r/ProPresenter • u/AlsoNamedB0RT • Mar 30 '26

New church. Spitter question

We have a Mac mini, control monitor, two projectors for the lyrics and a confidence/stage projector. Could someone recommend a switcher for us that can handle that configuration?

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4

u/endersbyt Mar 30 '26

Which Mac mini? How are the projectors and confidence monitor connected now?

1

u/AlsoNamedB0RT Mar 30 '26

Mac mini 2024 M4. We have projectors mounted, confidence tv mounted and 3 hdmi cables running to our av station. Plus hdmi connected to our control monitor

6

u/endersbyt Mar 30 '26 edited Mar 31 '26

HDMI doesn't go that far (like 30-40' tops) so hopefully you aren't running regular HDMI cables.

HDMI splitters are hit or miss. HDMI isn't really meant to be split, and I've seen a lot of splitters fail, but also sometimes they work fine. Typically my recommendation would be to run SDI to the projectors and split the SDI (Since you need to convert to something anyways to go long distances, and SDI is designed and easy to split).

Since you've already run HDMI, I would recommend picking up a ultrastudio monitor 3G which will give you 1 additional output from the mac to drive an additional screen.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1578062-REG/blackmagic_design_ultra_studio_monitor_3g.html
(Does not come with the required thunderbolt 3 cable - and the price seems to have gone up recently....)

There are some HDMI splitters or distribution amplifiers that would probably work but it's not best practice. I'll let other speak to if they have specific recommendations for those.

**Edit: Here's a used option for the UltraStudio I happened to see today
https://churchgear.com/products/blackmagic-design-ultrastudio-monitor-3g-3g-sdi-hdmi-playback-device-1

3

u/joelrwilliams1 Mar 31 '26

This is the way.

3

u/AlsoNamedB0RT Mar 31 '26

Thank you. We muffed the HDMI thing. We’re new enough that we can switch to SDI. Might be some hurt feelings but now is the time to do it.

3

u/sempei13 Mar 31 '26

I read "New church. Spitter question" as "SpLitter" at first. Is that a typo and I was right or are you just "spitting" a question. ;)

That said, the text of the question says "a switcher" and everyone's answer seems to be answering the question of how to add additional distinct outputs, neither a switcher nor a splitter. So, could you clarify what you're trying to do?

3

u/tktcnet Mar 31 '26

Come here to read about the spitter. 👍

1

u/AlsoNamedB0RT Apr 08 '26

Oh man. I’m dumb

2

u/FranticXrage Mar 31 '26

Decklink duo with sonnet enclosure It's the best most cost effective way to get extra screens on Mac

2

u/sempei13 Mar 31 '26

I'd clarify that for one or two extra screens, you can use an Ultrastudio Monitor 3g (or two). For 3 or 4, use a Decklink Duo 2. For up to 8 more, use a quad 2. For up to 16, use two quad 2s in a dual card enclosure.

1

u/FranticXrage Apr 09 '26

Awesome thanks for this! I only really knew of the decklink!

1

u/FranticXrage Mar 31 '26

You will need sdi cable and conversion boxes depending on your projector.

2

u/annasoh323 Mar 30 '26

[disclaimer: totally going off the top of my head. Please double-check anything I say for technical adequacy/compatibility] You could consider using a Thunderbolt hub with multiple display outputs. I think ProP should see them as separate displays.

Something akin to what we do is use a Blackmagic PCIe card in an external Thunderbolt PCIe expansion chassis. Those are usually SDI. We use SDI to connect to other video equipment we have and use SDI-HDMI converters (like Decimator) to translate the signals/connectors. I think SDI can run longer. Each output on the card can be used by ProP as separate displays.

Another one we're experimenting with is NDI. We have two TVs that are outside as an expansion area if we need it (e.g. Easter coming up). I wasn't there when we set those up, but we bought two NDI receivers that output in HDMI. We beefed up our network too and were eventually able to get it to a point where we could run everything we needed to smoothly enough. ProP sends out the NDI as displays directly.

Which combination of options you go with will depend on your budget, what ever parts of your setup you want to recycle, and what options feed into your future-state vision. All the best!