What is Project TCALL?

Project TCALL is a compact, dongle-based intercommunication device and unified hardware system architecture. It turns standard display panels (monitors, TVs, or interactive screens) into low-latency, peer-to-peer (P2P) audio and video communication nodes.

Instead of routing video calls through heavy software applications or centralized cloud servers, TCALL operates at the hardware level. Plugged directly into a display’s HDMI/USB-C interface, it enables real-time, low-delay video, voice, and data exchange between endpoints across local or wide-area networks.

why did you decide to make it?.

I decide to create project TCALL because i see the need to fill the not existing gap in offline video/audio intercommunication in homes, offices and hospitals over a display, such as television sets.

How Does It Work?

The system operates across three interconnected layers: Hardware Interfacing, Signal Processing, and P2P Transport Protocol.

1. Hardware Interface & Direct Display Passthrough

Display Interface: Connects directly via HDMI or USB-C (DisplayPort Alt Mode with Power Delivery), streaming high-definition video output straight to the screen.

Unified Bus: Handles video output, power ingestion, and peripheral data (such as touch overlay signals or external microphone/camera feeds) through a compact connector configuration.

2. Onboard Video/Audio Encoding & Signal Pipeline

Hardware CODEC: Features an onboard low-power processor (or dedicated SoC/FPGA) running hardware-accelerated H.264/H.265/AV1 video encoding and AAC/Opus audio compression.

Frame Buffering & Latency Minimization: Processes incoming video/audio frames directly on the board to bypass operating system overhead, keeping end-to-end latency to a minimum.

3. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Network Engine

Direct Handshake: When two or more TCALL dongles connect over a network, they execute a lightweight P2P signaling session to establish a direct socket stream.

Stream Synchronization: Video and audio packets are synchronized locally and rendered onto the target display without requiring third-party cloud streaming servers.

4. Compact Thermal & Power Architecture

Power Management (PMIC): Draws power from standard USB ports or display interfaces, using low-noise synchronous buck regulators for clean power delivery to high-speed ICs.

Thermal Design: Encased in a custom, low-profile parametric housing engineered with thermal relief fins to dissipate heat efficiently in tight spaces behind display panels.