SamanthaD

Costs over £300? And the tape costs £18 a roll? Whereas a £6 roll of gaffa works just as well if you don't mind spending 2 extra minutes on your knees...

Not on my gigs. Cable management is a crucial part of stage management, and there's really no excuse for spaghetti junctions! We use TopTec cable raceway for out internal installs - low profile and robust. But quite expensive! Otherwise cable ramp is pretty much the standard for event use. You can get all black versions but the black / yellow variant seems to be the most common out there. Maybe think about alternative routes? Across the floor might be the most direct, can it go around the perimeter of the room? If not in an eyeline, can it go overhead? Or if you're doing it frequently can it be permanently installed?

Part of me thinks this isn't a technical problem - it's a classroom management problem and teachers need to be taking the responsibility of what students are doing with their time rather than trying to push it onto you.

Did you see the post I put into the Security forum? https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/06/vulnerabilities-in-meeting-owl-videoconference-device-imperil-100k-users/

Define a teaching wall, with educational rationale rather than "it looks nice" and with some clear guidelines on who will be creating the content to go on such a high-resolution device. Here pixel pitch has a direct correlation on how far away the closest viewer should be - for every 1mm of pitch the viewer should be 1m away. (ie 2.5mm pixel pitch, closest viewer should be 2.5m away. Try fitting that into a classroom!) Possible, but it aint cheap and I would argue not suitable for a normal classroom setting - a random bag being knocked into it could be quite pricey to replace! All that said have a look at https://displaysolutions.samsung.com/the-wall - this looks promising.

We use Extron - the MLC Plus range is great (mostly MLC Plus 200's with some 100's where there is less inputs to manage). There's no real code to learn, it's all based on drivers so it's more configuring based on simple logic, and training is free. Can be as simple or complex as you want it to be!

As always - don't spec your screen size based on budget. The size of your screen has to be calculated on a per room basis looking at the distance from the furthest viewer, and is a ratio based on screen height and element % height (ie font size) to guarantee visual acuity. There are calculators out there to work this out for you. OPS PC's might be slick and easy, but a PITA when you need to change it out quick because it's broken. Visualisers are great, I suggest getting one without a flatbed (we use Wolfvision vSolution Cam). Flatbed's take up too much space when not in use and just get in the way. The Optoma ones look interesting - just be careful that the in built mics don't connect to the in-room speakers and cause feedback! If you want recording capability then that's a new headache, even more so if you want automatic. Legally you have to tell / show everyone in the room you're recording, even if it's just audio. (We have Sonic Foundry Mediasite installed in over 100 rooms, lectures are automatically recorded but there's also a "record now" feature for Ad Hoc stuff. We have a light to show when recording is taking place. All uploaded to the VLE automatically. It ain't cheap!) TopTec Rubi's are good, but shallow in depth. If you deploy site wide ask for suited keys, makes a world of difference. For me - the one thing that makes everything so much easier is a RS232 control panel. No more remotes for the screens/projectors. Just On, Off and Source buttons, maybe a blank / freeze, and a volume control. All on one panel that never needs batteries. And nested commands, so when you press On it always goes to the default input and volume level every time. Literally turning it off and on again resets everything. Networkable to do scripts and remote monitoring (turn everything off at 10pm? Screen's blank? Let me look... You've got the blank button on) If you're looking at Rubi's they have a control panel housing available, improves the user experience no end IMO!

Surely the length of the session and therefore filesize is not going to change if both the student and BSL interpreter are in the frame, compared to just the student? The session will take just as long? I fail to see how a different camera shot affects the amount of work you need to do to submit the exam work?

We use Meetups. Great all in one device for webcam, microphone and speaker - never had any complaints with them.

Again, re-film it. And delete ALL copies of the student who shouldn't have been filmed, as that can become a GDPR issue pretty quickly I imagine.

We installed over 100 of them as part of a lecture capture programme, as we needed a cheap rackmount mixer with an aux output. Over the years at least 50% of them have blown their capacitors, they do last around 4/5 years before the issues show up though.

Those Behringers are renowned for the power capacitors blowing on them....

If you look on the TriplePlay support site there's a How To article for adding local web page widgets to a playlist.

Think you'll need to use a widget rather than RSS?

