Connecting to projectors

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Connecting to projectors

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Q: I notice that there’s a new cable connector to get the iPad connected to a projector, but without a drive to load up software or drivers, how will the two communicate? Are all such drivers available for download now thus bypassing the need for an actual disk? Secondly, are you aware of any wireless VGA adaptors that would make wireless communication between the iPad and the projector possible? I’ve looked everywhere and so far only come up with are Windows based material like AddLogix and InFocus Liteshow II.

- Rob

A: The “drivers” that come with most VGA- or DVI-based digital projectors are not necessary for basic video output through the projector any more than they’re necessary to connect your computer to a monitor. The iPad VGA connector cable will provide 1024x768 VGA output from the iPad which any digital projector with a VGA input port should be able to display natively. For projectors with DVI inputs a VGA-to-DVI adapter cable can be used, and it’s also likely that some third-party accessory maker will produce an iPad DVI cable at some point.

Connecting to a wireless projector is generally a more complicated issue, since as you’ve noted most of the wireless projector solutions don’t connect via VGA but rather provide their own connectivity solution over Wi-Fi. The iPad won’t support such solutions natively, but this is also something that could be addressed by a third-party application, since the iPad itself will support Wi-Fi.

Note that wireless VGA extenders do exist, but these are impractical as an iPad solution as they are generally bulky devices that require external power and tend to be in the same price range as the iPad itself.

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