AV Issue 58 by Alchemedia Publishing

AV Asia Pacific Issue 57 — Errata In Issue #57 of the AV Asia Pacific magazine, an advertisement was published on behalf of Westan Pty Ltd (‘Westan’) which included a photograph of a large screen digital display that had been installed at the Charlestown Square Shopping Centre. Westan acknowledges that the use of this photograph was in breach of the copyright in the photograph that is held by Digital Place Solutions Pty Limited. Notwithstanding Westan engaged the services of an advertising agency to promote its services and the photograph was provided by the agency, Westan apologises for the use of this photograph and for any misrepresentation that the relevant large screen digital display solution was designed and installed by Westan. Westan also apologies for any suggestion that the LED display depicted in the photograph is by Aurora Signage. Westan acknowledges that Digital Place Solutions (www.digitalplacesolutions.com) was responsible for the visualisation solution including display, rotator and suspension design, installation and project management for Charlestown Square Shopping Centre. Westan also acknowledges the LED display depicted in the photograph was supplied by NanoLumens Inc. (www.nanolumens.com) Authorised by Westan Pty Ltd.

#AVNetworkingMadeEasy LIGHTING, AUDIO AND VIDEO OVER ONE IP NETWORK

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Half 19” unit for rack, truss or wall mount Perfect for connecting PA systems, audio rigs, truss cameras, moving lights ... ArtNet, sACN, MANet, DanteTM, RAVENNA/ AES67, PTPv2, RTTrPL (Blacktrax) and more 8x Gigabit Ethercon ports Optional PoE supply

gigacore10.luminex.be

Over 30 Years in Business To find your nearest Integrator/Reseller, please visit www.pavt.com.au and click-on ‘Where To Buy’

Production Audio Video Technology Pty Ltd 4/621 Whitehorse road, Mitcham 3132 Victoria Ph: 03 9264 8000 e: sales@productionaudio.com.au

EVID-S CO M M ERCIAL LO U DSPEAKERS WITH EASY WALL-MOUNT SYSTEM FOR I N DOOR AN D OUTDOOR USE

I NSTALLATI O N AS EASY AS 1-2-3 Designed with the contractor in mind, EVI D-S is the latest member of the EVI D family â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a cost-effective, go-to solution offering superior sound quality for indoor and outdoor applications. Learn more at www.electrovoice.com

PRE-WIRE: Attach the wall-mount and terminate the cables inside. A built-in bubble level saves time.

PROTECT: Apply the paint cover to protect the wall-mount until construction is completed.

PLACE: Simply slide the pre-wired speaker with adjustable arm onto the wall-mount and lock into place.

Ph: 1300 026 724 | Fax: (02) 8850-2230

| Email: boschcomms@au.bosch.com | www.boschcommunications.com.au

ISSUE 58

REGULARS

NEWS News and new product info. ASSOCIATIONS News from Avixa.

TERMINATION AV Operations.

50 FEATURES

Advertising Office: +61 (0)416 230329 PO Box 6216, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086 Australia

Editorial Office: +61 (0)3 9998 1998 PO Box 295, Ballarat, VIC 3353 Australia

Editorial Director: Christopher Holder (chris@avapac.net) Assistant Editor: Preshan John (preshan@alchemedia.com.au)

Publisher: Philip Spencer (philip@avapac.net) Graphic Designer: Daniel Howard (daniel@avapac.net) Additional Design: Dominic Carey (dominic@avapac.net)

alchemedia publishing pty ltd (ABN: 34 074 431 628) PO Box 6216, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086 Australia info@alchemedia.com.au All material in this magazine is copyright © 2017 Alchemedia Publishing Pty Ltd. The title AV is a registered Trademark. Apart from any fair dealing permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. The publishers believe all information supplied in this magazine to be correct at the time of publication. They are not in a position to make a guarantee to this effect and accept no liability in the event of any information proving inaccurate. After investigation and to the best of our knowledge and belief, prices, addresses and phone numbers were up to date at the time of publication. It is not possible for the publishers to ensure that advertisements appearing in this publication comply with the Trade Practices Act, 1974. The responsibility is on the person, company or advertising agency submitting or directing the advertisement for publication. The publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions, although every endeavour has been made to ensure complete accuracy. 8/12/2017

ROAD TO GREAT AV Emmaus College sets newhigh school standard.

AUDIO COMES ALIVE Catholic primary school rocks d&b.

HARD CELL New prison need bulletproof AV.

BUZZ FEED Cooking up a web streaming success story.

AVIXA GLOBAL MARKET REPORT Some headline numbers to chew over.

RIGHT DIAGNOSIS Sydney Adventist Hospital rethink team meetings with hi-tech ‘war room’.

CARE PACKAGE Monash Children’s Hospital launches with $4.5m AV package.

REVIEWS

Accounts: Jaedd Asthana (jaedd@alchemedia.com.au) Circulation Manager: Mim Mulcahy (subscriptions@avapac.net)

TAXING TIMES iMAGsystems Lightning powers Thai command & control centre.

CORNERED AUDIO Ci SERIES Smart BGM speakers from Danish cornice and corner specialists.

FOHHN AUDIO German beamsteering column array specialists arrive in Australia.

SENNHEISER TEAMCONNECT WIRELESS Elegant wireless audio conferencing system in a suitcase.

NEWS

ATLONA VELOCITY CONTROL SYSTEM

P.A. PEOPLE KIT OUT BARANGAROO FERRY WHARF

CHRISTIE ADDS TWO GS SERIES PROJECTORS

Atlona’s Velocity is all-new AV system control platform for Atlona and third-party products in commercial AV environments. It is comprised of three distinct elements that work together as a unified platform: Velocity Control Suite, Velocity Control Gateway, and Velocity Touch Panels. The Velocity Control Suite is a cloudbased service and centralised resource for integrators to create and manage AV control projects by client, client sites, and specific locations via web browser. The Velocity Control Gateway is a software-based control processor that resides on-site with the client’s AV systems. For user interaction with AV systems, Atlona offers Velocity Touch Panels in 5.5-inch and 8-inch screen sizes. Additionally, the Velocity Control System allows easy BYOD integration with tablets, smartphones, and laptops, as well as PC desktops and touch displays. Getting started with Velocity only takes a few hours with an online training/certification session, with no prior programming knowledge necessary.

The Barangaroo Ferry Wharf will serve Sydney’s newest commercial district and provide increased capacity for ferry services to meet future demand. The P.A. People provided audio services installation for the new facility, using products from Australian Monitor, Ampetronic, Biamp, Crown, Vocia and Sonance. David Duong, Commissioning Manager for construction company McConnel Dowell said, “The performance result of the audio equipment installed is excellent, providing efficient coverage of the facility and excellent announcement clarity.” The new ferry wharf will provide berthing space for additional ferry services from the Parramatta River, as well as direct access to and from the Eastern Suburbs and lower North Shore. The project includes the construction of two ferry wharves featuring fully accessible pontoons, seated waiting areas, weather protection, real-time service information and electronic ticketing using the Opal card.

Christie has introduced two new Christie GS Series laser phosphor projectors to meet the real-world affordability demands of higher education, corporate and rental markets. The Christie 630 GS Series delivers a combination of brightness, image quality, lens and resolution choice, low noise, form factor and proven 1DLP high usage reliability to value-oriented end users. Performance measures that set 630-GS Series apart include up to 6750 ISO lumens of light output, an impressive contrast ratio of 4,000,000:1, either HD (1920x1080) or WUXGA (1920x1200) resolution, quiet 36dBA operation, and full GS-Series lens suite compatibility including the new Ultra Short Throw lens. The Christie 630-GS Series is backed by a threeyear parts and labor warranty, plus Christie’s customer service. “From business venues to events and beyond, the new affordable Christie GS Series delivers allaround premium performance and reliability in highusage environments,” said Jim Hall senior product manager, Christie.

Midwich: 1300 666 099 or www.midwich.com.au Atlona: www.atlona.com

NEWS IN BRIEF:

AVIXA announces that Daan Roosegaarde, an internationally acclaimed creative thinker and founder of Studio Roosegaarde, will keynote the TIDE conference at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2018. Set for February 5 at Hotel Okura Amsterdam, TIDE (Technology. Innovation. Design. Experience.) explores the creative forces shaping the AV industry and how AV businesses can benefit from these concepts. AVIXA: www.avixa.org

P.A. People: www.papeople.com.au

Christie: www.christiedigital.com

Tripleplay has partnered with avt to become its sales, support and technical representation in the Australia and New Zealand region. With teams based throughout Australia and New Zealand, avt’s national and regional footprint makes it a perfect fit to offer local pre-sales, training, service and support to Tripleplay’s established end user clients and integration partners. TriplePlay: www.tripleplay.tv avt: (07) 5531 3103 or www.avt.tech

Bose Professional is officially shipping the MB210 compact subwoofer which was announced at InfoComm17. The sub features two 10-inch high-excursion woofers housed in a compact Baltic-birch plywood enclosure to provide a low end response down to 37Hz. The MB210 is available in black or which and ships with a U-bracket for easy mounting. Bose: pro.bose.com

Midwich ANZ has announced a distribution partnership with TeamMate, manufacturers of commercial AV furniture, including collaboration desks, lecterns, enclosures, large display stands, and more. TeamMate is a wellknown name within the regional AV industry. The distribution deal with Midwich promises shorter lead times for customers while guaranteeing a growing footprint for TeamMate in the ANZ region. Midwich: 1300 666 099 or www.midwich.com.au

Gefen is shipping the new 4K Ultra HD 600MHz 8x8 Matrix for HDMI, which supports 18.2Gbps of bandwidth and 600MHz TMDS Clock frequency. It routes eight 4K sources to eight 4K displays and supports resolutions up to 4K Cinema-DCI, 4K Ultra HD with HDR, 1080p Full HD, and WUXGA. It also supports HDCP 2.2 and 1.4, 3DTV pass-through and lip sync pass-through. Gefen: www.gefen.com

Capture & Broadcast

Simultaneous image outputs; best image quality; compatible with all video equipment. Lumens VC-A50P • Ethernet, HDMI, and 3G-SDI Interfaces • Supports MJPEG, H.264 / SVC format for live broadcast • <120ms low-latency IP streaming • 1080p output at 60fps • 20x optical zoom • Supports PoE

+61 (0)3 9005 9861 www.corsairsolutions.com.au

NEWS

SKYPE SUPPORT FOR COLLABORATE PRO

COMMUNITY MODULAR VERTICAL ARRAY 600

EPSON MOVERIO AR SUBTITLES

ClearOne announced a system upgrade to Collaborate that allows users, at an additional cost, to enable Skype for Business on any Collaborate Pro model. “The ability to natively integrate Skype for Business truly makes Collaborate Pro the most versatile video collaboration system on the market today,” said Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst, Vaishno Devi Srinivansan. “It’s a great solution for any size workspace with professional quality audio and video, and has a high return on investment with unmatched affordability.” ClearOne’s Collaborate Pro is a series of low-cost room appliances, audio endpoints and PTZ cameras, containing a flexible mix of built-in solution tools for any type of group-room collaboration. Collaborate Pro is the only system that can support traditional SIP/H.323 video conferencing, cloud video and web conferencing, Skype for Business with native integration, multi-wireless user presentation, and professional audio in any workspace.

