Switching Multiple Video Sources Into Your Projector

Basic video switching and mixing options for your projector

What Are You Feeding Your Projector?

Chances are you have more than one video/data source you would like to feed to your projector during a given meeting or service. You may want to display announcements, teaching notes or music lyrics generated from your computer, as well as video presentations from a VCR or DVD, and possibly live video footage from one or more cameras. There are a several ways of accomplishing this with differing results and costs associated with each.

Switching

The easiest and most cost-effective way to switch between sources is to use your projector’s own internal switching capability. Most projectors have more than one input and can take multiple types of video sources such as VCRs and DVDs – as well as signals from computers – and switch between them using the remote that comes with the projector. This will suffice for simple switching between two, or possibly three sources. The down side is that you will need to have multiple cable runs to your projector and when you switch using the remote everyone will see a blue screen and a message telling what source you are selecting.

A more sophisticated option is to use a video switcher. Switchers can vary in cost depending on how many sources you want to switch between, the quality and smoothness of the switching, and how many extra features are included in the switcher. A switcher will take multiple input sources and select one at a time to feed a single cable run to your projector. The output of the switcher can also feed a video distribution amp if you want to feed multiple projectors/monitors with the same video signal. Switcher can also have multiple outputs built-in. If you are switching between computer and video sources you may need to use a unit called a scaler to upscale the video output to give it a higher resolution to match the computer output. Some switcher will provide scaling functionality as well. Our CCI video experts can help you select the proper models for your application.

Mixing

Maybe you would like to crossfade between computer graphics, live video and recorded video. To do this you will need to use a video mixer. There are two basic paths here as well: a high-definition video mixer or a more cost-effective standard-definition video mixer. If you choose the latter, you will need to downsample your computer signal to match the video inputs of the mixer with a scan converter. Many new video mixers have dedicated computer inputs that will properly convert to the proper resolution. The mixer will allow you to smoothly switch, blend and even superimpose source images with each other and allow some other nice effects as well. This type of mixer is also the most elegant way to transition between multiple camera set ups.

Give us a call at 1-800-426-8664 and let our video experts give you some tasty solutions for feeding your projector.