Olimex LT8912B-based MIPI-HDMI adapter board adds HDMI output to the ESP32-P4-Devkit board

Olimex MIPI-HDMI adapter board is built around Lontium Semiconductors’ LT8912B MIPI DSI to HDMI bridge chip designed to work with their own ESP32-P4-DevKit.

The board outputs up to 1080p60 8-bit HDMI via its LT8912B converter and supports 1–4 MIPI DSI data lanes (80 Mbps to 1.5 Gbps per lane) in continuous-clock mode, outputting HDMI 1.4 video in a compact 60 × 24 mm form factor. These features make it suitable for UI rendering, video streaming, media playback, vision workflows, and HMI applications like digital signage, kiosk systems, and portable multimedia devices.

LT8912B MIPI DSI to HDMI adapter board for ESP32-P4 board

Olimex MIPI-HDMI adapter specifications:

  • Mail Chip – LT8912B Single-Channel MIPI DSI Bridge to LVDS/HDMI/MHL converter
  • MIPI Interface
    • 15-pin FPC connector
    • 1 clock lane + 1 to 4 data lanes
    • D-PHY 1.1 and DSI 1.02 compliant
    • 80 Mbps to 1.5 Gbps per lane supported data rate
    • Continuous-clock mode only
  • HDMI output
    • HDMI Type-A connector
    • HDMI 1.4 transmitter
    • Up to 1080p @ 60 Hz, 8-bit color
  • Dimensions – 60 × 24 mm

The company mentions that the MIPI-HDMI board works plug-and-play with the ESP32-P4-DevKit and does not require any custom firmware on the bridge itself. More information, with some additional documentation and KiCad and PDF schematics, can be found on the company’s GitHub.

Olimex ESP32-P4 mipi hdmi demo

The board is very similar to the ESP-HDMI-Bridge, which uses the same LT8912B chip and relies on the ESP32-P4-Function-EV-Board. Both enable users to connect the boards to an HDMI display to be used as a digital signage player or live dashboard, as well as to create an Ethernet-to-HDMI adapter. In the case of the ESP32-P4-Function-EV-Board, it’s also possible to make a WiFi-based wireless display adapter, thanks to the board’s ESP32-C6-MINI-1 module.

LT8912 Application Block Diagram

Previously, we have written about other ESP32-P4-based development boards like the FireBeetle 2 ESP32-P4, the GUITION  JC-ESP32P4-M3-DEV, and boards like Waveshare ESP32-P4-ETH and ESP32-P4-WIFI6-POE-ETH, which all feature a MIPI-DSI port. This naturally raises the obvious question: Is the Olimex converter compatible with these other boards? The answer is unfortunately no! At least not without modification. While they all use the same ESP32-P4 SoC, each manufacturer implements a different DSI connector and pinout. As a result, only the Olimex ESP32-P4-DevKit and the Espressif Systems ESP32-P4-Function-EV-Board (TBC) work with the Olimex MIPI DSI to HDMI adapter, as well as other boards that exactly replicate its DSI connector and pin assignment.

[Update: A comment from S K about the compatibility with other ESP32-P4 boards got me curious, so I went through all the ESP32-P4-based boards we covered, which include:

In conclusion, Waveshare, DFRobot, and Olimex follow the same MIPI pinout standard as the original ESP32-P4-Function-EV-Board, but other vendors do not, so you’ll need an adapter for those.

CNXSoft: I’ve also included the MIPI DSI part of the schematics for the MIPI-HDMI board (15-pin) and the ESP32-P4-DevKit (30-pin, but only 15-pin used) for reference. It looks like it can work with Raspberry Pi 1-4 boards.

ESP32-P4-Devkit MIPI DSI CSI schematics
ESP32-P4-Devkit
MIPI HDMI board DSI schematics
MIPI-HDMI board

]

The MIPI-HDMI adapter board is available on the Olimex store for 14.95 EUR (about $17.42), and the required 15-pin MIPI FPC cable can also be purchased from the same store.

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