Community has expanded the system design versatility of its I Series family with the new IV6 Modular Vertical Array 600 system. IV6 is a scalable, adaptive sound reinforcement system featuring wide-dispersion IV61122 array elements (12-inch, two-way) available in two complementary vertical coverage angle versions (5° and 15°). Up to 5° of splay between elements eliminates excessive overlap or coverage gaps. The single 18-inch IV6-118S subwoofer can be flown above or behind any array to provide additional low frequency impact. Builtin Passive Acoustic Optimisation (PAO) settings on the rear of each loudspeaker allow up to 55 different frequency response profiles to be independently selected for each element in the array, providing unmatched SPL and frequency response consistency throughout a listening area without requiring costly additional amplifiers or DSP channels. Community collaborated with audio rigging manufacturer Polar Focus to design a variety of colour-matched array frames for the IV6 loudspeakers, which are available in textured black or white finishes.

London’s National Theatre launched a trial that will see deaf and hearing-impaired customers supplied with Epson Moverio BT-300 AR smartglasses so they will be able to read subtitles in their field of vision when they are watching any performance. The Moverio BT300 features Epson’s silicon-based OLED (organic light emitting diode) digital display technology, enabling truly transparent mobile augmented reality experiences for consumers, government and business. Epson’s augmented reality Moverio smartglasses are lightweight and comfortable enough to be worn throughout a performance with users enjoying the option of changing the positioning, size and colour of the captions to suit their own preferences. In true augmented reality fashion the Moverio smartglasses will always maintain the subtitles well within the wearer’s field of vision at all times allowing them to easily follow the actors’ performances whilst simultaneously reading the captions. Moverio smartglasses are powered by a quad core Intel Atom X5 processor and Android 5.1, enabling efficient rendering of complex 3D experiences.

Hills: (03) 9890 7477 or www.hills.com.au Community: www.communitypro.com

Epson: www.epson.com.au

PAVT: (03) 9264 8000 or www.pavt.com.au ClearOne: www.clearone.com

NEWS IN BRIEF:

Pliant Technologies, the professional intercom division of CoachComm, announced National Audio Systems as its new distributor in Australia. National Audio Systems will provide Pliant with regional support throughout the South Pacific. Pliant Technologies will join National Audio Systems range of popular audio products that it offers, including brands like Ashly, d&b audiotechnik, K-array and Midas. Pliant Technologies: www.plianttechnologies.com National Audio Systems: (03) 8756 2600 or sales@nationalaudio.com.au

Osprey Video is shipping two new small-form-factor scaling converters. The HSCSA-2 converts HDMI video to SDI, and the SHCSA-2 converts 3G-SDI video to HDMI. After conversion, each model performs scaling, framerate conversion, de-interlacing, and audio embedding and de-embedding on the resulting signal. The converters are unique in their ability to both embed and de-embed audio within a single unit. Osprey Video: www.ospreyvideo.com Corsair Solutions: (03) 9005 9861 or sales@corsairsolutions.com.au

Panasonic’s new PT-MZ670 Series of installation projectors is designed to meet the needs of modern classroom and meeting room environments. The range comprises four compact 3LCD lens-interchangeable models: the PT-MZ670 (6500 lumens ANSI), PT-MZ570 (5500 lumens ANSI), PT-MW630 (6500 lumens ANSI), and PT-MW530 (5500 lumens ANSI). Panasonic: www.panasonic.com.au

Riedel Communications will demonstrate its ability to deliver mission-critical systems by providing the communications and signal infrastructure for the groundbreaking project in which PTScientists will aim to be the first private company to land on the Moon. Riedel Artist will be used for digital matrix intercoms, Bolero wireless intercoms for Mission Control, and MediorNet systems for all signal distribution and processing. Riedel: www.riedel.net

Investing heavily in wireless DisplayPort and HDMI technology, Vision has announced that its new TC-HDMIWM Wireless Matrix product will start shipping from January. The product uses 10 user-selectable 5GHz WiFi channels; just set a transmitter and receiver to the same channel and they connect automatically. It comes with a remote control or can be controlled by RS-232. Vision: www.visionaudiovisual.com

Award-winning sound from small-format loudspeakers.

RoomMatch® Utility loudspeakers Bose® RoomMatch Utility loudspeakers bring the award-winning sound of RoomMatch arrays to smaller 2-way point-source designs. Available in a variety of sizes and coverage patterns, these high-SPL loudspeakers can be used for many retail and restaurant applications, and as specific zone fill and floor monitors for houses of worship and performing arts centers. The line of products features the Bose EMB2 compression driver to reduce distortion and deliver consistent tonal balance across all product models. Available in black or white.

AUS 1300 368 436 | sales_australia@bose.com NZ 0800 705 500 | sales_newzealand@bose.com

Learn more at PRO.BOSE.COM

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NEWS

ELECTRO-VOICE EVID-S

GEARING UP WITH AXIENT DIGITAL

LIVESTREAM MEVO PLUS

The EVID-S series is the latest member of the EVID family of commercial loudspeakers for installed applications. Every aspect of the EVID-S series has been designed from the ground up to ensure efficient installation for the contractor and excellent results for the end-user. The series includes four-inch, 5.25-inch and eight-inch two-way models with matching dual-10inch and single 12-inch subwoofers. The innovative, new wall-mount system makes installation simple — quicker and easier than ever before: Attach the wall-mount and terminate the cables inside, apply the paint cover to protect the wall-mount until construction is completed, then simply slide the pre-wired speaker with adjustable arm onto the wall-mount and lock into place.

Gearhouse Broadcast’s Event Communications Division has scored a world first by rolling out Shure’s Axient Digital premium RF microphone platform in Australia. It all began when Gearhouse was approached by Shure and Jands to sign an exclusive R&D partnership that gave Gearhouse direct access to Axient Digital’s product roadmap and provide input on future feature sets and product design. Jason Owen, Events Communication Manager, put it to work at the AFL. “Axient digital is perfect for sporting bodies, large venues and production companies so we immediately approached the AFL and suggested they use the system at all remaining games this year.” Jason is impressed with the system’s outstanding RF performance, even in complex, crowded environments. “Axient Digital also works efficiently and reliably at much lower RF levels than any other system I have ever seen. This means more reliable coverage for the product and its true diversity, quadversity and highdensity mode means more channels can operate in one space then ever before.”

Livestream has released the Mevo Plus, an improved version of its original Mevo. Create a multi-camera production from a single Mevo Plus. Tap to cut, pinch to zoom, or swipe to pan with the exclusive Live Editing suite. Enable Autopilot and let Mevo’s advanced AI do the editing for you. Mevo Plus has been re-engineered for faster and stronger performance and delivers a premium streaming experience. Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, it’s like a TV studio in your pocket. With Mevo Plus, you can go live to every major platform from virtually anywhere via WiFi or LTE. Record HD videos directly to your SD card of stream to Vimeo, Livestream, Facebook, YouTube, Periscope, and Twitter. The Livestream Mevo Plan gives you multi-destination streaming and cloud video storage.

Electrovoice: www.electrovoice.com Midwich: 1300 666 099 or www.midwich.com.au

Corsair Solutions: (03) 9005 9861 or sales@corsairsolutions.com.au Livestream Mevo Plus: www.getmevo.com

Shure: www.shure.com Jands: (02) 9582 0909 or www.jands.com.au Gearhouse Broadcast: www.gearhousebroadcast.com.au

NEWS IN BRIEF:

NVIDIA is releasing the VRWorks 360 Video SDK which enables production studios, camera makers and app developers to integrate 360°, stereo stitching SDK into their existing workflow for live and post production. 360° stereo stitching is a leap forward for the live production and live event industries. The VRWorks SDK Z CAM’s new V1 Pro 360 is the first professional 360° VR camera to fully integrate the VRWorks SDK. NVIDIA: www.nvidia.com Corsair Solutions: (03) 9005 9861 or sales@corsairsolutions.com.au

Avixa has announced the addition of Ben Caswell as the new Regional Manager for Avixa Oceania. Caswell will lead the association’s membership services, certification, and education program in Oceania, as well as the Australia Advisory Group. Caswell is the founder and driving force behind Tech Crew Global, an initiative that develops the next generation of AV professionals. Caswell also initiated the AV Innovators Forum, an annual event gathering AV professionals in New South Wales’ education sector. Avixa: www.avixa.org

Extron’s new AXI 02 AT is a compact audio interface that extracts two channels from a Dante audio network. The 1/8-rack width Dante audio interface provides two channels of output to devices without Dante connectivity. It features two line level analogue outputs and a mirrored two-channel S/PDIF output. The AXI 02 AT interfaces with any Dante-equipped audio device over a standard LAN, and is powered through PoE. Extron: www.extron.com.au

Christie is expanding its D Series lineup with three new value-priced single-lamp models, which are available with up to 8100 lumens and both WUXGA and HD resolutions. The new Christie D Series projectors offer 65,000:1 contrast ratio, 3000 hours of lamp life, and easy integration, making them ideal for higher education, business, museums, houses of worship, government facilities, and selected rental and staging venues where they seamlessly integrate into any environment. Christie: www.christiedigital.com

The Avixa Professional Development Programme at ISE 2018 is ready to explore on ISE’s website. There are four distinct tracks: ‘User Experience’ tracks will help you to examine your work through the eyes of your end user; ‘AV/IT’ helps you discover the latest protocols and applications vital to keeping up-to-date with the evolving digital realm; the ’Design’ track features sessions to help you develop better strategies to use integrated experience in your design; and the ‘Emerging Trends’ sessions will keep you up to date and stimulate your thinking as the industry evolves. Avixa: www.avixa.org ISE: www.iseurope.com

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NEWS

POLYCOM MODERNISES CONFERENCE PHONE AGAIN

THREE ADDITIONS TO THE Q-SYS PLATFORM

SYMETRIX CONTROL SERVER PLATFORM

The Polycom Trio 8500 is a sharp new interpretation of Polycom’s original three-legged conference phone released 25 years ago, and it’s the ideal communication tool for mid-sized conference rooms. The Trio 8500 delivers all the latest Polycom innovations, including HD voice audio quality, Polycom NoiseBlock, and multi-line registration. It will be expandable to include video and content sharing in the future. The Polycom Trio 8500 also includes a modern full colour touch screen interface and Microsoft Exchange calendar integration, which makes joining a meeting as easy as one touch. The Polycom Trio 8800 now allows participants to pair personal devices to share local content over Apple AirPlay or Miracast certified devices for wireless flexibility and later this year will also support enterprise-class motorised pantilt-zoom (MPTZ) cameras that offer a broader degree of visibility for high-definition collaboration experience in larger conference rooms.

