Best TV for video conferencing??

[admin_exported]

 

[bigboss]

:?

 

[Anonymous]

No idea what happened there!! I honestly typed all this in>>> Hi all, we are looking to install a video conferencing room at work, we already have an online software solution, so just need a good quality TV to display it on. We have roughly £1000 to spend (less if possible) and don't need any extras such as a DVD player or the internet, as this will be connected to a desktop PC. We just need good quality picture for video calling and good sound if possible....

Cheers!

Jason

 

[John Duncan]

Having used the conference system at work (featuring a 20k camera), I can assure you you can buy any TV you like of the appropriate size and the experience will still be rubbish.

 

[chebby]

Get a Philips 21:9 screen. You can get more people in

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers, but doesn't really help me as I still need to buy the best display I can for the money.....

 

[Anonymous]

Get a Philips 21:9 screen. You can get more people in

Would love to get one.... if we had a £2k budget!

 

[John Duncan]

Honestly, any of these TVs will do:

http://www.richersounds.com/products/home-cinema/lcd-and-plasma/all-tvs#4

Having sat in Mumbai at the other end of a very expensive enterprise video conferencing suite and tried loads of ways of doing it on the cheap to talk to my offshore developers, I can assure you that the display is the least of your worries: spend as much money as you can on video camera and audio equipment instead.

 

[Son_of_SJ]

I still need to buy the best display I can for the money.....

There must be some sort of memory bug on these forums that makes people who are asking about equipment suggestions forget to say how much money they have to spend, you're only about the fifth person to do so in the last fortnight!

 

[John Duncan]

We have roughly £1000 to spend (less if possible)

 

[cheeseboy]

Honestly, any of these TVs will do:

http://www.richersounds.com/products/home-cinema/lcd-and-plasma/all-tvs#4

Having sat in Mumbai at the other end of a very expensive enterprise video conferencing suite and tried loads of ways of doing it on the cheap to talk to my offshore developers, I can assure you that the display is the least of your worries: spend as much money as you can on video camera and audio equipment instead.

couldn't agree more. TV is a tv for video conferencing. Make sure you have a room dedicated for it. Take special care with the light that comes in to the room as it can cause cameras to white out. Also microphones, and microphone placement is about on million times more important than video, because without that you just end up looking at each other and can't actually conference.

 

[Anonymous]

Honestly, any of these TVs will do:

http://www.richersounds.com/products/home-cinema/lcd-and-plasma/all-tvs#4

Having sat in Mumbai at the other end of a very expensive enterprise video conferencing suite and tried loads of ways of doing it on the cheap to talk to my offshore developers, I can assure you that the display is the least of your worries: spend as much money as you can on video camera and audio equipment instead.

couldn't agree more. TV is a tv for video conferencing. Make sure you have a room dedicated for it. Take special care with the light that comes in to the room as it can cause cameras to white out. Also microphones, and microphone placement is about on million times more important than video, because without that you just end up looking at each other and can't actually conference.

That is spot on what I was after guys, thank you! That being the case, I can sort a TV out from the range you say and will look into Video Camera and micrphones / placement, I don't suppose anyone has any suggestions for equipment they have used? I reckon we could squeeze in another £1500 for the camera and microphone (maybe a little more)... not a huge amount I appreciate but we are only a small business and don't have huge budgets mores the pity!

Thanks for all your advice, it's much appreciated!! :clap:

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, another quick question, do you think the sound from the set alone would be sufficient or would you recommend we go for a sound bar / speaker system as well? Sounds bars seem quite reasonable and we would opt for a decent one....

Thanks

Jason

 

[cheeseboy]

first things first, don't think in hifi terms for this. Soundbars, speaker systems are not needed and if you are not careful you'll end up with a system that hits feedback at every given opportunity.

First question is how many people do you expect to use the system in the room at any one time? This can have a very dramatic effect on what equipment you need.

Ideally the system needs to have feedback cancelling (echo cancellation) on it so that the sound coming out the speakers isn't fed back in to the mics. that's why there are specially designed conferencing systems.

as a starter, have a look at systems from Polycom and cisco etc...

edit - sorry, missed the bit where you said about using an online solution. Which one is it? might make it easier to help advice on hardware.

 

[John Duncan]

Agreed that you don't need a sound bar, the sound from the TV will be fine; your problem will be getting good sound (and picture) from the participants.

