Sound & Communications August 2019, Vol 65 No 8

The InfoComm Experience The Orlando show offered key insights for future-minded integrators

C O M M E R C I A L

A V

T E C H N O L O G Y

A N D

A P P L I C A T I O N

August 19, 2019 Vol. 65 No. 8

Anaesthesia Associates Of Massachusetts Integrates AVaaS AV and managed services combine for scalability and centralized management

Healthcare’s Digital Move LVHN’s new collaborative office complex addresses research, services and products

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Key Features • TouchLink Pro touchpanel with a built-in IP Link Pro control processor • 5”, 7”, and 10” ultra-tough Gorilla Glass touchscreens • All-in-one design saves space, simplifies system designs • Control multiple devices directly from the Ethernet port • Port expansion adapter provides convenient control directly from the touchpanel: two bidirectional RS-232 ports, one contact closure port, one IR port, and two relays • Customizable mounting options • PoE compatible • Convenient on-board digital input

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Speaker Built in speaker for monitoring audio.

Control Buttons 7 buttons for transport controls, remote and 3D LUT.

LCD Display Shows video, transport controls, audio meters and menus.

Cache Optional media cache for fail safe recording.

Headphone 1/4" audio jack for monitoring audio with headphones.

Transport controls Touchscreen transport controls for easy playback and record.

In and Out Points Set in and out points for performing “tape to tape” style editing.

Audio meters Monitor up to 4 channels using VU or PPM metering.

Playback and Record Select Select which deck you want as a player or a recorder.

Transport controls Traditional broadcast deck transport controls.

Time Display Monitor deck timecode on clear LED display.

Shuttle/Jog Knob Large knob with electronic clutch for jog, shuttle and scrolling recordings.

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CONTENTS Volume 65 Number 8

68

MAKING MILAN TOGETHER

An update on the networking protocol.

By Avnu Alliance

77

WHY WE CONTINUE TO FIGHT

50 HEALTHCARE’S DIGITAL MOVE

62

ANAESTHESIA ASSOCIATES OF MASSACHUSETTS INTEGRATES AVaaS AV and managed services combine for scalability and centralized management.

By Claudia Kienzle

An update on the battle against restrictive state and federal legislation.

By Chuck Wilson

70

The Orlando show offered key insights for future-minded integrators.

LVHN’s new collaborative office complex addresses research, services and products.

By Mike White, CTS, DSCE, DSDE

By Dan Daley

COLUMNS

DEPARTMENTS

8 WAVELENGTH

11 NEWSLETTER 24 RETAIL: TECHNOLOGY

46 INDUSTRY POV

By Anthony Vargas

48 INDUSTRY POV

By Dan Ferrisi

14 SOUND ADVICE

By Peter Mapp, PhD, FASA, FAES

18 IOT

By David Danto

20 HOUSE OF WORSHIP: BUSINESS

By David Lee Jr., PhD

32 THE COMMISH

By James Maltese, CTS-D, CTS-I, CQD, CQT

34 WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

By Douglas Kleeger, CTS-D, DMC-E/S, XTP-E, KCD

36 AVIXA POV

By Peter Hansen

92 AVENT HORIZON

By Pete Putman, CTS 6

THE INFOCOMM EXPERIENCE

Sound & Communications August 2019

Cover image courtesy EPNAC.

Your Customers Don’t Want To Compromise On Performance: Top-Flight Displays For First-Class Retail: So why should you?

DFW's TRG Duty Free wows its captive audience with eye-catching digital signage. By Bob Michaels

38 INDUSTRY POV

Projection-Mapping Opportunities Abound In Commercial AV: Be it for advertising, education or facilities enhancement, the sky’s the limit.

By Kevin Winkler

42 INDUSTRY POV

A More Diverse Commercial AV Industry: Why all the fuss?

By Gina M. Sansivero

44 INDUSTRY POV

The Integrator-First Mindset: The best AV solutions support the installation experience.

By Joe Andrulis

Data Collection Can Yield Crucial Insights: Today’s technologies can help enterprises achieve compounding ROI.

By Aurangzeb Khan

80 NEWS 82 CALENDAR 83 PEOPLE 84 PRODUCTS 87 MEDIA 87 SOFTWARE 88 CENTERSTAGE 90 MARKETPLACE

WAVELENGTH Technological advancements are exciting and stimulating, not to mention profitable for the professionals who work in our industr y, because they help chart a path to a new world that is replete with exhilarating possibilities. For instance, I still distinctly remember the first time I watched a television commercial—no DVR back in 1994—and saw a web URL pop up as it ended. “What is that?” I thought to myself, my 11-year-old’s brain blissfully unaware of the existence of the internet and incapable of comprehending the power it would put in people’s hands. I also remember the first time a friend told me about WhatsApp, a messaging and calling ser vice that—for me, at least—has rendered international long distance obsolete. I was able to have long conversations in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, talking to my wife in New York NY, without paying a penny by using my hotel’s Wi-Fi. How mind-blowing would that be in 1994?

Certainly, though, at a time when AV professionals are integrating systems that are tied into corporations’ backbone

network infrastructure, we’re coming to recognize that today’s technological advancements come with potential dangers—security vulnerabilities, privacy invasions and encroachments on our autonomy. Perhaps the newsiest example of this relates to Zoom Video Communications, which was in the news in early July following the discover y of a security vulnerability affecting Mac users who had the Zoom app installed. Numerous mainstream news outlets, including The Verge, reported on the stor y, as did Sound & Communications.

In short, security researcher Jonathan Leitschuh discovered that any website could initiate a video-enabled call on a Mac, provided that the Zoom app was installed. The principal reason was the Zoom app installed a limited-functionality web ser ver on Macs that facilitated accepting video-call requests. (The webser ver functionality was implemented, apparently, as a workaround to circumvent additional security measures introduced in a Safari web-browser update.) So, in effect, if an attacker could trick a Zoom

user into clicking a web link to the attacker’s Zoom meeting, the target user could unknowingly join that Zoom meeting and the attacker might be able to view the Dan Ferrisi user’s video feed.

Scary, right?

Although Zoom initially refrained from disabling the web-ser ver functionality and restoring protections, it only took about 24 hours for the company to reverse course and release a patch to remove the vulnerability. Threat averted—for now…. But it goes without saying that, in a world of constant communication, spanning continents and media forms, we all must remain vigilant to ensure that privacy and security are protected, even as we enjoy the fruits of technological advancements.

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CONTRIBUTORS A V F O R S Y S T E M S I N T E G R AT O R S , C O N T R A C T O R S A N D C O N S U LTA N T S

Editor Dan Ferrisi dferrisi@testa.com Associate Editor Anthony Vargas avargas@testa.com Assistant Editor Amanda Mullen amullen@testa.com Contributing Editors Pete Putman, CTS Jim Stokes

Contributors Joe Andrulis Dan Daley David Danto Peter Hansen Aurangzeb Khan Claudia Kienzle Douglas Kleeger, CTS-D, DMC-E/S, XTP-E, KCD David Lee Jr., PhD James Maltese, CTS-D, CTS-I, CQD, CQT Peter Mapp, PhD, FASA, FAES Bob Michaels Pete Putman, CTS Gina M. Sansivero Mike White, CTS, DSCE, DSDE Chuck Wilson Kevin Winkler Technical Council Joseph Bocchiaro III, PhD, CStd, CTS-D, CTS-I, ISF-C, The Sextant Group, Inc. David Danto, Interactive Multimedia & Collaborative Communications Alliance Douglas Kleeger, CTS-D, DMC-E/S, XTP-E, KCD David Lee Jr., PhD, Lee Communication Inc. Peter Mapp, PhD, FASA, FAES, Peter Mapp Associates Pete Putman, CTS, ROAM Consulting LLC Art Director Janice Pupelis jpupelis@testa.com Digital Art Director Fred Gumm Production Manager Steve Thorakos Sales Assistant/Ad Traffic Jeannemarie Graziano jgraziano@testa.com Advertising Manager Robert L. Iraggi riraggi@testa.com Operations Manager Robin Hazan Associate Publisher John Carr jcarr@testa.com President/Publisher Vincent P. Testa Editorial and Sales Office Sound & Communications 25 Willowdale Avenue Port Washington, New York 11050-3779 (516) 767-2500 | FAX: (516) 767-9335 Sound & Communications Sound & Communications Blue Book IT/AV Report The Music & Sound Retailer DJ Times • DJ Expo ConventionTV@NAMM ConventionTV@InfoComm

Joe Andrulis is the Executive VP of Corporate Development at Biamp.

Previously, he ran global marketing for AMX, helping transition the company from a systemcomponent marketer to a provider of meeting-room productivity solutions. He has extensive experience driving strategy, research and modern marketing organizations at Research Now, RF Monolitihics and several startup ventures.

As AVIXA’s Economic Analyst, Peter Hansen’s job is to understand how the commercial AV sector interacts with the wider economy. He relishes this task, to which he brings a data-focused skill set and a passion for critical analysis. He has worked for the Federal Reserve Board, and he’s been published in RealClearMarkets, Finance and Economics Discussion Series, and The Atlantic.

Aurangzeb Khan is SVP Intelligent Vision Systems at GN Audio (Jabra), and he was Co-Founder, President and CEO of Altia Systems, the company behind the PanaCast camera, a platform that enables people and systems (machines) to see and make sense of their environment in real time.

Bob Michaels has a successful three-decade track record of driving profitable growth for technology-based manufacturing companies in competitive global markets. A decisive leader, he has strong strategic-planning, operations, market-analysis and product-innovation skills. He is expert in identifying customer needs and developing strategies to maximize business opportunities.

Gina M. Sansivero is VP of Marketing and Corporate Communications at AtlasIED. She’s on the Board of Directors for CCUMC, the NSCA Education Foundation and AQAV; she’s a member of AVIXA; she’s a regional group leader for the New York City and Boston AVIXA Women’s Councils; and she’s a proud NSCA Ignite volunteer.

Mike White, CTS, DSCE, DSDE, is Director of Business Development – Digital Signage for Unified Technology Systems, a commercial AV systems integration company, based in Atlanta GA, with seven additional offices throughout the southeast.

He served for four years on the InfoComm International Board of Directors. He is a speaker for AVIXA digital signage programs.

Chuck Wilson is Executive Director of NSCA, the leading not-forprofit association representing the commercial electronic systems industry. He assists AV integrators with the challenges of today’s business environment and gives lectures and presentations on technology innovations at key industry events. He’s also been published in numerous leading trade journals.

Kevin Winkler is the Owner of Blockhouse Studios (www.blockhouse.media), which was formed by Winkler and his business partner, Andrew Beargie, in 2011. Winkler attended Full Sail University for film and production, and he has spent the last 16 years working primarily as a cinematographer, filming around the world for a broad spectrum of clients.

Dan Daley has covered the confluence of technology, business and culture for almost 30 years.

He has also been a successful composer and recording studio owner, and he authored the book Unwritten Rules: Inside the Business of Country Music.

Technical Council member Douglas Kleeger, CTS-D, DMC-E/S, XTP-E, KCD, shares insights gained from more than 35 years’ experience in the AV industry in his “What Would You Do?” column, as well as “Secrets To Success.” He offers a unique perspective on the AV industry and how it affects our lives.

Sound & Communications (ISSN 0038-1845) (USPS 943-140) is published monthly for $25 (US), $35 (Canada & Mexico) and $65 (all other countries), by Sound & Communications Publications, Inc., 25 Willowdale Ave., Port Washington, NY 11050-3779.

Periodicals postage paid at Port Washington, NY, and additional mailing offices. Copyright © 2019 SOUND & COMMUNICATIONS PUBLISHING, INC. Reprint of any part of contents without permission is forbidden. Titles Registered in the U.S. Patent Office.

POSTMASTER: Send U.S. address changes to Sound & Communications, PO Box 1767, Lowell, MA 01853-1767. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. Canada Returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2.

August 2019

Sound & Communications

9

NEWSLETTER BIAMP ACQUIRES COMMUNITY LOUDSPEAKERS, APART AUDIO Biamp (Beaverton OR) has announced the acquisition of Audioprof Group International, parent company of Community Loudspeakers (Chester PA) and Apart Audio (Antwerp, Belgium) from 3d Investors of Gent, Belgium. Community Loudspeakers was founded in 1968 by speaker-design pioneer Bruce Howze. Today, Community manufactures a range of speakers targeting demanding indoor and outdoor applications. Apart Audio is involved with full-signal-path functional, commercial and leisure audio solutions for small and mid-size venues. Apart has a well-established business in Europe, and it just entered North America in 2018.

Rashid Skaf, Biamp’s President, CEO and Co-Chairman, commented, “Building a comprehensive lineup of speakers has been a priority of mine as we move to position Biamp as a full-line provider of professional audiovisual solutions. Acquiring Apart Audio and Community Loudspeakers was my preferred route to accomplishing that quickly with…strong and respected brands.”

Under Skaf’s direction, Biamp has charted an aggressive growth strategy that blends organic product line and distribution expansion with entry into new markets via acquisition. The addition of Audioprof Group International comes just seven months after the company acquired Cambridge Sound Management.

Community Loudspeakers and Apart Audio will join Biamp as product families within the company’s portfolio, with business functions gradually blending to form a single Biamp business.

AVI-SPL ACQUIRES DIGITAL VIDEO NETWORKS AVI-SPL (Tampa FL) has announced the acquisition of Digital Video Networks (DVN, Scottsdale AZ), an audiovisual and unified communications (UC) provider in the southwestern US. A continuation of the company’s strategic growth plan, the merger, AVI-SPL said, will further strengthen its market position by adding talent and resources in a growing region, while also expanding the company’s global support and services delivery capabilities to current and prospective customers.

With three additional locations in Tucson AZ, Albuquerque NM and Salt Lake City UT, DVN has established itself as an AV and UC services provider to many of the region’s most renowned organizations. Since it was founded in 2008, DVN has successfully delivered more than 1,800 projects to its clients in the corporate enterprise, government, healthcare and higher-education sectors throughout the southwest.

John Zettel, CEO of AVI-SPL, remarked, “With DVN joining AVI-SPL, we’re adding a tremendously talented team of professionals who share our customer-centric approach. We’re looking forward to strengthening our local presence in the southwest and enhancing the experience for our multilocational customers looking to standardize their technology company-wide.”

Digital Video Networks’ Co-Founder, Bill Blair, added, “The decision to join AVI-SPL made perfect sense for our customers and employees. With the incredible growth we’re seeing in the area, both will enjoy the added resources and services AVI-SPL provides from a local and global level, ensuring we remain the southwest region’s most trusted and most capable technology provider….”

THE FOCUSRITE GROUP ACQUIRES ADAM AUDIO The Focusrite Group (High Wycombe, UK), composed of the Focusrite, Focusrite Pro, Novation and Ampify Music brands, has announced the acquisition of studio monitor company ADAM Audio GmbH (Berlin, Germany). This is the first acquisition for the Focusrite Group since going public in 2014. According to the Focusrite Group, the initial focus is on ensuring ADAM Audio has all the necessary freedom and autonomy to continue its lifetime story of technological innovations.

Focusrite’s Founder and Chairman, Phil Dudderidge, commented, “I am delighted that we have an important new addition to our family of brands. For the Focusrite Group, the creation and recording of music is everything.” He added, “Together with ADAM Audio, we can…[remove] the technical barriers that frustrate artists seeking to record and reveal their true sound.”

ADAM Audio will continue to operate out of its main offices in Berlin, under the leadership of You could have received this NEWSLETTER information about three weeks ago, with more detail and live links, via email. Go to www.soundandcommunications.com to sign up!

August 2019

Sound & Communications 11

NEWSLETTER Christian Hellinger, who commented, “What a perfect beginning for the next chapter of our great company’s story. I’m so proud of what the ADAM Audio team has achieved over the past 20 years, and I can’t wait to see what we’ll achieve together with the Focusrite Group in our third decade….”

DRAKE SYSTEMS GROUP, SPINITAR MERGE Spinitar (La Mirada CA), a technology expert in AV systems design and integration, has announced the merger of Drake Systems Group (DSG, Yorba Linda CA) and Spinitar. DSG’s President, David Drake, will now serve as the Regional VP of Spinitar’s Healthcare division. DSG formed in 2003 and focused on supporting the AV needs of hospitals, universities, medical office buildings, healthcare architects, healthcare contractors and medical-device manufacturers. DSG was known for providing healthcare clients with an advanced audiovisual design component that offered services such as medical simulation, advanced video environments and clinical spaces.

As Regional VP of Healthcare, Drake joins Spinitar with more than 25 years’ experience working in the AV healthcare industry. Tasked with expanding Spinitar’s healthcare footprint, Drake will support a wide range of medical industries, providing clients with AV/IT solutions that optimize workflows, improve patient experiences and deepen healthcare education.

“We are thrilled to have David Drake join our leadership team,” Spinitar’s Principal, Jay Rogina, added. “We are confident that David’s level of expertise, in one of the fastest-growing AV markets, will provide customers with advanced technology, designed and built to influence people’s lives positively, while also strengthening Spinitar’s healthcare division.”

INFILED PARTNERS GROUP LAUNCHES The owners of InfiLED USA and InfiLED EM (Europe, Middle East) have launched InfiLED Partners Group (IPG). The bilateral specialist LED display organization, covering North America, Europe and the Middle East, will provide clients with an extensive range of design, consultation, engineering, product, commissioning, repair and service support.

The IPG North America headquarters will be based in Atlanta GA, with hubs located in Los Angeles CA and New York NY to support west coast and east coast clients, respectively. The Europe and Middle East headquarters will continue at the UK’s largest dedicated LED facility in Melksham, UK, with mini hubs located in Paris, France and Frankfurt, Germany. At the time of this writing, a hub in Hong Kong was set to be fully operational very shortly. These globally diverse locations will provide access to an IPG resource across multiple time zones, 24/7, with multi-lingual communication support.

NSCA RELEASES ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS OUTLOOK SUMMER 2019 REPORT The Electronic Systems Outlook report from NSCA (Cedar Rapids IA) has been updated for Summer 2019, and it includes construction-outlook information based on actual data from Q1/19 and Q2/19, as well as a forecasted outlook for the remainder of this year and beyond.

This report was initially created as a response to integrators asking about market conditions and trends so they could adjust their go-to-market strategies. NSCA has followed and reported on industry conditions for more than 22 years, knowing that new construction is the best indicator of the future business climate for integrators. Understanding construction put-in-place totals allows NSCA to predict patterns of slowdowns, recoveries and market/geographic changes. Overall, the forecast for 2019 construction put in place calls for a one-percent increase this year, in comparison to the four-percent growth rate from last year.

In the Summer 2019 edition, the Electronic Systems Outlook report provides an updated view of construction data by market and electronic system/technology, offering details on the following: markets projected to do the best in terms of renovation and new construction; construction forecasts for this year and beyond; technologies growing in demand, and where growth is occurring; developing a focused sales approach; and new business opportunity potential.

The Electronic Systems Outlook is free for NSCA members to download.

COMPILED BY DAN FERRISI 12 Sound & Communications August 2019

INTELLIMIX

SOUND ADVICE

Meeting Rooms, IT & Acoustics The role of an acoustics consultant in meeting-room design.

By Peter Mapp, PhD, FASA, FAES

T

he other day, I was at an event and got to talking to the person next to me. I found out that he was the head of IT for a large firm. He then asked me what I did, so I explained that I was an acoustics and sound-systemdesign consultant. “Oh, I wouldn’t need your ser vices, then,” he said.

“Ever ything is done electronically these days, and the manufacturer provides the system design.” I replied, “On the contrar y, there are many aspects of meeting-room design that require acoustics expertise.”

I didn’t go into great detail, but I suspect that, somewhere down the line, I might have a new client. It also made me think that, perhaps, others in IT might not appreciate (a) what acoustical issues must be considered when designing a meeting/conference room and (b) how an experienced acoustics consultant might be able to help. Equipment manufacturers will only go so far, as, indeed, is the case for DSP-based echo and noise cancellation.

The main areas in which a consultant can help are as follows: • Room acoustics: Setting and achieving appropriate design targets for the control of reflections and reverberation to achieve good conditions for listening and speech intelligibility.

• Noise control: Setting internal noise levels for equipment and for noise break-in.

• Speech privacy and sound break-out: It might be essential that discussions held in the room cannot be heard outside its boundaries. Achieving that requires the right choice of construction and detailing.

14 Sound & Communications August 2019

Figure 1: RT characteristic for meeting room with bass/mid frequency coloration.

Room Acoustics This isn’t only about setting a reverberation time (RT) that is suitable. (I am not going to debate here whether “small” rooms actually have RTs. They certainly have sound-decay times, which, for all intents and purposes, are the same thing.) This is also about controlling undesirable reflections and room resonances. Typically, the RT for a meeting room should be in the neighborhood of 0.4sec to 0.6sec, depending, to some extent, on room size/volume. [For example, 0.4sec for meeting rooms up to approximately 50m3 (1,766 cubic feet), 0.5sec for 100m3 (3,531 cubic feet) and around 0.6sec up to 200m3 (7,063 cubic feet).] When a single RT value is given, this is usually taken as the mid-frequency average or the value at 500Hz. However, it is also important that the RT/frequency characteristic is relatively flat and smooth.

Figure 1 shows the RT characteristic I measured in a meeting room that suffered from significant sound-coloration problems; these issues were particularly noticeable when people were speaking (i.e., for natural voice). The rise in reverberation at mid frequencies was primarily due to a combination of the choice of construction materials and the resulting strong room resonances. This could also be seen in the frequency response of talker transmission, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. [Editor’s Note: The frequency responses shown in Figures 2 and 3 should be nominally flat from around 100Hz to 6kHz, perhaps with a slight bass/mid frequency rise.] Finally, Figure 4 shows the RT characteristic for another meeting room—one that sounded ver y shrill and “glassy,” and that suffered from speech coloration and intelligibility issues.

These types of problems can largely be overcome with a review of the room construction and then absorptive-treatment specification. It is in exactly these kinds of situations that an experienced acoustics consultant can do battle with the architect/ room designer and, one would hope, ensure that the room does not suffer from these problems, which are all too common.

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SOUND ADVICE Noise Control As noted, two aspects of noise control must be addressed. First is the noise generated inside the meeting room itself—for example, noise from air conditioning or other equipment. A design noise level has to be set, such as, say, NC25 to NC30 (approximately 32dBA to 37dBA). A low noise level assists in achieving good speech intelligibility, particularly in videoconferencing applications. (Whereas the ambient-noise-discrimination and -reduction capabilities of modern conferencing systems are really quite amazing, less processing is always better, helping to prevent undesirable colorations and artifacts from occurring.

The same is also true with room acoustic issues and acoustic echo cancellation.)

Start with a good room and minimize the processing. This leads to clearer speech and less listener fatigue. Although the overall level of room noise is important, so, too, is its character. It has to be free from strong frequency peaks or tonal components, and it must be neither “hissy” nor “rumbling” nor “roaring.”

(For more, read “Sound Advice” from the Februar y 2019 and March 2019 issues.)

