Installation November/December 2018 Digital Edition

Issue 216 / November – December 2018

AV INTEGRATION IN A NETWORKED WORLD

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A sound investment

Is audio finally approaching parity in UC?

Raising the bar

7thSense Design aims for perpetual improvement

Reborn in Rimini

Inside the dramatic comeback of a beloved theatre

AT THE FOREFRONT What technologies hold the key to the future of displays?

WELCOME 03

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CONTENT

Acting Editor: Duncan Proctor duncan.proctor@futurenet.com Group Editor, Pro AV: Michael Garwood michael.garwood@futurenet.com Group Content Director, B2B: James McKeown james.mckeown@futurenet.com Designer: Tom Carpenter tom.carpenter@futurenet.com Managing Design Director, B2B: Nicole Cobban nicole.cobban@futurenet.com Production Manager: Matthew Eglinton matthew.eglinton@futurenet.com

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A year in review

A

s we arrive at our final issue of 2018, I thought I’d use this space to look back at some of the key moments and launches in the industry from the last 12 months.

ISE, as ever, acted as a magnet for innovation with Samsung and d&b audiotechnik just two of the companies that turned heads with solutions that could potentially be gamechanging. Samsung’s MicroLED display technology, showcased in a 146in display dubbed ‘The Wall’ at ISE, is the first self-emitting modular display to operate through micrometre-scale LED. Far from an exercise in R&D, MicroLED could well be the next big thing in displays, once its been scaled down to more practical sizes. For d&b, Soundscape had a similar impact in the audio community Duncan Proctor, Acting Editor with discussions carrying on to Prolight + Sound and beyond. duncan.proctor@futurenet.com Soundscape is an immersive audio concept that can modify and @install8ion create acoustic signatures, made up of the DS100 Signal Engine and the En-Scene and En-Space software modules. Immersive audio is a subject that seems to be evolving almost month-to-month with Soundscape signifying a major point in its development.

MANAGEMENT

Managing Director/Senior Vice President Christine Shaw Chief Revenue Officer Luke Edson Chief Content Officer Joe Territo Chief Marketing Officer Wendy Lissau Head of Production US & UK Mark Constance

‘Far from an exercise in R&D, MicroLED could well be the next big thing in displays’

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At InfoComm, while there were some impressive new products on show, much of the talk centred on Dante joining the SDVoE Alliance and the creation of the Milan networking protocol. Dante’s partnership with the Alliance sees leading standards for audio networking and video over IP come together, moving things closer to an interoperable IP audio and video platform. Milan, which originated from Avnu Alliance members, is an application protocol solution for AV networking that aims to establish the interoperability of open audio video bridging (AVB) and time-sensitive networking (TSN) standards.

Despite the landmark launches around collaboration technology last year, 2018 delivered in this sector with brands like Dolby and Sony coming out with products. Dolby with its Voice Room videoconferencing technology and Sony with the TEOS workspace management platform. This year also saw Microsoft announce Surface Hub 2, though this won’t be available till next year (Q2 is the current projection).

It was a similar picture around acquisitions with Leyard and Planar buying eyevis back in May, then Plantronics’ takeover of Polycom in July, before RCF finally snapped up EAW in September. This was supplemented with a number of integrator on integrator takeovers including AVMI absorbing Focus 21 in the UK and Diversified acquiring Digitavia in the US. In this issue we focus on the future of displays, both immediate and further down the line, and consider the greater emphasis now being placed on audio in meeting rooms. We also have a couple of really interesting interviews and case studies to round out 2018. Hope you enjoy and see you in the new year!

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04 CONTENTS

November/December 2018

14 Special Report: The future of displays 16 Competing or complementary?

The last couple of years have seen LED display technology make huge strides, to the point where some claim it offers superior image quality to LCD. We weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of each technology and consider the nature of the challenge LED is posing to LCD

22 In the pipeline

Looking further ahead, what are the display technologies on the industry’s collective radar? And which have the potential to make a serious impact in the next few years?

Contributors: Mike Allan, Mike Clark, Jeff Hastings, Peter Heath, Rob Lane, Ian McMurray, Steve Montgomery, Thomas Rockmann Special thanks: Nic Corns, Candice Cowan, Beth Nicholas Cover Image: LG OLED Canyon from CES 2018

16

26

Viewpoints

Solutions

Rob Lane reveals how UX is accelerating business Thomas Rockmann breaks down the smart home market for installers Jeff Hastings on why displays are only going to get smarter Peter Heath updates us on the EU’s Ecodesign Lighting regulations 14 Interview 7thSense Design MD/CEO Matt Barton discusses how the company has evolved during a period of fast change in the company’s core visitor attractions sector 30 Interview Dave Willie of Visavvi on rebranding from Saville AV and the added flexibility this offers 50 Last Word Mike Allan makes sense of the security puzzle for those looking to offer an IP video service

Feature

Technology

26 Unified comms and collaboration

43 New Products

Including Atlona, Leyard, Lutron and QSC

Projection screens

06 Opinion

Having previously not factored highly, there is now renewed focus around audio and its impact on ensuring the best meeting room experience

32

32 Amintore Galli Theatre, Rimini

Having been out of action for 75 years, this historic theatre underwent a restoration project that balanced modern technology with a reconstruction faithful to the venue’s original layout 34 Genting Arena, Birmingham A range of flexible new displays and efficient upcycling have enabled this multipurpose entertainment venue to maximise its profitability 36 48 Shakespeare Street, Nottingham This shapeshifting listed building has been converted into a university’s ceremonial hall and been fitted with a multi-faceted audio system 38 Solutions in Brief Including an artwork that transforms tidal data into dynamic lighting; the NBA’s first 360° LED screen; and a Romanian hotel’s five-star sound solution

48 Showcase

06 OPINION: ON THE AGENDA

November/December 2018

Rob Lane

Transformation by experience How UX is accelerating business

T

here’s been a lot of talk about UX, or ‘user experience’, in AV circles over the past year or so – not least because it has become something of an essential component of the burgeoning corporate AV sector. A sector that is adopting more and more AV technology and AV-tech-driven services, alongside ubiquitous IT. UX started to be referenced frequently from the mid 90s onwards, thanks in part to the work of Donald Norman, currently director of The Design Lab at University of California, San Diego, and previously User Experience Architect for Apple – the first time UX was utilised as part of a job title. Much of Norman’s work centred on the advocacy of user-centred design.

According to Wikipedia, user experience refers to “a person’s emotions and attitudes about using a particular product, system or service”.

It’s perhaps fair to say that since the advent of the iPhone, emotional responses to technology have grown, along with expectations of what such tech delivers.

As a result of this ubiquitous attachment to super-fast, super-personalised technology – plus millennials’ attachment to all things internet, social media etc. – today’s employees have much higher expectations of what tech can do in terms of facilitating their work.

Boosting efficiencies Perhaps slow to recognise this initially, businesses are following the leads of the likes of Apple and Google in ensuring that employees needs are facilitated – both as a means of attracting and retaining staff, and also to boost efficiencies. In the corporate AV sector, this

means the adoption of a UX ethos to create attractive and flexible working environments to retain and attract high quality employees.

User experience isn’t just about things working well, it’s about how the technology and solutions make the user feel. So, while AV can be used to provide a good meeting experience, it can also be utilised to disrupt the corporate environment, encourage different behaviour, encourage and facilitate flexible working and spark innovation and creative thinking.

‘User experience isn’t just about things working well, it’s about how the technology and solutions make the user feel’

Improving the comfort and conditions of a collaboration or meeting space – especially physical characteristics such as sound, lighting and temperature – is said to result in a doubledigit improvement in concentration, creativity and performances of staff across a range of demographics. But what other technologies are helping to drive this growth in UX for corporate AV? Touchscreen solutions and interactive software are superseding traditional presentation techniques in board- and meeting rooms, elevating user experiences. Indeed, integrators and consultants are reporting that an increasing number of their clients are utilising ‘theatre’ as a presentation style, with lighting and sound being used to enhance the impact of their discussions.

Technology such as room booking software, collaboration hardware and software, and VC

solutions is increasingly being used alongside automated lighting, shading, climate control and enhanced and dampened audio to further enrich and refine the user experience.

Centralised systems At the same time, web-based centralised management systems are becoming commonplace, replacing traditional individual in-space control systems. These centralised systems allow organisations to rapidly evolve the user experience of each individual space from a centralised web console.

With touchscreens, collaboration devices, signal transmission, amplifiers and switchers all powered by the network, the tech is transferable, enabling it to be utilised across different spaces. For those enterprises requiring additional flexibility and agility, this is an important development, bringing AV closer to IT. This is, in essence, a digital transformation of working practices – through more agile, flexible processes. So, when discussing UX using AV for the corporate sector, it’s important to remember that the ultimate goal for most enterprises is business acceleration through digital technology – using multiple tools to develop and grow business models and increase profits.

UX is a useful by-product for enterprises, helping to maintain a quality workforce while refining and accelerating business processes.

You can’t have one without the other, but user experience is, in the corporate sphere at least, very much a means to an end...

Bigger Boat PR owner/director Rob Lane has been writing about AV technology since 1995.

08 OPINION: ON THE AGENDA

November/December 2018

Thomas Rockmann Think small

Small steps offer installers the best chance for ongoing smart home success

T

he smart home market is beginning to deliver real value for customers and installers alike, and it is clear that this is just the beginning. According to figures from analysts IDC, sales of smart home devices are predicted to rise by 18.5% annually – reaching over 939 million devices by 2022.

That’s an impressive figure, but it is not the whole story. Indeed, in a business environment that often emphasises the entrepreneurial spirit of ‘thinking big’, it is arguably time to think small – not in terms of overall opportunity, but in terms of detail. We believe that future growth in the smart home market will emerge from small, consistent steps that create effective solutions which sync with the technology available at every stage.

An increasingly important issue to consider is seeking to reduce the number of different systems in a single smart home install, not only reducing technological conflicts, but also minimising the human conflicts with user interfaces that are sometimes not entirely optimised for end users. Battling legacy integration is set to be an increasingly contentious bugbear, and the current rate of disruptive updates, patches and API changes are unlikely to slow down anytime soon.

Keep things simple Keeping installations as simple and linear as possible obviously helps minimise contentions at a network level, but also at a device level. As media devices increasingly converge, the opportunity to utilise existing functionality increases significantly.

There are many examples of convergence, where smart home hubs are integrated in an everwidening array of familiar devices, from fridges and routers to set-top-boxes and smart speakers,

the trend is not going away anytime soon. Another breakout trend that is creating similar crossover is AI, and specifically voice-controlled AI. According to recent PWC research, 14% of Britons already own a device powered by AI, and although globally that drops slightly to 10%, one in three plan to buy an AI device in the near future. However, the days of the standalone voicecontrolled AI are numbered, as manufacturers seek to integrate their own AI engine functionality into their products, and most notably in the AV space.

‘There have been far too many smart home devices that are just too complex, poorly implemented or confusing’

Obvious challenges However, this diversity of voice offerings creates obvious challenges for the system architect or installer, especially when different vendor products display varying levels of integration with media libraries and audio streaming providers, which in turn have their own distribution deals to service. This is where thinking small – in this case about the customer use case – will become increasingly essential to cut through the noise and deliver a seamless user experience.

Open standards offerings present unifying potential here, especially as the currently saturated market is due to shake out and the defacto provider(s) are not yet apparent. Deutsche Telekom actively partners with key device

manufacturers, telecoms operators and energy providers to ensure that our ecosystem based on a White Label platform, with freemium services, gateways and compatible devices is as welcoming as possible for all levels of smart home market enterprise. By choosing the elements required to create a smart home solution that fits with their go-to-market strategy, our partners can start small, but fast. The chances of long-term success are multiplied when a product or product suite supports open standards, which reduces the chances of rapid obsolescence.

Reducing that element of churn is an essential part of a healthy smart home industry’s future, and one of the ways that thinking small really delivers. Consumers are looking for simple products that speak to their everyday pain points, and solve them efficiently. There have been far too many smart home devices, products and services that are just too complex, poorly implemented or confusing, and this has damaged consumer trust. Initial smart home hype has not always delivered results.

The time has come to look to those small wrinkles, plan out better standards of interoperation, and partner wisely with other enterprises striving to deliver quality products and services. Thinking big can often come at the expense of detail and careful forethought – it is time to think small, and build stronger, more trusted brands as a result.

Thomas Rockmann is VP of consumer IoT at Deutsche Telekom

www.smarthome.telekom.net

10 OPINION: ON THE AGENDA

November/December 2018

Jeff Hastings Displays get smart

Now including integrated media player functionality, displays are only going to get smarter

I

’m often asked what is going to happen in the future of displays and one analogy that I think perfectly answers that question is that of the humble TV. We’ve gone from just being able to change the channel to having built-in WiFi that gives us access to countless channels and allows us to pause, rewind, record, even interact with live TV. Commercial displays are on a similar journey where we’ll see truly smart displays that have all the functionality built in to the display, but we’re several steps away from that.

In the digital signage space, we tend to focus on making things bigger – larger displays, imposing videowalls, projects with thousands of integrated displays. Small screens are often overshadowed by this rush to ‘go big’. But anyone who keeps a close eye on our industry knows that small displays are in the midst of big growth.

important advantages over their tablet predecessors. First and most importantly, these displays have integrated media player functionality. With all the smarts built-in, there’s no need to mount media players externally – this creates flexibility in where the displays can be placed and makes it possible to integrate or surface-mount displays with minimal space requirements. Furthermore, PoE enables flexible placement without the need to run power to every mounted location and reduces dependence on wireless connectivity that can be troublesome in retail environments.

‘Anyone who keeps a close eye on our industry knows that small displays are in the midst of big growth’

Starting small Let’s be clear – small form-factor displays are nothing new. But earlier efforts to integrate smaller screens in for example corporate settings were primarily built around a tablet ecosystem. Windows, iOS and Android tablets were sleek and already had touch interactivity – on the surface they were a perfect solution. But these tablets weren’t built with digital signage in mind, so adapting them for this purpose required a lot of custom work. When all was said and done, these devices ran consumer operating systems and had reliability issues and other limitations when adapted for a dedicated commercial signage application.

So, what’s changing? Small form-factor, purpose-built displays are now being produced by a growing number of commercial display manufacturers. These displays offer some

Lastly, in many cases these smaller displays are made-to-order. Displays can be designed with a finished bezel for surface-mount applications, or ‘open frame’ for kiosk or wall-mounted integration.

