Palo Alto Bridge / Video System

Video can be input from a computer or other video source that provides HDMI output. Some computers/devices also send audio via HDMI. If this is the case, the audio will automatically be sent to our audio system.

Our projectors can be used individually or both at once. They are fed from a single video source which means they can not display different programming.

There is a single HDMI video input next to the director’s desk. The VGA video inputs under the whiteboard at the front of the playing area and under the whiteboard at the side of the playing area no longer work with our system.

Video equipment is located in the equipment rack (the black metal enclosure) on the outer wall of the women’s bathroom. Inside the rack there is a matrix switch (to allow future switching of video inputs) and electronics to extract audio (if present) from the video signal and send it to our audio system.

The projector and screen remote controls are stored in the director’s desk. Cables and adaptors you may need are stored in the storage room next to the director’s desk. Ask a director to help you find them.

We also have a portable projector in case users can not connect to our built-in system.

Using our Video System

The only connection to our video system is next to the director’s desk. If you need to control your presentation at your computer the easiest way is to make your presentation standing near the screen on the side wall. If there are not enough tables facing the side wall, the overflow can sit near the front wall and view the screen there.

If you want to hold a presentation standing near the screen on the front wall you can:

  • set up your computer near the director’s desk and have someone change the presentation for you, or,
  • set up your computer near the director’s desk and control it remotely if your computer is set up to do this.

We strongly recommend you use our system before the day of your presentation to make sure there will not be any problems.

Please turn off the projectors and raise the screens when you are finished using our system.

1. Turn on the video equipment
  • Turn on the projector(s) using the projector remote control. Aim the remote control at the bottom of the projector near the front of the unit. A flashing blue light will confirm the projector(s) is turning on. It takes several minutes for the projectors to warm up.
  • Lower the screen(s) using the screen remote control. Aim the remote at the under side of the screens on the left. The remote controls are Up, Down and Stop.
  • Due to recent reconfigureation of the director’s computer, if you want to us this computer you will need to put the monitor on the desk into computer mode and use it as the source (not the computer tower under the table):
    • Move your finger near to the bottom right corner of the display. Four lights will appear. The right-most light looks like a pyramid pointing up. The three lights to the left of the pyramid are all round.
    • Press the right-most round light. Three icons will appear above the lights – the left one is for sound, the middle one is for brightness and the right one is for switching the monitor between monitor and computer mode.
    • Press the right-most icon to switch to modes. A new display will appear with options for “Computer” and “HDMI”.
    • Press the Computer icon. The monitor will now function as a computer.
  • Turn on the equipment in the equipment rack (black box at rear of playing area).
    • Turn on the power strip on the lower shelf of the equipment rack.
    • Turn on the Matrix Switch on the middle rack of the equipment rack.
    • Set the Matrix Switch to Source Select 1.
2. Configure the source computer

Connecting to our video system is fairly straightforward if you know how to configure the source computer’s sound and video outputs. If you do not, you should ask for help from someone who does.

  • Lower the sound volume to a minimum.
  • Connect a HDMI cable from the video output of the computer into the HDMI jack next to the director’s desk.
    • If your computer has an HDMI output connector ue that.
    • If you are using a Mac that has a Mini-DisplayPort/Thunderbolt output you can use an adaptor (see picture, below).
    • If you do not have either of the above, you can install special software (see instructions on right) and use our USB to HDMI adaptor (see picture, below).
  • Set the computer to output to an external monitor. Configure the computer to mirror what is on the screen to the external monitor (advanced users may choose to extend what is on the screen). Here are some vendor documents discussing how to do this:
  • Set the video resolution of the external monitor to the maximum setting. Some computers will automatially do this and not give you the option of changing the resolution.
  • Configure the audio output.
    • PCs will probably automatically send audio to the HDMI output. If the PC does not automatically do this, configure the audio settings to output to the HDMI output. Audio settings are typically in Control Panels or Settings, depending on the version of Windows.
    • Macs will probably NOT automatically send audio to the HDMI output. Go to System Preferences – Sound and configure the sound to go to HDMI.
      Note: Some older Macs can not send audio via HDMI.
    • PCs and Macs: If your computer can not output audio to HDMI, configure the audio settings to output to the headphone jack on the computer and connect the headphone jack to the audio jack under the whiteboard at the side of the playing area.
  • Adjust the sound level on the computer so you can hear sound from the computer on our audio system. A quick way to generate lots of sound is to go to youtube and play a video.

Quick steps

  • Turn on projector(s) by aiming control at lower rear. It takes several minutes for them to warm up.
  • Turn on electtronics on bottom shelf of equipment rack between bathrooms
  • Connect computer (or other source) to the wall plug near the director’s deesk
  • Set your computer to “duplicate” the display on the external display

Computer Options

  • The computer on the director’s desk (requires our USB to HDMI adaptor).
  • PC or Mac with HDMI output
  • PC or Mac with Mini DisplayPorti output (requires our Mini DisplayPorti to HDMI adaptor)
  • PC or Mac with USB output (requires our USB to HDMI adaptor and installation of special software)
Adjusting the Audio
  • If the sound is distorted, try turning the source volume down and the amplifier up. If this doesn’t work, try the opposite.
Adjusting the Projector(s)
  • The focus, size and position of the picture on the screen can be adjusted using controls on the bottom of the projectors.
    Please don’t adjust the projectors unless you absolutely have to and know what you are doing.
If you do not get audio
  • Verify that our audio system is turned on.
  • Verify that your source is set to send audio to the proper output (either the external video port (HDMI) or to the headphone jack depending on how you are using our system).
If you do not get video
  • Press HDMI 1 on the projector remote control to ensure that projector is set to the proper input.
  • Verify that your source is set to display to the HDMI output.
  • If all else fails, you may be able to use our portable projector.
If you still still do not get audio or video
  • PANIC!!! Now you know why we strongly recommend you use our system before the day of your presentation.
Configure your computer to output via USB

If your computer does not have an HDMI output and you can not use the adaptor for Macs, you may be able to configure your computer to use our USB to HDMI converter.

  • Do not plug the USB to HDMI adaptor into your computer until told to do so.
  • Download the proper software for your compuiter/operating system from here.
  • Install the software. When the software indicates, plug the USB to HDMI adaptor into your computer.
  • You should now be able to connect to our system.

Equipment

Cables and Adaptors


Use an HDMI cable to connect the computer to our video system or portable projector.

Use an HDMI cable to connect the computer to our video system or portable projector.

Use our adaptor, as well as software install, to convert USB output to HDMI

Use our VGA cable to connect a computer with VGA output to our portable projector.  The projector also has HDMI input but we have been unsuccessful using it.

Matrix Switch

The Matrix Switch conrols are:

  • Source Select 1 selects the video from the HDMI video jack at the director’s desk.
  • Source Select 2 through 4 are not functional.

Setting:

  • Set to Source Select 1