Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Power Over Ethernet in Theaters?

This is topic Power Over Ethernet in Theaters? in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=16;t=003158

Posted by Harold Hallikainen (Member # 5405) on 11-14-2017, 02:57 PM:

How common are Ethernet switches with POE in theaters? I'm thinking they are rather rare and that POE devices need to ship with a power injector. Do your theaters have switches with POE?

Thanks!

Harold

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 11-14-2017, 04:19 PM:

It depends for what you want to use it. Stuff like access points and VoIP phones can best be connected to PoE switches. Unless you go for rack-mountable PoE injectors, those lose PoE injectors often are a major headache. You'll often see them hang around in droves in some patch rack.

Also, depending on local regulations, you might be required to ensure your phones continue to work for a while, even after the power drops out. In that case, connecting your VoIP phones, switches and other relevant infrastructure to a UPS is mandatory.

Inside an auditorium, PoE has pretty limited use, besides maybe powering an access point, which most-likely isn't connected to the auditorium network. So, if your application is inside the auditorium, I guess you should include a PoE injector, if the device cannot be powered otherwise.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 11-14-2017, 06:53 PM:

Harold,

The landscape is definitely changing there. PoE switches used to be rare and notably expensive. This is no longer the case. Even bargain brands like TP Link have relatively low priced PoE+ switches in 8-port on up.

Now as to installing them by default. I'd say that isn't as common yet since it is a chicken/egg situation. If you don't have a need for one, why bother spending the extra dough? However, once you have a need for one, then it is just an incremental increase. When I updated a theatre that was getting a control system using touchpanels and the like, especially on the lectern, it was far easier to just swap the switch out for a PoE+ version because that just opened up several conveniences that those devices that needed the power also typically needed Ethernet anyway so PoE just made it easier all around.

Are you thinking for the screen checker? I'd say that if people don't plan for it, then yes there won't be PoE present but if people know they need PoE, perhaps a reduction in price on units without the injector would be justification for putting in the switches.

Posted by Harold Hallikainen (Member # 5405) on 11-14-2017, 08:34 PM:

Thanks! Yes, it's for the LSS. I hate shipping things that will be thrown away. We've sometimes had to ship international units with three or more power cords knowing that all but one will be discarded. I guess we should continue to ship POE injectors until people have a bunch of them in each auditorium and decide a POE switch would be good. Maybe the POE injector could be a separate line item. I dunno.

Thanks!

Harold

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 11-15-2017, 05:00 AM:

I'm probably not the reference, but I tend to recycle active PoE and PoE+ injectors for other purposes. So I don't throw away those kind of devices.

But it's a bit like the proverbial USB cable in the printer box. You know, you just bought this new printer for less than the price of new ink and you come to the conclusion they didn't include an USB cable and obviously, you don't have a type B USB cable available.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 11-15-2017, 10:08 AM:

Crestron touch panels are PoE-powered, and booths that have them (usually in multi-use venues such as movies plus live theater or conference hall, etc.) are the only places we install and maintain digital cinema systems that already have PoE switches.

Posted by Bajsic Bojan (Member # 4928) on 11-15-2017, 06:12 PM:

around here it is common for theaters to have surveillance cameras inside halls, for monitoring either activity or checking the screen. usually these were primarily coax based but most new installs seem to use IP cameras which usually require PoE. SEtting up a network of those using a PoE switch seems much easier than using dozens of quirky injectors.

Also sometimes usable for wifi access points.

Have been real good for us, even if we use fairly standard entry-mid tier TPLink devices.