# My G35 "Tablet Install"



## charliekwin (Apr 22, 2012)

Hey guys, I'm not sure what the rules around here are for build logs. I have one going in the dedicated build logs forum but figured I may as well put my progress here, too. If the duplication isn't needed or appreciated, let me know. 

As I mentioned in my thread below, I'm working on a tablet install...in a manner of speaking. This is a little different than the way most people do it, since I can't really remove the stock HU and screen.

The car does, however, come with a composite video input. The plan is to run the tablet video through that, then remove the digitizer (touch overlay) and mount that over the stock screen with the tablet body put in the glovebox.

Today was proof of concept day, so let's see how this is gonna work...

The hardware: the tablet is an Ainol Crystal.










Ainol (<snicker>, I know) is a Chinese company that makes cheapo hardware. This thing was $130 shipped via a US seller on eBay. I'll be real here, this is *not* a high-quality item. I picked it for two major reasons: HDMI out and readily available replacement digitizers. Unless you have a similar situation to mine, I can think of NO reason to recommend these things over a Nexus 7. Dealing with hardware/software issues figures to be a big part of this job.

So here's the basic setup. HDMI out to composite video in. 










Video quality is....not very good. Album art looks okay, but text is pretty hard to read. Hopefully I can find a music player that supports large fonts, or maybe there's a way to trick the unit into thinking it has a lower native resolution.



















Maps? At this point, almost unusable. I haven't tested out driving directions (still have to set up a GPS tether and do a video bypass), but I'm hoping the direction prompts are large enough. Fortunately, I almost never use navigation.










A detour to audio output. The Helix P-DSP I'm using has optical in. Just for kicks, I wanted to test it out to see if there was any reduction in system noise vs. the analog input. An old DVD player was all I could find with optical out.










Good news was there wasn't any improvement, so that means I don't have to worry about input switching or another volume control. Bad news is that I have a little more hiss from the amps than I'd like...oh well.

Audio quality from the headphone jack is bad. Even with all "enhancements" turned off, the bass is clearly boosted and I swear the _tempo_ of the music keeps changing. I wonder if this is what people mean when they talk about digital audio jitter? Interacting with the tablet causes skipping during playback. Bad all around. On the plus side, there were NO problems with the HDMI audio, even through the $30 converter. There should be support for USB audio, so a standalone DAC is on my shopping list.

Wrapping this up: there's enough good here that ought to make this worth pursuing. If nothing else, I'll have my full music library on hand, which is my main goal. The video quality is a stumbling block for sure. I wish I could replace the screen, but keeping the system overlays is more important. If only I were a smarter guy....


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## deeppinkdiver (Feb 4, 2011)

Pretty nice write up man. Didnt want you to think no one read it..lol.

Jitter? I had similar issues in my wifes Mazda CX7 before we sold it last year, the 3,5mm input no matter what we hooked up the audio sounded different- faster, slower, some very unwanted noises as well. Finally after changing sources and cords several times I realized it was the car.

Cool Idea of using the Tab. So this is just for a music storage device mainly?


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## charliekwin (Apr 22, 2012)

deeppinkdiver said:


> Cool Idea of using the Tab. So this is just for a music storage device mainly?


Thanks for the comments. Having played with the hardware a little more, it's becoming increasingly clear that music is going to be the main (almost only) function. The internal SD became corrupted somehow this afternoon, so that was a nice little surprise. Ainol also switched the screen from an IPS panel to a crappy TN. Again I say: don't buy these cheap Chinese tablets unless you have a *really* good reason!

Definitely keeping complexity to a minimum here...audio player, maps and Tasker for automation should do it. No need to be on Facebook, Reddit or YouTube while driving anyway. 

Also found out that the Kernel in the version I have doesn't have USB audio support. HDMI it is.


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