OT: Church TV setup question

Julius_ wrote on 3/6/2016, 5:16 PM

Hi,

My local church needs to replace an old and dying projector from the 90s.
I'm thinking of advising them to get a LED flat screen TV instead (maybe 60-70 inches).
Since we have guest speakers that sometimes connect via rs-232 to the current projector and others have a hdmi out. I would like a control box that would be near the pulpit, so that the speaker can plug in and it would be feed to the giant TV.

Question1: Where can I find (or what do you call it) a control box that has rs-232 input and a hdmi input, as well as output that is feed to the TV?

Question 2: Is a LED TV better at viewing off angle?

Thank you
-Julius

Comments

Former user wrote on 3/6/2016, 6:19 PM

First off, are you sure one method is RS-232? That's not a video or audio type connector -- it's for old school serial data. Maybe you mean VGA (as in a DE-15 "D" type connector used with computer video monitors)?

Assuming that's what you meant, a simple video switcher should work. It will take either an HDMI or VGA input and route it to a single HDMI output that can drive your HD monitor...

HDMI - VGA to HDMI Converter Switch

Julius_ wrote on 3/6/2016, 6:41 PM

Yes..to connect VGA!
Thanks

John_Cline wrote on 3/7/2016, 1:07 AM

Regarding question 2; there are currently two types of flat-screen TVs, LCD and OLED. (There used be be a third, Plasma, but it's no longer a consideration.)

I believe what you're calling a LED TV is just an LCD TV with an LED backlight. LCD TVs previously used fluorescent backlighting but most current TVs have LED backlighting but in the strictest sense, they aren't LED TVs. The less expensive LCD TVs use LED edge-lighting, while more expensive units use zone-based variable intensity LED backlighting for increased contrast, this is usually called "local dimming".

The other type is OLED which actually is an LED TV, they have a screen made up of millions of red, blue and green LEDs. Each pixel provides its own illumination. OLED TVs have a wide viewing angle but they are currently really expensive and are subject to permanent screen burn-in if a static image is left on the screen for too long. While they have a superior contrast ratio, they are not as bright as good LCD TV. They do look spectacular though.

As far as viewing angle is concerned, just go to the local Costco and stand off to the side of the dozens of TVs they have on display and see how they compare. I think what you want is an LCD TV that uses LED backlighting. In my opinion, the ones with the best image quality are made by Samsung.