About HDMI (or DVI), USB, DisplayLink USB Interfacing Posted on May 3, 2014 By Lisa Feierman 1. The 2014-2015 Classroom Projector Report: Special Features and Considerations - Table of Contents: Things to Consider!2. About Ultra Short Throw, and Very Short Throw Projectors - About Ultra Short Throw, and Very Short Throw Projectors3. About Interactive Projectors - About Interactive Projectors4. About Laser Pointers, Optical Pointers, Tablets and General Remote Mousing - About About Laser Pointers, Optical Pointers, Tablets and General Remote Mousing5. About Pocket Projectors - Pocket Projectors - They Have Come of Age6. About Solid State Light Engines - About Solid State Light Engines7. About Interchangeable Lenses - About Interchangeable Lenses8. About PC Free Presenting, BYOD, Presenting Over Network - About PC Free Presenting, BYOD, Presenting Over Network9. About HDMI (or DVI), USB, DisplayLink USB Interfacing - About HDMI (or DVI), USB, DisplayLink USB Interfacing10. About Picture Quality – Brightness, Color Fidelity, Accuracy, Color vs Brightness - About Picture Quality – Brightness, Color Fidelity, Accuracy, Color vs Brightness11. About Cost of Operation, Maintenance, Filters - About Cost of Operation, Maintenance, Filters - Cost of Installation - Cost of Replacement Lamps - Cost of Replacing Lamps - Filter Costs12. About Wireless Networking - About Wireless Networking13. About Wired Networking and Networking Protocols - About Wired Networking and Networking Protocols14. About Cloud Presenting/Teaching - About Cloud Presenting/Teaching15. About Presenting / Teaching from iOS and Android devices - About Presenting / Teaching from iOS and Android devices16. About Active and Passive 3D In the Classroom - About Active and Passive 3D In the Classroom - Active vs. Passive17. About Cost of Operation and Ownership - Upfront Costs - Post-Sale Costs - That's A Wrap About HDMI (or DVI), USB, DisplayLink USB InterfacingWe’ve reached the point where HDMI is effectively the new standard on projectors. Every projector in this year’s report offers HDMI. True, they all still have VGA outputs, but the trend is digital, and HDMI. DVI accomplishes the same thing, but with a more suitable commercial connector (that screws in), but is rarely found these days on all but them most expensive install projectors, and even then, those are likely to have an HDMI, and a DVI. HDMI still has distance limits but those should not be a problem in the traditional K-12 classroom, and even in a huge university lecture hall there’s always a way. With various extenders, HDMI can be run 100’s of feet, (usually using inexpensive CAT5 or CAT6 cable) so while there’s an extra cost for the extenders, distance issues are surmountable. HDMI offers the advantage of being digital, and of carrying the sound as well as the video over a single cable. If there’s a challenge to HDMI as the new standard, its likely to be interfacing over USB between projector and computer. Displaylink is now supported by Windows, and Mac environments, allowing many computers to output their “display” information over US. A few of this year’s projectors offer that capability. It just provides another alternative for school IT/AV folks to sort out, one that may affect some purchase decisions.
