[25950] in resnet
Non-apple video adapters in classrooms
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jamie Piperberg)
Wed Feb 16 07:17:22 2011
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Message-ID: <C407B596-6FDF-4755-B077-0A0B7F970635@bucknell.edu>
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2011 07:15:02 -0500
Reply-To: Resnet Forum <RESNET-L@listserv.nd.edu>
From: Jamie Piperberg <jpiperbe@bucknell.edu>
To: RESNET-L@listserv.nd.edu
We've been running into a bizarre issue here with some classroom display systems and some mac laptops with monoprice mini displayport to vga adapters.
The adapters themselves work when connected directly to monitors or flat panel TVs (although there was one plasma display panel that did not work). When connected into the laptop plate in a classroom (which runs through an Extron video switch) the computer will not even detect that there is a display connected (even when the detect displays feature is activated and after a reboot/pram reset) In this situation, an official apple adapter allows the computer to project.
Interestingly, if you plug the same mac with the same monoprice adapter and the same VGA cable into the Extron splitter/amplifier the podium computer uses to project (it also runs through the Extron switch), it works just fine. This leads me to believe that some sort of signal degradation is taking place in the adapter, but it's obviously not enough to affect their functionality when directly connected to most displays. (We have one plasma display that was exhibiting the same symptoms)
Has anyone else had any problems with them? Did you come up with any cheap, easy fixes? Given that the monoprice adapters are less than half the price of the Apple models, and drops to barely over a third of the price if you buy 50 at once, it would be a real shame if we couldn't use them because of inconsistent compatibility. I've reported the issue to Monoprice, and while they offered to exchange the adapters, I can't imagine it would help, given that the same thing happens with every adapter we've tried in certain classrooms. I have not yet contacted Extron, but plan to once I can get a bit more information.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Jamie Piperberg
Library and IT Support
Bucknell University
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