TV monitors on rostrum

I am a relatively new STS - only two stake conferences under my belt.
I Zoomed our previous stake conference meeting, and linked my laptop to an Epson projector to project Tabernacle Choir prelude music and linked it's audio to chapel sound via the crab box. So I have some experience.

The presiding area authority seventy at our upcoming stake conference requested two TV monitors on the rostrum floor, flanking the pulpit, for leaders and speakers to view the current speaker.
I have two webcams, laptop and an HDMI splitter.
I will also need to Zoom the Sunday morning meeting.
I need to know ...
1) What technology can I use to link webcams to these TVs on the rostrum?
2) How can I Zoom the meeting on Sunday, while simultaneously sending the video feed to the rostrum monitors?

When you say Zoom, are you talking "meeting" or "webinar"? As I recall, with the meeting version you can set to show the current speaker, even if it's "yourself". In that case, you just need to split the laptop output among the devices.

@russellhltn Zoom Webinar. It prevents unwanted video/audio iintrusion by participants

I'd do a test run with the webinar to see if it can be set to show the speaker.

Be aware that Zoom webinar has a limit of 500 streams. That may not be enough for a stake conference. You'll probably need to use another streaming service, either as backup or as primary.

The other possibility is if you can use a camera with HDMI out and use a splitter to feed the devices. Use a HDMI to USB capture device to feed the laptop.

russellhltn wrote:I'd do a test run with the webinar to see if it can be set to show the speaker.

Be aware that Zoom webinar has a limit of 500 streams. That may not be enough for a stake conference. You'll probably need to use another streaming service, either as backup or as primary.

The other possibility is if you can use a camera with HDMI out and use a splitter to feed the devices. Use a HDMI to USB capture device to feed the laptop.

________

The webinar limit 500 streams max is sufficient.

I don't have a camera with HDMI Out, but if I did, I could feed it to a triple HDMI splitter to 2 TVs, and then convert #3 HDMI Out to USB for laptop/Zoom. I will look into the cost.
Thank you Russell

Forget ZOOM for Stake Conference (unless the Visiting Authority isn't attending in Person) as long as everyone is at the stake center, go back to the traditional way that stake center technology already does with relative ease and webcast it.

Use the mounted camera in the Chapel, send it to the Teradek, and use the output at the podium (what's being sent from the tech closet/library) - Split the RCA signal (simple few dollars) and run both to small size TV's from the library on either side of the rostrum. This is SO EASY to do with the already provided technology in stake centers.

For the morning leadership meeting, just do the zoom webinar and forget about the rostrum tv monitors. Technically, you're not supposed to be required to do anything that doesn't come with the tools provided by the church, a zoom account and the technology in the stake center, I always found that providing the detail about the design I had to leaders was a way to overwhelm them with information in my favor. Basically, this is what you get, here's how it's going to work. Here are the 17 reasons why the effort to put it in place for just the Leadership session isn't worth it. Likely you also have to provide microphones for that morning session also... just put it all together, tell them what you can do, and they should be fine with it. Otherwise give them the bill and let them know that every dollar they spend is a $ we don't spend on the youth.

johnshaw wrote:Forget ZOOM for Stake Conference (unless the Visiting Authority isn't attending in Person) as long as everyone is at the stake center, go back to the traditional way that stake center technology already does with relative ease and webcast it.

Use the mounted camera in the Chapel, send it to the Teradek, and use the output at the podium (what's being sent from the tech closet/library) - Split the RCA signal (simple few dollars) and run both to small size TV's from the library on either side of the rostrum. This is SO EASY to do with the already provided technology in stake centers.

For the morning leadership meeting, just do the zoom webinar and forget about the rostrum tv monitors. Technically, you're not supposed to be required to do anything that doesn't come with the tools provided by the church, a zoom account and the technology in the stake center, I always found that providing the detail about the design I had to leaders was a way to overwhelm them with information in my favor. Basically, this is what you get, here's how it's going to work. Here are the 17 reasons why the effort to put it in place for just the Leadership session isn't worth it. Likely you also have to provide microphones for that morning session also... just put it all together, tell them what you can do, and they should be fine with it. Otherwise give them the bill and let them know that every dollar they spend is a $ we don't spend on the youth.

