bigcatbobcat 0 Posted December 1, 2010 I've got a minor problem....I think I can fix it but I need a little "thinking it out" help. I've got 2 GE Symsafe Pro 16 +2 Hybrid DVRs, customer wants one monitor. We bought a "Trulink 2-Port UXGA Monitor Switcher/Extender" but I have plugged two computers into it all using these beefy VGA cables and it appears that the computers and the monitor "see" each other, same on the DVRs at the jobsite but no pictures appear on the monitor. It even switches the resolution on my computer to match the monitor...that whole thing. Experienced installer that I chat with says "yep them thangs aint never work." So, my question: What is the best way to do this? I read in the owners manual for the DVRs that you can add another symsafe as one of the IP ports, but that's IT stuff and I am more iffy on that than I am on the camera side of things. Also, the customer want to sequence the dvr and I think you'd have to manually switch between analog and ip on the front of the DVR. Thanks for your help! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soundy 1 Posted December 2, 2010 I dunno, looks like it's essentially a KVM switch, without the K or M. Dunno why that wouldn't work. You could always try a standard KVM, although it could be tricky finding one that will work properly without actually being connected to a PC's keyboard/mouse inputs. That unit does have USB ports, so a USB KVM may work. Short of that, you could try one of these: http://www.rpelectronics.com/ts-m2k-manual-vga-monitor-2-position.html. They're not great (it's just a big mechanical-contact switch) but it removes all the electronics from the process and so may just do the trick. My ideal solution for this would be a monitor with two inputs. For two VGA inputs, that may require a small TV rather than a monitor, or one that accepts VGA on the DVI input (aka DVI-A). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bpzle 0 Posted December 5, 2010 How about a computer monitor with DVI and VGA inputs... Use a VGA to DVI adapter for one of the DVRs. Use the monitor's menu to switch between the 2 sources. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigcatbobcat 0 Posted December 7, 2010 How about a computer monitor with DVI and VGA inputs... Use a VGA to DVI adapter for one of the DVRs. Use the monitor's menu to switch between the 2 sources. One problem, I guess this is the subtleties of monitors, Using a NEC EA190M, which has DVI-D and VGA input. DVR of course has only VGA out plus the BNC outs. Can't go from VGA to DVI-D according to note when I did a google shopping search: This device will convert a DVI-A connection to a VGA monitor cable connection for monitors and computers that require it. DVI-D can not convert to VGA. Only DVI-A can be converted into VGA. We stuck a second monitor in there...they're happy, I guess... They think they got one over on us since we put the monitor in place of the switch, little do they know, monitor was free to us, we're returning the swtich. Sooooo many things to consider when putting a system together! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soundy 1 Posted December 7, 2010 "DVI-A" is something of a misnomer... it stands for "DVI-Analog"; adapters that support it are basically just using some of the otherwise-unused pins in the DVI connector to provide standard VGA analog signals. The kicker is, "DVI" itself stands for "Digital Video Interface". So "DVI-A" (Digital Video Interface - Analog) is sort of an oxymoron, while "DVI-D" (the second D is also for digital) is redundant Anyway, glad you found a suitable workaround Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