QSC has released three additions to the Q-SYS platform: a Core processor, a convenient I/O device, and a touchscreen panel. An evolution of the Core 500, the Core 510i leverages the latest Intel platform using a QSC-developed Linux realtime operating system to deliver powerful audio/video/control. Flexible audio I/O configuration options include card-based I/O, native Q-LAN network channels and AES67. Providing inputs and outputs to any Q-SYS ecosystem the new I/O-8 Flex features eight flexible audio I/O channels. Each channel can be configured via Q-SYS Designer Software as either a fully balanced mic/line input with phantom power or a line level output. It also offers PoE+ support and an auxiliary DC power input that can be used for redundancy where required. The new touchscreen TSC-47W-G2 12cm in-wall dialler/controller combines capacitive LCD touch technology with a 960x540 highdefinition display and PoE.

Ingram Micro: (02) 9381 6000 or sales@ingrammicro.com.au Polycom: www.polycom.com

Technical Audio Group: (02) 9519 0900 or info@tag.com.au QSC: www.qsc.com

Symetrix announces the release of the Control Server platform, as well as the USB Audio Card for their Dante-enabled Radius and Edge DSPs, and an update to Composer v5.6, its open architecture design software. Control Server is a web services platform for control of network AV systems, including Symetrix Radius, Edge, Prism, and Solus NX DSPs. Programmed using Composer, Control Server offers wired connections for the AV network and built-in wireless connectivity for control. Control Server comes equipped with one instance of Symetrix’ Mixer app and offers dynamic screen-sizing and orientation making it mobile device or browser friendly. Control Server’s hardware unit has a 1000 Base-T Ethernet port for Symetrix Composer host control, web-based administration, and control of devices on the AV network. Symetrix’ USB Audio Card for Radius and Edge DSPs enables audio devices connected to these DSPs to send audio to, and return audio from, any computer that supports USB Audio Class 1 or Class 2. Symetrix: www.symetrix.co PAVT: (03) 9264 8000 or www.pavt.com.au

SZIKLA CUE KING 2

TVONE INTRODUCES CORIOMATRIX

VADDIO ONELINK BRIDGE AV INTERFACE

Szikla Cue King 2 is a remote presentation system to supervise forward/back computer presentation cues to multiple PCs or Macs, via wired lectern buttons and 16 new channels of RF interfacing. Cue King 2 promises improved performance, portability, reliability, and a re-think of wireless slide management in a busy RF environment. The Lectenna has a single antenna and USB output and is normally placed on or near the stage. It is used a) on its own, powered by the local computer’s USB, or b) connected to the Master Station. The Master Station has two line inputs and its own RF receiver. The indicator section includes Forward/Back LEDs, Test Buttons, and adjustable audio via local speaker or phones. Near the RF button, LEDs show if cues are being received via the local or remote antenna, and if the RF Handset battery is low. The RF Handset has been designed with a single button cell in a quick access compartment to delivers reliable range of 50m line of sight.

tvONE has released its new Coriomatrix and Coriomatrix Mini modular systems created for today’s mixed signal environments. When faced with the challenge of combining a wide range of signal types, Coriomatrix makes the integration simple with reliable 4K performance. Whatever the source or format it’s easy to mix and match your content using tvONE’s low latency Corio scalers featuring the widest range of resolutions with full control of frame rate, aspect ratio, and frame/ field handling. Control Coriomatrix in real-time using your web interface or fully featured API. Glitch free switching or fades are provided regardless of your source. Your displays can be turned off singly or globally with output sleep mode. Monitor all of your inputs and outputs for ultimate peace of mind using our optional monitoring module. Coriomatrix supports any standard or custom resolution from 640x480 to 3840x2160 to allow you to integrate any source and any display including projectors and LED walls for ultimate flexibility.

Vaddio’s OneLINK Bridge AV interface is a crossover appliance that combines a camera extension system with an audio mixer, creating a USB bridge that connects professional AV sources to PCs in a single device. End users can convert an audio/video source from any PTZ camera or AV switcher into a USB 3.0 media stream and easily use applications like Skype for Business, Google Hangouts, WebEx and Zoom. OneLINK Bridge uses HDBaseT to extend power, control and video from cameras and compatible HDBaseT AV switchers up to 100m over a single HDBaseT Cat-5e/6 cable. It includes HDMI and HD-SDI outputs, two mic/line inputs with echo cancellation, two line outputs, and associated digital audio channels. It also provides a composite USB stream with 1080p/60 video and stereo 48kHz audio to ensure optimal quality of content. OneLINK Bridge’s flexible design works in multiple applications such as unified communications and collaboration, recording and lecture capture.

Corsair Solutions: (03) 9005 9861 or sales@corsairsolutions.com.au tvONE: www.tvone.com

Midwich: 1300 666 099 or www.midwich.com.au Vaddio: www.vaddio.com

Szikla: www.szikla.com

Demand more from your wireless system DMS800

Dual Channel Digital Wireless Microphone System • Ultrawide band 150Mhz – 1 unit covers whole of Australian wireless spectrum • Environment frequency scanner and spectrum analyser • Run two transmitters simultaneously on 1 receiver • Dante integration

WMS470

Premium Analogue Wireless Systems • • • • •

Automatic frequency setup Operate up to 16 channels simultaneously per band Line of sight transmission up to 300m Available for Vocal, Presenter, Sports & Instrument Up to 14 hours’ battery life on transmitters

For more information please contact: akg@cmi.com.au

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FEATURE

Taxing Times: iMAGsystems Lightning Takes Control

ustralian video-over-IP innovator, iMAGsystems, is making an impact in the region. The Thai government Excise Department in Bangkok has moved into an upgraded command and control space based on iMAGsystems’ Lighting video-over-IP encoders and decoders. Initially the installation was to be based on a software video wall solution. At the insistence of the AV service provider this decision was reviewed due to substandard experiences related to the software’s reliability — it required updates and regular reboots that interrupted the video wall’s key role in monitoring the collection and control of customs and excise and other import duties. When approvals arrived for the construction of a new command and control room, authorities were determined to have the most reliable and flexible room possible. After a tender process the department appointed Vichai Trading 1983 as project integrator.

SCOPED OUT AT ISE

Representatives of Vichai Trading 1983 discussed the project with iMAGsystems Product Support Specialist Chris Smith at the ISE show earlier in 2017. Vichai had previous experience working with compressed video-over-IP systems and felt comfortable specifying the uncompressed, latency-free Lightning product that’s based on the AptoVision BlueRiver chipset. The versatile video wall takes the output of three PC workstations in the room, along with input from a Wolfvision Cynap wireless collaboration system, a Sony Blu-ray player and an Apple TV, and sends it to the 16-panel video wall via iMAGsystems LZ1501E video-over-IP encoders. The 4x3 centre section of the video wall takes the output from two iMAGsystems decoders and, via iMAGsystems’ on-the-fly, instantly-reconfigurable video wall and multi-view capabilities, can display a whole host of different viewing profiles.

NEWS

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THIS IS STATE-OF-THE-ART WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

PE N

PATE N

BOLERO WIRELESS INTERCOM • • • • • • • • • • •

Up to 10 beltpacks per antenna 100 antenna, 100 beltpack system capacity Best-in-class voice clarity “Touch&Go” beltpack registration 6-channel beltpack plus dedicated REPLY button Built-in microphone and speaker for Walkie-Talkie mode Smartphone integration via Bluetooth Ergonomic, robust beltpack design Sunlight-readable display with Gorilla Glass™ Decentralized AES67 IP networked antennas Seamless integration into RIEDEL‘S ARTIST intercom matrix

www.riedel.net

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The four additional screens flanking either side of the main video wall are each addressed by an iMAGsystems LZ1502D decoder. Thanks to an elegant AMX control system interface (via an iMAGsystems LZ500DS API bridge), it’s easy to select the source, destination and video wall configuration that best suits the purposes of the three command and control room operators. THEATRE OF OPERATIONS

More than a command and control space, the space can be reconfigured as a teaching theatre at other times. An operable wall seals off the control room and a Stewart screen drops down for presentation and movie sessions. A 5.1 Cornered Audio sound

FEATURE

system and Audio-Technica wireless microphone complete the picture. An adjoining assembly area with a 16,000-lumen Panasonic projector also takes a video output. To address the two projectors (in the theatre and in the assembly area), an iMAGsystems’ decoded feed from the video wall, along with two HDMI inputs, go into an Extron DTP Crosspoint matrix. In this way the projectors, thanks to iMAGsystems’ ability to instantly provide a composite multiview source, can display a wide variety of sources — from a full HD video for movie night to a tiled feed of nine or more individual sources in a multi-view configuration. The flexibility of this space is formidable. “Lightning offers uncompressed, latency-free

performance. When you’re in an environment like this where you’re using a keyboard and mouse, that feature is crucial — lag is unworkable,” observes iMAGsystems’ Chris Smith. “Vichai Trading has an unparalleled reputation in the region for delivering high quality results, often in very complex technical environments,” observed iMAGsystems CEO Gerry Raffaut. “It’s great to partner with Vichai Trading to deliver on a project such as this using Lightning’s unique feature set.”  iMAGsystems: (03) 8414 2911 or sales@imagsystems.com

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018

FEATURE

Emmaus: Road to Great AV

he leafy eastern suburbs of Melbourne has a number of excellent Catholic secondary schools, where demand for places is high and demand for the best students is just as high. Emmaus College Vermont campus is a mid-sized school of some 1200 students. In late 2017 it cut the ribbon on a brand new education learning centre. PLANS AFOOT

Part of the new facility is a lecture theatre with a point of difference: a 3x3 LG video wall. Well, that’s the most obvious point of difference, but the venue packs an estimable AV spec not often seen in a secondary school… chances are you soon will. The story behind the AV began the previous AFL footy season. Principal, Tony Hirst, was attending a game at the MCG supporting his beloved Essendon Bombers. He coincidentally struck up a conversation with an ‘off duty’ member of the Light & Sound Solutions crew. Light & Sound Solutions happened to be the installer of the outdoor LED display they were standing under. A conversation ensued and the beginnings of a partnership was struck. WALL TO WALL AV

Light & Sound Solutions was duly appointed as the project’s systems integrator and helped walk principal Tony Hirst and his team through the process of selecting the right technology. The school was convinced of the merits of a high brightness display at the front of the theatre but was unsure if a high-spec projector, video wall or LED display would best suit. After assessing the options, the school decided a 3x3 LG video wall would provide the best bang for the buck and the wow factor Tony Hirst so desired. “We wanted something contemporary,” Tony Hirst commented. “A projector might have been impressive 10 years ago, but we wanted something more eye-catching.” The LG 55VM5B 55-inch displays have an ultra narrow bezel (1.8mm image to image) which gives the video wall an almost seamless look, and the video wall is easily visible from the first row to the last. CHIEF AMONG BRACKETS

Light & Sound Solutions’ Project Manager Daniel Thomas oversaw the video wall installation: “With a display that’s almost bezel-less you really need to get those pixels lined up perfectly. Fortunately the Chief LVS1U video wall bracket makes the installers’ life easier. The mount also makes servicing any of the screens easy as well, simply pull on a cord and the screen pops out around 300mm. It’s good solid American engineering. Chief will never be the cheapest option but when you’ve got multiple screens to line up and install

