This article will show how to quickly organize video conferencing in a meeting room or conference hall. A standard laptop that can be connected to a TV panel or video bar will be used as a control panel. In this case, the event organizer can easily connect the laptop to a TV panel in the meeting room to hold a video conference or a call. In other situations, this computer can be used as a regular PC. It is also possible to take a laptop with a touchscreen. One will be able to use this device as a tablet or touch panel because the web interface of TrueConf Room is designed to work effectively with a touch screen.
Table of Contents
How to connect a laptop to a TV panel in a meeting room
The meeting room setup recommended in this article will consist of two output devices:
- Laptop screen (instead of a touch panel or tablet for displaying the control panel);
- TV panel for displaying the main window and conference layout.
First of all, it is necessary to connect the laptop to the TV panel. One can use any of the connection methods supported by these devices: HDMI, DisplayPort, If the laptop does not have video inputs, it usually supports video output via USB Type-C. Use a docking station to connect the TV panel to this interface.
Deployment of TrueConf Room
On Windows
- Click on the Download for Free button on the TrueConf Room page and fill out the registration form.
- Click the Download TrueConf Room button.
- Download the endpoint installer on the Windows tab by clicking the corresponding button and launch it.
- If the laptop will be used as a standard PC and not only as a video conferencing endpoint, do not check the box Run automatically in the Autorun options when installing the application. You will need to run TrueConf Room manually when necessary.
To learn more about the installation of TrueConf Room, check its documentation.
On Linux
- Click on the Download for Free button on the TrueConf Room page and fill out the registration form.
- Click the Download TrueConf Room button.
- On the Linux tab, follow the link to check the detailed guide in the knowledge base where you can download the installation package for your OS.
Screen display settings at the OS level
In this case, the main window and control panel are started manually with the help of Room Service. It is not necessary to configure the autorun of this service because we are discussing the most general setup when the use of a laptop as an endpoint is only a secondary task. To run TrueConf Room, open the list of installed applications and click Start TrueConf Room Service. When you no longer need to work with the TrueConf Room software endpoint, close it by clicking Stop TrueConf Room Service. Let us discuss the launch of the main window and control panel on selected output devices.
Configuration on Windows
The laptop and the connected TV panel are detected as screens by the OS, so, to ensure the correct work of TrueConf Room, one has to configure the proper display of the layout and the control panel. Use the shortcut Win + P, switch the dual screen mode to the Extend option. Select the laptop as the primary monitor. Test the configuration by taking these steps:
- Right-click on your desktop.
- Select Display settings.
- To identify each monitor, click on the Detect button – the digits 1 and 2 will be displayed on these monitors.
- Make sure that the laptop acting as the touch panel is selected as the primary monitor; in other words, digit 1 should be displayed on the laptop while 2 should be displayed on the TV panel in the meeting room. Select Monitor 1 and check the box Make this my main display if it is inactive.
Configuration on Linux
We will take Ubuntu as an example.
Since the laptop with the TV panel are detected as screens, you will need to take these steps to ensure the correct work of TrueConf Room:
- Press the Win + P shortcut to switch the dual screen mode to screen extension.
- Select the laptop screen as the primary monitor. To test the configuration:
- Right-click on your desktop;
- Select Display settings;
- Make sure that the upper panel with the menu and clock (Dock panel) are displayed on the laptop screen which means that it is selected as the primary monitor. Otherwise, select the laptop screen in the Primary display drop-down.
Configuration of TrueConf Room Service
Go to the list of applications installed on your OS and run the settings program. On Windows, it is called Settings and can be found in the TrueConf Room Service folder. On Linux, it is called Settings TrueConf Room Service. In the pop-up window, go to the tab Web manager and configure the following parameters:
- Select the Auto start option;
- In the drop-down list Output device, select the laptop as a touch panel (in our case, it is Monitor #1);
- Select the Fullscreen option for the Position parameter;
- Activate the switcher Force to use system virtual keyboard if the laptop has a touch screen;
- Go to the Application section , select the TV panel in the drop-down list Output device ( in this case, it is Monitor #2).
Now configuration is complete, and the meeting room is ready for use. The endpoint UI will be identical to the UI used in the configuration with a touch panel. If your laptop does not have a touch screen, you can use a mouse or touchpad to control the endpoint. Our documentation provides full guides on how to make a call or start a conference.
Now you can easily manage an event and then just close TrueConf Room and use the laptop as a regular PC.
