Issue 192 /June 2016
AV INTEGRATION IN A NETWORKED WORLD
www.installation-international.com
pixels count p30 Making How can displays keep improving? high p36 Riding How theme park tech continues to evolve
Installation Hall of Fame: first inductees named – page 6
battles begone! p40 Budget Tools for managing project costs
WINNING LINE-UP We report from Lille’s Euro 2016 stadium p44 Master Station serves up to 24 remote stations
Connection of User Stations via LAN with PoE switches or via powered daisy chain lines Full color high-resolution displays 48 kHz / 16 bit uncompressed audio 4 Master Stations may be linked Remote Speaker Station
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Subscriptions to Installation are free to qualified readers. Register online at www.installation-international.com/subscribe Circulation & subscription enquiries Tel: +44 (0)1580 883848 Email: installation.subscriptions@c-cms.com Installation is published by NewBay Media Europe, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London N1 8LR, England Editorial tel: +44 (0)20 7354 6002 Sales tel: +44 (0)20 7354 6000 Please send press material to ukpressreleases@nbmedia.com NEW ADDRESS: On 13 June, our offices are moving to: The Emerson Building, 4-8 Emerson Street, London SE1 9DU, England. (Phone numbers will not change.) Editor: Paddy Baker pbaker@nbmedia.com
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Contributors: David Davies, Rob Lane, Ian McMurray, Steve Montgomery, Roland Ollek, Neil Voce Special thanks: Karen O’Mahoney, Helmut Seidl
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Print ISSN: 2050-6104
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Cover image: Stade Pierre Mauroy, Liile (Photo: Paddy Baker)
A sister title to SCN
WELCOME 03
A serious game I
t’s not a particularly original observation, I know – but there is a lot of money in football. When Middlesbrough played Brighton and Hove Albion last month in a match that saw the winner promoted to the English Premier League, Deloitte calculated that the difference between winning and losing that one game was at least £170 million. I haven’t, however, seen a figure for the cost of restaging the recent Manchester United versus Bournemouth fixture. Old Trafford stadium was evacuated when a suspicious device was found in one of the toilets; ironically, this turned out to be a dummy device, mistakenly left over from a security exercise. In April, stadium safety was in the news for a more serious reason: the verdict of the second inquest into the Hillsborough disaster. Paddy Baker, Editor This was a horrific crush incident at an FA Cup semi-final at Sheffield pbaker@nbmedia.com Wednesday’s ground in 1989. The jury ruled that the 96 people @install8ion who ultimately died were unlawfully killed. It’s a disgrace that it has taken so long to finally discredit the police line that drunken supporters were to blame for the tragedy. Although the cover-up is the most shameful aspect, the police aren’t alone in shouldering the blame for what happened: the inquest also implicated the ambulance service, Sheffield Wednesday, and the club’s consultant engineers. Simply put, crowd safety wasn’t high enough on a lot of people’s agendas.
‘Simply put, crowd safety wasn’t high enough on a lot of people’s agendas’ Putting the issue of responsibility aside for a moment, the causes of the calamity were determined years ago. The official enquiry, led by Lord Taylor, reported in 1989 and 1990 – and its recommendations led, among other things, to the removal of standing areas at major stadiums. It also found that the inability of the stadium authorities to communicate with the crowd was a contributing factor in the disaster – which led to the use of voice alarm systems in venues where large numbers of people gather. Hillsborough is mentioned in the new edition of RH Consulting’s Guide to Voice Alarm Systems, which we review on page 18. The book offers guidance through what is a complex area of technology, with numerous standards, some of which can appear to be contradictory. Also in this issue (page 44) is my report on the installation at Lille’s Stade Pierre Mauroy, one of the venues for the Euro 2016 championship, which kicks off later this month. Many people must be fearing that the tournament will be targeted by terrorists – but to give in to our fears would be to play into the terrorists’ hands. The reality is, we can never be 100% safe. But what the authorities can and should do is make sure that they have considered all the risks and have well-defined actions prepared in response. As far as I could tell in Lille, that’s what is being done. Yes, there’s a lot of money in football – but if it results in a culture where everyone in authority does all they can to keep the public safe, then that’s all to the good.
Driving the Creation of Knowledge
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04 CONTENTS
June 2016
News & Data 08 Analysis Global use of OLED lighting to increase Mobile and BYOD drives security concerns 12 Regional Voices: Germany
People 14 Industry Moves 16 Opinion
06
Rob Lane on the opportunity for AV over IP Neil Voce reviews RH Consulting’s Guide to Voice Alarm Systems Roland Ollek discusses the development of KVM 22 Interview Snelling Business System’s Toby Wise on a varied career and the need for more industry training
Features 30 Displays More pixels isn’t the only development in this exciting area of the market 36 Theme Parks Delivering original experiences is par for the course in this innovative sector 40 AV Project Budgets The latest tools available to help integrators deliver projects on time and on budget
22
Solutions 44 Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille A host venue of the 2016 UEFA Euro championships, this venue features a high-end PA-VA system 46 Easthampstead Park, UK This Grade II listed Victorian mansion needed upgrades to its AV system in order to meet the needs of a diverse customer base 50 Solutions in Brief Including a Nexo-Yamaha system in Japan and the University of Liverpool’s investment in Lumens cameras
Technology 53 New Products 58 Showcase
30
AV Conferencing
Also inside 06 InstallAwards We reveal the first three industry names that will be inducted to the Installation Hall of Fame 26 Show Preview InfoComm 2016 returns to Las Vegas
44
53
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06 X
June 2016
Sponsors
We’re delighted to announce that the Business Project Award for Innovation is to be sponsored by ATEN. Established in 1979, ATEN specialises in connectivity and management solutions in accessing and sharing technologies. The ATEN brand consists of innovative solutions applied to connectivity, professional audio/ video and green energy, for small/home offices (SOHO), small to medium-sized businesses (SMB), enterprise customers and consumers. For SOHO and SMB customers it offers a series of cable KVM, desktop KVM, and LCD KVM solutions. The Enterprise solutions offer a series of ‘over IP’ solutions that allow customers to effectively manage IT infrastructure from anywhere in the world. The Professional Audio/Video line offers integrated video solutions for home and professional use for a variety of uses including corporate, education, hospitality, commercial and home theatre applications.
It’s time for the winners Additionally, we’re very pleased to welcome back Integrated Systems Europe as sponsor of our Red Carpet video. This proved to be a very popular feature of the event last year, shot as guests arrived at the awards and shown in the room before the awards presentation began.
Other sponsors
In our final preview of the InstallAwards, which take place this month, we profile the three names to be inducted into the Installation Hall of Fame At the InstallAwards ceremony on Friday 24 June, we will launch the Installation Hall of Fame with three inductees. The Installation Hall of Fame honours individuals or companies that have helped to shape the industry we know today – either through their work over a period of time, or through their involvement in major
groundbreaking initiatives. In addition to the new inductees listed here, the Hall of Fame will be augmented by the addition of the InstallAward Grand Prix and Outstanding Achievement Award winners from 2014 and 2015: these are Robert Simpson, Greg Jeffreys, Barco and Harman.
Biamp Blackmagic Design is sponsoring the Best Corporate and Industrial Project Award. The company is a leading manufacturer of creative video technology. Prospero Recruitment is sponsoring the Rising Star Award. The company offers a varied range of AV technical and event jobs across the UK. Riedel Communications is sponsoring the Entertainment Award for Innovation. It designs and manufactures real-time networks for video, audio and communications. We’re also pleased to acknowledge the contribution of the AV User Group as an Event Partner.
Biamp is a technology leader - it produces excellent products, which have received wide recognition across the industry. It holds a number of patents for its technology. You’ll find its products in everything from the smallest huddle rooms to university or corporate campuses. It also has an excellent reputation for training and for customer service. For instance, after it released products that use VoIP, it realised that many of its integration partners needed bringing up to speed with this complicated technology, so it created its own online training programme to meet this need. Like all of its technical training, it is free to use by anyone – you just have to register. It’s also strong on thought leadership. Press briefings from Biamp typically cover not only the latest kit, but an exposition of current and future trends that it is addressing. The company also has a thought-provoking blog. Overall, though, there are some companies that you instinctively feel are ‘one of the good guys’ – and Biamp is definitely one of those.
X
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07
Reinhold Stumpfl Along with his wife Ulrike, Reinhold Stumpfl launched AV Stumpfl in 1975. The company’s first product was a dissolve unit to make fading transitions between two slide projectors. It later moved into projection screens at the request of its customers, and secured a patent for its one-touch locking system. The company grew steadily over the years. Today it is a major player in the world of media and control systems and uncompressed 4K video playback, and serves an enormous variety of markets: architectural and façade projection, corporate installations, hotels, theatres and opera houses, digital signage, simulation, houses of worship and more. It has subsidiaries or franchises in the USA, Russia, the Netherlands, Australia and Singapore. In addition to numerous industry awards, the company is allowed to use the Austrian coat of arms in connection with the company name, in recognition of its contribution to the national economy; and earlier this year won a Great Place to Work award. Last year it invested €7.2 million in its new industrial campus; and after 40 years, Reinhold passed the role of CEO to his son Tobias.
David Willrich In the 1980s, David Willrich was working at the Motor Museum in Beaulieu, looking after its AV systems and creating new exhibits. Recognition of his technical abilities grew, and people began asking if they could use his services in his spare time. As a response to this, he founded his company, DJ Willrich, in 1986. It began as a consultancy, but was soon undertaking full turnkey projects in all aspects of AV, lighting and multimedia. Thirty years later, the company is recognised as one of the leading lights in the UK audiovisual installation industry, working across museums, leisure parks, aquariums, hotels and private homes. Some of its more notable projects include Legoland, Bletchley Park, the View from The Shard and the Titanic Belfast Experience. David is also an international board member at the Themed Entertainment Association – the trade association for companies in the theme park and leisure attraction industry.
On the day Once again, we have secured the services of Ian Moore as our host. This laconic comedian was a great hit with the audience at last year’s InstallAwards and we look forward to welcoming him again.
The schedule for the black-tie event is as follows: 1:00 pm
Sparkling drinks reception with canapés on arrival
2:00 pm
Two-course lunch
3:30pm
Awards presentation
4:30pm-Late
After party
The following awards will be presented: BUSINESS AWARDS Best Corporate and Industrial Project Best Education Project Best Retail & DOOH Project Business Star Product Award Business Project Award for Innovation
ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS Best Hospitality Project Best Visitor Attractions Project Best Venues Project Entertainment Star Product Award Entertainment Award for Innovation
TEAM AND PEOPLE AWARDS Distribution Team of the Year Marketing Team of the Year Installer’s Choice: In-House Team of the Year Rising Star Installation Hall of Fame You can see the full list of finalists on the awards website: www.installawards.com
Tickets At the time of writing, there are a few tickets left for the InstallAwards: visit www.installawards.com/buy-tickets, or contact Georgia Blake – gblake@nbmedia.com, +44 20 7354 6005.
www.installawards.com
08 ANALYSIS
June 2016
Global projector market drops in value By Duncan Proctor
Worldwide projector market shipments: volume by region, and value
I
2,000
2,500
1,800 1,600
2,000
1,400 1,200
1,500
1,000 800
1,000
Value ($millions)
Volume (thousands)
n its latest quarterly report into the worldwide projector market, Futuresource Consulting has found that the market’s value decline continues to outpace volume by approximately three times. In Q1 2016, the global projector market declined 3% year on year (YoY) to 1.73m units, with value declining three times as fast at 9% to $1.9 billion. The report did, however, reveal pockets of growth, with China and India experiencing a resurgence during Q1, while global sales of laser phosphor projectors grew by 128% YoY. “The projector market faces multiple, mounting issues – namely competing display technologies (such as IFPD and consumer/ commercial grade FPDs), which are significantly impacting the core mainstream market. Worldwide sales of mainstream B2B projectors fell by 7% at the end of Q1 2016. We can see that end users are upgrading but value has continued to tumble by 14% to $695m,” commented Claire Kerrison, senior projector analyst, Futuresource Consulting.
600 400
500
200 0
Q1 2013
Q1 2014
Q1 2015
Q1 2016
0
EMEA volume
Americas volume
APAC volume
Total value
www.futuresource-consulting.com Source: Futuresource Consulting
OLED lighting use to increase significantly By Steve Montgomery
S
ince mid-2015 OLED luminaire prices have fallen at a pace comparable to general LED pricing trends. While still considerably higher than their LED counterparts, there is room for a considerable drop in price over the next five years. Lighting designers constantly explore creative new ways to light spaces and are attracted by the superior light quality of OLED compared to LED products. OLED products are not expected to rival LEDs in either cost or efficiency, but their prices will come down to a point low enough that the benefits they offer in lighting quality and design aesthetic will make for a reasonable choice between the two. Significant niches will be carved out in task lighting, decorative fixtures, and accent lighting, allowing the benefits of thin and flexible OLEDs to be used to advantage, particularly in situations in which higher-priced products are acceptable to consumers and the perceived quality is worthwhile.
Predicted worldwide OLED luminaire shipments (thousands) 500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0
2016
2017
Task lighting
2018
2019
2020
Decorative fixtures
2021
2022
Accent lighting
2023
2024
2025
General space lighting
www.navigantresearch.com Source: Navigant Research
Blackmagic MultiView 4 lets you monitor any combination of SD, HD and Ultra HD sources, all at the same time! Now you can monitor 4 completely independent SDI video sources on a single display! Blackmagic MultiView 4 lets you monitor any combination of SD, HD and Ultra HD formats and frame rates all at the same time with overlays for audio meters, custom labels and more! With Blackmagic MultiView 4 you can even monitor 4 full resolution 1080 HD sources on a single Ultra HD display!
High Resolution Monitoring Blackmagic MultiView 4 works with both 1080 HD and 2160p Ultra HD screens. When used with an Ultra HD television, you get super sharp multiview monitoring because Ultra HD runs at 3840 x 2160, which is four times the resolution of regular HD. It’s like having four completely independent, incredibly sharp HD monitors on a single screen!
Four Independent Monitors Each view works as a completely independent video monitor because you get full frame re-synchronization on every input. That means you can mix any combination of video standards and frame rates, including referenced or non-referenced NTSC, PAL, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, and Ultra HD up to 2160p30, all on the same display at the same time!
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Professional Connections Blackmagic MultiView 4 has four multi-rate 6G-SDI inputs and loop thru outputs that make it compatible with your existing SD, HD and Ultra HD equipment. The built in Ethernet connection lets you add custom labels, audio meters and more from any computer on the network, or you can add an optional Teranex Mini Smart Panel for front panel controls!
Studio or On Location Multiview monitoring is perfect for use in control rooms with lots of incoming feeds, for live multi camera production or for use on location and in tight spaces that don’t have room for multiple monitors. With Blackmagic MultiView 4 you don’t need to connect multiple monitors, dozens of cables or run extra power to see all of your video sources!