And with HD available now and 4K on the way, onboard media-handling capabilities make handling rich media a breeze, and the small displays have impressive video quality due to the high density of pixels on screen.

scheduling, etc. Whether it’s swapping out older tablets in existing locations or installing fresh in a new build, these new small screens are signage-ready right out of the box and bring big functionality to small spaces.

The BrightSign HS123 Digital Signage Module (DSM) allows display manufacturers to create a product that matches their display of choice with a BrightSign HD media player. This is a step in the right direction compared to the well known SoC displays on the market that deliver very limited digital signage capabilities. At BrightSign we’ve also recognised the demands, particularly of highend luxury brands, for 4K ready built in technology and will be launching an updated BrightSign Series 4 DSM in due course.

Although signage display technology hasn’t caught up with the level of sophistication available on the consumer screens that we use daily, such as smartphones, tablets and televisions, we are seeing smaller displays leading the way with builtin features that incorporate interactivity, data processing and synchronicity. The complexity of I/O needed for commercial and interactive digital signage and kiosks means that this functionality will never be implemented just on a chip (SoC).

A true smart display will be powered by a board or module of some kind. Today, BrightSign offers a digital signage module with mainstream functionality that can be integrated within the display. In the future, we’ll see this functionality expand to deliver a higher level of sophistication.

Significant opportunities All this translates to significant opportunities for AV professionals scoping out projects in many quickly growing vertical markets including retail, corporate communications, conference room

Jeff Hastings is CEO at BrightSign

www.brightsign.biz

12

OPINION: ON THE AGENDA

November/December 2018

Peter Heath Ecodesign update

Raising awareness of the impact the EU’s Ecodesign Lighting regulations will have following the release of the third draft

F

or many people working in entertainment lighting, 2018 has been the year of the European Union’s proposed Ecodesign Lighting regulations. Since alerting its members to the issue in November 2017, PLASA has been working alongside other trade organisations to ensure the lighting industry’s voice is heard in ongoing discussions and prior to any new regulations being finalised.

For those involved with many areas of entertainment lighting (theatres, concerts, festivals, events, exhibitions, theme parks, film, television), a serious issue was that the current regulations (principally EU1194/2012) contains a clear exemption for ‘studio lighting, show effect lighting, theatre lighting’ – but was gone from the first draft of the replacement regulation, intended to start in September 2020. At the same time, the draft also proposed much stricter efficiency standards for when a lighting fixture was both active (emitting light) and on standby (not emitting light).

While the regulation wouldn’t have banned the use of existing equipment it would have prevented the ‘placing on the market’ of noncompliant light sources. This would have very quickly ended the supply of all tungsten lamps, since none could have met the efficiency standards, and of many other complete entertainment lighting fixtures including very recent LED fixtures.

Reacting to this, several trade organisations including PLASA, ASPEC, VPLT in Germany and OETHG in Austria, as well as user organisations such as the ALD, the IALD, the

SLF from Sweden, STEPP from Belgium, and others started collaborating as the European Entertainment Ecodesign Coalition (EEEC) to raise awareness of the issue. With the assistance of Brussels-based organisation ‘Pearle Live Performance Europe’, contact was made with the EU Director General (DG) Energy team responsible for crafting the regulations.

‘Problems remain in the third and presumed final draft of the regulations, issued in October’

Draft exemptions After a productive meeting between lighting industry representatives and the DG Energy in May, considerable progress was made and in the next draft of the regulations, issued in June, entertainment lighting no longer faced a ‘doomsday scenario’. The draft included exemptions for the majority of the tungsten and arc lamp types in common use for performance lighting, and for ‘colour tuneable’ (principally additive colour mixing LED with at least red/green/blue sources) lighting fixtures. It also clarified that the efficiency requirements were for light sources in isolation rather than when part of a complete lighting fixture, and pushed the start date back to September 2021.

That draft did, however, contain several problematic issues. These include a

requirement to use less than 0.5W of power when in standby, defined as not emitting light, which entertainment fixtures can’t achieve because they have to be constantly processing incoming control data ready to react instantly. The inability of high-output white LED fixtures (greater than approx 180W) to hit the efficiency standards, since LED sources become less efficient at higher powers and physically larger light sources become less efficient generally, neither of which are allowed for in the EU’s efficiency calculations.

The definition of green for colour-tuneable fixtures, which excludes the peak area of green light. And a number of specialist tungsten and fluorescent lamps for which suitable LED equivalents are not available.

The EEEC have been trying to address these issues since June, but the same problems remain in the third and presumed final draft of the regulations, issued in October. Now, however, government departments responsible for ecodesign in each EU country have a chance to comment on the regulations – and ideally that department in each country would be briefed on the issues. This has happened or is happening in some key countries, but the EEEC is urging manufacturers or organisations across Europe to identify and contact their government department and ensure that this issue has been raised – and to do so now, since discussions will end in mid-December.

Peter Heath is managing director at PLASA

www.plasa.org

14 INTERVIEW: MATT BARTON, 7THSENSE DESIGN

November/December 2018

Raising the bar years. I’ve been involved with the group for most of my life and have seen changes in the way people with disabilities are integrated into society and welcomed into a global organisation like Scouting.

As an active group, 2nd Chailey has visited many theme parks and visitor attractions over the years and I’ve seen first-hand examples of inclusion and exclusion alike – this is one of the many reasons I’m so passionate about improving the inclusivity and shared experience elements of attractions.

What attracted you about working for 7thSense?

I was very much interested in technology during my time in the simulation world, but I found it more interesting how technology could be used for leisure and entertainment rather than for military and flight applications.

A couple of colleagues (Adam Neale and Ian Macpherson) from the simulation company I was working for left to setup 7thSense and a few years later asked me to join the team and apply my skillset in the entertainment industry – the rest is history. It’s hugely rewarding to work for an agile, fast-growing company rather than a large behemoth corporation that the previous company I worked for had grown into.

7thSense Design has experienced strong growth as technology has become increasingly pivotal to the storytelling aspect of theme parks and visitor attractions. Duncan Proctor talks to managing director/CEO Matt Barton about how the company has evolved during a period of fast change for the sector and wider industry Tell me about your career background before 7thSense Design?

I had a varied career in early life with jobs ranging from shop assistant to circus performer. I ended up working for an international flight simulation and visual innovation company, working my way up through the ranks from administrator, to an apprenticeship in project management, to displays product manager, which included overseeing the

development, launch and integration of an HDR projector and fully immersive display system for the F35 Fast Jet flight simulator.

Towards the end of my time in the simulation business, I began studying for an MBA, which was completed in 2014.

Outside of professional life, I’ve been the leader of a Scout Group for young people with disabilities based in Sussex (2nd Chailey) for a number of

You’ve been with the company six years now, how has it changed over that time?

We’ve experienced a lot of growth – the company was five people strong when I joined, and now we are over 30. As well as growing in number to keep up with the demands of the industry, we have become smarter and more efficient – adopting processes to manage large orders and large customer businesses while retaining the agility and focus on service and support that has defined us as a company since inception.

In recent years, our operation has expanded to include two North American offices in Detroit and Orlando, which has really allowed us to maintain exceptional service standards across all timezones, and support a product range that’s continually developing and diversifying for the different markets we serve.

What are some of the biggest tech developments you’ve seen during your time at 7thSense?

We’re lucky enough to be in an area of technology that develops at a fast pace, and as an

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innovation-led software company, we’re always on the leading-edge of these developments.

We’ve been able to take quick advantage of faster and more expensive Solid State Drive technology, higher performance graphics cards and incredible developments in data transmission speeds – both internal and via network.

Among the many benefits this has presented to our business, it’s enabled us to serve uncompressed, high bit-depth media to more channels from single servers, and to add a vast range of functionality across the product line.

You travel a lot in your role. Are there vast differences in the sectors you operate in around the world?

While we do operate globally, we operate in a tight industry and I have the pleasure of running into many of the same faces in different places around the world, from master planners to installers.

Our end user locations present significant cultural differences, not to mention environmental differences. We have seen huge budget variations around the world in recent years but one thing does remain consistent irrespective of location – there continues to be a general desire across the industry for the quality to be right up there wherever in the world you go, the bar is constantly being raised and that’s a challenge we relish.

Working with the kinds of eye-catching technologies you do, when was the last time you were truly blown away by a technology or solution you saw?

The imagination and the ever-innovative ways that the creative people in our industry come up with to use technology on projects we’re involved in continually blow me away.

I’m a displays guy, so I find myself incredibly critical of display quality – particularly contrast, motion blur and resolution. One project that really impressed me by overcoming these issues was 3D Live’s ‘Holographic’ 3D LED Display technology as demonstrated in the Mass Effect: New Earth attraction in California, and has been recognised with a Thea award for Innovative Technology. The contrast that’s achieved and the brightness of the display are unparalleled and make the sense of immersion in the 3D environment they are creating some of the best I’ve ever seen.

Another mind-blowing example of technology in action is Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure at Shanghai Disneyland.

The sheer scale of this experience took the idea of immersion to another level.

What area of technology do you think is currently the most dynamic and fast-changing?

Data transmission speed continues to open new doors every day and we are also seeing some display technologies changing very fast.

INTERVIEW: MATT BARTON, 7THSENSE DESIGN

15

The XI Gallery in New York is a hybrid art installation and showroom, which features 7thSense Delta Media Servers bringing projection mapping to a 33ft-wide model of Lower Manhattan, known as ‘The Egg’ Picture: 7thSense Design

For example, flexible displays – I foresee these being much more important to our industry in the future.

I believe augmented reality has a place in our industry but we are yet to see the ideal display technology to best support the many opportunities that AR has to offer.

How do you approach the balance between creating shared experiences and greater personalisation? Is it one or the other or can they coexist?

I believe they have to co-exist. I think there are many different ways of balancing this and we will see many new attractions that feature new ways of doing this in the next few years.

‘The ability for everyone to follow the same storyline yet still have their own “personal twist” is very exciting’

The ability for everyone to follow the same storyline yet still have their own ‘personal twist’ is very exciting. We are seeing attraction ‘lands’ being built where attendees have a personal experience up to the point of getting on the ride – I see the future of this extending the personalised experience into the ride itself. There is a balance to be had to make sure the ride is enjoyable for everybody and this will be one of the hurdles to get over that storytellers will have to find new and interesting ways to tackle.

Our job as technologists is to support them in doing so, this is one of the areas of industry that truly excites me and 7thSense enjoys working with creative companies to establish the best

technology solutions for this purpose.

Are there any downsides to the greater emphasis that is now placed on creating memorable experiences in AV? The risk of using technology for the sake of using technology is always there.

Amazing things can be achieved with modern technology, but there still needs to be a great story behind the technology veil.

It’s the story that makes the experience memorable, the best use of technology is seamless storytelling where the technology augments but doesn’t dominate the experience. To achieve this one has to know when to stop – making sure that if you’re showing an ancient artefact or story that has its own tale to tell, you don’t degrade or dilute that by swamping it with technology that does not add to story itself.

How do you hope to evolve the business over the next few years?

This is an incredible time for our industry – there are so many new parks and attractions in development.

I’m excited to be part of a team at 7thSense that’s supplying technology into these parks and attractions, and am focussed on ensuring we have a global presence that can support the industry’s growth. We’re planning to grow our North American operation and other global locations as part of this.

7thSense is continually evolving and key to this is our flexibility and dynamism. We have a number of new products coming to market soon that we believe will continue to serve the market and prove the performance of the business – watch this space!

www.7thsensedesign.com

16 SPECIAL REPORT: THE FUTURE OF DISPLAYS

November/December 2018

Competing or complementary?

The Brandenburg Gate museum uses 87 TH55LFV6W ultra-narrow bezel full HD Panasonic LCD display screens to tell the history of Berlin

The last couple of years have seen LED display technology make huge strides. Ian McMurray asks whether the dominance of LCD is about to be challenged

I

n recent times, LED technology has developed to the point where it has become a serious rival to LCD. Previously unthinkable – it had pixels the size of light bulbs (well, almost…) that made it ideal for high visibility outdoor displays – sub-millimetre pixel spacing has seen it become a real contender for many of the applications and environments in which LCD currently reigns supreme. This leads one to ponder whether LCD displays are in fact under threat and consider if LED is poised to become the dominant display technology.

What, though, are the advantages claimed for LED technology that are starting to make it appear so attractive? It turns out, they are numerous.

“LED displays feature a self-emitting light source which provides better colour reproduction, especially in areas where there is a lot of natural light,” says Christian Czimny, R&D director at Absen Europe. “This provides higher brightness compared to backlight illumination for LCD displays.”

“The image processing speed of LED displays is much faster than that of LCD,” claims Steve Scorse, vice president, EMEA at Unilumin. “In fact, it is so fast moving that images look crisper. LED in narrow pixel pitch now has a refresh rate 0f 3,840Hz - so the video image looks great on camera, even at the fastest shutter speeds.”

Superior viewing angle “LED displays also have considerably superior viewing angles compared to tiled LCD videowalls, and often the off-axis viewing of the different LCD panels in an LCD wall appear as having different brightness levels,” he continues. “They also have superior uniformity in both brightness and colorimetry than LCD videowalls.”

“Typically LED displays don’t require a glass plane in front of the display, which reduces reflection and glare that can compromise the image quality of an LCD in direct sunlight,” believes Jason Melby of Daktronics. “They also deliver superior contrast.

Beyond that, the technology is designed to handle a variety of environmental factors that can prove to be challenging for LCD solutions.”

And then, there are the issues of maintainability and cost of ownership.

“It’s much easier and more cost effective to replace a small LED unit from a module, or even a module, than it is to replace an entire LCD display within a videowall,” notes Czimny.

“LED has a typical lifetime of 100,000 hours,” adds Scorse. “That’s more than 12 years at 24/7 operation. The useful operating life of LED is typically more than double that of comparable LCD.” Melby also has thoughts on the subject.

“The upfront cost of a quality LED display will likely still be more expensive than the upfront cost of an LCD-based videowall,” he says. “The

Key Points n LED has made huge strides such that it now offers image quality some claim is superior to that of LCD n LCD continues to offer many advantages in simplicity and integration n LCD will remain dominant in the majority of single panel applications, while LED will dominate multi-panel environments n The choice between the two is not about cost, but about application suitability n LED and LCD are perceived to be complementary rather than competing

value of an LED-based system becomes more apparent when you look at the cost of the system over the life of the display. Commercial LCD solutions have a significantly shorter life than a comparable LED solution. A commercial LCD solution may need to be replaced two, three or even four times during the life of a quality LED solution.”

