HDMI over IP in Classroom/Science Lab AV Solution

[Chaniel]

Hello,

 

We have a few science labs which have a less than desirable AV setup which I'd like to get sorted over summer.

 

Currently, the rooms have a short-thrown projector on a wall onto a whiteboard, the room is a standard science lab layout with a fixed teacher desk at the front (with integrated sink, gas taps etc). The HDMI from the projector goes into trunking, into a rubber cable protector and then the HDMI gets plugged into the teachers laptop. Audio is controlled by a wall-mounted amp.

 

Problem with the HDMI is that it looks untidy, it's a trip hazard and we regularly have to replace long, expensive HDMI cables due to damage.

 

Wondering if anyone has solutions from their schools? I'm thinking using an HDMI over IP extender and run a cable down through to the floor below and then back up and mount a faceplate to the desk for just the HDMI, but then not sure what to do about the USB if anyone wants to use interactivity (a rarity).

[thebatman]

We have got Cat6 run in conduct that is in the floor then use HDMI to Cat6 Extenders

https://www.lindy.co.uk/audio-video-c2/extenders-c181/50m-cat-6-hdmi-ir-extender-with-loop-out-p9643

but this is only any good if you have a route to run the Cat6.

[Rob_D]

We have a pretty similar setup in our labs and are looking into the same sort of thing.

 

We've experimented with these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LKV373KVM-Extender-Single-Ethernet-Router-x/dp/B01N1WCIRU

 

Worked fine over a straight-run cat6 cable when we tested it.

Unfortunately we can't run cables under the floor in most of the labs, so we're looking for either wireless or will work over IP.

At the moment we're looking at https://www.screenbeam.com/ They're supposed to be sending us a trial unit in the next couple of weeks.

[DrBeaker]

We have got Cat6 run in conduct that is in the floor then use HDMI to Cat6 Extenders

https://www.lindy.co.uk/audio-video-c2/extenders-c181/50m-cat-6-hdmi-ir-extender-with-loop-out-p9643

but this is only any good if you have a route to run the Cat6.

 

+1 for Lindy stuff. Used one of their IR repeaters in a loooooong hall to repeat the IR signal for the projector over a normal ethernet cable. Fantastic bits of kit.

[mavhc]

Why not run the hdmi and usb under the floor?

[DrBeaker]

Why not run the hdmi and usb under the floor?

 

Science labs I've had to work in, typically have the floor covered with linoleum-type flooring. Or some type of resin floor. Once it's sealed, it's sealed and you can't get it up without some serious work.

 

There's only 3x ways of getting something somewhere AFAIK - under the floor, above the ceiling, or a pole in the middle of the room.

[mavhc]

Science labs I've had to work in, typically have the floor covered with linoleum-type flooring. Or some type of resin floor. Once it's sealed, it's sealed and you can't get it up without some serious work.

 

There's only 3x ways of getting something somewhere AFAIK - under the floor, above the ceiling, or a pole in the middle of the room.

 

Or wireless, or use existing wires. But the original post suggested they were going to put cat5 under the floor anyway. Wondered why bother converting to cat5 and back again

[Rob_D]

Or wireless, or use existing wires. But the original post suggested they were going to put cat5 under the floor anyway. Wondered why bother converting to cat5 and back again

Depends how much of a pain it is to run cables and whether you want to future-proof.

We had serial cables put into our labs back in the day. When the boards were upgraded newer cables couldn't be run so the serial cables were re-terminated to usb and they're pretty dodgy.

If we'd had cat5 put in to start with and used converters then no need to re-terminate.

Also if it's a longer distance than is rated (more for usb than hdmi) then cat5 converters would work better.

[Chaniel]

Thanks for the responses guys (and the links to the Lindy extenders!)

 

Why not run the hdmi and usb under the floor?

mhaddock has pretty much covered it. Running it under the floor isn't really a possibility due to the floor covering. However, drilling a 6mm hole through the floor into the ceiling below and then back up below the cupboard is a possibility. Problem with running HDMI and USB direct is also due to lengths, we might get away with a powered USB extension but drilling 20~mm holes in the floor isn't ideal.

[DrBeaker]

Or wireless, or use existing wires. But the original post suggested they were going to put cat5 under the floor anyway. Wondered why bother converting to cat5 and back again

 

For me....

 

Wireless is for me a personal preference. I wouldn't use it due to reliability mainly. I've removed flaky "wireless" solutions and installed wired ones, the issue simply didn't happen ever again.

 

Existing wireless - depends if there's existing wires in the first place. A lot of times (see below,) there's simply not.

 

Generally... signal issues, cable length issues, compatibility etc. Cat5e is used for loads of things that aren't IT-related. I've used it for sending an IR signal down a hall that was a loooooong hall. There's a load of equipment that plays up and has intermittent issues when the signal is poor or unreliable.

 

I.T. a lot of the time:

 

1) Doesn't have a choice

2) Isn't involved in the design or layout of rooms until it's too late to do anything properly with it.

 

e.g. I've seen posts on here, where in a new school build they didn't even put a room for the servers!

 

Thanks for the responses guys (and the links to the Lindy extenders!)

 

 

mhaddock has pretty much covered it. Running it under the floor isn't really a possibility due to the floor covering. However, drilling a 6mm hole through the floor into the ceiling below and then back up below the cupboard is a possibility. Problem with running HDMI and USB direct is also due to lengths, we might get away with a powered USB extension but drilling 20~mm holes in the floor isn't ideal.

Try these.

 

https://www.lindy.co.uk/usb-thunderbolt-c4/50m-usb-1-1-cat-5-extender-p439

https://www.lindy.co.uk/cables-adapters-c1/usb-c449/20m-usb-2-0-active-extension-p510

https://www.lindy.co.uk/usb-thunderbolt-c4/50m-usb-2-0-cat-5-extender-p7307

I've used similar to this https://www.lindy.co.uk/audio-video-c2/extenders-c181/450m-cat5-ir-extender-for-4-devices-p7294 from them in the past with pretty much 100% reliability.

Edited June 13, 2019 by DrBeaker

[mavhc]

2) Isn't involved in the design or layout of rooms until it's too late to do anything properly with it.

 

e.g. I've seen posts on here, where in a new school build they didn't even put a room for the servers!

 

Yeah, wireless is usually terrible, esp at scale.

 

That's why I got myself involved in the new building asap, got hard hat on, got room for servers, picked rotation of classroom based on sun patterns mostly, and therefore IWB placement, laptop store room, extra network points, etc etc