Splitting CART to a Projector and Monitor

By Nancy Eaton

Has anyone ever used a video splitter to send the CART transcription to a projector as well as a stand-alone monitor?

This question recently appeared in the CART section of NCRA's Online Forum.

Nancy Eaton, RDR, FAPR, CART Provider, Reading, Mass., gave this response:
There are actually three options.

One is if your projector has a separate output for the monitor. The less expensive models don't all have that as an option. So it would depend on whether the CART provider has his or her own projector or if it is being rented, how many and what type of connections it has.

Two, you can go from your steno machine to a splitter box and then separate outputs from there to the projector and a monitor or monitors. Splitter boxes usually have two or four outputs, so that would limit the number of monitors you can connect to.

Third, there is a short 8-inch cable that actually splits it right from the computer, and then you send one to the projector and one to the monitor. You would plug it into your RGB port.

In options two and three, you need to make sure that the 15-pin cables are the right "gender." You can buy cables that are male-male, female-female or male-female. Depending how far away you want either the projector or monitor to be, you may want extension cables. If you don't want to invest in too many cables and have the ability to mix and match them, you can also buy a "gender changer." Extensions are usually unigender.

I frequently use this setup when one of my consumers is deaf/low vision and needs a close screen and I don't want to give up my laptop or when I have two consumers with low vision as well as a general audience. I also use this setup when I'm doing general audience projection and someone on a panel or a presenter also needs CART. In that case you probably need an extension cable. They come in different lengths. They are sometimes labeled in stores as monitor extension cables rather than 15-pin M/F, M/M or F/F.

Also, in options two or three, you need additional cables. Most projectors only come with one or sometimes two, so you can have two CART providers connecting and working as a team.

You can also daisy chain projectors in this way. Just be careful the distances aren't too great because you can lose the signal.