He also makes the entirely valid point that it’s all too easy to talk about LED as if it is all the same.

18 SPECIAL REPORT: THE FUTURE OF DISPLAYS

November/December 2018

Diverse offering “The current marketplace for LED displays has a very diverse offering of solutions with a significant variance in price, quality and durability,” he notes. “Some of the lower quality solutions may get close to cost parity with LCD solutions, but may have much shorter lifespans than traditional LED solutions. It will be important for buyers to understand the variables that contribute to cost and durability.”

Others note the superior power efficiency of LED-based screens, resulting in lower running costs and better environmental performance.

For all the claimed advantages of superior brightness and contrast, better viewing angles, greater ease of maintenance, lower cost of ownership, reduced susceptibility to environmental factors and so on, any discussion of LED technology in relation to LCD technology when it comes to displays invariably focuses on what most see as its most important benefit.

“A key advantage of LED displays compared to LCD displays is their flexibility,” believes Christian Orcin, vice president of product marketing at Leyard EMEA. “LED displays can accommodate almost any shape and size videowall without having to stick to a display’s fixed size or form factor. LED displays are uniquely well-suited for large videowalls of more than 100in.”

According to Absen’s Czimny, the use of LCD displays in a videowall environment results in a content-to-content gap of anything up to 3.7mm – impairing the perceived image.

‘The number one advantage of LED over LCD is that it is completely seamless’ Liam Winter, PSCo

Absen N5 LED displays driven by tvONE’s CORIOmaster processor provide a 180sqm LED ceiling at the Fen Court office development in London Picture: Sysco Productions

resolutions compared to direct view LED and offer a substantially lower initial cost,” points out Thomas Walter, who is section manager strategic product marketing, NEC Display Solutions Europe. “This is why LCD-based displays are still considered to be the dominant choice as this technology offers a very good price/performance ratio.”

“LCD-based displays provide a crisp viewing experience, leading to effortless readability for many indoor – and even outdoor – applications such as advertising, plus meeting room applications and many more,” he continues.

“In addition, LCD displays are well prepared for demanding signage applications as they support media playback integration – as with our Raspberry PI compute modules, and interactivity for touch applications such as our InfinityBoard collaboration hub – and can be protected against vandalism in public spaces through the use of protective glass or housings.”

Anything you want it to be “The number one advantage of LED over LCD is that it is completely seamless,” says Liam Winter, head of LED at rental and distribution company PSCo. “You can create a videowall without the bezels, ensuring no interruption to content. As a videowall technology, and with its ability to enable convex and concave curves, wrap around corners, columns, mosaics and so on, it offers the potential for outstanding creativity. LED is anything you want it to be.”

That assertion may be somewhat true – but it holds less true for the ‘classic’ display market hitherto the province of LCD-based screens.

“Currently, LCD-based displays are easier to install and operate, provide typically higher

Compelling alternative “However,” he adds, “for more specialist applications, where specific requirements regarding size, brightness, outdoor capabilities, architectural integration and seamless large canvasses are the main decision criteria, direct view LED offers a compelling alternative.”

Much of the discussion about the relative advantages of the two technologies has focused on the perception that it is the higher price point of LED that has been one of the main barriers to its wider acceptance. That’s not the case, believes Winter.

“If you only pay for the pixels you need, then LED has already achieved price parity,”

he asserts. “A surge in demand and volume has seen dramatic price improvements. Where there used to be a significant gap between the price of an LCD videowall and an LED videowall, we’re now seeing a change, with premium LED products that directly compete with LCD. The gap in price for 1mm – 2mm products has significantly reduced; 2mm – 3mm is now comparable with LCD; and above 3mm can even offer a cost saving.”

It becomes increasingly apparent, however, that the reality is that price is not the overriding issue. This is very much a ‘horses for courses‘ discussion – a point well illustrated by Huong Thanh Ngo, product marketing manager at Panasonic.

“In retail, for example, it is likely that LED displays could pose a threat to LCD when displaying an advertisement in a shop window that is intended to grab the attention of passers-by,” she explains. “On the other hand, the same retail store may then integrate LCD displays within the shop floor for the information that does not require a similar level of brightness – but needs a higher pixel density because customers walk right by it.”

No concern “So far, for us, there is no concern about the threat of an LED-based display, because both LCD and LED displays have different target audiences for different uses,” says Panasonic’s Huong. “Ultimately, this decision is down to cost efficiency and business needs, with LED displays being more expensive while offering larger size options. They don’t pose a threat to LCD at present, due to the numerous verticals

20 SPECIAL REPORT: THE FUTURE OF DISPLAYS and applications that would still opt for an LCD display as a more cost effective way of displaying their 4K images.”

“Therefore, LED-based displays may pose a threat in some circumstances where businesses require very large screens or very bright screens,” she goes on, “but they don’t pose a threat to LCD at present, due to the numerous verticals and applications that would still opt for an LCD display as a cheaper way of displaying their 4K images.”

“The use of the two technologies is more complementary than we think,” believes Orcin.

“There are indeed areas where LED-based displays are taking over, but let’s not forget that LCD technology may be the solution customers are looking for to meet their needs, depending on factors such as application, budget, goals and so on. Leyard is committed to ongoing innovation of both our LED and LCD videowall product lines for this very reason.”

Market growth NEC’s Walter sees things similarly. “I see LED as an additional and complementary technology,” he notes. “I don’t consider direct view LED displays to be a threat to LCD-based displays – not for end users, not for system integrators and resellers, and not for us, the manufacturer. Market researchers predict a solid and continuous market growth for both technologies; LED and LCD-based displays – which is logical, as they generally serve different applications rather than competing against each other. System integrators that understand which applications are optimally suited for each technology, and provide professional consulting for LCD and LED will enjoy strong competitive advantages over those that are not able to present the perfect choice for their customers.”

Daktronics’ Melby agrees. “Distribution through AV integrators will also play a key role in the timing as more integrators are becoming familiar and comfortable with LED display technology,” he says. “LED displays will provide enhanced flexibility in providing creative solutions for their customers.”

Absen’s Czimny is, however, bullish. “LEDbased displays are already becoming dominant,” he claims, “and the fact that manufacturers who historically only sold LCD solutions for videowalls are now also providing LED solutions within their portfolio is a good indicator that this is already happening.”

“We’re also receiving more and more requests for LCD videowall replacements with LED.” If his assertion that ‘classic’ LCD display manufacturers either are, or are planning, to complement their existing product lines with LED-based solutions, that would be little surprise: even if LED’s erosion of LCD’s position

doesn’t extend to single panel applications, it looks certain to eat into their videowall business – as well as capture the growing opportunity for larger, more creative displays.

Opening doors The ‘LCD vs. LED’ question, therefore, appears to revolve around the growing attraction for end users of both more displays and larger displays. Despite the much-touted – and dramatic – narrowing of pixel gaps on LEDbased screens, and the claims of superior image quality, making them suitable for the close-up viewing historically associated with LCD-based screens, that’s not where LED’s success will come from – although PSCo’s Winter believes it is opening doors.

‘LCD displays will develop and adapt over the next few years to accommodate the growing trend of 8K’ Huong Thanh Ngo, Panasonic

“We’ve seen that the demand for higher resolution displays continues to grow, driving manufacturers to deliver tighter pixel pitches,” he says, “and because of this, LED displays are being used in new applications where they were previously thought unsuitable – including boardroom and atrium displays, store entrances or retail signage, as well as featuring as a popular asset on exhibition stands and within live events.”

If Czimny’s assertion that traditional LCD display manufacturers are looking to complement their existing product lines with LED-based solutions, that would certainly make a lot of sense. Even if LED’s erosion of LCD’s position doesn’t extend to single panel applications (except in the 60-100in space where installation logistics alone can make very large single panels a daunting proposition) it looks certain to eat into, and perhaps consume, their videowall business – as well as capture the growing opportunity for larger and more creative displays.

And that’s the thing: business growth. Where the average growth of the AV market overall is generally believed to be around 5%/year, market researchers are united in their belief in higher growth in the videowall market: annual CAGRs are forecast at anything between 9% and 20%.

Not standing still Inevitably, any analysis of the current state of the game between LCD and LED is a snapshot.

November/December 2018

Both technologies, for example, have the opportunity to deliver even higher image quality than is possible today – and to maintain downward pressure on pricing. Neither side is standing still, a point made clearly by Unilumin’s Scorse.

“The LED display industry continues to develop at a fast rate, and there are a significant number of research projects today, inside Unilumin as well as at other manufacturers, in multiple areas,” he points out. “These exciting research projects cover areas such as smaller pixel pitch, manufacturing technology, image processing, improvements in robustness and environmental protection and even in fundamental LED bonding technology, as well as new technologies such as Mini- and MicroLED. For the advertising and entertainment industry, we’re trying to maximise the interaction between an LED display and its audience. For example, Unilumin developed the LED touchscreen back in 2017.”

“We expect to see an improvement in the image quality and resolution of LCD display panels in the future,” says Panasonic’s Huong.

“Image quality can be improved when light sources are adapted, such as a move towards laser to further enhance the current 4K quality.

Equally, LCD displays will develop and adapt over the next few years to accommodate the growing trend of 8K.”

Stronger dominance Leyard’s Orcin has the final word.

“LED is not coming,” he smiles. “It’s already here. Leyard and other companies in the industry have been instrumental in positioning LED technology as a key player in the AV market, with LCD and projection technology. The ‘dominance’ of LED-based displays depends on the situation, but rapid development and adoption of the technology will continue, potentially giving way to stronger dominance in the future.”

Yes, LED prices will fall – and almost certainly faster than the more mature LCD technology is capable of sustaining. Neither image quality nor price are, however, strictly relevant in terms of ‘competition’ between the two. Inherent advantages mean that LCD will continue as the dominant force in the majority of today’s single panel applications, while LED will carry all before it in multi-panel environments. For those offering both, the future looks very bright indeed.

www.absen-europe.com www.daktronics.com www.leyard.com www.nec-display-solutions.com www.panasonic.eu www.psco.co.uk www.unilumin.com

22 SPECIAL REPORT: THE FUTURE OF DISPLAYS

November/December 2018

The entrance area of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden has been redeveloped with NEC providing a 28.5sqm 90° curved LED screen

In the pipeline Having taken the temperature of the displays market as it currently stands in the first feature of this special report, here we look slightly further ahead at the innovations starting to appear on the industry’s collective radar. Steve Montgomery reports

T

he overwhelming majority of LCD panels produced every year are destined for domestic TV sets. According to IHS Markit, over 226 million TVs will be manufactured in 2019. The cost and complexity of establishing and running a high volume LCD panel manufacturing line means that there are only a handful of major manufacturing companies, all situated in the Far East, that concentrate on the mass production of just a few standard display sizes.

For the professional AV sector this is both a good thing and a bad one. It is good because the sheer number of displays produced and intense competition between the suppliers means that cost of the bare glass panels is low. But bad, because we are at the mercy of the domestic TV market and the sizes and resolutions demanded

by TV viewers for their homes – or at least the sizes offered to them.

Fortunately this has not been too much of a problem and the advantages significantly outweigh the disadvantages. Large-scale AV system producers like NEC, LG, Samsung and Sony can produce professional AV displays with

dedicated electronic circuitry at a cost that is acceptable to users in this sector: in retail, offices and schools.

It also enables new technologies to be developed, such as organic LED (OLED) and quantum dot. Again these are initially aimed at the domestic user but are finding application, and delivering benefit, to professional AV users. OLED and quantum dot are already being manufactured, albeit in small numbers. IHS forecasts that in 2019 around four million of each will be manufactured and all will carry high price premiums.

The latest generation of displays, using OLED technology, is beginning to become commercially available to the AV sector at prices that are economically viable. “OLED is a technology which is really starting to take off and becoming a standard for creative display design, with architects and designers taking the initiative to use it in increasingly creative ways,” says Nigel Roberts, IT solutions sales head for LG Electronics UK Business Solutions. “We expect OLED to be at the forefront of the LG product portfolio in the coming years. It has already

Key Points n The latest OLED displays are becoming commercially available to the AV sector at prices that are economically viable n However, there is widespread understanding that OLED is not suited to commercial digital signage or presentation applications n The shift in work patterns and structure has led to a sizeable increase in take up of screens in corporate environments revolutionised the way in which brands now communicate to shoppers in retail environments and out-of-home advertising, with companies opting for more creative formations to capture the attention of buyers. As viewers expect more dynamic installations, we’ll begin to see technology incorporated into the design process at an earlier stage.

“LG has a number of innovations in the pipeline which will result in the introduction of new creative forms and new technology types. Next year transparent OLED displays will become available.

In digital signage applications it will enable sharp content to be displayed on a 40% transparent screen and marks a dynamic step forward for retail displays. Merging product and content like this will enhance the mixed media experience”

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OLED is not without its problems though.

There is widespread understanding in the AV industry that this technology is not suited to commercial digital signage or presentation applications. The image retention of OLED in large sized displays remains high and creates serious problems when showing static content over longer periods. Many integrators can still remember the problems that image retention caused in plasma displays and, to a slightly lesser extent, in the early days of LCD on screens that continuously cycled between a few static screens. The display would build up an underlying permanent image that could only be removed by application of blank or inverse images over an extended time period – hardly conducive to good digital signage.

‘While there are some superb solutions on the market already, both LED and LCD still have a lot of room to grow’ Thomas Issa, Sony Professional Solutions Europe

8K viability Display resolutions are increasing too. IHS Markit reports that over half of TV shipments next year will be 4K UHD. Next-generation 8K TVs will start to penetrate the market in substantial numbers soon: they estimate that the global quantity shipped will grow from less than 20,000 in 2018 to more than 430,000 in 2019. These, too, will be available to the pro AV market although there is some question about how soon this is likely. “Today, 4K UHD appears to be the resolution of the immediate future. Already the majority of larger size LCD displays have moved to 4K UHD where the increased resolution has greatest effect,” explains Thomas Walter, section manager strategic product marketing, NEC Display Solutions Europe. “However, most smaller-sized displays, including projectors, desktop monitors and direct view LED screens are still only on their way to 4K UHD. However an issue that Robert Bartelds, senior product manager at Philips Professional, foresees is that content needs to be available for high resolution playout: “New formats require the content industry to invest in replacing their infrastructure, which they are currently undertaking with 4K. This makes it unlikely that they will repeat this for 8K for quite some time. Non-standard resolutions exist in professional displays but this limits their appeal.” We currently lack the bandwidth

SPECIAL REPORT: THE FUTURE OF DISPLAYS 23 and content for 8K displays and it is likely to be at least five years until 8K displays become the preferred choice.