EQUIPMENT 9× LG 55VM5B ultra narrow bezel displays Chief LVS1U video wall mounts 2× BrightSign XT1143 4K media players Nexo loudspeakers, amps & processing Crestron control Sennheiser Wireless

there’s no point skimping — it can saves you hours of crew time. The screen accepts a PC input from the lectern, a Blu-ray input as well as a Brightsign media player. There are actually two XT1143 4K Brightsign digital signage media players in the rack, which allow the school to push content to the video wall and to an impressive LG 84-inch display in the foyer. “The foyer screen can be used locally as another learning space,” noted principal Tony Hirst. “But it’s particularly useful as digital signage. We can display images of our students in activities, events etc. Those images help create a positive culture. We can also post up announcements.” CRESTRON CONTROL

All the inputs are routed through a Crestron DMPS switching system then into the Crestron 4K scaler in the video wall. Spec’ing the DMPS was a key part of ensuring the theatre was easy to use,

even by the most technically challenged. There are two Crestron seven-inch touch panels (one at the lectern and the other at the entrance) with an super-simple interface that makes switching and AV reconfiguration a breeze. HIGH SCHOOL AFFORDABLE

This isn’t your average high school theatre. But one suspects other schools will already be casting a green eye in its direction. Light & Sound Solutions’ Daniel Thomas appreciated the chance to work on a project that was aspirational: “The school had a budget that allowed us to spec high quality AV — Nexo loudspeakers, amplification and control; Crestron control, LG displays, motorised lighting bar with quality LED fixtures. You don’t often see that in a secondary school lecture theatre. Still, I believe the AV installation represents great value for the client.” A sentiment echoed by principal Tony Hirst: “There’s nothing better for a principal than to see students’ jaws drop when they enter a new building for the first time. Their eyes light up — ‘this is unbelievable!’. That’s what happened. It makes the install and the planning all worthwhile.”  Midwich 1300 666 099 or www.midwich.com.au Light & Sound Solutions (03) 9445 5800 or www.lightandsound.com.au

FEATURE

019

THEY HEARD,

“BONUSES HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED.” But you said, “Bonuses have been allocated.” With Devio, the message is always clear thanks to an 8-element, voice-tracking microphone for crystal clear sound in any conference or huddle space. Quickly transition ideas from your laptop to a collaborative work session, adding displays, speakers, a web camera, and microphones with a single USB connection. Communicate better with Devio the conferencing tool that works the way you work. biamp.com/devio

OUR E PERTISE IS YOUR ADVANTAGE

020

FEATURE

Audio Comes Alive Text:/ Preshan John

esurrection House is a Catholic primary school located in Essendon, Melbourne. The property has a rich history, originally built as an orphanage for Polish children impacted by World War II. It turned into a primary school as time passed but still retains its Polish charm with idiosyncratic architecture and beautifully manicured garden beds. STAGE READY

Theatre productions have become a larger part of the school’s annual schedule as students showed more interest. These are also held in the parish hall which, until now, had an outdated PA system that wasn’t quite cutting it for the school’s needs. Resurrection House decided it was time to up the ante. In searching for a new PA, the school’s volunteer technical manager Joseph Gofron stressed the importance of intelligibility in the vocal range. “Vocal intelligibility is important for us because we’ve often got an elderly audience and a lot of them suffer from high frequency hearing loss,” notes Gofron. “When we started doing musicals with young kids’ high-pitched voices, intelligibility was an issue. We wanted to have clarity. The narrators and actors telling the story need to be understood.” STRAIGHT TO THE POINT SOURCE

Joe Sofo from Concert AV managed the installation of the audio system upgrade at Resurrection House. Already familiar with d&b audiotechnik products from the concert and festival scene, Joe suggested a point source front of house system for Resurrection House. The boxes of choice were two d&b 24S loudspeakers left and right, and a single d&b 21S-SUB

subwoofer placed under the front edge of the stage. The wide stage puts a large gap between the two 24S speakers, so a d&b Y7P was mounted horizontally above centre stage to fill the front area. All loudspeakers are powered by a single d&b 30D four-channel amplifier. Apart from the loudspeakers, the school also upgraded its mixing console from an ageing analogue desk to a Midas M32 digital mixing console with accompanying DL32 stage box. The M32’s ability to store and recall snapshots was quickly utilised in the school’s productions to simplify playback cues and microphone switching — a much easier workflow than riding faders and popping mutes through the whole show like on the previous analogue desk. “The Midas M32 is great,” says Joe Gofron. “I can put a MIDI trigger in Clarity to trigger the Next button on the M32, so you could in fact run everything with one operator and have everything preset. My preference is to have more operators because a lot of the audiovisual stuff is run by ex students. They enjoy using the mixer and lighting system; it gives them a sense of ownership.” LEVELLING UP

Prior to the PA’s official commissioning by NAS, Joe Sofo had already received compliments from the school stating how big an improvement the d&b loudspeakers had made. Joe Gofron said, “The speakers are a big plus over what we had. The clarity and intelligibility in the vocal range is the most noticeable difference. They’re doing a marvellous job. I think we made the right choice.” “d&b is a great product that’s definitely considered a premium audio brand,” says Joe Sofo from Concert AV. “The client had heard of d&b

before so there was already a confidence in the product. And the PA suited the room as well. It’s quite a difficult room acoustically, so having a high quality point source system meant they could get good coverage throughout the room without too much reverberation.”  National Audio Systems (d&b, Midas): (03) 8756 2600 or sales@nationalaudio.com.au

I N T E G R A T E D AUDIO, VIDEO & CONTROL

AUDIO

022

FEATURE

Hard Cell: Prison AV

avenhall Prison is a medium-security men’s prison in Melbourne’s west which accommodates some 1000 prisoners. Built as a public private partnership by the GEO Consortium, the prison facility was officially opened on 12th October 2017. It began receiving prisoners on 13th November 2017. Project manager Firas Zain from Engie oversaw Ravenhall’s audiovisual design and installation. Prison construction is meticulously planned well in advance, with little margin for error. This meant Engie had to ensure the AV system design was thoroughly conceptualised even before the first slab of concrete was poured. Of the 37 buildings within Ravenhall, Engie was contracted to install AV components in 34 of them. The scale of the roll-out necessitated careful planning and extremely high quality control; with this many contractors working on a site, one disorganised contributor can slow down the entire project. SHIELDING THE DISPLAYS

The extreme security protocols within a prison filter down to things like encrypted video signals, custom projector cages, and prisoner-proof display enclosures for in-cell TVs. Australian metal fabrication specialist Gilkon played an important

role supplying security shrouds (enclosures) for all IPTV displays in prison cells, as well as the larger displays in waiting rooms and guest areas. A Gilkon display enclosure for prison TVs can’t be bought off the shelf. As with many other aspects of the Ravenhall project, the display enclosures were designed from scratch to meet specific pre-defined security and ISM standards. Creating custom steel fabrications is Gilkon’s forte, and its in-house knowledge lent thecompany a place at the table during the design process. “The Gilkon team assisted in the design of these shrouds,” says Firas. “They gave input as to how best to achieve the initial design by the architect.” QUALITY CONTROL

Once designed, all shrouds underwent review by a number of key personnel involved in the project. Firas Zain: “There’s a group that reviews everything, comprising the engineering departments, myself, the John Holland (builders) management team, the architect, and of course the client or company body managing the prison.” The prison cell displays are 24-inch NEC models, whereas larger 58-inch displays are found in the waiting room and common areas. Every screen in the premises is protected with a custom Gilkon shroud, even when installed in staff areas.

“Gilkon also played a big role in the QA process of the making of these shrouds,” says Firas. “Because they were being shipped from Sydney to Melbourne and because of the prolonged signout period, we had a very limited time to receive and install these shrouds. The QA had to be at the maximum level possible. We simply couldn’t have units returning to the supplier for repairs. To Gilkon’s credit, there have been no returns.”  Gilkon: www.gilkon.com.au Engie: www.engie-anz.com

Sydney • Melbourne • Brisbane • Perth • Auckland projects@showtech.com.au | www.showtech.com.au | www.facebook.com/ShowTechnologyAus

024

FEATURE

Buzz Feed: Beehive Streams Cooking Show With Epiphan Pearl

eehive Industries is an upstanding not-forprofit organisation dedicated to Sydney’s senior citizens who are disabled, socially isolated, or long-term unemployed. Headed by Managing Director Brendan Lonergan, Beehive offers Business Services and Support Services to clients ranging from Telstra to online start-ups. Business Services include packaging and assembly, mail-house services, sample distribution, online fulfilment, and more. ‘Beehivers’ are senior citizens or people on a disability pension who are employed by Beehive Industries to perform these business services. LOW COST MEALS FOR SENIORS

The Low Cost Meals for Seniors Program was launched as a support service for the Beehive community, with MasterChef contestant Kumar Pereira as the program’s ambassador. A cooking session takes place monthly and runs for around half an hour. Focussing on budget-conscious meal creation, the program inspires and educates seniors on how easy it is to prepare nutritious meals for themselves. Brendan recognised its potential when the program started attracting interest from similar senior citizen organisations. Kumar initially presented Brendan with the idea of livestreaming the cooking sessions as a way to expand its reach.

“Kumar said to me, ‘Why don’t we live stream it?’” recalls Brendan. “He was talking about a session at MasterChef where they did it over Google Hangouts in some people’s houses and they were cooking along with people in the studio. So we tried it using standard technology and cameras and soon realised we needed something a lot better. That’s where the Epiphan Pearl came in.” FOUND A PEARL

Epiphan’s Pearl product is a creative solution for livestreaming video content. The rack unit allows direct connection of multiple camera and audio sources which can then be controlled through a computer or wireless smart-device before hitting the web. Up to four HD sources can be captured simultaneously through HDMI, SDI, VGA, or USB. Audio can enter the unit embedded in a HDMI or SDI feed, or separately through stereo TRS jack inputs. A livestreaming setup at Beehive’s Low Cost Meals for Seniors program typically runs with three Nikon D750 cameras — one facing Kumar, another capturing an aerial view of his kitchen bench, and a third facing the participants. These feed into the Epiphan Pearl via HDMI cables. A Telstra 4G wireless dongle hooks up directly to provide an Internet connection. Audio is

handled with a few microphones. Kumar wears a Sennheiser lapel microphone and wireless transmitter beltpack, with the receiver unit plugged straight into the Pearl via a TRS cable. A couple of Rode mics sit atop the Nikons to capture sound in the room. EASE OF USE

It doesn’t take a degree in technical production to get the Epiphan Pearl up and running in minutes. Livestreaming production can be carried out through an iPad app allowing a single operator to manage multiple camera angles remotely. YouTube is Beehive’s streaming platform of choice. Organisations such as Legacy and Men’s Shed regularly tune into Beehive’s Low Cost Meals for Seniors live feed. “The Epiphan unit is a seriously smart piece of tech,” says Brendan. “We’re very impressed with the technology because it’s very easy to set up and use. The fact that you can drive it from an iPad 10m away is really handy. It means you can walk around, direct the video, adjust lights, or stand at a camera position, all while controlling your livestream.”  Beehive Industries: www.beehiveindustries.com.au AP Technologies: (02) 9452 6001 or www.aptech.com.au

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026

FEATURE

Avixa Market Report Avixa’s much anticipated global market report has dropped. We take a look at some of the headline figures. Text:/ Christopher Holder