The other aspect of noise control to consider is controlling noise break-in to the meeting room. Such noise could be from external sources, such as traffic or aircraft, or it could be from an adjacent plant or from equipment or building-occupant activities. To this end, the acoustics consultant must review the likely sources and levels of noise, and then must specify construction approaches and materials to mitigate them.

Figure 2: Sound transmission in the meeting room. Note the strong resonance peak at around 200Hz.

Figure 3: Sound transmission in a meeting room. Note the strong midrange resonance peaks from around 200Hz to 1kHz.

Speech Privacy The third issue an acoustics consultant should consider is speech privacy— in short, concerns about confidential and sensitive meetings being overheard.

This means not only ensuring that the room construction materials (walls, ceiling and doors) are adequate to attenuate speech transmission sufficiently, but also ensuring that the installation is correct and attention has been paid to correctly (continued on page 79)

16 Sound & Communications August 2019

Figure 4: RT characteristic for meeting room with strong upper midrange coloration and “shrill” sound quality.

IoT

The Beginning Of The End For Purpose-Built Collaboration Devices?

Revisiting this important question with fresh eyes.

By David Danto IMCCA

I

n the June issue of Sound & Communications, my Interactive Multimedia & Collaborative Communications Alliance (IMCCA) colleague, Mike Brandofino, asked whether this is the beginning of the end for purpose-built collaboration devices. He identified the growing trend of “a PC in the room or a laptop that runs one of the myriad collaboration software solutions on the market” as opposed to “a purpose-built device specifically designed and optimized for collaboration experiences.”

Mike wasn’t convinced that the trend toward software-only systems was a good one, pointing out that he didn’t think it was “an all-or-nothing decision for customers.” He believed that there was “a growing trend for what [he] would call a ‘hybrid solution,’ where we do have purpose-built devices, but with the flexibility of running software-based collaboration tools.”

Without any awareness of the firestorm on the horizon, Mike was in fact correct to bring up this topic. There were/are a number of huge software providers saying that the purpose-built codec is dead and that the PC (or other general compute engine) has led to the democratization of video. Now, after two months have passed, I would like to comment on Mike’s article with the added perspective of the inter vening months. In that time, our industr y was up in arms about what was (depending on with whom you speak) either one of the worst vulnerabilities ever caused by a collaboration provider or a simple work-around that was neither wise nor 18 Sound & Communications August 2019

properly explained/executed.

Rather than getting into the debate about that one provider and the severe (or meaningless) vulnerability it caused in Macs—and rather than discussing any of its competitors’ vulnerabilities, which were discussed immediately after the incident came to light—I’d rather focus on a simple fact: General-purpose computers are specifically designed and built to enable multiple general-computing purposes. (Duh, right?)

If you write and load a piece of software that tells the general compute engine to play chess, it will play chess. If you write and load a program that tells it to record your keystrokes and send them to a hacker’s personal ser ver, it will do just that. As owners of these devices, we can work with security companies to tr y to prevent them from running programs we don’t want them to run; The generalhowever, if such a program does get through all the security checks purpose and balances, the general-purpose compute device has no conscience to know that it’s being “bad” and no purpose lock to ensure it stays compute on task. It just does what it’s told to do by the software. Running device has no programs of var ying purpose is exactly what it was designed and conscience to built to do.

Ultimately, if you take a general-purpose compute device and attach know that it’s a camera, speakers, microphones and a display to it, but then expose being ‘bad’ and it to software that tells it to load a web ser ver, it will load the web no purpose ser ver. It doesn’t matter if that web ser ver is meant to make your life more convenient or steal your data—or if, in fact, it has anything lock to ensure at all to do with the reason you own the device. The PC or Mac will it stays on simply do what it’s told by the software. task.

Contrast that to the purpose-built collaboration appliances that Mike’s article told you to reconsider. Admittedly, such devices certainly have had their inherent downsides, as well. For years, they have been overpriced; many have been slow as molasses when booting up; and, ultimately, they run software, which means they are only as good as the software written for them. However, simple logic dictates, and we acknowledge, that they’ve never stolen your credit-card number, installed a web ser ver you didn’t want or tried to trick you with a phishing attack. They’re not built to run general-purpose applications or widely distributed malware. They have a limited number of specific functions and they do those—and only those—just as they are intended to do.

Could such devices theoretically be used to gain access to your network via a bruteforce attack? Yes—if they have not been properly fortified, there is a risk. However, it is a much, much lower risk as compared to any general-purpose compute device.

I would postulate that 99 percent of all malware is written to attack vulnerabilities in general-purpose compute devices. That only makes sense, given that they’re the most (continued on page 79)

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HOUSE OF WORSHIP: BUSINESS

Multi-Site Campuses They represent a growing opportunity for our industry.

By David Lee Jr., PhD Lee Communication Inc.

I

recently read that, in 1990, 10 churches in the US met in multiple locations. In 2005, more than 1,500 churches met in multiple locations.

In 2012, more than 5,000 churches worshipped in multiple locations. And, finally, sources suggest that, today, there are more than 15,000 churches that worship in multiple locations. A trend seems to be apparent with those growth rates. If you were to create a total of churches around the world that now offer multiple worship locations, I believe the count would exceed anyone’s estimate. That, of course, would be amazing.

If you’re not familiar with the multi-site concept, let me explain it in simple terms: It typically means that mega-churches have created a “brand” that encapsulates their style of praise, worship and teaching, and they then replicate that brand in multiple locations. Think of it as a mother church that has multiple children. Multi-site congregations typically function like this: The local churches conduct their own music and local announcements, and then, at a specified time, the “sibling” churches link up to the mother church and use large video displays and sound systems to see and hear the teaching of the minister, who is located at the mother church campus. The result is a shared event and a sense of community. Another variation occurs when the other multi-site churches offer a self-contained worship experience.

20 Sound & Communications August 2019

In that configuration, they don’t link up with the mother church, but, rather, follow a detailed script and identical sermon content. That way, each location remains consistent with the others.

Several factors help explain the emergence of churches that are establishing their brand in multiple locations. First, think of your favorite coffee shop—and then imagine there was only one in your city of a million people, and it was located a 30- or 40-minute drive from your home. Perhaps the drive would be worth it to you, because you enjoy the large number of people who sip coffee together in a ver y appealing location.

But then imagine that the brand places one of its shops—albeit on a smaller scale— right near your home. What do you do now? I can’t answer that for you, but, at the least, you now have options to consider.

The multi-site phenomenon is occurring throughout the world, including in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. A ver y popular worship brand is Hillsong, which was founded in Australia. Today, Hillsong has multiple sites in cities throughout Australia and in some of the world’s largest cities, including Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Berlin, Germany; Cape Town, South Africa; London, UK; Kiev, Ukraine; Madrid, Spain; Milan, Italy; Moscow, Russia; and Paris, France, among other cities worldwide. Here in the US, Hillsong has sites in Boston MA, Dallas TX, Los Angeles CA, New York NY, Phoenix AZ and San Francisco CA, as well as in many other cities.

A factor that helps explain the emergence of multi-site churches is that most big cities do not have large tracts of land that would be suitable for building an expansive campus. And, if such a tract were found, it’s likely the cost would be too much.

The properties that are available are typically strip malls, vacant Kmart and Walmart storefronts, and similar structures. Locations like these are sought and purchased to create a campus associated with the larger mother church.

I worked with a church in central Florida that purchased an empty shopping mall that had been the home of many stores, including Montgomery Ward, Toys “R” Us, a movie theater and a Sam’s Club. As the story goes, a new mall had been built in another part of the city, and the shops had moved there. The former mall sat vacant for years and became an eyesore. A local Baptist church was growing and had to expand, but its 100-year-old worship space was in the downtown area and surrounded by businesses. That church bought the mall real estate and, today, it is called the First Baptist Church at the Mall. The church uses nearly every square foot of the former shopping mall space. Now, the congregation has started campuses within 20 miles of the main campus. There are many examples similar to the First Baptist Church at the Mall.

Unfortunately, there’s been a downside for churches that did not comprehend how to operate multiple campuses. Church leadership might have had a zeal to expand

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Most people who attend a campus church are seeking an experience similar to the one found at the mother church. They desire a well-crafted worship experience that includes the use of high-resolution video projection, integrated video production, exciting lighting and cr ystal-clear sound. This is Good News for our industr y! Currently, my group is constructing multiple campuses for a mega-church in Florida. The mega-church purchased vacated Kmart buildings and the budget for the renovation of the campuses is ver y respectable; indeed, the media budget for each location is almost seven figures! The renovated structures are beautiful. There is a large lobby, which is highly mediated.

The main worship space uses a lyric banner, three ver y bright high-resolution projectors, cr ystal-clear sound reinforcement, video-production gear, and a host of moving lights and specialty fixtures.

The venue also includes a worship space for teenagers, for middle-school kids and for younger children, as well as a nurser y for infants. All those spaces house all the media gear you could imagine. In addition, we have installed DMX, Ethernet, coax and audio lines throughout the campus, as well as conduit for future expansion into fiber.

I believe that multi-site campuses and their growing popularity represent an emerging opportunity for us to extend our revenue stream, while we also serve good people. That is what I believe.

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RETAIL: TECHNOLOGY DFW Airport’s TRG Duty Free is the largest duty free store in the US. It boasts nearly 17,000 square feet of retail space, as well as a secondfloor luxury seating area.

Top-Flight Displays For First-Class Retail DFW’s TRG Duty Free wows its captive audience with eye-catching digital signage.

By Anthony Vargas Digital signage is a proven commodity when it comes to attracting shoppers to retail environments. It has the ability to wow customers with flashy video content and high-end technology, effectively creating a high-energy, thoroughly modern environment for today’s experience-obsessed shoppers.

And digital signage installations can be even more effective in areas with heavy foot traffic or in locations that cater to captive audiences.

For these reasons, digital signage is a major feature of the TRG Duty Free store at Dallas/Fort Worth’s DFW International Airport. Travelers from around the globe encounter the duty free store just beyond the security checkpoint at DFW’s Terminal D, where they are drawn in by advertisements for tax-free goods sold by several leading brands. The store is in a prime location—the 28-gate Terminal D is the airport’s international terminal, which is capable of ser ving 32,000 passengers daily, or an annual total of about 11.7 24 Sound & Communications August 2019

million passengers. And once those passengers make it through security, they aren’t going anywhere until they board their flights, leaving plenty of time for shopping.

The TRG Duty Free store itself has two floors; the first floor is made up of retail stalls that are rented out by vendors, while the second level ser ves as a luxur y seating area for travelers to relax in until their flights are ready to depart.

The store’s digital signage system was designed and installed by Ford AV on behalf of Fort Worth-based retail development company CBI Retail Ventures. The Ford AV team for the project included Senior Account Manager Tim Hendrix, Project Manager Sean Kupiec, Job Superintendent Alex Wade, Project Engineer Jeremy Cole, Project Management Support Brenda Arias and Senior Technical Bid Estimator Jordan Doolen.

The TRG Duty Free digital signage system includes several displays placed throughout the store, and it features two impressive, eye-catching set pieces: a 10-foot triangular mast that supports two cur ved 12'x7' videowalls that face out into Terminal D’s corridors like billboards, as well as another cur ved 18'x10.5' videowall that ser ves the inside wall of an alcove where marquee products are showcased (the product is placed on a pedestal in the alcove, and the cur ved display behind it shows video content related to the product).

According to Ford AV Project Manager Sean Kupiec, the client, CBI, wanted to capitalize on the immense amount of foot traffic in Terminal D by wowing travelers with high-end video. “Throughout the whole project, I heard [CBI’s Steve Flor y] say that he really wanted the ‘wow factor,’” Kupiec recalled. “The videowalls were used to accomplish that, and the whole point of the video system, both in the room as well as with the two large billboard-mounted videowalls, was purely to draw people in.” He added, “The videowalls in and of themselves were supposed to be the ‘wow factor.’

The content is being sold to advertisers. So the ads that are up there are being paid

RETAIL: TECHNOLOGY

Two billboard-style curved LED screens are mounted on a 20-foot triangular mast. These screens (one of which is pictured here) show a mix of advertising content that is paid for by TRG Duty Free’s vendors.

for by the vendors.”

When it comes to attracting customers to the store, the two billboardmounted 12'x7' videowalls handle the bulk of the action. The displays are strategically positioned to be visible to travelers as they walk through the corridors of Terminal D on the way to their departure gates. “Anywhere that you stand in the center walkway of Terminal D, you can see these things,” Kupiec described. Each of the 12'x7' videowalls is made up of 168 four-millimeter-pixelpitch NanoLumens LED panels.

Although the billboard-style LED walls are likely to be the first video element a traveler sees upon arriving at the duty free store, they were actually one of the last system components installed by Ford AV because of the difficulties involved in mounting such large displays. “Those were definitely one of the last things that went up because they had to work with the architect and go back and forth with them tr ying to 26 Sound & Communications August 2019

get this thing created in such a way that could actually support the weight of the videowalls,” Kupiec recalled. “Originally, they were just going to build [a support] with steel studs and tr y and frame it out that way, but due to the weight of the videowalls, they had to reconstruct with structural steel, and then build the cladding around that. So once the structural steel was up, we were able to come in and start putting up the custom brackets for this videowall.”

Designing the cur ved videowall in the product-showcase area was also not without its challenges. In fact, the client originally had a completely different look in mind for this part of the store.

“They were planning on lining the [alcove] walls with mirrors, and they were going to have a three-foot in diameter, pendant-looking fixture hanging from the ceiling with LEDs wrapped around it,” Kupiec explained, “but the manufacturer that they wanted to go with for the LEDs just simply could not wrap

[LEDs around] that small of a diameter without [the content] looking extremely pixelated, and it just wouldn’t have been the ‘wow factor’ that they were looking for. The [alcove] wasn’t quite big enough to allow the fixture to be the size they wanted it to be. The pixel pitch on it would have just been all skewed, and any content you tried to put up there would have looked horrible. So we, as well as NanoLumens, the manufacturer of the videowalls, worked together and provided a solution that was ver y reasonably priced as far as cost difference is concerned to go to instead of doing the pendant: We wrapped the [alcove] wall with an LED videowall, replacing those mirrors.” He added, “We drastically changed the effect in that room, I think for the better, and the customer agrees.”

The end result is striking: A product is placed on the pedestal in the center of the product-showcase area, and the cur ved videowall behind the product,

which makes up the interior wall of the alcove, envelops customers in video content related to the product.

The content that is displayed on the videowall is programmed manually, so when a new product is featured in the showcase area, the content must be changed accordingly.

Kupiec continued, “The viewable width of this videowall is 216 inches on the inside circumference. There are eight power outlets throughout the videowall. We’ve got nine different individually created frames that were mounted to the wall, and these were custom-made brackets to fit the circumference of the cur ved wall.”

The videowall is made up of 378 fourmillimeter pixel pitch NanoLumens LED panels.

All three NanoLumens videowalls— the two billboard-style displays and the videowall in the alcove—were customdesigned for this project. “The way NanoLumens works is, they have this large back box that gets mounted to a wall, and then you wire in all the ribbon cables to interconnect the individual LED panels, which magnetically attach to this custom metal frame, and you just simply layer these panels onto the frame to create the full videowall,” Kupiec explained.

He added, “There was definitely a back-and-forth where we told them our concept and then they asked us a lot more specifics about the circumference and the materials were going to be mounting on, and then we worked back with them to tr y and get the exact requirements for power and the location for ever ything as well. But NanoLumens was great to work with. They had on-site super vision throughout the entire install and commissioning. It really helps the integrator be able to get a videowall up successfully.”

In addition to the two marquee videowalls, the TRG Duty Free store also features two 3x3 Planar Clarity Matrix MX55HDU-L LCD videowalls.

“You’ve got two large stair wells that lead up to the seating area, and each

of those has a 3x3 Planar videowall [alongside of it],” Kupiec described.

A few of these Planar displays had to be replaced during the course of the project because of water damage.

“Above the duty free store there is an Admirals Club, and unfortunately, there was a pipe burst that flooded the upstairs and then leaked down the wall with one of the 3x3 videowalls on it,”

Kupiec shared. “So we had to replace three of the screens on there.”

There are also a number of additional displays placed within the various retail stalls. These include a mix of 65-inch Planar EP6514K, 65-inch Sony FWD65Z9D and 10-inch Samsung DB10E-POE displays. There are several owner-furnished displays installed throughout the retail and lounge area,

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RETAIL: TECHNOLOGY

The billboard-style curved LED screens are perfectly positioned to draw attention from people walking through the terminal’s corridors. As travelers pass through security, the billboards are one of the first things they see.

as well, that are used as flight information displays (FIDs).

The NanoLumens and Planar videowalls, as well as the rest of the displays in the store, receive video content from a Navori QL system comprised of a QL professional ser ver running QL Player software, as well as nine Stix 3500 4K digital signage media players.

“We’re using Navori media players and then their Navori software to control content,” Kupiec said.

“So the ser ver basically talks to all of the players. And the players for the most part are located in a rack, and for some of the smaller displays, they’re located behind the displays.” He added, “What Navori does best is scheduling and recording the number of times specific ads play, which is key for [the duty free store] as they’re selling time on these videowalls.”

All of the Navori QL components live on a dedicated local net28 Sound & Communications August 2019

TRG Duty Free features a unique product-showcase area located within an alcove whose interior wall is a curved LED display. A featured product is placed on a pedestal in the center of the alcove, and the LED wall envelops customers in advertising content related to the product.

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work that operates independently from the DFW Airport network.

In addition, the Planar videowalls have their own video-processing headend that also lives on the local network. The local network uses a Cisco SG300-52 52-port Gigabit managed switch.

Because of the security concerns inherent to such a highprofile public space as an airport, Ford AV took care to ensure that its local network was separate from the DFW Airport’s larger network architecture. “The only internet connection they have is direct lines to the Navori ser ver,” Kupiec said.

TRG Duty Free personnel have some local control over the system via a Crestron CP3N control system, which is accessed via a Crestron TSW‑760‑NC seveninch touchscreen. “We put in a Crestron touchpanel at the rack

Several of the vendor stalls feature additional digital signage, mainly in the form of large LCD displays.

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to allow them to have timed turn off at a certain time of night, as well as manual shutdown of the system,” Kupiec explained. “And in order to quoteunquote ‘turn off’ the NanoLumens videowalls, we just simply had to feed black to the screen, which in a sense turns them off, because it’s not sending any power to the LEDs. But if we had actually turned them off, it would take a lot longer for them to boot up.

So, we used an [Atlona AT-H2H-44M] switcher with more inputs than we needed, and just simply switched to an empty input. It’s programmed to happen at a certain time, and they can change the time that it automatically happens on the Crestron touchpanel, and then they also have manual controls to shut it off when they want to.” In addition to the screen-blackout option, there are two Extron PS 128 power supplies mounted in the rack that are used to power up and shut down the system completely.

In addition to installing the digital signage system for the store, Ford AV was tasked with installing 50 iPads on custom mounts throughout the seating area. These iPads are available for travelers to use while they wait for their flights, and are equipped with interactive apps. They also allow patrons to order online from the TRG Duty Free store’s various vendors (although online orders are subject to applicable taxes and fees).

The digital signage system is not tied to any audio systems; however, Ford AV did install an AtlasIED emergency paging system in the space. “We put speakers throughout, but that was not for this system,” Kupiec shared.

“We are the life-safety integrator for the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport as well, and we put in a voice evacuation system which is tied to their fire alarm.

So there are speakers throughout the facility, but they’re only for emergency—as well as gate—paging. They have access to that for gate pages and terminal announcements.”

According to Kupiec, all parties involved were satisfied with the

various contractors. “We planned it to a T,” Kupiec recalled. “During construction, we had all the conduit ran for us. Cable paths were identified by the time it was ready for us to pull wire, and all of the mounting structure and ever ything was fairly discussed with NanoLumens, as well as the weight ratings. So ever ything was smooth and well-thought-out.”

completed system, and TRG Duty Free has plenty of ‘wow factor’ to offer DFW airport patrons. “Ever yone was ver y satisfied,” he said. “There have been lots of photoshoots [and] lots of thank yous. The client was ver y happy with the end result.”

And on Ford AV’s end, the installation proved successful thanks to careful planning and coordination between the

“One of the things that we really tried to do was make it intimate.

At the end of the day, we wanted to have the best viewing possible. If you were that close, we want you to be able to enjoy that viewing.

If you were sitting further back, we wanted to make sure you had the same experience. And for me, being an avid sports fan, this was an easy project to kick off because I love sports, and this is like the dream—it’s like a mancave on steroids.”

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Sound & Communications 31

THE THECOMMISH COMMISH In the AV industry, the end users are typically represented by two separate, yet equally important, groups: the designers, who specify the systems, and the integrators who install them. My company acts as a third party to commission these systems. These are our stories.

Not-In-Scope Items Should I say something?

By James Maltese, CTS-D, CTS-I, CQD, CQT Level 3 Audio Visual AV9000 Checklist Items Under Test: Several AV-adjacent testing items, such as the following: 6.1.3: Any power receptacles accessible to the user are safe, and there are no stray AC voltages on any equipment accessible to a user relative to ground.

6.2.3: The ambient noise, A-weighted, slow, at each location on the test plan is recorded, along with the highest measurement and its location.

6.5.2: VTC camera(s) lighting (key, fill, wash lighting) acquires a satisfactor y image.

Reasoning: While completing the AV9000 checklists, the auditor might come across some items that fall outside the AV scope of work, but that, nonetheless, will affect the user and/ or the performance of the AV system.

Ownership of that item might not fall to the designer or installer, so, technically, it is not covered in the AV-stakeholder contract. I think it’s fair to say that it should be tested, however, because it does have an impact on the user. How the results of that test are reported is another question, however. There are some areas in the world in which AV contractors or commissioning teams could anger a few team members by commenting outside of their expertise.

The goal of the commissioning team should be to avoid triggering this anger as much as possible, while maintaining accurate reporting.

The Stor y: On the way to the airport the other day, I saw an interesting public ser vice announcement (PSA) poster on the train. On the left side was Police Officer Mancuso, all decked out with a rifle, a side arm, a bulletproof vest, boots, mace, a TASER, etc. He was ready to roll. On the right side was the 32 Sound & Communications August 2019

proverbial “Karen,” of meme fame, in her best soccer-mom outfit, on her cell phone. The title on the poster read, “Both Are Perfectly Equipped to Stop Crime.” I thought that was pretty clever. It’s part of the New York Police Department (NYPD) “If you see something, say something” campaign. The idea is that there are only so many law-enforcement officers who are trained for and tasked with stopping crime, but, as concerned citizens, if we speak up, we can play our part—not with guns blazing, of course, but, rather, by reporting information to the appropriate parties. It’s a fairly successful program. Naturally, this got me thinking about commissioning AV systems.

Many organizations use the phrase “Safety is our number-one priority” somewhere in their human-resources documentation—and for good reason. We definitely don’t want people to get hurt, especially when they use their brand-new AV system. So, it makes total sense to test for stray voltages across user-accessible surfaces. In fact, one time, we measured about 30V across a wheelchair elevator button in a federal courthouse! Imagine some poor witness about to take the stand and then—zap!—they get shocked. Even worse would be an aging judge being zapped ever y time he or she took the bench. It was a great catch from the AV9000 Commissioning Checklist! (An electrician later discovered that the power to the elevator was wired improperly, and it was applying a voltage across some of the surfaces.)

