VGA Distribution
Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 12:44 pm
We just moved into a brand new stake center which is equipped with the standard "bare bones" A/V installation. One of the many limitations that I need to overcome quickly is how to get VGA to the rear screens in the cultural hall, and maybe even the overflow rooms. Our stake frequently uses powerpoint or video clips in meetings and firesides, so this will be a problem for us.
I'm looking at several options, and am just curious what others are doing, or if you have any experience using any of these methods:
Hard-wired VGA distribution from a jack on the podium to locations in the cultural hall? GC wired our old stake center like this, which was nice. But the cable runs were very long, and even with the DA in the middle they are probably at the hairy edge of VGA capability. As a result, the picture quality is not as good as it could be. We also did not have any drops in the RS or Primary room for overflow, which was often an issue.
VGA over twisted pair: There are many different solutions to do this, but I don't have a lot of experience with these devices to know which ones work well.
I'd just need to be able to get up into the mezzanine and install some temporary jumpers on the cat-5 patch panel. (most of the drops are not actually connected to the LAN anyway, so it wouldn't interfere with anything). This solution is attractive because it would allow us to use existing cabling without modifying the physical facility.
VGA over LAN. I've been looking at some devices that will encode video for streaming over a LAN. One device in particular would be able to deal with multiple video formats (VGA, composite, and component). This looks like the most versatile solution, and would be the least invasive to the physical facility. But I suspect there would be a fair amount of latency with this kind of device, which could be a problem in this application.
Scan converter from VGA to composite video: This would allow us to simply input video into the camera jack. This would be nice because it also does not require modifying the physical facility, and could take advantage of the existing building distribution system. However, the video would suffer a significant loss of quality and resolution, so presentations would have to be designed for low resolution (which most people just don't get). It would also be a hassle getting the wire from the podium to the camera jack in the back.
I'm just curious what other stakes are doing, since I'm sure this is a very common issue. Thanks in advance for your comments.
-Shane
I'm looking at several options, and am just curious what others are doing, or if you have any experience using any of these methods:
Hard-wired VGA distribution from a jack on the podium to locations in the cultural hall? GC wired our old stake center like this, which was nice. But the cable runs were very long, and even with the DA in the middle they are probably at the hairy edge of VGA capability. As a result, the picture quality is not as good as it could be. We also did not have any drops in the RS or Primary room for overflow, which was often an issue.
VGA over twisted pair: There are many different solutions to do this, but I don't have a lot of experience with these devices to know which ones work well.
I'd just need to be able to get up into the mezzanine and install some temporary jumpers on the cat-5 patch panel. (most of the drops are not actually connected to the LAN anyway, so it wouldn't interfere with anything). This solution is attractive because it would allow us to use existing cabling without modifying the physical facility.
VGA over LAN. I've been looking at some devices that will encode video for streaming over a LAN. One device in particular would be able to deal with multiple video formats (VGA, composite, and component). This looks like the most versatile solution, and would be the least invasive to the physical facility. But I suspect there would be a fair amount of latency with this kind of device, which could be a problem in this application.
Scan converter from VGA to composite video: This would allow us to simply input video into the camera jack. This would be nice because it also does not require modifying the physical facility, and could take advantage of the existing building distribution system. However, the video would suffer a significant loss of quality and resolution, so presentations would have to be designed for low resolution (which most people just don't get). It would also be a hassle getting the wire from the podium to the camera jack in the back.
I'm just curious what other stakes are doing, since I'm sure this is a very common issue. Thanks in advance for your comments.
-Shane