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10 ANALYSIS
June 2016
Mobile and BYOD device security concerns By Steve Montgomery
I
n the past, employees carried out most of their work using IT-managed and secured devices and software. That has now changed as mobile devices and applications are increasingly deployed in collaborative business operations, and to better reach and serve customers. Some of those devices are owned by the organisation while others are brought in by the employees. Security professionals are faced with the securing of data located outside the domain of the corporate network. Mobile data security has become a crucial aspect of protecting sensitive data. Malicious attacks once focused on PCs have now shifted and mobile phones and applications have become the prime target. Despite the increase in security threats, 55% of businesses globally spend less than 20% of their time safeguarding their mobile data assets. Only 8% of IT departments devote 50% of their time, or more, to security.
Companies’ perceived security concerns
65%
63%
54%
46%
Mobile malware
Phishing
29%
Interception of sensitive communications
Loss or theft of devices
Insecure privacy settings
22%
Ransomware
55%
Malicious apps
38%
Combined work and personal apps and data
18%
Eavesdropping of voice communications
www.strategyanalytics.com Source: Strategy Analytics Mobile Workforce Strategies
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The new DS10 Audio network bridge provides a unique integration of networked audio with d&b systems. d&b users can now directly interface with other Dante enabled products further up the signal chain. The integrated 5-port (WKHUQHW VZLWFK RË HUV XQSDUDOOHOHG QHWZRUN Ă H[LELOLW\ DQG DFFHVV WR G E DPSOLĂ€HUV XVLQJ D ODSWRS YLD WKH G E 5 5HPRWH FRQWURO VRIWZDUH $GGLWLRQDOO\ WKH XQLTXH '6 WUDQVPLWV 'DQWH meta data information including Dante channel labels to the G E DPSOLĂ€HUV www.dbaudio.com
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12
REGIONAL VOICES
June 2016
GERMANY Our latest national survey polls opinions about the installed AV market in the country with the largest economy in Europe
A
ccording to May’s monthly report from the German finance ministry, the country’s economy remains on a strong growth path. This is primarily being fuelled by strong domestic demand; later this year, however, weaker exports are expected to slow down this growth. Tax receipts – from income tax and from private spending – are on the rise, which is enabling the government
0.7%
Budget surplus, 2015 Source: Trading Economics
to increase public spending on infrastructure and refugee assistance without incurring new debt. A very positive picture, then, and one that is for the most part reflected in the responses to our latest survey of countries’ installed AV markets. A sizeable majority of respondents believed that levels of confidence in the German installation sector were higher than six months ago – and ‘no change’ was the next most popular answer. Similarly, when it came to respondents’ own businesses, just over half felt that their revenues would grow by more than 5%, while a smaller number expected a smaller degree of growth. The next part of the questionnaire presented a series of potential worries for businesspeople, and asked survey participants to choose the one that caused them most concern. The most frequently cited issue was falling margins: this was
attributed to both internet-based competitors, and the influence of companies from the IT market that are used to working with lower margins. One distributor commented: “There is price pressure in the market due to competition and margins offered by manufacturers, but we need to maintain a very high level of service and support, which is costly.” We then asked our respondents for the advice they would offer companies entering the German installation market. One suggested that new manufacturers should look very closely at their customer base and/or distribution channels, in order to maintain a clear pricing structure. Another advised “work with a qualified, knowledgeable distributor”. When it came to advice for integrators, most responses were related to quality – either in terms
1.3%
GDP annual growth rate, Q1 2016 Source: IEconomics
of hiring or training the best staff, or by prioritising quality of work rather than offering low prices. Finally, we asked what people would choose if there was one thing they could change about how the German installation market operates. Our favourite suggestion of these was “set up a common standard for quoting and installing” – which would certainly help to level the playing field by making it easier to evaluate projects on quality rather than just on price.
What will be the business trend in the following vertical markets?
GREATEST INCREASE Corporate Retail Digital signage Education Sports venues Bars, clubs, restaurants Museums/visitor attractions Performing arts venues Worship NO CHANGE
14 INDUSTRY MOVES
June 2016
White Light expands business development team Several new managers have joined the growing company
Crestron
Neil Walton is now training manager EMEA at Crestron. He has worked in training and development within the AV industry for over 10 years, including time at Armour Home Electronics and CYP Europe. Walton will be heading up a team of 13 trainers across Europe, Middle East and Africa.
www.crestron.com Loud Technologies
Loren Robinson has been appointed director of sales, independent accounts (North America) for the Mackie and Ampeg brands. Prior to this he spent 10 years at Crown Audio and has previously worked at Community and DAS Audio as well as being an independent sales representative for GLS Marketing.
www.loudtechinc.com Oblong Industries
Padraig Scully
F
ollowing significant growth in 2015, White Light has appointed several new business development managers. Chris Harris has joined as installations business development manager. He spent 10 years as head of lighting at the Lyric Hammersmith and will oversee all of the company’s various installations. In addition, Ritchie Reed and Maria Alves will extend White Light’s focus on the theatrical lighting sector. Reed will work with some of the UK’s largest theatres and established lighting designers, while Alves will work closely with
students and those starting out in the industry. To help to support the audio department, Richard Knott has been appointed audio business development manager. He joins following spells at Bose Corporation and Orbital Sound. Finally, Mark Morley has joined White Light. He will work with Jonathan Haynes and focus on supplying lighting and AV equipment to venues and theatres across the UK.
www.neotecnica.es www.peavey.com www.visionmedia.com Midwich is now distributing TeamMate’s WorkZone Interactive Table 2. Purpose built for Epson ultra-shortthrow projectors, the Table 2 is designed to encourage interactive learning in the education and corporate sectors. www.midwich.com www.teammateworld.com
www.oblong.com
Peerless-AV
Johannes Scholz www.whitelight.ltd.uk
New Partners Peavey has named new distributors in Spain and Sweden. Neotécnica will be covering Iberia while Visono Media will be bringing the Peavey Commercial Audio portfolio to Scandinavia.
has been named technical account manager, EMEA. He brings with him a solid background in account management and technical support having previously held roles with companies including Morgan Stanley Capital, Reuters and Accenture.
Serbian pro-audio specialist Studio Berar has added the Powersoft brand to its distribution portfolio. “As a brand it offers exactly what we want to provide our clients,” said Studio Berar sales director Bojan Pocuca. www.powersoft.it www.studioberar.com
is the newest member of the export sales team, having joined as distribution account manager for DACH. He comes from Ricoh Deutschland, where he was responsible for sales of the entire solution portfolio, including digital signage. Previous positions include solution selling for digital signage products at Littlebit Technology and Avnet.
www.peerless-av.com Vogel’s Professional
Ron de Greef Audac Professional has appointed Algam Enterprises as its new exclusive distributor in France, with responsibility for representing its entire range of amplifiers, speakers, audio matrixes, audio players and more. www.algam-enterprises.com www.audac.be
has been promoted to the position of business development manager for South-East Asia, US and Canada. He will be looking for new strategic business partners in the region to strengthen Vogel’s market position.
www.vogels.com
16 OPINION: ON THE AGENDA
June 2016
Rob Lane Decompressing distribution Does 10Gb Ethernet mean the end of HDBaseT?
I
recently hosted an Installation webinar on the future of AV distribution. Presented by video distribution specialist ZeeVee, the webinar explored how – thanks to 10Gb Ethernet – it’s now possible to send uncompressed 4K video over IP, why AV over IT could be set to replace proprietary AV distribution solutions such as HDBaseT as a single platform, and why the IT community and their clients are likely to be more responsive to what is a more cost-effective, ‘unstranded’ investment [one not constrained to follow previous spending]. While it’s obvious that ZeeVee, with its proprietary ZyPer4K technology solutions, sees a rosy future for AV over IP, what do others in the AV industry think? Is this the tipping point for a full convergence of AV and IT; an Internet Protocol match made in distribution heaven? Most of those I’ve spoken to agree that the dominance of AV over IP is inevitable, although we’re not quite there yet; HDBaseT will eventually be usurped, although this is by no means inevitable; and it may take up to 10 years (although most believe five years to be a more realistic shelf-life). The perceived hurdles to AV over IP appear to be the need for a shift in emphasis to utilise existing infrastructures – CatX and fibre – for IP distribution of video, audio, control and POE+ lighting, as well as ‘eye-watering’ data rates associated with UHD. Nobody I spoke to thought there’d be a problem with hardware adoption, with some noting that some HDBaseT manufacturers are already releasing AV over IP products. Indeed, it may be the manufacturers that ultimately decide when IP takes over from traditional switching, by phasing
out existing tech – although most are offering both at the current time.
Investment Of course, manufacturers have also spent millions developing proprietary standards for their systems to offer HDBaseT compatibility, and they’re unlikely to flush this away any time soon. Indeed, considerable ROI guarantees will be required for R&D on AV over IP as well.
‘Most of those I’ve spoken to agree the dominance of AV over IP is inevitable, although we’re not quite there yet’
HDBaseT is still highly regarded, and widely seen as a trusted, reliable solution. Most see it remaining as a robust option for many years to come – perhaps alongside AV over IP. As to whether or not the IT community will be more responsive to what could rightly be considered a more unstranded investment, some see security as the main persuader here; if manufacturers get this right, the IT community, their clients and end-users are likely to favour AV over IP as a ‘common goal’ when compared with HDBaseT – unless, of course, they have already invested in this trusted distribution solution. However, others told me that there is still hostility in the IT industry towards AV over IP – particularly, and predictably as a result of security concerns – while, at the same time, end-users are
more willing to explore new solutions that utilise existing equipment, rather than reinvesting in HDBaseT. It’s worth noting, of course, that AV over IP isn’t investment free, with most solutions requiring separate switches, AV LANs and management systems, which rival HDBaseT solution investments.
ZeeVee view So, taking their championing of ZyPer4K technology as a given, how does ZeeVee view the AV over IP debate? “Traditional AV integrators sometimes struggle to come to terms with change, especially when it involves IP solutions – even more so if they have had their fingers burnt in the past,” opines ZeeVee EMEA sales director Rob Muddiman. “We have to educate them and bring them round, but the smart will adopt early. The ones that don’t may lose out as IT integrators pick up the baton.” Scare tactics, perhaps, but if you agree that the in-house IT community is, at the very least, hugely influential when it comes to AV procurement decisions, this must be a serious consideration. Decision makers at the business end of some of today’s high-value installations are increasingly IT departments, as opposed to facilities departments, of course, and these departments have historically dealt with ‘technology services businesses’ (IT integrators and service providers in other words). The AV industry needs its clients’ IT departments on side, and if that means favouring AV over IP ahead of existing distribution solutions, this might just be the dynamic that – sooner rather than later – heralds the beginning of the end for HDBaseT. Rob Lane is a tech/biz journalist and founder/ owner of Bigger Boat PR.
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18 OPINION: BOOK REVIEW
June 2016
Neil Voce Getting to grips with VA standards A review of the second edition of RH Consulting’s Guide to Voice Alarm Systems
A
n old anecdote suggests that “the great thing about standards is that there are so many of them”, and one of the key selling points of RH Consulting’s e-tome on voice alarm systems is that it shares a lot of knowledge on those many standards. It de-mystifies the history of the standards that we have, their inter-relations and hierarchy and forewarns us of future standards such as a German standard for active loudspeakers. It even gives some guidance on how one might get involved in shaping the legal structure and standards. We need to know this because that’s what the EU’s CPR (Construction Products Regulations) now control – the laws regulating how a PA system can instruct occupants to leave a building and therefore qualify as a voice alarm (VA). On a practical level, the guide includes a wealth of information in easy-to-digest sections on the history of the technologies and what makes a voice alarm and how it should perform. It provides information suitable to get an audio engineer who’s never stepped beyond a public address system into the world of voice alarm. The authors, Roland Hemming and Richard Northwood, make the point that reading the book doesn’t make you an expert or even someone who should set about installing a system without having experts on hand, but it would give you all the background to ask the right questions and – if you use the study card system in the glossary, enough acronyms to give anyone a run for their money with VA tech-speak. In addition to the general text, the use of the e-book format allows for a considerable number of simple and nicely animated illustrations demonstrating system performance and connectivity.
One potential difficulty for the book is that it does cover a lot of ground aimed at a variety of levels of reader. When I shared the guide with a colleague who doesn’t work with VA every day, they couldn’t quite summon enthusiasm for digging into the interpretation issues of EN54; but for those who are interested in that aspect, they are likely to fly through the chapters devoted to VA basics and elementary system design. One imagines that if a company involved in PA/VA were to purchase the book, then there’s something for everyone, but as a personal purchase you aren’t likely to need it all.
Legal uncertainty It is revealed that even for Hemming, who sits on EN54 committees and helps to draft the regulations, there isn’t always a clear way forward to comply. There are a number of hints of legal uncertainty around certain types of solutions and products. Mentioned in that list are individually tested products, IP switches, powered speakers and free-form DSP – all of which are found in the market and in installs in the UK and EU generally. There is also the statement that “it is currently almost impossible to make any large project EN54 compliant” which as a summary to a lengthy section on EN54 generally, leaves one to wonder if that means every large building is failing in its legal duty to the Essential Safety Requirement of the CPR to provide “safety in case of fire”. If so, surely that leaves all practitioners of VA open to legal proceedings – which is certainly thought provoking. If you have any active role in VA, this book is almost certainly going to tell you something you didn’t know. It’s a valuable addition to your library, and, if you are involved in the voice alarm business
The 200-page e-book contains nearly 100 graphical examples, some of them animated
internationally, the comprehensive comparative tables on standards requirements alone justify the investment of the time and money. Guide to Voice Alarm Systems, 2nd edition is available for download worldwide on the iTunes book store for iPhone, iPad and Mac (UK price £24.99). Neil Voce is head of sales at Application Solutions (Safety and Security) www.asl-control.co.uk.
