Handshake between laptop and video projector

[Stan Hilliard]

I displayed a video from my laptop using a Dell projector. The desktop
initially did not show, but someone told me I had to reboot the PC to
get it to go through the handshake procedure with the projector. That
worked.

But I am wondering if there is a way to manually signal the projector
that the PC is present and ready without rebooting.

XP Home. SP3.
Information will be appreciated,
Stan Hilliard

 

[V Green]

It isn't the projector that's the problem, it's the laptop.

It needs to "see" the projector on bootup to route
output to it.

Check your video card properties for any utility that
might allow you to force this to happen wihtout rebooting.

 

[Paul]

I displayed a video from my laptop using a Dell projector. The desktop
initially did not show, but someone told me I had to reboot the PC to
get it to go through the handshake procedure with the projector. That
worked.

But I am wondering if there is a way to manually signal the projector
that the PC is present and ready without rebooting.

XP Home. SP3.
Information will be appreciated,
Stan Hilliard

Does the laptop have any "hot keys" for controlling
output to a second display device ?

What is the make and model number of the laptop ?

Paul

 

[M.I.5¾]

I displayed a video from my laptop using a Dell projector. The desktop
initially did not show, but someone told me I had to reboot the PC to
get it to go through the handshake procedure with the projector. That
worked.

But I am wondering if there is a way to manually signal the projector
that the PC is present and ready without rebooting.

You neglected to tell us what the interface was, but generally, the
projector is detected at boot time and will be unavailable until it is
detected. It isn't a handshake as such, it's just that the graphic card
detects the load during its reset cycle.

 

[SC Tom]

Generally, there is a function key that switches from LCD to external to
both. On my Gateway, it's Fn-F4. Look along the top row of F keys and see if
one of the icons displays a box within a box/ box. You can hook up the
projector at any time, then cycle through until it works. Also, make sure
the projector is set to the correct input.

SC Tom

 

[Stan Hilliard]

Generally, there is a function key that switches from LCD to external to
both. On my Gateway, it's Fn-F4. Look along the top row of F keys and see if
one of the icons displays a box within a box/ box. You can hook up the
projector at any time, then cycle through until it works. Also, make sure
the projector is set to the correct input.
SC Tom

Here is following up on some of the previous comments.

First -- What works:
I run Miro Internet TV on a desktop PC running windows XP Pro. I
connect a VGA cable from the display adapter card to a Sony HD TV that
has a PC input port. It works perfectly sending whatever shows on the
PC display to the TV.

Second -- What also works:
I run Miro on a Compaq Presario 2100 laptop PC running Windows XP
Home. I run an VGA cable from the laptop to a Dell 2400MP projector.
The main Miro window projects perfectly. I can toggle using [Fn][F5]
between displaying the image on the laptop-only, the projector-only,
or both.

Third -- What fails:
I play a video in Miro and try to send it to the projector over the
VGA cable. The Windows task bar contains two Miro buttons -- the main
Miro window and the window playing the video. When I select the main
Miro window the projector displays it. When I select the video that
Miro is playing the projector usually displays only the VCR controls
that are below the movie and the mouse. The movie itself is all black.

These results are intermittent. If I keep messing with [Fn][F5] enough
times I can eventually get a picture to the projector instead of the
black screen or the main Miro window. But I don't know how to do that
consistently.

Can anyone suggest what I might try to consistently send videos from
Miro to the projector.

Stan Hilliard

 

[SC Tom]

Generally, there is a function key that switches from LCD to external to
both. On my Gateway, it's Fn-F4. Look along the top row of F keys and see
if
one of the icons displays a box within a box/ box. You can hook up the
projector at any time, then cycle through until it works. Also, make sure
the projector is set to the correct input.
SC Tom

Here is following up on some of the previous comments.

First -- What works:
I run Miro Internet TV on a desktop PC running windows XP Pro. I
connect a VGA cable from the display adapter card to a Sony HD TV that
has a PC input port. It works perfectly sending whatever shows on the
PC display to the TV.

Second -- What also works:
I run Miro on a Compaq Presario 2100 laptop PC running Windows XP
Home. I run an VGA cable from the laptop to a Dell 2400MP projector.
The main Miro window projects perfectly. I can toggle using [Fn][F5]
between displaying the image on the laptop-only, the projector-only,
or both.

