Last updated: 29 Mar 2005

Background

Often one wants to show something that currently displayed on a computer to others in a room. If there is a video projector in the room, one can connect the output of the computer to the video projector and show the display to all who can see the projected image.

But what if a video projector isn't available? People can crowd around one monitor, but that doesn't work well for more than five people. However, if there are additional networked workstations in the room, one can project a display to those workstations.

VNC Makes it Possible

SET lab staff have configured a tool called VNC to enable the projection of any workstation's display to other workstations. Client workstations -- those receiving the display -- are set up to wait for the server workstation to send its display.

Operation

Consequently, the process is fairly simple. The icons that you click on are in the Desktop folder called Other Applications:

• Users at client workstations do this (before the server workstation projects):

  Click on Wait for Projected Display.

• The user at the server workstation projects the display as follows:

  Click on Project This Display.

  To stop projecting, click on Stop Projecting Display.

Options and Logs

Normally, this operates over an entire lab (or every listening computer). One can specify which computers to which to project an image by including the list of computer names in a file called H:\project_via_vnc.computers. Computer names are constructed from the string "IT" followed by the number found on the purple or white UW asset tag labels on the front of a computers. There must be one computer name per line.

Since it is difficult to see some messages, a log file is generated. It is called C:\temp\project_via_vnc.log.

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