# Tablet via HR vs Touchscreen via HDMI?



## 8sdiydi (Jun 7, 2021)

I'm restoring a classic truck and doing some fabrication for a modern DIY headunit. Should I...

*A) Mount a Galaxy Tab S8+*, with a big beautiful screen, on my dash and connect to it with my phone via Headunit Reloaded?

-or-

*B) Mount a big beautiful AMOLED touchscreen *with similar specs on my dash and connect to it directly via HDMI out from the phone?

HR on a tablet seems great but there is some added complexity of HR not being supported in the future or Google bricking it with an update. Also I'd worry about leaving a LiPo in my truck. It would be idle potentially for over a week if I don't drive it, which could drain the tablet's battery, causing it to shut down fully, then requiring long bootup time.

I could get (pretty much) the same screen from aliexpress and mount that to the dash. No battery concerns. I'd just plug in the phone as soon as got in the car and then take the phone with me, running everything directly on the phone - audio out, etc. If I went this route, though, could I configure the resolution of the external monitor? Would driving mode work?


Anyone have experience here? Which approach would you choose? Why?

Thanks!


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## CrimsonCountry (Mar 11, 2012)

8sdiydi said:


> I'm restoring a classic truck and doing some fabrication for a modern DIY headunit. Should I...
> 
> *A) Mount a Galaxy Tab S8+*, with a big beautiful screen, on my dash and connect to it with my phone via Headunit Reloaded?
> 
> ...


You ever get the AMOLED touchscreen? I imagine the touch function is as good as a modern cell phone since it appears to use the same tech. I've been drooling over those exact screens a while for my truck but they're still too expensive for my using it as a toy (CarPC and Phone touch interface). 

Also, as you can see, this subforum is DEAD so don't expect much of a response here. I only check from time to time as I still have a carpc in my truck and the topic interests me but we are the very few.

So Option B all day for me. No battery and native phone display along with whatever else you wanted.


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## 8sdiydi (Jun 7, 2021)

Yeah crickets in here. I still haven't installed it. plenty to do before I get to electronics. I'm currently leaning toward the s8+ since it has the amoled touchscreen and I wouldn't have to deal with any connection issues. Have you ever used an external screen in android? Do you get to select your resolution? does it do so automatically? I'm worried about that bit.


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## CrimsonCountry (Mar 11, 2012)

The Tab S8+ would look amazing as well but, as you mentioned, could suffer from an early death with the heat. I've used HR a few years back in an older tablet as well and it was good, albeit a little buggy. But so is AA. lol

I had a 9.7 iPad 2 LCD in my dash for a few years and it was flawless. Because it was old tech and no in-cell touch like that AMOLED, I had to use a usb touchscreen over the top. Even still, it worked very well too. I used it for the PC and my phone, Galaxy S8+ and S10. It worked amazingly well with my phones, as expected, but did require a few tweaks (landscape mode, manual AA or Tasker script to automate). It connected through an HDMI USB C hub for video and ISB DAC audio routing...again, flawless. So it can be done and done well IME. I was lazy and never finished the dash install and have since swapped over ti a new Joying HU for now but do miss the huge phone screen in the dash.


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## CrimsonCountry (Mar 11, 2012)

8sdiydi said:


> Yeah crickets in here. I still haven't installed it. plenty to do before I get to electronics. I'm currently leaning toward the s8+ since it has the amoled touchscreen and I wouldn't have to deal with any connection issues. Have you ever used an external screen in android? Do you get to select your resolution? does it do so automatically? I'm worried about that bit.


Did you ever do anything with this? I keep looking at the same 11" AMOLED w/ in-call touch (basically a cell phone screen). They're still about $360 shipped but man would it be nice if you could fit it. My Samsung Galaxy to HDMI/touch setup worked amazing. So much so that it's got me wanting to go back.


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## 8sdiydi (Jun 7, 2021)

not yet but still on the agenda. Did you get black bars or could you adjust the resolution/aspect ratio in android with your setup?


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## CrimsonCountry (Mar 11, 2012)

8sdiydi said:


> not yet but still on the agenda. Did you get black bars or could you adjust the resolution/aspect ratio in android with your setup?


The setup I had in particular, being a 4:3 ratio screen, did have some small bars in horizontal mode. Of course it had then in vertical mode as well but thats a given. Some of it comes down to the particular board's control menu as well as a lot of the newer driver boards have options.

As far as resolution being sent from the phone itself, you can use some scaling apps for that (I didn't). I primarily mirrored the phone so as to have my phone in the dash as-is but I used DeX at times and it let's you choose as well. So there are options and workarounds, depending on the setup.


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