Laptop Projection HELP

JP12687

Active Member
I have (2) laptops at my shop, we have been having an issue outputting to the projectors, this is what has been happening...

The image has been cutting off when outputted to a projector. After some headaches i realized, the laptops are widescreen laptops and i thought "hey is it outputting in widescreen to a projector that cant output widescreen so partial image is cutting off"

that sounds like the problem too me, but i have no idea how to fix it, besides maybe some kind of scaling software...

any help or other ideas on what the problem could be would be much appreciated.

thanks
 
Realtivly easy fix depending on what type of OS. Is it P.C. or mac. in either one you set up the out put going to the projector in a format that the projector can use. depending on the projector it's going to " want" a certain size. Just as most LCD monitors have a "native" resolution so do most projectors, so you get more out of them if you send it the proper resolution in the first place. In XP you simply do a right click on the desktop. click properties. Click the tab that says settings. choose the projector then set its resolutin color quality etc. If you can't tell which monitor is you projector then use the "Identify" button it will give you a superimposed nuber that corospndes to the numbers on the settings tab.
BTW be sure to disable you screen savers, and go to the power options to make sure everything is set for "presentation" mode that way the OS won't decide to power everything down in the middle of the presentation.
In OSx I think you call Steve Jobs and ask him to send a couple of guys out to take a look at it. shouldn't cost more than a thousand dollars,but you have to admit it's easier than doing all those clicks and finding out how to run your computer.
< sorry, mac rant done now.>

Hope that helps. Had a similar situation happen when I sent "Mid Summer Nights Dream" to Hawaii. We used a laptop and a projector to do Super Script ove the Proscenium since it was presented half in Vietnamese. The tour TD called me with the same issue. Don't forget those power and screen saver options.

Have Fun. Good Luck.
 
Sometimes you can tell your projector (through the picture or position menu) to letterbox instead of chop off the ends. That'd fix it up nicely. That's how we're doing our projections for "Spring's Awakening" here at bucknell.
 
Most laptops require you to use a key combination to enable certain things (eg, sending a signal to VGA, some power saving function).

Anywho, just try FN + F5 on the keyboard.
 
You could set the resolution on the laptop to 800x600 or 1024x768. This will chop off the sides of the screen, but it will look fine on the projector. Some laptops also have a "presentation mode." This is accessible by hitting a function key that either says "crt/lcd" or has an image of a square with rounded sides and two lines on the side.
 

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