SIA AUG-SEP 2019

S Y S T E M S

Vol. 18 Issue 6 Aug-Sept. 2019

I N T E G R A T I O N

[COVER] STORY

A New ‘AV Science’ for Agri Research

A S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 18 Issue 6 ~August - September 2019

India Country Feature

Leyard Builds on its Vision

NIXT! and its Importance

w w w. s y s t e m s i n t e g r a t i o n a s i a . c o m

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USA +1 484 679 1553 sales-us@datapath.co.uk

CHINA +86 187 2111 9063 sales-cn@datapath.co.uk

JAPAN +81 (0)80 3475 7420 sales-jp@datapath.co.uk

CONTENTS Vol. 18 Issue 6 ~ Aug - Sep 2019

Analog Devices India Deploys Awe-Inspiring AV

04

FIRST WORDS

06

NEWS

86 40

SHOW REVIEW

Beijing InfoComm China: Observations from the Show Floor

44 20

SOLUTIONS UPDATE

44

32

INTERVIEW

SONY ADVERTORIAL

46

50

Norman Lao: Leyard Continues to Build on its Vision of Being a World Class Visual Solutions Company Daniel Lee: Lifesize Stays Ahead of the Curve Technologically Amidst Growth Trajectory

70

INSTALLATIONS

70

INDIA: A New ‘AV Science’ for Agri Research

78

QATAR: Renkus-Heinz Makes Beautiful Sound a Walk in the Park at Katara Hills

80

CHINA: One Third Hangzhou Gets Sweet with Robe

82

DUBAI: TW AUDiO Keeps the Sound Flowing at Wavehouse

84

CHINA: Christie Delivers the Thrills at Guangzhou Sunac Cultural Tourism City

86

INDIA: Analog Devices India Deploys Awe-Inspiring AV; Sigma AVIT Takes the Honours

92

NIXT!

COUNTRY FEATURE: INDIA

Ideal High Capacity Solution – Optical Disc Archive

34

SHOW PREVIEW

InfoComm India: Technologies that Take Businesses from Excellent to Exceptional

Richard Tan: What is NIXT! and Why You Should Care.

50

Indian AV Industry: Going Places, Inside Out

54

AVIXA: Catalysing Growth by Audio-Visual Sensitization

58

Building Aesthetix Excellence for User Experiences

62

LOGIC: A New ‘LOGIC’ to Indian LED Display Industry

66

QSC: Supporting Customers with Right Tools for Success

68

Yamaha Opens Factory in India for Musical Instruments

94

VOICE BOX

94

Joe Pham: We Need to Transform Our Industry to New Economics of AV

98

Robert Adrian: Let There Be Silence - An Acoustic Solution to Noise Pollution

98

ON OUR WEB

4

FIRST WORDS

Are We Hearing the Messages?

At InfoComm Orlando, I had the privilege to sit-in on a presentation by QSC President and CEO, Joe Pham. I have re-constructed his presentation in this issue under our VOICEBOX column.

The essence of the message is that the AV industry needs to quickly adopt and embrace the digital disruptions that are happening and ensure that it plays a significant part in the future AV economics and always strive to provide an exceptional experience.

At the recent Beijing InfoComm China exhibition a new conference titled NIXT! took place. NIXT stands for Next Integrated Experience Technology. According to InfoCommAsia Pte Ltd’s Executive Director, Richard Tan, NIXT! came about to help the AV industry widen its horizon and understand the influence of the movers and shakers in the AI, IoT, 5G Wireless, XR Reality and Robotics field. Why? These technologies will play a significant role in areas where AV is concerned, and the AV industry needs to quickly understand what value proposition it can offer to ensure that it is not sidelined.

Both these messages have a similar vein running through it. The AV industry needs to get itself engaged with what is happening around it and figure a way to stay relevant. Are you Listening?

I am also pleased to highlight that our very own Systems Integration India Awards (SIIA) is now an annual event starting from this year. This will give the India industry players more opportunities to participate. In addition, the AVIXA Awards will be held in conjunction with our awards, thus giving the whole event a lot more oomph. SIIA has also attracted additional partners that believe in our cause. We are excited and can’t wait for our third edition of the awards that will be held on 18th September in Mumbai.

