Community cinema set up

[Tom]

A little help please.

I’m looking after the projection for an outdoor community cinema night. I’ve done it a couple of times now and we have a set up that works, but is a bit rough around the edges. We hire a Panasonic PT-DX100E projector from Stage Sound Services (which is a massive improvement on what was being used before) but the playback needs some work.

Currently I use a domestic DVD player to play a selection of shorts plus the feature and a MacBook running a PowerPoint presentation both as a holding screen and to convey some bits of info (this year we may also run some video from this as well). I use the projector remote to switch between theses two HDMI sources (it has two HDMI inputs.)This is a bit ugly and also relies on a bit of guess work when lining up DVDs. I tried running a separate monitor off SCART port of the DVD (it only has a single HDMI port) but this only worked when the hdmi cable was unplugged so not ideal.

So, I want to be able to switch between two HDMI sources, as well as running an HDMI monitor for the DVD player (the laptop obviously has a screen).

Now I know that a decent video switcher could probably do all this and maybe I should just be hirering one along with the projector but...Can I get away with a cheap HDMI splitter to split the signal from the DVD so I can run a monitor and then a cheap HDMI switch to flick “seamlessly” between the DVD and the laptop? By cheap I mean something like

http://cpc.farnell.com/av-link/128-820uk/switch-mini-3x1-remote/dp/AV26927

http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/psg03964/adaptor-hdmi-male-2-hdmi-female/dp/AV25270?st=HDMI%20spitter

Alternatively, is there a software solution using just the Mac and an external DVD drive?

ThanksT

 

[dbuckley]

Just a note that if one is using a DVD/Blu-Ray player for "cinema" applications, then a player that has the ability to suppress the OSD menus makes for a much better presentation. The player to get used to be the Oppo, but they have now withdrawn from the market, most Sony players, even cheap units, and some Panasonic units.

[stagemanagement]

Can you copy all your video content into the MacBook and run QLab for everything?

 

A single day license for video is cost effective for every level of client and you can add stills as video cues and create text cues for info easily enough.

The advantage of transferring a DVD into a file is also losing the DVD menus and trailers to retain the main feature only.

[Tom]

The DVDs are copy protected so I cant transfer them to the HD.

Generally I don’t have a problem with menus etc as long as I have a monitor to cue stuff up.

[alistermorton]

Won't there (potentially) be copyright protection problems with adding additional monitors?

[Shez]

Won't there (potentially) be copyright protection problems with adding additional monitors?

There would be problems if the source was Blu-Ray and not every component in the chain was HDCP compliant. As it's only DVD, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

(Splitting HD HDCP content to multiple displays is easily achievable as long as the right system components are used.)

[Joe Fernand]

Have a look at the HDFury Integral (2x2) and Vertex (2x2 with independent Output scaling) - both can 'manage' HDCP and can be used as a Splitter (mirrored Output) or Matrix (Independent Output) - you can use them with HD and UHD source and display devices, the Vertex allows you to mix UHD sources with HD and UHD Display devices.

 

https://tmfsolutions.co.uk/product/integral/

 

https://tmfsolutions.co.uk/product/hdfury-vertex/

 

Joe

[Pete McCrea]

The Roland V1HD will allow you 4 hdmi inputs, switched to a single output with a multiview preview output. It’s HDCP compliant, so will allow you to run the dvd content through system. Day rates are usually around £60, so it’s a cheap item to add to the hire to give a bit more flexibility.