When we reported the item, it was written in the report as follows: “A 30V potential was measured across the wallplate screw and UP button on the elevator control wallplate. This should be investigated by a licensed electrician to avoid user injur y.”

Now, we are not licensed electricians. The report did not read, “The elevator wallplate is not properly wired, and it is a danger to users.” A licensed electrician could easily say, “Who is this AV guy? What makes him qualified to determine if power is wired correctly?!”

I have heard a few contractors mention that they are ner vous to report on the status of items outside their scope. I have heard a few flat-out refuse to do so, fearing possible repercussions from the project team. In addition to getting in trouble with electricians, you might, for example, anger an architect who guaranteed a certain ambient noise floor by noting ambient noise in the room. If the architect was supposed to deliver a conference room with an NC35 rating, but you’re reading ambient noise at 53dB SPL, A-weighted…well…someone didn’t do their job ver y well. You might or might not be an acoustician, but a carefully worded item on the report could save your client a lot of headaches. Likewise, you might not be a lighting designer, but you could certainly comment on conferencing participants being enshrouded in shadow because no window treatment is installed behind them.

As AV commissioning agents, we have a duty to our clients to be honest and accurate in our reporting methods. Ultimately, the goal of AV9000 is make sure clients receive what they paid for and have excellent experiences with their AV systems. (continued on page 79)

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WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Sales vs. Engineering The conflict rages on!

By Douglas Kleeger, CTS-D, DMC-E/S, XTP-E, KCD

S

ince the human race started communicating, there have been those who talk (and convince others of what they want) and those who make it happen. In short, there are talkers and builders. So, dare I jump straight to sales and engineering?

I’m looking at this subject once again because, as of late, I’ve had some discussions with others and it appears that the conflict rages on for many.

Why can’t we all just get along?! Why can’t we engineers tell sales what we want them to do and say, and then they just do it? After all, we engineers know what’s best, right? Well, not exactly….

Have you ever heard of Engineers Disease? Engineers like to tell clients what’s best for them, because, in many cases, they feel they know better. If an engineer is suffering from Engineers Disease, then, even if his or her client tells the engineer all his or her relevant needs and wants (which usually differ from the engineer’s perceived needs and wants), the engineer will nevertheless say, “No, you have it wrong. I know best!” Does that remind you of anyone you’ve ever worked with—or might still be working with?

In fact, many, many years ago, I was afflicted with Engineers Disease! I can even recall a particular instance. I had just done some work for Keith Richards at his private offices in New York NY. (Yes, I got to meet and talk to Keith Richards, and he was quite the gentleman.) His Manager at the time, Jane Rose, hired me to set up her apartment in a similar fashion. After I was done 34 Sound & Communications August 2019

tr ying to explain some of the intricacies—how to use the TV, VHS, radio, CD player, etc.—I can remember her explaining how she wanted it all to work. And, even today, I can remember telling her she was wrong—that this is how it should work. What a %#$@ I was! Ouch. (Jane, if, by some chance, you happen to be reading this, my humblest apologies to you. I was afflicted with Engineers Disease at an early age.

Happily, I have been free of it for many years now!)

With sales, the problem is different: Sales wants to know why we can’t just put together a complete system, in one hour, pen to paper, and have a proposal the same day. (Of course, it is assumed we will always stop whatever we’re working on because what they’re working on is so much more important!)

Although I don’t know of a synonym for Engineers Disease for salespeople, a few choice words do come to mind, which I will refrain from using. I might be dating myself, but does anyone remember the 1967 classic “Cool Hand Luke”? Strother Martin put it very well when he said, “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” That’s right—what we need is better communication, coupled with a dash of realistic expectations. There has to be a delicate balance between sales and engineering, which is, admittedly, no easy task. Nevertheless, I have a few suggestions that I will share. (I will offer more in subsequent columns, which will include examples from reader feedback.)

Let’s start with R-E-S-P-E-C-T. That’s right—let’s start with respecting each other’s abilities and time, while recognizing each other’s weaknesses and how to compensate for those weaknesses. Of course, this is easier said than done. Working with individuals who have different roles is always challenging; now, couple that with different personalities, skill levels and deadlines. And, of course, there’s the everpresent pressure that salespeople feel from sales managers, who are driving them to meet their quotas. (By the same token, let’s not forget the pressure that engineers feel from their engineering managers, who are driving them to multitask like there’s no tomorrow: prepare shop drawings, red-lines, proposals, bills of materials, etc.)

I don’t want to dumb this down, but here’s something I teach my children. We all feel stress when things don’t go our way, when people make mistakes, etc. The trick is not to take it out on those closest to you! And I don’t mean your family, either. I mean, plain and simple, it’s ver y easy to lash out at those with whom you spend most of your waking hours. Why? Because they’re actually close to you (literally nearby).

Just don’t do it!

When faced with dilemmas and recurring issues, do not complain or target the individual(s) involved. Instead, come up with a solution that will benefit all! Next time, I will provide some real-world examples of issues and solutions that have worked for me and for others. First, though, I want to hear from you, our readers.

What have you experienced? What are you experiencing? Please write in and let us know. Salespeople, engineers and managers are all invited! Please email me at dkleeger@testa.com.

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AVIXA POV

Research Shows Plenty Of ‘Treasure’ In Commercial AV

By Peter Hansen AVIXA

AVIXA’s 2019 Industry Outlook and Trends Analysis report reveals what lies ahead for the industry.

I

f AVIXA’s Industry Outlook and Trends Analysis (IOTA) report were a treasure map, it would have “X” inked all over it. In business, revenue growth is treasure, and the headline number is a 5.7-percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for commercial AV revenue over the next five years. That means the industr y will grow from a projected $247 billion in global revenue this year to $325 billion in 2024.

Sometimes, one dynamic technology or market is the primar y instigator of such positive movement, but that’s not the case here. Although some solutions and verticals are more dynamic than others are, commercial AV stands out because of how many different high-growth niches it has to offer.

The IOTA report divides the commercial AV world in three main ways: by geographic region, by vertical market and by solution area. In the full IOTA report series, three main geographic regions (Asia-Pacific; Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and the Americas) are broken down into smaller regions and, in many cases, even countries. Vertical markets—application areas for technology, such as retail and hospitality—are subdivided 36 Sound & Communications August 2019

Revenue data and projections from the IOTA report.

into segments like audio equipment and video displays, and then further broken down into products like digital signal processors, media players and AV ser vers.

Solution areas—bundles of hardware, software and ser vices—are also broken down into these project components. Between the combined crosscuts of region, solution, product, market and year, there are literally thousands of different ways to slice and dice the data. Decision-makers can explore fine-tuned growth projections to help them target their investments and maximize their returns.

If you analyze by geography, the fastest-growing region is Asia-Pacific, forecasted at a 7.1-percent CAGR over the next five years. At a forecasted 4.7-percent CAGR, the Americas are the slowest-growing region, although, in truth, 4.7-percent growth

should never be described as slow.

Of the 11 main vertical markets (excluding the catch-all “others” categor y), only the residential vertical is growing on the slow slide; its projected five-year CAGR is a little shy of one percent.

However, the remaining 10 verticals are projected to grow at a minimum of 5.2-percent CAGR, accentuating, once again, how broad-based the strong commercial AV revenue gains are.

Divided by solution area, commercial AV revenue growth is widely shared, too. Across the nine main solution areas (again, excluding “others”), CAGRs range from 3.1 percent for conferencing and collaboration to 8.9 percent for performance and entertainment. Naturally, you want your business to be involved in the solutions that are nearing the double-digit end of the spectrum, but even a 3.1-percent CAGR is certainly nothing to sneeze at!

Numbers without context can sometimes be unhelpful—almost, at times,

even dangerous. Explanation and analysis of data can offer crucial context to help business owners understand the main driving factors, both push and pull. That’s why the IOTA report series offers pages and pages of figures, description and notes in addition to its myriad data points. This information explains areas of uncertainty, areas of friction and transformations that are happening within the industr y.

A top trend that transcends the numbers is the rise of ser vices. Between declining hardware prices and the rise of the experience economy, opportunities centered on design, installation and managed ser vices are expanding.

Businesses that can offer solutions that consistently feel fresh and up to date will see strong revenue. In addition, the customized nature of these solutions often allows providers to differentiate themselves better and, thus, to command a larger share of revenues.

The rise of AV-over-IP shines bright-

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ly in this year’s IOTA. IP networks are more important than ever for carr ying AV content and command signals; that fact has facilitated an explosion of products and investment. Proliferation of digital signage requires the backend support of ser vers and storage, along with connectivity for content distribution. This revenue stream is substantial already, and it’s growing at a blistering pace. That makes it both an opportunity for and a threat to businesses: It’s an opportunity for those who can capitalize on the expanding income stream, and it’s a threat to those who can’t keep up.

Overall, the news is good for commercial AV, with global revenue rising quickly in just about every major slice of the market. Arming yourself with research like what AVIXA’s IOTA offers is vital to staying ahead of the trends that matter.

But make sure you’re plugged into the latest, regardless of source! Visit www.avixa.org/iota to learn more.

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INDUSTRY POV

Projection-Mapping Opportunities Abound In Commercial AV Be it for advertising, education or facilities enhancement, the sky’s the limit.

By Kevin Winkler Blockhouse Studios

Projection mapping ups the “Hoosier Hysteria” of Indiana basketball.

T

oday’s projection technology provides brighter, clearer imager y than ever before. With those improvements come new opportunities to exploit its strengths. Whether it’s being used to fire up the crowd at a basketball game or to create a piano keyboard using the canvas of a building’s windows, projection mapping has the potential to engage and inspire. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

So, what is projection mapping, anyway? It is a projection technology that’s used to turn objects—often irregularly shaped ones—into a display surface for video projection. These objects might be complex industrial landscapes, buildings, small indoor objects or even theatrical stages. By using specialized software, a two- or three-dimensional object is spatially mapped using a virtual program that mimics the real environment onto which it is to be pro38 Sound & Communications August 2019

jected. This technology is used by artists and advertisers alike, enabling them to add extra dimensions, optical illusions and the appearance of movement onto previously static objects.

Chances are, you’ve already seen examples of projection mapping. The technology is frequently used at sporting events prior to the start of a game, as well as during halftime. Other recognizable examples include Walt Disney World’s projectionmapped Cinderella Castle, as well as St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican and the Empire State Building in New York NY. (The latter two were created by Obscura Digital, which was recently acquired by the Madison Square Garden Co.) For AV integrators, facilities operators and advertisers—not to mention those who get to enjoy the images—projection mapping offers numerous benefits.

A large part of the projection-mapping process is creating a 3D model and/or design files that represent the real-life object onto which one plans to project. Once that work is complete, repeatability is cost-effective and any further money can go toward the actual content. Although some projection-mapped events might be for special, one-time cases, the work can also be leveraged for repeatable events such as museum displays or efforts to differentiate one’s complex from others. Hence, there is real opportunity for AV integrators to install hardware as part of a facility’s permanent design.

Key Components You might be wondering what components constitute a projection-mapping system.

First and foremost are the projectors. Depending on the nature of the project, some

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INDUSTRY POV

Red Rock’s Summerlin Ballroom before and after projection mapping was implemented.

amazing results can be achieved with lower-end solutions. However, for larger-scale buildings and interiors, models with 12,000 lumens and up are more viable. The higher-end projectors frequently incorporate features such as integrated motorized lens shift and support for HDBaseT; those features make them well suited to larger projects.

The next part of a projection-mapping system is the central processing unit (CPU)/ser ver. Although these systems can var y significantly, systems powered by an Intel Xeon 10-core processor that can be upgraded to a 22core processor if more CPU horsepower is required make for a great start. It also makes sense to have systems that, for example, can be expanded from 128GB DDR4-2400 system memor y to 512GB. Similarly, Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) hard disk drives (HDDs) that are configured in a RAID-5 configuration make for a good choice. High-throughput, non-volatile memor y express (NVMe) storage for enhanced performance is another item worth considering, as using NVMe drives for both boot-drive and working-space storage increases speed during video rendering.

40 Sound & Communications August 2019

The third component is distribution. As the global standard for the transmission of ultra-HD video and audio, Ethernet, controls, USB and up to 100W of power over a single cable, HDBaseT is the best choice.

Although you can certainly use common HDBaseT converters, there are now specific designs that house a cluster of up to 16 HDBaseT transmitter blades with redundant power.

This arrangement greatly improves organization, and it enables a technician to send the signals up to 320 feet with projector control.

The fourth element that must be considered is the projection-mapping software. There are many different solutions available, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. In that regard, you should select a package that scales well with the hardware utilized in your project. Similarly, you’ll want to take a close look at the cue system to know exactly what’s about to be output at any given time.

Other Factors There are other factors to consider when implementing a projection-mapping setup. Key among them are the following:

Budget considerations: Be upfront with your budget. Stay on budget by being realistic with your goals, creative with your resources and focused on maximized space utilization.

Size of the space: This will directly affect the overall cost. The bigger the space, the more projectors that will be required to cover the area.

Ambient lighting conditions and reflective surfaces: Remember, there are limitations when combating the sun and reflective surfaces. An abundance of glass or sunlight can be a showstopper.

Planning takes time: Large-scale projection mapping has many components; therefore, the sooner you start planning, the better. Frequently, you can get better pricing on the projector units by doing so, and you’ll have more time for testing and revisions. Inevitably, those things will result in a better outcome.

Prototype ASAP: The sooner one can start to create models, or those items that will be projected onto, the better. Consider 3D printing the room or structure onto which you will be projecting. You can use several inexpensive pico projectors with the 3D-printed models to visualize early on how things will look in the 3D space. It’s a little bit

of extra work, but it might ver y well help you create designs that would have never other wise been thought of, if working only from a screen.

Brighter is always better: Using projectors with a higher lumen output will always benefit the project. There is nothing worse than dingy, faded, dark projection that someone put a lot of time and effort into, only to have an under whelming result when the show actually starts.

the job you do in this regard, the more likely the client will sign on to the project. Make it a priority to show the client what is possible with projection mapping. As with ever y other technology, the price and the size of projectors have been dropping, even as their brightness and other functionality have

increased. Make ever y reasonable effort to show people what is possible in some of these spaces. Educate the prospective client to consider taking a new approach, and don’t be afraid to use 10 to 16 projectors to cover an entire space. If you make the effort here, you’ll create something truly unique.

Additional Considerations Some additional considerations worth noting include projector placement and power requirements. The projectors require a clear line of sight to the building onto which you are projecting. Sometimes, this can be achieved from an opposing building, but, frequently, truss stands or scaffolding must be erected. Those elements might result in additional cost considerations for the production.

It also goes without saying that the creative process itself is vitally important. I like to think that my own “organic approach” ser ves as a differentiator from the competition. Simply put, this is where I tr y my hardest to ask, “What can be created in real life first?” This comes from taking a cinematographer’s approach, and it has resulted in some unique content that stands above other projection-mapping projects I’ve seen. For example, on our firm’s Hoosier Hysteria project, we wanted to have basketballs on fire.

Most people would immediately go to their 3D animator; by contrast, we immediately called the fire department and worked with them to light some actual basketballs on fire (safely, mind you). We then filmed them in slow motion, in 8K, on a RED WEAPON. I think we burned six basketballs before we got exactly what we wanted, but it’s so amazing to see those real flames on the court.

Finally, how you present your ideas is extremely important. The better August 2019

Sound & Communications 41

INDUSTRY POV

A More Diverse Commercial AV Industry Why all the fuss?

By Gina M. Sansivero AtlasIED

O

n the morning of June 13, registration for the AVIXA Women’s Council breakfast at InfoComm 2019 was closed. Of course, we would never turn anyone away, so we were prepared for some walk-ins. However, we weren’t prepared for the lines of women (and men) who stood outside the banquet hall doors for on-site registration. Quickly, the planning group sprang into action, requesting additional tables and chairs to accommodate the new guests. No one would be without a seat. This event, this group, this council—and everything for which it stands—is too important.

At just under 300 attendees, the 2019 AVIXA Women’s Council breakfast was the largest to date. According to the association, the Women’s Council is its biggest, fastest-growing and most active council. In short, the energy and support behind this council is unparalleled.

The members of this council have a mission to build the strength and future of our industr y!

According to numbers disclosed at the breakfast, women comprise a ver y meager 14 percent of the audiovisual industr y. AVIXA doesn’t have any detailed demographic information about its membership makeup with regard to race, ethnicity or gender; however, the association does acknowledge the need for increased diversity. Indeed, in addition to the Women’s Council, AVIXA has coordinated a ver y active and fastgrowing Diversity Council. Why is that?

Because diversity furthers innovation!

Improved Business Outcomes Who better to make that point than a couple of our industr y’s leading 42 Sound & Communications August 2019

Diversity leads to greater collaboration, acceptance and communication, all of which are essential to business success.

female lights? Cor y Schaeffer, Director, Strategic Industr y Relations, QSC, said, “A diverse mix of opinion and input improves business outcomes and is necessar y to ensure that innovation happens. I have been a witness to this in AV. One example I can remember was on a user interface. I was presented with the idea that I should be trained on the interface, and I responded by saying, ‘Why would I need to be trained? It should be intuitive!’ Those of us in AV know that, while it may be intuitive to us, it may not be to someone else. At times, we overcomplicate, even when keeping it simple might be the best approach. Diversity in how we approach technology delivers better results.”

Colleen Leskowich, CTS, Inside Sales, New Era Technology, added, “The same of anything yields the same results. Diversity [gives] voice [to] a thought that may have not occurred to you. It allows perspective from someone who has not shared your experience. Don’t we want more of that?”

A More Relatable Industry There’s also no doubt that diversity makes an organization—and an industr y— more attractive and relatable. Being able to visualize yourself, your fit and your contributions at an organization is an important step in determining if your next opportunity should be there or somewhere else. Companies should keep in mind that, when candidates look at an organization and don’t see a reflection of themselves anywhere within it, they will be less likely to join the company. By diversifying, a company opens itself to new talent and increased employee retention.

Brandy Alvarado, Business Development Manager, Mad Systems, built on that point, saying, “I recently took a position in a new company. Personally, it was an important factor [in my] accepting the position that the company culture was ver y diverse. Studies have shown that diverse teams can develop more innovative ideas.

In AV—an industr y that’s on the cutting edge of technology—why wouldn’t you want diversity? I think it brings a ver y special kind of sauce to the table when you have diversity in your organization. As the Chair of the AVIXA Women’s Council, one of my main goals is to create more opportunities specifically for women to enter the industr y. There are many areas in which we can contribute and bring value to companies looking for more diversity and inclusion.”

Walk The Path Of Others Diversity leads to greater collaboration, acceptance and communication, all of which are essential to business success. Chris Turner, Ser vices Account Executive, (continued on page 88)

Catch These Highlights From

Excitement About Esports Grows

Experience-Driven AV Systems

With professional esports competitions now being staged in world-class arenas and purpose-built venues around the globe, how ripe is the opportunity for AV integrators?

(2 minutes 30 seconds) Featuring representatives from Alpha Video, CP Communications and Idibri.

How the commercial AV industry is shifting to a focus on the experiential.

(2 minutes 16 seconds) Featuring representatives from AVI-SPL and AVIXA.

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sndcom.us/EDAVS

sndcom.us/EG

Software-Based Solutions in Commercial AV

Commercial AV Professionals Address Enterprise-Level Security

The rise of software-based solutions in the commercial AV industry. What does this emerging trend mean? (2 minutes 26 seconds) Featuring representatives from NEC, QSC and ENCO Systems.

AV professionals need to become more informed about enterprise-level network security issues.

(2 minutes 20 seconds) Featuring representatives from SDVoE Alliance, the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) and Diversified.

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sndcom.us/CAV

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The Modern, Streamlined Conference Room What factors are shaping conference room expectations and execution these days?

(2 minutes 59 seconds) Featuring James Maltese, CTS-D, CTS-I, CQD, CQT.

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AI and Machine Learning in Relation to AV and Collaboration Users today seek frictionless and secure systems. What are the most practical ways to move forward?

(2 minutes 42 seconds) Featuring David Danto.

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sndcom.us/AI2 /SoundandCommunications

INDUSTRY POV

The Integrator-First Mindset The best AV solutions support the installation experience.

By Joe Andrulis Biamp

T

he commercial AV industr y has a vital job—namely, to deliver an exceptional user experience. But who is the “user” in that mandate? When talking about customers, the focus is generally on the end user. However, to deliver great products and to be viewed as an extraordinar y AV supplier, it demands looking at the entire acquisition process through the unique lens of ever y person invested in the AV chain—from the consultant, to the designer, to the AV integrator. All these users must understand, work with and, ultimately, enjoy the product. This is especially critical for integrators, as they spend hours installing solutions that become the integrated systems end users rely on to live and work.

Experience teaches that the key to bringing successful AV solutions to life is building a strong, open partnership between the manufacturer and the integrator. Obtaining and understanding the integrator’s perspective generates feedback that is essential to manufacturers’ design processes. In fact, I challenge my own product managers to spend time walking in the integrator’s shoes so that they can identify significant and common pain points that stand in the way of making today’s installations easier and more enjoyable.

One instance of this exercise resulted in a discussion among the integration community about integrators’ experiences installing in-ceiling loudspeakers.

These installations require integrators to hoist big, bulky backcans up a very tall ladder. It’s a precarious job; often, integrators are stuck hugging the backcan with both hands while they climb up the 44 Sound & Communications August 2019

In-ceiling speaker

ladder awkwardly and try not to fall. It’s not safe, installations require and it’s not easy. Some speakers have been engiintegrators to neered with a carrying handle to make the job hoist big, bulky less cumbersome, but the handle tends not to backcans up a be of service when it comes time to place the very tall ladder. It’s speaker into the ceiling. a precarious job; Walking through all the steps of the often, integrators process for an integrator, a manufacare stuck hugging turer could think about ways to make a the backcan with speaker’s features do double, or even both hands while triple, duty. For example, why not they climb up the design a reinforced bridge that not ladder awkwardly only protects the woofer and the and try not to fall. tweeter, but also ser ves as both a It’s not safe, and handle and a simple, built-in init's not easy. stallation tool? Integrators could grasp the bridge while they carried the speaker up the ladder, and then they could use it as a tool to assist in quickly installing the loudspeaker into the ceiling. A design like that would mean an integrator wouldn’t have to give a second thought to where to grip the speaker, or worr y about accidently damaging the tweeter or dropping the entire backcan in the process. It would also limit the number of tools required for the installation and the number of trips up and down the ladder.

Likewise, installing a loudspeaker pendant poses even more challenges and risks.

In this case, to lift the speaker into position, integrators often hug the large speaker to their body or grip it by a suspension cable; even with gloves, this can be painful, and the speaker is prone to slipping. The installation process involves connecting two suspension cables, one or two signal cables, and more than half a dozen tools.

