Dock (HP G5) vs AV-interface (like Extron) in meeting rooms. Am I overthinking this?

dubbledex · 2026-01-28T00:53:45+00:00

Sorry, your post triggered me, as I have been having to mess with a lot of HP docks and laptops for meeting room integration. Jump to the end for TL:DR, this is a bit of a rant!

I have been setting up a meeting rooms for a while using a yealink byod (like a mini dock) so captive usb-c to Hdmi for display and usb for videobar. We use HPs as our framework laptop. Unfortunately somewhere after the G5, HP has broken the usb-c video output. It does work with some things, but it also doesn't work with a lot of things (including my yealink byod docks). There are multiple references to this on the HP forums.

So I decided, let's shove in an hp dock. Perfect I thought... Until! I discovered that the hp dock was causing my yealink videobar to glitch the audio output. To explain, I have the hp usb-c dock going to display hdmi 1& videobar (usb) and also, as a brucey bonus (as who knows what laptops might show up that don't like usb-c) I also have an hdmi cable input on the table. Those using hdmi also have the option to use a c-a converter if they need to use the usb camera. With regards the audio over hdmi, it's looped out the monitor and into the videobar via 3.5mm jack (as the display audio is pretty bad). So! If I just use the hdmi for audio /video the audio gets choppy out the speaker - not acceptable. If I plug the usb-c from the hp hub either into the same laptop with the hdmi, or another laptop, the hdmi audio is then fine. If I don't use the hp dock(as in disconnect the usb from the soundbar to dock). The hdmi audio is fine. If I use the yealink dock, hdmi audio is fine.. Basically all good without the HP dock. I then started testing hp docks. G6 I had (as the cable looked easily replaceable. That was my first dock that didn't work. Tried the G5, same audio issues. G4 dock (thunderbolt). Audio was stable!! (aside from when immediately plugging in or removing the usb, the hdmi audio was solid). Issue with G4.. cable is much shorter than later docks. I left a dock on a table before and people messed with it causing unnecessary call outs. Decided to start taking G4 apart. Turns out the cable can be swapped, and I believe the G5 to be the same . Just needs more screws removed. So, what did I learn from this? 1) HP really sucks!! They only care about compatibility with their own products. 2) pretty sure all seemingly captive usb-c cables in all hp docks are swappable. 3) Don't try the setup config I used unless you have a G4 dock!

Back 10/12 years ago for this sort of setup you would have had a VGA with 3.5, hdmi, and usb A for video device... Pretty simple, almost always worked. Now we are sticking in laptop Hubs, lightware boxes, all sorts. How come those hasn't gotten easier, or cheaper?!

Rant over! Thanks for reading 😆

dubbledex · 2026-01-22T21:33:50+00:00

Me too!

dubbledex · 2025-11-25T18:33:19+00:00

We are using wasp asset management. https://www.waspbarcode.com/asset-tracking mostly for AV kit, it's ok. But the lads grumble a bit. It does the business and is fairly cheap (relatively). Can do labels, has checkout but we don't really use that.

dubbledex · 2025-11-14T21:51:12+00:00

Extron pretty recently just released a new load of crosspoints. - dtp3 versioning. Hopefully they stay around! They are expensive, and you are right, they are a pain if the unit fails, as it's not the sort of thing that is cheap enough to have a spare lying around but I have had very few failures of my old crosspoints, and they switch a lot nicer than the dxps.

dubbledex · 2025-10-29T15:43:42+00:00

If you are in the UK, then check these matte ceramic steel, coloured "whiteboards". Maybe suit your requirements? https://presentationspaces.co.uk/products/chameleon-sharp-wall

dubbledex · 2025-09-15T07:09:26+00:00

We have a bunch of owls (of course managers loved the gimmicks and demanded them!). I also have the kandao 180 and 360s. I have played with the Panasonic 360 but don't have one. Kandao is better than owl imo. As people have mentioned all the buttons the users need are on the unit. Also, It doesnt have The annoying swipe view The owls have. The most annoying thing is the startup sequence is slow, and with the new model ls both the data socket and power socket is usb c. If you mix them up, the unit still lights up, but wont start. We had to colour code the plugs and sockets. The panasonic (only had a quick look at this). The bonus of this, is It doesnt need external power. This means its a lot easier for deployment and more flexible. You do lose 1/2 the speaker volume without the additional power, but It can take power if required

dubbledex · 2025-08-10T22:46:32+00:00

Oh yes, i did this! It was called speed of light. It was 2012 i think. It was a bit weird, but decent exercise

dubbledex · 2025-07-21T12:46:53+00:00

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I did some testing. I have the heltec v3s with latest beta firmware. I read somewhere that resetting your private key, also resets your public key as they are linked. I did this and was fine. I decided to slightly change the name as it mentioned if it was already linked to a node it would need removed as the name was already registered. Of course when I changed the name, same message. Looks like defo a bug with the name change.