Display size is increasing. “Large size LCD displays with reader-friendly UHD resolution and sizes up to 100in are subject to greater demand in the market,” says Walter. “Even though it is not a brand new technology, it will be new for many end users and represents the biggest business potential today. Large LCD-based displays are mainly used for smaller and mid-sized meeting rooms, for interactive boards in education, corporate environments and for digital signage applications with high impact.”

Corporate innovation LCD displays are attractive to the retail and commercial sectors, with retail traditionally absorbing a larger percentage of supply. This does appear to be changing, for reasons Roberts explains: “The corporate sector is starting to really drive the market with innovation, where retail used to always be the first innovators. They are used in situations in which creativity is at the forefront of activities such as collaboration and huddle spaces. In fact, collaborative working areas are emerging as a new market vertical. Office atriums and inspiration labs have also been popular areas for new screens in recent months.”

The shift in work patterns and structure has undoubtedly affected take up of screens in the corporate environment, particularly large interactive touch panels. This affects not just the size and style of the screens offered, but their internal capabilities and features. “An increasing number of end users are working collaboratively in meeting rooms, connecting personal devices and sharing multiple content streams from multiple devices,” comments Chris McIntyre-Brown, associate director at Futuresource Consulting. “This has resulted in a number of display manufacturers increasingly embedding wireless technologies in their solutions or launching peripheral devices offering this functionality. There has also been a recent increase in the launch of endto-end interactive solutions from ecosystem players, namely Microsoft, Google and Cisco, that is redefining how a display solution is both perceived and utilised. All of which provides further insight and vision for the changing needs and opportunities in this space.”

Thomas Issa, corporate and education solution marketing manager for Sony Professional Solutions Europe suggests that there is still a lot of life left in the current types of display. “While there are some superb solutions on the market already, both LED and LCD technologies still have a lot of room to grow before we need to start thinking about the next

big innovations. There is scope for a number of advances: from improving resolution and picture quality, to creating new designs with reduced bezels, to increasing their overall reliability. So, while we will see some impressive innovations in the short-term, the future still very much belongs to new and improved iterations of LED and LCD technologies.

“Even more important than how new and innovative the technology is, is whether it actually meets the needs of the end-users.

There is a lot of demand for display integration with wider AV solutions at the moment, which is driving demand for versatility in display solutions these days, whether we’re talking about a corporate environment and meeting rooms, or an education setting like lecture theatres in universities.”

Content is king Applications and content are crucial to the success of every digital screen-based communication campaign or installation.

“Content has also become a vital part of in-house displays, across all sectors,” says Roberts. “Applications have advanced accordingly, like our WebOS platform, which allows marketing teams to quickly generate responsive online campaigns that can now remotely sync almost immediately with the displays, keeping the brand on message and engaging up to the minute rather than the weekly rotation.”

‘It is really the potential of MiniLED, with a pixel pitch of 100 micrometers or less, that has the industry excited’ Chris McIntyre-Brown, Futuresource Consulting

The prevalence of screens throughout our lives and in almost every conceivable location has led us to ignore them to a great extent, something that manufacturers and owners are fighting against by installing screens in less traditional places. Roberts: “The 16:9 ratio will be the norm for corporate applications so that BYOD can be enabled rapidly and displays can quickly be used as a standard format for all content from every user. However with the increase in creativity of content, unusual shapes and multi-screen formations are growing in popularity and impact. There is strong uptake for our UltraStretch and Open Frame OLED technologies, both of which encourage creative application and placing of the displays, creating real impact for the end user.”

24 SPECIAL REPORT: THE FUTURE OF DISPLAYS Large LED displays are increasingly found in public areas and can be moulded to suit the available space or structure – whether flat, curved or irregular – allowing even more creativity in application and gaining attention from viewers. LED pitch is reducing every year, enabling LED matrix displays to be used in a wider range of applications and locations.

It is a business that has accelerated rapidly, registering sales last year of over $5.3 billion.

“The introduction of MicroLED by Sony in 2016 caused a great stir of excitement in the industry, but it was thought to be a measure of what was possible, not what was viable in the near term,” comments McIntyre-Brown. “However, this year has seen far more buzz around new chip-on-board (COB) solutions, MiniLED and glue-on-board. All offer different benefits, but it is really the potential of MiniLED, with a pixel pitch of 100 micrometers or less, that has the industry excited. Troublingly though, are the lack of standards around MiniLED, MicroLED and indeed the LED industry as a whole. This is creating confusion, and that certainly needs to be addressed.”

As LED screens take a more prominent place in the mainstream display market, large corporations are installing LED displays in areas which could previously only accommodate projection. This is resulting in new manufacturing techniques, such as COB, to cater for changing requirements, including increased resolution and the creation of more robust displays for high footfall locations.

“There is a clear trend is the move away from LCD and plasma technology, and towards LED becoming the technology at the heart of displays in the next decade,” believes Paul Brown, VP sales UK, at SiliconCore Technology.

“LED will be ubiquitous across all verticals, and as the price point comes down and quality rises, the application horizon will widen.

Command and control rooms are a major area of change at the moment with the removal of tiled displays and rear projection in favour of LED displays. We expect to see this pick up pace over the coming year. Indoor retail and public areas in which projection and seamed videowalls will most commonly be replaced by seamless LED displays.

“To meet this demand, we have developed technology over the last three years that addresses the durability issues found in LED displays. This year we launched LISA, LED in Silicon Array, which introduces a unique process in manufacturing, as the next step forward for fine pixel pitch displays. It will become standard across our range, and we believe, over time the industry standard. Common Cathode technology, which we patented over five years ago, is also taking off as it becomes more widely

November/December 2018

At ISE this year LG showcased its OLED videowall solution and its 55in Transparent OLED display

accepted as a method of creating more powerefficient LED technology.”

Further examples of COB technology that are already commercially available are the new Crystal LED range from Sony and the LED LiFT range from NEC. With each LED taking up just 0.003sqmm in a pixel of 1.4sqmm, it is possible to create very high resolution displays in small overall sizes, giving them greater scope for use in control rooms, retailing, product design studios and other applications that traditionally needed LCD displays or projectors. The large black area around each chip contributes greatly to a highly acceptable contrast level of 1,000,000:1. “Bringing new technologies to market is ultimately about offering customers choice. A retailer’s requirements for signage and display solutions differs from those of a design studio, post-production house or sports venue, for example,” explains Issa. “Based on individual, bezel-less display units, organisations can create a display tailored to their exact specifications.”

Futureproof paths It is notoriously difficult to predict the future in the AV world in the face of rapid technological evolution and the frequent introduction of newer, better, solutions to meet an everwidening range of applications. Integrators need to be conversant with all types of display technologies and be able to guide and advise their customers in selecting the best system for them today, as well as ensuring there is a futureproof path to upgrade and develop as the technology improves even further.

This, Walter believes, is why: “System integrators who offer a wide choice of technologies from projection, LCD-based displays to direct view LED will be the ones that can holistically serve their customers and will win in the long run with a consultative expert approach. To get to this point needs training

and expertise and help by providing intense training to our partners in order to give them the necessary technical skill and knowledge to gain competitive advantage.”

Those integrators must also be conversant in associated IT technologies and networking if they are to meet the complexities and demands of a rapidly changing world. There is a trend toward integrated displays that no longer require external media players to function and as screens become more modular and adaptable new commercial opportunities will open up.

Purchasing models are also changing, as buyers move toward leased service provision rather than capital purchase wherever possible. Data storage, software and even remote processing are already offered on a product-as-a-service model and hardware is increasingly offered that way too. Integrators and manufacturers need to be able to respond to client requests to provide leased equipment accompanied by ongoing support, maintenance and upgrade contracts that ensure the end customer, and hence the viewer, is always supplied with the latest and greatest technology and solutions.

However, the biggest changes in the AV market will be driven by the changing work and leisure habits of today’s workers, driven by the expectations of today’s consumers for a certain quality of technology experience. With the consumer market moving so rapidly, the AV market needs to keep pushing the boundaries and innovating to stay relevant.

www.futuresource-consulting.com www.lg.com www.nec-display-solutions.com www.philips.co.uk/p-m-pr/ professionaldisplays www.silicon-core.com https://pro.sony.eu

26 BUSINESS FEATURE: UNIFIED COMMS AND COLLABORATION

November/December 2018

macom specified NEC displays, Harman (AMX control) with Cisco codecs for this co-working space

A sound investment Previously neglected in comparison with video, is audio finally approaching parity in UC environments? Rob Lane reports

A

s millennials have pushed their employees for access to the same level of technology that they have at home – so unified communications and collaboration in the workplace have become more sophisticated.

But the spend on office comms appears to be uneven. Recent research from Futuresource has suggested that only 21% of meeting room budget is spent on audio, compared with 46% on video. Is this due to the higher costs of visual equipment, or is something more fundamental going on? Could it be because audio has always been considered of secondary importance when compared with video?

“If you want to understand the importance of audio, just consider that you can close your eyes but you can’t close your ears!” says Christian Bozeat, director at consultants macom. “The old joke goes that AV stands for ‘All Video’, and audio is left out as it is a complex and difficult subject and many do not have the skills to do it correctly.”

Bozeat adds that it is imperative that a consultant with excellent audio knowledge and an acoustician are deployed before a project begins. “This ensures standards are in place, as it is too late to wait for a system integrator to be engaged and they are far too late to affect the design of a building by that stage in any case.”

“I certainly think that audio is neglected, and that video is still seen as the most important element of a meeting room setup because the screen tends to be the main focus of the room,” agrees Emma Bigg, director of Octavius RE consultants. “Also, I think AV integrators don’t always have in-house people who have a lot of experience in pro audio, and it has not been seen as a separate job to design the audio system but simply as an add-on to the video system.

Importantly this is now changing and people are becoming more knowledgeable about audio and its importance.”

Key Points n Despite having not always factored highly, quality audio is the most crucial aspect of a good meeting experience n The proliferation of huddle spaces means optimum performance in these environments has to be obtained in a cost effective way n Previously neglected, the true impact of acoustics is now starting to be understood Audio realisation Whatever the reasons for the skewed expenditure, things do appear to be changing, with spend on audio on the increase – perhaps as a result of increased sophistication of the available comms-systems. There also seems to be a belated realisation among enterprises and their tech suppliers that good comms demands good audio – however surprising this delay in prioritising audio may seem.

“The awareness has risen that audio matters, and integrated solutions today cater to a much broader range of requirements when it comes

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to integration,” states Kai Tossing, portfolio manager business communication, Sennheiser.

“Without audio, even the best video becomes useless in a conference call. When it comes to collaboration, both audio and video are crucial to create an immersive end user experience and to allow teamwork over distance.”

Approximately 80% of data transmitted during a meeting is over audio, so its importance certainly cannot be overstated.

“When there is high quality audio the meeting participants can communicate naturally as if they are in the same room, even when they are on different continents,” says James Hill, director, systems sales at Shure UK. “We are seeing high quality audio become much more of a priority as videoconferencing becomes increasingly pervasive in the workplace and users require a better experience.”

“Having the ability to talk to, and hear the other parties clearly during a meeting is absolutely vital, and will always remain so,” comments Pat Finlayson, senior product manager, Polycom. “Businesses that do not pay attention to their meeting room audio quality are putting themselves at risk. Simply because without good quality audio solutions they will be unable to communicate effectively with colleagues who are working in offices based at other sites, or those who are working remotely.”

Businesses, consultants and integrators are now taking a much more holistic approach to designing systems. This isn’t just about meeting rooms: they are considering the employee experience throughout the building and the role of AV in improving that user experience.

“With the entrance of millennials into the workplace, companies are having to up their game in terms of workplace technology and unified communications just to engage and retain younger staff,” says Bigg. “Good acoustics and good audio have a really important part to play in these solutions.”

Huddle up At the same time, the trend towards collaboration in smaller meeting rooms and huddle spaces means that optimum performance and experience is expected to be delivered in more cost effective ways, with improved audio taking up some of the budgetary slack. It’s said to be even more difficult to integrate excellent audio in these smaller spaces.

“Instead of three to four large boardrooms, companies are deploying hundreds of smaller collaborative spaces that demand significantly lower implementation and management costs of technology,” says Shaun Robinson, VP of customers solutions, Harman Professional Solutions. “As a result, Harman solutions for this

FEATURE: UNIFIED COMMS AND COLLABORATION kind of space have been tailored as an all-in-one, simple to install and manage appliance versus an integrated system of components.”

As huddle rooms are popular and typically come in lots, budget restrictions often force compromises. At the same time, the push to huddle has also encouraged R&D. Emma Bigg: “These smaller more intimate collaboration spaces have been a big driver in the development arc we have seen in audio products for UC. Compact, sometimes portable cost effective devices have been developed, or you see audio manufactures like Yamaha getting into the ‘meeting room in one box’ market.”

“Huddle rooms have definitely influenced a new category of audio solutions,” agrees Marc Happes, product manager for conferencing and unified communications at Bose Professional.

“Products for these smaller spaces are tailored to fit the application and budget. However, when huddle room products are used in larger rooms – for which they weren’t designed – the audio experience is compromised.”

‘I think AV integrators don’t always have in-house people who have a lot of experience in pro audio’ Emma Bigg, Octavius RE

The reason for this is simple: participants in larger rooms are seated further away than microphone pick-up ranges can handle, and they’re too far away for the limited output of loudspeakers. “An installed audio system would still be appropriate in these larger rooms,” adds Happes. “It is important to use the right product for the application.”

Huddle spaces have certainly encouraged manufacturers to make scalable solutions to enable their products to be used throughout the UC ecosystem, and different scales of rooms with different use cases definitely require dedicated solutions.

“The huddle room is a prominent example of rooms in business environments. One or few people want to connect to the outside and seamlessly collaborate,” says Tossing.

“Software and hardware solutions must cater for the requirements of the huddle room.

Latest technology also caters to this demand, offering anything from affordable to highly and seamlessly integrated solutions with perfect interaction on an enterprise scale.”

Indeed, many available solutions are now compatible with a whole host of different

27

working spaces, from desk right through to huddle spaces and large boardrooms – even the home office.