Completing the connections entails that the multiple cables be cut, length adjusted, stripped, terminated, tapped and cut again before they are finally bundled, dressed and painted. Multiply that by dozens—or even hundreds—of speakers that might have to be installed and you can easily see the effort and time spent on what is just this one portion of the job. An integrated cable assembly could help address this problem for integrators—for instance, by combining the signal and suspension cables into one jacketed cable assembly, with pre-terminated speaker connections, as well as a built-in splice kit to strip and terminate the cable toollessly. This would lighten the integrator’s tool belt and allow the integrator to punch through the job more quickly and efficiently.

Manufacturers should consider ever ything that an integrator does on ever y job, and they should incorporate the integration community’s feedback into their solutions. A great end-user and integrator experience shouldn’t be mutually exclusive.

Achieving both just requires building an installer-first mentality into the innovation process.

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INDUSTRY POV

Your Customers Don’t Want To Compromise On Performance So why should you?

By Bob Michaels ZeeVee, Inc.

F

or as long as I’ve been involved with the pro-video industr y— all of that time with companies that make video-switching and distribution products—there’s been one standard of quality performance on which customers wouldn’t compromise: that is the ability to switch and distribute uncompressed video.

We knew our customers were zealously adamant about signal integrity and image quality, and we knew there would be no compromising on what was universally recognized as the core value of professional performance. No one would dare offer a compressed signal as a viable substitute for an uncompressed signal.

As video transitioned from standard definition to high definition, and from 720 to 1080—and as an increasing number of audio formats had to be supported, along with robust copy protection and metadata for high-end features such as high dynamic range (HDR)—engineers continued to meet the challenge.

They found ways to switch and move ever more bits, at ever-higher speeds, to deliver uncompressed signals from source to destination. Although the solutions required dedicated systems based on proprietary technologies, the end performance justified the means necessary to achieve it.

IP-based video became standard practice for more modest applications, such as security, digital signage and conferencing; however, the compression inherent in IP-based network systems 46 Sound & Communications August 2019

precluded their use in any field where quality couldn’t be compromised, even if doing so would yield cost and convenience benefits. This was because, historically, the bandwidth of the typical data network in 2010 was relatively low and required video compression to guarantee good ser vice.

Today, with 4K video ascending to become the minimum standard for video displays, and with end users increasingly specifying 4:4:4 color sampling and 60Hz (or higher) refresh rates, customers are being driven to pursue solutions capable of ser vicing those needs.

With potential video quality and the richness of the media experience going up, the distribution requirements have become even more rigorous; now, suddenly, a debate in the marketplace seems to have arisen about the sufficiency of compressed video to satisfy user needs. The goal of achieving perfect video and uncompromising quality seems to have been muddied up.

Why the abrupt acceptance of a lower standard of quality? Did customers suddenly start to ask for reductions in signal quality? Were they placing a higher value on flexibility and scalability than they were on signal integrity and image quality? Did customers start to say, “Hey, not-perfect is good enough”? I don’t think so!

A decade ago, HDBaseT came along to partially address issues relating to the spiraling costs of purpose-built video-switching systems, while delivering uncompressed video. It promised the deliver y of uncompressed video over systems that leveraged the economics of Ethernet by using Ethernet components and technologies—but it was not really Ethernet. HDBaseT “sounds” like a standard, but it’s still a proprietary technology. As the performance requirements for high-quality video distribution have scaled, HDBaseT has not scaled proportionally either in cost or in capability.

From my perspective, customers have become sidetracked by the discussion about 1Gb vs. 10Gb networks, and they haven’t closely followed the dramatic cost reductions in high-bandwidth networks. They have also been blinded by a smokescreen of marketing hyperbole that ignores or denies the fact that JPEG 2000 (a nearly 20-yearold compression technology) introduces artifacts (as well as latency) in each of the coding and decoding processes. Just because a compression scheme is described as technically lossless doesn’t mean it’s perfect. Every compression scheme can introduce artifacts and latency, and, by definition, each will discard data.

It’s also worth noting that, although JPEG 2000 is an open-standard technology, some companies that employ it for video distribution defeat that purpose (as well

as an implied cost savings) by implementing it in a proprietar y fashion that requires a single-brand, end-to-end solution.

Mainstream IP data networking, driven by the needs of a planet full of users, and fueled by hundreds of companies that are driving the technology, has leapt for ward in terms of capability, even as it has maintained mind-bogglingly low costs per bit of data moved.

IP-based technologies now offer solutions that have the same uncompressed, minimal-latency performance that professional video implementers have always desired and specified. However, many integrators, inexplicably, are suddenly finding it acceptable to recommend systems that distribute compressed video streams with visible latency. Do not allow yourself to be talked into an inferior solution when far-superior alternatives that use open, cost-effective and proven technologies exist!

As someone who travels the world talking to prospective customers and other end users, I can say that, frankly, the 1Gb vs. 10Gb debate is a bit of a canard. Companies that are installing new IP networks for video almost universally choose 10Gb—or higher.

They know the cost of 10Gb continues to decline; the demands for network bandwidth—whether for video or any other application—only increase over time; and a 1Gb network is likely to limit future options.

The only organizations I see using 1Gb networks for video are those with an existing 1Gb infrastructure and without the budget to upgrade, and those that don’t envision ever running applications that demand uncompressed video distribution. Simply put, today’s IP-distribution technology doesn’t force customers to compromise on compression, and it doesn’t make it necessar y to spend outsized sums to achieve excellent quality.

It’s ironic—and quite surprising— that, as video displays continue to improve in resolution, refresh rate, color space, contrast ratio, dynamic range and other parameters, we find compa-

nies promoting distribution technologies that fundamentally undermine or limit the exceptional performance that today’s displays have been designed to provide.

Granted, there’s still a place and market for distribution solutions that utilize compressed video, but they aren’t for applications that demand the best video quality. I’ve encountered end users from

around the world—from North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia— who independently sought solutions to deliver uncompressed, minimal-latency deliver y when their integrator partners proposed solutions that couldn’t meet that standard.

So, here’s my question: If your customers don’t want to compromise, then why should you?

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Each unit is compatible with popular standard streaming protocols, including HLS, RTMP, TRP/TRSP, Multicast and Unicast and can record directly to USB connected media or SD cards via a front panel loading slot.

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Both function as a YouTube encoder and provide live video streaming to popular CDNs Wowza, Ustream, AW Elemental MediaLive and CloudFront. You can also load recorded files to FTP’s automatically.

All configuration settings are saved within the VS-R devices, so that in normal operation no computer is needed for streaming or recording.

TASCAM has been at the forefront of recording technology since 1971 and continues to innovate. Come see what we can do for you.

August 2019

Sound & Communications 47

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INDUSTRY POV

Data Collection Can Yield Crucial Insights Today’s technologies can help enterprises achieve compounding ROI.

By Aurangzeb Khan GN Audio (Jabra)

W

here will your business be in five, 10 or 15 years, based on the tech you’ve invested in?

Although we all know about compounding interest in finance, we’re at a point where we’re seeing compounding return on investment (ROI) developing across businesses, all based on the tech investments implemented today and the associated data capabilities. As we move forward from an era of championing the open office and start to focus on the changing nature of work, as well as how it affects innovation, a number of factors have led to a rise in collaboration technology. We’re now seeing video solutions opening up a world of new information and insights, as AI advancements start to unlock massive data lakes that allow us to use video cameras as sensors to gather business intelligence.

And the impact of this stretches far beyond meeting-room collaboration.

In the last few years, certain trends have led to a major evolution in the spaces and ways in which we work. On the one hand, open-office layouts are ubiquitous, and we see the rising cost of real estate through increasing urbanization. At the same time, businesses have become increasingly dispersed and more global in their footprints, and remote work is increasing along with the accelerating growth of satellite teams and offices. Simultaneously, from a cultural standpoint, video has become a ubiquitous medium for consumption and communication—from YouTube, to Snapchat, to WhatsApp, to FaceTime.

It is now an accessible and comfortable medium through which to connect to people around the world. This accessibility has also grown rapidly in enter48 Sound & Communications August 2019

prise, as cloud-deployed video solutions like Zoom and BlueJeans have become more easily accessible.

Coinciding with these infrastructure and cloud changes, we’re seeing hardware and edge artificial intelligence (AI) opening up major capabilities. IBM has said that the combination of AI and cloud computing “promises to be both a source of innovation and a means to accelerate change.” With increasingly dispersed teams and the rise of video, we’re seeing video-collaboration cultures become standard in any global company that wants to innovate or collaborate. But, more importantly, we now have videoconferencing solutions with 180-degree video capabilities thanks to the development of multicamera arrays that stitch together video in real time to create a natural, panoramic, inclusive perspective.

From a people perspective, these developments offer a few obvious benefits: Ever yone is included in the conversation, trust increases and the business pace accelerates, the video stream offers a human-eye-like experience and team morale is increased with better inclusivity, just to name a few. Moreover, with the shift from distorting, ultra-wide-angle lenses to the human-eye-like experience of a multi-camera setup, we can give AI algorithms the best opportunity to make sense of the video information and create data from it. That data is where the ROI starts to snowball.

Some of the major multinationals with which I work have more than 30,000 collaboration spaces in their offices around the world. To give you an idea of usage, one in particular—a household name—logs more than 32 million minutes of video calls each month. Now, the benefits of video collaboration are clearly being realized, but, with a meeting-room camera to act as a sensor, a company could go further. For example, it could start to automate workflows like room reser vation and release, or it could enable autonomous shutdown of power-consuming equipment when a room is not in use. So, if a big corporation has a 10-percent misuse rate in terms of booked but actually unused meeting rooms, and it could automate room release as a resource for its employees, that would be a pretty big deal. Running multiple-variable data analysis to find out if meetings run faster in the morning or the afternoon, and potentially combining that with sentiment analysis to determine engagement levels, would be

another way to buy back time through AI and big-data insights.

Companies can also start to aggregate this information over a broader time horizon, building huge data lakes that allow them to analyze the seasonality and patterns of use of corporate real estate, thereby empowering them to optimize it. Historically, people have had ver y sparse—or perhaps no—data on real-estate utilization, but, with the changing nature of work, companies now have the power of data to help them avoid real-estate-usage mistakes.

Movements like the rise of the open office were built on ideas about and theories of collaboration that proved untrue; unfortunately, that became clear only in hindsight, when we got data. Companies that invest in collaboration spaces will now be able to har vest unique data about how their spaces are actually being used; then, they can adapt to optimize them. And, in a time of real-estate price surges for offices, this kind of business intelligence becomes relevant for everyone because this overhead affects everyone’s bottom line.

In addition to the data-har vesting benefits of a 180-degree field of view, meeting-room sizes also have the potential to shrink. Historically, a standard webcam would deliver around a 70-degree field of view. As such, it had to be placed a few feet from the table to offer a wide enough angle for ever yone to be seen. With wide-angle, 120-degree cameras, they could be placed closer to the table and still fit in ever yone. Nevertheless, meeting rooms still sacrificed up to around 40 square feet just because of single-video-camera device limitations.

With 180-degree video, technology no longer causes you to waste real estate passively. With New York NY and San Francisco CA office rental at more than $80 per square foot annually, the potential saving becomes clear.

Although one might think that the applications are limited to corporate office spaces, capabilities are starting to develop for coworking spaces. When

your business is built on leasing desks and workstations, it becomes crucial to get data on their usage. In bigger spaces or hot-desking environments, video-sensor AI has the capability to see if people are within a defined range of coordinates. So, organizations can determine load factors

across days, weeks and seasons to build up patterns and trends that help them maximize utility. And, to be clear, all of this is anonymized, numerical data—not videos or photos. It does offer, however, a basis for sound, datadriven decision-making. (continued on page 79)

August 2019

Sound & Communications 49

When the Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) set out to create a new collaborative office complex, it included many of the features of a typical healthcare initiative—an exam room and a doctor’s office, as well as conference and other meeting rooms. However, as healthcare moves deeper into digital territory, and as it becomes increasingly productized, research-and-development institutions are changing to reflect that. Thus, as Rich Mullen, Enterprise Account Manager at Vistacom, the AV integrator that brought about the AV design at the new Air Products Center for Connected Care and Innovation at LVHN (CCCI) noted, the new facility could be used to develop products and approaches for almost any vertical. “It could be about widgets,” he said. “This office complex was all about helping the people there create, innovate, transform and reimagine. In this case, the focus is on healthcare, but, as a technology and business model, it could be applied

50 Sound & Communications August 2019

The Think Tank, the largest of the spaces, and which is modeled after a typical boardroom space, is set apart from the other areas in the CCCI on the other side of the reception area. It offers executive teams a pair of 98-inch LCD displays, a dual-tracking camera system, two ceiling microphone arrays and a PTZ camera for a complete videoconferencing system.

August 2019

Sound & Communications 51

Top One of three Project Rooms that feature annotation capabilities on dual displays, where input from company staffers and outside experts is applied.

Middle Three briefing/huddle rooms are available to employees for quick confabs, and they’re also used as temporary home bases for visiting strategic affiliates.

Bottom The Idea Lounge is a space purposely apart from the rest of the suite, enabling more privacy. A circular couch backed with bar-height shelves and café-style stools looks as if baskets of popcorn and chips would be right at home. The Idea Lounge often is used as a breakout space for groups originating in the Think Tank.

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more broadly, [expanding] to other areas where collaboration and innovation are critical.”

Joe Tracy, VP of Connected Care and Innovation at LVHN, elaborated on that, saying, “The goal for this entire center was to provide a centralized focus for innovative thinking activity, where anyone across the entire network could get away from their daily routine to collaborate and think differently and disruptively. [This is] all in an effort to bring services and products to life that reduce cost and provide better care and better health to the communities we serve.”

A Logical Layout A blueprint view of the layout of the new office suite, located on the fifth floor of the One City Center building in Allentown PA, reflects a workflow that can accommodate the unpredictability of inspiration. An inspired idea might originate in the Idea Lounge, a space purposely set apart from the rest of the suite for more privacy. A circular couch backed with bar-height shelves and caféstyle stools looks as if baskets of popcorn and chips would be right at home; however, instead of tuning in to the game, a pair of 75-inch Samsung interactive displays are connected to Cisco’s Spark Room Kit Plus and Barco’s ClickShare wireless presentation system, allowing users to input content on the screens from their personal devices. “The Idea Lounge often [is] used as a breakout space for groups originating from the Think Tank,” Mullen noted.

Concepts inspired there and intended for development might Audio for the videowall includes an L-C-R array of speakers, supported by 21 ceiling speakers and an eight-inch ceiling-mounted subwoofer. Wired and wireless handheld microphones round out the audio.

54 Sound & Communications August 2019

then be tested out in one of three “simulation and training” rooms that create three environments—a doctor’s office, an examination room and a mock apartment room—that are intended to test clinical connected care (telehealth) applications. Capture systems, such as Lumens PTZ cameras, 24-inch LED screens and Wi-Fi, and Crestron’s CAPTURE-HD-PRO capture recorder, record mock simulations for playback and review. An intercom system is utilized across all three rooms, complemented by Crestron control panels.

The rooms are furnished authentically. For instance, the exam room is equipped with a patient exam table, a medical station and an Avizia telemedicine cart with a Cisco SX20 codec. The cart is fully equipped with videoconferencing capabilities for use by remote doctors or specialists providing training, who might have to be consulted during the mock patient visits. The cart also includes a Horus HD digital scope system with lens attachments, like an otoscope, to allow the doctor or specialist on the videoconference to see the same image, as if he or she were looking into the medical device himself or herself.

The mock apartment room is designed to look like a typical living room—complete with couches and a coffee table—to acknowledge the increase in connected-care initiatives, especially in remote monitoring of patients who suffer from chronic diseases.

When simulating a live consult, the system can accommodate the asynchronous transfer of patient data (e.g., blood-pressure measurements, heart-rate readings) and a two-way video call between “the patient at home” and the consult room. The connectivity in the mock apartment room is programmed to account for several real-world scenarios that entail different types of communication,

including via cell phone, desktop or handheld device.

A camera and microphone tie into the digital recording system so that any simulated sessions can be recorded. The camera and microphone in each room are connected into a digital recording platform in the Machine Room, and the recorded content from each recorder can be distributed via USB to a USB wallplate that’s located in each exam room. Users can insert a thumb drive at any wallplate and retrieve the recording from their session.

Project Rooms Information on new products and ser vices developed in these testing spaces can then move to one of three Project Rooms, whose displays feature annotation capabilities on dual Samsung displays. There, input from within the organization and from outside experts can be applied. Notes entered on the touchscreen displays can be saved via the Prysm web interface and are accessible from anywhere else in the CCCI in real time, as well as to anyone with Prysm account credentials through the resident PC in each room and a web browser. (Prysm is a major contributor to LVHN’s innovation and intelligence. Persistent and omnipresent— accessible on any device, anywhere in the world—team members can contribute, in a secure manner, anytime inspiration strikes, wherever they happen to be working.) LVHN’s new Continuous Ambulator y Remote Engagement Ser vices (CARES) initiative, bringing connected-care services under one roof, was developed in these spaces. Project Room 2 adds a layer of security by adding privacy-providing cloaking film on glass walls so that passersby cannot see the content on the display.

Ideas can be further shaped as a broader range of feedback—including from the C-suite and from outside experts and vendors—is collectively aired in Innovation Central, where virtual videoconference attendees can also contribute to the content. In Innovation Central, as many as 100 people can gather around a 16-foot-long, Pr ysm-enabled videowall composed of seven Barco 55-inch LCD displays with multipoint touch overlay. The displays are mounted in portrait mode, in a 1x7 configuration, on a custom rp Visual Solutions mount. These flatpanels have an ultra-thin 1.8mm bezel and a black anodized finished frame around the perimeter of the mount, giving the videowall a sleek finish.

Sources that can be viewed on the videowall include videoconferences, local hardwired inputs and Barco’s ClickShare wireless collaboration system, as well as feeds from all the other spaces in the CCCI. The content can be accessed and controlled through a Crestron 10.1-inch touchscreen at the lectern, which also manages lighting, shades and audio. With regard to audio, an L-C-R array of QSC AD-S12 12-inch, two-way surface-mount speakers are supported by 21 Electro-Voice ceiling speakers and a JBL eight-inch in-ceiling subwoofer. Shure wired and wireless handheld microphones round out the complement.

“Small focus groups begin on the 98-inch display in Project Room 2, until they’re ready to present to a larger group on the videowall in Innovation Central,” Mullen explained. (Innovation Central has an accurate moniker because it’s centrally located in the office design and, quite literally, it’s the hub; its centrality was acknowledged when LVHN’s CEO cut the facility’s “virtual ribbon” there at the CCCI’s opening.) When the videowall isn’t being used for

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collaboration, it goes into digital-signage mode, displaying images of ongoing LVHN and university-partnership projects viewable throughout the center.

When projects reach the point at which they require full executive attention, they shift to the Think Tank. The largest of the spaces, it’s modeled after a typical boardroom space and set apart from the other areas in the CCCI on the other side of the reception area. (Notably, reception has its own 55-inch NEC display monitor with a built-in ATSC tuner, which is connected to an ownerfurnished digital signage player that, itself, is linked to an 80-inch confidence display in the back of Innovation Central.) The Think Tank offers executive teams a pair of NEC 98-inch LED-backlit displays, a Cisco SpeakerTrack60 dual-tracking camera system and two Shure ceiling microphone arrays, plus a Lumens PTZ camera for a complete videoconferencing system using a Cisco SX80 codec. This is the stage on which LVHN executives often interact with their counterparts at other companies and institutions, Mullen explained.

The Design Given its missions, the CCCI is a necessarily complex facility.

Fortunately, the project leaders, including Joe Tracy and his team, as well as Carl James, Vistacom’s Senior Engineer on the project, and Mark Ripley, Software Development Manager with Vistacom, had a highly collaborative relationship through which—as with songwriting—inspiration fueled more inspiration. The LVHN team had a strong vision and Vistacom drew inspiration from that, en-

abling the excellent results that were achieved.

One interesting piece of that inspiration, albeit a small one, centered on James and some sleep studies he’d been undergoing to address insomnia issues. He noticed the lag time between the actual clinical studies he underwent and the conclusions and remedies that followed. What if, he asked himself, that entire process could take place in a near-real-time workflow? He set up his own sleep-monitoring ecosystem at home, including an iPhone app to measure leg movements and Pro Tools audio recording on a laptop to track sleep-apnea respiration sounds, and then presented those findings to his doctor. That helped inspire a vision in which, for instance, teams could brainstorm ideas, other teams could refine those ideas and yet more teams could apply them in real-world environments, all while sound and video of the process stages were recorded and were able to be recalled and presented in a multi-screen presentation environment.

“All the rooms are laid out in such a way as to encourage and support innovation, while also documenting the processes so that they can be presented in detail to those who will be needed to help further fund them and apply them to markets,” James remarked. (Interestingly, he also oversees facility management for director M. Night Shyamalan’s personal post-production facility near Philadelphia PA.) Shyamalan’s films are famous for their twist endings, but, in the A mock exam room is equipped with a patient exam table, a medical station and a medical cart with a codec. Note the overhead cardioid mics hanging from the ceiling.

56 Sound & Communications August 2019

CCCI, the twists are focused on the interactions between these highly specific rooms. According to James, once LVHN’s executives had signed off on the use of Prysm as the main collaborative engine, it was a matter of integrating that with the Crestron main control platform and Cisco SX80 codec for conferencing on top of the Prysm layer. “The [Crestron] tells the Biamp and DigitalMedia routing systems what to route and where to send it,” he elaborated.

“The strategic goal was to make the technology as transparent to users as possible.” However, the Prysm platform can be intimidating to some. So, in certain rooms—namely those that would have a preponderance of technically disinclined users—provisions were made for a technician with the Prysm software on a laptop to be in the back of the room. That technician is able to work the screens from a mouse or touchpad. This works especially well for situations in which presenters in one room must access live activity from, and interact with, other spaces in the center.

Other Spaces Other rooms in the CCCI ser ve functions that, although conventional, are critical. Two conference rooms can be physically configured according to the number of people participating onsite.

Those rooms have a combination of NEC displays ranging from 50 inches to 90 inches, as well as Shure microphone systems, Electro-Voice speakers, Lumens cameras and Barco’s ClickShare wireless presentation system. These spaces are configured as two separate rooms—one larger and one smaller—that can be used independently; however, they can also be combined as one large room. When used independently, each room can facilitate a

meeting with full audiovisual and conferencing capabilities; when combined, both the audio and the video for a meeting are available for the complete, combined space.

In certain use cases, the front wall between the meeting room and the simulation workshop can be opened; in such a scenario, a presenter in the lab can share content with an audience seated in the meeting room. The large meeting room is outfitted with a pair of 90-inch, wall-mounted flatpanels that can be used to show content from a room PC, wired laptop connections or handheld devices (wirelessly). Additionally, these displays are used during videoconferences to display content, with far-end video displayed on a dedicated 55-inch monitor. There are front and rear cameras in each room to pick up the presenter during videoconferences.

Users can control all room functions from a wireless touchscreen located at either a wallmount or tablemount docking station. These rooms also ser ve to illustrate how the spaces can be interconnected physically.

