Category Archives: Media

Power Conditioners

We’ve certainly had our share of brownouts and blackouts. We are currently using APC power (voltage) conditioners. The SVC magazine came in the mail today. I noticed the Belkin PowerConsole PF60 conditioner. Looks good and reasonably priced. Something to keep in mind.

SlingMedia, Slingboxes, Placeshifting

So, Slingmedia (the makers of the Slingbox) discontinued the Slingcatcher some time ago. It is still possible to buy some of these devices, albeit prices vary.

There are alternatives such as Videobrick and Haivision’s Videofurnace, and these scale well with lots of users and channels.

However, if you have a bunch of old Mac Minis or maybe XPe thin clients, these can be used to substitute the Slingcatcher by installing the Slingplayer application.

On the other hand, Dish Network is offering DVRs that are Slingloaded and can be used with the Slingreceiver 300.

Update 6/25: Belkin now sells a reasonably priced Slingbox alternative (@TV), but no receiver.

So… lots of options for placeshifting…

Securing laptops to a desk or a podium

Some options:
https://www.smartdesks.com/laptop-labs.asp
https://www.smartdesks.com/mfi-lectern-podium.asp
https://www.smartdesks.com/PDF/SPECS-MPLEX/MFP-302642-LKF.pdf

Freedom podium/lectern with Freedom link cart (actually the cart may be more useful for us than the podium!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1L5GS29mB8

For example we could lock a laptop to podiums where there isn’t enough space to attach a swing arm and desktop mount:
Kensington Laptop Locking Station ($80).

Probably the best would be a monitor swing arm (FWD110B Chief monitor wall arm mount,$80) with a Mac Mini mount / bracket such as the MacCuff, $50.

Converting analog to digital and vice versa

A few years down the road we may find ourselves in a situation where:

  • some of the computers on-campus will only have a VGA port
  • some of the computers on-campus will only have a DisplayPort (likely these will be Dell computers)
  • some of the computers on-campus will only have a Mini DisplayPort (all Mac computers distributed after January 1, 2009)

Thus, any new and existing smart classrooms will need to be reconfigured to support the three kinds of ports.

New and newly upgraded classrooms
In new or newly upgraded classrooms we will have the opportunity (and budget money!) to rebuild the system to support the new situation. In each classroom, we will have to replace a variety of switchers, adapters, projectors, and last, but not least, we’ll need to run one or two additional cables. As silly as it sounds, replacing the switchers, adapters and projectors will be straightforward. However, replacing the cables will not be as easy, depending on the classroom. There are two ways of replacing the cables:

  • Option A: Each classroom could have three cables: a VGA cable (for older Apple and Dell computers), a DisplayPort cable (for newer Dell computers) and a Mini DisplayPort cable (for newer Apple computers).
  • Option B: Each classroom could have two types of cables (a VGA cable and an HDMI cable). New Dell computers will be distributed with a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter. Mac computers will be distributed with a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter.

At this point, option A seems like the ideal option, however, in some classrooms the existing cable conduits will not fit the two additional cables, thus Option B will be the only working approach. To implement Option B, Media Services would need to work closely with the Helpdesk and Library Circulation to purchase and distributed the necessary adapters.

Old smart classrooms that are not yet scheduled for a complete upgrade
Ideally we’d have the money and the time to upgrade all of the smart classrooms. However, that’s not likely going to be the case. We will need to implement a version of cabling Option B here. In some classrooms, a HDMI to VGA converter will be sufficient, in other classrooms we may need to also add a new switcher.

Equipment Needed

  1. Switcher: Extron MPS409. This switcher will convert DVI, VGA, component, S-Video, and audio to HDMI and vice versa. Yup, this switcher just made my day. It ROCKS!
  2. HDMI to VGA converter options: HDFury2
  3. Apple Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter
  4. Moshi Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter
  5. Startech DisplayPort to HDMI adapter

A few classrooms are also used for overflow. If we come to a situation where the cameras used for overflow or the switchers used in overflow only have HDMI ports, we can use an HDMI CAT-5 (ethernet) balust (one model that would work: Niles C5-HDMI).

In a few classrooms we need to project the same video to two different projectors, or to a monitor and a projector. For such situations we’d need a distribution amplifier (DA), such as the Kramer VM-2HxI.

Evaluating Multimedia Room Control

Lutron vs Crestron Lighting: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=875223
Crestron vs Extron vs AMX: http://www.vtctalk.com/showthread.php?t=39922
Archived chatter around similarities between Global View and RoomView: http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/crestron-extron-lawsuit

Good mailing lists for AV:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Crestron/
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Show-Control/

Videoconferencing and Telepresence

Overview of Web Conferencing Tools:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AgJkAm8YfFJndFRMdnZIRnVOYzE0VXNkV2RnWXFidlE&hl=en&pli=1#gid=0

Useful articles for videoconferencing and telepresence solutions:
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/06/22/jansson
http://www.nitle.org/help/telepresence.php.
http://www.uvccompatiblewebcams.com/
http://www.tandberg.com/video-conferencing-case-studies/distance-learning-videoconferencing-education.jsp