“By making solutions relevant for all environments, businesses can realise a much higher return on investment due to increased employee productivity,” explains Finlayson. “Work becomes more enjoyable and rewarding.”

Product development Approaches to audio solutions in UC and collaboration environments have certainly evolved – and not just as a result of the rise of the huddle. “With the product development in this area from manufacturers such as Shure and Sennheiser, there are now a greater range of high quality products available,” states Bigg.

“These products are more technologically advanced, network enabled and designed to integrate into corporate AV and UC solutions.”

New technologies allow for more flexibility and an improved user experience. Adaptive beamforming microphones make it possible to capture great audio from any speaking person, anywhere in a room. “Beamforming microphone arrays is an area of technology where we have seen the most evolution,” agrees Robinson.

“However, continued enhancements in echocancellation and noise reduction are adding value as we go forward in enabling great audio around UC and collaboration.”

Hill explains: “Ceiling array microphones have enabled us to minimise ‘table noise’ to a certain extent, and with noise reduction, echo cancellation etc, audio within collaborative situations is much better and will continue to improve through technology.” Hill believes that, historically, people were prepared to put up with poor sound, but believes that’s changing as more people expect better audio.

“As an increasing number of IT professionals become involved with AV, and we move to a world where more or less everything is on the network, we are evolving our products to meet these expectations.”

But as AV technology has proliferated commercial spaces, architectural trends have also evolved to focus on aesthetics, finishes, and furnishing: increasingly high tech also means high style. As a consequence, proper placement of speakers and microphones has become more of a challenge for integrators.

“Fortunately, audio has been able to adapt to these architectural trends by creating products like ceiling speakers that can be installed along the perimeter of the room and low-profile ceiling microphone arrays,” explains Happes.

“Other products like all-in-one sound bars have integrated microphones, speakers, cameras, and video connectivity, which means table tops have become less crowded with equipment. The

28 FEATURE: UNIFIED COMMS AND COLLABORATION

November/December 2018

The trend towards huddle spaces means that the best collaboration experience must be delivered in more cost effective ways

user experience improves because the mics, speakers, and camera are positioned relative to the display – so meeting participants direct their attention toward the video participant instead of ‘talking at the table’.”

“Manufacturers have certainly developed products that more suit the needs of the user and are moving the microphones off the table into the ceiling and walls,” agrees Bozeat.

“Beamforming microphones are a great advance, but even they can’t tackle being installed incorrectly or in rooms that are too large and have bad acoustics.”

‘Businesses that do not pay attention to their meeting room audio quality are putting themselves at risk’ Pat Finlayson, Polycom

Acoustics aspect Acoustics of course are an extremely important component in any conferencing space, and this aspect of audio is perhaps the most neglected.

Project budget constraints often limit the involvement of acoustical consultants – or at least dedicated ones. So, as a result of the added costs, acoustic treatments and remedies are often not considered or are abandoned.

“Acoustics is massively important!” says Bozeat. “There is still a big gap in understanding

the architectural and construction issues around room design of the modern working environment.

It takes a lot of effort and it is still challenging, and aesthetics often win the battle over physics at the expense of audio quality in larger spaces.”

“Thou shalt not neglect physics!” agrees Tossing. “Even with most advanced algorithms and high-tech equipment, the rules of physics still apply. Technology can improve compromises and allow product use cases that were not recommendable in the past – such as in-ceiling microphones. But, the better rooms are treated acoustically, the easier the system integration will be, and moreover, it will allow for a broader choice of solutions.”

Hill continues: “It’s hugely important and unfortunately still a neglected area. I often visit customers who are trying to get the best sound out of a space only to find there are four glass walls, hardwood floor and a huge air-handling unit in the corner. We can do some amazing things with our microphones and DSP, but to get the best results possible, acoustics definitely come into play.”

Enclosed huddle spaces with highly reflective surfaces such as glass are a huge challenge.

However, it isn’t just about reducing echoes or environmental background noises: acoustics are also about ensuring the privacy of the meeting.

“Background noise can create significant, ongoing distractions in any meeting space – for both in-room and remote participants,” says Happes. “Audio algorithms have helped to mitigate background noise on conference calls, but there is still room for improvement.”

However, although still a relatively neglected area, acoustics is increasingly being seen as an

essential part of the AV-in-UC narrative. “It has certainly been a neglected area in the past, but not currently,” confirms Bigg. “The proliferation of open plan or flexible working spaces have really shown end users, designers, architects and consultants how important acoustics are.

Addressing the acoustic environment is now understood to be as important as the design and flow of a space.”

“Many businesses understand the important role that acoustics play during a meeting,” adds Finlayson. “One of our customers, for instance, was acutely aware of the impact that poor acoustics would have on communications and wanted to eliminate any issues that would cause.”

Ultimately, collaboration technology makes it possible to connect a global workforce in today’s agile workplace environments, and audio is an essential, sometimes neglected, part of that exchange.

As unified comms technology has evolved and commercial AV space design has evolved with the tech, so the care and attention shown to the often-overlooked audio component of AV-for-UC has begun to – rightly – increase.

Happes: “When the spoken word is intelligible and coverage is uniform, meeting participants remain engaged from wherever they are located.”

https://pro.bose.com https://pro.harman.com www.macom.de/en www.polycom.com www.sennheiser.com www.shure.com

30 INTERVIEW: DAVE WILLIE, VISAVVI

November/December 2018

“‘Audio visual’ just doesn’t do justice anymore”

Following the Saville Group’s recent rebranding, Duncan Proctor talks to Dave Willie, head of marketing and product management at Visavvi, about the advantages this offers the business, as well as the everchanging corporate AV landscape Can you explain the thinking behind the rebranding?

We work in a constantly changing technology sector, one that has always evolved but the pace of change has accelerated rapidly over the last 2-3 years. As a business Saville Audio Visual effectively had two business operations; system integration and live events. Both sides of the business address a completely different client base, each with a totally different set of needs.

Positioning ourselves in the market as one generic organisation covering both sectors was in fact limiting. While this has generated success for the business over half a century, times change and we felt that the single brand was not reflecting our true capabilities to address the requirements of each sector.

The creation of the Visavvi and Sparq brands respectively, under the corporate parent brand Saville Group, allows us to focus totally on specific client needs while drawing on all the heritage and industry knowledge the business has gained over the last half century.

In what ways will it benefit you as a business going forward?

The benefit for all areas of our operation is absolute clarity about our focused offerings.

In the past our single brand approach to two completely different market sectors appeared a little too fragmented, often confusing clients and not truly reflecting our deep understanding of our clients’ challenges and requirements.

Our two dedicated client offerings now have their own distinct brand which provides them with the freedom to directly address their respective markets.

Visavvi is the AV services brand. How will its offering differ from what Saville AV was able to provide?

There isn’t a difference to the offering. Of course, we add new services, new solutions and new products all the time. As we’ve seen over the last few years there are increasing levels of IT, cloud, communication and collaboration technology and professional services within our

sector and ‘audio visual’ just doesn’t do justice to the wide range of solutions and services we provide to clients anymore.

Fundamentally we are the same business, the same highly experienced people providing a wide range of services and solutions focused on driving business agility through technology for our clients. Visavvi now provides a brand platform that really showcases our abilities and business services in a much more focused and targeted way than Saville Audio Visual can.

How are you adapting solutions to the convergence of AV and IT? Our extensive experience of blending technologies from multiple manufacturers enables us to create bespoke environments on behalf of our clients. We continue to possess and expand our high levels of accreditation and knowledge with many leading industry brands and products, allowing us to mould the best of the industry and transform them into intuitive, easy to use environments for clients. With many

www.installation-international.com

of today’s AV products being dependent on IT connectivity, we see the convergence of AV and IT as offering a substantial opportunity for us and our clients to harness the operational benefits that this provides. We have introduced relevant skillsets across our teams to ensure that our solutions deliver seamlessly across networks, addressing the current focus on digital transformation within the workplace on a global scale.

Do you think the percentage of meeting rooms/spaces with a good standard of AV is still in the minority?

AV has become much more strategic in organisations, which is a substantial shift from a few years ago. We are seeing many organisations focussing a higher priority on creating environments where employees are empowered by technology rather than hindered by it. These companies realise that staff have access to unprecedented levels of technology outside of work, such as smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, voice control devices, video calling and therefore to keep them engaged, motivated and empowered they need to offer business grade equivalents to what they use outside of work.

‘Positioning ourselves in the market as one generic organisation covering both sectors was in fact limiting’

A few years ago, it was a case of users wanting technology in meeting rooms, now it’s a case of demanding it. Today people make important career decisions based on the type of environment they will be working in and the access to appropriate tools to empower and develop their progression.

Of course, there are going to be environments which don’t deliver the experience users expect, and organisations that fail to adapt to the user journey may struggle to retain or recruit people of the right calibre for the business to prosper.

How are you dealing with the ever-changing security threat in corporate environments?

We regularly review and add to our technology and services portfolio. As the Internet of Things rapidly expands, increasingly our solutions and services are potentially exposed to security threats in a way that discrete AV technology never did. We managed this in a number of ways, our product management team who are responsible for researching new solutions and products for the business portfolio evaluate possible risks and identify processes to help mitigate or reduce any potential issue. We are

INTERVIEW: DAVE WILLIE, VISAVVI

31

very aware that clients may not fully understand the implications of adding technologies they specify to their networks. For example, the potential impact or danger of adding a domestic voice control device like they use at home to a boardroom that actively listens to every word and relays this to an open cloud service over the public internet. Our responsibility is to ensure that security implications and potential threats are highlighted to clients during consultation.

We constantly review the training of our sales teams, project managers and engineers to ensure they have awareness of this through webinar workshops with a specialist cyber security partner.

hosted on. Solutions such as Microsoft Surface Hub, Avocor, Dell, Clevertouch, NEC collaboration screens are driving this sector of the market and each is powered by a software environment allowing clients to install their chosen set of applications and upgrade the environment when required. Cloud is definitely leading the way.

Is there a sense that the IT department is taking over many of the integrator’s responsibilities or has this not been your experience as of yet?

I don’t think we see IT departments taking over the responsibility of integrators, rather they are becoming more engaged with us. And I don’t blame them. If I was responsible for businesscritical IT provision and a new range of units were about to be deployed across my network, I’d want to know everything about it. AV in the past was an isolated technology, if something failed the worst thing to happen would be an individual room would be out of use. When AV solutions encroach onto a corporate network, it brings much wider risks which could impact on business critical applications, processes and tools. The more IT departments become engaged with AV integrators the better for all.

How has AV technology developed to facilitate the trend towards smaller, faster, more flexible meetings and the rising popularity of huddle rooms?

The rise of huddle spaces has created a whole plethora of solutions specifically designed to suit this type of environment. These predominantly provide the ability for users to use their own laptops as the central resource and provide USB connectivity to devices such as interactive collaboration screens, USB video collaboration devices such as AMX Acendo, Yamaha CS700, Logitech video, Crestron Mercury, Huddly and content sharing solutions such as Barco Clickshare. Many of these have the potential to then connect into a wider network allowing agile working across a business estate on a global scale.

What are the meeting room solutions you would invest in right now that you think will still be relevant in a few years’ time?

It really depends what the application is. We are seeing more and more informal meeting spaces or huddle rooms. These are typically suited to small meetings bringing teams together to discuss a specific task or problem. Because these spaces are used by a wide range of people to undertake a wide range of tasks, they have to be highly capable and extremely easy to use.

Collaborative touchscreens have emerged as a technology many organisations seek to provide to their teams. The ability for multiple users to interact collaboratively with content on the fly is really accelerating business agility and improving business outcomes for organisations, especially when these teams are sometimes virtual and in different locations around the globe.

Technology is always going to evolve but increasingly these days much of the intelligence is within the software of a hardware product, this then provides greater scope for upgrading the software to match current demands extending the life of the hardware product its

‘I don’t think we see IT departments taking over the responsibility of integrators, rather they are becoming more engaged with us’

What are the advantages and disadvantages of workplace collaboration solutions becoming more integrated and interconnected?

It’s all about having the ability to create tailored environments that match client needs. The more solutions are integrated the easier they are to use, support and manage and the greater the capabilities for the user using them and to the business as a whole, driving engagement, productivity and ultimately increased ROI. How do you see things changing for the traditional AV integrator? Will they have to choose between offering a broader range of services or becoming more specialised?

I’m sure each integrator will have their own strategy and approach. Our approach has been consistent for over 50 years to provide a range of innovative technologies, solutions and services tailored to each specific client need.

Every time striving to deliver environments that provide business benefits for our clients beyond their expectation.

www.visavvi.com

32 SOLUTIONS: AMINTORE GALLI THEATRE, RIMINI ITALY

Following damage sustained during WWII, the Galli Theatre was out of commission for 75 years, but this project has restored it back to its former glory

PROJECT OF THE MONTH

Reborn in Rimini For this high profile restoration project there was a policy of keeping reconstruction faithful to the venue’s original layout, but modernised with the latest technology, writes Mike Clark

T

he municipal theatre of Rimini reopened on 28 October, following a complete rebuild and 75 years after hosting its last theatrical performance.

The original theatre (construction began in 1843) had a classic Italian opera theatre interior layout and striking GreekRoman style exterior architecture. Originally called Teatro Nuovo, the venue seated over a thousand spectators and opened in 1857 with a performance of Verdi’s Aroldo. In 1947 the

venue was named after composer Amintore Galli, but during World War II, the apse and roof collapsed, and most of the auditorium and stage were destroyed, leaving only the foyer almost undamaged.

Partial restoration was carried out between 1997 and 2001, and in 2010 the Municipality programmed a complete reconstruction of the theatre, which began in 2014. In 2015 the renovated foyer was reopened. The policy behind the reconstruction was to remain as faithful as possible to the venue’s original layout while respecting current safety regulations and installing the latest technology.

Inauguration events will be staged for two

November/December 2018

months, featuring international stars (such as Roberto Bolle & Friends), the annual Malatesta Music Sagra, prose and more. Today’s bestselling classical artist, with five Grammys to her credit, mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli performed Cenerentola in semi-scenic form with her Musiciens du Prince ensemble on the first night.

Project development The project was realised by Rimini’s Studio Ti and Daniele Naldi, head of AV and lighting at Bologna’s Municipal theatre, was consultant for the development of the audio and video project.

The tenders for AV, lighting and stage equipment was won by system integrator Decima.