Third -- What fails:
I play a video in Miro and try to send it to the projector over the
VGA cable. The Windows task bar contains two Miro buttons -- the main
Miro window and the window playing the video. When I select the main
Miro window the projector displays it. When I select the video that
Miro is playing the projector usually displays only the VCR controls
that are below the movie and the mouse. The movie itself is all black.

These results are intermittent. If I keep messing with [Fn][F5] enough
times I can eventually get a picture to the projector instead of the
black screen or the main Miro window. But I don't know how to do that
consistently.

Can anyone suggest what I might try to consistently send videos from
Miro to the projector.

Stan Hilliard

Just a couple of things- do you have, and have you tried, a composite output
from the laptop to the projector? And have you checked with Miro for any
updates or patches to their software? I'm not familiar with it; whenever I
had to play a video to my projector, it was in Media Player. That's all I
have for now- if I think of anything else, I'll post here.

SC Tom

 

[Stan Hilliard]

I displayed a video from my laptop using a Dell projector. The desktop
initially did not show, but someone told me I had to reboot the PC to
get it to go through the handshake procedure with the projector. That
worked.

But I am wondering if there is a way to manually signal the projector
that the PC is present and ready without rebooting.

XP Home. SP3.
Information will be appreciated,
Stan Hilliard

Generally, there is a function key that switches from LCD to external to
both. On my Gateway, it's Fn-F4. Look along the top row of F keys and see
if
one of the icons displays a box within a box/ box. You can hook up the
projector at any time, then cycle through until it works. Also, make sure
the projector is set to the correct input.
SC Tom

Here is following up on some of the previous comments.

First -- What works:
I run Miro Internet TV on a desktop PC running windows XP Pro. I
connect a VGA cable from the display adapter card to a Sony HD TV that
has a PC input port. It works perfectly sending whatever shows on the
PC display to the TV.

Second -- What also works:
I run Miro on a Compaq Presario 2100 laptop PC running Windows XP
Home. I run an VGA cable from the laptop to a Dell 2400MP projector.
The main Miro window projects perfectly. I can toggle using [Fn][F5]
between displaying the image on the laptop-only, the projector-only,
or both.

Third -- What fails:
I play a video in Miro and try to send it to the projector over the
VGA cable. The Windows task bar contains two Miro buttons -- the main
Miro window and the window playing the video. When I select the main
Miro window the projector displays it. When I select the video that
Miro is playing the projector usually displays only the VCR controls
that are below the movie and the mouse. The movie itself is all black.

These results are intermittent. If I keep messing with [Fn][F5] enough
times I can eventually get a picture to the projector instead of the
black screen or the main Miro window. But I don't know how to do that
consistently.

Can anyone suggest what I might try to consistently send videos from
Miro to the projector.

Stan Hilliard

Just a couple of things- do you have, and have you tried, a composite output
from the laptop to the projector?

The projector is set to automatically detect the active input port.
The laptop has VGA, USB, and Svideo. The projector has ports for all
three but only detects the VGA from this laptop.

And have you checked with Miro for any
updates or patches to their software? I'm not familiar with it; whenever I
had to play a video to my projector, it was in Media Player. That's all I
have for now- if I think of anything else, I'll post here.
SC Tom

I have the current version of Miro. Here are some new clues that today
I also posted on Miro's support forum:

I discovered what I think is a consistent pattern. On my laptop I
toggle the signal through Miro to VGA-out connected to a projector.
The Compaq Presario laptop uses the [Fn][F5] keys to toggle through
three display possibilities:

1) Display to laptop only
2) Display to VGA-out to projector only.
3) Display to both.

Then the pattern (1,2,3) repeats. This works with the desktop and the
Miro GUI.

However, when I start a Miro movie the movie window opens and there
becomes six steps to toggle through the possibilities. Maybe this has
to do with the fact that there are two Miro buttons showing on the
Windows taskbar -- one for the Miro GIU and one for the movie window:

1) movie on laptop only
2) movie on projector only
3) movie on both: on laptop but just a black-screen-on-projector **
4) movie on laptop only
5) movie on projector only
6) movie on Both: laptop and projector, OK (***)
7) Start over with (1)

(**) Step (3), more specifically, the image on the projector contains
the image of the VCR controls that are below the movie, but the movie
area is black. The mouse cursor is projected correctly.

(***) Step (6), it took six toggles to get the movie showing on both
laptop and projector.

I hope this description contains clues for complete understanding of
the problem.