Global Sales Revenue Share by Segment 2017 vs 2022 10

2017 26

4 5 5

2022

9 2

% Audio Equipment

% Services

% Capture & Production Equipment

% Software

% Control

% Streaming Media, Storage & Distribution

% Environmental

% Video Displays

% Infrastructure

% Video Projection

vixa engaged new market analysts this time around (IHS Markit) and the result is a global market report with more granularity and precision. The press was provided with a headline figure package which I’m using here. If you’re an Avixa member you can buy the full report. I’ve not editorialised, just picked out some of what I think is interesting. So from here on I'll be quoting the report: LET'S TALK ASIA PAC

Against a generally sound pan-Asian economic backdrop, the AV market in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) will exhibit a compound anuujal growth rate (CAGR)v of five percent rising to around $84 billion through 2022. Although every Asian subregion has contributed to the market’s growth and new value creation, there are differences in growth and pro-AV prospects, with the stnadout market being China (including Hong Kong and

Taiwan). At around $34 billion in 2017, China currently accounts for nearly 53 percent of the industry’s value in Asia-Pacific, and through 2022, will comfortably retain a similar range of total industry spend. The professional AV industry worldwide generated US$178 billion in 2016. Through 2022, it is expected that global AV revenues will increase 4.7 percent annually. The industry will create an additional US$52 billion in value over the remainder of the forecast period. The APAC region generated US$63 billion in revenue in 2016 and will exhibit a solid CAGR of 5 percent through 2022. SEGMENT SLICING

I thought some of the segment by segment valuations were quite interesting: Streaming media, storage, and distribution platforms (SMSD) generated $47.2 billion in 2016 (globally), and singlehandedly accounted for a

Services-led value creation reflects an AV industry — and broader technology ecosystem — whose complexity and technological sophistication is unprecedentedly high.

quarter of the professional AV industry’s revenues. While SMSD revenues vary regionally — local production and price competition for media storage in Asia will precipitate 2 percent value contraction per annum, 2016 through 2022 — the SMSD segment is a stable, dependable store of value for two overarching reasons. First, SMSD opportunities intertwine closely with display opportunities. Transportation, public space, retail, advertising, and enterprise investment in displays — or signage — generates considerable demand for media players and servers. Second, SMSD platforms’ storage elements protect organisations’ treasured AV assets, retain high intrinsic value as a consequence, and exhibit low elasticity of demand. The display segment accounts for 8 percent of the industry’s revenues, but is growing at a 14 percent CAGR, will be worth $30 billion by 2022, and will account for 13 percent of industry spend by the conclusion of the forecast period. Services-led value creation reflects an AV

028

FEATURE

Global Sales Revenue Forecast by Product - 2017 vs. 2022 2017

2022

Audioconferencing Systems (Hardware/Software) AV Design AV Installation/Integration AV Servers Cameras (Conferencing/Surveillance) Cameras (Video Production/Recording) Control Systems Digital Signal Processors Flat-Panel Displays/TVs/Monitors Headphones, Headsets & Earsets I/O Cards LED Video Displays Lighting Fixtures (including installed and portable) Managed Services & Maintenance Media Players Media Servers Media Storage Microphones (Wired and Wireless) Mounts, Stands & Lifts Other Audio Equipment Other Capture & Production Equipment Other Environmental Other Infrastructure Plates, Panels & Wall Boxes Presentation/Collaboration Hardware Programming Projection Screens Projector Accessories (Bulbs, Lenses) Projectors (DLP, LCOS, Laser, etc.) Rental & Staging Signal Routing & Switching (Hardware/Software) Speakers Stand-alone software Videconferencing Systems (Hardware/Software) 0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

Sales Revenue (US $ Millions)

CAGR (20142022)

CAGR (20172022)

% Share 2017

% Share 2018

81,192.0

4.8%

4.9%

34.9%

3,638.2

3,828.5

4.0%

3.5%

1.8%

1.7%

8,054.2

8,598.4

7.7%

6.7%

3.4%

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Asia-Pacific

55,630.5

57,270.8

62,923.5

63,966.1

66,610.2

69,548.6

73,296.1

76,742.4

Australasia

2,803.3

2,975.7

3,236.2

3,218.7

3,295.6

3,374.9

3,497.7

Indian Subcontinent

4,765.0

5,210.6

6,016.0

6,224.9

6,573.4

7,070.2

7,630.4

industry — and broader technology ecosystem — whose complexity and technological sophistication is unprecedentedly high. AV design, systems integration, and managed services demand is the product of an IT, data, and software-centrism that imposes new demands on skills and operational expertise. Services will generate $40 billion by 2022, and will account for 17 percent of spend as the second-largest segment of the pro-AV market. Video projection is the lone segment to lose value over the remainder of the forecast period. In 2016, video projection generated nearly $22 billion, and constituted 12 percent of total pro-AV

spend. By 2022, the segment will be worth $11 billion, and will have lost 50 percent of its value. The segment’s value contraction is largely a function of technological evolution and increased adoption of flat-panel displays. ABOUT IHS METHODOLOGY

In addition, many of the solution areas included in this study have been covered in detail from the buyer side, looking at contracts, installations and deployments globally for broadcast and media, command and control, corporate conferencing and collaboration, digital signage, military and

governmental, retail, education and hospitality, and security surveillance. Again, IHS Markit has specialist teams looking at industries from the buyer side rather than the technology side, and that provided this report with additional detailed insight into the decision-making for diverse industries, from retail advertising to military simulations. Each of these industries utilizes a wide cross-section of technologies and services from the entire pro-AV supply chain, and this has been unpacked and aligned with total market drivers for the relevant product and service segments. 

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030

FEATURE

Right Diagnosis The San Integrated Cancer Centre’s state of the art ‘war room’ has been completed as part of the Sydney Adventist Hospital redevelopment. Text:/ Christopher Holder

he San’s Integrated Cancer Centre ‘war room’ has been purpose built for multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings, where clinicians meet and discuss cancer patients’ cases. Each meeting is focused on a certain cancer or tumor stream and normally lasts an hour. Often an MDT meeting will work through some 20 cases in that time with clinicians both in the room or remotely via video-conference. It’s a punishing schedule where lives are at stake. CRISIS TALKS

Formerly, the MDT meetings were held in boardroom-style rooms with a couple of screens at the front. There was a lot of messing around passing computer keyboards around, or trying (often vainly) to connect a device. If someone was late to the meeting, it’d disturb proceedings… everyone knew it was a less than satisfactory situation but no one had the time or the

opportunity to think of a better way. That was until the new Integrated Cancer Centre was being planned. Barbara Mackenzie is head of IT operations (officially her title is: Manager, Information Services Operations and Infrastructure Group at Adventist HealthCare) and had a sense that these MDT meetings were special and needed special design attention. Roneel Singh is an AV/IT consultant with WSP (officially his title is: Technical Director — Head of Technology Systems (ANZ) at WSP) and was engaged to consider this knotty problem, after all, what we’re talking about isn’t a boardroom, or a video conference room or a teaching space, even if there are elements of all three. Barbara describes the break through: “I think the lightbulb moment came when Roneel said: ‘you’re describing a crisis management centre’. That then opened up the thinking, and gave the architect a fresh sense of

what the space should be.” With the big initial breakthrough made, the hard work lay ahead: Barbara, Roneel and his team embarked on a long consultation process to intimately understand the running of an MDT meeting. As Barbara puts it: “What’s different about what we’ve done is to look at the process the clinicians go through and work out how we can better provide technology to support it. Our MDT room is a culmination of everything we’ve learnt.” AV ANATOMY LESSON

There were some key learnings that provided a framework for the MDT room’s AV: • Although there may be no more than a dozen or so doctors and specialists contributing to most MDT meetings, the space needed to cater to up to 40 people — mostly observers, such as students, but also additional contributors in the instance of complex cases.

FEATURE

031

INTEGRATOR’S VIEW PLACE FOR HDBASE-T Jeremy Lewis, Fredon: The future is networking video and audio without the central controller. But there still should be a place for hardware switches — if the price is right. The price needs to come down to a level that makes it a natural fit for smaller, contained system where there’s a known number sources and destinations.

participants can contribute in their normal speaking voice and they don’t even realise they’re being amplified or recorded • The space needed to be entirely ‘democratic’ — everyone around the table must feel like an equal voice. • The MDT room needed to function as a VC space. • Multiple sources of content needed to be displayed simultaneously (and in a variety of configurations) on the big screen. • All the audio and video needed to be on the network. Barbara Mackenzie: “My view has always been: if it’s not IP-based — if it’s not delivered across Ethernet — then it doesn’t belong. That’s a pretty challenging approach to take, especially a few years ago when we were designing the system.” Roneel Singh: “Barbara’s always maintained she wanted an ‘enterprise solution’. She wanted to standardise and she doesn’t have an AV team or an IT team, she has one team that runs the whole facility.”

Set the challenge, Roneel immediately looked at an SVSI by AMX video-over-IP system. Barbara Mackenzie: “I absolutely love the SVSI solution. “This is the first instance where we’ve used a product like this that’s distributed across the network. For example, our Simulation Learning Centre uses a card and frame-based video matrix solution, and it is so inflexible. Utilising a virtualised product instead of hardware-based appliances fits in well with our approach to technology. And SVSI is a mature solution.” Roneel Singh: “The solution had to sit on Barbara’s network and take full HD video with very low latency. SVSI had a product that was tested, proven and we’d used it on a number of other jobs in a similar application, so we were confident in recommending it to the client. “It also meant were were able to do without a large frame-based solution and put the SVSI

system into a compact comms room. “What’s more, the expansion of the system is relatively easy — in effect, Barbara doesn’t need us back for that.” NETWORKED AUDIO

A networked, and scaleable video-over-IP solution needs an audio solution to match. There are plenty of Dante-based audio conferencing solutions on the market but Barbara and Roneel’s consultations suggested on-table gooseneck microphones (or similar) wouldn’t cut it. Barbara Mackenzie: “I didn’t want a ‘mics on tables’ solution because I wanted it to feel more conversational. In my view, desktop mics foster a ‘one person on the mic at a time’ style of formality that wasn’t appropriate. When the Shure Microphone MXA ceiling array popped up we were really keen to know more.” Roneel Singh: “We’d normally advise against

032

FEATURE

INTEGRATOR’S VIEW MULTIVIEW TWEAK Jeremy Lewis, Fredon: We’d successfully deployed SVSI on a number of occasions. And also used the tvONE CORIOmaster Mini prior to that. But not in conjunction as we did in the MDT room. The reason for using the CORIOmaster Mini was to get the best from the variety of sources. It’s helping with the scaling of the images to a point where they suited the particular mode of the source (a slide, an X-ray, a shared screen etc) they were endeavouring to view, to ensure the source was clear enough for the whole room to appreciate what was on the screen.

