We have an issue with staff walking out of rooms and leaving projectors on. Therefore we want a way to send a signal to the projectors after x minutes of inactivity and reset this counter once activity has resumed.
We can't use the built in XP power options as although this would blank the screen it would not turn off the bulb.
Therefore I wondering if there was a (free!) utility which could send a signal down the VGA to power a projector down after inactivity.
We have the same issue sometimes. Would love to know if anyone has a solution to this.
The only snag that I can see with a total power off is that the projector then has to wait 30 minutes to cool before being powered up again.
From our point of view; it would only be useful to power the projector off when the PC controlling it is shut down. We put up with "no show" and stand-by during the day.
I'm pretty sure there isn't going to be any way to do this via VGA. I think the only way to do this would be to use some kind of IR transmitter to send a power off code to the projector after x minutes of system idling.
Some projectors have the ability to connect a computer via serial to do various things, this might be worth investigating. Some also start shutting them selves down when they have no signal for say 5 minutes, so if you set power management to turn off the monitor this might achieve this (worth some experimentation to see if your projectors do this).
I have this problem in every school that I support. I think the reason this feature doesn't exist is all about making money. The sooner the bulb runs out, the sooner replacements need to be purchased. Coincidence, no? I haven't seen any projector with this built in.
Our HP and Hitachi projectors have a built in timer.
iv seen projectors with com ports and some of the time USB aswell. they might(doub't it, as the post above states its all about money!!) if there is resorces on the internet you might beable to code somthing todo it??
Another point would be - how do you know that the classroom is empty? Teachers often leave something displayed whilst the class do independent work and can get really cross if the projector decides to power down.
Most of our projectors have an off timer but if the PC is left on they often don't react.
I've started to buy projector with RJ45 ports that can be centrally managed. Only snag is I've not yet got to cabling to them. That's a task for when I've got more time.
HBJB
iv worked with networkable projectors before. i always found them to be HORRIBLE display quality when running visual over the network! unless ur using the standard VGA and just managing em via the network?Originally Posted by Heebeejeebee
I'm not planning to run video over the network (although this works well for our signage system with HD - but that's directly cabled). I intend to shut then down remotely.
HBJB
We have alot of Benq and Sanyo projectors, almost all have an option in the menus to shut them off after there's been no signal for so long. Its easy for us as all teachers use laptops but even on a stationary system the monitor will turn off eventually.
Procon IP units may be worth looking into rather than buying projectors with ethernet, they're availible in 1 and 3 port versions, cant remember how much they cost though(had to setup a whole load in my previous job). using the site manager software you can control every projector in the school and see their lamp usage along with changing the input selection etc. I'm pretty sure you can schedule on and off times too.
Since when?! Our projectors take 2-3 minutes to do their cool-down, and can then be turned straight back on again.
Ours too - we have set them to something like 45 minutes; this means they last long enough to not cause a problem in lesson time, but will turn off over lunch or after school.
Unfortunately, I don't think our integrated ones in the Smartboard 680i do this, which is a real shame.
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