Thomas Richard Prakasam Publisher / Editorial Director thomas@spinworkz.com

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

DANIEL NGIAM MEDIA Rep for Spinworkz Pte Ltd Tel: +65 84410258 first_dm@hotmail.com

ART / LAYOUT Shankar Venugopal

CREATIVE

CULT

OUR COLLABORATORS Elissa Nadine

PV Anthony

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PUBLISHED BY Spinworkz Pte Ltd 71 Bukit Batok Crescent #06-13 Prestige Centre, Singapore 658071 Tel: (65) 63162716 www.spinworkz.com PRINTED BY Stamford Press Pte Ltd Disclaimer: Systems Integration Asia is published 6 times a year. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine is to be reproduced, whether mechanical or electronic without the prior written consent of the publisher. Views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or the publisher. Unsolicited contributions are welcome but the editor reserves the discretion to use them. Whilst every care is taken to ensure the accuracy and honesty in both editorial and advertising content at press time, the publisher will not be liable for any inaccuracies.

Please be informed that products and company names mentioned in this publication may be protected with tradenames, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Our non inclusion of such symbols is not an indication of us not recognising the copyright but rather to have a common look across our articles. Misuse of tradenames, trademarks or registered trademarks is strictly prohibited. It is the obligation of our readers to check if company names and products are protected with tradenames, trademarks or registered trademarks.

6

NEWS

Inaugural Jakarta AV Week to Inform and Entertain Visitors technologies offer more user-friendliness and effectiveness.

Rifqi Edrus, Digital Marketing Director at Egogo-Hub, which is a leading E-commerce portal in Indonesia, highlighted how AV technologies could be used to complement the digital experience. He mentioned that E-commerce in Indonesia is growing at an exponential rate and companies who understand how to use their brick and motor shops as well as specific events that merge between the physical and digital will see better outcomes.

(L-R) Panca Sarungu of rajaMice.com, Eddy Santoso, Executive Director ASKOMPSI, Rudi Hidayat of V2 Indonesia, Rifqi Edrus of Egogo-Hub and Jim Tehusijarana of AlcorMice

INDONESIA: Jakarta AV Week will be held from the 9th to 11th October at Kota Kasablanka, Jakarta, Indonesia.

The event is the brainchild of Rudi Hidayat, Managing Director of V2 Indonesia. A couple of years back, V2 had done a smaller similar event that saw a great turnout and this year Rudi has decided to extend the idea to a bigger scale. He has also roped in two more partners, AlcorMice and rajaMice.com, to give more bite to the event.

“We had an extremely positive response from those who attended the event in 2016. Since then many have been clamouring for us to do another such event and the time is ripe now for us to do that. With the two partners as collaborators, we will be able to cast a wider reach of visitors. Also, from the organising and logistic point of view, the collaboration should enable us to make it a seamless experience for us and the visitors,” said Rudi.

The principal objective of the event is to educate the visitors about AV technologies.

“I strongly feel that there is a need to educate the market. Not only dealers but the customers as well. Many only know

Jakarta AV Week is a B2B as well as B2C event with a target of 20 to 30 solutions companies participating. Visitors will get to see and experience visual, audio and lighting solutions on display.

basic knowledge, and we hope that through this event, we can empower them with understanding the various technologies better and how they can be used to enhance their space and productivity. It is not just about product or solutions selling but about sharing knowledge,” commented Mr Hidayat.

“Invitations to visit the event will be sent across Indonesia. We have targeted government sectors, our partners and dealers as well as end-users such as Houses of Worship, Education, Retail and Hospitality,” said Rudi.

Rudi added, “We also want to introduce to them about future trends to help them make informed decisions on their next solutions investment. One example would be about voice control assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant and how they can be incorporated in their workspace. Another example would be about IoT and its implications.”

Keeping to V2’s unique way of presenting events, visitors can also expect exciting entertainment to be interspersed with the seriousness of presentations and solutions exhibit. “We will be incorporating AV solutions with the planned entertainment to create a wow and memorable experience for our visitors,” said Rudi.

To spread the message, the organisers held a press conference for the various local media on 11th July. At the event, Eddy Santoso, Executive Director ASKOMPSI (Indonesia Provinces Communication Information Association) highlighted that the upcoming event is an excellent idea as it will help government officials especially concerning Indonesia’s drive on Smart Province and Smart City initiatives. Mr Santoso added that the command centre technology that will be on display would enable officials to understand better how the latest

jakartaaudiovisualweek.com

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

8

NEWS

CommBox InstallMate Wins Australia’s Good Design Award for Design Excellence digital and communication design and reward emerging areas of design strategy, social impact and design entrepreneurship.

