Make a MLC226IP control two projectors

December 16, 2008 10:50 AM

AVFilter: at work we're replacing some of our aging AV equipment, and we can't figure out how to hook up our projectors to the new controller panel.

We bought an Extron MediaLink MLC226IP controller to replace our old controller. On the back it has an RS232 connection to control a projector. Perfect!

Problem: one of the labs has two projectors in it! Both projectors should always act in sync (turn on/off at the same time, select the same input, etc). How can I control both projectors when I only have one RS232 connection on the controller?

Ideally, there's something out there that will just mirror the controller commands to the second projector. I don't think we even need to worry about the projector responses because I'm not sure the controller is smart enough anyway. We'll just program an ON button, an OFF button, and a couple input buttons.

posted by sbutler to technology (2 comments total)

You could use a splitter like this.
posted by zsazsa at 10:57 AM on December 16, 2008

If the projectors are both the same model you should be fine just splitting the cable as zsazsa suggests and programming the controller as if there was just one projector. If they're different it might still be made to work, but there are a few things to keep in mind. First, you need to look a the baud rates for the two projectors; they should be the same (even if the default rates are different, many projectors will allow for adjustment so that you can match them.) Then you'd just open up Extron's editor and create power and input commands that concatenate the commands for the two projectors (so if Projector 1's power on command is "P010x0D0x0A" and Projector 2's power on command is "Power ONx0D0x0A" your new On command would just be "P010x0D0x0APower ONx0D0x0A".) Then you just have to hope that neither projector will be fouled up by receiving the extraneous commands intended for the other, which could happen but is relatively unlikely.
posted by contraption at 11:55 AM on December 16, 2008