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Networked Projectors, how do they work exactly? Limits?

post #1 of 10
11/18/08 at 1:58pm
Thread Starter 
Curious if anyone has any experience with networked projectors (ethernet)...

Curious how they work to serve say 3 people in a room.. what does one person have to do to gain control of the display from their laptop..

Do they have limits, will 3d and movies still work via the network connection.. or will it be like remote desktop and not function.

Thanks for any input.
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post #2 of 10
11/18/08 at 5:45pm
The purpose of networking in projectors is for basic projector control.

The person with the laptop connected to the VGA input has control over what is shown by controlling the laptop. You cannot have more than laptop connected unless you have a projector with 2 VGA inputs. Then the laptop that is being shown is controlled by the remote.

There is no desktop function on a projector. And no signal is input into the projector through the network connection.

You still have to run your signals into the designated ports, (VGA, Component, etc)

Or did I misunderstand your question? What is it you're wanting to do?
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post #3 of 10
11/19/08 at 10:38am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheridan1952 View Post

The purpose of networking in projectors is for basic projector control.

The person with the laptop connected to the VGA input has control over what is shown by controlling the laptop. You cannot have more than laptop connected unless you have a projector with 2 VGA inputs. Then the laptop that is being shown is controlled by the remote.

There is no desktop function on a projector. And no signal is input into the projector through the network connection.

You still have to run your signals into the designated ports, (VGA, Component, etc)

Or did I misunderstand your question? What is it you're wanting to do?

I was under the impression they could send video through ethernet, so people could switch in and out.. ie: if you had 3 laptops they could flip to laptopA, b c etc..

Right now we are just using a VGA switch to switch between them.

I thought about getting hdmi switch, but this wont work as we cant go from vga to hdmi.. however, a dvi-i switch would work, since it can take vga, but those switches seem to be in the $350 range, vs a vga or hdmi one that is $40.
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post #4 of 10
11/19/08 at 1:00pm
No, the projectors aren't computers.
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post #5 of 10
11/19/08 at 1:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by markm75 View Post

what does one person have to do to gain control of the display from their laptop.

lol...I'm thinking he wants to sit in a conference room during a meeting and unobtrusively play horrifically inappropriate content, simultaneously interrupting naptime and crushing the career of his long-time nemesis.

Don't think for a second that we all haven't contemplated this...
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post #6 of 10
11/19/08 at 1:36pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheridan1952 View Post

No, the projectors aren't computers.

Actually, according to this link.. it should work almost like remote desktop shouldnt it:

(wirelessly too)

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa934598.aspx
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post #7 of 10
11/19/08 at 3:01pm
Okay, that is something is relatively new and only a handful of projectors are capable of it and it is in either Vista or Windows CE. Don't confuse this feature with projectors that merely say they are network-capable. Not the same thing.

Read this excerpt from an NEC flyer...

"Built-in HTTP page for control and monitoring over a LAN network"

Not the same as what you're envisioning. For what you want, the specs on the projector have to say "Windows Network Projector", do a Google search on that term. So far, the only projectors I see with that capability come from NEC. There may be others, but I don't see them listed.
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post #8 of 10
11/19/08 at 6:15pm
I just had a chat with my NEC rep and he says the bandwidth capability in the projectors is such that the application is good for Powerpoints and still images. It is not good for "real-time" applications like video. The effect would be like watching a YouTube video on dial-up.

That is the current state of affairs. It could improve down the road, but for right now, it is only useful for boardroom presentations.
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post #9 of 10
11/26/08 at 1:24pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheridan1952 View Post

I just had a chat with my NEC rep and he says the bandwidth capability in the projectors is such that the application is good for Powerpoints and still images. It is not good for "real-time" applications like video. The effect would be like watching a YouTube video on dial-up.

That is the current state of affairs. It could improve down the road, but for right now, it is only useful for boardroom presentations.

Is the NEC rep stating this based on if you were using a wireless projection system? What about if it were wired (gigabit)..
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post #10 of 10
12/7/08 at 8:55am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by markm75 View Post

Is the NEC rep stating this based on if you were using a wireless projection system? What about if it were wired (gigabit)..

I also found cheaper units that have the ethernet jack, but they appear to be "windows network projectors" as well..
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...gtCjCVRqCjCVRq

I guess all you would need to do is add a wireless N adapter to the ethernet port if doing N.. i would still have to think wireless N would be fast enough for most video content, but maybe not.
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