Rack-mounted screens

[Corabar Entertainment]

Whilst on the phone the other day, Darren asked for photos of Steve's latest project (alluded to in various places - not least of which with his cursing soldering powercon sockets.... or powercon cockets as they are affectionately known in some places these days :p ;) )

Anyway, its two small LCD TVs rack-mounted in a shallow (ie not full-depth) rack case - one on the front pointing towards the singers, and one facing the audience. The case is also fitted with power and video sockets, a fan and a top hat (so it can go on a speaker stand, a karaoke stand, or a table if necessary.)

Anyway, here's the requested pics:-

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Looks good.

The only thing that would concern me is the flexibility. I normally have the singers monitor lower and the audiences higher and sometimes in different places.

Also, how is the signal being split, eg: going to both monitors/tvs?

[Mark Wild]

That's a fantastic idea and looks very well made too, what size are the screens Angela and roughly how much does it all weigh?

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I quite like that.

[Corabar Steve]

Also, how is the signal being split, eg: going to both monitors/tvs?
It's got 2 inputs (one for each TV). If I can find a feasible way of splitting the signal, it may be modified so that one socket feeds both TVs & the other acts as an output to additional TVs.

I quite like that.

That's a fantastic idea and looks very well made tooThanks, a bit of a brainwave while looking through a CPC catalogue

what size are the screens15"

roughly how much does it all weigh?About 20 kgs give or take a gram or two

The only snag (apart from soldering the Powercon cockets :sj:) was that the VESA rackmount wouldn't fit into the 19" rack when it was assembled (due to the bolts on the bracket fouling the rackstrip) although it is advertised as 19" rackmountable. Whether this was because the bracket was too wide or the case too narrow, I don't know. I sorted it by putting narrower ply between the rackstrip & the case wall.


All parts (apart from the TVs which came courtesy of ebay) obtained from CPC & Terralec (I already had the fan & guard from an old case, but they can be got from either supplier)

[DiscoMagic]

Angela, I have not had the pleasure of seeing your cases before, and I have to say this looks like excellent work and craftsmanship.

:D :D :D

[Corabar Steve]

The case itself is an off the shelf item from Terralec. I just cut holes in it & filled them with what I needed

[Marc J]

I like the look of that, and I don't even have a need for one :)

Can't help thinking that it'd be perfect if you were able to tilt the screens.

[Corabar Steve]

You can to a degree. The VESA mount sits in the slots you can see either side of the screen in the first 2 pictures, so by pulling / pushing the top or bottom forwards or backwards & doing the reverse with bottom or top you do get a slight tilt.

The other thing we considered was putting a tiltable top hat in rather than a standard one

[Alchemy]

It's got 2 inputs (one for each TV). If I can find a feasible way of splitting the signal, it may be modified so that one socket feeds both TVs & the other acts as an output to additional TVs.



Why can't you just put a simple phono splitter in the video feed?

[Corabar Steve]

Why can't you just put a simple phono splitter in the video feed?
My plan as detailed above would need a 3 way split (one to each screen & one to the output socket) What worries me is would a 3 way split cause too much signal degradation. As the karaoke machine we have has 2 outputs, putting 2 inputs on the case seemed the most logical thing to do (& worry about whether I can link it to additional TVs at a later date)

What sort of splitter did you have in mind?

[Alchemy]

My plan as detailed above would need a 3 way split (one to each screen & one to the output socket) What worries me is would a 3 way split cause too much signal degradation. As the karaoke machine we have has 2 outputs, putting 2 inputs on the case seemed the most logical thing to do (& worry about whether I can link it to additional TVs at a later date)

What sort of splitter did you have in mind?

If you are using phono (RCA) plugs for the composite video input then one of these: http://www.cables4all.co.uk/phono-rca-female-2-into-1-adaptor--splitter---gold-plated-503-p.asp

To save on cabling if you just have one video input to your screens you could always use the second output from your karaoke machine for the third (and fourth) output if you decided to double up.

[Corabar Steve]

Any advantage of that over something like these?

http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/psg01660/splitter-phono-gold/dp/AV15208?in_merch=Featured%20Products&MER=e-bb45-00001001

http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/psg02050/adaptor-3x-phono-adaptor-gold/dp/AV15598?crosssellid=AV15598&crosssell=true&in_merch=true&

[Supreme Soundz]

if YOu were wanting to split the signal inside the case, why not just solder 2 cables to the back of the din plate and have one yellow rca on the end of each one for each tv, this wil do exactly the same as the above splitter be cheaper and less to go wrong rattle loose and come undone, you could also then if you wanted run a patch internally to the second socket so uou have a tv out too ;).
ive split the signal from my av amp at home 4 times from comp video and it works absolutly fine

[Alchemy]

Any advantage of that over something like these?

http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/psg01660/splitter-phono-gold/dp/AV15208?in_merch=Featured%20Products&MER=e-bb45-00001001

http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/psg02050/adaptor-3x-phono-adaptor-gold/dp/AV15598?crosssellid=AV15598&crosssell=true&in_merch=true&

No, they will work also. If the split feeds were 10's of meters long then you would need to have an active splitter but you shouldn't have a problem with such short runs.

[Corabar Steve]

why not just solder 2 cables to the back of the din plate and have one yellow rca on the end of each one for each tv,
They are through sockets there was no soldering involved. I don't really do soldering as the experience with the Powercons showed.

[ian8limelight]

Very impressive, it's a shame that I can't see them in action as early as I wanted to ;)

[Alchemy]

See Above:

Last edited by Corabar Steve : Today at 05:15 PM. Reason: U is measurement of rack space, not a bloody word!

Priceless :Laugh: :Laugh: :Laugh:

[katman]

You cant split a video signal with a simple passive splitter because the levels will be all wrong. A video signal is terminated by a 75ohm resistor and by connecting two monitors in parallel you will be reducing that to 37.5 ohms and the 1v p-p signal will drop significantly.

At best, you will see a noticable drop in brightness and the colour will appear deeper, at worst the picture will become unstable or even resort to a blue mute screen if the TV does that in the absence of a signal.

Professional monitors have video in and out and have a switchable termination so you can loop through multiple monitors with just a single termination on the last monitor.

What you need to do the job properly is something like these...

http://cpc.farnell.com/_/210-903/video-amplifier-splitter/dp/AV11812

http://cpc.farnell.com/_/60-9890/1-to-7-video-distribution-amplifer/dp/AV12734

[Excalibur]

A picture is indeed worth a thousand words. I had completely misunderstood the concept as described to me ( it was my fault ).

An excellent setup there, I'm mightily impressed. Food for thought.