The Briefing Room and huddle rooms are available to employees who are looking to engage in quick confabs, and they’re also used as temporar y home bases for visiting strategic affiliates. These spaces all utilize Cisco’s Spark Room Kit Plus. The Briefing Room has dual 55-inch NEC displays, whereas the huddle rooms have Cisco Spark Board 55 collaboration displays.

All the rooms have Crestron scheduling panels located outside, which are connected to a power-over-Ethernet (PoE) network port outside each conference room and tied into Outlook; this provides an easy means to schedule the rooms. The panels (main story continued on page 60)

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cart PC cabinet 1 Avizia AVZ-CA300-A-IP40 American Well 300 A telemedicine cart 10 Barco ClickShare CSE-200 wireless presentation systems 7 Barco OverView HVD5521 55" LCD panels 1 Biamp Tesira DAN-1 digital server networking card 1 Biamp Tesira SERVER-IO digital network server 3 Blackmagic Design CONVMBHS24K mini converters

(HDMI to SDI 4K) 4 Chief LSM1U Fusion Series fixed wall mounts for 37" to 63"

displays 1 Chief MTM1U Fusion Series tilting landscape wall mount for

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interface brackets 4 Chief XSM1U Fusion Series fixed wall mounts for

55" to 82" displays 1 Cisco CS-KIT-K9 Webex room kit mini w/Touch 10 5 Cisco CS-KITPLUS-K9 Spark Room Kit Pluses 1 Cisco CS-QUADCAM+ Webex quad camera 1 Cisco CTS-CAM-P60+ PrecisionHD camera 1080p 12x 4 Cisco CTS-QSC20-MIC performance mic 20s 1 Cisco CTS-MIC-TABL20 table mic 20 1 Cisco CTS-ST-ARRAY60+ SpeakerTrack60 mic array 1 Cisco CTS-SX80-IPST60-K9 SX80 codec, SpeakerTrack60 mic

array and Touch 10 2 Cisco CTS-SX80-K9 SX80 codecs 1 Cisco Webex DX80 codec 1 Cisco SG300-10PP-K9-NA 10-port 10/100/1000 Gigabit PoE

managed switch 1 Cisco SPARK-BOARD55-K9 Spark Board 55 collaboration display 1 Cisco SRW2008-K9-NA SG300-10 10-port gigabit

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and room controllers w/scalers 5 Crestron DM-TX-200-C-2G-W-T wallplate DigitalMedia 8G+

transmitter 200s (white, textured) 16 Crestron DM-TX-201-C DigitalMedia 8G+ transmitter 201s 4 Crestron DM-TX-4K-202-C 4K DigitalMedia 8G+ transmitter 202s 1 Crestron DM-TX-4K-302-C 4K DigitalMedia 8G+ transmitter 302 5 Crestron HD-MD4X1-4K-E 4x1 4K HDMI switchers 1 Crestron PRO3 3-series control system 1 Crestron PWE-4803RU PoE injector 1 Crestron RMC3 3-Series room media controller 15 Crestron TPMC-4SM-W-S 4.3" room-scheduling touchscreens

(white, smooth)

58 Sound & Communications August 2019

2 Crestron TST-902 8.7" wireless touchscreens 4 Crestron TSW-1060-B-S 10.1" touchscreens (black, smooth) 3 Crestron TSW-1060-W-S 10.1" touchscreens (white, smooth) 4 Crestron TSW-760-B-S 7" touchscreens (black, smooth) 8 Crestron TT-100 Crestron Connect It cable caddies w/120V outlets,

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sold as a pair 1 NEC E326 32" LED-backlit display w/integrated ATSC/NTSC tuner 1 NEC E506 50" LED-backlit display w/integrated ATSC/NTSC tuner 1 NEC E556 55" LED-backlit display w/integrated ATSC/NTSC tuner 1 NEC E805 80" LED-backlit commercial-grade display 3 NEC E905 90" LED-backlit commercial-grade displays 5 NEC V554 55" commercial-grade large-format displays 2 NEC X981UHD-2 98" LED-backlit ultra-HD professional-grade

large-screen displays 1 Premier Mounts CTM-MS4 universal flatpanel mount 1 Prysm 98 visual workplace solution 3 QSC AD-S12 12", 2-way surface-mount speakers 3 QSC CX108V 8-channel, 70V power amps 1 QSC CX404 4-channel, low-Z power amp 7 rp Visual Solutions custom mounts 6 Samsung DM75E-BR 75" slim direct-lit LED e-board displays 3 Shure MX202W/C Microflex overhead cardioid mics (white) 3 Shure MX412/C 12" cardioid gooseneck mics w/preamps 2 Shure MXA910 ceiling array mics 4 Shure MXW1/O-Z10 Microflex wireless bodypack transmitters

w/integrated omni mics 6 Shure MXW2/SM58 handheld transmitters w/SM58 capsules 2 Shure MXWANI4 4-channel audio network interfaces 1 Shure MXWAPT4-Z10 Microflex wireless 4-channel access point

transceiver 2 Shure MXWNCS4 4-port networked charging stations 4 Shure WL183 omnidirectional TQG lavalier mics 4 Vaddio drop-down ceiling mounts 3 Vaddio offset drop-down ceiling mounts List is edited from information supplied by Vistacom.

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(main story continued from page 57) display the room status and a description of the meeting—the description can be made private, if desired—so anyone in the area or using Outlook remotely can see the status of each room.

According to Mullen, the main inflection point between the collaboration capabilities that were already installed in what would become the new facility and the CCCI that eventually followed was the transition from paper to data. “There were a number of team rooms in the space, where people could work together,” he said, “but it was also a place where you’d see a lot of paper tacked up on the walls.” Mullen continued, “[Vistacom was] initially brought in as [a] consultant to work with other consultants they’d hired to make the transition to a data-based environment. LVHN is a ver y data-driven organization, and it’s what sets them apart from other healthcare institutions.”

In the technology-platform selection process, Vistacom set up various collaboration/presentation software system demos—both onsite and at manufacturers’ own facilities—to give LVHN’s staff as much hands-on experience as possible with all of them. In fact, the original request for proposal (RFP) for the project placed specific emphasis on software’s role in the CCCI: “Each system must be fully fabricated within the contractor’s shop and demonstrated to In Innovation Central, as many as 100 people can gather around a 16-foot-long videowall composed of seven 55-inch LCD displays with multipoint touch overlay. They’re mounted in portrait mode, in a 1x7 configuration, on a custom mount.

60 Sound & Communications August 2019

a client representative prior to delivery to the site, [and] the demonstration must include a fully loaded version of software that performs all functions shown on the approved control specification.”

In the end, LVHN chose systems such as Barco’s ClickShare and Cisco’s Telepresence and Spark Room. Pr ysm’s visual workplace solution had already been decided upon ahead of the issuance of the RFP, owing, Mullen said, to its ability to connect outside the LVHN office. “They liked Pr ysm because of its ability to let them connect to [external] assets, which would really help with decision-making,” he added.

Master Control All rooms’ control systems tie into the Crestron server and they are programmed to perform a number of autonomous functions: identifying any system fault; measuring usage on key devices and systems, including collaboration and videoconferencing; providing global system on/off; sending email alerts during a system fault; and providing all the above data in a report format. The Crestron server is tied into the room-scheduling panels in each area, as well.

In addition, a motion sensor tied into the room control systems automatically turns off systems when they’re not in use, as well as at predetermined times at night. Global audio management is through a Biamp Tesira SERVER-IO digital network server, which is configured for all required audio-reinforcement, recording, conferencing and distribution functions.

The Crestron DM-MD64X64 64x64 DigitalMedia switcher, along with much of the rest of the CCCI’s digital heartbeat, is located in

the Machine Room. All the rooms that comprise the CCCI have a shielded Cat6 home run to carr y the Crestron DigitalMedia signals. All head-end audio, video and control switching emanates from two Middle Atlantic ERK Series racks.

The new construction environment meant that cabling wasn’t a major challenge, except, James recalled, when the LVHN users requested DigitalMedia, audio, control and data cable pokethroughs in the floors under certain rooms, so as to allow the use of rolling AV lecterns. “There is a full-sized gym on the floor below and the ceiling is very high, so it was a bit of a challenge to find and reach each exact spot to do the poke-through,” he remarked. That process was symptomatic, James added, of the entire cabling process, which both had to await executive strategic decisions on technology placements within the CCCI and had to tr y to keep up with the pace of construction. “We had to escalate the entire infrastructure process, [using] as many guesses as we had hard information,” he said. “Fortunately, when we had to guess, we guessed correctly.”

The CCCI has its own local-area network (LAN), but that network is managed by the organization’s broader IT department.

Not surprisingly, there are occasional conflicts, such as when IT managers make a change in the network that might cause a hiccup in one of the AV systems. This can be a source of irritation for AV operators. However, according to James, he recently had an experience that completely changed his take on those types of instances. He attended a conference of corporate CFOs that revealed that more US companies than one might imagine are already creating provisions for cryptocurrency accounts so that they’re ready to pay data ransoms if hackers hijack corporate systems. That’s a last resort, of course, given that corporate IT departments work diligently to foil hackers before they access systems, but, James said, “[It] made me realize why company IT departments make as many changes to the networks as they do, and why those changes can come about suddenly and without a lot of warning.” He added, “They often have to work pretty fast.

It made me realize that the IT departments aren’t our enemy.”

Vistacom is providing a five-year support package for the CCCI, including ongoing training for its staff, and, according to James, Vistacom continues to work on ways to further simplify and streamline the user interfaces for staffers. For example, the company is looking into applying HTML-5 mind-mappingstyle navigation on the Pr ysm surface for room navigation and activation. The CCCI, it could be said, isn’t so much a work in progress as something that will experience constant refinement over time, evolving along with the technology.

That reinforces the idea, Mullen commented, that, on paper, the CCCI’s layout could be applied to virtually any corporate application. When Tracy said the goal is to “provide a centralized focus for innovative thinking activity…to get away from daily routine to collaborate, think differently [and] be disruptive in [our] thinking in an effort to bring services and products to life,” he could be referencing almost any high-tech sector. But CCCI is the linchpin of LVHN’s ongoing effort to develop improved community health outcomes. “This space has special meaning,” Dr. Brian Nester, LVHN’s President and CEO, concluded.

“It is intended to be a place to create, innovate, transform and reimagine how we provide care to our community.”

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Sound & Communications 61

62 Sound & Communications August 2019

AV-over-IP systems, inclusive of encoders, decoders and USB interfaces, bring video content to life inside the all-IP meeting space.

Anaesthesia Associates of Massachusetts (AAM) built out its first meeting space to support in-house presentations and videoconferencing with member physicians.

IT has historically played a significant role in the day-to-day operations of the AV systems that live on the network. Although AV integrators provide plenty of ongoing ser vices and post-commissioning support, the “little things”—a projector going offline or an audio system going silent—often fall to the IT staff. However, as more facilities transition to AV-over-IP systems, the benefits of AV as a Ser vice (AVaaS) are increasingly coming to the fore.

Anaesthesia Associates of Massachusetts (AAM) is one example of an organization that has found value in transitioning to an IT-based AV operation with an AVaaS layer. Based in Westwood MA, AAM built out new office space for its healthcare practice, including a large, 30-person conference and collaboration room. The space meets presentation needs, and a videoconferencing element was added to accommodate recurring meetings with AAM member doctors.

Given that this was a single-room system, there were plenty of reasons to consider a matrix-based AV solution that would support a specific number of inputs and outputs in the dedicated meeting space.

However, an IP-based foundation would give AAM the operational flexibility, the standards-based reliability and the capability to scale across a wide area network (WAN) or virtual private network (VPN) as other conference rooms are added. This was also important to ensure flexibility from the AVaaS side of the equation.

“Although the initial layout is a fairly modest set of AV features and components, the end goal was to provide system scalability, high levels of uptime and centralized management,” Nick Melin, President of AudioLogic Consulting, whose firm handled the meeting-space design and installation, said. “To realize those outcomes, we had to ensure that the August 2019

Sound & Communications 63

The USB-over-IP devices encode signals from a PTZ document camera positioned under the twin displays.

AV technologies used were founded on IP standards and would benefit from IT best practices, such as configuration management and infrastructure monitoring. This meant it was important to reduce reliance on proprietar y solutions.”

To achieve those goals, Melin and his team specified and integrated an all-IP meeting space solution with four core elements across video (Atlona’s OmniStream AV-over-IP platform), audio (Dante networking), digital signal processing (Symetrix’s Radius AEC) and control (Atlona’s Velocity). This not only offered AAM the core benefits (flexibility, uptime and scalability) that it sought, but also left GreenPages, a hybrid cloudservices provider and integrator, well positioned to manage, analyze and troubleshoot systems remotely.

Designed To Adapt Before Melin’s involvement, the integration strategy wasn’t an IP-based design.

The original design called for tabletop connections from laptops to feed video through HDMI switchers to the displays, with soft-codec videoconferencing to enable connectivity. The AudioLogic and GreenPages teams knew that the original design would effectively hinder scalability and the AVaaS management strategy.

“We anticipate that new rooms will be added, potentially across geographically 64 Sound & Communications August 2019

separated AAM facilities,” Melin revealed.

“When that happens, the ability to efficiently redeploy a modeled AV solution to new rooms is paramount to minimizing the cost of integration and commissioning time. We also wanted to ensure that AAM could add features or adjust ser vices across the organization without incurring significant downtime. We shifted the system design to an IT-centric approach to establish the necessar y foundation.”

That shift put Melin and his team in touch with AAM’s IT department—a scenario that has become common as AV/IT convergence takes shape throughout the industr y. “With IT convergence, the AV devices become components of a living system that is maintained and adapted to a company’s changing requirements,” Melin stated. “More upfront coordination between the AV and IT exper ts is required when migrating to IP-based systems.” He continued, “We worked with them to ensure that subnets and vir tual local area networks (VLANs) were configured to suppor t a flexible integration strategy. In the end, the system is more adaptable, and it can be maintained using tools that are familiar to IT professionals.”

Traffic Management The AudioLogic team developed a network-segmentation plan to support separate VLANs. One subnet was created for OmniStream and Dante traffic, whereas VoIP traffic, including Skype, was assigned to a separate subnet. Both were separated from the main network that carries internet traffic and other data in the building.

This was important for quality of ser vice (QoS), as well as for security.

“The separate subnets ensure that the time domains for video and audio traffic are not impacted by PC traffic and Wi-Fi devices,” Melin remarked. “Segmentation of the IP traffic also ensures that a video or audio stream cannot be received by a computer on the network that is not the intended end point. That is ver y important from a security perspective. We could have gotten away with less segmentation on a network this small, but following best practices is both safer and more efficient in the long term.”

A dedicated Cisco SG300 switch accommodates all video, audio, voice and related

VLANs in the space; there is a straightforward backbone of Cat6 network cabling to move signals to and from the switch.

Melin installed a Panduit WMPF1E horizontal cable-management system at the top of the Middle Atlantic rack enclosure to accommodate clean cable runs into the switch. The Panduit system ensures a safe bend radius for the cables, and it offers a simple platform to add, move or change cables at any point.

“The OmniStream AT-OMNI-232 networked audio interfaces convert analog signals into Dante streams, which simplified the prewire requirements,” Melin stated. “Since everything routes through a switch, we installed additional network drops behind the displays and underneath the table. We utilized some of those drops to accommodate Dante inputs for additional microphones.”

The AV architecture includes nearly every product from the OmniStream Pro line, including the networked audio interfaces. AT-OMNI-111 single-channel and AT-OMNI-112 dual-channel encoders take in signals from a dedicated PC and two laptops, respectively. Out of the switch, an AT-OMNI-122 provides video and control signals to two Sony KD-70X690E 70-inch displays.

OmniStream USB-over-IP device adapters were also added to encode signals from an Atlona AT-HDVS-CAM PTZ camera, which is used for soft-codec conferencing applications. The OMNI311 USB-to-IP adapter and OMNI-324 pair are USB 2.0 compatible, and they are a perfect match for HDVS-CAM.

Melin noted that the Radius AEC was well suited as the DSP solution for this space given Symetrix’s modular architecture and interoperability with many IP-based audio solutions. The audio processing was straightfor ward to program using the Symetrix Composer software.

“Symetrix has a ver y large librar y of premade audio-processing symbols that allow us to mix and balance the Dante signals exactly as needed,” Melin remarked.

“This makes it simple for the end user to connect a laptop, begin a Skype call and

speak naturally in the room. The DSP ensures that the presenter’s voice is clear and free of echoes, while the incoming audio is intelligible and pleasant for ever yone in the room.”

The Radius AEC features a modular, card-based architecture, which allowed AudioLogic to add a two-line VoIP interface card and connect that to the VoIP subnet for native integration to Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based calling platforms.

On the output side, the processed audio

A CELEBRATION OF SOUND

Audio Isn’t Overlooked Audio for the room also utilizes the IP backbone, and it incorporates a digital signal processor. Dante-based audio components work with OmniStream to provide a seamless audio integration.

Shure MX396 microphones are connected to the AT-OMNI-232 audio interfaces and routed over IP to a Symetrix Radius AEC audio DSP. The Radius AEC optimizes audio quality for the room through echo cancellation, EQ, dynamics processing and other features. Melin also added Dante Vir tual Soundcard software on the dedicated PC to process Skype audio without requiring analog connections and adapters.

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August 2019

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is re-encoded as a Dante stream, which is received by a plenum-rated Atlona GAIN120 amplifier installed in the ceiling. Four QSC AD-C820 ceiling speakers complete the audio signal path.

Networked Control

The equipment rack is simple, compact and efficient. A cablemanagement system accommodates clean runs into the switch.

The configuration for all equipment on the network can be quickly replicated to new meeting spaces as they come online.

EQUIPMENT 1 Apple 7" iPad 1 Atlona AT-GAIN-120NET stereo/mono audio power amp w/AES67/Dante (120W) 1 Atlona AT-HDVS-CAM PTZ camera for HDVS-300 soft-codec conferencing system 1 Atlona AT-OMNI-111 single-channel OmniStream AVoIP encoder 1 Atlona AT-OMNI-112 dual-channel OmniStream AVoIP encoder 2 Atlona AT-OMNI-121 single-channel OmniStream AVoIP decoders 1 Atlona AT-OMNI-232 2-input/2-output Dante audio bridge 1 Atlona AT-OMNI-311 OmniStream 311 host side USB-to-IP adapter 1 Atlona AT-OMNI-324 OmniStream 324 device side IP-to-USB adapter 1 Atlona AT-VGW-250 Velocity control gateway for 250 devices 2 Chief XSM1U Fusion Series fixed wall mounts for 55" to 82" displays 1 Cisco SG300 managed switch 1 Dell OptiPlex PC GreenPages Cloud Management as a Service (CMaaS) platform 1 Middle Atlantic C5 Series Credenza rack 1 Middle Atlantic Essex power strip 2 Middle Atlantic lacing bars 2 Middle Atlantic RSH Series custom rackshelves 1 Panduit WMPF1E PatchLink horizontal cable manager 3 QSC AD-CI52ST 5.25" weather-resistant shallow-can speaker pairs 3 Shure MX396 tri-element mics 2 Sony KD-70X690E 70" 4K ultra-HD smart LED TVs w/HDR 1 Symetrix Radius AEC 12-input selectable DSP List is edited from information supplied by AudioLogic Consulting.

66 Sound & Communications August 2019

The all-IP meeting space is tied together with Atlona’s Velocity networked control platform. The architecture uses a Velocity AT-VGW-250 Gateway control processor to manage all Atlona and third-party components in the ecosystem; iPads are used for the control interface.

Melin credited Velocity’s web-based configuration process for simplifying what could have been a challenging deployment process for his team. “The OmniStream, Dante and Symetrix components, which live on the same subnet, were able to discover each other,” he said. “That quickly gave us a strong starting point. We then imported the audio controls into the Velocity platform via a Symetrix system file. Velocity’s menu-based configuration allowed us to quickly provide simple controls on the iPad user interface (UI).”

Melin noted that this installation was among the first Velocity deployments, and it required some device drivers that didn’t exist yet on the Velocity platform. “Atlona’s developers were extremely helpful,” he began, “and it’s refreshing to be working with a platform that was built with the Go programming language. We’ve already seen new features from Atlona, such as the new Velocity API, since the installation was complete.”

Melin continued, “The Velocity and OmniStream configurations are versioncontrolled, along with the network configuration. This means we can rapidly deploy tested features to new rooms without extensive programming labor. We can roll back to previous versions if unexpected problems are encountered. This is made possible by Atlona’s powerful JSON API. If we scale to multiple buildings and rooms with hundreds of devices on the network, we’re well positioned to move to Velocity’s cloud architecture.”

Managed Services Velocity will also be used on the AVaaS layer for monitoring purposes, according to Joshua Dinneen, President of Digital Transformation with GreenPages. “We’re

The original meeting-space design called for an HDMI system with tabletop connections from laptops. The GreenPages and AudioLogic teams convinced AAM to shift gears toward IP to enable scalability and remote AVaaSbased systems management.

tapping in…to make corrections specific to the device that is reporting trouble,” Dinneen explained. “We can fix most issues remotely, although we’ll open a ticket with the manufacturer if there is a known bug or an operational issue that prevents us from creating a workaround. Once we have a remediation plan from the manufacturer, we add it to the knowledge base and can repeat those fixes, as necessary.”

GreenPages initially came onboard with AAM to support a broader organizational need that involved its CIO on Demand Ser vices. AAM, which was divesting from its former parent company, hired GreenPages to execute an overarching business strategy. Separating IT services from the parent company was a substantial strategic component of that.

“We established an infrastructure to support their new IT strategy, such as installing a new phone system and moving their email service to the cloud,” Dinneen stated. “In alignment with what we now see taking shape in the AV industry, they soon asked us to help them strategize that component of their business. The all-IP meeting space was an aspiration of their CEO, and it represents how they intend to run their audiovisual operations

moving for ward.”

Along with the new opportunities that come with migrating AV systems to the network, organizations also have an easy way to outsource operation and maintenance elements to a ser vice provider.

AAM’s decision to outsource to GreenPages liberates internal staf f from responsibility for systems management and troubleshooting.

GreenPages’ Cloud Management as a Ser vice (CMaaS) platform is the basis of its AVaaS strategy for AAM. CMaaS integrates with a more comprehensive set of off-the-shelf IP tools to cover both the proactive and the responsive needs around remote management. As Dinneen explained, the platform provides a full document of AAM’s conferencing and collaboration environment. GreenPages creates what it refers to as a “knowledge-based system” that allows it to understand all the parts and components of the ecosystem—and if and how those parts and components interoperate.

“We can map the dependency that each component has on others across the AV and IT ecosystem,” Dinneen affirmed.

“For example, during a videoconference, we have a view on the health and status

of each circuit. If the carrier has an outage or the platform is not open, we may need to open a ticket; if it’s a firewall or router issue, we can remediate that from another control center. The overarching benefit for AAM is that they have an organization in place to manage their environment, which allows them to allocate internal resources to other responsibilities.”