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20 OPINION: ON SITE
June 2016
Roland Ollek More than simply KVM Automatic switching via mouse adds to efficiency and ease of operation
M
ore. If you are a sportsperson, that is what takes you to the top – more speed, more power, more skill, more stamina... To meet the needs and demands of today’s AV industry, the same word applies but in the context of more functionality, more interactivity and ever more resolution. In the past few years, more resolution has meant 4K. The original challenge with 4K was signal transmission but today there is a range of solutions available. With pure AV, solutions have been easier to come by because small delays in transmission don’t matter as long as the result is synchronised. However, with KVM, this challenge is made harder because the delays are set within far tighter limits due to the return channel. These delays can become readily visible because it is not just a matter of receiving AV signals but also operating their source. That’s why G&D provides high-resolution systems with uncompressed video transmission or systems with our own compression algorithm to resolve this issue. Alongside the unceasing quest for ‘more’, comes more interoperability and more usability. KVM is a great enabling technology as it provides the opportunity to handle all kinds of IT systems (current and future) via a homogenous user platform. Complex KVM systems often become the backbone of an entire IT infrastructure. In these instances, the KVM system should become invisible so that users can focus on the task in hand rather than the control system. For some time now we have seen systems that can be switched by easily using the mouse pointer: a range of sources deliver their content
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to a workstation with multiple monitors. This setup can be operated with only a single keyboard and mouse combination. Formerly, switching the operating focus from one computer to the next required a button press or keyboard shortcut. Today this can be done by simply moving the mouse: move it over the screen edge, and the KVM system will automatically switch keyboard and mouse focus to the source of the respective neighbouring screen. Thus the user does not have to worry about the background infrastructure but can instead keep track of their tasks and work intuitively, as with a virtual desktop. G&D has now perfected this functionality: right from the start, our CrossDisplay Switching was not limited in the number of integrated screens,
and so now computers with multi-head graphics are supported. Thus, an unlimited mix of scenarios can be switched from all sources and the user always operates in the visible area and never ‘flies blind’. The configuration is easily adapted to the screen arrangement and thus does not need to be strictly ordered in a row or one above the other. Also in combination with a multiviewer, the flexible CrossDisplay Switching can significantly simplify the application. Roland Ollek is CEO sales & marketing at Guntermann & Drunck.
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22 INTERVIEW: TOBY WISE, SNELLING BUSINESS SYSTEMS
June 2016
Beating the heavyweights
Last month, Snelling Business Systems hosted an evening at the Institution of Engineering and Technology in Savoy Place, London – where it showcased a wide-ranging AV installation that formed part of a £30 million refurbishment, and also unveiled its new branding. Paddy Baker talked to the integrator’s managing director about the company’s past history and future aspirations How did you get into the AV industry? I originally trained in electronic engineering, and I was installing satellite systems when I met Roy Snelling, our founder. He offered me a job, but it wasn’t something I wanted to do. A couple of years later, I got a call from him out of the blue, asking me if I was interested in working for him. I ended up running one of his company’s workshops, which was doing electronics repairs at the time – consumer brown goods. It was obvious the bottom was falling out of that market. Meanwhile, I’d watched a friend retraining in computing. He went off to become the MD of a blue chip company working in IT – so I decided to study for a qualification in computing. There was a director of the company who had been working in the university world – an ex-BBC outside broadcast man – to establish their TV service and early audiovisual systems. He was pressing Roy to open a business that would provide systems and services to that sector. Roy
offered me the challenge, and I was happy to accept. Our founder pretty much said: “You do it, and I’ll back it”. We had early wins at the university in Norfolk, and followed that up with contracts with the police, hospitals, other universities, colleges and so on – and the business grew from there. So where does that take us up to? We’re talking about the years leading up to 2009, which is when I took a management degree, and when we decided to enter the university procurement framework. We’d not been a player in that marketplace before, but we knew it would give us the ability to participate in a much wider market – and we’d already proven that we had the ability to do so, and the ability to provide the systems and solutions that were wanted. So we bid for the SUPC [Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium] framework back in 2009. The award was made in 2010, and we were one of 93 companies bidding for nine
places. Having not done that before, we were up against national players – household names – and we weren’t sure of our chances. However: not only were we awarded into the framework – we were ranked in first position. What that meant was that, having evaluated all of our technical, ethical and financial standings, and being ranked first, it allowed any of the organisations within the framework to procure directly from us without further process. We were swamped with demand at that point – far more demand than we could handle. We didn’t try and take it all – that would have been a silly thing to do. What a lovely position to be in! Yes, it was. But the business was always built on our reputation for providing top-quality customer service and engineering excellence, and that’s just not something you can do if you’re going to have to subcontract that work. Our rapid growth enabled us to recruit some
www.installation-international.com
INTERVIEW: TOBY WISE, SNELLING BUSINESS SYSTEMS 23
A brief biography Toby Wise trained as an electronic engineer, and his work installing satellite technology brought him into contact with company founder Roy Snelling After initially turning down a job from Snelling, he accepted a different offer from him a couple of years later, running a consumer goods repair workshop After studying for a qualification in computing, he moved to the newly established Snelling Business Systems, providing systems and services to the commercial sector Snelling Business Systems was awarded the top place on the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium in 2010, which firmly established the company in the university AV market good talent from the industry, including Kevin Madeja, who’s now our technical director, who had extensive, very high-profile experience in a range of companies. He liked the way we were set up, the way we delivered systems and the engineering know-how that was behind them. What were your next important steps forward? In 2014, we had to bid again on the university framework. This time, we bid not just on the southern one, but on the London one as well – which gave us access to not only the universities, but museums, scientific institutions and so on. Our growth meant that we needed to move to larger premises. Because we’re part of a larger group, we were able to invest £2 million in a new headquarters facility two hours north of London, which we moved into in 2015. It’s bespoke to our requirements and provides everything we need. Over the 16 years you’ve just described, do you think the rate of technology change has accelerated? Back when we started, professional broadcast systems and professional AV systems were leading what’s happening in the space – but now, it’s the consumer marketplace, and that’s really disrupted the channel. Now, we’re trying to bring those consumer technologies into commercial environments in a way that works for our clients. We certainly see challenges, though. For example, if we look at AVB as a protocol, it’s promised great things – but we’ve not yet seen the implementation on people’s networks to enable us to use those protocols, so you’ve still got to install a separate network if you want to use it – and that doesn’t deliver the cost-benefits that clients look for. Here at Savoy Place, we’ve got a mixture of
Dante and analogue audio systems, and both are required. For live events, they still need a mixing desk; they still need patch bays. You can’t do everything electronically over the network because of lags and delays. It’s all about having the right technology for the application. At present, you’re exclusively focused on the UK. Some integrators have made alliances with international companies. Is that something you see yourselves doing? I think that’s going to be driven by client demand. Because we’ve historically been focused on the higher education sector, it’s been less of a requirement. When you look at the corporate space, that’s not necessarily the case. The client base we’re interested in at present is the smaller corporate client rather than the larger corporate client. When we can provide what I deem to be the right level of service for those major international players, we’ll be very happy to offer it. That’s an area for the future. Whether we become part of a larger alliance remains to be seen. Certainly, I believe we could add value to that.
‘It would be fantastic to see some of the technologies that InfoComm teach, integrated into standard college courses’
For someone who’s had such an interesting career – is there any advice you’d give to your younger self, based on what you know now? I think in terms of business development, maybe we’d look at things a little differently. The company, at heart, is engineering-based and service-based. All companies need to generate a profit, of course – but that can be their primary focus or their secondary focus. Our primary focus has always been on delivering top-quality solutions. That’s a fantastic place to be – but it does mean that you have to keep an eye on the financial end of the projects, because technical things can run away with you very quickly. Looking back, perhaps a more balanced approach to projects would have been more appropriate. Having said that, I’m proud of what our projects have delivered. Another thing would be building service revenues. Historically, universities would have engineering teams, and therefore you would have capital spend but no revenue budget. Revenue budgets are important for audiovisual businesses, particularly if you want to keep a large, high-quality engineering staff. Perhaps we should have focused on that a little earlier.
You said you’ve retrained a couple of times in your career. Presumably you see training and qualifications as important? Absolutely. So far as training in the UK is concerned, InfoComm is our only option. They have some good programmes – but it is a US-centric organisation. One of the things that have been a bit of a frustration is that we have to ship people out to the US for some of the CTS-I training. We certainly see InfoComm as the best provider in the market at this time, but it would be fantastic to see some of the technologies they teach, integrated into standard college courses that students are going through. We don’t see people exiting technical colleges or universities qualified to work in the audiovisual industry. Are you able to recruit good engineers into the company? Is the AV industry a sexy enough prospect that people know about? Do they know about it? I think not. I don’t think it’s particularly well understood. It certainly attracts a certain type of candidate. What we see is audio guys coming in and live events guys coming in or occasionally theatre technicians – but we’re not seeing people who are looking at it as a first-choice career. Typically, when we’re recruiting, we’re looking for people who already have a skill base. Does this event at the IET in Savoy Place mark an important next step in Snelling’s development? It does. We’re still extremely busy with the higher education market, where we understand what our clients need. However, they all tend to want their systems delivered at the same point in the year, so there’s only so many we can serve well. Now, we’ve built our infrastructure. We’ve invested in new premises. We’ve got project managers, service engineers and technical people around the UK now. The platform we’ve built is the first step in enabling us to drive the business into another sector beyond the higher education market. IET Savoy Place was a fantastic win for us, against the industry heavyweights and at an organisation that pretty much sets the standard for engineering excellence. It gives us some excellent opportunities to showcase what we can do – a platform from which we can take forward our message: we’re a company run very differently, with service and engineering at its heart, and with the ability to deliver largescale, complex systems to demanding clients in demanding timeframes.
www.snellingbiz.com
24 ADVERTISEMENT
June 2016
Challenging the Fundamentals of Consumer Engagement According to Digital Signage Summit Europe Chairman and invidis MD Florian Rotberg, the latest technical innovations in Digital Signage and DooH will have a dramatic impact on your customer communication strategies Now in its tenth year, the Digital Signage Summit Europe 2016 will take place from 23-24 June at the Hilton Munich Airport Hotel. The event is produced as a joint venture between leading digital signage consultants invidis consulting and Integrated Systems Events, the producer of the Integrated Systems Europe exhibition, the world’s largest AV system integration exhibition. It is part of a series of DSS conferences held in Europe, Russia, North America and the Middle East.
What can you tell us about the structure and themes of Digital Signage Summit Europe 2016? Florian Rotberg: This year we have expanded the event to encompass two full days which will feature presentations, panel discussions and an enlarged exhibition area. The overarching theme running across the Summit will be ‘Challenging the Fundamentals of Consumer Engagement – Strategies for Tomorrow’s Advertising, Retail and Public Spaces.’ On the first day we will cover Smart Cities; DooH Planning and Booking and Data Driven Campaigns. On day two we will feature Digital Signage Best Concepts; IoT and Omnichannel. The primary objective for the Digital Signage Summit is to demonstrate a range of best practice case studies alongside new technological and marketing innovations
that we feel will move your business forward and ultimately provide you with a better ROI.
Are there any specific speakers that you would wish to highlight? Currently we have 31 signed up to participate and they are all of an incredibly high quality. Just a few that I would mention are: Alex Matthews, Managing Director, Dynamic, JCDecaux; Ger O’Keeffe, EMEA Marketing Manager for Digital Signage, Internet of Things Group (IoTG), Intel Corporation; Neil Morris, Founder & CEO, Grand Visual; Stewart Caddick, Managing Director, Connectiv and Retail Concepts Design. I think this short list typifies the level of seniority and breadth of participants that the DSS event attracts. The full speaker, exhibitor and sponsor listing can be found on our website.
Does Digital Signage Summit offer anything more than the conference programme? Much more! We have a dedicated exhibition area featuring a range of the latest technical products and service solutions. Plus, on the first evening we have the Annual invidis Digital Signage Awards and publication of the invidis consulting Yearbook. This is a great opportunity
for relaxing and networking. In addition we have a special matchmaking tool that allows delegates to set up business meetings with speakers and exhibitors before they attend the Summit. We place great emphasis on bringing people together at this event to make sure they extract maximum value through their attendance.
Who should attend Digital Signage Summit Europe? All senior personnel in the Digital Signage and DooH value chain. From manufacturers, retailers and service providers to end users – the programme is designed to appeal to each of them.
How do I attend Digital Signage Summit Europe? It’s simple. Just go to the Digital Signage Summit Europe website and register. And we have good news for subscribers to Installation as we are providing you with the unique code 384912 which will secure you a discount of over €200 (£150) on delegate registration. We look forward to meeting you in June!
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26 SHOW PREVIEW: INFOCOMM 2016
June 2016
What? InfoComm 16 Where? Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, US When? Conference and education: 4-10 June Exhibition: 8-10 June 09:00-17:00 (16:00 on last day)
It’s show time
Pliant Technologies is introducing CrewCom
The InfoComm show returns to the ‘entertainment capital of the world’ for 2016. Here is our guide to the best of what Vegas visitors can see – both on and off the showfloor SIGNAL PROCESSING AND DISTRIBUTION Analog Way will be showcasing the VIO 4K, a multi-format converter that includes a variety of innovative features for LED wall applications. Natively equipped with seven inputs and one multi-plug output, VIO 4K can convert numerous signal types including: Dual-link DVI, DisplayPort, HDMI, 3G-SDI, SPF module cage, and universal analogue, to a wide range of output signal formats up to 4K 30Hz (4K 60Hz via expansion modules).
The VIO 4K multi-format converter from Analog Way
Two expansion modules will be showcased during the show: an audio processing module with professional XLR analogue and AES/EBU audio connections, and a video processing module equipped with HDMI 2.0 and DP 1.2 input/output plugs that can handle formats up to 4K 60Hz 4:4:4. Two other expansion modules will also be introduced: one that inputs or outputs up to eight audio channels from or to a Dante audio network; and the other, that can convert HDMI 2.0 or DP 1.2 to either Quad-Link 3G-SDI or 12G-SDI, and vice versa. Among the solutions on show from Arthur Holm will be the DynamicX2Share, the first retractable monitor on the market that integrates a Full HD distribution system. The DynamicShare system allows meeting-room users to share different video sources without
Arthur Holm’s DynamicX2Share reatractable monitor
need of technical knowledge and assistance. It is a software-free, wireless-free sharing system that provides a high level of security, and does not require external devices to be integrated into the room table. It allows the signal to be distributed and shared through an HDMI loop that also embeds the control protocols of the monitors. It is available in three versions: DynamicShare standard for signal distribution, selection and control; DynamicLoop for signal distribution only; and a standalone device for third-party monitors and video display solutions. Key Digital is launching the KD-MLV4x2 UHD/4K MultiView Seamless Matrix Switcher at the show. This is a seamless matrix switcher with UHD/4K resolution up-scaling, multi-view window processing, analogue to digital conversion of incoming VGA or YPbPr with analogue audio signals, audio de-embedding, and independent audio from video matrix selection. It is designed to fit a wide variety of professional video installation needs, including digital signage, videowalls, conference and boardrooms, classrooms, home theatres, and bars and restaurants. Pliant Technologies, the professional products division of CoachComm, is introducing a new and innovative professional wireless intercom product, CrewCom. The product features excellent voice quality, the industry’s smallest fully featured professional full-duplex wireless radio packs and multiple simultaneous
frequency bands. It is described as a versatile communications solution built on a highly scalable platform in which a family of products utilises a proprietary network, called CrewNet. CrewNet can operate over standard Cat5e (or greater) and/or single mode fibre lines, breaking the current barriers for wireless intercom range and expandability. In addition, its CrewWare graphical software provides for comprehensive offline configuration, online control, and real-time monitoring of all system components. CrewCom wireless products are available in 2.4GHz and 900MHz.