Decima’s Enzo Trovato explains: “As far as the client’s brief was concerned, utmost flexibility was fundamental, to meet a wide variety of requirements: opera and prose, concerts, presentations, conferences, meetings and debates, so the infrastructure plays a key role, with fibre and Ethernet connections throughout able to handle all kinds of stage lighting, video recording and streaming necessities, as well as audio and intercom requirements.”

The audio system had to ensure top-grade

Installed Audio n Coda CoRAY 4 line array systems n Coda low/mid extensions for CoRAY 4 n Coda HOPS5 dual coax systems n Coda G18-Sub subwoofers n Coda Cue Two stage monitors n Yamaha PM7, QL5 and TF1 consoles

Video n AJA KI-Pro-Rack file-based recorder/playback n AJA Helo streaming platform n Aret AR-3 Custom audio console n Courtyard CY sync generator n Ross Video 3G SDI 16-input console n Ross Video 3G SDI 32x48 matrix n Ross Video Kaleido-XQuad multiviewer n Ross Video 3G SDI Embedder n Ross Video HD Downconverter n Ross Video CCD broadcast camera n Ross Video remote pan/tilt head

Lighting n ADB Europe C101 PC stagelights n ADB Europe C201 Fresnel stagelights n ADB ACP1001 Cyclorama Lights n ETC Ion Xe lighting consoles n GDS ARClamp LED lamps

About the installer n Decima, which is headquartered in Padua, was founded by Angelo Decima in 1948 and later managed by his son Giulio and then by grandsons Paolo and Enzo Trovato n As well as specialising in stage machinery, audio, lighting and control in Italy and abroad, Decima meets a wide range of requirements for seating, fabrics and curtains n Decima distributes brands such as ETC, Look Solutions, Rainbow Colour Changers, and Coda Audio

www.installation-international.com

sound quality and even coverage in all seats, so Materiacustica Srl, a spin-off company of Ferrara University, used Odeon V14 software to create a 3D acoustic model of the theatre, which informed the decision on what loudspeakers were selected and positioning. The audio system design was by Guido Diamanti, also responsible for final tuning and EQ. A Coda system has been installed, comprising two-way ultra-compact line source column systems, with a pair for each of the three tiers of boxes, the stalls and the gallery. These enclosures are used along with four extension enclosures for the low frequencies. To complete the setup there are four subwoofers, six front fill enclosures and four low-profile stage monitors.

The system is powered by four 5,000W fourchannel DSP amplifiers.

A Yamaha Rivage PM7 digital mixing system is positioned in the audio/video control room and a Yamaha QL5 is available for productions requiring a FOH desk (either in the centre box of tier 1, along with the lighting desks, or via floor-recessed connector panels in the stalls).

The main control room hosts two of the four multi-channel desk stations of the venue’s large Green-GO digital intercom/paging system.

As well as the joystick control panel for cameras covering the stage, the AV control room setup includes video mixer and matrix, recording hardware, streaming facilities, multiviewer and monitors for image control and post production work.

Easy configuration To create a show archive, a remote-controlled HD colour camera is installed at the height of the ceiling of the centre box on the first tier, enabling events to be covered from various angles. Connection points are ready for the installation of two more cameras in three boxes stage left and stage right. Although effectively mobile, a PTZ camera is normally set to cover the conductor. The cameras are integrated with the control system, ensuring easy configuration and control by a single operator. The modular mixer and matrix can be expanded according to future needs.

The initial stage lighting rig has 94 fixtures (PCs, Fresnels and Cycs). Bespoke trackmounted rigging is installed on the ceiling of 10 of the boxes, ready to be extended, equipped with additional FOH lighting, or retracted out of sight. The two ETC Sensor3 dimmer rooms are positioned in such a way as to keep cable runs as short as possible. One is dedicated to the stage lighting, orchestra pit, proscenium boxes, catwalks and grid with relative battens, the other to house lighting (the huge centre chandelier, box lights, etc.). It also controls service lighting in the stage zone and blue light

SOLUTIONS: AMINTORE GALLI THEATRE, RIMINI 33

A Yamaha QL5 console can be utilised by touring productions requiring a FOH desk

for safe illumination during live productions.

The stage room hosts two racks with 144 3kW circuits and 38 5kW circuits. The other’s rack has 66 3kW circuits and four 5kW circuits. All are extractable ThruPower modules as well as two compact Ion Xe consoles. Control is also possible via a Unison Paradigm Mobile Button Station App, which enables the operator to recall lighting presets, combine spaces, control zones, and record, activate, and deactivate presets all from a smartphone or tablet.

“For house lighting, this is the first project on which we’ve used the ArcSystem range of modular LED lighting and control products

by GDS, whose particularities include smooth accurate dimming down to absolute zero using wired DMX or ArcMesh wireless protocol, with a ‘Fade to Warm’ feature that mimics incandescent red shift by warming the light as it dims,” says Trovato. “The compact 4.8W ArcLamps chosen for the project are clear Candle models with 2700K colour temperature, replacing existing tungsten/incandescent lamps and offering 90% savings in energy consumption, another aspect worthy of note.

Twelve ArcLamp drivers are deployed at the Galli, each able to drive 120 ArcLamps.”

To distribute signals to and from the patch panels in the dimmer rooms and in the video and audio rack rooms, SCB (Sound and Control Boxes) and PLB (Production Lighting Boxes) are widely deployed. On-stage, there are two PLB, six on the grid and others in the boxes, with a QR code on the face plate of some, used (via a specific app) to interface with the ETC

ThruPower and regulate the dimmers or change channels from dimmed to switched without going to the dimmer room or lighting console.

SCB boxes are equipped with XLR, opticalCON, speakON, BNC and etherCON connectors, according to needs and touring productions can hook up to three Company Switches (two 125A units and a 200A version) for their power supply.

For lighting power and control distribution, in the grid boxes Link LKS Data connectors feature (in place of the ground pins) micro coax contacts, enabling each cable to carry two DMX signals or digital audio pairs. Decima requested a flat version of Link’s Power Multilines & Data hybrid cable to facilitate use and reduce the number of cables deployed. As well as all the stage rigging (including hoists by Verlinde Stagemaker and the company’s own winches), Decima also supplied the grid, stage floor, a stage lift and two orchestra platforms, as well as the decorated house curtains with traveller, swag and fly opening.

Trovato concludes: “The Galli definitely stands out from many other theatre projects for the attention paid to developing a flexible multi-function project with the most innovative technology available on the market.”

www.adbstagelight.com www.aja.com www.codaaudio.com www.courtyard.co.uk www.etcconnect.com www.gds.uk.com www.rossvideo.com www.yamahaproaudio.com

34 SOLUTIONS: GENTING ARENA, BIRMINGHAM UNITED KINGDOM

November/December 2018

The 76 Samsung displays in the food and drink areas of the Forum Live space took nine days to install

Dynamic digitisation Flexible new display solutions and efficient upcycling have enabled this multipurpose entertainment venue to maximise its profitability.

Olivia Brady reports

S

ituated at the heart of the NEC campus just outside Birmingham, the Genting Arena is the UK’s first purpose-built arena complete with roof towers to accommodate large scale concerts. It’s a multipurpose venue that focuses on music as well as comedy shows, sports events and performances of every kind over almost four decades. The arena bowl can be dressed for intimate events for around 4,500 or hold a total capacity of over 15,700 and the venue attracts in excess of 700,000 visitors to over 100 shows per year.

A unique feature of the venue is the pre and post-show entertainment area, Forum Live, which provides the opportunity for local and unsigned talent to perform and for guests to eat and drink before the main acts. It’s also the shopfloor for one of the UK’s most profitable arena merchandising initiatives. But, until recently, the arena’s capability to maximise its income from the Forum Live area had been hindered by traditional static signage that was neither flexible, nor innovative.

Project spec Anna Valley began working on a £4 million digitisation project across the NEC Group in January this year to improve wayfinding, facilitate the delivery of advertising and information and help create an end-to-end experience for visitors to the Group campus.

Replacing the printed advertising displays and the menu boards for the 28 food and beverage concepts at the Genting Arena was part of the broader commission but was managed as a separate project, with NEC Group catering company, Amadeus, as the client.

“Previously the arena was very boring, it was very bland,” explains Amadeus general manager for Genting Arena, Annie Monnox. “The printed signs said ‘perfect pizza’ or ‘brilliant burgers’ but didn’t really tell you much about the food or reflect the outlet’s look and feel.”

The project goals were to modernise the arena’s appearance while cutting down on printing costs and increasing the venue’s profits by providing

Installed Video n Amino H150 set-top-boxes n Samsung PM49H smart signage displays n Samsung PM43H smart signage displays n Samsung PM55H smart signage displays n Samsung DM75E smart signage displays n Samsung SH37F smart signage displays n Tripleplay IPTV system

Accessories n Peerless ST640P mounts n Peerless ST650P mounts n Peerless MOD-CDF, MOD-ACF, MOD-P200, MOD-FPMS and MOD-UNM ceiling mounts

About the installer n Anna Valley is an integrator based in Feltham just outside London n The company offers technical planning, installation, and service and support n Its target markets are corporate, DOOH, retail, sports and entertainment venues

SOLUTIONS: GENTING ARENA, BIRMINGHAM 35

Static overhead menus were replaced with digital displays positioned at eye level behind the food counters

dynamic advertising and promotional capability.

Monnox explains how the installation was planned over two phases to fit around the busy event schedule at the arena. “We scheduled the installation around our dark days – when we don’t have any events on. We also looked at the events that we had booked – some events only have a small attendance and not every area is open – so we made sure we focussed on the areas that were going to open first and then worked on the other areas later in the month. We did focus on the Forum Live space first because we wanted this to look great from the start.”

Phase one The first phase of the installation took place over nine days between 5-20 February 2018. Three Anna Valley teams worked across 18 locations to install 76 large format Samsung displays, with screen sizes varying from 49 to 75in.

“This phase of the project provided digital menu boards for each of the individual food and beverage outlets in the Forum Live space,” says Anna Valley’s director of integration, Nick Shaw.

“We worked with the catering team to identify the most effective positioning for the new displays and with the NEC digital team to integrate the displays with the NEC Group’s Tripleplay IPTV system for content management.”

Overhead static menus were replaced with digital displays positioned at eye level behind the food counters, providing Monnox’s team with the ability to run animated advertising and dynamic pricing and promotions for different events. “We have 15,700 people coming into this area – queues are inevitable – but with digital signage people can read what’s on the menu and the special promotions while they’re in the queue, so they can order what they want as soon as they reach the till – digital signage really

helps with the speed of service,” comments Monnox. “Another great thing is that we can change screen content individually. If we have an event and the client wants something specific, we can change that – and you don’t have to be on site, you can change it remotely.”

Arena bowl The second phase of the project focussed on updating general signage and advertising in the arena bowl and took place over eight days between 6-15 May 2018.

Nick Shaw explains that while this installation covered 55 locations, only 19 new displays were deployed. “We conducted an asset review of the current screens and overhauled their whole estate, moving screens around, replacing broken ones and repairing and upgrading faulty displays to achieve the best result for the available budget.”

“We did quite a lot of walk-arounds with Anna Valley just to make sure we had the screens in the right place. What we wanted to do was get the best screens for the best price, to provide the best customer experience,” continues Monnox.

“But we soon realised that some of what we wanted may be cost prohibitive, so we decided to overhaul and repair some of the screens rather than replace them – which meant we were able to afford larger screens in other areas.”

Displays in the arena bowl needed to be multipurpose and available for use as menu boards, for public service announcements and even to feed live event coverage from the main stage for audience members that step out to get food or use the facilities. To achieve this, Anna Valley upgraded 36 existing screens by adding set-top-boxes and storage capability to the devices so that they could be connected to the same content management system as the new displays.

Monnox is excited about the opportunities these multipurpose displays will provide. “The future is really exciting and the scope of what we can do with these digital screens is absolutely amazing. If we’ve got a queue at one bar, what we want to be able to do is just pop up messages saying there’s no queue at another bar or there’s something exciting happening in a different area so that we can drive people to different areas during an event.”

Results Replacing static displays with digital screens has provided Amadeus and the Genting Arena with the ability to be dynamic and responsive in their approach to advertising and promotion, supporting the venue’s flexible approach to hosting events and performances.

The team have already started seeing the benefit of using digital displays in this way, running a special Trooper beer promotion at an Iron Maiden concert, which generated thousands in additional earnings, and prompted customers to drink more water, which saw water replace Amstel on the venue’s best-selling beverage list.

“We used to have to go to marketing and they had to produce the boards which was actually a really long process, you had to have a good idea three weeks before to make sure it worked,” says Monnox. “Now, even on the day we can have a great idea for a promotion and bang it’s on the screen. When the digital screens first went live on the first event we had, the difference was phenomenal.”

www.aminocom.com www.annavalley.co.uk www.peerless-av.com https://displaysolutions. samsung.com www.tripleplay.tv

36 SOLUTIONS: 48 SHAKESPEARE STREET, NOTTINGHAM UNITED KINGDOM

The principal aim for the project was to enhance the graduation ceremony experience, while preserving the Victorian interior of the venue

Degrees of audio A suite of audio kit balances modernity with historic sensitivity at this storied venue, writes Tom Bradbury

S

ince being constructed in 1854, 48 Shakespeare Street in Nottingham has taken many forms including a Wesleyan Chapel and a Synagogue. The Grade II-listed building was then acquired by Nottingham Trent University (NTU) in 2016 and has since been the subject of sensitive refurbishment works aimed at creating a facility suitable for ceremonial occasions such as graduation days.

NTU required a system to provide sound reinforcement, signal processing and lecture capture for the main ceremonial hall, as well as further audio provision for the ancillary spaces.

The listed status of the main hall meant that all works had to be undertaken with great sensitivity towards the Victorian interior. NTU’s AV and media services team leader Stuart Loughran asked POLAR to design a system and Roche Audio Visual was appointed to install the systems.

The main ceremonial hall is divided between a ground floor and a surrounding first floor mezzanine. The nature of the architecture means the space is highly reverberant, complicated by low-ceilinged areas beneath the mezzanine. Flexible wireless microphone systems were required to cater for a wide range of uses in both the hall and the music centre.

Loughran and his team were familiar with the Renkus-Heinz ICONYX range of loudspeakers and Mark Bromfield of POLAR was in agreement that these discreet units would be the right fit. In the main hall Roche AV installed two Renkus-Heinz ICONYX IC16-RD in the upstairs mezzanine area and two IC8-RD downstairs. Each self-powered IC16 allows up to eight steerable beams to be individually shaped and aimed, while the IC8 allows up to four.

