the most compact and dense display that can be used for this. If you don’t know how the the tech works, just do an image search for dozens of examples. The display is like a small projector off to the side that feeds the image into the waveguides in the lens, which then reflects the image back into the eye. 

how is it not blurry since it’s so close to our eyes?

Focussing elements (really small lenses basically) integrated within the waveguide and associated optics can create a "virtual image" that appears in focus some distance ahead of you. There are things called "holographic optical elements" that are essentially microstructures that can be used to manipulate light, so perhaps they will be used in whatever Apple comes up with. That could be why holographic technology companies may be involved. (Note that the virtual image I describe here is not a hologram per se--what you see is more like a "reflection" of a tiny display screen -- such as a microLED).

edit to add: Maybe it is the picture used in this article that is misleading you. The picture makes it appear that the AR images occur focussed on the surface of the glass. That's not the way it would work, although I suppose it might be possible for AR images to appear like that if the glasses are held a distance away (where the virtual distance aligns with the actual distance of the glasses), and the optics were adjusted accordingly. The optics that are adjusted to focus the AR image when you are wearing the glasses would likely make the image blurry when you hold the glasses away.