MediorNet MicroN will be o n the Riedel stand in Las Vegas
Riedel will demonstrate its MediorNet MicroN high-density media distribution network device as a point-to-point trunking solution. In standalone mode, the MicroN can act as a 12 x 12 router and audio embedder/de-embedder with MADI SRC and delay, and also provides video frame sync and delay. Also on show will be the Tango TNG-200, which represents Riedel’s first network-based platform supporting AES67 and AVB standards. With its own dedicated intercom application, the platform can be turned into a flexible solution for a variety of communications scenarios. Along with powerful processing capabilities, the Tango TNG-200 features two integrated Riedel digital partylines, two AES67- and AVB-compatible
SHOW PREVIEW: INFOCOMM 2016
www.installation-international.com
ports, two Ethernet ports, one option slot and redundant power supplies.
CONFERENCING AND COLLABORATION Clockaudio will introduce the CCRM4000C303W-RF retractable, motorised ceiling trielement hanging microphone array. Designed for audio or video conferencing, the new product is completely retractable. It is optimised for speech intelligibility and features three high-quality, RF-immune cardioid capsules for 360º pickup. It is described as easy to install, and also compatible with all popular DSP units. The retractable unit enables the microphone to completely withdraw back into the ceiling when not in use, leaving the room aesthetically pleasing and ready for other functions. Among the installation models on display from microphone manufacturer DPA will be the TSM4001 Tabletop Shock Mount for its d:screet and d:dicate Podium Microphones, which are claimed to offer the best shock rejection of any mount in the industry. The TSM4001 features vertical softness that absorbs handling vibrations, while horizontal movements are controlled to prevent the podium boom from coming in direct contact with the mount. The company will also have its d:dicate Series MMP-F Modular Active Boom podium mic solution on display. Intended for podium, floor stand or hanging applications, with the d:dicate MMC4011 Cardioid and MMC4018 Supercardioid capsules, and equipped with an active boom pole preamp, the MMP-F is available in a variety of lengths and gooseneck options. In only its second appearance at InfoComm, collaboration solutions company Nureva will showcase multiple configurations of the Nureva Span system. Span brings the typical sticky-note wall associated with creative and strategic processes into the digital age by combining panoramic projectors with a software-as-a-service offering and the use of personal devices. Additionally, Nureva will launch a new product in a new category for the company. Visiology will demonstrate a data visualisation module for its Polywall videowall management software. Polywall can be connected seamlessly to the enterprise relational database or Hadoop cluster at the raw data level and generate data visualisation without the need to use thirdparty business intelligence tools. Visiology will also demonstrate Flipbox Software Suite – innovative software for corporate meeting rooms that transforms a large interactive screen into a powerful collaboration device with wireless presenting, mobile screen sharing and videoconferencing capabilities.
27
High five for InfoComm 2016 InfoComm is so much more than thousands of AV products and solutions. Jason McGraw, senior VP of expositions for InfoComm International, lists his Top Five must-do’s at the show
Jason McGraw
Education, Seminar and Workshops: A packed programme of nearly 200 sessions over the week of the show, starting with a three-day, in-depth, pre-conference programme. The threeday courses include certification preparation, AV design, and AV and IT topics. Whether you’re just starting out in the industry, or you’re ready for more in-depth training, our courses will give you the knowledge you need to handle a variety of design, installation, networking and management challenges. And take advantage of the new Seminar and Workshop Package: attend as many seminars or workshops as you’d like on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for one low price! The InfoComm University Seminar and Workshop Package is a perfect way to sample a wide range of topics or earn the RUs you need to maintain your CTS.
Super Tuesday: Our full-day sessions held on the day prior to the show, including Digital Signage Summit, IoT Insights and IMCCA Unified Communications and Collaboration Workshop. The Future Trends programme focuses on hot new technologies. Tech Tour and Networking Event – Live, Loud and Local Las Vegas: Wednesday 8 June, 16:00-18:30: See the AV that powers one of the brightest and hottest spots in Las Vegas — The Cosmopolitan. Register at www.infocommshow.org to get the inside scoop from the venue’s tech team, who will conduct an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of key AV installations, including the Chelsea Theatre, the Race & Sports Book, select penthouses and more. The tour is topped off with drinks and fun at a reception in the acclaimed Chandelier Bar. This event has limited capacity, so register on the show website using session code LLL. Showfloor feature areas: Lighting & Staging Pavilion, which this year includes the Live Events Experience, a hands-on area, with rigging demos, lighting and console training, opportunities to work with cameras, and a live band that will perform several times a day. Q IoT Presentation Stage: Learn about the implications and opportunities of the Internet of Things for the AV industry. Q Innovations Showcase: Meet companies that have never exhibited at InfoComm before and vote for the most innovative products and solutions. Last year’s winner, Collaboration Squared, now has a booth on the main floor. Q Content Creation and Streaming Pavilion, which will also include presentation stages, a live streaming broadcast from the show, interviews with major exhibitors, as well as discussions about content creation, virtual reality and 360º video, plus hands-on product demonstrations. Q
Opening Keynote with Stephen Dubner – Tuesday 7 June 16:00-17:30: It’s a rare privilege to have the co-author of Freakonomics presenting our opening Keynote Address. Expect thought-provoking themes presented in an entertaining way. The Opening Keynote is open to all attendees, and it’s not to be missed.
Stephen Dubner
There’s so much going on that we suggest people look over their options ahead of time and start planning. A new mobile app is available for download, so attendees can look at the schedule and plan to attend different events.
28 SHOW PREVIEW: INFOCOMM 2016 Xavtel says its SENATOR-UC ushers in a new era in conferencing for the unified communications and collaboration market. The SENATOR-UC is easy to set up: the integrator simply needs to connect the hardware and push the auto-calibrate button and best gain before feedback is instantly delivered. The product also offers instant VoIP and SIP functionality and enables distance conferencing without the need for adding any external processor. The optional CDM-T5 touchscreen-based chairman/delegate station offers full control of the system. A PC or laptop can be connected via USB; any softphone application, such as Skype, can then morph the SENATOR-UC into a long-distance conference system without the need to register it on the VoIP PBX.
AvediaServer middleware platform, extending the ability to create a tailored viewing interface across a broader range of devices; and additional support for leading smart TVs, including those from Samsung, Philips and LG. Matrox Video will present the Monarch LCS lecture capture appliance. This accepts video from any SDI or HDMI camera and presentation content over HDMI from computers. The inputs can be encoded independently and in sync for use with the latest multi-stream video players; alternatively, the inputs can be combined prior to encoding in a variety of production layouts, including picture-in-picture and side-by-side, for use with standard video players.
AV OVER IP, STREAMING ATX is featuring its VidiPlay system, as part of its complete end-to-end IPTV solutions for local or private IP networks. VidiPlay can use IP set-back boxes and smart TV clients to deliver IP video to large-format displays as well as clients for PCs, tablets and mobile devices. VidiPlay also manages client authentication and access control and provides client UI customisation. It supports advanced features such as an interactive programme guide (IPG), video on demand (VOD), network personal video recording (nPVR), digital signage and more. Discover Video will be showing DV-Mantis, a small streaming video appliance. It supports built-in HDMI, SDI, DVI, VGA, Component and Composite video inputs, and streaming at rates from 1 to 10 Mbps, and HD resolution up to 1080. In addition to streaming live, the DV-Mantis can record video and can automatically upload what it has just recorded. Within the Discover Video ecosystem, the appliance can be automatically configured and controlled; but it can be operated via front panel buttons when used in standalone mode.
June 2016
WyreStorm’s Enado control solution for source control and BYOD support.
PROJECTION TECHNOLOGY dnp denmark will be showcasing eight different ALR (Ambient Light Rejection) Screens, including a large-format Supernova Infinity, Supernova XL, LaserPanel Touch, Supernova Blade, and three unique solutions from its family of short-throw screens. Visitors can witness dnp’s multi-layer light rejection screen material during their daily screen shoot-outs at 11:00. dnp’s 08-85 and 23-23 ALR screen materials will be up against a traditional matt white diffusion screen, proving that its 7-layer make-up rejects light from above and below while only refracting back light from the projector. Their aim will be to demonstrate the 4 Cs of Supernova – Contrast, Clarity, Colour and Cone. Sally Bermudez from dnp north america says: “dnp’s optically engineered Supernova Screens offer real-world solutions in any environment. We
The Monarch LCS from Matrox Video
For streaming purposes, the encoders use either RTMP or RTSP protocol to deliver live streams to local media servers or cloud-based CDNs. In recording applications, the encoders write MP4 or MOV files directly to networkmapped drives. WyreStorm is expanding its NetworkHD line of powerful AV over IP products aimed at hospitality applications: the NetworkHD 100 and 200-Series is to get a new multiview 4K decoder that can display up to eight simultaneous video feeds on a single screen in a variety of configurations; 4K scaling enables
DV-Mantis will take centre stage on the Discover Video stand
Wyrestorm NetworkHD now features drag-and-drop control via the Touch app
Enterprise IP video technologies provider Exterity will be debuting a number of extensions to its product portfolio at InfoComm. These include extended support for 4K; mobile video compatibility, supporting the growing BYOD culture; new functionality for the ArtioSign integrated digital signage and IP video platform; the latest version of ArtioPortal, the
four images to be displayed in their native 1080p format. The NetworkHD line also gets intuitive new drag-and-drop control for iPad in the form of the Touch app. Touch allows drag-and-drop instant source selection onto screens with live video preview of all selections and sources on the iPad screen, and seamless compatibility with
dnp will be presenting daily screen shoot-outs at InfoComm
challenge our competition to keep the lights on over their projection screen displays, as we will, at InfoComm.” Tempest will show its new modular G4 range of projector enclosures. Comprising Blizzard, Whispr, Typhoon, Cyclone and Tacit product families, the G4 has been developed to replace all the company’s existing enclosure types and deal with every customer application: portrait or landscape, outdoor or indoor, rental or fixed, freezing or hot temperatures, standard or custom enclosure sizes. Featuring Goldilocks OS technology to prevent overheating and condensation, the featurepacked G4 enclosures are now smarter than ever. The latest models have been upgraded across the range, with features including variable speed AC fan control, USB diagnostics and firmware update capabilities, and optional RS485 and Ethernet connectivity. Web-based remote monitoring is coming soon.
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A JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN:
30 TECHNOLOGY FEATURE: DISPLAYS
June 2016
Key Points For the majority of today’s applications, we now have all the image quality we need
Bigger, brighter, bolder - better
4K has been a significant contributor to image quality – and even more so to the development of larger screens Display improvements are largely incremental, and focused on installability, connectivity and eco-friendliness The markets that will benefit most from advances in display technology are the ones we know today: digital signage, education, corporate
For those who have been around the AV industry for a while, few developments have been more exciting than those we’ve seen in screens – but the displays industry is far from finished with making its products better, as Ian McMurray finds out
H
ere’s an interesting question. How many displays are there in the world? Think carefully. We’re not just talking about digital signage screens. (Depending on who you believe, that’s probably more than 20 million). We’re not just talking about TVs. Or PC monitors. Think harder… What about phones? Sat-navs? Car dashboards? That’s right: there’s a very large number. To put it in perspective: someone once calculated that, at 4,585,320,000,000,000, there are more pixels in the world than there are stars in the Milky Way (which is 100 billion – or maybe 400 billion). The first question, then, in looking at where the displays industry is going, is whether there will be more pixels? After all: the most visible [sic] development in displays, other than them being flatter and thinner, has been the number of pixels per screen. From the paltry 307,200 of VGA resolution what seems like only a few years ago, we now take 8.8 million for granted. Do we need the 33 million pixels of the 8K resolution in which the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 will be captured/ transmitted? Perhaps remarkably, when talking about the direction in which the displays industry is heading, few see more pixels as being significant – at least in the near term. “I don’t think there’ll be a major improvement
in resolution in the near future,” says Max Winck, marketing manager at eyevis, “as there are still some issues that need to catch up with 4K – mainly content.”
‘The next generation of display products will certainly address colours, colour compliance and maybe also higher frame rates’ Tobias Augustin, NEC Display Solutions Europe
Industry standard Commentators expect that 4K will become the industry standard over the next few years. It’s easy to overlook the fact that not only has the higher resolution enabled improved image quality at today’s screen sizes, it has also allowed the development of larger formats in which pixellation is almost invisible at normal viewing distances – creating new installation opportunities. “Corporate and education markets are expected to lead the adoption of 4K,” notes Thomas Issa,
product manager at Sony Professional, “due to the rising demand for large screen sizes.” The law of diminishing returns starts to come into play, however: 8K and higher resolutions may enable the development of even larger screens – but would they be practicable to install? At those image sizes, projection is invariably a very realistic alternative. The subject of pixels is not entirely overlooked, however. One of the more interesting phenomena in the displays industry in the last year or so is the challenge that LED panels, with their innate advantages in power consumption, durability and flexibility, are mounting. The coarseness of their pixel pitch was irrelevant for bright images viewed from a distance – but precluded LED screens from consideration for indoor, close-up installations. That’s changing rapidly. “LED technology is at an exciting turning point in the industry,” believes Steve Scorse, vice president, EMEA at SiliconCore. “At this year’s ISE, we saw across the board that manufacturers were bringing increasingly small pixel pitches to the show, with several sub-1mm pixel pitch displays showcased, including our Camellia 0.95mm LED display. These ultra-fine LED displays allow the clarity of image usually associated with an LCD display to be used with the flexibility of LED. “At the same time, costs for manufacture
FEATURE: DISPLAYS
www.installation-international.com
have also fallen dramatically and this has led to a frenetic development of Direct View LED,” he continues, “which will likely see pixel pitch of 0.6mm in 2017 and sub-0.2mm before the end of the decade.” According to Scorse, Direct View LED already has the highest contrast ratio of any display technology, and once HDR is fully implemented in a Direct View LED display, it has the potential to surpass every other display technology for image quality. Passive 3D, very low power, high brightness and high reliability should be deliverable in this time period too, he believes, and that will open up a massive range of display opportunities. “The reduction of LED pixel pitches allows indoor use of LED modules for the first time,” notes Thomas Walter, section manager, strategic product marketing at NEC Display Solutions Europe. “Fine pitch LED has become a vital part of our display portfolio.” Will LED sweep all before it? Winck is not convinced. “For videowalls, LED can displace LCDs to a certain extent,” he considers. “For individual display applications, though – probably not. Handling is more delicate; fine pixel pitch LEDs are very sensitive to mechanical manipulation. Touch displays will also not be too easy to implement with LED tiles. There are still many applications where LCD will remain the leading technology.”