INTEGRATOR’S VIEW FINE TUNING THE SHURE MXA910 Jeremy Lewis, Fredon: We’ve had some experience commissioning the Shure MXA910 but this project had some unique layout challenges. We had to stretch some lobes to cover the corners of the horseshoe table and then the automixed output of the Shure mic array then had to play nicely with the Shure MXA ceiling mics in the gallery section of the room.

ceiling mics given the room has an open ceiling and the mics share the ceiling space with the noise of large projectors — regular pendant ceiling mics would sound quite harsh in a space like this. “But equally, we knew we needed a broad uniform coverage. Some of the clinicians are very softly spoken — you can’t hear them across the 4m diameter of the horseshoe seating — so sound reinforcement would be essential. A traditional approach of a series of mix minuses would have been quite cumbersome.” Barbara Mackenzie: “Desk microphones also change behaviour. Some people lean right in close to talk into the mic. Some lean way back and mumble. The goal was to provide a more natural experience, where the technology is working for you even if you don’t notice it working. That’s my approach to the ideal user experience across the entire hospital.” Roneel Singh: “With the Shure MXA ceiling mic array coupled with the JBL distributed loudspeaker system, participants can contribute in their normal speaking voice and they don’t even think they’re being amplified or recorded.” MORE AUDIO

The Shure MXA beamforming mic array sits above the horseshoe seating with its lobes programmed to dynamically pick up those seated at the table and reject mechanical and ambient noise. An additional six Shure Microflex pendant ceiling microphones cover the ‘gallery’ section of the room.

Audio from the microphones head back through a BSS Audio by Harman BLU-806 (loaded with a BLU-103 DSP expander) that takes care of DSP and acoustic echo cancelling. On the output side, a JBL loudspeaker system ensures a natural sounding speaking environment. A combination of Control 52 and Control 62P loudspeakers cover the room, powered by JBL and Crown amplifiers. POSITIVE PROGNOSIS

With innovation, comes a certain amount of consternation. No matter how much you consult, a new approach will throw up the unforeseen. So it was with a few butterflies in the stomach that Barbara and her team sat in on early MDT meetings, aware they had a limited window of opportunity to gain the trust of the clinicians. Barbara Mackenzie: “We attended every MDT

meeting for a number of months. The first comment I recall regarding how the new room was a game changer came from Associate Professor Michael Hughes. There were 20 cases being brought to this particular hour-long meeting. There’s a room full of highly-scheduled specialists, some already in their scrubs ready to go straight up to theatre after the meeting. Professor Hughes said to me that at least 10 minutes were saved (because they were able to move instantly and seamlessly from one piece of digital information to the next), allowing each patient to be discussed without rushing. “An MDT meeting coordinator plays a pivotal role in the meetings’ efficiency. Using a runsheet listing patient cases and clinical information for review, they sit at the control position orchestrating via a touchpanel what is displayed. Clinical information, diagnostic imaging, pathology and clinically relevant

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FEATURE

INTEGRATOR’S VIEW SVSI: IN THE GROOVE Jeremy Lewis, Fredon: We’re accustomed to working with SVSI and similar systems. We’re quite comfortable spec’ing SVSI and we’ve seen it perform well in large corporate environments. It’s now at a price point where it’s become more logical than a big switching solution in many applications. Especially if you’re providing other options to the client, such as adding an extra encoder and decoder wherever they like — it can handle an addition input signal/source or additional destination quite easily.

INTEGRATOR’S VIEW MAKING CONVERSATION Jeremy Lewis, Fredon: The MDT room has a totally natural ‘conversational’ sound. It’s not something most clients will demand or necessarily understand but makes a big difference to a meeting or video conference. These days the video aspects of a video conference generally look great and are dependable. It’s the audio component that more often fails. Justin Rotondo from our team took care of the audio commissioning. He’s spent an entire career perfecting audio and when he walks away that system is as good as it’s ever going to get.

photos/video is instantly toggled between the big-screen multiview configurations — just bang, bang, bang, at least 50-60 display source changes through the course of each meeting… all different clinical perspectives coming into play with no waiting. Because each of the contributors have their own computer, they can be set up, ready to go on cue. No one is waiting their turn for access or restricting anybody else who is contributing digital content.” PUTTING HEADS TOGETHER

Increased efficiency is a big deal when time is of the essence. As Barbara puts it: “the whole process flows and the flow of information has momentum”. But of equal importance — and the reason for so many highly paid, time-poor professionals to be convened in the first place — is the cross fertilisation of ideas and information.

Barbara Mackenzie: “In one meeting a Pathologist, when asked for his input on a particular patient’s case, said ‘I’m interested to see the radiology imaging presented and hear what they have to say before I finalise my conclusion’. In another instance PET and MRI scans are displayed side by side for review because comparing multiple content sources better informs the clinical decisions being made. “It doesn’t sound like much but rather than specialists submitting their comments about a patient in isolation, they’re actually waiting to hear what others have to say to better inform their own conclusion. So you’re really starting to see how the process is moving beyond the sum of the individual specialties.” 

GEAR HIGHLIGHTS • Shure Microflex MXA910B Beamforming Microphone Array • Shure Microflex MX202BPC Overhead Microphones • SVSI by AMX Video-over-IP System • Epson EPL1200UNL Projectors • tvONE CORIOmaster Mini • Lumens PS752 Document Camera • JBL Control Series Loudspeakers • BSS Audio Soundweb BLU DSP • Williamsound Hearing Augmentation • Polycom Group 500 VC Codec • Panasonic AW-HE130W/K VC Camera • Barco ClickShare • Crestron AirMedia • Screen Technics 1500mm x 4200mm curved screen

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FEATURE

Care Package Monash Children’s Hospital’s $4.5m AV installation is brought to heal. Text:/ Derek Powell

ospitals are amongst the most complex of building projects, with specialised requirements for the clinical, education and research work that goes on. But a Children’s Hospital adds still more elements to the mix. At the new Monash Children’s Hospital (MCH), they’ve dug deep into their 120 years’ of experience with kids to arrive at a range of facilities that all contribute to the healing process. So, alongside the treatment facilities there’s all kinds of extras such as a four-storey high interactive Imagination Tree (cosponsored by Disney), free patient entertainment screens at every bed, and even an open-air park so that pets can visit their young companions. Opened in April, the brand-new, 230-bed MCH is already one of the busiest paediatric facilities in the country, expected to cater to more than 100,000 children a year. Keeping things moving behind the scenes is a $4.5m audiovisual

installation planned by CHW Consulting and integrated by the former Pro AV Solutions (VIC) which is now ENGIE AV Technologies. GETTING TO KNOW YOU

For AV Consultants CHW, the project started with their engagement by the builder, Lend Lease in 2014. Manoje Indraharan was the project lead and he recalled that the first task was to meet the stakeholders from the many different departments. CHW conducted 10 audiovisual workshops, specifically targeting different areas. The aim was to gather the all-important user requirements as well as to drill down to discover the technical capabilities of the hospital and understand their infrastructure and support capabilities. “One of the things we learned is that there was a primary focus on usability of the system,” Manoje recalled. “They wanted systems that

turn on quickly and transmit, record, and share media very efficiently. The systems also needed to be fairly robust, without too much downtime in terms of updates.” Some of these requirements were to prove quite tricky as the project developed as we shall see. With that in mind, CHW wrote a performancebased specification to take to market, without specifying particular brands. This allowed the project to select an integrator quite early in the process, enabling work to start on cabling infrastructure while the finer points of the design were finalised. The winning bid was from then Pro AV Solutions (now ENGIE AV Technologies, see sidebar) which had responded with a design based around Crestron equipment. Cameron Hewitt was ENGIE AV’s project leader and had some well developed views

FEATURE

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regarding the equipment used. “We’ve done a few hospitals now,” he said. “We recently delivered the new Bendigo Hospital and prior to that the Royal Children’s Hospital and Box Hill Hospital developments where we found that Crestron equipment provides a great integrated solution, which delivers value and benefits to the customer. In Bendigo, we based the solution for the operating theatres around fibre and that’s where Crestron really excel in their offering to the customer.” THEATRE OF OPERATIONS

There are four operating theatres at MCH and naturally, the surgeons were anxious to ensure the AV systems met all their needs. CHW ran a series of workshops with the surgeons and the Biotechnology Manager to determine the functional requirements and then put these systems out to a separate tender process which included specialist biomedical suppliers as well as AV integrators. “ENGIE AV put forward a Crestron solution which is all TGAcertified and it was a proven solution because it was the same solution they’d deployed in Bendigo Hospital,” Manoje recalled. “It ticked all the boxes, met all their requirements and was far more cost effective than any of the other solutions put forward.” Fibre is generally the best solution for equipment that must be mounted in the sterile zone on the various pendants which surround the operating table. Fibre not only provides the necessary electrical isolation, but is also compact enough to fit inside the pendants. SURGICAL GRADE

ENGIE AV has made health a specialty and Cameron noted that there are many more considerations in working on AV for an operating theatre: “Even getting down to cable rough in, there’s additional things to think about because you need to seal cables in walls to ensure the space remains pressurised. When you are choosing connector outlets, you need to think about the ability to clean in the theatres and there’s quite a number of considerations that go into body protection, making sure all metal surfaces are appropriately earthed. If you’ve got audiovisual connectors with exposed metal, all of those exposed parts need to be earthed.” All the operating theatres operate identically with four large monitors plus two more which are predominantly used for videoconferencing. A wall-mounted camera sits between the VC monitors while another camera provides a bird’s eye view of the theatre and the bed. Dedicated feeds are available from the endoscopic camera as well as the theatre light pendant camera and from ports on the pendant arm.

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SIM CITY The MCH includes a very advanced and flexible simulation centre where all kinds of procedures can be simulated to train teams of doctors, nurses and the various technical staff. It is a showcase of AV technology, consisting of a procedure room, a control room that manages the recording as well as operating the simulated patient mannequin, and a debriefing room. The debriefing room is truly a ‘wow’ space, featuring a massive 5x4 videowall completely filling one end. “With a large video wall, it almost feels like you’re in the simulation as you are watching,” Manoje explained. “But you can also use that video wall for other purposes including keynote presentations, briefing sessions and other forms of training.” To keep the user experience consistent, all control and switching relies on a Crestron infrastructure with the touch panel having a similar interface to the other meeting rooms. Opposite the video wall, a massive window looks directly into the procedure room so that training sessions can be directly observed. Meanwhile, two large 80-inch flat panel displays and videoconferencing equipment on the side wall allows the room to be reconfigured for training or all kinds of meetings, making it a uniquely flexible space. The simulations happening in the procedure room are covered by cameras from every angle and up to four cameras at once can be recorded on the Crestron recording system, along with the mannequin’s simulated ‘vital signs’. The audio recording includes the wireless lapel mics as well as ambient ceiling microphones to catch every word during the simulated procedure. There’s even a dummy phone that participants can use to simulate the phone system within the hospital, which is recorded as well.

