Non interactive screens

[slugshead]

I'm looking at fitting 70" 4K TVs with Microsoft Wireless Adaptors.

 

This is similar what I've just done in all our meeting rooms, works great too!

 

I've got Prowise screens in the classrooms but the built in mirroring is absolute trash, so I've also put the MS adaptors in all the classrooms

[DrBeaker]

Surely with the wireless adapters there's more things to go wrong compared to a dedicated physical cable?

 

How reliable do they seen to be? I've read mixed reviews.

[slugshead]

Surely with the wireless adapters there's more things to go wrong compared to a dedicated physical cable?

 

How reliable do they seen to be? I've read mixed reviews.

 

They don't work over traditional wi-fi, it's "wi-fi direct" so kind of like bluetooth but using the wi-fi capabilities instead. You just need to be in range to connect and put the pairing pin in.

 

There's less to go wrong in our environment as the dedicated physical cable is the one thing that gets unplugged almost every single night, in every single classroom. I did run a test, video playback is okay, but I left a video playing on a friday when I left for the weekend, came back on monday and it was still looping.

[mavhc]

It's still wifi, just has the option to be point to point, not via an access point, still using a wifi channel. You'd have to test all the screens in the area being used at once and then see if your network wifi is still working.

[SamanthaD]

I'm looking at fitting 70" 4K TVs with Microsoft Wireless Adaptors.

There's issues with the Wireless Adaptors - not able to be centrally managed (you need to connect to each one individually to update firmware) and only supports Miracast (Windows 10) - if you want to cast from iOS or OSX (not sure about Chromebooks) this will not work.

 

That said for the price they're great, I usually have one in my toolbag as a "get out of jail" solution (currently connected to my TV so I can watch SMT livestreams in comfort).

 

Regarding HDMI cables - currently we do not have a wireless solution so HDMI / VGA laptop connections are available in all of our rooms. That's around 250 rooms, potentially 9 sessions a day with users connecting and disconnecting. HDMI cable failure is an issue, but only a couple a term across the whole site. If you've experienced a high rate of failures I'd be looking to see what brand of cables you're using, for heavy duty use such as this going with a reputable brand is worth the extra cash (we only use either Kramer, Extron or Van Damme for laptop connections).

[mavhc]

If the hdmi cable fails, just get another one, they're only £2

[DrBeaker]

If the hdmi cable fails, just get another one, they're only £2

Acceptable losses to be fair.

[SamanthaD]

If the hdmi cable fails, just get another one, they're only £2

+ the cost of someone going to the room to replace it... Our time costs money too, something that is often overlooked. At my hourly rate if I spend 30 minutes on that job total cost has gone over £10 (it all takes time!) Replace it 3 times and you may as well have bought the more expensive cable that is more likely to survive.

 

We're often the worst for selling ourselves short. Do you want to spend your time replacing HDMI cables or doing all the other jobs that you never have time to get done, because you're replacing HDMI cables???

[mavhc]

Hello, my projector doesn't work

 

OK, Come and get a new hdmi cable.

 

vs

 

Hello, my wireless display adapter doesn't work (Edit: This wouldn't happen, would be: my whiteboard isn't working)

 

OK, let me check your drivers, buy a wifi scanner, reboot everything, make sure you have the right pin code, update the firmware and then give up and use an hdmi cable

[Danp]

Newline panels - 65" are about £1100 each, full touch 20 point, 4k, cast, broadcast, whiteboard, 5 year warranty. If you don't care about software.

 

@yac2016 have you had many Newline panels? What's been your experience of them?

[yac2016]

Feedback from Engineers and teachers has been very good.

[Danp]

Feedback from Engineers and teachers has been very good.

 

Thank you. I've received a quote for a couple that looks too good to be true! I'm tempted to get a couple for classrooms where they are basically used for display only.