VGA A/B Switch 4

[guitarzan]

Might be simple to find, but i'm not having any luck yet.

We have a conference room with a large screen tv mounted to a wall, and a VGA cable from it connected to a wall jack. We then have a long VGA cable running from the wall jack to the table, so that anyone with a laptop can plug the VGA cable in and see their display on the large screen.

Soon, I will be putting a computer in that room, which will have a VGA cable plugged directly into this wall jack, and a wireless keyboard and mouse will allow someone to use the computer and use the large screen as the display. No problems there. However, I would still like to allow people to plug their laptops into a VGA cable at times, as it worked before. I do not want people connecting / disconnecting cables (other than the VGA cable going into the laptop).

I was thinking of some sort of VGA A/B switch, but the few I was able to find say that there is a max resolution of 1024 x 768, where I would need something better.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Haven't found much on Google yet, but maybe I'm not using the right search terms.

 

[FredWagner]

Have you checked to see if the large screen display on the wall might have more than one video input ? It would likely to be selectable with the Remote control for the display unit. Most projectors are set up that way, your wall-display might be also. The wall unit might have an HDMI input in addition to the VGA you have cabled now - then you'd set up your in-room PC with the HDMI video connection.

Fred Wagner

 

[edfair]

The ones I've used tended to wipe out the video so 800x600 was about the best I could pump through.

I've had better luck with KVMs but you would need a special one with external power.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[BadBigBen]

I agree, a KVM switch would probably be the best option here...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[rclarke250]

Yep, I have a 2 port kvm that tops out at 2048 x 1536, has audio, and gets it's power from the USB port. I paid less than $20.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cm_re=keyboard_&_mouse-_-17-182-093-_-Product

I will say that sometimes when I switch with the hot key (scroll lock) and not the switch buttons, It looses the usb keyboard and mouse, but it may be the fact that my logitech G15 keyboard has a 1.1usb hub built in that my mouse is connected to, and not to the KVM. just have to unplug all cables, and then reconnect.

 

[guitarzan]

FredWagner: I wish it did, but no, they guy who hooked it up only put a VGA connector on the wall jack, and it's not a big enough need to warrant recabling it, or having an unsightly cable visible.

edfair: Yea I was concerned about loss of signal strength. Interesting, I thought a KVM would be worse (not sure why I thought that), also nevr tried to use a KVM with only a monitor connected to it.

rclarke250: I think I have an older Belkin 4-port with a power supply laying around, so I will give that a try and report back how it works. I have the same issues with it, keyboard/mouse lockups from time to time (using PS2 connectors though), but with just the video in there, maybe it will work.

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

 

[edfair]

I've had the same lockup issues with Belkins. The most serious one usually got resolved by the customer disconnecting then reconnecting the keyboard. But I was using the 2 port PS2 keyboard powered one.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[guitarzan]

As a follow-up to this, I got the exact KVM that rclarke250 pointed to, and it worked like a charm; easy to switch between the two inputs, no noticeable loss in signal.

Thanks again to all.