FEATURE

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FEATURE

AV SPACES Main Hospital Operating Theatres 4 Procedure Room 1 Simulation Centre 1 Meeting rooms 8 (plus future proofing 11 more) Seminar rooms 3 Multi-Disciplinary meeting rooms 1 Radiology reporting 1 Observation rooms 6 Gym/ Rehabilitation space 1 Digital signage and way-finding 10 Journey boards 16 Patient Entertainment Screens 230 Monash University Education Centre Seminar Rooms Simulation Centre Wet lab Videoconferencing meeting room CHW and PAVS are still currently involved in the delivery of the following areas which were late additions to the project and expected to be completed by the end of the year: Imagination Tree (Interactive space across 4 floors); Early in Life Mental Health Services

TEAM DETAILS AV Consultant: CHW Consulting (www.chw.com.au) CHW AV Project Team: Manoje Indraharan (Project Lead), Daniel Knoche (AV Consultant), Ashleah Davis (Project Assistant) CHW were enraged by Lend Lease to design, document and manage coordination of the following services: AV and Videoconferencing; the Patient Entertainment System (PES); IT, Telephony, Communications Systems, Messaging systems & Nurse call; and Integration AV Integrator: ENGIE AV Technologies (www.engie-anz.com) Cameron Hewitt (Project Sponsor), Travis Beer (Project Manager) Client Monash Health: Dave Bannen (IT Services), Frank Meacco (Bio-technology Manager)

AUTO SENSING MACHINES

ENGIE AV’s recent experience with Victorian hospitals again proved its worth in the tricky area of the control systems. Operating theatres are multi-user environments where different kinds of mobile equipment are constantly wheeled in or out to cater for specialised procedures. On previous projects, they developed a system that simplifies the touch panel and makes it easier for theatre staff to route new video sources accurately. “As individual pieces of equipment are brought in, their AV outlets are plugged into connections on the surgical pendants,” Cameron explained. “When they are plugged into the pendant, the Crestron system ‘sees’ that piece of equipment and from its unique ID knows that it is, for example, an anesthetic machine and shows on the touch panel an anesthetic machine as a source that can be displayed on the system and recorded as well.” Cameron explained the choice of equipment in the theatres. “We’ve used NEC monitors throughout the installation, in the meeting rooms and on the walls in the theatres. We find that NEC has a good product, it’s extremely reliable and certainly works well in a medical environment. On the pendants themselves, in the vicinity of the surgeon and their assistant, we’ve used Sony medical monitors – they are smaller, 27-inch monitors that can be moved into position so that the surgeon can see them.” Of particular interest is the recording system which is the first Australian deployment of the Sony Medical Content Management System (CMS). The system was

chosen for its ability to automatically integrate the patient’s Electronic Medical Records. As procedures are recorded, the CMS automatically downloads information on the patient and the procedure from a database, embeds it into the video and places the video into the patient’s file. CONSISTENT CARE

The positive outcome from this project has prompted Monash Health look towards establishing a standard for their audiovisual services that can achieve a consistent support experience for their users. “Standardising on Crestron helped them simplify a lot of the problems they’ve previously experienced, and having Crestron Fusion as an assets management system also helped them proactively manage their help desk as well as maintenance and servicing,” Manoje noted. “I’ve got feedback from them that they’re really finding that beneficial.” “They are deploying that strategy across their newer projects,” he added. “At Casey Hospital in Berwick they’ve asked us to follow the same philosophy and ensure everything is integrated onto Crestron Fusion so they can manage it centrally from Clayton. I think that was one of the success stories out of this project.” CHW sees the result of Monash Children Hospital’s technology investment as a simplification of the complex hospital environment and an enhancement of the facility’s ability to care for Australia’s youngest patients. They regard the keys to success as CHW Consulting and ENGIE AV Technologies focus on their stakeholder engagement process and both company’s expertise in the health sector. Importantly, though, Monash Children’s Hospital is set to benefit from a system which will be used for years to come and will add value to the clinician and patient experience at the hospital. 

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REVIEW

Cornered Audio Ci Series Danish loudspeaker manufacturer corners the BGM market. Text:/ Christopher Holder

ou could say this company has cornered the market. (Bet they’ve not heard that joke before.) If any other audio outfit does loudspeakers designed specifically to fit into room corners and cornices, I haven’t come across it. Cornered Audio is a Danish company. As we all know, Danes like things to look good. And with local component manufacturers like Scan-Speak, Vifa, Dynaudio and B&O (I’m sure there are others), Danes clearly have a passion for what sounds good as well. That said, I can’t think of dozens of commercial AV manufacturers from Denmark. So prior to looking into Cornered Audio I did have questions regarding how well this particular company addressed the nuts ’n’ bolts, prosaic demands of the installer. I FOR INSTALL

Relax, the Ci Range is contractor friendly. I had the pleasure of pulling all three models out of their packaging for a test run. Ease of installation is the prime concern from the onset. After all, Cornered Audio raison d’être is to blend in and all-but disappear; to not be the surfacemount loudspeaker that pokes out distressingly from the wall, getting Danish design gurus hot under their (turtleneck) collars. To sit totally flush into a corner, you need some clever design features. The cable terminals sit on the front. You simply pop off the grille and feed the cable through a hole from the back. Obviously, do this prior to installing the loudspeaker. Everything you need to fix the loudspeaker to the wall is included, including a template sheet for directing your drill. There’s also a slider mounting system for the larger of the two models that makes life easier for the contractor. Once on the wall or in the cornice, it looks like it’s part of the ‘furniture’. The only giveaway is the speaker cable. Cornered Audio has thought about that too. You can choose to use special Cornered Audio 2mm cable that’s formed to run into and along the cornice or corner of your room. Yes, it’s pointy on one side.

The Ci series features ABS cabinets, IP65 certification and 100V mode (on the CiV versions). The IP rating does open up the breadth of applications, indoor and out. Hospitality is an obvious one. But also retail and commercial (meeting rooms etc). POINTY END

I had some fun test driving the three Ci Series models (note: Cornered Audio recommend running in these speakers for 30 hours or so). They’re very lightweight — presumably to assist in the installation and to take as much weight off the Gyprock as possible. The enclosures are unported as well. I say all this to preface my observation that the Ci range doesn’t pack much of a low-frequency punch. They’re best used with a sub. That said, once you install them into the corner or cornice of the room you get the benefit of some LF summation which helps beef up the sound. Regardless, there’s a lot of clarity and detail in the sound. This is what you want for this kind of application — background music, in the main. The Ci2 are perfect for restaurants or retail. They’re no larger than a couple of slices of watermelon and weigh only 750g. With a frequency range of 140Hz to 20kHz no one’s saying they magically reproduce deep bass, but they’re no lightweights either (quoted max SPL: 105dB). The Ci4 and Ci5, up the ante and could run without a subwoofer when background audio can happily stay in the background, or if you’re using these speakers in applications where vocal frequencies are most critical. At 8 Ohms, you can be frugal with your amp channel usage: run three Ci units on one channel fairly easily. There are some interesting configuration options that you can explore including mounting two enclosures together for 180° coverage. GREAT DANE

If I had any fears that these Danes couldn’t really be serious about the practicalities of installed audio, they were unfounded. It appears that every

aspect of installation and field serviceability have been considered. What’s more, once installed, you have a background music or vocal loudspeaker system that sounds good and without question occupies a much lower profile than any other surfacemount offering. Good news for spaces where installing in-ceiling speakers isn’t practical or desirable. Being Danish, they’ve got to be priced like Bang & Olufsen’s marketing budget, right? Not so. The Ci Series, as you can see below, are priced reasonably… probably less than the architect’s MacBook satchel. 

MORE INFO PAVT: (03) 9264 8000 www.productionaudio.com.au Price (Per Pair): Ci2: $329; Ci4: $651; Ci5: $890

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REVIEW

Cornered Audio loudspeakers in action in the Paddington Inn restaurant, Sydney. To allow the speakers to nestle flush into the corners, the speaker cable travels along a channel on the back and through to the front panel where the contacts are positioned (below left).

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REVIEW

Fohhn: Invisible Performance Preview:/ Christopher Holder

igh performance audio requires high performance systems that take space and need to be optimally placed so the listening audience can best enjoy the sound reinforcement. In other words they’re the bane of most architects’ lives, who refuse to countenance their sleek interior design being blighted by brutishly ugly objects that perform a function. Column arrays have been around for a very long time. Column speakers can be blended into the architecture and it’s easy to see why difficult acoustic environments such as cathedrals install them for vocal sound reinforcement — the vertical dispersion control of the column speaker helps with spraying sound up into the cavernous ceiling space and activating the 10-second RT60 of the room. But column arrays never had any genuine music reproduction aspirations. Around 10 years ago, a new type of column speaker came onto the scene — beam steering column arrays. They look much the same as the columns of yore but with advances in DSP and amplification, each driver can be addressed individually, allowing for a more precise electronic manipulation of the sound dispersion. Again, most beam steering column array

manufacturers are going after the cathedral-type market, where it’s all about the vocal range. Or a system like flat-hanged EAW Anya where the column is the size of a concert rig, and performs accordingly. FOHHN IT IN

Fohhn has for nearly 25 years been manufacturing speakers and amplifiers from its factory near Stuttgart. In 2008, Fohhn (prounounced: ‘Phone’ in your best German accent) started building beam steered line arrays. But rather than simply focus on the speech frequencies it decided to design a system with higher performing amps and speaker components that could handle high-SPL music performance and reproduction. The Linea Series was born. Since then Fohhn has continuously refined its offering. The more recent Focus Series represents the state of the art in beam steering column arrays. The loudspeakers can all but disappear into the architecture of a venue such as a theatre. And thanks to the superior dispersion control can be electronically steered to address under balcony areas and the dress circle at the same time — a compelling feature for an increasing number of theatres.

Fohhn has developed a software package that allows system designers to model and control their loudspeaker system. It’s easy to change configurations in real time with the click of a mouse. In a venue setting this might mean turning a balcony section ‘off’ and redirecting all of the column speaker’s firepower at the rest of the room. TIMBER & MARBLE LOOK?

