I just got the idea for the local poolhall to run tournament brackets via the television. This doesn't seem all that complicated, but I'm just looking for some ideas others might have used. Anyway, here's what I have it mind. Connecting the laptop up to the television and updated the brackets via the laptop. This would allow for easy editing of the brackets and also also all the players to see the brackets. This would only require a 16 or 32 man bracket depending on how many players show up for the night. Anyone got any ideas what would be the best way to edit the bracket programwise?
Need some ideas on brackets...
- Thread starter XzyluM
- Start date
XzyluM said:
I am a bit unusual in my choice of programming languages, because I often fall back on my old friend Excel ... it would be very simple to create a bracket sheet using the spreadsheet layout and formatting options. The data entry would be manual in the simplest Excel solution, but one could add fancier features as time and necessity dictate.
If you can ultimately get a video output on standard cable (channel 3 or 4 from a VCR is one examle) you can drive several TVs at the same time !
Dave
XzyluM said:
My "Pool Tournament Manager" works very well for up to 32 players. The problem is getting the computer screen to the TV screen with the proper resolution. The S-video on a laptop doesn't work worth a damn to a standard TV. I haven't tried this with a high resolution TV.
Mickey (The Houseman) was displaying tournaments on the TV using my software, but I don't know how he got the necessary resolution. You might ask him how he did it.
At work, I used a special display unit (connected to the monitor port on my laptop) which projected on a movie screen with great results. Same approach as used for projecting powerpoint presentations, etc. Those units are in the $5,000 range and are quite expensive to even rent.
Good luck in your search.
Here is a link to the manager web page: http://members.shaw.ca/pooltools/tptm.html
You can pick up a very high quality projector for about $900 these days. One of the biggest costs are the lamps, about $350. I would not buy a used projector even if you can pick one up cheaply.
Want to create good effects? Do what DaveK says using Excel. Create your complete bracket even though the whole thing will not fit on a screen. Then, create a macro to break up the complete brackets into several groups and display portions at a time. Display a section for about 20 seconds and then move to the next section. This way you can show everything so that it is easy to read.
Another thing is that most of the products available for managing tourament brackets are good but they limit themselves to a set number of entries e.g. 64, 128,.. There is only one good algorithem that I know which produces perfect balanced brackets for an unlimited number of players. These products do not use it. The algorithem also it makes sure that the losers side does not repeat same players in the same group that were grouped on the winners side. You always want to balance the mix when on the losers side. This is why most products limit the entries or require manual entries. Good luck.
Want to create good effects? Do what DaveK says using Excel. Create your complete bracket even though the whole thing will not fit on a screen. Then, create a macro to break up the complete brackets into several groups and display portions at a time. Display a section for about 20 seconds and then move to the next section. This way you can show everything so that it is easy to read.
Another thing is that most of the products available for managing tourament brackets are good but they limit themselves to a set number of entries e.g. 64, 128,.. There is only one good algorithem that I know which produces perfect balanced brackets for an unlimited number of players. These products do not use it. The algorithem also it makes sure that the losers side does not repeat same players in the same group that were grouped on the winners side. You always want to balance the mix when on the losers side. This is why most products limit the entries or require manual entries. Good luck.
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