Not quantity, but quality It could be said that, for now at least, discussion of pixels is no longer about quantity, but quality. “After having reached a certain level of resolution and brightness, the next generation of display products will certainly address colours, colour compliance and maybe also higher frame rates,” thinks Tobias Augustin, senior product manager – large format displays, NEC Display Solutions Europe. “In post production or media applications, it is all about colour gamuts and reliable calibration; in healthcare applications, DICOM compliance and image uniformity matter the most.” HDR – high dynamic range – is capturing significant attention with its promise of deeper blacks, brighter whites and more vibrant colours. “HDR will be interesting for certain applications that need more detailed colours in gradients and so on,” says Winck. “Designers, especially in the automotive industry, keep asking us for HDR. But: they’ll need specially created content and for the appropriate signal chain to be in place.” Enrique Robledo, European marketing manager for Panasonic Visual System Solutions, echoes his concerns. “When capturing images and video, the combination of higher resolutions and HDR is opening new horizons and helping produce increasingly life-like displays,” he says. “From the display point of view, the focus in a commercial environment is to provide larger and larger sizes, which means increasing the resolution. The
31
Case Study
More than just displays Few applications of displays are more demanding than medicine with its need to be able to see the finest detail in microscopic operations and keyhole surgery, for example. When the dissection room in the Medical Biology Centre at Queens University, Belfast opened its doors for the new academic year, it did so equipped with 18 full HD 65in multitouch LCD displays from Panasonic. The LFB70 series of displays offer not only the required image quality, but also incorporate touchscreen technology, fully interactive whiteboard functionality and wireless connectivity to allow the students to work more closely as a team – demonstrating how displays are reinventing themselves as much more than simply ways of delivering pictures. challenge, though, remains in the processing and especially the distribution of the content.” A technology that is emerging that has the potential to redefine image quality is OLED. The key word here is ‘potential’: the industry is not convinced that it is yet ready for the rigours of commercial installations – and HDR delivers many of the image quality advantages of OLED. “OLED can provide great image quality for some professional applications even today,” says Augustin, “but limitations like image retention and reduced lifetime will not let OLED enter the mainstream digital signage market within the next few years. LCD is the cheaper and safer choice.”
Unsolved issues “Thousands of engineers have researched the issues connected with OLED technology for two decades now,” he continues, “but, unfortunately, some issues will not be solved in the near future.” Walter, notes that, while OLED may not yet be ready for commercial installations, it is “a technology that NEC is following intensely”. “There is still a lot OLED must improve to challenge LCDs,” echoes Winck, “mainly in terms of lifetime and resistance to image retention. LCD has improved a lot over the last few years, and OLED has much to do to catch up or even overtake it.” It should be said, however, that the pro-AV industry is widely appreciative of the incredible images of which the technology is capable and believes that OLED has a brighter future near term in the consumer market than the commercial. And, of course, any discussion of OLED would be incomplete without referring to its light, thin nature which can not only make mounting a display as simple as taping it to a wall, but also
makes it possible to create ‘rollable’ screens. It seems inevitable that, eventually, these characteristics will create new display applications – but, at least in the pro-AV field, it’s far from clear yet what those might be. It becomes apparent, then, that in terms of resolution, brightness and contrast – the primary contributors to image quality – we have as much as we need today. Certainly, efforts to improve it will continue: “The most successful display manufacturers in the next five years will be those who prioritise image quality and the viewing experience,” believes Scorse – but the thrust of display development may well lie elsewhere. If shrinkage in LED pixel pitches has caught the eye, so too has shrinkage in bezels. As Suchit Rout, director – global strategic alliances and business development at Barco, points out. “Ultra-narrow bezels in near-seamless LCD display walls to ensure the minimum possible distraction for control room decision-makers have been among the more important developments of recent times,” he says. “You can add to that the advent of automatic calibration that ensures image consistency not only within an individual panel, but across an entire LCD videowall. Remote and redundant power supplies have also become increasingly important.” Winck believes we will see truly bezel-less displays within a few years, and points out the enormous strides that have been made possible by IP in terms network connectivity and controllability.
Room for improvement Installability is a recurring theme. As straightforward as displays may be to deploy, there is still room for improvement. “Every kilo counts for broadcasters installing
32 FEATURE: DISPLAYS flatpanels in their outside broadcast vehicles,” notes Issa, “and therefore view slim, weightsaving chassis as a key criterion for their display solutions. The development of thinner, lighter displays throughout the flatpanel market, whether OLED, LED or otherwise, continues to push what is possible with installations, opening up new uses and possibilities for flatpanel displays in the future.” It’s not just in the perhaps arcane world of outside broadcasting that installability is important. “By incorporating an inbuilt media player, WiFi capability and a standard Android operating system, we have greatly reduced cabling
‘There is still a lot OLED must improve to challenge LCDs’ Max Winck, eyevis
complexity and eliminated the need for an external player device,” explains Robledo. “This makes it possible to implement digital signage in previously unsuitable locations.” Then, there are innovations coming to market in terms of transparent displays and double-sided displays. “This year at CES, Panasonic showcased a transparent TV,” notes Robledo. “It can be used as a translucent glass cover and then, using the TV’s remote, users can turn on the ‘screen mode’ and the TV becomes visible. It uses micro LEDs which display the image onto the glass display.” “As so often,” he goes on, “there is a chance that developments such as this in consumer TVs will filter through into the professional environment. I could see interest in retail for example, an industry that is always looking for innovations to help differentiate its products.”
Niche applications His response raises an interesting point, however, and that is the extent to which display manufacturers will increasingly target niche applications by developing specific functionalities and feature sets. Obviously, the niche needs to be a financially attractive one – but it could be argued that, by developing easily networkable, resilient, interactive, locally intelligent displays, manufacturers have been instrumental in making digital signage a very sizeable niche indeed. One technology that has added considerable value to displays in recent years has been the interactivity brought about by touch, and further developments seem likely here.
June 2016
“Touch-driven interactivity is quickly becoming a key growth area for digital signage and presentation,” adds Issa. “According to Futuresource, sales of interactive flatpanel solutions in Europe more than doubled between 2014 and 2015. This trend is expected to continue.” NEC certainly sees the opportunity. “At ISE, we showcased mirrored displays, screens with protective glass, interactive videowall screens and touchtables,” says Walter. “It shows that there’s a high demand for special applications. Even if these are niche markets, these display solutions allow unique applications and empower the user to create unusual but highly value-added solutions.” Recurring in any discussion of display technologies is the subject of lower power consumption and the advantage that LED and OLED appear to have in this area. LED-backlit LCD displays certainly offer superior performance in this regard than their CCFL-illuminated predecessors.
Exciting developments “I think the most exciting developments have been the advancements in more energy-conscious flatpanel display technologies – such as LED and OLED,” believes Scorse. “LED displays are now not only competitive with more traditional LCD displays with their image quality, but they also offer low power consumption and heat output, making them attractive in terms of sustainability and energy use for companies.” Although not a flatpanel display, evidence of this sensitivity to the need to reduce power consumption can be found in Barco’s new Flagship Laser Display for 24/7 control rooms. Its use of RGB lasers rather than laser phosphor is said to enable it to consume 50% less power than would be the case for LED-based rear projection displays. At the end of the day, if developments in displays are to benefit the AV industry, they need to bring new benefits and new applications. Inevitably, proven markets such as digital signage seem likely to gain the most. “The retail sector is one industry that frequently benefits from using the latest advancements in display technology to attract shoppers,” says Issa. “By being able to deliver bright, clear images even
All about OLED The primary advantage of OLED over LEDbacklit LCD technology derives from the fact that it is an emissive, rather than transmissive, technology. It requires no backlight, and this gives rise to many of its advantages. Less circuitry means lower power consumption, and a thinner, lighter weight architecture. Blacks are blacker and whites are whiter (so contrast ratio is much higher), the colour gamut is wider for more realistic images, and refresh rates can be far higher, improving response times. OLED also offers a wider viewing angle. Questions remain, however, about its lifespan and about ‘retention’ of static images. It is also still difficult, and thus expensive, to produce. in busy light environments such as the high street, retailers are able to engage and retain the interest of potential consumers through the use of the latest display technology.” Walter agrees: “As the retail sector is the biggest contributor to display usage, many features like centralised display control and monitoring will see huge benefit. In addition, context-aware signage experiences will greatly influence the digital signage market. “We can see that interactive display usage is getting more popular as it allows multi-user inputs and collaborative working in education and corporate offices,” he continues. “And: display technology is becoming an incremental element of architectural design. Displays are becoming digital surfaces and are considered to be part of a building or venue, such as in airports, museums or stations.”
Retail leads “Retail has always been the leader in the display technology market, and I think it will become an interesting place to test and deploy the latest developments,” adds Scorse. “LED in retail in particular is becoming quite commonplace due to its low power consumption and complete
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34 FEATURE: DISPLAYS flexibility, so with the rise of ultra-fine pixel pitch displays, this is set to experience great growth. The attractions industry has a lot of exciting potential for future displays. “ “Developments in display technology are also benefitting the medical industry,” explains Issa. “4K displays offer surgeons greater detail and colour reproduction than their predecessors. This is proving invaluable in microscopic operations and keyhole surgery in particular.” He also notes that flatpanel displays accounted for over two-thirds of interactive display sales in the UK’s education market in 2015, compared with less than 20% in 2013. “The markets and applications to benefit the most from developments in display technologies will undoubtedly be the ones which attach the highest value to them – think about critical infrastructure control rooms, meeting rooms, public signage, cinemas and so on,” summarises Rout. “It’s not just about technology. It goes much deeper than that. For any given installation, issues such as human factors, relevant content, affordability, lifetime, total cost of ownership will have equal significance. It’s pretty much the case that any display technology can readily substitute for another – but each different application will require specific display characteristics that will
June 2016
Large screen sales grow According to PMA Research, in Q1 2016 US integrator revenues for 60+in displays, UHD/4K models and interactive models grew by 22% compared with the first quarter of 2015. The sweet spot in the 60+in space remained 60-69in flatpanel displays. A meaningful portion of the volume in this size range served smaller and mediumsized business meeting rooms that had no previous display. One of the main drivers of revenue growth was the shift to even bigger flatpanels – 70-79in, 80-89in and 90in and higher displays. In the interactive display market, unit sales and revenues in the first quarter more than doubled over last year’s first quarter. determine the appropriate display technology. Your chosen technology provider should be able to act as an advisor rather than just a vendor.”
Market expansion The big question for the pro-AV industry, of course, is whether improvements in display technology will
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expand the market – creating more opportunities for displays, and thus more business? The answer, inevitably, is no – and yes. The displays industry has already reached a point that is far past ‘good enough’ for the majority of applications, and improvements are largely incremental in terms of connectivity, maintainability, installability and so on. It’s hard to see how current developments in displays can easily create new markets – and even more radical departures such as rollable screens seem unlikely to be game-changers. On the other hand, anything that creates greater customer satisfaction through improved image quality, superior ease of use, lower cost of ownership and the like can only encourage the wider deployment of displays in applications such as digital signage, education, corporate meeting rooms, visitor attractions and other markets in which screens are already well entrenched. Continued proliferation in the number of pixels in the universe seems assured.
www.barco.com http://business.panasonic.eu www.eyevis.com www.nec-display-solutions.com www.pro.sony.eu www.siliconcore.com
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36 TECHNOLOGY FEATURE: THEME PARKS
June 2016
Warming to their theme Theme parks’ need to maintain customer interest over repeat visits means that they have traditionally maintained notably cutting-edge technological infrastructures. As David Davies reports, that is still very much the case in 2016, with many attractions now working to implement fully integrated control and network infrastructures
T
he reasons for theme parks historically being a focal point for groundbreaking AV work are many and varied, but Tobias Stumpfl – CEO of projection screen, media and control technology specialist AV Stumpfl – offers as concise a summary of the primary factors as one is likely to find. “Attractions are a good application to go for the most up-to-date AV equipment since they are built to impress visitors with a specific message,” he says. “AV equipment is used to boost this message because if an attraction is able to surprise visitors they will be excited.” Indeed, it is arguable that – even more than leading concert venues, theatres and museums – theme parks must prioritise the use of the latest technology as part of their overall appeal to customers. After all, this is a sector that is by no means immune to broader economic effects – the downturn years of 2009-11 were challenging for theme parks in many countries – so it is no surprise to find that it has provided an important showcase for sophisticated media control, surround sound and immersive audio, ultrahigh-resolution displays, and virtual or augmented reality. With theme park attendance firmly in the ascendant once again (data released by the Themed Entertainment Association reveals that the top 25 such attractions saw a 4.1% increase in attendance in 2014, compared to the previous year), many locations also have a renewed ability to invest in emerging technologies – a number of which centre around more direct interaction with visitors. Providing some useful context, Medialon’s North America sales manager, Eric J Cantrell, remarks: “Each park adds one or two attractions
every year or so, and that’s good sustaining business. It’s not every day a new theme park is built, so when a new park is built, there is a great opportunity to offer new technologies that can take advantage of the fact that everything is new and there isn’t a need to support old infrastructure. They’re a clean slate, and designers can build smart, networked control systems that give operators better insight into the status of their equipment parkwide, which ultimately improves attraction uptime.”
‘When a new park is built, there is a great opportunity to offer new technologies that can take advantage of the fact that everything is new and there isn’t a need to support old infrastructure’ Eric J Cantrell, Medialon
Trond Solvold – sales manager at Dataton, whose Watchout multi-display system is a popular choice for theme park installations – echoes the forward-looking nature of the sector. “Our experience is that AV teams invest in keeping abreast of new technology, and are well informed about what other parks are doing,” he says. “They are keen to push technology into new realms, or applications, as long as the result is fully reliable. The visitor experience has to be mind-blowing every single time – downtime is simply not an option in a popular attraction or theme park.”
