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How to display blinds/timer so all in the room can see? (1 Viewer)

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Jake14mw

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Hi all,

I have been hosting a game for years, and everything goes great. We have one guy that brings an old laptop with Tournament Director on it to show the blinds and timer. We just prop it on a desk that is on one side of the table. The problem with this is that the guys on that side of the table can't see it. We also have a few games per year where we have a second table. I would like a way so that everyone can always easily see the blind level and timer. I have toyed with the idea of embedding a monitor into the table or making a hanging arena style "scoreboard" with multiple monitors over the center of the table. I think I regained my sanity and have thought that maybe just an additional monitor/tablet would be fine.

What is the best way to do this? I don't want to have to run a wire from the laptop to the other monitor/tablet. How can I share the Tournament Director app across the room to multiple monitors/tablets? It it a better idea to use a monitor or tablets? Thanks.
 
Monitor mirroring my ipad using Apple TV

Up high is good so everyone can see without others heads in the way.

With using an ipad I can set it on the opposite side of the room or in a different room so they can see the ipad instead of the main monitor. The only option better than that is more monitors. But tv screens are the way to go IMO.

20190324_014056643_iOS.jpg
 
bsdunbar1 said:
Monitor mirroring my ipad using Apple TV

Up high is good so everyone can see without others heads in the way.

With using an ipad I can set it on the opposite side of the room or in a different room so they can see the ipad instead of the main monitor. The only option better than that is more monitors. But tv screens are the way to go IMO.
Click to expand...

That's what I do. Super simple setup.
Considering going to a laptop with HDMI connection to avoid Apple TV from "disconnecting".
 
bsdunbar1 said:
Do you have a lot of disconnects?
Click to expand...
Some nights is runs just fine. Other nights it will disconnect 3 or 4 times in a 3 hour tournament. I disconnects more nights than it stays connected.
Not sure why. Haven't really investigated.
 
troy1troy said:
Some nights is runs just fine. Other nights it will disconnect 3 or 4 times in a 3 hour tournament. I disconnects more nights than it stays connected.
Not sure why. Haven't really investigated.
Click to expand...
Interesting. It is very rare that I ever get a disconnect. I suppose there are a lot of factors that could come into play to cause this though.
 
I've used two PC's and VNC / TeamViewer...works ok, but we get the odd disconnect when using wireless. Another host uses an HDMI splitter and a long HDMI cable.
 
bsdunbar1 said:
Guess you can do that in Miami,
I had to cancel one of our tourneys earlier in the year for a blizzard warning. :ROFL: :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...

Yeah, we can play outside 365 except in the summer it usually rains every evening. Or you have to cancel tourneys because a Cat 4 hurricane come knocking :(

C496CA6B-208B-4526-96AA-22D9946F7672.jpeg
 
bsdunbar1 said:
Monitor mirroring my ipad using Apple TV
Click to expand...

Except Tournament Director is not available on iOS. Only Windows.

Some use Chromecast to cast to a TV, but you are limited to one display. I have issues with Chromecast muting the sound on my laptop. Can't figure out why. Looks to be a localized issue for me.

@CraigT78 uses a Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter to cast to an HDMI hub and then distributes the signal via HDMI cables to multiple monitors. I would love to figure out a way to distribute the signal to more than one monitor wirelessly without the hardwire HDMI cables.

Let me know if you figure something out.
 
If you use Blindvalet then any screen that can display a browser can show the blinds. You just log in to the account on every screen. If you log in with your phone as well you can use it as a remote control for all available functions.

I'm cheap, so I use the free version with hardly any functions...
 
Wow, thanks to everyone for all the replies. I don't have apple tv, and am not an apple household, so I don't think I will go that route. I looked at Blindvalet, and that looked good, but the free version is limited to 9 players, and the next version is $5.79/month, I don't like paying a subscription for something like that, and we really like tournament director. I have messed around with team viewer before, so that is a possibility.

Keep the ideas coming please!
 
Jake14mw said:
I looked at Blindvalet, and that looked good, but the free version is limited to 9 players
Click to expand...

This depends on what you want. If you want blindvalet to handle seat assignment, eliminations, tablebreaks, and the prize money distribution, then the free version is limited to 9 players. If you just want a blind timer then that restriction doesn't matter. Last tourney I used the free version for 22 players.
 
If you have a laptop, you can run the laptop to your TV either via VGA or HDMI.

Edit: Disregard
 
I run TD and have 3 displays: laptop, HDMI to a small TV in one half of the room and chromecast to a smart TV in the other half of the room. Controlled from my seat via Teamviewer on my Galaxy.
 
