Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

DIY Virtual Window?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    DIY Virtual Window?

    I want to build/construct a simple Virtual Window.

    Not the fancy one with eye tracing and all that...

    Just a Hgh quality 4K Camera and a 40" Smart TV.

    I have been told though that it isn't that simple, as "smart TV's" don't have enough smarts to connect to a 4K Camera.

    Thoughts, ideas?

    PS... my new office is in a basement with only the standard tiny windows up at ground level...

    #2
    Originally posted by rsisson View Post
    I want to build/construct a simple Virtual Window.

    Not the fancy one with eye tracing and all that...

    Just a Hgh quality 4K Camera and a 40" Smart TV.

    I have been told though that it isn't that simple, as "smart TV's" don't have enough smarts to connect to a 4K Camera.

    Thoughts, ideas?

    PS... my new office is in a basement with only the standard tiny windows up at ground level...
    Another (potentially cheaper) alternative is to create a faux window with lights behind plexiglass (perhaps frosted). You won't get a "scene", but you will get light and the look of a window.

    You could even put a semi-transparent image over the plexi to simulate a scene. I did an image search on google for some ideas:

    https://www.google.com/search?q=faux...84BuwQ_AUIBygC

    Comment


      #3
      Just what i needed, more ideas to take my money... Now I am going to look into this...

      Comment


        #4
        I should add that I think you could do this with a TV/Monitor, but I wouldn't use a camera. Instead I would hook up a Raspberry PI to it and have it grab images from online or a local storage location. At that point, I bet you could tie it into HomeSeer and change the "scene" based on any number of conditions

        Another thing: If you are going to do it portrait instead of landscape, I would check to see if the TV will have proper ventilation. Some TVs have vents at the top for the heat to escape and that might not work as well in portrait.

        If you use a computer monitor, most are designed to work in both orientations so I would think would be ok.

        Comment


          #5
          Thought about that,

          There are also "fireplace" and "Birdfeeder" channels on the web, but my Choice would be -my- backyard...

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by rsisson View Post
            Thought about that,

            There are also "fireplace" and "Birdfeeder" channels on the web, but my Choice would be -my- backyard...
            Could still be done with a Raspberry pi and a webcam I tend to not try and buy "smart tvs" anyways because they are generally not very smart or not very upgradeable (the screen should last me 10+ years, the smarts will maybe last 2 or 3, so why pay for it?)

            Could even be a live feed (which I guess is what you were planning)

            Comment


              #7
              Right now I am collecting ideas...

              I thought it was going to be easy... apparently what SHOULD be easy isn't so....

              I thought I could just put a 4K camera and a 4K Smart TV on separate sub-intranet and be done...

              Using a "nano" computer to do the heavy lifting would work, could even tie it into HS3 and do some screen switching, but that wasn't the original idea.

              It may be that there are different levels of "smart" TV's, and using a Nanobox with an HDMI output may be necessary, and that might be simpler than fighting TVs

              Comment


                #8
                I have done similiar for my office LCD TV but not 4k using KODI as the STB for the office tv. Kodi runs here on Ubuntu 14.04 / 64 bit on Aopen digital engines. I made the IP HD cams favorites in Kodi.

                Not sure that you can do this with an RPi2-3. That said recently configured an office LCD set up in portrait mode / RPi2 as a kiosk of current events / meeting et al and it worked well in this fashion.

                Googling see that you can do this with an RPi3.

                A posting relating to displaying 4k video on Kodi..

                Kodi and 4K
                Posted November 11, 2015
                by Sparky

                Right have had to write this article after so many readers ask me where they can find 4k content in Kodi. I have so many tweets about this and it needs to be addressed. So you have your shiny new 4k Tv and shining new 4k compatible T8 box and you are champing at the bit to test it out…………………………….

                So can You?

                So what is 4K resolution ? In order to understand 4K resolution , we have to go back to the basics. A display resolution is “is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed”.

                [ATTACH]58658[/ATTACH]

                The most common resolution’s these days is HD ready normally 720p or Full HD which is 1080p. So what is 1080p. It means that an image using this resolution is 1920 pixels in width by 1080 pixels in height.

                4K resolution, is 4 times this size, which is 3840 pixels in width by 2160 pixels in height as our simple image below shows.

                Full HD = 1920 x 1080 = 2,073,600 pixels

                4K = 3840 x 2160 = 8,294,400 pixels

                As our graphic and calculations 4K times “superior” to Full HD resolution.

                Yes Kodi is ready the software can play these files no problem, The latest devices on the market are 4K ready and there is a test add-on in MetalKettle Repo to test your sparkling new box you can install following instructions ....
                Last edited by Pete; January 5, 2017, 12:31 AM.
                - Pete

                Auto mator
                Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

                Comment

                Working...
                X