Key Points Theme park projects remain in abundance after the sector’s strong rebound from the late Noughties recession Control systems are now increasingly used on a site-wide basis to oversee multiple attractions and core systems Interactivity and personalisation are expected to come to the fore over the next few years Control systems and ‘themed interactives’ As the myriad of AV components to be found in any given area of a theme park has become more extensive, so it follows that the control systems overseeing them have evolved in complexity – and so has their need to support tight and user-friendly integration. For many suppliers, this trend has underlined the wisdom of developing product ranges that support all sizes and shapes of control scenario. “While we supplied solid-state control systems in the past, we [have since] become one of the only one-stop solution manufacturers,” says Stumpfl. “[Hence for such applications] we typically provide most of our portfolio, including media servers, control systems and video players, plus interfaces. Our advantage is that all this comes from one supplier, which means the integrator only has one point of contact in case of support and service.” By way of example, Stumpfl points to a long association with attraction design giants Simworx, which recently deployed SC Master Controller at Angry Birds The 4D Experience, the
centrepiece of a new 4,000sqm Angry Birds Zone at Thorpe Park, UK. The 3D film features specialised 4D effects, including water sprays, wind, bubbles, leg ticklers and seat motion – all controlled using SC Master. For Alcorn McBride, theme parks constitute its “primary focus as a company”, and one that it caters to with an extensive range of AV player, lighting and show control products. In terms of show control systems – its most popular solutions along with video playback products – director of sales Scott Harkless confirms that “reliability, precise timing and ease of use” are key requirements. “These products need to provide easy control of various entertainmentfocused AV products like projectors, media servers, animatronic systems, lighting systems and audio DSP platforms,” he says. “We make this possible by providing an extensive library of drivers that provide universalremote-like control of these devices. We eliminate complex aspects associated with device control like checksums, CRCs, hexadecimal vs ASCII, etc, and boil everything down to simple commands like ‘Power On’ and ‘Play’. Our show control architecture can then execute these events based on a precise timeline to ensure that everything is happening exactly when it is supposed to – day in and day out on a reliable hardware platform.” The pressure on control infrastructures to perform seamlessly is only likely to increase given the additional elements set to be added in the coming years. The incorporation of advanced projection systems – with theme park attractions “pushing projection and playback technologies to higher frame rates, higher resolution, more lumens and uncompressed quality content” – is already well underway. In the longer term, Harkless thinks that we will see the rise of what he terms ‘themed interactives’. “What I’m referring to is physical themed props that incorporate AV and other specialised electronics to provide a new type of experience,” he says. “The best example that comes to mind is the interactive wand systems in Universal’s Harry Potterthemed lands. For those who aren’t familiar with the concept, guests can
purchase a wand and actually use it to ‘cast spells’ in designated areas of the themed land. My apologies to those that advocate the use of VR/ AR in theme parks, but these types of interactives are what theme parks are all about. Why? Because unlike VR/AR, this is not something that you can experience in the comfort of your home. By definition, theme parks already offer guests the chance to explore a ‘virtual reality’ – one that is physical in nature, not electronic.”
IT’S WHAT’S BEHIND THAT KEEPS US AHEAD
‘A trend that cannot be ignored’ Acquired last month by Barco, Medialon is another company that continues to enjoy a strong standing in the theme park sector, providing systems to control AV in attractions as well as for park-wide AV control and supervision. Today they “represent about a third of our business”, says Cantrell, who highlights the popularity of solutions including Medialon Manager V6, Showmaster and Overture UX. In terms of emerging technologies that are likely to be added to the theme park mix, Cantrell says that “social media is a huge trend that cannot be ignored. Everyone has a smartphone in their pocket, and as much as designers and operators would wish the guests would leave them in their pockets and enjoy the immersive environments they have created, the guests want to share their experience with their friends and family. And that’s not so bad either.” Increased personalisation will also come into play, with Cantrell suggesting that “interactive parkwide overlays, adventure games, and scavenger hunts that tie in with park and attraction infrastructure will help to personalise the guest experience”. Not surprisingly, these developments will have implications not just for control systems but the extensive networks that increasingly underpin theme park sites. There will be a need for “improved data networks and IT infrastructure, like WiFi access for guests”, says Cantrell. “Large-scale networking will continue to grow as more and more data (and audio and pixels) are transmitted across this shared resource. It will be essential for operators to be able to manage these networks easily and securely, and prevent intrusion.”
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38 FEATURE: THEME PARKS Case Study
Holovis RideView set for new attraction at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi Sensory experience specialist Holovis has revealed that its proprietary software, RideView, is being used by Ferrari World Abu Dhabi to build an attraction that is set to launch in late 2016. RideView creates a virtual model of the whole ride in 3D 1:1 scale in a CAVE environment, enabling the design team to step inside the experience using virtual reality. The design was reviewed at every stage in this real-time virtual environment, allowing the client, stakeholders and different project teams to review all aspects of the ride design and programme at each critical milestone. George Walker, creative director at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, explains: “RideView is a revelation to the design and review process, allowing us to explore and solve design challenges through to the complex on-site integration planning much earlier in the project cycle, and in a way you never could with standard CAD drawings and 2D visual renderings. This acceleration and increased richness of the development process increases the engagement of the whole project team, mitigating risk throughout the review process by identifying potential issues that ordinarily would only have been found once the site build began. This saves time and expense – both critical factors in any project of this type.”
June 2016
Enhanced audio In this context, audio can be seen as a pacesetter given the widespread transition in theme parks (as pinpointed by Cantrell) “from analogue audio to networked parkwide audio systems – and now that’s the de facto standard way to handle large, distributed audio systems”, Dane Butcher, CEO of DSP specialist Symetrix, is among the other observers to recognise this ongoing trend, and makes reference to the use of Audinate’s Dante media networking technology. “With Dante getting stronger and stronger (Dante HC in particular – Symetrix being a recent licensee), I have no doubt that Symetrix will see a lot more cha-cha in the theme park vertical,” says Butcher. “As Audinate rolls out AES67 support, Dante security and network bridging features, it’s not too difficult to imagine that Symetrix DSPs will see an increasing amount of service in large-scale projects – including theme parks – going forward.” QSC continues to perform strongly in theme park audio through its DSP, amplifier and loudspeaker ranges. Product manager for Installed Systems Martin Barbour is not alone in focusing on audio’s future as part of the great “AV/IT convergence”: “We are already seeing audio, video and control converging on to single
FEATURE: THEME PARKS 39
www.installation-international.com
network infrastructures, including convergence of multiple protocol types such as QLAN, AES67, Dante and AVB. This path of convergence is already showing signs of including nonentertainment data types such as point of sale, security, communications and other park-wide services on to single networks.”
Theme parks of the future With immersive and interactive environments
increasingly de rigueur, the pressure on vendors and integrators to make systems work together will remain acute. Holovis is a leading name in sensory experience design, working in sectors including entertainment and industrial, and is therefore well placed to observe the transition. Chief executive Stuart Hetherington comments: “We have responded to the demand over recent years to deliver a complete turnkey experience, delivering real-time gaming capability within
immersive environments, and have become the first company to accurately map true interactivity across complex dome surfaces. When combined with experiential design driving the seamless integration of all hardware, media and software elements, you can create attractions that immerse the senses to put people at the heart of the experience like never before.” In fact, ‘putting people at the heart of the experience like never before’ is likely to double as an effective outline of where the theme park sector per se will be heading during the next ten years. Encouragingly, the evidence of this overview makes it clear that vendors are continuing to think one step ahead of the attractions – in the process developing clever, integration-friendly solutions that can be applied not just to theme parks, but to many other important verticals as well.
www.alcorn.com www.avstumpfl.com www.dataton.com www.holovis.com www.medialon.com www.symetrix.co www.qsc.com
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40 BUSINESS FEATURE: AV PROJECT BUDGETS
June 2016
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„ Effective planning tools exist to aid integrators, but less than 50% of integrators use them #$
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Steve Montgomery investigates software packages and techniques that aid integrators in delivering projects on time and within budget nyone who has ever worked on an AV installation project, no matter how large or complex, knows that very few projects run according to plan: the majority will experience an increase to the planned budget that often cannot be charged on to the end customer, whether or not this is the fault of the integrator. However, creating an accurate proposal and preparing and sticking to a plan is essential. Failure can mean the project runs at a loss, with possible dire consequences. Integrators must manage projects within budget to be successful, which is often not a trivial task when it comes to complex installations. Fortunately tools and techniques are available to assist. The ďŹ rst step is to create an accurate proposal that is competitive and complete. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s difficult market where almost everything is being bid on, a decent amount of competition is prevalent. As an estimator, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re tasked with three goals: cover all costs and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t
Â&#x201E; Equipment selection, pricing, installation and programming contribute to project costs and must be co-ordinated and managed together
miss anything, make a good proďŹ t, and win the project. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re good, you typically win only one in every four jobs. In todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s market it may be more like one in six or ten,â&#x20AC;? says David Lahey, director of estimating, Conference Technologies. Online AV product and services database AV-iQ carried out a detailed study of the problems that integrators face in developing proposals using equipment from a wide range of vendors, each providing different levels of information and with a wide variation in pricing and discount mechanisms. Even within the same organisation, different estimators would price the same project with wildly different outcomes. This resulted in the development of the AV-iQ Project Cost Estimator, a database of product information and pricing on over 400,000 devices, populated by manufacturers and containing estimated installation labour predictions. Integrators can supplement this by adjusting the ďŹ gures locally according to their own capabilities or direct supplier offers.
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Â&#x201E; Project managers must be able to build a strong implementation team and interact at a personal level with clients
Software tools Many other companies have created tools to aid integrators. These include software packages that manage original speciďŹ cation, estimation and proposals through to the creation of system drawings and ongoing project management. However the take-up within the industry is comparatively low, despite their low cost and ease of use. â&#x20AC;&#x153;All integrators need to create accurate proposals and cost estimates, but the majority still do not use a dedicated package, preferring to continue with manual combinations of Office tools including Excel and Word, and home-grown applications,â&#x20AC;? points out Paul Dexter, CEO of Jetbuilt. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The major disadvantage of this approach is that they are exposed to outof-date and incomplete data that increases the risk of inaccurate pricing and product selection. The time saved through the use of a proprietary package can recoup its low cost within just one or two projects. In fact we have customers who use the 30-day free trial version who
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42 FEATURE: AV PROJECT BUDGETS immediately sign up after experiencing a cost saving on one project greater than the cost of the package.” As a cloud-based, cross-platform system, Jetbuilt ensures that all data is up-to-date and correct. Manufacturers and distributors add product details and pricing structures directly into the database which integrators and dealers can then access. A method of authentication allows individual companies to incorporate their designated level of discount and any special offer, such as discount for pre-payment. Pricing details can then be listed in a proposal at whatever level the integrator or dealer chooses, and combine it with documentation, images, corporate background and marketing information to create a sophisticated and attractive offer document for the customer. The cloud-based nature of the package means that all projects and data can be accessed by all team members, allowing high levels of collaboration. “In many cases there is a long delay between original proposal and the customer placing the order, so a revision is often necessary. Sales people can adjust the specification while visiting customers to ensure that it best meets their needs, knowing that the pricing is 100% accurate,” says Dexter. “They can even email a completely revised proposal within minutes of completing it. A crucial element of the system lies in its handling price increases or discontinued products. These are flagged up in the proposal allowing estimators to deal with them in time, rather than the integration team having to face the problem on site.” A further element that is of immense use to integrators is direct links to manufacturers. A full project plan, including system drawings and parts lists, can be shared with manufacturers who can check and advise on shortcomings. “This allows the manufacturer’s pre-sales support team to check the validity of the system from detailed plans before the bid is placed, rather than through phone calls and emails from site when an error is identified, which allows costs to be anticipated before, rather than while the project is live.”
Convincing customers Creating the original system design, pricing it and preparing detailed proposal documentation is a highly complex process that requires a significant level of skill and competence. Not only is it fraught with pitfalls and risks, but it has to be impressive enough to convince customers that the vendor is more than competent. To aid integrators and dealers, Designflow provides a design and proposal service backed by experienced system designers and project managers. According to Keith Jones, partner at Designflow: “We are very different to other
June 2016
Manufacturers and distributors add product details and pricing structures directly into the Jetbuilt database
companies offering tools to help integrators produce proposals as we provide our tools as a service rather than as software; we offer complete proposal preparation and end-to-end system design. “The objective is to deliver accuracy through shared vision right across the project, thereby enabling integrators to adhere to the original plan and remain within budget. Our project designs are based on more than 45 years of experience in the residential technology and commercial AV sectors: a depth of knowledge and experience that sets us apart from what even some of the largest integrators and AV companies can achieve in house.
‘The objective is to deliver accuracy through shared vision right across the project’ Keith Jones, Designflow
“Part of that process is in ensuring that all services are sufficiently covered, alongside the actual kit. This includes labour, commissioning, project management and programming and design fees. If a proposed project is over budget the correct thing to do is to lower the specification of the equipment, allowing the budget to cover all the required services as well as the equipment. Should these services not be addressed from the very beginning there will not likely be another opportunity to charge the client for them at a later date; certainly not perhaps without a very difficult conversation.” Despite even the best planning and preparation, things can go wrong. Whether they
are the fault of the integrator themselves, a sub-contractor or outside factor, they must be dealt with. That task falls upon the project manager, who must exhibit a combination of skills. Kelly Ashforth, partner at Designflow, summarises: “A project manager in our sector should have technical knowledge of the equipment and its capability and functionality, along with diplomacy and a developed level of personal interaction. They will need to build a collaborative relationship within the implementation team and encourage regular client contact to build a valuable and strong relationship. It’s essential to be able to interact with clients and be able to talk openly and honestly, as well as with the entire team. This encourages a culture where any issues can be talked through without prejudice and helps retain morale which can be channelled to focus on the mutual goals in hand.” There is a wide range of tools available to help integrators develop solutions and communicate with their customer. As Tim Bigoness, VP sales and marketing at D-Tools explains, these “can range from a basic Excel-based tool that helps an integrator put together a budget based on specific products or systems, to full-blown proposal, engineering and project management solutions. It is important for the integrator to understand what works best for their needs. Ultimately, these tools should enable them to set a scope and budget for a project, understand timeframes and communicate this information to the end customer, or work with colleagues to develop a complete project plan.”
www.av-iq.com www.conferencetech.com www.designflow.co www.d-tools.com www.jetbuilt.com
We are driven by a desire to provide and technically guarantee music and sound as a genuine sound experience. This is what each product by Kling & Freitag stands for - or, as we say, „Passion built in“.
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44 SOLUTIONS: STADE PIERRE MAUROY, LILLE
June 2016
FRANCE
PROJECT OF THE MONTH
Lille beauty With the European football championship kicking off this month, Paddy Baker visited one of the ten stadiums that will be hosting the action
B
ecause of the extended timescales associated with major stadium projects, they can grow in significance while they are being built. This happened with Lille’s Stade Pierre Mauroy, which broke ground in 2009, but in 2010 became a symbol of France’s successful bid to host the UEFA Euro 2016 football championship. It will host four of the group matches of Euro 2016, beginning with Germany versus Ukraine on 12 June – as well as one of the group playoffs and one of the quarter-finals. The stadium is the home of LOSC Lille Métropole, who play in French football’s first division; inaugurated as the Grande Stade Lille Métropole in 2012, it received its new name in 2013 following the death of Pierre Mauroy, a former mayor of Lille who had also served as French prime minister. The stadium impresses before one has even stepped inside. The exterior features a media façade measuring 20m high and 120m wide, made from Imagic Weave LED mesh from Traxon. This contains 70,000 pixels and features three different resolution areas: a high-resolution area for playing videos, medium for a scrolling ticker display, and low for displaying graphics or creating lighting moods. A Traxon e:cue Lighting Control Engine fx and 25 e:cue Video Micro Converters are used to drive the façade, which can be controlled wirelessly using a smartphone or tablet. More unusually, it has a retractable roof,
consisting of four panels, which can be closed in 16 minutes. And, uniquely among European stadiums, one half of the pitch can be raised on hydraulic lifts and stacked on top of the other half. This exposes a lower level area, with additional seating, that can be used for other sports such as tennis (the venue has hosted the Davis Cup) and basketball (including part of EuroBasket 2015), as well as for concerts: Rihanna performed a sell-out show here in 2013 and is set to return next month after the Euros have finished. The stadium seats 20,500 people at the lowest level, 7,400 in the middle section and 22,500 in the top section. The total capacity of around 50,000 makes this the fourth largest of the ten Euro 2016 stadiums. However, it has a more intimate ambience than some smaller grounds – possibly thanks to the surprisingly steep rake of the top section.
