# two projectors



## itie (Feb 21, 2009)

so my school has a projector hanging under our cat walk (not reach able). they ran a cord to the stage and booth both r really long. on stage its just a vga and in the booth its a vga and s-video. now the screen rolls and its kinda small. then we got a cyc put in and people like projecting on the cyc. so what i was wondering is if there was a cord that i could buy that would split the cord that is running to the booth and stage to go to two projectors. this way if they want to use the small screen they can or hook up another one for the cyc. if there is something like this on the market that would be great.


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## icewolf08 (Feb 22, 2009)

It is possible to do, but it requires a lot of cable and access to the current projector. You would need to install an A/B video switch (preferably one that can be remote controlled) such that the input to the switch is the feeds from the booth and stage and one output goes to the fixed projector and the other output goes to wherever you want it. All of this gear is readily available, but the installation could be a PITA depending on how easy it is to get to where you need to run cables.


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## itie (Feb 22, 2009)

well its big project so i will get the hight needed to reach the projector for the day but i wont be able reach unless i need to badly. i was looking online and found a y cable one male two female. would that work and i would only need to run the cable to the stage for the second projector.


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## icewolf08 (Feb 22, 2009)

Using a Y cable will work, but it will degrade your video quality. A true A/B switch or a powered splitter is the best way to do this.


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## icewolf08 (Feb 22, 2009)

After a quick search on CDW, I think you would want to look for something like this: VGA Splitter


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## itie (Feb 22, 2009)

sweet thanks so i could hook this up and leave. or do i need to switch it when i want to switch projectors. oh and if you dont mind i was also wondering about this converter i was using in a theatre. its rack mountable and it has a vga output and like component, dvi, s-video, and so on inputs. then you can switch them on the front between the inputs. what is that cause i like it. and thank you again.


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## icewolf08 (Feb 22, 2009)

Yes, you should be able to "set and forget" with a powered splitter. As for the other device, it would be a multi-format video switcher. I have yet to turn one up in my searches, but they are not uncommon.


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## itie (Feb 22, 2009)

sweet you rule.


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## ruinexplorer (Feb 22, 2009)

icewolf08 said:


> Yes, you should be able to "set and forget" with a powered splitter. As for the other device, it would be a multi-format video switcher. I have yet to turn one up in my searches, but they are not uncommon.



You mean something like this?


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## museav (Feb 22, 2009)

itie said:


> oh and if you dont mind i was also wondering about this converter i was using in a theatre. its rack mountable and it has a vga output and like component, dvi, s-video, and so on inputs. then you can switch them on the front between the inputs. what is that cause i like it. and thank you again.


It really helps when you reference equipment f you can give as a model or at least a manufacturer. In fact, it helps if you take the time to provide more information in general.

A multiple format switcher would have multiple format outputs. If the device has only a VGA output and multiple format inputs then it is probably a switcher/scaler or a seamless switcher. There are numerous models from manufacturers like Extron, Analog Way, FSR, TV One, Kramer Electronics and other.

Such a device could be nice but might be difficult to use with two projectors if the two projectors didn't have the same native resolution. You normally setup a switcher/scaler or seamless switcher to match the projector, if you try to drive or switch between two projectors then they should have the same native resolution or you lose some of the advantages. 

Taking this a step further, you mentioned having a s-video input at the booth and VGA at both the booth and stage. So you apparently have three inputs to the existing projector and are somehow switching between those inputs, although you did not mention how you actually control the projector. Now you want to add a second projector and share the same three inputs. You could throw something together but before you get too far you might want to stop and think about how you really want this to work. Are you better to just make it work, even it is difficult for some people to figure out, or maybe to instead come up with a different solution, perhaps even something to address control of the projectors.


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