Monitor set-up for Event

[DougAxford]

A few people were asking how I was going to set-up multiple monitors for the swim event coming up. Today I finally got in the dual DVI PCI card - PCI, not PCIe. So, pop it in, take out PCIe, nothing. Put PCIe back in VIOLA. 4 monitors that are fully independent.

We're working with HIS (ATI chip) X1550 PCI card ($100) with dual DVI out and ATI 1650 PCIe VGA plus DVI out ($129). Install drivers and you've got 4 screens to move wherever you want. 2 20.1" Dell LCD, 1 19" wide cheapo LCD and 1 19" standard cheapo LCD. Prices may be much lower now. Lots of options on software, I didn't need most.

Configure #1 in centre, #2 on left of #1, #3 below #1, #4 on right of #1.

Open Breeze Browser Pro 4 times, minimize each to 1/4 of full screen. Select event on each, select images to display on each. Slide one almost all the way to the far left so most of it shows on screen #2, but a bit remains on main screen. Hit Ctrl+S. Slideshow starts on screen #2 full screen. Open next BB and slide almost off of screen 1, most on #3, Ctrl+S, different slidehow on #3, slide 3rd BB to far right, so most is on screen #4 and Ctrl+S and you've got different slideshow on #4.

Each can be different game, event, heat. Configure BB to whatever time per image you want, pop gold frame around image (about 10 options), select transition if needed, configure font, size, color, location and full file address or just image #, all optional on screen. We set it to show image # only in big yellow font at very top. Number will show event, underscore, image. E123_4816.jpg

Idea is that 2 screens run with latest game/heat, etc. One is showing what cusomers have pre-ordered and on master screen you're printing, prepping, loading, etc. All sub screens show a bit on main screen, so you just click on the BB you want to change, hit ESC to stop slideshow, update file view, select set of photos to run next, slide back a bit and Crl+S. It takes mere seconds to have new one running. We're using BB downloader to auto load card into correct folder. So, when new event card is ready, load to event, Click BB screen it's to go on, select images you want in slideshow, slide window back in place, BINGO, done.

Best I can tell, you should be able to hang 8 monitors off one PC without breaking the bank if you have card slots. Yes, you can use Crossfire, SLI, etc, but why spend the $$.

Any problems?? Of course, we'll have the real test in a week. As yet, I don't know how to do this if I just want straight images, no slideshow on all 4 monitors, but slideshow works for me. AND, IT'S CHEAP. Now, I gotta buy some long DVI extensions.

Any thoughts, comments? Doug

[Chris_Lax]

Hi Doug,
You may have already though of this and discarded the idea, I don't know, but you could have purchased 4 used pc's and networked them up so people could actually find the images they wanted. This may not have cost a great deal more than the video cards (not sure of the cost of the cards).

Chris

[Paul_Smith]

If you get an issue with the PC all 4 stations go south. Like Chris I use individual PC's - I bought 10 second hand P4 machines, then if 1 goes out I loose 1 screen not 4. If I was setting up 30+ screens I might go down the shared route as 1 failure would only account for 10% (assuming 3 screens per PC), but as the most i have ever had (or needed is 10) I feel it's 2 many eggs in 1 basket

[Mike Weeks]

Instead of PCs why not look at thin clients, like the wyse terminals. Save space, power and probably on price.

Mike

[ChristopherStockman]

Sounds like a great way to let people know that there are photos to be had but, how do they look through their own photos? And how do they order photos? Does the 1 operator need to cater to everyone's request to "go back" "what was that number" "how can I get that 1" your response-"which one" "on which monitor"?
Most of us have evolved into giving the customer some way to browse images on there own without the proprietors help(except for a 10-15 second lesson on how the particular browser works)
You could turn those 4 monitors into individual workstations with a product called Betwin by adding keyboards and mice to correspond with each monitor.
I have a pc that runs 5 viewstations, 3 pc's that run 3 viewstations each and another pc that runs 2 viewstations. All have keyboard and mouse so customers can browse on their own.
Just my 2 cents.
Just trying to serve up images at the rate my customers want to see them.
PS-Let us know how your setup worked as far as the customer experience and if you got many orders.
Chris

[Chris_Lax]

Hi Mike, I was going to mention thin clients but guessed that the pc's are cheaper.

Warning - Thread Hi-Jack........
Mike, can the thin clients you use run internet explorer (i'm guessing they have eXP onboard) in kiosk mode? I'm looking to have a smaller portable setup next year that I can use at secondry events, and the thin clients would cut my weight down greatly.
Thanks

Chris

[Claude_Ferron]

Originally Posted by Mike Weeks

Instead of PCs why not look at thin clients, like the wyse terminals. Save space, power and probably on price.

Or these little @ Koolu : www.koolu.com
These can be ordered with Ubuntu Linux pre-installed, just add Firefox with fullerscreen extension - You have a solid KIOSK.

Or you can have your thin client boot direclty from the server no HD (PXE boot). Very fast no key to press to setup anything. These unit are so thin (very portable).

It is nice to have many KIOSK of the same PC, but true, you don't have any redundancy. If your Windows crash and hardware goes down - BAM, you pay for it. It seem that there is always a cost to get everything in one box (cheaper, but hope it does not crash). This is how I designed my equipment in the past, but now with Thin client and laptop that are cheap I went with this way instead. Add a portable server (to process images) to this with a backup hard drive... Peace in mind.

Last thing, Slide show. I think it is nice to have one or two, but as promotion tools. I would put one away from the booth to attract people to it. With a sideshow containing 100 images or + they get bored and leave or frustrated because they cannot stop it, but it creates a hype.
At the KIOSK, customer need to have control of what they are doing. The interface need to be simple so they don't ask question on how this work + the kiosk frees up quicker. The key more eyes see more pictures.

Hope this helps.

P.S Doug if you can take picture of your setup during the meet this could be fun. Good luck, tell us how it went.