Like the AV system itself, Dinneen noted that the GreenPages CMaaS platform is an associated IP toolset that can scale with AAM to address needs in other rooms and locations as they are built out.

Melin added that the AAM project ideally represents where the industr y is headed, while also showcasing the value that a combined integration and managedservices strategy can bring to the end-user environment.

“To generate real business value from the AV/IT convergence, solution providers should pay close attention to the recent history of the IT industry, where open standards, automated deployments and continuous improvement are now table stakes for the leading organizations,” Melin concluded. “We think that the AAM project offers a strong blueprint to build from as the AV industry heads further in this direction.”

August 2019

Sound & Communications 67

One of two Milan-related events that took place at InfoComm.

Announced at last year’s InfoComm, the Milan workgroup within Avnu Alliance convened again this year to give the pro-audio industry an update following its launch. Created by leading manufacturers in commercial AV, Milan is a standards-based, user-driven, deterministic network protocol for professional media. It assures that devices will work together at new levels of convenience, reliability and functionality.

Milan combines the technical benefits of the AVB IEEE standard with commercial AV market-defined device requirements at both the network and the application layer for media streams, formats, clocking and redundancy.

The Milan protocol was announced to an optimistic audience at InfoComm 2018, and the workgroup has been hard at work since the initial launch to build momentum and onboard new members, as well as create a Milan certification testing suite and open-source controller tools. This year, the Milan group hosted news events, demonstrations and networking at InfoComm 2019 to show attendees the breadth of work behind the scenes, as well as the progress being made to drive for ward the long-term open standard, Milan.

Certification is an important component of the Milan value 68 Sound & Communications August 2019

proposition. Certified products build end-user confidence and eliminate guesswork for integrators and manufacturers. Milan works with Avnu-certified AVB switches, and Milan certification addresses the solution level/application layer that sits atop the network foundation for end devices. At the show, the group announced that Milan certification testing is now open. Avnu and Milan founding member Meyer Sound became the first company to announce full Milan certification compliance for its Galileo GALAXY processor line (GALAXY 816, GALAXY 816AES3 and GALAXY 408); meanwhile, L-Acoustics presented the Milan-certified P1 processor at the show.

Other members are in certification testing now, and the

FUTUREPROOF

to complete certification, as well as educating and recruiting manufacturers to join the effort. Look for Milan at upcoming industr y events such as AES 2019 (October 16 to 19 in New York NY); connect with founders and ask questions on the public Milan Forum (www.milanavcommunity.proboards. com); and follow the group’s announcements via the website at www.avnu.org and www.avnu.org/milan. You can also monitor Avnu Alliance’s LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/company/avnualliance) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/avnu_alliance) pages.

Find out more about what the Milan workgroup is working on by viewing the video the group released at InfoComm: www.sndcom.us/milaninfocomm19.

SEAMLESS INTEROPERABILITY AMONG DEVICES

group is anticipating a host of new certified products throughout this year.

Group momentum was also highlighted at the show. This year, membership in the Milan workgroup and Avnu Alliance has grown as manufacturers—namely, Adamson Systems Engineering and RCF—show increased interest in the protocol. As Avnu members supporting the Milan workgroup, manufacturers are given more than just access to product certification; they’re also given an opportunity to network with leading commercial AV manufacturers to help shape the future of Milan. And, they get a place to have their feedback be heard. Members are also provided access to specifications and certification, as well as open-source tools to help expedite product certification.

The Milan workgroup remains focused on helping more members

FOR THE INDUSTRY, BY THE INDUSTRY

August 2019

Sound & Communications 69

Courtesy EPNAC.

Caution: Straight talk ahead!

When I read an article, I always appreciate knowing what to expect. This InfoComm show review is written from the perspective of a seasoned veteran commercial AV integrator who has attended more than 25 InfoComm shows and who served on the InfoComm Board of Directors for four years. This article will mention specific products, but only to help illuminate trends. I hope that, by reading this article, you can look past specs and speeds and see our industry’s real value proposition. So, if you are looking for an InfoComm product review, look elsewhere.

Let’s Get Real “Do our existing customers and potential customers even need us anymore?” That’s a scar y question, but it’s also one that’s been on the tip of our tongues. You can Google anything and buy it on Amazon. At least 30 to 40 percent of InfoComm attendees are end users these days. Many manufacturers seem to have no concern contacting end users directly. (Exactly whose supplier are they, anyway?) So, to repeat the question, do end users really need us?

What would motivate them to embrace an integrator? It’s a ver y important question.

Before we consider industr y trends obser ved during the InfoComm show, let’s consider the real value proposition of attending 70 Sound & Communications August 2019

InfoComm, which has similarities to the real value proposition of working with an AV integrator. If your company leadership perceives InfoComm as just a great, big product showcase, then they likely view it as something of a junket—maybe even a “reward.” To be frank, many integration company leaders do not see InfoComm as a necessary resource that will assist their team members and themselves; consequently, many integration company employees never get to go to InfoComm and have a ver y limited idea of the value proposition it presents. Of course, many companies do find InfoComm worthy of their investment and make strategic choices to participate in it. (Do you see the similarities already? Integration firms that view InfoComm as “just a product show” likely think it’s expendable; potential clients who view integrators as “just product sellers and installers” likely view them as inessential.)

I strongly believe that InfoComm has a compelling value proposition for integration company leadership and their team members.

At the top of my list is the quality education in abundance (both from AVIXA and from manufacturers). Although is it important for the industr y and our credibility for the CTS, CTS-D and CTSI to continue to expand, there’s so much more to InfoComm’s worldwide education offering. Another factor is that relationships still matter. It matters whether you know the person when you’re

Courtesy EPNAC. As always, there was no dearth of eye-catching sights and wow!-worthy experiences.

calling for help. InfoComm brings a unique opportunity to integration companies, allowing them to build a network of people who have the knowledge, the skills and the connections to help them deliver a compelling value proposition.

No company or individual can go it alone. Integrators bring value when they actually act like integrators—listening to the customer, determining where the customer has needs and making recommendations that are completely agnostic with respect to products and ser vices. An integration company has to build a team both inside and outside its walls (i.e., form partnerships with manufacturers, reps, distributors, ser vice providers, etc.) to make this happen. InfoComm can be the resource—the melting pot—in which that can develop.

Show Me!

Courtesy EPNAC.

The opportunity for integrators to meet directly with manufacturers, so they can see and hear firsthand the value propositions that manufacturers’ offerings present, is powerful; these opportunities help companies be true resources for their customers.

InfoComm offers engineering team members a valuable opportunity to expand their technical knowledge and help their entire team—and to do so in a way that the internet just can’t replicate.

Many—especially management team members who’ve never August 2019

Sound & Communications 71

been to an InfoComm—might argue that the internet offers just as much value as InfoComm does. To be candid, I think they’re wrong. Consider whether there is a significant difference between meeting a person face to face for the first time versus being introduced by email, over the phone or via videoconferencing.

Today’s video collaboration is great, but it’s not without its challenges. Every one of us sells the concept of easy-to-use, PC-based video collaboration, but, if we’re honest, even within our own companies, we struggle to make ever y meeting start on time.

Bottom line: When it comes to gaining knowledge, face-to-face interactions are best. There is a real difference when engineers can touch, feel and hear products firsthand; the resulting technical insights enable them to recommend products and services to customers more knowledgeably.

So let’s circle back to the existential question: Do our potential customers need us anymore? And, if so, how does InfoComm factor into that? Conclusion number one: Our existing customers and potential customers don’t need us for specs and speeds anymore.

Google can provide those facts faster and more comprehensively than we can—or ever could. If any integrators remain who believe that their sustainable future is based on selling boxes at three percent to five percent above cost, with the markup based upon their understanding of specs and speeds—well…I don’t think that’s going to work out. As integrators, we must bring value to our existing and potential customers. We do that by leading with what we know, not what we sell.

72 Sound & Communications August 2019

Obviously, we have to know our tools of the trade, and, yes, our engineers have to know about the technical side; equally important, however, is to sharpen our listening skills, hone our discover y skills and help our customers identify the challenges of the present and the future. InfoComm is a critical resource to doing all of the above. Then, blending our expertise in IT, AV, security, access control, content creation and content management, we can sell our knowledge and create an integrated solution.

Action Items In my opinion, AVIXA, the organizer of InfoComm, would serve our industr y well by doing several things. My own top three are as follows: (1) continue expanding its footprint around the world, (2) expand in education across more than just AV and (3) unambiguously communicate to integration company leadership that InfoComm is not a junket or a prize. InfoComm, although home to a vibrant social scene, is not three days of partying; we need more integrators to come, and, when they do, they should make the most of the show.

I can personally attest that some companies are considering downsizing their participation in InfoComm—or, indeed, they’ve made the decision not to continue their commitment—based on their perception that they’re not seeing the return on investment (ROI) of the past. Could it be that committed InfoComm manufacturers, reps and distributors are seeing the show starting to look more like CES, rather than a show with its foundation being

Courtesy EPNAC.

InfoComm 2019 emanated from the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando FL. (Hey, Alesia!)

the commercial AV integrator? (I draw this insight from several to whom I spoke at the show or in my office directly after ward.)

Make no mistake, it’s a tough balancing act for AVIXA. And, if show leadership wants a CES-like show, with the majority of attendees being end users, then a future like that is within its grasp.

IT Professionals Or AV Professionals?

Based on how much AV gear has to be on the network and touch the cloud, one might conclude it’s not AV integrators who

are needed, but, rather, IT professionals who are. Very few companies have anyone on staff anymore who could be called an “AV person”; the AV element has largely been sucked into the IT department. For many years, I’ve had the honor of teaching at InfoComm and Digital Signage Expo, and, interestingly, even though the session titles often refer to “the AV integrator,” that’s not typically who fills the seats. The majority of the classes fill with IT professionals, coming to understand AV technology and why their system (digital signage, video collaboration, huddle

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room, training room, etc.) is not working as expected. The unspoken words of those in my classes are something like this: “How can this be any different from my network infrastructure?

A box is a box is a box.”

AV integrators reading this article—that’s your cue. We have to help our customers (sometimes in the form of an IT team) see, hear and touch. Our IT friends have already looked up the boxes and they know the specs and speeds—they needn’t pay another penny for that information. Our value is rooted in the analog human experience. Ask the IT team that is supporting company meeting rooms how much money the company loses because meetings don’t start on time. Often, they’ll acknowledge delayed starts and admit how much of a pain it is to maintain system uptime and functionality. When we make these genuine connections with IT teams—when we “speak their language”—they’re more likely to listen to and buy into the knowledge we sell.

74 Sound & Communications August 2019

Courtesy EPNAC.

InfoComm helped reinforce our industry’s new focus: Integrators aren’t box sellers or component installers; we are storytellers, memory makers, experience creators…and smile generators.

High-Level Observations The first trend I’ll mention, although big, has been rising for a few years now: Ever ything—yes, ever ything—is connected to the network and the cloud. That means that AV integrators must be able to address customers’ security and bandwidth concerns before they hear those four dreaded words: “Not on my network!”

Here are some other obser vations: AVIXA: Illustrative of the association’s rebranding in 2017, I noticed that show management worked to emphasize experience over product/boxes. They’re also making a concerted effort to foster international growth.

Digital Signage: Relatively few digital signage manufacturers were present in Orlando FL. The Digital Signage Pavilion seemed to be more about LED walls and players, rather than reflecting the full digital signage picture. I also obser ved a trend toward digital signage being supported via video-collaboration platforms.

Direct-View LED: Pixel pitches are becoming smaller and smaller, supporting quality experiences both inside and up close.

Ever ything Over IP: Cloud connectivity is now the default.

The cloud brings virtually unlimited scalability.

Video Collaboration: I noted a continued focus on PC-based codecs, huddle spaces and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) support. Without question, there is a battlefield on which Microsoft Teams, Zoom and others are fighting for dominance. (There are a great many solutions, but, for now, the numbers are with Microsoft and Zoom.) The customer will be the winner, as pressure to make these platforms more dependable, more cost-effective and more feature-rich will ser ve to benefit small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and enterprises.

I don’t believe there is a big financial opportunity for AV integrators to sell Zoom or Microsoft Teams because I think they will continue their preferred path of selling direct. I believe that, instead, we can make our money by bringing “the last few feet of the experience” to the customer. We can help our clients pull all the integrated hardware (mics, cameras, etc.) and furniture together to deliver the ROI they are expecting.

Continued Consolidation: Does anyone else see blurred lines of which products and ser vices are available from whom? The rollups in our industr y have not abated. Large buying groups continue to secure more companies, bringing diversity—and sometimes duplication—to their offering.

Great Advances: At InfoComm, manufacturers were offering combo products and reducing programming—for example, ceiling beam-forming microphones with a digital sound proces-

sor built in. I also saw more flatpanels with built-in, slot-based players for digital signage. And, I saw network switches with built-in HDMI encoders.

The SDVoE Alliance: SDVoE is now an established, noteworthy standard. That said, not everyone’s network has the bandwidth to support it. Nevertheless, you should take time to learn about this, because it’s definitely part of our path for ward.

8K Panels: Just when we thought it was safe to go outside with 4K! Now, 8K is being touted as our future. I certainly believe that, in time, all the supporting hardware and content will catch up; for now, though, 8K is only for those who absolutely must be on the cutting edge. And good luck finding 8K content!

Even the Cheap Stuf f: Today, even the cheapest of consumer hardware is pretty good. Cross-pollination in the industry, perhaps with some corporate espionage on the side, has made even “the cheap stuff” worthy to consider. For example, over the last few years, when providing digital signage solutions, I have come across many customers who say they’re going to buy the cheapest flatpanel they can buy and then, when it eventually fails, replace it with even cheaper technology. It pains me to say this, but I struggle to find a valid argument to dissuade them from that strategy.

Yes, the consumer stuff falls well short of commercial-grade equipment, but we live in an age of “just good enough.” For example, my writing of this article coincided with Amazon Prime Day. I saw a 3,500-lumen 1080p projector selling for less than $300.

So maybe that’s another reason why AV integrators like us must focus on what we know, not what we sell.

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Education and training are always key parts of the InfoComm experience, and things were no different this year.

Everyone Gets A Ribbon!

Other Safeguards

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like various publishers were awarding “Best of” ribbons to everyone this year. I guess it’s a sign of the times—an age in which we elect not to keep score in what used to be competitive games, and a time when participation trophies abound. Did you, too, receive countless requests before the show to vote for your favorite whatever, and then did you receive many more emails after the show to tout how many awards the sender received? Don’t get me wrong—I believe in recognizing excellence. But, this time, I almost felt like I was watching the Rose Parade, where almost ever y float gets an award. [Editor’s Note: It should be noted that Sound & Communications has never run or sponsored any revenue-generating award programs.]

There are other risks to consider, apart from those related to health. If we expect client IT departments to work with us, we must do our part. As noted, InfoComm 2019 offered further confirmation that this is the age of everything over IP and cloud connectivity. We must pay attention to the usernames and passwords that we’re using when installing equipment. We cannot leave manufacturer usernames and passwords on our appliances, and we can’t defer to factor y defaults for our IT-connectivity infrastructure. Seriously…if you’re using the username “user” and the password “password,” you need to up your game.

Moreover, the composition of InfoComm 2019 attendees confirmed we must educate ourselves so we can speak to IT professionals with fluency. We must know the simple, entr y-level stuff like what an IP address is, the difference between unicast and multicast, and what a virtual private network (VPN) is.

I know I have been bold in this review. I am passionate about our industr y and the value we bring to our clients. We must recognize where we can provide value and bring that to the client IT world, all without losing sight of the analog human-to-human relationship. We, as integrators, aided by AVIXA, can still bring great value to our customers. We just have to dedicate ourselves to being more than a box reseller.

[Editor’s Note: To see our online-exclusive product Wrap-Up, go to www.sndcom.us/infocomm-2019-new-product-wrap.]

Path For A Pandemic?

I had never considered our industr y’s focus on interactivity and being immersive as a possible enabler of contagious-disease transmission. But, this year, while at InfoComm, I stumbled across a company focused on making surfaces less conducive to pathogen transmission. Here we are, in a business that supports and encourages interactivity, and many of us aren’t thinking about how we might be enabling germ transmission. It is time that we recognize this possible challenge and work to mitigate the risk—for example, we should invest in advancements in surface treatments to prevent the transmission of pathogens.

76 Sound & Communications August 2019

Photo courtesy Martin Falbisoner (own work), CC BY-SA 3.0.

So far, this year has brought us an unprecedented number of conflicting codes and standards that govern our sector of the industr y. This year has also marked the highest level of regulator y, legislative and licensure bills introduced at the state level in recent years.

First, let me preface this piece by saying that the status of our legislative agenda can (and does) change without notice. As an example, when NSCA mapped out its plans for this year, we didn’t put licensure at the top of our list. But, today, we find ourselves immersed in legislative and licensure battles in 35 states. They came on suddenly through well-organized efforts. As you read these words, it’s ver y possible that the legislative landscape is already different as compared to when this article was written in late June.

The important thing to know is this: NSCA is 100-percent committed to the channel. As part of that commitment, we work hard to ensure that integrators have the authority and appropriate licensure and training to implement systems in accordance with prevailing laws in each jurisdiction. We do our best to educate the channel on what those laws are, as well as how to comply in each situation.

This year, NSCA developed a legislative agenda that was unanimously approved at the Spring Voters Meeting, held in conjunction with the Business & Leadership Conference (BLC). This document contains a series of resolutions that ratify our stance on issues that

range from low-voltage licensure to school safety and cybersecurity. The list of concerns grows even longer due to the inherent complexity of AV integration and the emerging technologies, such as Power over Ethernet (PoE) and the Internet of Things (IoT), that support it.

Network-connected devices, ranging from PoE LED lighting and access-control systems to sur veillance cameras and wireless access points (WAPs), have now entered our scope of work and ser vices. With each of these challenges comes the opportunity to drive positive change.

Many integrators, however, don’t have the time (or the desire) to keep track of legislation at the state and federal levels. Most are too busy focusing on other initiatives—and that’s understandable.

But did you know that some of the legislation proposed this year could have drastically changed the type of work that integrators are able to perform?

Ser ving as your voice, NSCA aims to make things easier for integrators by monitoring legislation that affects our industry. We invest in resources that identify and stop legislation and regulator y actions that would be harmful to AV integration businesses.

We also provide alternative model legislation, when possible, to help position you in the best possible business climate and enable you to provide technical solutions and ser vices that meet client expectations.

The legislation we monitor involves power-limited, limitedAugust 2019

Sound & Communications 77

Photo courtesy Germanna CC, CC BY 2.0.

energy, low-voltage, or other forms of individual or company licensure affecting you.

This covers AV, life-safety, communications, control, low-voltage lighting, building automation, telephony and all other system types as defined in the current version of CSI MasterFormat Divisions 27 and 28.

In ever ything we do, we want to defend your ability to perform the necessary tasks and job functions in the design, sales, installation and ser vicing of all “connected devices” that impact technology solutions in new constructions, renovations and existing commercial projects.

We pay special attention to legislation that involves any of the following: • Cybersecurity • Intellectual property and data protection • IoT/connected devices • Jobs, technology and STEM • Labor laws and prevailing wage • Licensing (company and individual) • Regulations and code compliance • School safety and security • Taxation (project labor) • Telecommunications and net neutrality 78 Sound & Communications August 2019

First Half Of 2019 Legislation To give you some examples of what we’ve been working on so far this year, we’ve compiled the following list of proposed legislation that would have affected the way your company does business. This year, NSCA has fought more than 100 regulation changes that would potentially affect permitting processes. At one point, we were tracking 130-plus bills in more than 35 states.

Arizona: Proposed elimination of certain communications systems licenses.

Colorado: Proposed requirement to be licensed as an electrician to do Class 2 or Class 3 circuit work.

Florida: Proposed modifications to licensing requirements.

Hawaii: Labor laws restricting non-domiciled business entities.

Idaho: Modifications to existing limited energy licensure.

Mar yland: Proposed creation of a statewide electrical license and statewide lowvoltage license.

New Jersey: Restriction of PoE cable

installation, mandating that it can only be done by an electrical contractor. (The position of the electrical board is that you have to be an electrical contractor to install PoE.) Nor th Carolina: Proposed modifications to licensing for building automation.

Nor th Dakota: Proposed creation of a statewide power-limited technician’s license that would require integrators to go through apprenticeship and the electrical board to pass an exam.

Oklahoma: Proposed restriction on who can run Class 2 and Class 3 circuits (AV and low-voltage cable and connectivity), excluding alarm systems.

Pennsylvania: Proposed 10V limitations to our exemptions for electrical licensing.

Texas: Proposed amendment to current laws to restrict low-voltage installations to those less than 50V (nearly ever ything integrators install).

Utah: Modifications to the electrical license exemption to restrict work on any circuits with voltages greater than 50V. Even integrators who don’t work in those states could be called upon by customers

expanding into them and, therefore, could be affected. As the rule goes, call NSCA before bidding a job in places like Hawaii or Nevada if you haven’t established nexus.

We can save you thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours.

To explain in more detail how this legislation could cause problems, let’s use Utah as an example. A proposed rule change to the Utah building code earlier this year would have amended the current use of the National Electrical Code and, therefore, limited the scope of our involvement only to circuits below 50V. The state was also considering a law that would have made it a requirement to have five journeymen electricians on staff for each unskilled laborer. Not a single NSCA member would have qualified as a “journeyman.”

After hearing this, we notified our members in Utah and encouraged them to reach out to their legislators and code officials quickly to ask for reconsideration.

THE COMMISH: NOT-IN-SCOPE ITEMS (continued from page 32) Regardless of whether we like it, AV-adjacent items (being zapped, ambient noise, lighting design, etc.) will certainly color their impression of their AV systems; for that reason, it makes sense to include our findings in our reports to the client and the project team. We just have to make sure our findings are reported in a manner that explains the issue unambiguously, while also respecting the contractual responsibilities of all the members of the project team. Soccer mom Karen should not tr y to apprehend an armed burglar on her own; however, she should call Officer Mancuso and accurately describe what she saw. That way, he can perform his duties as effectively as possible.

If you see something, say something!

SOUND ADVICE: MEETING ROOMS (continued from page 16) sealing joints at boundaries. Oftentimes, perfectly adequate construction materials’ performance is compromised by their poor installation or a lack of attentiveness to detail. Gaps around doors, and particularly at the base of the door, can completely compromise speech privacy— assuming, that is, that the door itself was correctly rated in the first place!

Another common problem is sound

The reason? We viewed it as a possible attempt to capture work via unnecessar y regulation, as opposed to being a safety or training issue.

Our hard work—and the hard work of our members—resulted in the removal of that proposed language. A huge win for integrators in Utah!

We Need You! Our goal is to defend AV integrators in their quest to do work on all systems within CSI MasterFormat, Divisions 27 and 28. Speaking of that, be prepared to see cybersecurity elements added to Division 27 in the near future. (They are in Division 28 today.) We have to prepare for this new reality.