I'd use one good quality USB podcast mic like this attached to the PC, and then try to find a good, reasonably priced camera solution. I got one of these which actually turned out to be woefully inadequate; if I was trying again I'd be spending double, or looking at whether I could incorporate a proper video camera (or stills DSLR that can do video) which can connect via USB.

In some respects it depends on what you're trying to achieve - if you're trying to look cool in front of customers then you probably need a 'video conferencing' solution like we've been talking about, but if you just want to get people talking together and seeing each other (and sharing screens etc), Skype and headsets for all participants is a far superior solution.

 

[Son_of_SJ]

We have roughly £1000 to spend (less if possible)

I need to go to Specsavers.

 

[Anonymous]

I still need to buy the best display I can for the money.....

There must be some sort of memory bug on these forums that makes people who are asking about equipment suggestions forget to say how much money they have to spend, you're only about the fifth person to do so in the last fortnight!

As per John Duncans comment, please read the postings fully..... lowering your tone and sarcasm would be appreciated too! cheers.

 

[Anonymous]

first things first, don't think in hifi terms for this. Soundbars, speaker systems are not needed and if you are not careful you'll end up with a system that hits feedback at every given opportunity.

First question is how many people do you expect to use the system in the room at any one time? This can have a very dramatic effect on what equipment you need.

Ideally the system needs to have feedback cancelling (echo cancellation) on it so that the sound coming out the speakers isn't fed back in to the mics. that's why there are specially designed conferencing systems.

as a starter, have a look at systems from Polycom and cisco etc...

edit - sorry, missed the bit where you said about using an online solution. Which one is it? might make it easier to help advice on hardware.

Hi, and thanks for the advice, we have bought into the full Webex solution, we deal with manufacturers in China almost daily and this seemed the best option. It works great on our Laptops / Desktops for individuals. The conferencing room in question could be up to 8 or more participants at a time, they need to be able to demonstrate products in front of the camera at our end if possible and sound is important as our CEO is quite hard of hearing.

I totally agree that we need to get the right solution in place but we are also quite bound by costs, I know he will probably go for a mid-range solution. A company we brought in to avise o their system recommended we spend at least £800 on a dedicated conferencing camera which could pan, tilt and zoom when needed. I honestly have no clue what to go far in terms of sound, I can see that John says I wouldn't need any further speakers as the TV would be fine, so I guess I should make sure the TV has good qulity sound built in. I'm genuilnely stuck for microphone options but will see what I can find out about Cisco etc as you suggested.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply, it's very much appreciated!

Jason

 

[Anonymous]

Agreed that you don't need a sound bar, the sound from the TV will be fine; your problem will be getting good sound (and picture) from the participants.

I'd use one good quality USB podcast mic like this attached to the PC, and then try to find a good, reasonably priced camera solution. I got one of these which actually turned out to be woefully inadequate; if I was trying again I'd be spending double, or looking at whether I could incorporate a proper video camera (or stills DSLR that can do video) which can connect via USB.

In some respects it depends on what you're trying to achieve - if you're trying to look cool in front of customers then you probably need a 'video conferencing' solution like we've been talking about, but if you just want to get people talking together and seeing each other (and sharing screens etc), Skype and headsets for all participants is a far superior solution.

Hi John, thanks for the advice. Would that microphone work ok with people sat around a 'U' shaped desk? It looks like it would only work well if sat in front of it but I'm far from an expert and only going off the pictures.... We need to use this as a full business conferencing solution where we will be talking to the like of John Lewis, Boots and Mothercare etc. who are our clients, so needs to work well, it may be the case that they haven't allocated anough money to buy the right solution, so I'll also start costing up solutions which are above the current budget....

Thanks for your help!

 

[John Duncan]

Agreed that the panning zooming camera is a good idea, but they cost good money. Look at Tandberg.

A hundred quid USB Mic on a desktop shock stand should work very well indeed provided your table isn't too big. I'd actually suggest you might need two if the table is big, but I suspect your PC will only be able to handle one USB audio input at a time so you'd be getting into a USB mixer and non-USB mics - we can talk about that if it comes to it...

 

[Son_of_SJ]

As per John Duncans comment, please read the postings fully....

I did acknowledge my embarrassment in post number 15 on the first page, but maybe I should have apologised to you directly, sorry.

 

[John Duncan]

Well said.

Move on lads