The Good Design Awards Jury spent several days evaluating each entry according to a strict set of design criteria which covers ‘good design’, ‘design innovation’ and ‘design impact’. Projects recognised with a Good Design Award must demonstrate excellence in all areas and convince the Jury they are worthy of recognition.

Dr. Brandon Gien, CEO of Good Design Australia said, “Receiving a Good Design Award at this level is a significant achievement given the very high calibre of entries received this year.”

CommBox CEO, Nicholas Hall with wife Therese after receiving award for InstallMate at Good Design Awards, Sydney

AUSTRALIA: Innovation and design have always been at the forefront of CommBox’s brand. CommBox strive to supply quality, cutting-edge products that not only fulfil a functional purpose to the highest standards possible but also whose build quality is similarly reflected in the aesthetics.

It gives us immense pleasure to announce, that this is no longer simply something we strive for, but now something we are nationally recognised for. On July 11th, at the 61st annual Good Design Awards, CommBox received the highest honour for design and innovation in the country when the CommBox InstallMate received a prestigious Good Design Award Winner Accolade in the Engineering Design category in recognition for outstanding design and innovation.

“Australia’s Good Design Award is more than a symbol of design excellence, it represents the hard work and dedication towards an innovative outcome that will ultimately improve our quality of life. These projects showcase the brilliance of design and the potential it has to improve our world,” said Dr. Gien.

The Good Design Awards Jury praised CommBox InstallMate commenting, “Beautifully packaged design meeting a genuine need. Innovative application of existing technologies to arrive at a new specialist device. Recognised high impact on the specialist electrical/communications installation sector.”

The Good Design Awards attracted a record number of submissions with close to 700 design projects evaluated in this year’s international design awards. commbox.com.au

The annual Good Design Awards is Australia’s most prestigious international Awards for design and innovation. The Awards celebrate the best new products and services on the Australian market, excellence in architectural design, engineering, fashion,

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

S

Shure Joins Microsoft Teams Certification Program GLOBAL: As part of Shure Incorporated’s commitment to building the next generation of premium audio solutions that empower improved collaboration in the workplace, the company has joined the Microsoft Teams Certification program and is 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 crystal 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, cost-effective, premium 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,” said Chris Merrick, Director Global Systems Marketing at Shure. “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.”

Shure is committed to building the next generation of tools that power collaboration in the workplace. By making it easier for teams to communicate, Shure can deliver on its mission of making people’s working lives simpler, more pleasant and more productive by sounding extraordinary.

I A

www.shure.com

WORLD’S

DisplayPort I/O

st

Standalone Matrix

4

8

×

4

8

lightware.com

10

NEWS

d&b audiotechnik Y-Series Provides Clarity at Fo Guang Shan Temple chanting clearly and with dynamic tightness,” explains Gilbert Seng from Search Music Malaysia.

MALAYSIA: Malaysia’s new Fo Guang Shan Hsing Ma Buddhist Temple recently opened at the southernmost city of Johor Bahru. At its core is a grand, soaring Main Shrine Hall, capable of accommodating more than one thousand people.

The Fo Guang Shan Chinese International Buddhist monastic order is well-known for its use of world-class technology in its temples across the world, including New Zealand, Canada and the UK, and the new Johor Bahru branch is no exception. Its size, shape and materials presented acoustic challenges, leading the technology team to a permanently installed d&b audiotechnik loudspeaker and amplification solution.

Kuala Lumpur-based Chan Lee Sound and Light was first on the scene to identify a system that would fit the bill. Having served as Fo Guang Shan’s rental contractor for a number of years, Chan Lee Sound has used d&b systems on several of the monastic order’s past events. As the decision makers at Fo Guang Shan had been happy with the sound quality produced during those events, they agreed that a solution from the same manufacturer would be a good choice for the new temple.

With this being a permanent installation at a brand-new temple, Chan Lee Sound brought in long-time partner Search Music, the d&b distributor in Malaysia, to assist on the project.

“The entire space is clad by tiles and hard surfaces, hence the reverb is very strong.

We made some changes to the room, adding a wood partition and absorbent, acoustic material, but the choice of loudspeakers was the key decision in delivering a successful install.”

Seng and the team specified d&b Y-Series – both the Y8 and Y12 models – in left-right vertical line arrays. These were augmented with Y-SUB cabinets.