One example we expect to come up in the future is legislation regarding 5G. Larger organizations are already positioning themselves to be ready for 5G to become part of their scope of work (distributed

being transmitted through the ceiling of one room and into the void above, and then on through the next ceiling into an adjacent room or space. This could be due to lightweight tiles/construction being employed or the lack of an acoustical barrier within the ceiling void. Sometimes, light fittings straddle an office wall or partition and act as a sound tube, clearly carr ying a voice from one room to the next. The way that lightweight room walls abut outer structural walls and windows is another common potential weak point, unless specific care is taken to seal around any potential gaps.

IoT: THE BEGINNING OF THE END? (continued from page 18) common platform in the world.

So, if you want to carr y around a device that can balance your checkbook, buy your movie tickets, read your newspaper, edit your home videos and then do some videoconferencing on the side, the general-purpose compute device (PC or Mac) is surely the way to go. However, if you’re in a Fortune 500 enterprise and you want to install (and not worr y about) a fortified, solid device whose only possible purpose is the completion of successful videoconferences, then it might be wise to go against the preponderance

antenna systems, bidirectional amplifiers, etc.). Other technologies, including PoE, LED lighting, facial recognition, artificial intelligence (AI) and many more, will be forthcoming. NSCA will do what it can to make sure that proposed legislation doesn’t edge integrators out of doing that work.

For the first time ever, we’ve assembled a Codes & Compliance Committee that is made up of two attorneys and eight code experts. Although we advocate for the industr y, it’s important that integrators and manufacturers also keep tabs on what’s happening that could potentially af fect business, while also becoming involved in tracking legislation and/or ser ving on rule-making committees or licensure boards in states where relevant legislation is discussed or pending.

When we’re fighting these battles—combating legislation that the industry doesn’t need—NSCA wants to know an entire group of people is backing our efforts.

of loud voices today, bellowing about how democratized the general-purpose compute device has become. Enterprises of that sort might want to install a modern, powerful, inexpensive codec. It might not be capable of browsing Facebook to see the latest video of a dancing cat, but, believe me, that might be a good thing in more ways than one.

INDUSTRY POV: DATA COLLECTION (continued from page 49) Whether your company is a giant multinational or a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), and regardless of whether you want to develop collaboration spaces for your employees or just gather data lakes and business intelligence, the capabilities of video-collaboration solutions are only increasing. As edge AI advances in tandem with cloud AI, collaboration solutions that increase productivity and deliver business intelligence are only going to grow. According to ABI Research, shipments of devices with edge AI capabilities will grow by as much as 15 times by 2023, hitting 1.2 billion units. The insights gathered from these devices—combined with cloud AI and increasingly better connectivity—will come to change the landscape of tomorrow’s office layouts, even as they connect the world today.

August 2019

Sound & Communications 79

NEWS Compiled by Amanda Mullen and Anthony Vargas

SYNNEX Corp. Enters Into Key Distribution Agreement SYNNEX Corp. has entered into a distribution agreement with Avocor to bring interactive display and video collaboration solutions to SYNNEX customers. The agreement falls within the SYNNEX VISUALSolv business unit and supports the company’s continued commitment to the collaboration market.

“We are excited to announce our agreement with Avocor and look forward to working with them to address the growing need for collaborative learning and work environment solutions for our resellers and integrators,” Sandi Stambaugh, VP, Product Management, SYNNEX Corp., said. “Avocor aligns well with our strategy to help integrators offer best-inclass technology solutions that deliver the cohesive, immersive experiences that the market demands.”

SYNNEX partners now have access to Avocor’s full line of interactive displays, which are agnostic across operating systems and work seamlessly with leading unified communications (UC) software solutions, including Microsoft Teams Rooms, Zoom Rooms and Quicklaunch. SYNNEX offers full video collaboration solutions for huddle rooms, meeting rooms, executive offices, large conference rooms and classrooms, along with a portfolio of services, including certified design engineers and flexible financing options like subscription- and consumption-based programs.

Samsung Unveils ‘Refreshed’ Executive Briefing Center On June 27, Samsung unveiled the latest “refresh” of its Executive Briefing Center (EBC) in Ridgefield Park NJ. The company invited clients and members of the media to attend a briefing on the new EBC and a demonstration of some of its latest technologies.

The EBC NJ is a vertical market showroom where Samsung leaders host everything from customer meetings to large events and workshops. It features Samsung’s enterprise products and solutions, including LED technologies, 8K displays, and curved displays and monitors, in an environment conducive to B2B sales. Products are showcased in specialized sections of the EBC that are intended to evoke a wide range of real-life settings, including collaborative workspaces, banks and financial institutions, educational facilities, hospitality venues and more. The technology displayed in the space demonstrates how Samsung’s offerings can transform workspaces and create new, immersive experiences for customers.

AVIXA Increases Outreach To Higher-Education Market AVIXA expanded its commitment to showcasing the benefits of AV solutions in higher education with a panel discussion at the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) 2019 Annual Conference, which took place from July 14 to July 17 in Seattle WA. “Leading universities are integrating audiovisual technologies to enhance their campus and classroom designs, improve operational efficiency, and produce better learning outcomes for students and faculty,” AVIXA’s Senior Director of Communications, Brad Grimes, said. “This year’s AVIXA-moderated session [gathered] thought leaders to discuss case studies, lessons for integrating the digital with the physical, and emerging trends that will pave the way for the classroom and campus of the future.”

Moderated by AVIXA’s Senior Director of Strategic Relationships, Pam Taggart, CTS, the panel included Brian Carter, Principal and CEO of Integrus Architecture; Ron Cramer, Strategic Learning Consultant at the University of Wisconsin Madison; Steve Jowett, Manager of AV and IT Integration at Michigan State University; and David Whitehill, Partner at Kliment Halsband Architects.

According to AVIXA’s Market Opportunity Analysis Report (MOAR) that covers education, nearly nine in 10 students report having at least one form of AV technology present in their classrooms or workspaces.

80 Sound & Communications August 2019

More Than 233 Million 4K TVs To Ship In 2024, With 8K On The Horizon As worldwide TV household penetration is quite saturated, the flat-panel TV market has been driven by consumer adoption of TVs with higher resolution, larger screen size, and connected and integrated applications and services.

Although flat-panel TV makers have announced 8K TV sets, it is the 4K TV market that will continue to grow and cement its place as the mainstream TV format over the next few years. ABI Research, a global tech market advisory firm, forecasts that 4K flat-panel TV shipments will grow at a 13-percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach 233 million in 2024.

Flat-panel TV makers—including Samsung, Sony, LG and TCL—have announced the introduction of 8K flat-panel TV models, which are priced between $5,000 and $70,000 depending on the display size.

“The cost of 8K TV sets is far from affordable for most consumers,” Khin Sandi Lynn, Industry Analyst at ABI Research, commented. “This will limit the sales volume for the foreseeable future; however, we can expect the price points to decline to a more reasonable level over the next several years, just as 4K sets have.”

At the moment, however, the lack of content and distribution models represents a more significant barrier than cost for 8K TV adoption. Aside from 8K channels provided by Japanese broadcaster NHK, there are no other 8K broadcast channels currently available.

Service providers overall are not ready for 8K content, nor is there much incentive for content providers due to limited 8K TV set adoption at present.

Content that is 8K also requires larger data files, which creates challenges in content distribution and data management. Versatile Video Coding (VVC), which achieved 34-percent higher efficiency over HEVC, is currently in the process of standardization. VVC will play a vital role in driving the 8K TV market when the final standardization completes in 2020. It is likely that 8K will only gain momentum when challenges are addressed and the ecosystem evolves.

NEWS Shure Joins Microsoft Teams Certification Program As part of its commitment to building audio solutions that improve collaboration in the workplace, Shure has joined the Microsoft Teams Certification program, and it’s working to achieve certification for a select portfolio of Shure networked systems products.

Microsoft Teams provides a complete online meeting solution that includes online meetings, live broadcasts, Microsoft Team Rooms, cloud video interoperability and audio conferencing. Whether it’s a corporate conference room, special-event venue or higher-education campus, sourcing a dependable audio solution that provides clear audio, while also integrating with leading collaboration technologies, is important for successful communication.

Designed for such demanding environments, Shure microphones and digital signal processing products enable easy-to-deploy audio suitable for a variety of rooms and applications.

“We are excited to announce that several of our core products are in the process of becoming certified for Microsoft Teams,” Chris Merrick, Director Global Systems Marketing at Shure, said. “Joining the Microsoft Teams certification process is a clear indicator of our intention to provide best-in-class experience, compatibility and reliability in the unified communications market.”

Digital Signage Expo 2020 Opens Call For Speakers Digital Signage Expo (DSE) has opened its call for speaker proposals and it’s accepting submissions for presentations to be given at its 2020 educational conference, taking place March 31 to April 3 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas NV. The application deadline is August 28.

DSE’s 2020 educational conference will largely focus on peer-presented case studies in 14 different categories that will offer an inside look at innovative installations, business cases, the work they required from internal approvals to creative application and how management challenges are being met going forward.

Submissions may be made for pre-show events, including the Digital Out-of-Home Strategy Summit and Guided Installation Tour, or for conference sessions and on-floor workshops. Proven case studies are being

Atlona Expands Training Program For AV Integrators Atlona continues to ramp up its Atlona Academy training and certification program by adding new, higher-level courses for integrators looking to sharpen their AV-over-IP expertise. The targeted education initiative will allow participants to earn valuable AVIXA renewal units (RUs) and CEDIA continuing education credits (CEUs).

Earlier this year, and to meet growing demand for targeted, certified training with continuing education credits, Atlona updated its suite of accredited online courses, revising and streamlining its 100- and 200-level programs that are offered through the Atlona Education Portal. These programs provide up-to-date instruction and information for the design, configuration and use of Atlona’s complete suite of AV-over-IP products and solutions. Atlona also added new accredited courses for its Velocity IP-based AV control platform.

Atlona has also expanded its education resources with three new online certification courses: 300 Level – Velocity Control Certification Training; 400 Level – Networking for A/V; and 500 Level – OmniStream Setup and Configuration. Additionally, the company has enhanced its hands-on factory training courses to include three advanced-level training-curriculum programs: Advanced 100 and 200 Level – Circuit Based Solutions; Advanced 300 Level – Velocity Control System Course; and Advanced 400 and 500 Levels – Networking for AV, OmniStream Setup and Configuration Course.

“Now AV professionals have a clear path and end-to-end process to design, roll out and integrate AV-over-IP systems, as well as handle setup, management and control of the underlying IP network,” Ken Eagle, Senior Director of Global Training, Atlona, said. “By making use of the Atlona Academy Education Portal and the integrator-specific dashboard, they can further advance their knowledge not only of specific products, but on AV networking and design. We want to help them to be successful on the job site—on their first attempts—in setting up advanced, networked AV solutions.” encouraged.

Proposals, which may include traditional lecture or panel discussions, should align with next year’s DSE categories, which include: Digital Content; Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH); Digital Signage Fundamentals; Pro AV / Integrators; Maintenance & Management; Industry Trends & Issues; Campus Tech; Retail; Restaurants; Smart Cities; Experiential; Corporate Environments; Transportation; and Venues.

With the exception of proposals for the Digital Signage Fundamentals track, presentation submissions should be geared to advanced topics, reflecting attendee interest in taking their communications networks to the next level and adopting new technologies.

August 2019

Sound & Communications 81

NEWS Toshiba And AEG Extend Partnership Deal Toshiba America Business Solutions and AEG are extending their comprehensive partnership across several of AEG’s flagship assets in a multi-year, multi-million-dollar renewal agreement.

The new deal, brokered by AEG Global Partnerships, expands the organization’s overall relationship with Toshiba and increases the brand’s presence across some of AEG’s leading sports and entertainment assets.

As part of the deal, Toshiba remains a Founding Partner of STAPLES Center and the official digital signage and display provider of L.A. LIVE. Additionally, Toshiba becomes the official copier and multi-function printer provider of AEG, STAPLES Center, L.A. LIVE, the LA Kings and select AEG Presents festivals. Toshiba will also become an official partner of the LA Galaxy, Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson CA and Sprint Center in Kansas City MO. The extended agreement raises Toshiba’s visibility across AEG’s portfolio of marquee properties and underscores the long-term strategic alliance between both companies. As a Founding Partner, Toshiba will continue to receive premium indoor and outdoor signage in and around STAPLES Center, including LED rotation on the scoreboard during all publicly ticketed events, rotational exposure of the arena’s 110 and 10 freeway marquees prominent concourse signage, and digital exposure via a custom promotional video. Toshiba will also engage sports fans at the venue through its relationship with the LA Kings and a variety of in-game elements and signage during all LA Kings regular season home games at STAPLES Center.

As AEG’s official supplier of multifunction printers and copiers, Toshiba and its technology products will also help streamline document workflow and business operations for thousands of employees across the company.

DSE Opens Call For 2020 APEX Awards Nominations Digital Signage Expo (DSE), which will take place next year from March 31 to April 3, is now accepting nominations for its 16th annual APEX Awards. The DSE APEX Awards, presented by the Digital Signage Federation, recognize and honor achievement in the creation and installation of compelling viewer content and interactive technology.

The APEX Awards will be presented to three entries—Gold, Silver and Bronze—in 12 categories.

Additionally, one entry will win the APEX Installation of the Year, one entry will win the APEX Content of the Year and DSE 2020 will once again recognize one company for Integrator of the Year. Categories will include Corporate Environments, DOOH Networks, Educational Environments, Entertainment & Recreation, Experiential Design & Planning, Healthcare Environments, Hospitality, Public Spaces, Restaurants, Bars and Foodservices, Retail Environments, Transportation and Venues.

To qualify, nominees must have a new or current digital signage or interactive technology program installed between November 1, 2018, and October 31, 2019. Updated content for existing digital signage installations that began running during the same time period will also qualify. The deadline to submit entries is December 18.

Next year’s awards program will be held in the North Hall N-1 on April 1 from 5pm to 7pm, following DSE’s networking reception.

ClearOne And Almo Professional A/V Enter Distribution Partnership ClearOne has entered into a distribution agreement with Almo Professional A/V. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will work together to sell ClearOne’s complete line of audio conferencing, visual collaboration and AV networking products to integrators, dealers and consultants throughout the US. “ClearOne’s innovative leadership in the AV market provides a full portfolio of solutions from audio to video and streaming content,” Sam Taylor, Executive VP and COO, Almo Professional A/V, said.

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“Our partners have a wide variety of needs, as their clients count on them for the best solutions and unquestionable reliability and support. With the ClearOne offering, our partners will be able to support virtually any type of installation with confidence.”

ClearOne offers audio and video collaboration products suited for IT and AV practitioners looking for differentiated professional solutions that can be deployed across enterprises of any size, to meet virtually any conferencing and collaboration requirement. Products include DSP mixers, microphones, speakerphones, conference phones, video collaboration platforms, BYOD collaboration solutions, professional cameras, network media streaming equipment, sound reinforcement solutions and audio distribution products.

“With so many qualified, CTS-credentialed Almo professionals on staff throughout the country, it was only natural for us to join forces to increase our reach,” Zee Hakimoglu, ClearOne’s Chair and CEO, said. “Almo’s professionals possess impressive knowledge of the pro AV market and are experts in opening doors and building solutions based on the best products and technology. It’s easy to see why they’re seen as the nation’s most advanced commercial AV distributor, well recognized as a highly trusted source for resellers and integrators.”

CALENDAR August Integrate in Association with AVIXA, CEDIA Aug. 27–29 South Wharf, Australia Diversified Communications Australia www.integrate-expo.com

September InfoComm China Sept. 4–6 Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China AVIXA chengdu.infocomm-china.com/en CEDIA Expo 2019 Sept. 10–14 Denver CO CEDIA www.cedia.net PLASA Show 2019 Sept. 15–17 London, England PLASA Events www.plasashow.com

PEOPLE

Compiled by Amanda Mullen

G. Garmon

K. Woods

S. Hamilton

A. Beauvais

D. Faroldi

S. Hayer

D. Bakies

J. Pusey

T. Stevens

J. Burke

E. Vargas

R. Raad

M. Buchanan

M. Colon

M. Bulus

J. Lima

P. Garner

B. Roffey

I. Priepot

N. Blanchard

Diversified promoted Greg Garmon to Senior VP of the company’s Global Media & Entertainment (M&E) Business…Toshiba appointed Kerstin Woods as VP of Product and Solutions Marketing…LSI Industries named Sean Hamilton Director of Commercial Marketing…TAG Video Systems welcomed Broadcast Engineering Veteran Alain Beauvais as Director of Service and Support…Analog Way appointed Demetrio Faroldi as EMEA Sales Director…dBTechnologies Deutschland team named Sebastian Hayer as Sales & Brand Manager for the RCF brand…Riedel welcomed Daniel Bakies as Project Manager for its US System Consulting Team…

Neutrik USA named Jonathan Pusey to be National Sales Manager – Music Industry…Community Professional Loudspeakers hired Todd Stevens as Regional Sales Manager…Smart Monkeys, Inc. appointed Joy Burke as

Senior Manager of Special Projects…Clark Wire & Cable has appointed Edwin Vargas as Latin American Sales Manager…Stampede welcomed Raad Raad as General Manager, Canada…Exterity hired Emily Parker as Sales Manager – Americas…FOR-A Corp. of America hired Mike Buchanan to Lead Sales Effort in Western US…A.C. ProMedia hired Michael Colon as Western Regional Account Manager, and Maurice (Mo) Bulus as Special Accounts Manager…Martin Audio North America named Joe Lima Product Support Specialist…Vistacom added Patrice Garner as Control Room Sales Representative covering the Southeast Territory, and Brock Roffey as AV Account Executive…Apex Audio appointed Ineke Priepot to a Sales and Business Development Role…Williams AV appointed Nancy Blanchard to run its new consulting liaison program….

August 2019

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PRODUCTS Compiled by Amanda Mullen Arista’s AoIP Product Group

All product information supplied by manufacturers and/or distributors.

AtlasIED’s Pendant Speaker

Arista has introduced its Apollo Duo audio-over-IP product group. The Apollo Duo ARS-0200-A00 2-channel analog audio-to-Dante interface makes it easy to connect one’s legacy audio gear to a Dantenetworked audio system.

Opposite in function to the Apollo Duo ARS-0200-A00, the Apollo Duo ARS-0002-A00 converts a Dante stream into 2 channels of analog audio signal. Arista’s Apollo Duo ARS0002-A01 allows 2 audio-signal outputs of lip-sync delay of up to 170ms/ch (fs = 48kHz) to synchronize the audio stream to the video stream. The delay control switch can add delay in the range of 0ms to 170ms by 32 increments. The Apollo Duo ARS-0002-A01 uses XLR analog outputs. Arista’s Apollo Duo products also feature compliance with AES67, the ability to use high-resolution 24-bit analog to digital conversion, and the ability to be powered via PoE or 5VDC via a micro USB connector.

Arista Corp. www.aristaproav.com

AtlasIED’s new pendant speaker, the IP-PM8GD IPX, enables an inconspicuous installation in open-ceiling environments. This endpoint can be used anywhere within a building for consistent sound and audio broadcasting of network-based communications. An IP-enabled pendant endpoint, the IP-PM8GD is great for restaurants, churches, malls, retail stores, fitness centers, warehouses and manufacturing facilities, as well as for all applications that include high or open ceilings that also require large quantities of speakers for smooth, even coverage.

AtlasIED www.atlasied.com

d&b audiotechnik’s Sub

d&b audiotechnik’s B8 is an ultracompact sub with a low-profile (6.7" tall), high-performance and low-frequency extension from 170Hz down to 43Hz. Capable of being used in combination with the xC, xS and E-Series speakers, the B8-SUB and Bi8-SUB (installation version) fit comfortably in tight spaces, including corporate environments, cruise ships, small venues and houses of worship.

Flexible setup options allow the use of B8 under stages, stairs or ceilings; in landscape or portrait mode; flush mounted or flown with small mid/high d&b speakers. The B8 is an actively driven sub that features 2 6.5" drivers with ferrite magnets housed within a bass-reflex cabinet design.

It can be driven by all current d&b amps, achieving full-range performance at a maximum SPL of 122dB. d&b audiotechnik www.dbaudio.com

Hall Research’s Scaler, Audio Extractor

Hall Research’s SC-HD-2B is a 4K scaler and audio extractor that can scale DVI or HDMI video up to 4K @ 60Hz 4:4:4 resolution. The video can be manipulated to both vertical and horizontal mirroring.

For example, the output can be horizontally flipped (mirrored along x-axis), vertically flipped (mirrored along y-axis), both or none. Hue, saturation and other parameters can also be controlled. Both stereo analog and optical digital audio inputs and outputs are available. The audio from the HDMI input signal can be extracted (de-embedded) and output on both digital as well as stereo analog signal. The audio embedded into the HDMI output is selectable from HDMI input, analog L/R input or digital optical input.

The SC-HD-2B outputs a wide range of resolutions, regardless of the input timing and resolution.

Hall Research www.hallresearch.com

AtlasIED’s IP-PM8GD IPX d&b audiotechnik’s B8

Arista’s Apollo Duo group

Hall Research’s SC-HD-2B

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PRODUCTS Atlona’s Networked AV Encoder

Atlona’s OmniStream 111 Wallplate (AT-OMNI-111-WP) is a single-channel networked AV encoder for HDMI 2.0 sources up to 4K@60Hz and HDR. It supports embedded audio and RS232 or IR control pass-through. The Decora-style wallplate form factor integrates interchangeable black-and-white wallplates and faceplates. The OmniStream 111 WP is designed for highperformance, flexible distribution of AV over standard, off-the-shelf gigabit Ethernet switches. This networked AV encoder features advanced VC-2 visually lossless video-compression technology with user-selectable video-qualityoptimization engines designed for computer-generated imaging or motion video content. The wallplate achieves extremely low, sub-frame latency when paired with OmniStream decoders, it’s HDCP 2.2 compliant, and it’s suitable for the latest ultra-HD and HDR sources.

Atlona www.atlona.com

Blackmagic Design’s Monitoring Solution

Blackmagic Design’s Teranex Mini SDI-to-HDMI monitoring solution features dual onscreen scope overlays, HDR, 33-point 3D LUTs and monitor calibration for professional, color-accurate SDI monitoring on HDMI 8K screens.

Teranex Mini SDI-to-HDMI 8K HDR is an advanced 8K monitoring solution for large-screen televisions and video projectors.

Teranex Mini can use 3rd-party calibration probes to align connected displays accurately for precise color. There are 2 onscreen scopes that can be selected between WFM, Parade, Vector and Histogram. Teranex Mini SDI-to-HDMI 8K HDR is suitable for film studios and broadcasters that seek professional, but affordable, color-accurate monitoring.

Users also get an elegant design with color LCD for monitoring and control of settings.

Blackmagic Design www.blackmagicdesign.com

Shure’s White Color Variants

Shure has expanded its lineup of MXW6/8 and ULXD6/8 wireless transmitters, along with its corresponding MX405/410/415 goosenecks, by introducing white color variants. The “brightwhite edition” is designed as a solution for environments, applications and customers for which white mics better complement the room design. The updated palette, which now includes black-and-white variants, facilitates seamless incorporation into conferencing and presentation environments. Additionally, the company has introduced “bright-white” versions of the MX202 overhead/choir mic and the R183/184/185/189, replacing the previous “off-white” legacy model versions. The Microflex Wireless MXW6W and MXW8W mic transmitters, combined with the ULX-D digital wireless system portfolio, are part of a complete wireless audio solution for AV conferencing environments.