Thank you for the response and ideas John.
We do not have a stake center building. Our stake covers multiple counties.
The Saturday meetings will be held at 1 chapel, and Sunday meeting at another. I shuttle the equipment after the last meeting equipment to the other chapel.
The visiting authority requested 2 TV monitors on the floor of the rostrum. The small size of the cultural hall requires placement of the 2 TVs from the library in larger rooms in the building, so I cannot use them as rostrum monitors....
We do have a mobile (tripod-mounted) PTZ camera & RCA cable...perhaps that's what I will use for rostrum monitors.
The authority requested Sunday morning Zoom session.

stephendoud wrote:
Thank you for the response and ideas John.
We do not have a stake center building. Our stake covers multiple counties.
The Saturday meetings will be held at 1 chapel, and Sunday meeting at another. I shuttle the equipment after the last meeting equipment to the other chapel.
The visiting authority requested 2 TV monitors on the floor of the rostrum. The small size of the cultural hall requires placement of the 2 TVs from the library in larger rooms in the building, so I cannot use them as rostrum monitors....
We do have a mobile (tripod-mounted) PTZ camera & RCA cable...perhaps that's what I will use for rostrum monitors.
The authority requested Sunday morning Zoom session.

That being the case I'd tell the authority to go jump in a lake, you're already doing more than any STS should be expected to do, I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, remind them that E. Bednar once had to push back on a GA because if a meeting he required that was a very bad idea for someone that didn't have an understanding of the area.

I know we don't all have the same ability to absorb something like this, but man, if it's me, I'd say, you get what you get.....

Also, you should have a location where stake conferences can be broadcasts, get with the Stake President, and the HC over facilities, you likely can't get it this time, but make sure getting that in place is there for the future.

johnshaw wrote:That being the case I'd tell the authority to go jump in a lake,

A wise STS will do the best he can (or she, now) and leave communication with the General Authority to the stake president. [grin]

You should be able to split the video feed you are using for the rest of the building to also feed the two small monitors near the podium. For my GA is in Africa but I am in the U.S. stake conference, I had an extra computer next to the pulpit connected to the Zoom call, muted, and took the video out of it to feed the two monitors.

johnshaw wrote:Also, you should have a location where stake conferences can be broadcasts,

The Church no longer builds stake centers. Many stakes in our area rotate their meetings around the several meetinghouses in the stake as a routine matter and originate from each of them. This provides a new challenge at each location for the STS, but we got some practice with sacrament meetings during the pandemic.

If the visiting authority is located at the site where the conference is being originated, I agree that there is no reason to use Zoom. In that case, I would just use the normal, Church-approved method to distribute the conference to other locations. Your Stake President should be able to explain this to the visitor, or provide you with specific justification and resources if something else is happening that requires it.

stephendoud wrote:The authority requested Sunday morning Zoom session.

If a GA asks for some papers to be Xeroxed, but the meetinghouse coper is a Canon, what would you do?

I'd request information as to "why Zoom". It may be he just wants a webcast and in his world, everything is "zoom". I agree with others that unless you you need some Zoom specific feature, you're probably better without it - in this case.

One possible feature is Zoom's ability to deal with other languages.

lajackson wrote: You should be able to split the video feed you are using for the rest of the building to also feed the two small monitors near the podium. For my GA is in Africa but I am in the U.S. stake conference, I had an extra computer next to the pulpit connected to the Zoom call, muted, and took the video out of it to feed the two monitors.

I will do my best to accommodate all requests. This query is the result of a middle-of-the-night worry on how to set up rostrum monitors. The Spirit pointed me to this forum. I also met with the previous STS to get his ideas.

I'll keep the camera/rostrum TVs system separate from the Zoom setup. I am still unsettled how to get the USB webcam output to the TVs -some software on a laptop?

stephendoud wrote:I am still unsettled how to get the USB webcam output to the TVs -some software on a laptop?

About the only way that's going to happen is to take the laptop's video output and get it into the monitors. But that's assuming you can set the software to show the camera full-screen.

You can split a composite video signal, an RF signal, or a HDMI signal. You can't split a USB. It will have to become something else first.

russellhltn wrote:

stephendoud wrote:I am still unsettled how to get the USB webcam output to the TVs -some software on a laptop?

About the only way that's going to happen is to take the laptop's video output and get it into the monitors. But that's assuming you can set the software to show the camera full-screen.

