COLLABORATION AND SCREEN SHARING WITH MACBOOK USERS
- Published , by Tom Devine
Since 2018, Apple has opted for one output port on new MacBooks, and that is USB-C. Through this one port, a user can share Audio, Video, Control, Power, Data, and more. Seems ideal, right?
Not so much, with the differences in USB-C cables combined with the fact that 99% of USB devices do not have a USB-C end, these USB-C ports can be a problem. Think flash drives, cameras, mouse devices, keyboards, cell phones, and more -- all USB devices that do not have USB-C as a standard. As we head into the future, this will change. The USB-C port will become the new standard. We can see this as other computer and cell phone manufacturers, including Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and more, are adopting the USB-C ports as a standard.
Not so much, with the differences in USB-C cables combined with the fact that 99% of USB devices do not have a USB-C end, these USB-C ports can be a problem. Think flash drives, cameras, mouse devices, keyboards, cell phones, and more -- all USB devices that do not have USB-C as a standard. As we head into the future, this will change. The USB-C port will become the new standard. We can see this as other computer and cell phone manufacturers, including Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and more, are adopting the USB-C ports as a standard.
No matter how you utilize the USB-C HDBaseT transmitter from AVPro Edge’s ConferX line of classroom and conference room solutions, the end-user is the real winner. They will walk into a huddle space, connect their computer directly to the USB-C input on the transmitter, and will now be sharing their computer screen on all the connected displays.
For Mac users, this solution eliminates the need to carry ten dongle/converters everywhere you go just to connect with various devices. Now you only need one trusted USB-C cable (3.1 version or better), and you can deliver a high bandwidth video signal to everyone in the room.
What does this mean for the Audio Video Integrator? It means we as an industry need to be making sure that USB-C is a viable path for screen sharing in classrooms, conference rooms, and huddle spaces across the globe. AVPro is ensuring this with our USB-C input HDBaseT Transmitter.
Using this transmitter, you have multiple options for sharing the screen of any 2018 or newer MacBook:
- Directly to a projector or display with HDBaseT
- Into an HDBaseT to HDMI receiver, and then directly to the tv or projector
- Into a classroom switch that has an HDBaseT input, then distributed throughout the entire system like the one below
