These cheap USB-to-HDMI adapters are terrible, and yet incredibly useful

In 2023, I ordered a cheap piece of crap USB to HDMI adapter. From time to time, I dabble with computers, but I don’t always have a convenient display at hand. Capture cards aren’t anything new, but the good ones a bit expensive for a hobbyist like myself.

The adapter sucks, and somehow it’s been one of the most useful tools that I own.

The way that it works is also brilliant: the adapter acts like a webcam on your machine. This means that you can open any app that can show webcam output, such as Cheese, and use your laptop as a crappy portable display. It also works in VLC, but I’ve had a much better and easier experience with Cheese.

Don’t expect any crystal clear output or high refresh rates.

But it gets the job done. Quick UEFI settings tour, OS installation, or general troubleshooting, it’s fantastic for those use cases. I have had a few displays that are picky about display resolutions and things like outputting anything at all, such as the LattePanda V1, and somehow this adapter makes it work quite reliably.

When I checked the price for the adapter I ordered, I found that somehow it has gotten cheaper. Don’t see that happening much lately.