“Y-Series gives the audience great clarity and offers excellent coverage from a compact cabinet, so it was perfect for the Main Shrine Hall,” Seng continues. “The sound is clear and warm at the same time and the client is very satisfied with the tone for all functions, including – crucially – chanting and speech, as well as musical performances.”

In addition to eight Y8 and four Y12 dual eight-inch two-way line array cabinets and a pair of Y-SUBs to provide low-end reinforcement, a pair of Ti10L installationspecific line array speakers form a centre cluster above the stage. The system is powered by two d&b 30D amplifiers and a 10D unit.

Seng concludes: “This installation of Y-Series sets the benchmark in Buddhist Temple project history in Malaysia. It’s the best in terms of brand, quality and investment, accelerating the standard of audio system usage, and setting examples for other Buddhist organisations in the country.” www.dbaudio.com www.searchmusic.com.my

“The sound requirements in the new Main Shrine Hall were focused on clarity, to ensure everyone in the room could hear speech and

S

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Spectrum AV Strengthens Team with New Appointment

L-R Vincent Cheong with Eddie Seng

SINGAPORE: Spectrum Audio Visual Pte Ltd has announced the appointment of Vincent Cheong as Business Development Manager for theatres, auditoriums, hotels, houses of worship and entertainment venues. Vincent’s appointment took effect as of 1 July 2019.

“Vincent has been involved in the pro audio industry for a number of years. He has strong technical and people skills. We believe through his expertise and strong network, he will escalate our foothold in the segments he is responsible for,” said Vincent Chua, Managing Director, Spectrum Audio Visual Pte Ltd. “I am thrilled to be joining Spectrum AV. Spectrum are present in the education, hospitals, entertainment, hospitality and corporate offices. The company has a clear vision as to its direction as well as strong in-house expertise in areas of design, project implementation and post sales service. I hope to contribute effectively to the growth of the company,” said Vincent Cheong.

Vincent Cheong has been involved in the Pro-Sound Solution market for 20 years.

During this period, his main role covered relationship management and sales to solution optimization. Before Spectrum, Vincent Cheong worked with Coda Group Pte Ltd which is a distributor of Meyer Sound solutions.

Mr Cheong will work closely with the sales and project team at Spectrum and will report to Eddie Seng, Head of AV Designers and Post Sales Department. www.spectrum.com.sg

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

12

NEWS

Zytronic Technology Provides Interface for Japanese Bus Travellers

JAPAN: Zytronic, a leading manufacturer of large format, durable and customised Projected Capacitive Technology (PCT and MPCT) touch sensors, has announced that digital signage kiosk designer and manufacturer HYOJITO, has selected Zyfilm and ZXY100 touch controllers for its 75” multilingual travel information kiosks installed on behalf of Nara Kotsu bus Lines Co. in Japan.

The large format digital signage kiosks have been installed onto the concourses of JR Nara station and Kintetsu Nara station, to provide locals and visitors to the region easy access to vital travel information in multiple languages, including bus timetables and locations. The JR Nara station has been equipped with a kiosk consisting of two large vertical format touchscreens, and Kintetsu Nara station a kiosk with a horizontal touchscreen.

Located in the Nara prefecture in the Kansai region, the south-central region of Japan’s main island Honshu, these stations are the two main hubs for local and long-distance highway buses. The Nara Kotsu Bus Line has been providing scheduled local services including sightseeing tours, charters, and airport and intercity transport in the region since 1929, and currently serves over 50 million passengers a year.

Akihiro Yokota, product development division at HYOJITO, commented, “The touch enabled digital signage kiosks we produce are equipped with mainly original multilingual map applications. In recent years, there has been an increased demand for larger, higher resolution touchscreens that can withstand long-term use, even in outdoor environments. The design of our kiosks is very important to us as we aim to provide the highest standard of design, and that includes the touchscreen – as this is the interface with the user. As the design of each kiosk is different, we required touchscreen technology that could meet our individual needs whilst being robust enough to work reliably in harsh environments. Zytronic’s flexible manufacturing process gave us the freedom of altering the size and layout of our

enclosure designs for each individual project, with touch technology that is top class in the industry.”

Ian Crosby, Sales and Marketing Director of Zytronic, concluded, “We’re delighted to support HYOJITO with the design of these two interactive public kiosks that are now in use at important transport hubs within Japan.

A reliable touchscreen is central to delivering a good experience and providing essential information to users of the stations. This project demonstrates the true flexibility of Zytronic’s manufacturing process, and ability to produce high quality, specially designed robust touchscreens at very low quantities.”

