Switcher or Scaler?

[3XLion]

Most of this stuff is academic as he has to work within an $800.00 budget
TV One makes the XGA theater Scaler /switch.
It's Cheap $150.00. Inputs are one VGA 1 S-Vid 1 composite and a built in TV tuner. The scaler uses the same chip as the Corio scan line TvOne makes.
It is not a seamless switch and causes a glitch on switching.
It also has a gross green screen on video input before it recieves a signal,with input and resolution displayed for about 6 secs after it gets a signal.Thats probably why there is a 30% return rate with it to the dealers. I use the freeze or noshow button on the projector remote control,switch the source on the scaler/switch,then unfreeze when signal is steady.
This is a good starter system to get familiar with the equipment and will do what is needed untill the budgetary powers can be convinced to buy the necessary gear to do the job properly.

[jklein]

This AGC conversation has reminded me of a question maybe y'all could help me with: we've been showing DVD and VCR clips for our Wild At Heart series using a Mitsubishi DVD/VCR combo with the DVD/VCR composite (RCA) output plugged into our projector composite video input (an old Phillips installation model). I've noticed that the VHS tapes play fine but the DVD's have problems with darkening, especially when switching between light and dark scenes. Could this have something to do with the AGC and would I get better results using the dedicated DVD S-video or component output?

Thanks,
Jeff K.

[Jeffrey Denton]

question on signal loss over distance what about a video amp to keep it strong over a long throw distance

[3XLion]

Are you refering to Video (NTSC S-vid or Composite) or Computer Video (RGB ect.)
?
There are many types of extenders available. Some use UTP (cat5) cable and have good response up to 300 ft.Check Kramer Tools, Aten, or Extron. for examples.

[royalones]

Tim,

I've been reading your postings and some articles and have a question. The TV One has only one VGA input. Is there a similar system with two VGA inputs? Any with multiple VGA outputs? I imagine I could loop the composite/svid signal through a monitor, but I am looking to have the flexibility of two seperate computers being utilized.

A little more info on what we have/are doing. We recently installed three projectors - 2 hanging and are being fed by CAT-5 cables (we have three vga extenders connected by CAT5) with one placed in the balcony by the computer to project on the back wall. I use a Kramer VGA DA to split the PC signal to each projector. We use Media Shout (forever to be refered to as "MS") for lyrics and scriptureand and we use PowerPoint for announcements and sermon outlines (if we get them in advance. If not, we use the quick text of MS). We have been utilizing worship DVD's in our services and go back and forth (on the PC) between MS and PowerDVD.

What I've seen so far on the forum answers my questions as far as a scaler/switcher for taking a vhs/dvd/svid signal and converting to vga, and even such a device that would handle one vga input. Is there such a device with the same, but with 2 vga inputs? I'm sure I could rig something up, but I would rather not - and look for a more "professional" looking solution.

Originally Posted by Tim Eason

Heh -- Probably more accurate to say "Extron has your artwork beat". I did write a tutorial on this subject HERE. It gives you a few options. TV One does have a scaler switcher, but the best I can do for community members is $995 on it...

There are not of "in between" switcher/scalers out there. In other words, they jump from the 1K range to the 4K range really fast. Take a look at this one. You could have more than one VGA in/out on this unit -- plus a lot more.

Originally Posted by PHugger

All of this 'jury rigging' is sub-optimal. You can connect things together in an amazing mess. It may work, just not easily. We used to have to throw so many switches and then push buttons in an exact sequence - always flirting with disater. The best practice is to use a seamless switching scaler. The quality of the scaler will make a huge difference to your video sources. The more expensive models offer every input connection possible as well as a miriad of adjustments. With everything connected properly it becomes so simple to switch sources. No more disasters. It looks so professional when you can cross fade between your sources that people will notice. It's also so much easier on your staff. We started using the PPT operator to control everything that was projected. 5 minutes of training is all thats necessary for glitch free productions. Our first weekend using the PPT operators as FOH switchers we had 31 video roll-ins (baptism testimonies). Every single one was done without a single mistake. The drawback to this best practice is the cost. Our Folsom ScreenPro with the outboard contoller was around $14k if I remember correctly.


Best regards,
PCH

ouch! $14k, I think our Church board will say, " we could re-roof 4 to 6 houses for that much and make a great impact in someones life." But who knows

[[Admin] PHugger]

First - welcome to CMN.
Second - this is a really old thread...... LOL

You make a good point about how expensive excellence can be. We started out cheap and eventually outgrew the low quality and problems of our Rube Goldberg setup. Our board made a decision that it was worth it to help our services run glitch-free. The impact is huge on those running the service. Hopefully those in the audience don't notice anything that isn't 'normal'.

We also do other more tangable things to impact our community. We gave away over 50 cars last year mostly to single moms. We run a food pantry. We just sent a tractor trailer down to Missippi full of relief supplies. We send construction teams down to Mexico every other year to build 'houses'.




Best regards,
PCH

[Carl Godsoe]

After having used a Folsom Presentation Pro for a couple of years now, my thought is that a device such as this should be on the "minimum requirements" list.

[Event5]

Hi,
When we first installed projectors in a temporay (1Year) location I did a few very economical tricks to get by until we moved into our perminent location.
1. I controled the projectors with wired remotes but the distance to the projectors was farther than the cable that came with the remotes. I simply cut the cable and spliced in a 3 conductor wire keeping the polarity (VERY IMPORTANT). (cat 5 or cat 3 would work) I also did this with the perminate install and the run to the projectors is 100ft.
2. I decided to use only one input on the projectors. I used Svideo cable to the projectors. I take the computer out to an inexpensive ($75) video converter with Svideo out. This goes between the computer and its 2nd program out monitor. For the VCR I bought an Svideo player ($100 or so) to get the Svideo out and the DVD has Svideo out. All of these go into a switcher (again, Cheep, a 1x4 Svideo switcher, $30 at Radio Shack) You do not have to go cheep with the switcher. There are Pro and Pro-sumer switchers out there with nice broadcasting features.
3. I also took the Svideo out form a DV Camera to project live video
A 100ft Svideo cable can be purchased for around $30 and can be split to 2 projectors if you need to. I have run 300ft of inexpensive Svideo cable with little or no noticeable problems.
4. I turned off the blue screen, startup logo, and screen text features so when the projectors are turned on they come on with what ever signal I am sending or no signal.
The biggest downside to Svideo is the connector. It does not have a positive locking connection and can come loose if not secured with tape or is in a stable location. Also the connector can be damaged if care is not taken when plugging in.

Just some ideas
Dave Allan
NOCC
Orange California

[Gregger]

Check on TVone Products. They have both scalers and scaler/switchers.

www.avtoolbox.com are all TV ONE products also