Two Renkus-Heinz CF15S-5 subwoofers were located downstairs. Supplementing the system

were four pairs of Cornered Audio C5TRM speakers positioned as delays (two in the upper area and two in the lower) for additional voice lift when required, driven by four MC2 Audio T1000 amplifiers.

Two Biamp TesiraFORTE DAN CI digital audio servers with 12 analogue inputs, eight analogue outputs and Dante digital audio networking, were installed to control all audio processing, including signal routing, mixing, filtering, EQ and delay.

POLAR’s design specified a beyerdynamic TG 1000 digital wireless system. In the ceremonial hall, six beyerdynamic TG 1000 DR dual receivers with Dante interface were integrated into the network. A combination of seven beltpack transmitters for use with TG H57C earhook microphones, four handheld transmitters with TG V50w capsules and two beyerdynamic Classis GM 315 gooseneck microphones cover the requirements of the venue.

In the music centre extension, a different RenkusHeinz system was specified, this time based on two CFX121, two CFX81 (delays) driven by one MC2 T1500 and an MC2 T1000 amplifier and two self-powered CF12S 5R. An additional two Biamp DAN C1 servers were put in place along with a Mackie DL32R mixing console, controlled wirelessly using the Master Fader iPad app. Another TG 1000 beyerdynamic wireless system was installed in the space, comprising in this instance six TG 1000 DR dual receivers, six TG 1000 beltpack transmitters and six H57C earhook microphones.

The final part of the install saw the dance studio equipped with a pair of Renkus-Heinz CFX 121 speakers driven by an MC2 T1500 amplifier. A beyerdynamic TG 534 Headworn wireless mic set was chosen for this single-use space.

“Our principal aim was to enhance the graduation ceremony experience by providing an AV solution that could be streamed to other venues in the

November/December 2018

Installed Audio n beyerdynamic TG 1000 DR dual receivers [with Dante interface] n beyerdynamic TG H57C earhook microphones n beyerdynamic TG V50w microphones n beyerdynamic TG 1000 beltpack transmitters n beyerdynamic Classis GM 315 gooseneck microphones n beyerdynamic TG 534 Headworn wireless microphone set n Biamp TesiraFORTE DAN CI digital audio servers n Cornered Audio C5TRM speakers n Mackie DL32R mixing console n MC2 Audio T1000 and T1500 amplifiers n Renkus-Heinz CF15S subwoofers n Renkus-Heinz CFX121 two-way loudspeakers n Renkus-Heinz CFX81 two-way loudspeakers n Renkus-Heinz IC16-RD loudspeakers n Renkus-Heinz IC8-RD loudspeakers university, as well as to our dedicated YouTube channel,” explains Loughran. “The beyerdynamic gooseneck microphones assist the vice chancellor, registrar and other dignitaries addressing the guests and graduands, whilst the beltpack and handheld mics act as backup or for use in other events.

“The audio within the hall across both floors is crystal clear and provides the right amount of voice reinforcement required to make ceremonies enjoyable from a practical and technical point of view. The system inputs in a very straightforward way to our broadcast system and we’ve already received an excellent response from people all over the world who have been unable to attend ceremonies and have instead enjoyed our YouTube transmissions.”

Mark Bromfield, business development manager at POLAR concludes: “NTU and Roche have successfully rolled out a number of schemes using Renkus-Heinz loudspeakers, so there was a preexisting appreciation of just how effectively the ICONYX can handle potentially difficult spaces.

The main challenge at 48 Shakespeare Street was the fact that it was on two levels. Very careful consideration had to be given to the speaker placements, not only in terms of achieving the highest standard of intelligibility but also to meet the aesthetic needs of the heritage architecture.

The project team has succeeded in both respects, creating a visually discreet system that delivers exceptional audio.”

https://europe.beyerdynamic.com www.biamp.com www.cornered.dk/professional www.mackie.com www.mc2-audio.co.uk www.polar.uk.com www.renkus-heinz.com www.rocheav.co.uk

38 SOLUTIONS IN BRIEF

November/December 2018

USA

Boston Harbor’s ‘Tidal Light’ data sculpture This artwork commissioned by National Development and located at Constitution Center in Charlestown, Massachusetts uses custom software and dynamic lighting to translate the water conditions in Boston Harbor into animated displays of light.

Part of a new public artwork by Sosolimited called Tidal Light, the lights show a real time visualisation of the tides in Boston Harbor.

Data is updated in real time from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The movement and colour of the lights are driven by the tide height and wave conditions for Buoy Station 44013, located 16 miles east of Boston in Massachusetts Bay. The lighting simulates a scene of water and sky, showing the current tide level with the

www.sosolimited.com

height of the horizon and the wave conditions through the movement of the water. The colours of the artwork shift throughout the day, moving from a warm orange glow at dawn to a vibrant purple at dusk.

National Development commissioned the artwork as part of the renovation of

Constitution Center. Ten glowing pylons on the marina activate the public running path and form a beacon visible from all over the city. In addition to the pylons, an illuminated teak wall in the lobby – driven by the same tide data – greets visitors to the building with a dynamic surface of colour.

AUSTRALIA

University venue goes digital

www.martin-audio.com

Picture: Jason Smith

UK

Dream signage install for flagship store Silentnight has installed bespoke in-window and in-store digital signage solutions at its newly opened flagship bed showroom in the Intu, Lakeside Shopping Centre, Thurrock.

Universal AV managed the project, choosing Peerless DS-VW765-LQR SmartMount Full-Service Video Wall Mounts, which included installer-friendly features and UL safety assurance. The mounts also feature a push release mechanism providing convenient access for maintenance.

Two 1 x 2 Philips 55in LCD displays in purposebuilt cabinets are positioned in the windows at either side of the store entrance, a 2 x 2 Philips 55in LCD videowall in cabinet is situated upon entry, and there are two Philips 55in LCD displays installed in the staff meeting room and children’s activity area.

www.peerless-av.com

The University of Newcastle’s Great Hall has undergone an AV infrastructure upgrade focused on improving audio and video quality and reliability.

The Great Hall is a multi-functional facility used for a variety of functions ranging from formal University graduations, public performances, open days, community events as well as learning activities.

For the AV upgrade, a system based on a Martin Audio WPM PA was selected. The main PA system consisted of six hangs. At FOH (Left/Right) are 14 Martin Audio WPM per side with Left/Right hangs of four MSX per side and Left/Right delays of 10 Martin Audio WPM per side. Front fill consists of six Martin Audio CDD6 below the front lip of the stage and a pair of Martin Audio CDD6 as out fills to cover the outside front corners. Four CDD-LIVE 12 were also deployed.

40 SOLUTIONS IN BRIEF

November/December 2018

USA

NBA’s first 360° LED screen Atlanta Hawks’ State Farm Arena has been equipped with a 360° LED screen following the second-largest renovation in NBA history.

More than 12,000sqft of Samsung SMART LED signage has been installed throughout the arena, combining to offer 10 times more LED video than the previous configuration. The main, centrehung videoboard is not only the NBA’s first 360°, continuous video screen, it’s also said to be the first arena bowl to feature HD quality, 6mm LED video display technology.

The centre-hung videoboard includes a massive 4,477sqft of HD video displays, offering trueto-life colours and dynamic details. The centrehung structure that holds the high resolution, 6mm pixel pitch display features two additional displays mounted in its interior. Measuring 20ft-wide by 9ft-high, these displays offer an

https://displaysolutions.samsung.com

additional 360sqft of active video viewing area.

More than 20 LED displays have been installed throughout the arena, for a total of 12,047sqft of

LED video. With more than 30.42 million individual LED pixels, these displays deliver crisp, clear content throughout the arena.

ROMANIA

Five-star sound at Romanian hotel The newly-built five-star Hotel Nyota is located between the Danube and the Black Sea, with stunning lakeside sunset views of Siutghiol Lake.

A premium solution was required, according to integrator and Powersoft distributor Marius Craiu, sales and marketing manager of AudioVision Store, and the only viable option as he saw it was to use Powersoft Ottocanali amplifiers, to manage the zoning and room audio systems.

The hotel needed the AV system to cover all areas including conference facilities and a 70-seat theatre, with priority for EVAC announcements and both local and remote control of the zones.

Overall, the installation took nearly four months to complete, taking place as the hotel building work was being finished.

www.powersoft-audio.com

CROATIA/HUNGARY

Picture: IAAC

Euro transport hubs opt for LED The IAAC (International Airport Advertising Corporation) has selected Absen to equip Zagreb and Budapest airports with high-end LED solutions.

The transport hubs now feature a number of Absen N4 indoor screens as well as XD6 outdoor panels.

The project involved an overhaul of the existing visual solutions at Zagreb, which had no digital media in place, while in Budapest, the approach focussed on upgrading the media already in-situ and installing more advanced digital media.

In Zagreb, the N4 display is at a soffit height in the check-in hall, centred above all the counters, while the XD6 display is positioned at the entrance and exit of the ramp outside the terminal. In Budapest, the N4 is stationed at each of the check-in terminals and hung from the rafters of the SkyCourt, and the XD6 on the approach to the airport.

www.absen-europe.com

TECHNOLOGY

Kit you need to know about

PRODUCT OF Kinly THE MONTH Meeting Assistant app

It’s… the new Meeting Assistant smartphone app.

What’s new? The app enables participants to join and control high quality video meetings from their smartphone.

Details: Alongside the app, Kinly has launched Room Configurator and Smart Monitoring services to help video meetings become secure and seamless. Part of the launch is also a set of packaged Customer Success services, to help clients get full value from collaboration technology.

The additions from Kinly provide users of collaboration technology, IT professionals and business leaders with several new features, whether in a meeting room, at a desk with a laptop or travelling with a mobile device.

The Kinly Meeting Assistant app provides full meeting control at the user’s fingertips and is also compatible with Kinly Personal Cloud Rooms.

The app is available for iOS and Android devices, integrates with the user’s calendar, and will notify the user when it’s time to be part of a video

meeting. If other users are struggling to join a meeting, they can easily be dialed in via the Kinly Meeting Assistant from a smartphone.

An important part of the launch is the introduction of the Room Configurator, which structures design and configuration of standardised smart meeting rooms. The design team can then select the technology, number of screens, presentation options and other service attachments, such as Smart Monitoring.

Adding the Smart Monitoring service to a Kinly Room makes it a Smart Room, which is easier to support, provide a better user experience, and help customers save cost and drive business value.

Kinly offer tools and services to help customers that heavily depend on the performance of their collaboration technology and meeting rooms. The launch of Smart Monitoring is essential to this offering, it enables proactive remote management of connections and equipment. It also delivers statistics on use, and analytics presented in useful dashboards, highlighting how rooms are used and what the performance of endpoints is. With this

data Kinly can provide predictive maintenance and guidance on how to improve room usage.

The Customer Success service has already been pre-launched. In-room and over video training, together with promotional videos customised for each client, and e-learning portals makes a significant impact on usage and improvement of how users work with collaboration technology. Survey tools for user feedback, as well as usage and adoption analytics based on Smart Monitoring is also part of the offering.

To provide a clear and fully integrated portfolio, Kinly has developed a new integrated framework for its solutions and services. This is designed to help existing and future customers extract more value from collaboration tech – before purchase; during implementation; and in the use phase.

Available: Now www.kinly.com

44 TECHNOLOGY: NEW PRODUCTS n Christie D4K40-RGB This new 3DLP projector is aimed at large venues, sports facilities, domes, giant screens, planetariums and theme park attractions. Christie claims the D4K40-RGB produces greater than 90% of the Rec. 2020 colour space for vibrant true-to-life visuals − built into a projector weighing less than half of its closest competitor.

Shipping in December, the D4K40-RGB delivers over 30,000 hours of operation to 80% brightness, and also features a new, patented, sealed optical path. www.christiedigital.com n Bose Array Tool The Bose Array Tool is a new software application to help make sound system design smarter for AV professionals with an intuitive workflow that requires minimal training. Using a direct-field calculation engine, system designers can quickly try out different loudspeaker models, placements, and formations to best match the audio needs of a venue. The software provides intuitive drawing tools to manipulate room surfaces and loudspeakers dynamically and allows for visualising the speakers’ coverage effect in near real time. http://pro.bose.com n NEC InfinityBoard The second generation of the InfinityBoard is available in four sizes (55in up to 86in) and designed for meetings, presentations, conferencing and collaboration. The latest InfinityBoard is an all-inone workspace designed for every meeting size and scenario – from brainstorming to reviewing content and videoconferencing. Each version incorporates a professional UHD InGlass touch display, providing a paper-like touch performance using passive stylus pens. They also include a wide angle Huddly GO videoconferencing camera and high-end conference speakers for a natural participant experience. www.nec-display-solutions.com n Attero Tech D2FLEXio The first in its new series of networked AVC solutions (the Axon product family), the D2FLEXio provides cost effective analogue audio connectivity for installed AV systems. Each analogue audio I/O features an installer selectable switch to assign input or output audio connectivity. This flexibility provides a single product solution for analogue audio conversion to and from any Dante or AES67 system. www.atterotech.com

November/December 2018

Atlona

OMEGA Series It’s… a range of switching, extension and video processing solutions What’s new? To kick off the new series Atlona has launched three products, the AT-OME-TX21WP-E, the AT-OME-ST31 and the AT-OME-SW32.

Details: The OMEGA Series has been designed to address evolving trends in how people gather to share information and facilitate productivity, as well as the ways in which they engage technology for communicating through AV content.

The OME-TX21-WP-E is a two-input, 4K EU/ UK wallplate switcher and HDBaseT transmitter with one HDMI input, one USB-C input and one HDBaseT output. It is suitable for use as a core component of a small AV deployment or for providing convenient AV connectivity in lecterns, floor boxes and remote wall locations for largerscale installations.

The OME-ST31 is a global 3x1, 4K switcher and HDBaseT transmitter with two HDMI inputs, one USB-C input, and two mirrored outputs – one HDMI, and one HDBaseT for transmitting video, embedded audio and control signals up to 100m

over category cable. The compact form factor facilitates discreet integration with furniture in meeting rooms, auditoriums and open presentation spaces.

Lastly, the OME-SW32 is a global 4K HDR, 3x2 matrix switcher featuring two HDMI inputs and one USB-C input, the latter enabling direct connectivity for laptops and mobile devices with AV-capable USB-C ports. The unit’s two HDMI outputs can be flexibly configured with a choice of three mirrored and matrix switching modes, while balanced analogue audio output provides de-embedded stereo audio. Easily mounted under a conference table in smaller meeting spaces, the OME-SW32 can serve dual displays; sub-switching into a central AV-over-IP system such as Atlona’s OmniStream platform; videoconferencing; and many other applications.

