HDMI to VGA converter is a low cost solution to connect VGA monitor with PI.This needs no external power supply & no settings to do.It supports VGA output upto 1080I (60Hz).As VGA doesn’t support audio,this converter has no audio output.
Remove the SD card loaded with Raspbian Operating System & plug it into your Laptop.For Desktop you need to use a Card Reader.Open the folder to locate CONFIG.TXT file.
If you open this text file with conventional Notepad , you can see that the display is not arranged & difficult to understand.
Download NOTEPAD++ here & install it.
Open the Config.txt file with Notepad++ to see the contents arranged neatly.
Scroll down to locate following entries.You’ve to uncomment these entries by removing the # mark
in front of the command.
hdmi_force_hotplug=1
hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=16
hdmi_drive=2
The first one to uncomment is hdmi_force_hotplug=1 which forces Raspberry PI to use the HDMI port.If it’s set to 0 then your PI will attempt to detect the type of Display.
The second one to uncomment is hdmi_group=1 & then change this value to 2.
There are two Groups for HDMI.
Group 1 is defined by CEA – Consumer Electronics Association of America.When PI is connected to High Definition Television over HDMI this Group is used.
Group 2 is DMT (Display Monitor Timing) defined by Video Electronics Students Association (VESA) & is used when PI is connected to computer monitors.
As we’re connecting PI to a monitor , set this Group to 2.
Next one to uncomment is the hdmi_mode=2 & change this value to 16.
Each Group (CEA & DMT) defines its own modes.As we’ve set the Group to 2 this value of 16 represents a resolution of 1024 x 768 at 60Hz.
A value of 28 represents 1280 x 800 at 60Hz
& a value of 35 represents 1280 x 1024 at 60Hz.
This value has to be set according to your monitor size & type.Refer here for values of different modes.
Finally uncomment the entry hdmi_drive=2 and leave the value to 2.This is to alter voltage output by HDMI port.For DVI output voltages set this to 1.
Save the changes & remove the SD card from the Laptop.Plug it to PI & power it to see PI boot window on the VGA monitor.
Following settings may also be of interest :
config_hdmi_boost=1
This setting can be varied from 1 to 7 according to the length of HDMI cable you’re using.For long cables set this value to 7.
hdmi_safe=1
This setting forces PI to use a preset collection of HDMI setting which equals to (hdmi_force_hotplug=1 , config_hdmi_boost=4 , hdmi_group=1 , hdmi_mode=1 , disable_overscan=0)
Watch this support Video :
alselectro 