Some food for thought. Is the system going to be run by an engineer / desk op (managed) or left alone for people to use as they please (unmanaged)? If it's managed then just a desk, mics, amps and probably a speaker management system. If you have 6 speakers in the space then these should be driven by individual amps so they can be delayed appropriately. If it's unmanaged then just mics and a decent DSP and amps will do. We have both systems in use here. Managed systems are run by a technician who handle the care of the equipment, so more delicate, higher end kit can be used. More mics can be allowed in use at any one time as it's mixed. Any issues can be resolved. Unmanaged systems are a bit more of a challenge - people help themselves to the mics and expect them to work. Number of potential available mics is reduced and potential for abuse (or the friendly teacher who has a fancy Hi-Fi at home therefore knows what they're doing) is increased. Across the board we use Sennheiser UHF systems, with charging cradles and rechargeable batteries. A bit more expensive to start with, but means no-one messing around changing batteries as they can stay in the mics while charging, gives them somewhere to live and means the mics are always ready for use. Something like this - A DSP is going to be your best friend here too. If you can get one that has no front panel controls to be played with so much the better! Typically these have functions such as automatic gain control, automixing and decent EQ so that you can tailor the sound, unplug your laptop and no-one can fiddle. Decent sized ones will also have enough outputs for all your speakers to be individually delayed (12 in, 8 out is typical). You can also get volume controls so that basic levels can be controlled easily by users if you wish. Final thing - for four mics consider aerial distribution, and external antenna. Not saying you'll ever have any issues, but when you do you'll regret not having it in place!

Hi, how many people does your boardroom sit? There's a whole host of solutions here, but unless you rethink your approach it's going to cost a fair bit more. Individual mics will require auto-mixing as well as potentially needing AEC so a DSP of some kind may be necessary. Audio (not surround sound as the thread title suggests) totally depends on the room. Really recommend going to an AV integrator for this as they'll know the best solution for you.

Is the 75" display ok if you go direct into the PC? I think you're guess is correct - your splitter isn't the correct tool for the job. The fact you're calling it a splitter doesn't help! You need a Distribution Amplifier (DA), this actively amplifies the signal and often has features such as EDID management (it may be that the 2 screens have different refresh rates or colour spaces, which a proper DA will be able to manage for you).

Our standard is 2 x 24". I can appreciate how it's easy to say grab a 32" 4k screen and you've got 4 HD monitors, but consider the user experience. Larger displays means more vertical neck movement, our field of vision is wider than it is higher so it's easier to consume content in a landscape fashion hence why 2 monitors is usually preferred. For "snapping" software I've been using the Dell Display Manager, once it's setup it's dead easy to snap (hold shift and drag window to desired location, it resizes for you) but is only for Dell monitors. There's other (paid) alternatives but I've not found one that works as well. However I noticed in Win 11 the maximise button also has some new snapping features, hover over it for a second and a small windows appears with some new snapping options...

UTP isn't the best for video - STP is normally the minimum spec you would need. The shielding is important. Fibre HDMI is starting to show cracks - we've had around 6/7 shorter lengths fail (15/20m). Longer lengths are still going strong though, so not sure what the best solution is. We're going to try a third manufacturer to see if they're any better. As for "boost", it's not really a boost the same as an amplified copper cable as it's just signal conversion.

As usual my vote goes to iiyama. I know they do wireless but it's not something we use, multiple HDMI etc all good. Ours have been pretty rock solid, and we have a lot of them!

Amplified (or active) HDMI cables are specially made with the amplifier built into the HDMI connector. You can tell them apart from standard HDMI cables as they tend to be directional. If you want to re-use existing copper cables then the item you need is a cable equaliser. An HDMI to VGA adapter is unlikely to do this.

Standard copper HDMI cables have limited length. Options are amplified cables which are good for around up to 15m, over that you're looking at converting to a CatX solution such as HDBaseT or a proprietary solution (we use Extron's DTP solution), or fibre HDMI cables are starting to become more robust. The one thing I always maintain - try to reduce the number of breaks in the chain, if you're using faceplates etc that just introduces points of failure in the system.

Tried a new tactic today, got it in 2. Not sure it'll always work as well, but a bit chuffed!

Totally Epson house here. If you can stretch to it I'd recommend going laser, over the life of the projector it costs the same as a lamped projector but without having to change lamps As for lost remote controls.... RS232 control panels are the way forward

Must admit I'm addicted - only played 11 so far 1-0 2-0 3-1 4-7 5-2 6-1