The arrival of iOS 17 has opened a new range of possibilities for owners of a iPadand all those models with a USB port are now capable of become an external HDMI monitor. The function has a trick, but by following the appropriate steps you will be able to use your beloved tablet as a secondary screen with which to get out of more than one trouble.
Orion, the application to turn your iPad into an HDMI screen
The secret is in Orion, an application created by the same creators of the famous photography tool Halide, which is capable of taking advantage of one of the new functions included in iOS 17. This function is to use the USB port as a digital video input, being able to take an image from an HDMI output directly to the iPad.
But in addition to the application, we will need a mandatory accessory, since we will have to purchase an HDMI to USB-C capturer to be able to bring the image to the device. These capturers are not particularly expensive, since there are extremely cheap models that you can buy on Amazon. We leave you with some models below:
Something you should keep in mind is that these capturers, being so compact and not requiring external power, work only at maximum resolutions of 1080pa resolution that fails to reach the majestic resolution of the iPad, but will be more than enough to obtain a preview from many devices.
What can I use the iPad for?
Beyond the obvious function of use the iPad as an external monitor via HDMI (something that can actually be done wirelessly with a Macbook thanks to Sidecar), the really interesting thing is that you can connect devices such as video cameras, photo cameras or other types of professional equipment that need some preview support.
Thus, you can be doing a photo session with the preview on a larger screen, or simply record on video having a more comfortable perspective of how the shot will be taken.
Another surprising use is to use it as an external monitor for a console, something that would allow you to set up your portable setup in a matter of seconds.
Free download
The best thing about the application is that right now can be downloaded for free, so just stop by the iPad App Store and search for the Orion app to install it and start using it. Your workflow is sure to improve significantly with this feature. If you prefer, you can also unlock additional features by purchasing the app for $4.99being able to rescale the image to 4K, apply CRT effect and apply adjustments to the image.