Sound system The AV installation was carried out by Lillebased Manganelli Technology, with the wiring handled by Forclum, a subsidiary of main contractor Eiffage. The main sound system around the stadium bowl comprises Electro-Voice weather-resistant Sx600 PIX loudspeakers. These are high output speakers that provide high intelligibility. Each cabinet features a dual-element 12in vertical line array, and an integrated 600W internal transformer for running on low-voltage systems.
Installed Video/Lighting Bosch Autodome HD1080p IP cameras Bosch Flexidome HD720p day/night IP cameras Bosch Flexidome HD1080p IP cameras Bosch Dinion HD 720p day/night IP cameras Barco SF-10v outdoor LED displays Traxon Imagic Weave LED media façade Traxon e:cue Lighting Control Engine fx Traxon e:cue Video Micro Converters Samsung ME46B LCD displays Exterity IP video system Barco digital signage system
Audio E-V weather-resistant Sx600 PIX loudspeakers E-V EVID two-way surface mount speakers Dynacord DL 96 ceiling speakers Dynacord DL 800 weatherproof horn speakers Dynacord ProMatrix DPM 4000 matrix managers Dynacord ProMatrix DMM 4650 digital message makers Dynacord ProMatrix DPP 4004 matrix managers E-V NetMax N8000 digital matrixes According to Oliver Sahm, director, marketing application design at EVI Audio, this model has been installed at six other stadiums in France. These are situated around the bowl in groups of three to provide the necessary coverage of the seating areas and the pitch. Consultant Eric Grandmougin from Grandmougin Conseils carried out an EASE simulation to achieve the optimum positions of the loudspeaker clusters. Many indoor locations feature models from the Electro-Voice EVID two-way surface mount range, and Dynacord DL 96 high-power ceiling speakers. Dynacord DL 800 weatherproof horn speakers are also deployed in some of the aisles and gangways. EVI Audio was one of the pioneers of the approach of combining public address and voice
www.installation-international.com
SOLUTIONS: STADE PIERRE MAUROY, LILLE 45
About the installer Lille-based Manganelli Technology is an AV integrator with sister companies that work in the areas of events and digital signage In addition to the stadium in Lille, the integrator also installed a Dynacord/Electro-Voice system into the Allianz Riviera Stadium in Nice, which will also host Euro 2016 matches The company has also completed successful projects in application areas such as museums, offices, cinemas, simulation environments and TV studios alarm into a single system. This saves money on equipment and cabling, but requires a more sophisticated approach to how different types of audio signals are managed and prioritised. At the heart of the PA-VA is a Dynacord ProMatrix 4000 system, comprising DPM 4000 matrix managers, DMM 4650 digital message makers and DPP 4004 matrix managers. These are under the control of an Electro-Voice NetMax N8000 digital matrix, which provide system routing, digital signal processing, EQ, and remote control and supervision. This equipment is replicated across a total of six rack rooms around the stadium. Networking is via CobraNet, and the audio runs on its own dedicated network. The audio is centrally controlled with
EVI’s IrisNet software, via a customised GUI. The loudspeakers are powered by E-V Contractor Precision Series (CPS) power amps. Sahm comments: “With our multichannel amplifiers and pilot tone supervision to the individual loudspeaker lines, we can monitor the individual speakers in the stadium bowl to make sure they are working correctly.”
Safety features Because of the safety-critical nature of the PA-VA system, there are many redundant features built in. “Adjacent clusters are not powered by the same amplifiers, to be in conformity with EN 60489,” comments Jean Mandaret, technical director of EVI Audio France. “Each side of the tribunes is powered by two remote rack rooms so in the event of a complete failure of one remote rack room, half of the speakers would still be powered.” Inside the stadium bowl, the two scoreboards are 60sqm Barco LED displays, with a 10mm ‘virtual’ (20mm actual) pixel pitch. On match days this runs its own content created live by the LOSC technical team, but during corporate events it can play content from the Barco digital signage system. An Exterity IP video solution – comprising receiver set-top boxes, TVgateways and HD and SD encoders, all managed by Avedia Server – delivers tailored content to nearly 400 Samsung displays around the stadium, including the hospitality areas, VIP suites and press rooms. A total of 218 cameras from Bosch Security Systems are used in the stadium’s CCTV system, which runs on the main stadium network and was installed by Eiffage. The Bosch Autodome HD1080p IP camera is a PTZ model that can be used to locate, track and zoom in on objects of interest. Its 1080p
resolution means that legible images can be produced even when zooming across the pitch to the other side of the seating area. It also has an Intelligent Tracking feature, whereby it can follow moving objects (including people) based on predefined alarm rules, or with a single mouse click. Other Bosch IP cameras installed are the Flexidome HD720p Day/Night model, which gives non-blurred, non-speckled images in low light conditions; the vandal-resistant Flexidome HD1080p; and the Dinion HD 720p Day/Night model for outdoor surveillance. Fabien Sirondelle, who is in charge of information and communications technology at the stadium, explains: “When we are not hosting a match we use movement detection for each camera, and specific cameras are recording permanently. During the match days, all cameras are recording. We store the images for 10 days.” The CCTV system is integrated with the stadium’s access control system. Sirondelle explains that if an incident is detected on camera, it is possible to roll back the recording in time, and track all the people involved via the access control system: “We have the exact time when they went into the stadium, we have their names, numbers and addresses. We have had no incidents with no identification. It’s very important for the locality to have this system.”
www.barco.com www.boschsecurity.com http://displaysolutions.samsung.com www.dynacord.com www.eiffage.com www.electrovoice.com www.exterity.com www.grandmougin-conseils.com www.manganelli-technology.com www.traxontechnologies.com
46 SOLUTIONS: EASTHAMPSTEAD PARK, BERKSHIRE
June 2016
UNITED KINGDOM
Installed Control AMX Novaro 8-button control panel Barco ClickShare Mini system Crestron DigitalMedia 8G+ transmitter 401 Crestron DigitalMedia DXLink receiver with RS232 Crestron TSW-752 7in touchscreen Crestron PWE-4803RU PoE injector Crestron DMX-512 interface module Crestron universal mounting bracket Crestron DMPS3-200-C presentation unit
Making the grade This prestigious venue required a number of key AV upgrades, a project made all the more difficult by the need to maintain its historic aesthetics and the short window of time for completion. Tom Bradbury reports
F
or this Grade II listed Victorian mansion, integrator Reflex was given a brief to upgrade the existing AV systems in order to enable the conference and wedding venue to better serve its varied customer base and diverse range of events. Clients of the venue include Sky News, Siemens and the John Lewis Partnership, and events range from corporate meetings and training along with educational courses and family celebrations and weddings. The focal point of the project was the installation of a digital control and connection system for the Downshire Room, which is the venue’s largest conference space, and the three first floor meeting rooms. The brief also
stated that the technology used needed to take into account the historic nature of the building, be hidden when not in use and be easy for all users to operate. An additional requirement was for an outside audio system in the Wedding Pavilion, which is an open-air wedding area within the grounds.
Central control In the Downshire Room, a Crestron TSW-752 7in wall-mounted touchscreen makes it simple to use and centrally controls the AV equipment, lights and blinds. A Barco ClickShare CSM allows users to wirelessly share laptop content onto the screen and the existing microphone system, which suffered from interference, has now been
Video Humax Freeview+ HD Digital TV Recorder (500GB) NEC P502HL 5,000 ANSI lumen 1080p DLP laser projector Screen International 450 x 338 Electric Screen
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Accessories Caymon CST201/B microphone stand Sennheiser GA3 rack mount kit Somfy 1810334 dry contact transmitter Somfy 1860000 relay controller TeamMate Fundamentals VariHite lectern Turning Leaf 25u bespoke AV cabinet Unicol CP1X2 standard ceiling plate Unicol 100cm column Unicol PSU for NEC projector
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48 SOLUTIONS: EASTHAMPSTEAD PARK, BERKSHIRE
June 2016
About the installer Reflex designs, integrates and supports all aspects of audiovisual technology Established in 1983, the company has expertise in technical design, project management, design and a full installation service Reflex has specific experience in the higher education, corporate and public sector markets
upgraded using Audio-Technica, Sason and Shure mics. All source connections are distributed to a Crestron DMPS3-200-C presentation unit located within a bespoke
Turning Leaf equipment cabinet and a TeamMate VariHite lectern at the front of the room can be height adjusted to allow use by anybody including wheelchair users.
Elsewhere in the Downshire Room, the existing short-throw projection system needed an upgrade as well as the electric screen, push button automated control system and audio system. The new solution included an NEC P502HL 5,000 ANSI lumen HD laser projector and a tab-tensioned large electric screen from Screen International. The latter was fitted with a Genie lift at a height of 5m with bespoke brackets in front of decorative curtains, and disappears into the ceiling when not in use. To add a level of difficulty to the install, the Downshire Room contains some antique and highly valuable chandeliers meaning equipment had to be carefully manoeuvred to avoid damage. The three first floor meeting spaces have been equipped with an AMX Novaro 8 Button Control Panel for easy control of existing projection equipment. A spokesperson for the venue comments: “The quality of the solution in the Downshire Room is just another level, every client that has used the room walks away impressed, whether it is the huge screen, the wireless presentation solution or the simple touchscreen to operate everything.”
Wedding Pavilion For the Wedding Pavilion, the objective was to give all speakers confidence in front of the assembled guests, while ensuring maximum clarity of sound, achieved through a comprehensive audio system. Hanging from the pavilion ceiling, a pair of Audio-Technica ES915H18 Cardioid Condenser microphones was chosen for its robust construction and unobtrusive appearance. The supercardioid pickup ensures all nuances of the performance can be heard, without feedback. One microphone is directed towards the bride and
groom and the other towards the wedding official. Outside, on each side of the pavilion, is a microphone connection point in a weatherproof housing, for the use of other speakers outside of the building. Two Sason Q8 wired handheld microphones on boom mounts connect to the points at the front of the pavilion. In terms of the project as a whole, working on a listed building meant it was a priority that the AV system upgrades adhered to the historic aesthetics of the building. It also had to be delivered within a tight timeframe, with the Reflex team working during the evenings to ensure it was completed on time. The whole installation was delivered in just four and a half days, to be ready for a wedding on the afternoon of day five. Stewart Neil, operations manager for Easthampstead Park, adds: “The equipment in all our meeting rooms now just works – first time, every time. This is critical for our clients. “We have tried numerous audiovisual companies over the years, but they have always struggled to understand our requirements – marrying our need for a system that is not too visible with a simplicity needed for clients. We were impressed with the solution offered by Reflex from the very first technical drawing right the way through to installation and commissioning.”
www.amx.com www.audio-technica.com www.barco.com www.caymon.be www.crestron.eu www.ecler.com www.humaxdigital.com www.nec-display-solutions.com www.reflex.co.uk www.revolabs.com www.sennheiser.com www.shure.eu www.teammateworld.com www.turning-leaf.org www.unicol.com
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50 SOLUTIONS IN BRIEF
June 2016
JAPAN
Nexo-Yamaha networked system specified for new arts centre A fully integrated and networked Nexo-Yamaha theatre sound system has been installed in the new multipurpose Westa Kawagoe centre, just outside Tokyo. The centre’s Main Hall has approximately 1,700 seats. Installed by Yamaha Sound Systems, the Dante-networked system uses Nexo GEO S12 line arrays flown at the sides, and Nexo Alpha Hi-Q point source speakers in the proscenium. The side and proscenium speaker systems work independently to cover the entire hall. The hall is equipped with mechanisms to raise and lower the arrays, which optimises the acoustic environment and ensures a high level of clarity. Each system is driven by NXAMP4x4 amplifiers
www.nexo-sa.com/en www.yamahaproaudio.com with built-in Nexo DSPs. Nexo’s STM-M28 two-way full-range Omni Module cabinets are used as movable stage speakers. The configuration includes an added
STM-S118 sub module for the sub-bass range together with an STM-B112 bass module. The main mixing console is a Yamaha CL5; the consoles in the stage wings include a QL1.
UK
Pure AV meets university’s digital needs with Lumens PTZ cameras
www.pureav.co.uk www.lumens.com.tw
Pure AV has fitted Lumens PTZ cameras in teaching rooms throughout the University of Liverpool to support lecture capture, room linking and videoconferencing. As a result of growing demand for courses and digitised content, Pure AV has fitted over 100 cameras across the university estate in London, Liverpool and China. The cameras deployed include a mix of Lumens VCG-30 and VCG-50s in all large teaching spaces where lecture capture or room linking is required as well as in other areas for desktop videoconferencing. Mostly this is used in support of internal communication between the different campuses, and to carry out online viva examinations.
US
K-array Python system provides even coverage at Nobu hotel New York City’s El Media Group (EMG) has designed and installed a K-array Python loudspeaker system for the restaurant, bar and lobby of the Nobu Hotel at Eden Roc Miami Beach. The multi-million dollar hotel features 210 guest rooms, a Nobu restaurant and bar, 1,900sqm of spa and fitness facilities, and over 7,000sqm of meeting and event space. The restaurant, bar and hotel lobby combine to form one large open space, which meant the system designed and installed by EMG needed to provide good dispersion as well as control to
avoid sound overlap. The bar was equipped with eight KP102 Python loudspeakers paired with two KMT18 subwoofers and two KMT12 subwoofers. The restaurant has 12 KP52 Python loudspeakers integrated into rattan-covered columns combined with two more KMT12 subwoofers. Both these sections were powered by K-array KA84 amplifiers. The lobby was equipped with three KR402 systems, which each include a pair of two KP102 Python loudspeakers sitting atop a KMT21 sub.
www.k-array.com
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TECHNOLOGY
Kit you need to know about
PRODUCT OF Logitech, Intel NUC THE MONTH Logitech Group Kit
It’s… Logitech’s first collaborative meeting room solution, which transforms any space into an enterprise-quality collaborative room.
What’s different? The Group Kit includes a Logitech Group ConferenceCam, Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 PLUS, Intel NUC, Intel Unite application and Iluminari Quicklaunch SE. It is compatible with virtually all PC-based video and web conferencing platforms, requiring just a display and internet connection in a meeting room.
