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HDMI WIFI with magic

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Kvasnik
Posts: 67
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2015 1:09 am

HDMI WIFI with magic

Post by Kvasnik »

Hi, I'm researching wireless dongles and I'm thinking about how I can connect my laptop (Windows 8) to a projector wirelessly.

Some new projectors have wifi built in, but I'm thinking of a generic wireless HDMI dongle that would plug into the projector, and then I would connect to it from my laptop. I have no experience with it, and I'm not sure which dongles I can buy here - it seems like a still emerging market.

From what I can tell, I need to set up a DLNA server on my laptop first, which seems fairly straightforward. So my question is, how would Magic work with these applications / systems / dongles?

Many thanks!
Matthew
Magic
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Re: HDMI WIFI with magic

Post by Magic »

This is just my opinion, but... all I can tell you is that when I've used wireless video, the lag is really bad. If you need Magic to react to live input, it will look out of sync. To me, it's unusably bad. Also, you will risk dropping frames.

It's MUCH better to avoid wi-fi, and even networking entirely, when doing a live show. No professional live show would ever use wi-fi for anything. They all use very long cables for audio, video, USB, MIDI, etc. It's cheaper, more reliable, and maintains better sync. If you need to go a REALLY long distance, like 100m, you can use repeaters, which are still pretty cheap.

When Magic was on tour with The Who in 2016, I got to see the full video setup. All the audio, video, and lighting is controlled from the booth in the middle of the stadium where the technicians can see the stage, but all those controls are connected to equipment backstage via very long (and thick) cables that run down the entire length of the stadium.

It's a bit hard to tell in the photo I attached, but the stage is easily 75m away. The photo is at Staples Center in Los Angeles (where the Lakers and Clippers play). It's a pretty big stadium.

(Also, an unrelated bit of fun trivia -- for shows like this, the video must have 2 completely separate and independent computers running the exact same thing, so that if one of them fails for any reason, they can switch to the other one. In this case, Magic was running on two different Mac Pros, with the same Magic project loaded on each.)
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Kvasnik
Posts: 67
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2015 1:09 am

Re: HDMI WIFI with magic

Post by Kvasnik »

Thanks Eric, that's a perfect reply. I don't really need the wifi, I was just curious if it would work, and what that could lead to in possibilities. But the limitations you mention; I'm convinced it's a pointless endeavour. At least until a larger bandwith / more reliable wireless technology.

Also the information you wrote about having two computers running, 1 as backup - I always wondered about this, and what the standard protocol is for big events. Thanks! Any other information like this is very valuable.

M
Sadler
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Location: London, UK

Re: HDMI WIFI with magic

Post by Sadler »

Awesome to see Magic used in such a setting - thanks for sharing the image Eric.
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