You can split a composite video signal, an RF signal, or a HDMI signal. You can't split a USB. It will have to become something else first.

Thank you Russell. I will see if the software that comes with the Microsoft Live Cam that displays the camera image will go full screen.

I cast my desktop image to a ChromeCast device using Chrome. However, I can only cast to one device, and I must register the ChromeCast in TM as a No Splash device. And this all relies upon Wi-Fi, of course. So my solution is not appropriate for your use case.

drepouille wrote:I cast my desktop image to a ChromeCast device using Chrome. However, I can only cast to one device, and I must register the ChromeCast in TM as a No Splash device. And this all relies upon Wi-Fi, of course. So my solution is not appropriate for your use case.

Thank you Dana. I use Chromecast at home, but I'm not sure it works on the Church/chapel network (tested a few years ago).

My stake bought ChromeCast devices for each meetinghouse five years ago. However, since we had a DSL modem back then, the ChromeCast was useless. When we replaced the DSL modem with a cable modem, the new Liahona wireless blocked the ChromeCast until I got the STS to add it to the No Splash policy in TM. Now it works fine.

stephendoud wrote:I am a relatively new STS - only two stake conferences under my belt.
I Zoomed our previous stake conference meeting, and linked my laptop to an Epson projector to project Tabernacle Choir prelude music and linked it's audio to chapel sound via the crab box. So I have some experience.

The presiding area authority seventy at our upcoming stake conference requested two TV monitors on the rostrum floor, flanking the pulpit, for leaders and speakers to view the current speaker.
I have two webcams, laptop and an HDMI splitter.
I will also need to Zoom the Sunday morning meeting.
I need to know ...
1) What technology can I use to link webcams to these TVs on the rostrum?
2) How can I Zoom the meeting on Sunday, while simultaneously sending the video feed to the rostrum monitors?

Here's how we did this at our stake conference:

• Webcam at podium connected to a laptop. Laptop configured as a Zoom Panelist.
• HDMI splitter from that laptop to 2 monitors on the rostrum
• Set Zoom to full screen on that podium laptop.
• The Zoom host was on another PC and shared their screen to play recorded tabernacle choir videos. The host would then stop sharing and spotlight the podium laptop when ready. The host could also spotlight a remote speaker, if applicable.

You should avoid using a separate Zoom participant device for the monitors, since the video will be slightly out of sync due to the delay through Zoom servers.
Using the same HDMI splitter, another feed could also be routed through the building's HDMI system, if you have that option available and need it.

Prior to our technology uplift here is how we got a video feed to the rostrum.

Master feed is from OBS Studio. We installed the NDI Tools package and add on for OBS Studio. Now OBS studio can send an NDI feed. All our buildings have been uplifted to Gbit networking. We placed a computer on the stand that is wired to the network and running NDI Tools Studio Monitor https://ndi.tv/tools/ The monitor output goes through a HDMI splitter to a projector (optional) and two other monitors on rostrum.

This eliminates all the composite video feeds which do not support HD graphical elements such as videos / ppt presentations in any kind of reasonable resolution.

Post technology uplift. We have an HDMI input and output as well as audio injector on podium. The current plan is to take the video HDMI output from the building distribution system and feed a HDMI splitter to then send program video to the two rostrum monitors.

The SP wants to show a video. We will have a dedicated computer running OBS Studio in the video closet that is attached to the network. The videos are pre-setup as scenes in OBS Studio. Again this computer will output NDI video via the installation of NDI tools. On the stand we will have an Apple TV4K that has TV Stream Monitor for NDI software. The HDMI output from the Apple TV is sent to an HDMI splitter. One branch goes to the projector. The other branch goes to the HDMI input on the podium. Because of how the church AV system is programmed in order to get audio via HDMI to the audio processor we would need the rostrum HDMI channel selected on the Extron presentation switcher. (We are extracting the video from the CP video output to send to an external production switcher.) We cannot do this since we need the switcher set to DP input and consequently we would be blocking the HDMI based audio input. The solution is to run an audio cable from the projector audio output to the podium mounted audio input. (The projector is acting as an HDMI audio de-embedder) The audio then appears to the audio processor as one of the inputs for the main mix. (This probably will make more sense to those with the new Extron/QSC based systems)

The short version is that the church provided a dedicated HDMI feed from and to the podium. Using NDI and the building network we have a third HDMI feed to the podium.