Fohhn is also renowned for being particularly responsive to demands for customised colourways. Not only can the speakers be supplied in an array of RAL colours, Fohhn also offers a Texture Design service, with a bunch of decorative designs available, from stainless steel, carbon and marble, to a range of timbers — all with photo-realistic appearances. Fohhn may be a well-established and respected audio name in Europe and elsewhere but is new to Australia. It now has representation and will no doubt begin to appear in some interesting installations around the country.  CMI: (03) 9315 2244 or www.cmi.com.au

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046

REVIEW

Sennheiser TeamConnect Wireless Wireless Conference System for Online Meetings Text:/ Christopher Holder

IP Boardroom. Okay, I may be being a tad facetious but Sennheiser’s TeamConnect Wireless system turns just about any space into an effective conference space (at least from an audio perspective), providing clear audio and plenty of connectivity. This is an impressive system. It doesn’t surprise me that TeamConnect Wireless won a Red Dot design award, it’s elegantly self contained and looks super-sharp. The system comprises a suitcase that acts as a charging station. In it you’ll find one Master station and three Satellites, along with some neatly stowed leads. The lithium-ion batteries are located at the base of the units and when returned to the docking case they automatically recharge via contacts built into the case. (The batteries can be replaced.) The case has an LED strip along the front displaying the battery status of the least charged device. Once fully charged the units will provide eight hours of talk time. It’s hard to overstate how neat this set up is. It’s totally foolproof. Pull the Master unit out and it automatically sparks up. If your phone has NFC, just wave it near the master, or pair to it via Bluetooth in the usual way. Failing that, go minijack to minijack from your device into the Master. And of course there’s USB connectivity as well, so you can use TeamConnect Wireless as your laptop’s audio device when making a Skype call or similar. SET UP FOR LIFE

Once you’ve made the call connections (or indeed, prior) you can add satellite stations. There is a bare minimum ofset up required. Simply pull a Satellite out of the case and place anywhere up to 20 metres away (the Satellite talks to the Master via 1.9GHz DECT). Each station has individual volume control — simply trace the volume up or down with your

finger on the top of the unit. If you mute one station it mutes all. It’s worth bearing in mind the Satellites are designed to increase the coverage of participants within a single space not to provide a remote station in another space. Each station will only output audio from the other end of the call, not between stations. Sennheiser recommends participants be no more than a distance of around two metres from a station. Any further, and you should get another satellite out of the suitcase. It’s not an exact science and you don’t need an AV guy to pace them out — pull the units out and dot them about space, near where the people are, and Sennheiser’s AEC and other DSP will do the rest. MEMS THE WORD

‘Blown away’, is how you might describe my initial impressions of the TeamConnect Wireless performance. First up, I plugged the Master unit into my laptop with the supplied USB cord. After selecting TeamConnect as my audio I/O in Apple preferences I buzzed one of my remote-sited team members via Slack (our preferred office collaboration platform). The audio quality was phenomenal — present and clear — and a far superior experience than using headphones and a computer mic. The consensus in the office was this was ‘anytime’ audio conferencing taken to another level, and according to my compatriot the performance on the other end

of the line, thanks to the Sennheiser TeamConnect microphones, was most creditable. Each station packs two MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) microphones, one of which is for “diffuse noise reduction”. The MEMS mic is the same miniaturised technology you might find on one of Sennheiser’s BlueTooth headsets or noise cancelling headphones. It has a frequency response of 200Hz to 12kHz. That first experience was really hearing the system at its vibrant best. Naturally the quality can only be as good as the weakest link and, in comparison, when I paired TeamConnect to my mobile phone, I felt like I was stringing baked bean cans together. When I phoned a colleague on a VoIP line they remarked that I sounded clearer than normal, which was good to hear. But thanks to the high quality loudspeaker on the TeamConnect station, the VoIP phone sounded dismal — it’s like hearing a hissy audio cassette through a great hi-fi, the experience stiffens your resolve to seek out better source audio. WHEREVER, WHENEVER

Larger meeting spaces have made way for huddle spaces and with systems like TeamConnect Wireless, even huddle spaces are beginning to look a little fuddy-duddy. With the flexible work spaces necessitated by activity-based working, predictability has to make way for adaptability.

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REVIEW

With TeamConnect Wireless, a Skype call can turn into an ad hoc team meeting and audio conference in the time it takes to pull the system’s case off the shelf and pull the smart ‘hockey pucks’ out and onto the table. It’s disarmingly easy — requires zero specialised knowledge — and the results are excellent. The echo cancellation is very effective indeed. The further you are from the mic and the greater the environmental hub-bub, the more likely you are to hear that slight phasey zing you get when the DSP is really crunching the numbers, but my goodness, it works well. TeamConnect Wireless is a primo portable audio conferencing option and priced accordingly. But it doesn’t disappoint. It’s well engineered and the industrial design is delightful. It’s not the only ad hoc audio conferencing system on the market but I’d suggest that currently it’s the most flexible, scaleable and certainly the most professional looking. 

MORE INFO The TeamConnect Master offers a range of connectivity, including audio minijack, USB, BlueTooth and NFC. Touch and swipe the smiley face to change output volume; the mute button is unmissable; while pressing the smaller battery button on the base gives you a visual on the level of charge.

Price: $6499 Sennheiser Australia: (02) 9910 6700 or www.sennheiser.com.au

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NEWS

Industry Update AV CALENDAR InfoComm MEA Dubai Dec 5 – Dec 7, 2017 infocomm-mea.com

INFOCOMM NOW AVIXA. APAC IMPLICATIONS

nfoComm International has now officially become AVIXA, the Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association. The change is part of its ambitious plan to grow the association and propel the industry to the future. So, what does that mean for industry professionals in the APAC region? Read this Q&A to hear from Jonathan Seller, Senior Director of Development, Asia Pacific, at AVIXA. Q: The change to AVIXA is more than renaming the organisation. What else is different? Seller: The organisation’s transformation actually began some time ago, even though the name change is new. In almost all of our programs, our dialogue has evolved to “delivering exceptional experience” — that magic when you create the perfect unity with content, space, technology in one integrated experience. Another major part of this shift is to highlight that as an industry association, AVIXA operates as both a trade association representing companies and a professional society representing individuals creating integrated AV experiences. Q: Why does the transformation from a trade association to an industry association matter? Seller: We were always designed to be a trade association to service companies in the AV trade. This was the case from our days as the former NAVA (National Audio-Visual Association) to ICIA (International Communications Industries Association) to most recently InfoComm International. As an industry association, we offer a home to a much more diverse mix of professionals, including many enterprise customers who are supporting AV technology on a daily basis but don’t yet identify themselves as members of the AV trade. And by raising the awareness of AV experiences, we also seek to welcome newcomers to the industry and help further their career. Ultimately, a much broader mix of professionals will now benefit from the education and support opportunities we have to offer. Our plan is to become the trusted hub for the larger AV community and help expand the global marketplace. Q: How do you define integrated experience? And can you discuss AVIXA’s role in advancing this?

Seller: From the customers’ perspective, integrated experience is about the emotional transformation it unleashes. Rather than just focusing on the deployment of technology, integrated experience is a holistic approach to achieving the best project outcomes. From the industry perspective, it’s about opportunity. As we look beyond equipment to the point where content, space and technology intersect, we are positioning ourselves to grow the market and advance the human experience. Q: Looking ahead, how will AVIXA support the larger integrated experience community in APAC? Seller: The transition to AVIXA is a new beginning. We are excited to work with APAC members of today and tomorrow as we write a new chapter for the integrated experience marketplace centering on growth and innovation. In fact, throughout APAC, we have already seen very active participation from a strong and growing membership amongst end users in higher education, corporate, finance, and hospitality sectors. Users across this expanding cross section will benefit greatly from our bolstered programs and offerings. Understanding the various vertical market trends and end users’ buying habits is critical to driving the market forward. And to that end, the community benefits from our conferences and white papers, as well as the recently published AV Industry Outlook and Trends Analysis (IOTA) report. Another good example is our credential programs. In addition to the widely recognised CTS, CTS-D, CTS-I, which demonstrate the widest breadth of professional industry knowledge and skill, we have just added microcredentials to focus on discrete aspects of commercial AV for entry-level AV technicians. 2017 marks the 20th year since the establishment of the first international office (then known as ICIA). I’ve been with the association since 2000, and I’ve never been as excited about what I do and the future of our industry as I am today with AVIXA. avixa.com

Integrated Systems Europe Amsterdam Feb 6 – Feb 9, 2018 www.iseurope.com NAB Las Vegas April 7 - 12, 2018 www.nabshow.com InfoComm China April 11 – April 13, 2018 Musikmesse Frankfurt 11 – 14 April 2018 musik.messefrankfurt.com Integrate Sydney August 22-24, 2018 www.integrate-expo.com

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COMMENT

Termination AV Operations Text:/ Graeme Hague

here’s a lot of information in this issue about hospitals AV systems. Let me assure you, I’m quite an expert on the subject. I’ve watched every episode of Scrubs at least twice. This is serious stuff. Even if you’re discussing AV equipment in a professional and technical manner — as you’d always expect from this august publication — I’ll admit that whenever someone mentions ‘cameras’ and ‘hospitals’ in the same breath I’ll still think first of doctors sending a cam up your clacker to ensure you haven’t swallowed any nails or bits of beer bottles — and that’s not as silly as it sounds. Some bloke in India had treatment for ‘food poisoning’ and surgeons discovered seven kilograms of coins, nails (the roofing kind, not the things on the end of your fingers), razor blades and sundry bits of glass in his stomach. Not exactly the Five-Two diet plan then. [Send him to Australia, would make for a good episode of Border Security — Ed.] A life-saving procedure, not to mention some instant weight-loss, but all the same do we really want to watch all that stuff on a telly somehow? Live or recorded? Not even popcorn and a few cold beers will make it entertaining. I suppose they can record everything that happens during operations, and if the patient inadvertently shuffles off the mortal coil the surgeons can rewind the tape to see what they did wrong. Wait a minute... things go wrong in a hospital? Surely not. GHOSTING IMAGE

I can see another possible advantage. As someone with more than a passing interest in ghosts and ghouls, and things that go bump in the maternity ward, if hospitals were chockers with AV equipment in a Big Brother kind of way, maybe we’ll finally get decent, incontrovertible footage of somebody’s ghost leaving their body and getting sucked into the air conditioning exhaust vents. Mind you, it’s more likely the cameras will only catch the Surgeon General sneaking a quick fag outside next to the dumpsters. Hmm... proper signage is possible with good AV. How many times have you trudged through endless corridors in a hospital, following laminated signs blue-tacked to the walls —only to figure out you were in the right place when you first walked in the building? The solution can be big AV screens with flashing messages like, “If you’re having a colon removed, follow the Green arrows,” and “If you’re having your spleen replaced, follow

the Red arrows”. Helpful intuitive touchscreens can provide clear directions to anywhere with huge, 52-inch clarity. Make a selection, press for instructions and you’ll get perhaps, “Treatment for STDs is available in Ward 2”. Everyone in the queue can help you plan a route through the halls. While they surreptitiously clean the screen with some hospital-strength White King. ALCORN MC CORPSE BRIDE

I suppose, seriously, the best advance in medical science provided by AV equipment will be in training and education. The students won’t need to dig up corpses in the middle of the night to practise on. Everybody will be able to observe the experts in glorious, 4K resolution and 400 billionty colours, although I’m not sure that many colours are needed — just lots of red and green resolution (for the gangrene bits) should do. Everyone could have an app for using those virtual crayons the cricket commentators apply so liberally to our TV screens. Make observations along the lines of, “No, I’m pretty sure the appendix is this thing here,” and draw a circle around it. Or maybe, “No, this is the bad lung... I think,” and scribble a happyface on the good one. Having so much AV inside a hospital will

no doubt create employment opportunities for technicians in the industry. Permanent maintenance staff will be needed when equipment regularly fails after being hosed with arterial blood, projectile vomiting or is accidentally zapped with those paddle thingies (Clear!) — which otherwise seem to revive everything, but probably aren’t good for rebooting operating systems. The surge in AV has been a job-making plus ever since displays and audiovisual gear began sneaking into all sorts of places where, before, they only used blackboards and Post-it notes (like for planning heart surgery). However, new practises will need to be in place to prevent your average AV tech from inadvertently wandering into a testicularectomy procedure when he only wanted to change the batteries in the TV remote. Really, there are plenty of things happening in a hospital you can’t unsee, right? My answer could be to put some kind of restrictions on the size and capability of any AV equipment being installed. As a sort of safety net against any invasion of privacy, to reduce the risks to non-medical AV staff, but still prevents students unearthing corpses at midnight. Here’s a thought. Anything that won’t fit up your clacker to check for 50-cent coins or scrap metal shouldn’t be allowed. 

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