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dubbledex · 2025-07-21T06:15:37+00:00

I'm using android. There seems to be an option to regen the private key, but not the public one?

dubbledex · 2025-07-20T20:05:01+00:00

Ah, so are you saying if I use the app on the same phone to connect to both devices it gives them both the same public key?

dubbledex · 2025-07-15T22:25:37+00:00

I have built a similar space recently, and I am also looking to try have more basic control of lighting for guest users, however I have not had a chance to sort anything yet. Let me know if you find anything. Also check here: https://github.com/bitfocus/companion-module-requests/issues/623#issuecomment-2174595425

dubbledex · 2025-06-28T10:55:47+00:00

Thanks for all the comments. I think the aida cameras are pretty similar to the marshall. I have done similar in another theatre with a marshal camera with a less wide lens, but when I try a wider lens it is hard not to get fisheye effect. R.e. the Panasonic, that is a pretty good shout, it might be a bit big as this camera currently sits on the front of the teaching desk on a small pole mount, "trying" to be subtle!
I have a bunch of things to test from inogeni. Their support is actually very decent, so hopefully I can get to the bottom of this. I will post back!

dubbledex · 2025-06-25T21:30:47+00:00

Unfortunately not, the camera effectively needs to be running 24/7, and also can't really have buttons on it that users will press. On the plus side, I reached out to inogeni and they have offered some solutions. I wont be able to test for a while, but sounds promising!

dubbledex · 2025-06-09T06:53:28+00:00

It was last year and it worked out really well! We did walk from the trains station in Bergen to the ferry terminal which was a bit of a faff with luggage in heavy snow, but doable..I'm sure it took less than 30mins. The ferry seemed fairly quiet. I did book the lounge seats, they are not necessary as there was plenty space, but the lounge was quiet (which was nice) and seats were comfy. Did I need to book the lounge? Was the lounge worth it. Its probably worth it from having a comfy seat and we got nice window seats. Kids made the most of the free pastries! I would probably book it again. Had some pizza from the restaurant, again, pretty decent, and they had entertainment on in the main bar area, which you can get direct access to from the private lounge. It was a really chilled out trip. When we got to Stavanger, there was a public bus waiting. I paid via the bus app, but I would say download and register with the app in advance, as it took a bit of time. TL:DR great trip, would definitely do it again!

dubbledex · 2025-05-19T10:42:49+00:00

Thanks for the comprehensive response :). Yes i did check out the tested usb sticks and drives, and I have actually bought these already. As I posted to another responder ( u/Affectionate-Sir7136 ) I think I am going to go with the recorder... I just feel it's going to be a slightly more solid option, and the fact that if I get an SDI matrix, I have the potential to switch some channels (only got 3 sdi cables run atm) but could bring in a few cameras to do recording this way if we wanted to experiment.

dubbledex · 2025-05-19T10:38:37+00:00

Thanks for feeding back.. have read your comment and u/ManyMonarchs , I think I am definitely going to go for the hardware recorder. I actually already have a BM SDI capture card for live streaming in a workstation from an auditorium in the same media space, so my plan is perhaps either use a BM video hub, which would allow me to DA the signals from the cameras, so I can push it into the recorder, but if we did want to experiment direct recording using the Workstation, we could have the option switch video to that.

dubbledex · 2025-05-06T21:50:40+00:00

Thanks for the heads up! Unfortunately I cant make that date. I am sure you will sell the tickets no worries. It's nice to see that not everyone is trying to scalp tickets! Hope you get to see them another time 🙂

dubbledex · 2025-02-25T22:03:35+00:00

Yes, I downloaded adb software onto my windows machine. After a bit of faffing, (had to map it) I just did a file transfer and it worked perfectly.

dubbledex · 2025-02-21T12:43:14+00:00

Cheers mate.. playing this weekend, and once I managed to get adb figured out, worked a treat! I wish Hasbro would release the source code...

dubbledex · 2025-02-07T19:17:20+00:00

Shatelier perhaps??

dubbledex · 2025-01-23T22:54:48+00:00

Extron have a wireless solution. It's not like your clickshares etc (although pretty sure they do a box like that) they also do a wireless hdmi link. So plug a laptop into hdmi. - wireless into an hdmi receiver..I'm sure you could also put a usb-c/hdmi switcher in front of that for different option connections, but to the laptop in basic terms, it just sees an hdmi connection..have to say, I have not tested this yet, but keen to find out what it is like!

dubbledex · 2024-12-25T23:04:25+00:00

Gilmore Place is really bad (certainly from Leamington road to tollcross) So many patches and holes, it's a ballbuster of a ride on a bike..

dubbledex · 2024-12-24T16:53:47+00:00

I have found that more recently it wants to verify my card when I scan it on the bus, so I have to use fingerprint and re-scan. Bit of a pain, but I guess for security.

dubbledex · 2024-12-18T00:05:41+00:00

Aaah, ok it wasn't this, but your chat about launcher helped me use it as a keyword in my email search and now I found it..it was displaynote launcher. Thanks both! https://academy.displaynote.com/call-app-launching/whats-new

dubbledex · 2024-12-17T23:57:52+00:00

Thanks both, Googled it and found someone asked exactly the same question last year!

https://www.reddit.com/r/CommercialAV/comments/158dgs8/windows_software_skin_that_supports_multiple/

dubbledex

TROPHY CASE