androdev

I got fed up of buying DVDs to use with RSE, so after a good amount of research I am happy to announce that this dinosaur entertainment system in W221 can be upgraded to netflix-era using the RCA AUX ports provided. Mine is a 2012 W221 with RSE.

Using AUX ports:

1. AV RCA ports in the front glove box can send video to command screen and audio to all speakers. This AUX video can not be sent to rear screens.

2. Rear Drive AV RCA ports on the rear seat (just above transmission tunnel) can send video to both the rear displays. This AUX audio can not be sent to the car speakers. This AUX video can not be sent to the command.

3. Assuming you found a media player gadget with RCA AV output, you need to connect White and Red to the front glove box for audio. Use a video splitter (1-male to 2-Female) to send video to both front glovebox AUX and rear drive AUX.

My criteria for selecting the media player:

1. Old school RCA AV composite (Yellow, Red, White) ports. No HDMI to AV, 3.5mm to AV, etc. as I didn't want to complicate my life further.

2. Not just USB media player, must have internet, netflix, etc. - Apple or Android

3. Easy to power from 12V socket. Not keen to buy power inverters, etc.

4. Decent usability with remote.

5. Screencast from my phone

I took a leap of faith and bought the following and to my utter disbelief everything worked.

Himedia Q5 Pro Android 5.1 4K TV BOX

Disclaimer: I have no association with this product.

It has RCA AV ports. Android device so you can pretty much run all sorts of apps (netflix is pre-installed). It needs 12V input supply, comes only with wall charger. I had an old "car air purifier" at home and I was able to use it's 12V charger to power this. I was overjoyed to find a matching charger at home but I guess you can easily buy one at amazon.

It comes with a remote that works like a Samsung smart TV remote using onscreen keyboard. The remote has 4 programmable buttons that I use for powering the rear displays (comes handy when all you want to do is to power it on).

Optionally you can check their somewhat crude but functional android app to to use as a remote control (http://www.futeko.com/newforum/index...11084#msg11084). Phone and TV box need to be on the same wifi for it to work. Doesn't need line of sight, useful if you want to stuff everything in the glove box (except for the video cable going to rear AUX)

I use a cheap android phone which failed to screencast (Miracast) but I was already overwhelmed with the amount of luck I had. I will keep this in mind when I buy my next phone.

some pictures:

Mike5215

Its a cool idea. A couple of years ago I was working on a Car PC running Kodi as a front end for the W221 (same basic idea, via Video Aux In using the COMAND Screen). The insurmountable problem is that while the COMAND screen has a decent (800x600) resolution, Composite Video (the yellow RCA) is limited to 480i, which is roughly VCR quality. So while the screen can display nice high res graphics internally, anything over the Video Aux-In looks relatively crappy.

Looks like a fun project to play around with though. Is the Video Aux in disabled when the car is out of Park?

androdev

Yes, the usual video in motion restrictions apply. It would have been an absolute jackpot if VIM had worked using video AUX

Jason B

Wait, do a VIM module won't work in AUX?

Mike5215

Does VIM have it's own video aux in?

Jason B

I have one in my car with with one, for my front camera setup. Custom extra input.

schwarz

Awesome job mate. Have you tried using an iPhone to see if it works?

Mike5215

Post a shot of a movie playing on COMAND. I had an issue with mismatched sync rates that caused the image to sort of "vibrate". It (and the low res) made it impossible to watch. It's a shame because the screen is capable of full size DVD resolution but there isn't a way to get even a component signal to it.

androdev

Don't have an iPhone Even android phone as a remote is barely useful, it's clumsy. Mirroring the phone screen is more interesting but I haven't had any luck with that. The remote is good enough for most part and one can buy a bluetooth keyboard with trackpad if required.

I took a video of all the three monitors running off Android Box. Sorry about the dark ambience. All the screens look fine to me - don't see much difference compared to a regular DVD playback. Command screen doesn't look great due to splitview (nothing to do with video source)

Command:


Rear:


Video (starts with rear screens followed by Command screen):

Mike5215

Yeah those all look fine. Are you using Kodi for your media center front end? It's got a great looking GUI, can play anything and there's a decent smartphone remote for it (Sybu).

Jason B

Now I want rear headrests.

Mike5215

Here's how the remote looks on IPhone (Main screen & movie selection screen). This would be for local movie files on an attached drive.

dznanekpl

Hello
In gloves box i have only usb and mercedes adapter input
I have also 3 cable for iphone etc.
It possibolle to watch video aux for this input?
I have connected a mirrabox in the back tunnel, works on rear monitors but cannot be viewed from the front.

mirrabox test