Check Out Doom Running on Apple's Lightning to HDMI Adapter

[MacRumors]

Installing Doom on a range of unusual hardware devices has become a fun challenge for programmers, and we've seen the game running on everything from the Apple Watch to the MacBook Pro Touch Bar. Over the weekend, another Doom demo was uploaded to YouTube, this time showing the game running on Apple's $50 Lightning to HDMI Adapter.

The Lightning Digital AV Adapter is more than just a dongle, because it has an SoC inside and it runs a super simple version of iOS. Lightning does not have the bandwidth for transmitting HDMI, so Apple needed an adapter that would compress video from a connected Apple device, send it over the Lightning connection, and then decompress it into raw HDMI for viewing on a TV screen or display.

Since the adapter has an SoC in it, it's able to run Doom. Actually getting access to the accessory took work, because Apple has it locked down, like any of its devices. While there is a MacBook and a display shown in the video, Doom is running on the SoC in the dongle.

Article Link: Check Out Doom Running on Apple's Lightning to HDMI Adapter

 

[zorinlynx]

>Lightning does not have the bandwidth for transmitting HDMI, so Apple needed an adapter that would compress video from a connected Apple device, send it over the Lightning connection, and then decompress it into raw HDMI for viewing on a TV screen or display.

What an incredibly clunky kludge. I seriously wonder why Apple resisted moving to USB-C for so long.

 

[g-7]

And yet there is still no Doom on the Vision Pro.

 

[thefrost]

Never thought I would see MacRumors mention Doom.

 

[Blackstick]

I seriously wonder why Apple resisted moving to USB-C for so long.

The answer is a near complete pricing monopoly on all iPhone accessories and "made for iPhone" lightning connectors. With over a BILLION built-in customers buying.

If that business segment were its own company, it'd be a Fortune 1000 org in its own right. (To be fair, AirPods on their own would be larger than some of the smaller Fortune 500 sized companies)

Apple used to pocket a few cents (up to dollars for high end products) on every licensed lightning (or 30 pin) accessory sold. Today... you throw Anker (or some no-name USB-C brand) $17 on Amazon for a generic USB-C accessory and Apple sees none of it unless you buy their USB-C stuff.

 

[Crowbot]

What an incredibly clunky kludge. I seriously wonder why Apple resisted moving to USB-C for so long.

Mostly because they didn't invent USB-C. They could have tighter control over the connector if they owned the rights.

 

[reverse_juice_machine]

Never thought I would see MacRumors mention Doom.

i'm pretty sure macrumors covered it when they cracked running doom on the touch bar

 

[9081094]

>Lightning does not have the bandwidth for transmitting HDMI, so Apple needed an adapter that would compress video from a connected Apple device, send it over the Lightning connection, and then decompress it into raw HDMI for viewing on a TV screen or display.

What an incredibly clunky kludge. I seriously wonder why Apple resisted moving to USB-C for so long.

The only reason they resisted moving to USB for so long because lightning was a proprietary solution and they could earn more 💰💰💰. Thankfully the EU forced Apple to use USB-C like every other vendor. Better throughput, better connectivity, cheaper cables.

 

[Unami]

Lightning does not have the bandwidth for transmitting HDMI, so Apple needed an adapter that would compress video from a connected Apple device, send it over the Lightning connection, and then decompress it into raw HDMI for viewing on a TV screen or display

not getting that - how would the adapter get the high bandwidth video over lightning in the first place and why would it send it then again over lighning? Doesn‘t the apple device‘s hardware encoder just create a slightly compressed video stream, send that over lightning at usb2 speeds and then the adapter blows that up for hdmi?)

 

[Crowbot]

i'm pretty sure macrumors covered it when they cracked running doom on the touch bar

I see it was ported to the Apple Watch a while ago.

 

[neuropsychguy]

And yet there is still no Doom on the Vision Pro.

Can't you just play it in a DOS emulator in a browser? There are several sites with the game.

 

[AppliedMicro]

Thankfully the EU forced Apple to use USB-C like every other vendor. Better throughput, better connectivity, cheaper cables.

To be fair, they did not force them to use it for any data throughput - or the intended purpose of this adapter (image/sound throughput).

But there’s limits to even Apple’s reality distortion field and ridiculousness they can get away with (such as… supporting only charging but not HDMI over the phone’s USB-C connector).

 

[sw1tcher]

It can now be said that Apple is Doomed and it'd be true.

 

[dontwalkhand]

Computers? I don't need that crap! I just need a lightning to HDMI adapter!

 

[thefrost]

i'm pretty sure macrumors covered it when they cracked running doom on the touch bar

Lemmings and Pac-Man Shown Off on MacBook Pro's Touch Bar

Since the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar was released, developers have been finding increasingly clever, if impractical, things to do with the tiny LCD...

www.macrumors.com

Is this it?

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Mostly because they didn't invent USB-C. They could have tighter control over the connector if they owned the rights.

Except….

Apple did co-invent USB-C. They do have tighter control, but they were intimately involved with the creation of USB-C.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

not getting that - how would the adapter get the high bandwidth video over lightning in the first place and why would it send it then again over lighning? Doesn‘t the apple device‘s hardware encoder just create a slightly compressed video stream, send that over lightning at usb2 speeds and then the adapter blows that up for hdmi?)

That's exactly what is happening, yes. "HDMI" by default sends raw video signals with no compression. USB 2.0 isn't fast enough for even 720p raw uncompressed video. So the adapter deals with compressed (H.264 or H.265, I forget which) video. The phone compresses it just as if it were recording a video or sending over AirPlay, pushes the compressed video stream over the slower USB 2.0 link to the adapter, then the adapter has a decompression chip (much like an AirPlay receiver chip in a smart TV/Roku/etc) that turns the H.265 video into raw uncompressed HDMI.

 

[d-klumpp]

Okay, what is Doom? Don't tell me because I could do a search if I gave a s***.

 

[It’s always something]

Can't you just play it in a DOS emulator in a browser? There are several sites with the game.

It’s A Thing that people try to do: get Doom running on as many things as possible.

 

[Daalseth]

I think at some point we’re going to have to recognize that Doom is very old and doesn’t require much processing power.

 

[Westside guy]

Computers? I don't need that crap! I just need a lightning to HDMI adapter!

Yeah - and let's get Snow Leopard running on the Lightning-to-HDMI adapter!

 

[thejadedmonkey]

How are they providing user input?

 

[Westside guy]

I think at some point we’re going to have to recognize that Doom is very old and doesn’t require much processing power.

I resist that, because it would also force me to recognize that I am very old (and perhaps no longer have as much processing power? )

 

[Johnstrass2]

And yet there is still no Doom on the Vision Pro.

That would be a lot of fun

 

[neuropsychguy]

It’s A Thing that people try to do: get Doom running on as many things as possible.

My reply was pointing out that because you can just run it in a browser on the AVP, it's not the the same challenge like getting it to run on the adapter. It would require some effort but this adapter is more along the lines of getting it running on a pregnancy test, ATM, the Touch Bar, and an oscilloscope (all of which have been done!).