Video Scalers????

[geoffmclarty]

So our church is in need of a video scaler. Just a little background info. We are what we call a "church revitalization". We came into an existing church, barely, and brought in staff to help kick start a church that had almost lost its pulse. The pastors had all left, the congregation was down to 14 and the church was living on financial life support. We are here now, generating money, bringing fresh new life to this church and its building.

What goes along with that is updating the audio/video components of the sanctuary. We need a video scaler and one that is not too expensive. I really don't know a whole lot about them and want some suggestions. As far as price range, I'd like to stay in the 100-300 range. I know thats not a lot to work with, but hey its something! Give me some advice on brands and places to buy them cheap! Thanks!!!

[dtpuga]

Just to be clear, do you need a scaler, a switcher, or a scaler/switcher? Secondly, what formats will you be using as inputs and what is your output size and format? That all matters greatly, especially on a budget.

[geoffmclarty]

Well, here is what I am looking for and you can tell me what I need. We have a computer with duel monitors. Once something is moved over to the second screen it is projected on the screen up front. We are looking for something that can make the transition from powerpoint (or easyworship) to video and back without looking duct taped together (figure of speech).


Your other two question.... I am not sure how to answer. What do you mean?

[dtpuga]

Sounds like what you need is a switcher. A switcher is used to switch between sources, a scaler takes different sources and formats them for a unified output resolution for presentation. A switcher/scaler does both.

1. What format are your screens and what is cable is connected to your projector? (VGA monitor cable, S-video, yellow RCA, etc.)

2. What sources do you want to send and how many unique ones are there? (Computer for PPoint, EasyWorship, etc., DVD player, cable box, etc.)

[geoffmclarty]

I see, well I want to make sure that the video we present will fit to the screen. I don't want any black boxes or blurring of the picture.

We are connecting by monitor. So we have the monitor cable running, as far as I know. I need to go look at it as well.

Another side question. I have created our new life logo and it looks great besides the fact that it is blurry. Most of our power points and projection stuff is blurry. Could it be that our bulb in the projector is dying?

[dtpuga]

Again, let us know what sources you want to connect to your projection system besides the main computer you have feeding to it now.

As for bluriness, could be the bulb, but that usually results in dimness, not blur. Make sure the lens on the projector is clean and of course, make sure it is in focus. (Can't leave out the obvious things.)

[jpc101]

We use this one from Kramer: http://www.kramerelectronics.com/ind...m.asp?desc=445 really easy to use and does the job nicely. We can between from the computer/dvd/camera without hassle and having to vga outs means that we can have a little 'staging monitor', so we can see what's going up on the projector before we turn it on!