Details: The Group Kit offers 1080p video and professional-grade audio, and is optimised for use with Skype for Business, Cisco WebEx, Cisco
Jabber and a number of Logitech Collaboration Program members including BlueJeans and Zoom. The Intel NUC powers the system with high performance and reliability to run HD videoconferencing with support for multiple HD and 4K UHD displays. Paired with the Intel Unite application, the solution also enables wireless content sharing on both PC and Mac. Intel vPro technology gives the IT team remote access to the Intel NUC or management and security tasks. Iluminari Quicklaunch SE brings a fully configurable user interface as well as additional features including one-touch meeting starts, automated room resets and a locked-down kiosk mode for streamlined IT administration. Microsoft Windows 10 Pro provides a familiar
user experience and helps IT departments manage devices, apps and identities in a way that scales up or down with business needs. It also offers enterprise-grade security features to help protect critical information. Also included in the Group Kit is the Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 Plus, which offers a multi-year battery life, a wireless range of up to 10m, and an integrated touchpad that makes it easy to initiate a videoconference from across the room.
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54 TECHNOLOGY: NEW PRODUCTS – Severtson Screens SeVision 3D GX
June 2016
Fulcrum Acoustic FLS115 It’s… a supercardioid
New microperf options are now available for Severtson’s folded SeVision 3D GX line of cinema projection screens. “Our new folded shipping method makes international distribution of our SeVision 3D GX highly affordable, reducing international shipping costs by up to 70%,” explains Toby Severtson, president and CEO of Severtson. www.severtsonscreens.com Polycom RealPresence Clariti RealPresence Clariti features audio, video and content collaboration software, It includes Polycom RealConnect technology for Skype for Business, which connects Skype for Business and other videoconferencing environments leveraging native Microsoft Outlook calendaring and One Touch Dialing. Powerful analytics are also included to create insights on utilisation and performance of the network. www.polycom.com
Sommer Cable HQ-HDMI This new cable line enables the loss-free transmission of digital UHD video and multichannel HD audio data. Due to a maximum bandwidth of 18Gbit/s 1080p HD video signals will be supported along with UHD 4K resolutions up to 4096 x 2160 pixels, including the data transfer rates required by HDR. The audio return channel (ARC) allows both the reception and transmission of audio signals. Other features include an ethernet function with a 100Mbit/s data rate. www.sommercable.com Oblong Mezz-In The latest enhancement to the Mezzanine visual collaboration solution enables the integration of videoconferencing into the Mezzanine web client. External meeting collaborators have full visibility of the Mezzanine workspace and the ability to upload content and control presentations, with easy screen-sharing capabilities via Chrome. Mezz-In will premiere at InfoComm this month and will be released to customers later this summer. www.oblong.com
subwoofer and companion to the FL283 subcardioid line array.
What’s different? Incorporating Fulcrum’s Passive Cardioid Technology, the FLS115 reduces excessive rear low frequency radiation without the need for additional drivers, amplifiers, or signal processing. It is said to deliver superior LF directional control and rear rejection without the loss of efficiency commonly found in active cardioid devices.
Details: Designed for demanding venues, including performing arts centres, houses of worship, sporting facilities and nightclubs, the FLS115 enclosure and rigging are designed to accommodate up to 20º of splay between adjacent cabinets, providing for more sharply
curved arrays than comparable line array systems. It includes a single high-power 15in direct-radiating woofer in a compact enclosure and has an operating range of 31-135Hz.
Available: Now www.fulcrum-acoustic.com
Crystal Display Systems LucidVue It’s… a new family of transparent display systems.
What’s different? LucidVue is based on TOLED (Transparent Organic Light Emitting Diode) technology, which eliminates the need for display lighting and a showcase box.
Details: The displays are currently available in a 55in module. The selfemitting display enables a crisp image while also offering a high transmittance rate of around 45%. The self-emissive pixels contain four sub pixels, Red, Green and Blue for generating outstanding vibrant colours, and the final sub pixel (which would typically be black) is now clear, facilitating the transparency. Polysilicon TFTs act as the switching method for the active matrix of OLED generating a rich colour palette of over 1 billion colours, with a 180º viewing angle in both vertical and
horizontal planes. The displays are designed for high-end applications, including retail, hospitality and musems.
Available: Now www.crystal-display.com
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56 TECHNOLOGY: NEW PRODUCTS Gefen HDBaseT 2.0 HDBaseT 2.0 Colligo technology is now available on Gefen’s new extenders, including the GTBUHD-HBT1 and EXT-UHDA-HBT2. The GTB-UHD-HBT2 uses the technology to extend HDMI up to 330ft (at 4K, using one Cat5e cable. 1080p Full HD and 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA) 8-bit video can be extended up to 495ft. www.gefen.com Matrox Monarch LCS
Wyrestorm EX-100-4K-PRO It’s… The company’s first HDBaseT 2.0 extender.
What’s different? Offering the latest in transmission technology and with an extensive device connectivity, the EX-100-4K-PRO Is said to be one of the most flexible 4K HDBaseT extender solutions on the market.
Details: Supporting transmissions of
An easy-to-use lecture capture appliance that accepts video from any SDI or HDMI camera and presentation content over HDMI from computers. The inputs can be encoded independently and in sync for use with the latest multi-stream video players. Alternatively, the inputs can be combined prior to encoding in a variety of production layouts, including picture-in-picture and side-by-side, for use with standard video players. www.matrox.com Audac Audac Touch With this new, free app, users can control all Audac devices and third-party devices simultaneously in one dashboard. Application-specific dashboards can be created and customised, allowing the control of multiple devices from a single application. Different levels of access are possible, offering system operation, system configuration or overall system administration functionalities. www.audac.eu
Chief FCAV1U This new flatpanel accessory is designed to make adding service access to wall installations easier while providing greater flexibility to inventories. The Fusion pull-out accessory can be used with any newly updated Fusion fixed and tilt wall mounts (including portrait models) and offers up to 293mm extension when combined with Fusion mount. www.milestone.com
June 2016
4K@60Hz with chroma subsampling rates of 4:2:0 to 100m or 1080p@60Hz with 48-bit colour to 150m, the EX-100-4K-PRO features 5Play compliance for distribution of video, audio, two-way IR/Serial control, power and Ethernet along a single Cat6 cable. The EX-100-4K-PRO extender is designed to provide solutions for commercial applications in the education and corporate sectors. Both the EX-100-4K-PRO transmitter and receiver
offer connection for USB local host control and remote host control over HDBaseT via USB transfer for connections of PC source to connected projector to smart whiteboard and back again. Two-way PoH allows either transmitter or receiver to be remotely powered by the other for flexible and convenient installation and both units also feature dual Ethernet ports for 10/100 LAN connection of up to three devices per extender pair.
Available: Now www.wyrestorm.com
Barco F90 series It’s… a new family of professional solid-state projectors for the simulation market.
What’s different? The F90 series features smearing reduction, which ensures that fast-moving objects are depicted with the highest accuracy. The very high illumination level − using laserphosphor technology − means that fewer channels are needed on large display areas, reducing total cost of ownership. Details: The F90 − the first projector to be launched in this family − boasts up to 13,000 lumens and up to 4K UHD resolution. Barco’s 4K UHD Single Step Processing (SSP) technology, which ensures lower latency than other technologies, makes sure that, even in fastmoving simulation systems, the sense of reality is upheld at all times. The embedded warp and
blend capability, Constant Light Output (CLO), colour performance over time and dual iris system with optical filters, ensure that images can be displayed true to life.
Available: Now www.barco.com
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58 TECHNOLOGY: SHOWCASE
June 2016
AV conferencing To increase meeting productivity, manufacturers are upgrading conferencing solutions with features such as echo cancellation and touch capability, writes Duncan Proctor
beyerdynamic extends voice pick-up The Classis RM 31 Q is a new desktop microphone for use in conferencing environments, roundtable discussions and on lecterns and podiums. It is used with Quinta and Orbis microphone units. It uses patented Revoluto technology, which provides a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;corridorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; characteristic to ensure voice quality over a wide area. Revoluto is based on the principle of microphone array technology, where mic capsules are arranged in a vertical row, creating a greater distance for voice pick-up. Because of this greater coverage area, it can
be used by two participants, who do not need to concentrate on talking into the microphone. They can be standing up or seated, and can move freely away from and towards the microphone, with consistent speech intelligibility. Additionally, in discreet ceiling installations the Classis has the ability to optimise gain before feedback. It is available in black or white.
www.beyerdynamic.com
Sennheiser combines portability with connectivity The TeamConnect Wireless is a portable audio conferencing solution for up to 24 participants. It provides ease of use so anyone can use it anywhere as well as quick set-up and multiple connectivity options for BYOD capability. The system is made up of four units, one master and three satellites that are wirelessly linked by a DECT connection and can be transported in a durable charging case. The touch control panel on the master unit allows users to connect devices and control calls, while the satellite units have touch controls for
muting or adjusting volume. Participants can connect their own Bluetooth smart device or computer wirelessly, with NFC making pairing with compatible devices simple. Wired connections are also possible via USB for web and video conferencing, so the solution can ďŹ t into a broad range of hardware set-ups. The TeamConnect Wireless also supports multiple simultaneous audio channels, which allows additional callers to join an existing conference by connecting another device.
Polycom promotes greater meeting engagement The RealPresence Centro system includes four touchscreen displays, all with an intuitive interface resembling those featured on smartphones and tablets. Furthermore, Polycom has made the display screens for all products the same so that the user experience is replicated across all the different solutions. Designed to put people at the centre of collaboration, the Centro allows for natural interaction between parties as everyone is able to sit around multiple screens and cameras, which adapt and move as participants walk around the room. Movement is not restricted by the system as participants can get up and brainstorm on an interactive whiteboard; the system will automatically keep them on screen and audible. The circular arrangement promotes greater involvement from remote participants and those seated furthest away as everyone feels engaged and in a more natural setting, making meetings more productive and efficient. The solution is also quick to install, unlike traditional room-based systems, making it more cost effective for partners.
www.sennheiser.com www.polycom.com
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60 TECHNOLOGY: SHOWCASE Televic provides install-friendly options Televic’s Video-IN and Video-OUT Boxes allow the user to extract one or more video streams in a conferencing setting without the need for extra cables, protocols and hardware. A Video-IN/OUT Box can be placed anywhere on the Plixus network using the existing Cat5e conference cables. The size of the Boxes makes them easy to install even when space is limited, providing installers and integrators with greater flexibility. In addition, they are self-sufficient, not requiring external power – further broadening install options. The Video-IN and Video-OUT Boxes include two conference network ports for Cat5e cables, and an HDMI IN or OUT port to add a laptop screen as a stream available on the network; there are no interfacing restrictions imposed. The Boxes can handle up to six conference network streams in full HD (1080p/60) with a delay of less than a single frame, allowing all participants to cycle between streams in real time, aiding the decision-making process. For interpreters, a Video-OUT Box used with a video stream selector, makes clear, lip-synced images available; having the speaker in full view helps them pick up non-verbal communication.
www.televic-conference.com
June 2016
High-directive sound from Bosch At the heart of the Bosch DCN multimedia system is the IP-based OMNEO media networking architecture, making use of fully standardised network technology for ease of integration, cost-effective installation and simple maintenance. The system can be expanded with OMNEO audio devices and a wide range of products supporting Dante technology. Enhanced functionalities can also be added to the multimedia conference devices via software and integrating third-party or custom-made apps. All audio and control data moving through the system is securely encrypted and protected against tampering and unauthorised access. The high-resolution, capacitive touchscreens provide users with the information they need, allowing participants to share documents, retrieve and display presentations as well as access the internet.
The system includes excellent sound quality and intelligibility due to highly directive technology within the microphone and the builtin two-way loudspeaker system. Additionally, advanced audio settings deliver optimised room equalisation, while integrated Acoustic Feedback Suppression supports higher volumes without compromising speech intelligibility.
www.boschsecurity.com
Biamp targets forward compatibility
A major point of difference with Biamp’s Devio is its 360° beamforming microphone, achieved by combining three 120° microphones, which enables the device to track the participants in the room that are speaking, even if they are moving. Devio comes with an auto set-up feature that will automatically set the acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) and automatic gain control (AGC), and checks the hardware connections to ensure strong audio reproduction. It supports both PC and Mac platforms and is forward compatible to accommodate changes
in software conferencing preferences. A single USB connection also simplifies installation and users can connect a laptop to two in-room displays, via a single USB, for local presentations. Devio’s System Administration utility helps tech managers see the status of all Devio devices on the network, including indicators for power, mic connectivity, auto set-up and USB connections.
www.biamp.com
Shure delivers voice clarity from above Offering DSP that facilitates Shure’s Steerable Coverage technology, the Microflex Advance MXA910 Ceiling Array microphone elevates conferencing sound by providing up to eight separate lobes to accurately capture voices from above. The MXA910 provides a single
command room recall and presets for multiple meeting room configurations as well as on-board control software, automatic mixing and equalisation. It is also claimed to be the only single data-cable ceiling array microphone on the market –
providing the transmission of audio, power (PoE), control and network connection over one cable. Steerable Coverage technology enables the mic in the array to automatically find and capture the speaker, while eliminating background noise such as HVAC and projectors.
www.shure.eu
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PLANYOUR MONTH AHEAD
Our pick of what to see, do and discover in the weeks ahead, including theatre tech in London, training in Edinburgh and the new-look InstallAwards
PICK OF THE MONTH
ABTT Theatre Show LEARN
two-hour panel session. Confirmed exhibitors include Clay Paky, d&b audiotechnik, Milestone and Roland. www.abtttheatreshow.co.uk
CELEBRATE
will consist of four forums – the Lighting and AV Forum, the ABTT Forum, the Sound and Acoustics Forum and the Stage Engineering Forum. Each will cover a number of subjects over the course of a
TRAIN
The Association of British Theatre Technicians’ annual exhibition and networking event returns to The West Hall of London’s Alexandra Palace on 22-23 June. This year the seminar programme
CEDIA Tech Forum – Edinburgh
InstallAwards 2016
A futuristic vision of the age of holograms
Taking place at the Hilton Edinburgh Airport on 22 June, this one-day event includes ten 60-minute Manufacturer Product Training sessions from CEDIA Trade Supplier members, followed by the Connect Talk and Networking event from 6:00 to 9:00pm.
The great and the good of the AV industry will descend on the Grand Connaught Rooms in London on 24 June for the third InstallAwards. Make sure you join them – tickets are available now from www.installawards.com/buy-tickets
In this TED Talk, Alex Kipman explores a speculative digital world without screens. Wearing the HoloLens headset, he demos his vision for bringing 3D holograms into the real world. http://bit.ly/1XSOzGx
BELIEVE IT FROM THE FOX THEATER OAKLAND TO JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER, TOP VENUES ARE PROVING THE VALUE OF THE LEO FAMILY. LEO, LYON, and LEOPARD are rider-friendly and ready to meet the demands of acts from EDM to rock to pop. It’s no wonder the best venues rely on the 3,6 -HTPS` MVY ÅH^SLZZ ZV\UK UPNO[ HM[LY UPNO[
Learn more at meyersound.com/believeit