Re: Video input formats to include
There is no intention to hijack this thread, I'm hoping that any responses to this will help Grant answer his question.
I have a similar dilemma, and that is, what to use? HDMI seems to be the way to go, but it really is hard work, and not without risk.
I am the techy at our church and looking at some options to make our video system work better, and perhaps build in some future-proofing. At the moment, we have VGA from a PC, which drives a projector at 1280x800 via some active CAT5 extenders. Works great, no major worries.
Trouble comes when you try and add DVD to the mix, it's just not that simple and seamless. So I am looking at the Kramer switcher (maybe the VP-428 or VP-731), which will allow the switching between different sources.
As an aside, and I found this out almost by accident, switching HDMI is not that seamless unless you have some fancy gear. I suspect it has something to do with the HDCP and digital side of it. Now I hear that the Kramer VP-7xx series is a different animal to the VP-4xx series, in that the VP-7xx does a better job at the seamless part of it by throwing in some extra horsepower and processing. I've asked them to send me some info on this, so if it comes in the form of a link, then I will post here for information. So I understand that the cheaper switches, maybe $700 or so, will switch, but it will not be seamless, and they might take some time for the frame rates (or something) to catch up, maybe 3 seconds or so, which might or might not be acceptable in a large venue. It wouldn’t be for us.
So, back to the point, HDMI seems to be the way to go, but I'm struggling to be comfortable to use it as the main backbone of the system, from the PC and DVD/BR players, then the projector. What with the complication of HDCP, the very high cost of extending HDMI (DVI is less, but still not cheap), the need to sometimes break out the audio from the HDMI stream (yet another box), it's just seems too hard! And with an element of risk, not really knowing that when I spend all the money and come to plug it all together that I'll be sure it will work.
Roll in good 'ol VGA. The extenders are cheap (relatively), and no audio and HDCP to deal with. They can be easily split and/or distributed, also at a relatively small cost. The resolutions are more than good enough for projection, because at 10 meters, I doubt anyone will know the difference between an image of 1280x800 and an HD image. And even if they can, it will be so marginal that one has to question if it was worth the extra expense. It might be better spent on a bigger and brighter projector!
A further complication for me is that we want to ensure that we set up a system that can be extended to include 2 side projectors (that will both show the same image), so I would then get a second switcher of the same model, and distribute all the inputs to both switchers, so any input can be routed to any projector. So if I go HDMI as the main backbone, I would pay a fortune on decent HDMI splitters.
Then there is monitoring, but in the case of DVD/BR players, they usually have a composite of S-Video output that can be flicked off to a LCD monitor, maybe even through a quad processor, all relatively cheap.
So.... to HDMI or not to HDMI. That is the question. VGA looks better all the time, but am I living in the past? DVI is an alternative, but it is also not cheap, and HDCP is still a factor.
Comments are most welcome.
There is no intention to hijack this thread, I'm hoping that any responses to this will help Grant answer his question.
I have a similar dilemma, and that is, what to use? HDMI seems to be the way to go, but it really is hard work, and not without risk.
I am the techy at our church and looking at some options to make our video system work better, and perhaps build in some future-proofing. At the moment, we have VGA from a PC, which drives a projector at 1280x800 via some active CAT5 extenders. Works great, no major worries.
Trouble comes when you try and add DVD to the mix, it's just not that simple and seamless. So I am looking at the Kramer switcher (maybe the VP-428 or VP-731), which will allow the switching between different sources.
As an aside, and I found this out almost by accident, switching HDMI is not that seamless unless you have some fancy gear. I suspect it has something to do with the HDCP and digital side of it. Now I hear that the Kramer VP-7xx series is a different animal to the VP-4xx series, in that the VP-7xx does a better job at the seamless part of it by throwing in some extra horsepower and processing. I've asked them to send me some info on this, so if it comes in the form of a link, then I will post here for information. So I understand that the cheaper switches, maybe $700 or so, will switch, but it will not be seamless, and they might take some time for the frame rates (or something) to catch up, maybe 3 seconds or so, which might or might not be acceptable in a large venue. It wouldn’t be for us.
So, back to the point, HDMI seems to be the way to go, but I'm struggling to be comfortable to use it as the main backbone of the system, from the PC and DVD/BR players, then the projector. What with the complication of HDCP, the very high cost of extending HDMI (DVI is less, but still not cheap), the need to sometimes break out the audio from the HDMI stream (yet another box), it's just seems too hard! And with an element of risk, not really knowing that when I spend all the money and come to plug it all together that I'll be sure it will work.
Roll in good 'ol VGA. The extenders are cheap (relatively), and no audio and HDCP to deal with. They can be easily split and/or distributed, also at a relatively small cost. The resolutions are more than good enough for projection, because at 10 meters, I doubt anyone will know the difference between an image of 1280x800 and an HD image. And even if they can, it will be so marginal that one has to question if it was worth the extra expense. It might be better spent on a bigger and brighter projector!
A further complication for me is that we want to ensure that we set up a system that can be extended to include 2 side projectors (that will both show the same image), so I would then get a second switcher of the same model, and distribute all the inputs to both switchers, so any input can be routed to any projector. So if I go HDMI as the main backbone, I would pay a fortune on decent HDMI splitters.
Then there is monitoring, but in the case of DVD/BR players, they usually have a composite of S-Video output that can be flicked off to a LCD monitor, maybe even through a quad processor, all relatively cheap.
So.... to HDMI or not to HDMI. That is the question. VGA looks better all the time, but am I living in the past? DVI is an alternative, but it is also not cheap, and HDCP is still a factor.
Comments are most welcome.