Multimedia Station Basics

Question

What kind of Multimedia Station is in each room?

 

Environment

  • Multimedia
  • Classroom

 

Information

Most GRCC multimedia racks are going to have the same components with only minor variations. 

Each rack will include the following:

  • A control panel
  • Laptop connection cables (HDMI and Display Port)
  • A wired keyboard and mouse
  • A power outlet in the front of the rack
  • A computer (located at the instructor's station in lab systems)
  • A DVD player
  • A drawer containing a wireless keyboard and mouse, plus remote control for the DVD Player

Explanation of control panel buttons:

  • ON/OFF buttons turn the projector on and off.
    • "ON" will blink while the projector warms up. All other buttons are disabled while "ON" is blinking. "OFF" will blink will the projector cools down. The projector can not be turned back on until "OFF" stops blinking. 
  • Press "AV MUTE" to temporarily mute audio and blank projected video.
    • Button will blink while muted. Press again to return to full video and audio.
  • Press the "AUTO IMAGE" button if the image from the computer or laptop is slightly cut off or is not fitting on the screen well.
    • If this does not work, you may have to change the display resolution of your computer. 
  • On systems that have the "CC ON/OFF" button, press to turn on/off closed captioning.
    • If captioning is not available, you may have to enable subtitles within the DVD menu. 
  • The source select buttons.
    • ("PC", "LAPTOP", "DVD", "AUX VIDEO", "HDMI1", "HDMI2") Press once to send the video from that device to the projector. If the desired source button is already lit when you first turn the system on but there is not video, you may have to press that source button once to make sure the projector receives the video. 
  • The volume control knob and indicator.
    • If the bottom light is blinking green, the audio is muted. Either turn the volume knob clockwise to unmute, or push the "AV MUTE" button if that is active. 

Other Multimedia Instructions

  • Computer – Press the “PC” button on the control panel to select the built‐in rack computer for display.
  • Laptop – Connect the provided VGA video cable to your laptop. If you need audio from the laptop or a wired network connector, connect those cables also. (If you are using a Mac, you will need a video adapter.  Adapters are available for check‐out from the Media Department) Press the “Laptop” button on the control panel to send laptop video to the projector. Troubleshooting note: If the projector still does not show the image from the laptop, you may have to enable the output from your laptop. Depending on the model, it will be either “Fn‐F4” or “Fn‐F7” – hold down the blue “Fn” key at the same time you press”F4” or “F7”.
  • DVD/VCR – Ensure that the DVD/VCR deck is turned on. (Note: some systems do not have a VCR. If you would like to check out a VCR, contact the Media Dept.) Press the “DVD/VCR” button to send video to the projector. The remote control for the deck is located in the rack drawer. Controls are also located on the front of the deck, but you will need the remote to navigate any disk menus.
  •  Aux Video (If available) ‐ This connector accepts video and audio from many different user supplied devices. Examples would be: camcorders, document cameras, IPods, etc. You will need to supply the proper cable for your device – connect the yellow, red, and white connectors from the device to the corresponding colored jacks of the aux video input.  Press the “Aux Video” button to send video to the projector.
  •  Elmo/Document camera ‐  If your system has a permanently installed document camera, press the “Doc Cam” button on the controller to send the video to the projector. If you are using a portable document camera, connect the video cable from the camera to the “Aux Video” connector on the rack and press the “Aux Video” button to send the video to the projector.
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