Available: Now www.atlona.com

Leyard VVR Series

It’s… a range of indoor and outdoor LED videowalls

What’s new? The VVR Series features magnetically-attachable cabinets for fast assembly, easy access to electronics for simple maintenance and a quick-lock system to support single-person installation and handling.

Details: The quick-to-assemble videowall solutions are designed for rental and staging applications but also incorporate the robustness, serviceability and 24x7 support required for indoor and outdoor fixed installation environments.

The Leyard VVR Series can be used to create videowalls for almost any indoor or outdoor application including live events, signage and billboards. The displays can also be tailored to creative designs including hanging, wallmounted, floor-mounted and faceted videowalls.

A magnetic system holds LED cabinets in

place while an installer secures the cabinet and finalises cabling. Leyard VVR Series cabinets also feature an embedded quick-lock system, making it efficient to attach cabinets together during videowall installation. All electronic components are contained in a single compartment on the back of the LED cabinet for easy maintenance.

The series also supports a large variety of user viewing needs. Indoor models are available in 2.5, 3.9, 4.8 and 5.9mm pixel pitches. Outdoor models are available in 2.9, 3.9, 4.8, 5.9, 7.8 and 10.4mm pixel pitches.

Available: Q1 2019 www.leyard.com

46 TECHNOLOGY: NEW PRODUCTS n Optoma Creative Touch IFPD series No longer just a projection company, Optoma has announced a new range of interactive flat panel displays, to be unveiled at ISE 2019 and made available to the EMEA market from Q1 2019. The new Creative Touch IFPD series will be available in 65in, 75in and 86in formats and will have extensive connectivity with versatile plug and play compatibility with Windows, Mac and Chrome OS devices. They will offer wireless content sharing via iMirror and ScreenShare to encourage BYOD collaboration. www.optoma.co.uk n Vision TC 20MHDMI and 30MHDMI Targeting the corporate AV installation market, Vision has added two new HDMI cables to the range; 20 and 30m copper cables with active inline boosters. These will take the place of its optical HDMI cables in favour of more cost effective copper units, capable of reliably delivering a 4K signal. The new cables can deliver a 4K signal at 30Hz. The booster circuit sits in a tubular enclosure to reduce snagging and use AWG 24 conductors. www.visionaudiovisual.com n Panasonic ShadowSense The new ShadowSense touchscreen videowall solution is aimed at retailers, museums and high-end corporations. The multitouch solution is built with Panasonic’s 55in panels to provide a cost-effective method to create an interactive videowall display of any size. It is able to recognise a maximum of 20 different simultaneous touch points for larger videowalls, with 12 touch points in simple configurations such as 2x1. The technology automatically detects and switches between input devices, such as a fingertip, stylus or eraser and is also able to identify and ignore accidental touches.

https://business.panasonic.co.uk/visual-system

n Black Box Emerald SE This IP-based KVM system enables scalable connectivity in both traditional and virtualised environments and is flexible and customisable through a software licence option.

Emerald is Black Box’s first converged KVM solution for distributing high-quality video, audio and peripheral signals throughout expanding hybrid environments that include both IP and proprietary direct-connect networks, mixed resolutions up to and beyond UHD/4K and any number and combination of physical and virtual desktops and servers. www.black-box.eu

November/December 2018

Lutron RA2 Select

It’s… a lighting and shading control system

What’s new? The whole-home system brings smart home lighting control to a wider audience.

Details: The system provides smart home capabilities, personalised control and added convenience for the homeowner. A free app allows users to monitor and adjust lights and blinds on their smart device wherever they are. RA2 Select also integrates with other smart home technologies bringing added simplicity to the smart home, including Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, The Google Assistant, Honeywell WiFi Thermostats, Nest and Sonos.

The only wiring required for RA2 Select is the in-line dimmers and switches. The Main Repeater is simply plugged in to a wall socket for power and connected to the home network for integration.

Auxiliary repeaters can be added to extend the range of the system for large homes.

RA2 Select lets the user control lighting and blinds on their smartphone or tablet using the free Lutron RA2Select app. This means

homeowners can control lights, blinds and temperature in their home or from anywhere in the world.

The Pico remote is a keypad that allows users to control the system anywhere in the home. It comes with an intuitive scene icon, which is fully customisable, so users can add personalised scenes to control multiple lights and blinds together at the touch of a button. For example, creating a ‘Movie’ scene that dims lights and lowers blinds as the movie begins, or a ‘Goodnight’ scene that turns off all lights and closes blinds before the user drifts off to sleep.

Available: Now www.lutron.com/europe

QSC

Q-SYS Networking Solutions It’s… networking options for the Q-SYS platform What’s new? The network switches and additional networking resources are designed to help integrators simplify installation and increase profitability on Q-SYS-based networked audio, video and control systems.

Details: Q-SYS NS Series network switches are enterprise-grade, fully managed switches for integrators looking to reduce the amount of time spent on the deployment of Q-SYS on a local network. They are pre-configured to meet the performance requirements of the Q-SYS platform and associated third-party networking technologies.

Available in eight-port, 24-port and 48-port models, these Dell EMC network switches provide real-time transport of Q-SYS AVC, as well as AES67 and Dante audio streams simultaneously within the same VLAN, all

without the need to manually configure the network switch or end points. The NS Series is a plug-and-play solution said to enable faster, more reliable system deployment and support for the entire Q-SYS ecosystem, including future networked Q-SYS processors and peripherals.

For large enterprise installations that require a converged network infrastructure for a Q-SYS deployment, QSC has partnered with the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory, an independent provider of broadbased testing and standards conformance services for the networking industries, to provide independent network switch qualification for the Q-SYS platform.

Available: Now www.qsc.com

48 TECHNOLOGY: SHOWCASE

November/December 2018

Projection screens The latest screen options do more than just provide a stunning image – adjustability and flexibility are becoming increasingly necessary to compete in this evolving market

AV Stumpfl simplifies height adjustments The T-32 SHIFT is a projection screen system leg, which was unveiled at ISE this year. It has been designed to make it easy for one person to adjust the height of a projection screen frame, which is useful in cases where the position of the projector cannot be changed or the actual floor of a building is not truly level. A simple but very durable locking mechanism makes sure the frame stays at the exact height where it should be.

The T-32 SHIFT legs are compatible with AV Stumpfl’s Monoblox32 and MonoClip32 projection screen frames, which means they can easily be combined with existing AV Stumpfl screen systems. Customers who use MonoClip32 or

Monoblox32 screen systems do not need to buy new projection screen frames, they can simply switch to using the T-32 SHIFT legs.

A principle advantage of the T-32 is it allows the customer to adjust the height of a mobile projection screen without having to disassemble it first, which is time consuming and usually involves two people. Using the T-32 Shift, it takes less than five minutes to assemble a complete AV Stumpfl mobile projection screen system, including height adjustments.

www.avstumpfl.com

Optoma intros four electric screens These four 4K ISF certified tab tension electric screens are suitable for both business and home use and complement Optoma’s range of 4K UHD projectors.

The DE-1123ETT, DE-1109ETT, SE-9120ETT, DE-9106ETT have a tension adjustment system that keeps the screen fabric tensioned at every point. The matte white fabric contains a layer of diamond patterns designed to enhance picture quality, colour and maximise the performance of ultra high definition content.

The 106in, 109in, 120in and 123in screens are said to feature one of the best mounting systems on the market, making them quick and easy to install. Two small L-shaped brackets fit to the wall or ceiling anywhere along the length of the case. Once the screen is clipped into the brackets an aluminium level secures it in position.

The IR receiver on the front of the curved case can be controlled with a simple handheld remote.

If the screen is installed behind a pelmet, or recessed into the ceiling, a small external IR eye is also included. Its 12V trigger input allows the screen to be activated from any projector or AV control system with a 12V output.

dnp delivers custom options dnp’s Supernova Infinity has been designed for indoor large venues and generally anywhere a permanent large screen with high contrast is needed higher than 1.5m in a brightly lit environment. The main applications have been auditoriums and large conference halls, but other applications are houses of worship, control rooms and indoor digital signage.

The Infinity can be customised to the user’s exact needs and size. The supporting structure holds the screen panels in place with strong magnets and it interlocks the panels making sure that there are no physical gap between the panels. The magnets and the interlock system make it easy and quick to assemble compared to an LED screen. The Infinity can be customised up to 7.5m in height and it can be angled, curved, suspended from the ceiling, put on a floor stand or a wall and can have custom colour frames or no frame at all.

www.optoma.com www.dnp-screens.com

www.installation-international.com

TECHNOLOGY: SHOWCASE 49

‘Levitating’ images from Screen Innovations Zero-G is a motorised screen that can be mounted flush or externally. The screen drops out of the case and expands at a preset location to deliver a ‘levitating’ image, suspended by cables.

It is available in 11 materials and sizes from 80in up to 160in, progressing in 1in increments.

The aspect ratios include 16:9, 16:10 and 2.35:1.

The design of the Zero-G includes engineering features such as removable PCB and upper motor lift tubes, factory pre-programmed bomb bay style doors (flush unit only), and automatic upper limits via optical sensors.

An advantage a motorised screen provides over a flat-panel display is it can be installed anywhere in a room, without it obscuring the view. Other features that facilitate simple installation and install adjustment is that the material roll is pre-installed from the factory. There is also a removable upper motor lift tube with single pin release.

www.screeninnovations.com

Projecta brings ceilingrecessed flexibility

The Tensioned DescenderPro has been available since July and it is specifically designed for ceiling recessed projection screen installations.

When a ceiling recessed projection screen is installed into a suspended ceiling, then the case itself will be the only thing that’s visible. This makes the case design an important aspect of the product and for the DescenderPro it has been designed in a way that all gaps and openings are minimised,

and no screw is visible when looking up.

When the entire product is installed, you still have a clean aesthetic look to the ceiling.

The DescenderPro combines new installation features with a new motorised ALR surface option in addition to the high-resolution 16K ready HD Progressive materials. One of the most noticeable new features is the possibility to click-in the entire roller that includes the motor and screen surface after installation of the case.

The projection surface screen includes characteristics to get the best result out of the projector in terms of image detail, uniformity and colour fidelity. This material offers true Ambient Light Rejection, with an ALR rating of 96%. By using ALR projection surfaces the customer can preserve contrast, even in environments with ambient light that would usually decrease contrast and detail.

Draper delivers for UST applications Draper launched the TecVision XH800X UST ALR ambient light-rejecting projection viewing surface at InfoComm earlier this year.

It is optimised for UST projection in moderate to high ambient light applications. This surface can reject 57% of off-axis ambient light, allowing it to achieve high contrast while still being able to support wide viewing angles. The viewing surface is ISF certified for colour accuracy and 8K ready.

Optimising the surface for UST applications was a challenge because the optics of UST projection inherently include very wide viewing angles, and ambient light rejection screen technology generally works better in a narrower cone.

Most ALR screen surfaces are manufactured to reflect off-axis ambient light away from the viewer and have narrower viewing cones. The XH800X has an extra wide viewing cone of 130° even with UST projection and ambient light rejecting properties.

www.legrandav.com/products/projecta www.draperinc.com

50 LAST WORD: MIKE ALLAN, EXTERITY

November/December 2018

Solving the IP video security puzzle How to make sense of content security for those looking to offer an IP video service

T

he move towards an all-IP, multiscreen media consumption model has transformed the way we access content. Organisations are now looking at multiple connected devices, which are all able to receive video both on secure LAN networks and WiFi. Under these circumstances, it is easy to forget content protection requirements and the need to secure your AV solutions as you would your IT. Most integrators will be familiar with Highbandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) and the concept of Digital Rights Management (DRM), end users may not. For them, the requirements are simple: have relevant content made available to their staff, guests or visitors in high quality. In many ways, end users are adopting the same attitude they do with the multiscreen services they use at home: authorisations are seamless and completely invisible, but present nonetheless.

Making sense of the security conundrum For anyone looking to offer an IP video service, content security should be a fundamental consideration. This translates into a number of standards in the AV industry, of which HDCP is the most common. HDCP prevents copying of digital audio and video content over physical connections, such as DisplayPort, DVI and HDMI connections but now also provides for protection over IP.

‘Ensuring devices are fully secure for content protection goes a long way to meeting IT security requirements’

Intended originally to protect content between a small number of locally connected devices, its implementation over IP remains the same. Once protected by HDCP, this protection must be maintained from source to destination. Recent innovations in HDCP, such as HDCP Pro, have also enabled the distribution of the protected content to an almost unlimited number of devices, with the main remaining constraint being the geographical reach of the network.

Each device used to receive, transmit and deliver video over IP needs to be fully secure and integrated with each other to avoid weak links across the system. End users will already know which solutions they want, or they may be looking for

specific requirements that the integrator needs to meet, such as the overall price of the project or very high picture quality. These demands need to be met with solutions that provide both the right quality of service and the highest level of content protection. Ensuring the devices are fully secure for content protection also goes a long way to meeting those IT security requirements.

Protecting content for the masses This is particularly crucial for environments where multiple people will be able to access the same content, often at different times, such as the hospitality industry or student accommodations.

Many universities are providing premium content to students and lecturers. The problem this can pose for AV managers is that this information is passing through multiple networks to various devices that may not all be automatically recognised or authorised. Keeping the content secure so that only the intended people can see it while keeping costs of maintenance low is key. It is not always sufficient to protect the content from unauthorised access using a protection technology like HDCP; it may also require the use of a DRM solution to control who gets access to what and when.

Naturally, content owners insist that their content is suitably protected however and wherever it is distributed. In the hospitality industry, hoteliers are increasingly looking to provide ‘early release’ window access to content, making strong security even more of a priority.

To create a ‘better than home’ experience authorisations have to be kept as simple as possible. Ultimately, security considerations should be completely invisible to guests and only be managed by the AV team in a centralised way.

Being equipped with the latest content protection solutions is a fundamental step for end users and integrators to ensure the secure end-to-end delivery of premium content. By deploying protection systems like HDCP Pro or DRM solutions such as ARRIS SECUREMEDIA, Verimatrix and Samsung LYNK DRM, we ensure that our customers can easily meet the security requirements of the content industry.

Mike Allan is CTO at Exterity

www.exterity.com

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