Adding 5V to DVI pin 14 in HDMI to DVI connector

Question

I'm trying to hook up my Acer A500 tablet to a monitor that I have at work. The tablet has a microHDMI port, but the monitor unfortunately only has VGA and DVI. Initially I figured no problem, HDMI to DVI adapter, they are electrically compatible right? Wrong. From what I've found online, this is normally the case, but the major difference is that DVI requires a +5V signal on pin 14, something which full HDMI connections usually provide for compatibility, but the micro HDMI connection on smaller devices done, to save power.

I looked around online and found that there are devices out there that will add the 5V signal to the line, which are apparently made for "optical" DVI cables (didn't know those existed). Problem is, they are $40+! I only paid $8 for the cable and adapter. So, my next though is, can I just sacrifice another DVI cable and add a 5V source to that correct line?

It sounds like it should be that easy, but I would really rather not fry my tablet or monitor. Anyone with more knowledge of how these things work have any idea of if it really should be that simple or any other ideas of how to make that work?

Answer 1

In my experience, DVI cables are not very easy to cut up/splice given the number of wires and the relatively small connectors. Technically speaking, you could simply splice in a 5V line by using a USB port (particularly good if there are USB ports on the monitor), but my recommendation would be to just pay the extra bit for the adapter. It's a safe solution and (pretty much) guaranteed to work.