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Confused as to correlation between cheap/expensive TV cables and TVout2/Resupported?

J

james92se

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 21, 2010
818
27
Dallas, TX
I'm looking to display my iPhone (Iphone 4, jailbroken on 4.0.1) on my TV. I do not have a widescreen HD TV. I mainly want to watch Netflix but I'll likely use it for other things as well.

Now, I just ordered this set of cables:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250661265984

However, apparently I should have ordered this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250661254331

Now, what exactly could be different between these two cables internally whereas the cheap one apparently won't work with my phone but the expensive set will? Are they not both just RCA cables tied into a USB and the Apple 30 pin dock connector?

Secondly, I've found some threads about Cydia apps that make the "cheap" cables work. Resupported4 and TVOut2 or DisplayOut are the ones I've seen mentioned.

Does this mean with one of these apps I can use the "cheap" set when it arrives? OR do I need one of these apps AND the "expensive" set of cables?

Please somebody enlighten me :cool:
 
The difference is something to do with a chip in the connector.
I got these http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Audio-Video-C...ccessories&hash=item1e5e9bb6a8#ht_1820wt_1136
after a recommendation on here and they work great, although they wont connect to my phone with a bumper on.

Only certain apps on the phone will appear on the TV when connected so this is where TVout2 comes in. It enables lots more apps to be displayed on a TV.
 
dannnyh said:
The difference is something to do with a chip in the connector.
I got these http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Audio-Video-C...ccessories&hash=item1e5e9bb6a8#ht_1820wt_1136
after a recommendation on here and they work great, although they wont connect to my phone with a bumper on.

Only certain apps on the phone will appear on the TV when connected so this is where TVout2 comes in. It enables lots more apps to be displayed on a TV.
Click to expand...

so do these cables work on a non-JB phone/ipod?
 
dannnyh said:
The cable will work with an un jailbroken phone but only with the standard apps. You need to jailbreak to use tvout2
Click to expand...

ok just for clarification, what are standard apps? i assume the video player. what about netflix, air video, zumocast? i'm only concerned about watching video. secondly, does this cable charge the ipod/iphone and lastly, will this cable allow you to sync with it?

i have an apple cable, but this could be a good spare.
 
Mr Kram said:
ok just for clarification, what are standard apps? i assume the video player. what about netflix, air video, zumocast? i'm only concerned about watching video. secondly, does this cable charge the ipod/iphone and lastly, will this cable allow you to sync with it?

i have an apple cable, but this could be a good spare.
Click to expand...

While I can't answer you about the charging aspect, I can tell you about the video. Basically, you won't be able to watch much at all with these cables unless your phone is jailbroken and uses the above mentioned programs. Even movies downloaded from iTunes onto your phone cannot be displayed a lot of times which seems ridiculous to me. The jailbreak programs however are well worth it and work well making basically anything on your phone viewable with video out, even if the app developer did not use the Apple SDK to incorporate that ability into that particular app (As it is now, unless that app developer has taken the time and effort to make their app viewable with video out, you won't be able to do it.).
 
dannnyh said:
The difference is something to do with a chip in the connector.
I got these http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Audio-Video-C...ccessories&hash=item1e5e9bb6a8#ht_1820wt_1136
after a recommendation on here and they work great, although they wont connect to my phone with a bumper on.

Only certain apps on the phone will appear on the TV when connected so this is where TVout2 comes in. It enables lots more apps to be displayed on a TV.
Click to expand...

Do those cables allow video AND audio? Or just video?
 
fishmd said:
While I can't answer you about the charging aspect, I can tell you about the video. Basically, you won't be able to watch much at all with these cables unless your phone is jailbroken and uses the above mentioned programs. Even movies downloaded from iTunes onto your phone cannot be displayed a lot of times which seems ridiculous to me. The jailbreak programs however are well worth it and work well making basically anything on your phone viewable with video out, even if the app developer did not use the Apple SDK to incorporate that ability into that particular app (As it is now, unless that app developer has taken the time and effort to make their app viewable with video out, you won't be able to do it.).
Click to expand...

thanks for the input. i'm not looking to JB, so this isn't a solution for me.
 
dannnyh, I see those cables you linked to are the spider-foot.com cables.

As seen here for $19.99:

http://www.spider-foot.com/audio-vi...r-apple-iphone-4-3gs-3g-ipad-touch-p-767.html

Looking at the cables closely, they are the EXACT same cables as the $7 ones I bought (assuming the pictures in the auctions are the true products).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...&_trkparms=algo=LVI&its=I&otn=2#ht_3328wt_911

So, if that is the case, HOPEFULLY my $7 cables I bought will work along with the JB apps to give me audio and video
 
The cable I have plays audio and video. As for any other cables working I really have no idea. I know not all of them work, I posted a link to the one I got because I know it definitely a, works with the iPhone 4 and b, works with TVout 2 (Sky sports, Air Video etc).
 
James92se, you did notice in the description of the eBay cables that you linked to that it said they were not compatible with the iPhone 4 didn't you?
 
Buy the spiderfoot cable otherwise you will be left disappointed.

I recommended the cable on here a while ago after being a bit sceptical until I received it. So you can watch YouTube videos, BBC iplayer, air video, view movies saved on phone and photos. It has a decent picture but don't expect it to be great unless the video you are viewing are good quality.

It's worth the 20$ and if you can get more from it with jb it will be great.
 
dannnyh said:
James92se, you did notice in the description of the eBay cables that you linked to that it said they were not compatible with the iPhone 4 didn't you?
Click to expand...

Yes, I did see that AFTER I bought the cables (that's when I made the thread). I saw the column on the right side of the listing and at the top it has "iphone 4". I guess I assumed that these cables worked for everything in that column, but tha wasn't the case. The column just linked to specific products for each item listed in the column.

I don't know why I missed it, as I'm normally very careful reading auctions before buying. I just had a brain fart.
 
james92se said:
That's encouraging. So it works for audio and video on your iPhone 4 even though the auction states it won't work for 3.0+?

I bought the $7 one because that was about the cheapest I could find from a US shipping location since I didn't want to wait 2 weeks :p
Click to expand...

audio and video, correct. Under normal conditions, they should only work for older firmwares/phones. But that's why you have the resupported app =).

But lmee know how your cable turns out. Although mine does work, it kinda depends on what tv set i hook it up to. My older tv only displays in grayscale while the newer tv is full color.
 
I just orded the 20$ one from spiderfoot, I didn't want to take a chance in it not working on my tv. It's compatible for iPhone 4 and iPad with current firmwares.
 
best buy has scosche branded composite and component cables for iphone/ipod.

i think $50 and $60. $23 and $26 with employee discount.

I wonder how much of a difference there is between the composite and component.
 
obviously, composite will not support hd content. how much hd stuff do you have/watch? secondly, if you travel a lot, many hotels still have older tv's which do not have component inputs.

since i use this cable only when i travel, i opted for the composite.
 
Bump:

Got my $7 "cheap" cables in the mail today. Remember, the seller of these cables says they will NOT work for the iPhone 4 or on any other iPhone running firmware 3.0 or higher.

I downloaded Resupported4 and DisplayOut earlier today hoping my cables would come, and they did, so I hooked it all up.

And... drumroll.. it works. Audio AND video works. YouTube, Safari, pics, videos, everything. No lag or any issues at all and it orients videos and pictures properly.

Thanks for everybody's input!
 
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