Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[David Sharp]

Our pastor would like to be able to control his power point slide show from the pulpit/stage. We currently use a PC in the sound/video booth with Easy Worship feeding the same video signal (VGA) to 2 ceiling mounted projectors. The pastor uses a MacBook so anything we get must be apple & pc friendly.

He wants to be able to have his macbook on stage controlling the slide show from there. I'm thinking we need something in the booth to switch the signal from his macbook to the easy worship pc (must be VGA input) & we need a device to transmit wireless video from the stage to the switcher (distance 25' approx w/ a few rows of bodies blocking direct line of sight). Make sense?

Any product suggestions?

[Arnold B. Krueger]

David Sharp wrote on Tue, 14 September 2010 03:54

Our pastor would like to be able to control his power point slide show from the pulpit/stage. We currently use a PC in the sound/video booth with Easy Worship feeding the same video signal (VGA) to 2 ceiling mounted projectors. The pastor uses a MacBook so anything we get must be apple & pc friendly. He wants to be able to have his macbook on stage controlling the slide show from there. I'm thinking we need something in the booth to switch the signal from his macbook to the easy worship pc (must be VGA input) & we need a device to transmit wireless video from the stage to the switcher (distance 25' approx w/ a few rows of bodies blocking direct line of sight). Make sense?

We use a (now out of production) digital switch. We wish we could afford a scaler with multiple inputs or a HD video mixer.

Another part of the equation is the length of the video cable required from the lectern to the media booth.

[David Sharp]

I was hoping to find a wireless solution from the stage to the booth (about 50'). Something you can just plug into the PC/Mac's USB port and transit video to a receiver with a VGA output into a switcher.

I'm really asking for everyone's opinion on:

1. A wireless USB to VGA (15pin) receiver/transmitter
2. A video switcher with 2 VGA (15 pin inputs) and at least 2 15 pin outs.

[Brian Ehlers]

Does your pastor really need to have complete control of his PC/Mac?  If all he's doing is selecting next slide or previous slide in one Power Point presentation, then the computer can stay in the equipment booth and he can use an RF remote control to advance the slides.

[Arnold B. Krueger]

Brian Ehlers wrote on Wed, 15 September 2010 17:24

Does your pastor really need to have complete control of his PC/Mac?  If all he's doing is selecting next slide or previous slide in one Power Point presentation, then the computer can stay in the equipment booth and he can use an RF remote control to advance the slides.

That's a relevant question. We tried to stuff a RF wireless keyboard down our pastor's throat for about a year, and he was never really happy with it.

The good news was that the wireless keyboard worked reliably as far as it went. The band news is that just a keyboard and a mouse provide only a pale shadow of what you get if the computer is right before you.

The wireless mouse/keyboard system really needs to include a copy of the screen that he can clearly see to even be in the ballpark. Othewise, he's flying blind.

[David Sharp]

I'm not sure if a wireless keyboard/mouse would work well with easy worship. If we went that route though I would just get a little RF "clicker" he could use to advance the slides. Provided it would work within easyworship.

Worse case senario we have to run a seperate powerpoint show outside of easy worship and bring that up when he speaks. He should be able to control the show then. The only problem that leads to is not having a monitor in front of him. I'm sure he would be looking to the slides of the stage making sure he was on the correct slide.

There is definately a big cost difference between an RF setup to tie into the PC at the booth and a wireless video transitter and VGA splitter so he can have his PC/Mac on stage. This will probably come down to the pastor's preference though. I'll price the options and present both.

[Matt Duncan]

Instead of dealing with the hassles of wireless vga transmission, why not just setup a wireless router in the booth? Install vnc on the projection pc & the pastor's mac. The pastor would be able to drive the projection pc remotely & should the wifi link go down, the operator in the booth could take over. Your costs would be next to nothing for this setup.

[Chris Penny]

Do you currently have any form of video foldback for the pulpit? We installed a monitor at the front of the church a few years ago and it works quite well enabling those at the front to see what is on the main screens without them having to turn around. Not only is it great for preaching but is also useful for notices and acts as a confidence monitor for our vocalists.

For remote control of the presentation computer we just use a logitech USB remote which happily works from anywhere in the church

[Timothy C. Lee]

How about the Apple remote that comes with your mac??  Not sure of the range, but I believe that's what Steve Jobs uses on his presentations.

[ProSoundWeb Community]