Shure www.shure.com

Rose Electronics’ Extender

Rose Electronics has introduced the CrystalView Exact – DisplayPort 1.2a and USB 3.1 Extender.

This point-to-point KVM extender enables a remote display and USB peripherals to be located up to 328’ from the host computer.

It transmits signals over a standard Cat6a/7 cable. CrystalView Exact can transmit visually lossless DisplayPort 1.2a video at 4K60 4:4:4 with up to 10-bit HDR and full-rate USB 3.1 Gen 1 and USB 2.0. Audio embedded in DisplayPort, Ethernet passthrough and bidirectional RS232 are also transported. The 4 USB ports on the receiver unit each supply 1.2A (6W) of power to connected devices. The extender is simple to install, offering plugand-play setup, and it’s compatible with all major operating systems. CrystalView Exact is an industrial-grade product built with an aluminum enclosure and locking power connector.

Applications include industrial control/HMI, video production, medical imaging and interactive digital signage.

Rose Electronics www.rose.com

Blackmagic Design’s Teranex Mini Shure’s “Bright White” Mics

Rose Electronics’ CrystalView Exact

Atlona’s OmniStream 111 Wallplate August 2019

Sound & Communications 85

PRODUCTS Yamaha’s Network Power Amps

Yamaha’s new PC Series network power amps add Dante audio network connectivity, a 20x8 input matrix, sampling rates of up to 96kHz and onboard DSP functions, including crossovers, delays, parametric EQs, mutes and limiters. Each model enables system flexibility and expansion. For example, incoming analog sound can be output to a Dante network, allowing the system to be used as a 4-channel Dante input rack. Also, the 20x8 matrix function makes it possible to perform audio signal processing using the amps’ internal processor. A high-efficiency Class-D amp unit delivers low distortion, and the PC Series comes with poweroutput options of 1,200W (model PC412) or 600W (model PC406).

The series’ DI models are for installed-sound applications and the new D models are for touring applications. The new amps are compatible with Yamaha ProVisionaire Control/Touch software.

Yamaha Commercial Audio www.yamahaca.com

Neutrik USA’s Breakout Box

Neutrik USA’s NA2-IO-DPRO breakout box features 2 inputs switchable between mic, line and AES/EBU signals, plus 2 outputs switchable between analog line and AES/EBU. The NA2-IO-DPRO front panel provides 2 latching XLR inputs plus 2 XLR outputs.

AES/EBU operation is seamlessly and independently auto-detected for inputs and outputs. Using Neutrik’s free DPRO controller software for Mac or PC, +48V phantom power can be applied; mic preamp gain, pad and high-pass filtering can be set per channel; and input channels can be linked for matched operation.

Output channels can be muted or unmuted within the software.

The NA2-IO-DPRO rear panel provides primary and secondary Dante ports over Neutrik etherCON connectors. The secondary input can be configured for redundant mode or switched mode (for daisy-chaining). With its small size, its metal construction and its removable rubber protector, the NA2-IO-DPRO offers a rugged, reliable solution that is well suited to a wide range of applications.

Neutrik USA www.neutrik.us

Pliant Technologies’ Headsets

Pliant Technologies has updated its SmartBoom LITE and PRO headsets to offer improved audio quality and usability. The SmartBoom LITE single-ear headset (PHS-SB11L) features a dynamic noise-canceling mic with wider frequency response and increased sensitivity.

Its enhanced speaker has a wider frequency response and reduced distortion. It also features an updated foam earpad for added stability and comfort. SmartBoom PRO headsets, available in both single-ear (PHS-SB110-SINGLE) and dual-ear (PHS-SB210-DUAL) configurations, are now equipped with an improved dynamic noisecanceling mic and a reduced housing and windscreen for maximum wind-noise reduction. Pliant’s line of communications headsets incorporates a convenient flip-up mic-muting feature, and the line is designed for comfort, flexibility and durability. Both the SmartBoom LITE and SmartBoom PRO headsets are available in 4-pin female, 5-pin male, unterminated and dual 3.5mm connectors.

Pliant Technologies www.plianttechnologies.com

Stewart Filmscreen’s Screen Assistant

Stewart Filmscreen has announced the launch of its new website and Screen Assistant CPQ (configurator price quote). The updated website is easy to navigate, and it features a host of new options, tools and content. With the CPQ, the screen-selection process has never been easier. Dealers and integrators can configure 2D, scalable drawings in real time, complete with CAD drawings, and create a personalized quote that can be used as a sign-off for an immediate build. With Screen Assistant CPQ, quotes can be done online in minutes.

Stewart Filmscreen www.stewartfilmscreen.com

Pliant Technologies’ SmartBoom Headsets

Stewart Filmscreen’s Screen Assistant CPQ

Yamaha’s PC Series

86 Sound & Communications August 2019

Neutrik USA’s NA2-IO-DPRO

MEDIA

The latest literature, whitepapers, new or updated websites, course materials, webinars, training videos, podcasts, online resources and more.

If you can read it, watch it or listen to it, you’ll find it here! Send details, with photos, if available, to dferrisi@testa.com.

Compiled by Amanda Mullen

Focusrite Pro’s Podcast Series

Focusrite Pro has launched a podcast series, entitled “The Focusrite Pro Podcast.” With new episodes released twice a month, the podcast series features Focusrite Pro products, case studies, user stories, interviews with industry leaders, discussions between Focusrite Pro teams and more. The podcasts are hosted by Simplecast and they’re available on most streaming platforms. The interview-style program features different hosts from the Focusrite Pro team, depending on the topics and on the team members’ particular areas of expertise. Guests include audio and IT professionals from the markets that Focusrite serves, editors of publications, industry peers and even Focusrite employees. Produced entirely in-house, the podcasts employ key Focusrite gear in the production process.

Focusrite Pro pro.focusrite.com

Premier Mounts’ Video

Premier Mounts’ new video (https://youtu.be/c0_aXW-M9jo) showcases the multiple direct-view LED videowalls at Tropicana Resort and Casino, the largest sportsbook in Atlantic City NJ. (Not largest by size, mind you, but, rather, by the number of pixels!) This partnership with Premier Mounts, McCann Systems and Unilumin on an incredible project included multiple videowalls, which range from array sizes of 4x2 to 39x4.

Premier Mounts designed, engineered, manufactured and tested all the mounting structures in its Corona CA facility, and the company assisted with the onsite installation throughout the project. Check out Premier Mounts’ YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/premiermounts) for more video case studies.

Premier Mounts www.premiermounts.com

Information about the latest software releases, apps, online tools, and software and firmware updates.

Send details, with supporting graphic, if available, to dferrisi@testa.com.

SOFTWARE Compiled by Amanda Mullen

Barco’s Latest Update

Barco’s AV-monitoring and control solution, Overture, has been updated to include remote monitoring and automated analytics software Insights.

Through the Insights features, Overture provides detailed and aggregated analytics on technology adoption, usage patterns and performance. Overture delivers a multi-tenant solution that offers scalable remote operations to businesses of any size. With its remote-monitoring capabilities, operators are automatically notified when certain events occur, including when a device malfunctions or when a projector lamp has to be replaced. Based on those alerts, the support team can schedule preventative maintenance and solve issues before they affect users. The operations team can remotely control and manage each device individually, while bringing these capabilities together in a secure and scalable cloud platform. Overture can also be integrated into existing support processes and tools, which allows end-to-end traceability and faster resolution.

Barco www.barco.com

Panasonic’s Firmware Upgrade

Panasonic’s free firmware upgrade to its AK-UC4000 4K/HD HDRcapable camera system has added V-Log output, incorporating the full power of the colorimetry of the company’s line of VariCam and AU-EVA1 cinema cameras, and making the camera useful for post-production workflows. With the inclusion of V-Log, the AK-UC4000 has earned the approval of the Netflix Post Alliance for creating Netflix-approved content, joining the VariCam 35, VariCam LT, VariCam PURE and EVA1 on the sanctioned list. V-Log delivers a very flat image (if observed on a standard monitor) while maintaining all the camera imager’s color and contrast information. That means there is a greater level of play when images are put through post-production processes. The sensor of the AK-UC4000 achieves a WCG (which is the complete color space of the camera) and achieves a color palette that is wider than BT.2020.

Panasonic www.panasonic.com August 2019

Sound & Communications 87

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NTI Audio

LYNX Technik

Room Acoustics Reporter PC Software

yellobrik 12G Fiber Optic To SDI Solutions

Rooms with bad acoustics make it difficult for listeners to understand and concentrate on what is being said. Modern meeting rooms and classrooms feature white boards, large monitors and furniture that reflect sound without adding acoustic absorption. NTI Audio’s Room Acoustics Reporter is a PC software for automatically generating reverberation time measurement reports of RT60. It provides acoustic targets based on a space’s intended use and volume as defined in the DIN 18041 standard. In addition, Room Acoustics Reporter updates empty room reverberation time measurements (the typical test configuration) with the absorption that would be added by people being in the room. Finally, the PC software predicts the improvement in reverberation time of various alternative acoustical treatments on the ceiling, walls and floor. Predictions are based on RT60 measurements, and the absorption characteristics of panels provided by manufacturers.

WEB ADDRESS: www.sndcom.us/ntirareporter

LYNX Technik has expanded yellobrik® range into the 12G SDI for 4K arena.

The compact size and innovative rackmount and redundant power supply options are synonymous with quality and reliability and ideal for diverse environments. The new 12G 4K/UHD Fiber Transport modules include the OTX 1410 and ORX 1400 single channel 12G coax transmitter and receiver models are supplied with SFPs fitted or users can select from a range of CWDM types for multiplexing or up to 80Km range. For the transport of either 12G on 4x 3G coax format (2SI or SQD) or four discrete 3G signals, the OTR 1441 and 1442 offer a single box (at each end) solution. Modules may be daisy-chained to transport either 8x 3G or 2x 4K/UHD over a single fiber or add Ethernet or RS232/RS422/RS485 signals to the multi 3G or 4K/ UHD fiber link.

WEB ADDRESS: https://sndcom.us/lynx-12g-yellowbrik

INDUSTRY POV: A MORE DIVERSE COMMERCIAL AV INDUSTRY: WHY ALL THE FUSS? (continued from page 42) New Era Technology, explained, “As an adopted Asian-American who grew up in a predominately white family and who attended a predominately white private school, I think there has never been a more important time to address diversity in our industr y. One of the many things I learned growing up is that there is a large number of [society members] who don’t understand the path that another person may be walking. I think, for a long time, we’ve lived and worked in a bubble, assuming that ever yone has similar life experiences.

And, even if not, [many people think that] those who have different life experiences are supposed to find a way to adapt to the way the majority of society thinks, acts and lives. I’m hoping we’ve reached a point where we recognize that is not true at all.”

Turner continued, saying, “Due to the globalization of the workforce and 88 Sound & Communications August 2019

the increase of women in IT and AV, we need to be aware of those voices and make sure they are heard and they have a seat at the table. By communicating and allowing ever yone to have a voice, we can best develop solutions and ser vices that help ever yone across the globe.”

Diversity ser ves to break down barriers and roadblocks in business, and it can even create competitive advantages.

Charmaine Torruella, GMS Account Manager, Verrex, commented, “More and more, we are sitting across from AV decision-makers who are women and women of color, [and they] want vendors who can communicate and understand their business perspectives.

To take them for granted is killing your opportunity for continued business with those clients.”

Diversity creates stability and strength in organizations and industries

of all sizes. Differing experiences create a variety of viewpoints, which can be utilized to problem-solve, innovate and strategize. Homogenous foundations are weak and fragile; by contrast, foundations built from varied, diverse experiences are durable, resilient and flexible. Organizations of that type can adapt to changing times more easily and successfully. And with the rate at which technology transforms—and with all the mergers and acquisitions consolidating our industr y— times are certainly changing.

Here’s the catch, though: We all have to want it.

Each of us who works in this industr y is part of the strategy and implementation. We all must be aligned in our vision of a more diverse industr y, and we all must see the benefits of pursuing that vision.

In which kind of industr y do you see yourself?

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NACE Data-Tronix DT-IPTV-QAM-ASI-4HC Encoder Modulator Stream HD video to your network in sports bars, restaurants, stadiums, college campuses, K-12, offices, hotels, airports, malls, sports books, institutions, hospitals, broadcast facilities and more. Easily add to existing digital coaxial and/or Ethernet environment. Simultaneous stream all inputs over RF QAM, ASI, and IP Networks in unicast or multicast with a simple web-based configuration. Can be networked alongside other video distribution equipment and is compatible with most major EAS equipment. Use high definition input from video production switches, satellite receivers, NVRs/DVRs, HD video disk players, digital signage and more. Remote connection for troubleshooting and full system configuration. Audio -to- video synchronization and works with existing IP/Coax modulators. Includes US-based 24/7/365 tech support.

LIMITED TIME OFFER: Get a free test meter with 7� touchscreen, IP video, and network installation included with your purchase (valued at $580).

WEB ADDRESS: www.nace.tv E-MAIL: sales@nace.tv

Extron Electronics SF 10C SUB In-Ceiling Subwoofer The Extron SF 10C SUB is an in-ceiling subwoofer that extends the low frequency range of any ceiling or program speaker system. Designed to be suspended above the ceiling structure, the unique design of the plenum rated SF 10C SUB allows it to be hidden from view and decoupled from the ceiling grid to greatly reduce rattling. With 800 watts continuous program handling capacity from a direct 8 ohm connection, the SF 10C SUB delivers deep and powerful bass so the listener can experience the full impact of their content.

The 4th order bandpass design and rigid composite in-ceiling enclosure is an industry first that achieves low frequency extension high transient response and low resonance, resulting in clean bass and overall higher sound quality.

WEB ADDRESS: www.extron.com/article/sf10csubad

TASCAM Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Extreme 8K HDR, Featuring H.265 8K Recording With Touch Screen Interface HyperDeck Extreme 8K HDR is a new innovative broadcast deck with advanced H.265 8K recording combined with touch screen user interface and traditional broadcast deck controls. It features the trusted reliability of HyperDeck combined with new innovations, such as space-saving H.265 files, optional internal cache, 3D LUTs, native 8K and HDR support. With the ability to record native 8K in H.265, customers get reduced storage costs and amazing image quality. The large touch screen ensures a perfect view of their recording as well as control over all deck settings. Customers can then add HyperDeck Extreme Control to transform it into a traditional broadcast deck. This means HyperDeck Extreme is the perfect solution for the next generation of broadcast, live production and digital signage.

WEB ADDRESS: www.blackmagicdesign.com

VS Series AV-Over-IP Streaming Encoders And Decoders The VS Series VS-R264 and VS-R265 AV-over-IP streaming encoder and decoder appliances are designed for live video streaming in both 4K/UHD streaming (3840x2160) and Full HD streaming (1920x1080). The VS-R264 (Full HD) and VS-R265 (4K) offer simultaneous encoding, recording, streaming and decoding of multiple video streams at a low bit rate over standard networks suitable for 100Mbps or 1Gbps. The VS-R264 is a full HD AV-over-IP streaming encoder and decoder that simultaneously records, encodes, streams, and decodes video content using H.264 long GOP encoding with bit rates up to 30 megabits.

The VS-R265 is a 4K/UHD AV-over-IP streaming encoder and decoder that simultaneously records, encodes, streams, and decodes 4K video content using High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), a high efficiency coding scheme that delivers H.264 video quality at half the bit rate.

WEB ADDRESS: https://tascam.com/us/ E-MAIL: chris@teac.eu

August 2019

Sound & Communications 89

AD INDEX

Company

Page #

Absen America.........................................31 Acoustics First.........................................69 Analog Way..............................................55 Anchor Audio...........................................73 Arista.........................................................53 Atlona Technologies................................22 Audio-Technica........................................35

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Audix.........................................................23 Blackmagic Design...................................4 Carousel Digital Signage........................27 d&b audiotechnik....................................33 D.A.S. Audio.............................................21 Digital Projection.......................................5 Electro-Voice............................................15 Extron Electronics..............................2, 94 IDK America............................................74 Lowell Manufacturing.............................29 Luminex......................................................8 LYNX Technik.........................................10 Maxell Corporation of America..............39 Meyer Sound..............................................3 NAB Show New York..............................59 NACE........................................................25

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(continued from page 92) and tray tables, is at a premium.

So, what about the image quality? I haven’t seen a Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) specification for LED screens yet, but it appears that the basic parameters were in order. The images were bright and contrasty; the colors had good saturation; the flesh tones looked to be accurate; and the scenes even retained the 24fps “judder” of conventional film during fast motion. LEDs can, of course, show razor-sharp motion as they refresh at very high rates— in this case, well over 3,000Hz. Even the end-title crawl had some judder, which you don’t see when streaming movies or playing back from laptops or mobile devices.

How bright was “bright”? I brought along a Sekonic L-478 five-degree spot meter and did some quick measurements, coming up with peak readings of 15ft-L for full-white screens while standard-dynamic-range

RCF-USA..................................................65 Renkus-Heinz...........................................57 Rose Electronics......................................93 Sescom.....................................................30 Shure........................................................13 Sound Control Technologies..................61 Stardraw.com...........................................37 Stewart Filmscreen.................................41 SYNNEX...................................................19 TASCAM..................................................47 Vanguard LED Displays...........................7 Whirlwind.................................................17 Winsted....................................................49 Yamaha Pro Audio...................................45

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content was being shown. (The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) recommended full-white, opengate luminance level is 16ft-L.) With HDR content coming from a variety of “Avengers: Endgame” clips, specular highlights hit a maximum of 60ft-L, which is quite bright in a darkened room.

Another HDR sequence from camera maker ARRI featured a series of headshots of people of different ethnicities against a full-white background. Those full-white backgrounds came in at about 50ft-L, which lit up the entire theater brighter than the house lights could. That’s more than enough horsepower for 3D films, which would look quite dark other wise with active-shutter glasses. With conventional films, it’s like watching TV at home with the room lights on.

So, what does it cost to watch a movie

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like “Men In Black: International” on the niors), that’s quite a premium to pay for the Onyx• Dallas experience, especially given that, if Star Cinema Onyx screen?

The •basic ticket Denver Austin • Houston • Phoenix you buy anything eat and/or drink durprice for Premium Pod seating (recliners, Oklahoma City • San Antonio • Tulsa • Las to Vegas film, you’llDCbe shelling out more. tray tables) is $18 for conventional theaters, ing Atlanta • Blackwood, NJ •the Washington, and there’s an additional $2 charge for And, although there might be some upsides Onyx seating. If a 3D movie is showing (us- to switching to LED screens from projecing active-shutter technology, of course), tion systems, I think IMAX might be a more the cost goes up an additional $3.50 per likely customer to go this route than Regal, seat. (Did I mention that Premium Pod Edwards, AMC and other theater chains, all seats are only sold in pairs?) That comes of which are upgrading their premium theto a total of $47 for a couple to watch a 3D ater experiences to fight super-sized 4K TV flick with full amenities. Food and bever- screens with surround soundbar systems that make streaming movies at home an ages are, of course, extra.

Given that my local digital cinema charg- attractive option.

I’ve written before about LED screens es $13.20 for an adult ticket ($9.00 for se-

and their potential to be the “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” technology in the world of displays. I’ve seen them replace projectors in university lecture halls and onstage at rock concerts. Now, it appears they’re gaining a foothold in the cinema marketplace, which could be great news for LED tile manufacturers (and maybe not-sogreat news for projector brands that don’t also sell LED displays).

The real question remains, who will pay for it? As my industr y colleague Michael Karagosian pointed out, Hollywood studios footed much of the bill for the conversion from film-based projection to digital projection because of cost savings in distributing prints to theaters. But who would pay to convert a theater from projection to LED— or to build an LED theater from scratch?

Even though the Star Cinema LED screen is only the second in the United States, installations exist in other countries. Asia, in particular, seems gung-ho to try out new cinematic experiences; mind you, rudimentary forms of digital cinema took off first over there before theater chains on this side of the Pacific were ready to make the switch.

Could that adoption cycle repeat itself?

Let’s all stay tuned….

August 2019

Sound & Communications

91

AVENT HORIZON

Hooray For Hollywood!

Don’t look now, but your local movie theater will soon undergo a major overhaul. (Or not.)

By Pete Putman, CTS ROAM Consulting LLC We don’t discuss movie theaters much in this column, or in Sound & Communications, for that matter. And that’s for good reason: Installing digital cinema systems and the associated digital signage, lighting, audio, control, electric, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) is not in the wheelhouse of most commercial AV integrators; admittedly, though, some might have dipped their toes into this space from time to time.

But all that could change based on a technology demo I recently attended in a suburb of Houston TX. The brand-new Star Cinema Grill in Richmond TX features among its many theaters a unique LED cinema screen that was manufactured by Samsung and installed by Moving Image Technologies (MIT) of Fountain Valley CA. This is the second such installation of Samsung’s Onyx LED cinema screen (the first was in Winnetka CA), but the first one I was able to watch up close and inspect from behind. The screen measures 46.2 feet wide and is made up of 107 cabinets, each containing 24 small LED tiles, each with a pixel pitch of 3.3mm. The overall resolution is 4224x2160 pixels, overshooting slightly the 4096x2160 count necessary for 4K cinema (a 1.9:1 aspect ratio, if you’re playing at home).

The sound system is equally impressive, supporting Dolby Atmos with a multitude of surround speakers; those include top and bottom arrays on the Onyx screen, directed down and up, respectively, to place the sound at the center of the image. Additional speakers on the left and ride sides provide stereo and front surround effects.

Digital cinema content plays out from a secure GDC Technology ser ver mounted at the rear center bottom of the screen, and each cabinet is flush against adjacent cabinets with hidden display connections to guard against piracy. The entire array consumes, on average, about 3.7kW of power 92

Sound & Communications August 2019

Views from the Star Cinema Grill in Richmond TX.

during a movie, with a full white screen requiring 11kW of juice. And, of course, the Onyx screen can play back standard and high dynamic range (HDR) content (called “extended” dynamic range by Star Cinema officials).

To say that this is an upscale theater would be an understatement. Each seat has a built-in tray table, and you have full waiter ser vice while enjoying a movie. There’s also a full bar out in the lobby—something you won’t find in all states. (Texans, it seems, like to enjoy a cold beverage.) Outside the Onyx theater, MIT installed a 3x3 LCD videowall to promote the Onyx experience. (One of the monitors looked to have been dropped, as a bunch of column drivers were dead.) And each of the other, conventional cinemas had an LCD screen positioned just outside, showing a static image of a movie poster for the film in that theater.

I had a chance to walk behind the installation on some ver y low-clearance catwalks.

There’s not a lot going on back there—just rows and columns of LED cabinets, the server, some network and optical cables, and electrical power. Of course, having a self-contained screen frees up more room in the theater for seating, which, given the reclining chairs (continued on page 90)

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