There are lots of wireless HDMI options out there. The main problem is that in the US almost all wireless technologies use the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz band, including WiFi. And because a lot of these are cheap without good isolation, interference happens all the time. For example, if I'm screen mirroring my phone to the TV and my wife uses the microwave, the connection drops out. Same with cordless phones, wireless light switches etc etc.

There is too much wireless crap in our house such that when I want to watch F1 races (mirrored from my phone) I have to forbid the rest of the house from using their devices and no microwaving!
 
Mr Winberg said:
If you use Blindvalet then any screen that can display a browser can show the blinds. You just log in to the account on every screen. If you log in with your phone as well you can use it as a remote control for all available functions.

I'm cheap, so I use the free version with hardly any functions...
Click to expand...

I looked at this as well, and Windows and Android devices were consistently out of sync by a few seconds, even though they were connected to the same network from the same room. That was a deal breaker for me.
 
DoubleEagle said:
Except Tournament Director is not available on iOS. Only Windows.

Some use Chromecast to cast to a TV, but you are limited to one display. I have issues with Chromecast muting the sound on my laptop. Can't figure out why. Looks to be a localized issue for me.
Click to expand...

When you cast audio, it mutes the source device, which is a pain if you are casting to a computer monitor w/o speakers. If casting via Chrome on a PC, you should have an option to disable casting audio. If casting from Android, you cast audio.

I am trying an Android timer, and if I decide to cast it, I have an audio / video HDMI splitter that I place between the Chromecadt and the monitor to send the cast audio to a stereo.

As far as multiple cast, only solution I've found is running TeamViewer / VNC to duplicate the screen on multiple devices. There may be a 0.5s - 1s delay, but it's tolerable.
 
CdnBeerLover said:
When you cast audio, it mutes the source device, which is a pain if you are casting to a computer monitor w/o speakers. If casting via Chrome on a PC, you should have an option to disable casting audio. If casting from Android, you cast audio.

I am trying an Android timer, and if I decide to cast it, I have an audio / video HDMI splitter that I place between the Chromecadt and the monitor to send the cast audio to a stereo.

As far as multiple cast, only solution I've found is running TeamViewer / VNC to duplicate the screen on multiple devices. There may be a 0.5s - 1s delay, but it's tolerable.
Click to expand...
Mine mutes the source device (my laptop) and then I get no audio to the monitor where it is cast. If I unmute my laptop, then the audio will transmit via Chromecast to the monitor for just one level and then defaults back to mute with no audio being cast. Grrrr.
 
I use a projector mounted high up so that everyone can see. Though anyone with their back facing the projector can't see, but they have just to turn their head around.
 
Irish said:
I run TD and have 3 displays: laptop, HDMI to a small TV in one half of the room and chromecast to a smart TV in the other half of the room. Controlled from my seat via Teamviewer on my Galaxy.
Click to expand...

Similar setup as Irish.
I have an old 10" netbook running Tournament Director.

It runs to a PC monitor on top of my bar to cover 1 side of the table. I run Chromecast to an old 50" Plasma TV heating unit to cover the other side of the table. Gets nice and toasty.

I had that problem happen once, where only the 1st blind rang out then nothing for all other levels. Afterwards I reset everything and all other tourneys the sound came out of the chromecast TV.
(Wish I remembered what I did for ya)

I now have 2 x Amazon 4K Fire Sticks as well so not sure if there's a better option on those to cast.
Anyone know?

At the end of last season I also started using TeamViewer in my tablet at the table to control TD running on the laptop. No need to get up. Ultimate laziness achieved.
 
As @DoubleEagle said, I've found the wireless windows adapter connected to an HDMI hub to be my best option. Audio is on all connected TVs which I have hard mounted in my poker room. When I run a 4 table event I run a cord to the other room and use two PC monitors. It's nearly flawless and the only issues I have is the windows 10 bug with TD. When I have a cash game, I plug a fire box into the splitter and have sports on all 4 poker room tvs.
 
I use a Chromebook with blindvalet connected to a TV via HDMI. I use the free version and open separate windows to cover the adds and unused space with league info and the play list. Since the Chromebook is running everything the music even gets quiet when the levels change so you can hear the beep.
 
bsdunbar1 said:
Monitor mirroring my ipad using Apple TV

Up high is good so everyone can see without others heads in the way.

With using an ipad I can set it on the opposite side of the room or in a different room so they can see the ipad instead of the main monitor. The only option better than that is more monitors. But tv screens are the way to go IMO.

View attachment 330613
Click to expand...
What app do you use?
 

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