Zytronic touch technology operates reliably in the harshest environments. Zyfilm delivers the ability to support displays of any size up to 85” with single or multi-touch functionality and is provided as a clear flexible/rollable foil format that is attached to the back of the transparent surface. The ZXY100 touch controller has been designed by Zytronic to cover the full range of PCT touch sensors and supports single and dual touch detection, and gesture controls such as swipes.

Photo© HYOJITO Co.,Ltd. zytronic.co.uk

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

14

NEWS

dBTechnologies Appoints Sales Manager for India sales professionals on the field, ready to successfully implement our strategy and take advantage of the market opportunities ahead. I’m more than certain that Mr. Shetty will be the right person to usher in this new approach to the local professional market.”

L-R Giovanni Barbieri, Saikiran Shetty, Manuele Poli

INDIA: Italian professional audio manufacturer dBTechnologies has appointed Saikiran Shetty as Sales Manager for India.

Shetty is an accomplished sales professional with over 20 years experience in A/V industry exploring Corporate, Retail, and Channel Sales aspects of the business. In the last few years he focused in the Touring Audio product line serving as National Sales Manager – Touring Audio with Harman India.

Based in Mumbai, Shetty will support dBTechnologies brand development in the local market personally dealing operations for touring series VIO, DVA, DVX and INGENIA. “My role in the company will be that of a catalyst in the Indian professional market” states Shetty. “This area is witnessing a steady growth and I will be on-site to improve the company’s agility and turnaround time in addressing the customers’ requirements.

When I met dBTechnologies team in Italy, I immediately resonated with their value system, passion and commitment. And hence, the partnership was natural. I look forward to make use of all my experience and be able to amplify our reach to the consumers.” dBTechnologies Sales & Marketing Director Giovanni Barbieri explains the reasons behind the new appointment, “The company’s market share in Asia is dramatically increasing in the last two years, especially for what concerns the touring & installation segment.

We are at a point where dBTechnologies is ready to leave its mark in India. This is the reason for which we need focused

“We are fortunate to have someone of Shetty’s calibre and experience step up to help us to develop the brand’s potential in India”, adds dBTechnologies APAC sales Manager Manuele Poli. “Our flagship line array and sub series VIO is getting great feedback in APAC area and worldwide, and I’m sure there’s still a huge potential to be developed, especially in India” Shetty will also operate on behalf of dBTechnologies in cooperation with Indian distributor Rivera Digitec for what concerns the retail market. www.dbtechnologies.com S

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The Leong Hua See Temple in Malaysia Updates its Sound System

MALAYSIA: Founded in 1940, the Buddhist temple Leong Hua See in the city of Klang in Selangor upgrades its sound system with DAS Audio after a progressive renovation of its facilities.

In the temple of Leong Hua See they are committed to their mission of promoting Buddhism. To this end, the temple is in a process of refurbishment and expansion to

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

meet the technological demands of the 21st century. The temple’s facilities have gradually deteriorated over the past 80 years until the congregation´s spiritual leader, the Venerable Chuan Zhi, decided to renovate the premises and construct a new building on the grounds, as well as to upgrade the temple’s technical facilities.

Search Music Sdn Bhd, the Malaysian-based DAS Audio family, under the direction of Dennix Yeow, was in charge of providing the equipment and installation for the new upgraded sound system. The audio solution for the temple had to be tailored to the needs of the congregation offering crystal clear and soft sound for the daily prayer rituals as well as providing reliability and ease of use without compromising sound quality.

The architecture of the temple presented the main challenge for the system design. The building had three floors, so the first phase of the design focused on providing a solution to ensure a crisp and clear sound in all three floors and unifying the sound throughout.

With this in mind, an average coverage of 98dB SPL was achieved throughout the installation. Additionally, the main hall of the temple had very high ceilings so the best option for this type of room was to install ten cabinets of the passive Artec-320 line array system to ensure uniform sound for both the reproduction of music and the spoken messages. In terms of aesthetic design, white enclosures were chosen to match the renewed and contemporary look of the hall.

Also, the configuration included two powered Vantec-15 systems that stand out for their great sound and ease of use, four powered Action-512A, four Action-M512A low-profile monitor systems, as well as two Action-508A. The temple leadership are very satisfied with the sound improvements achieved thanks to their new equipment. They inform that “the line array system is the perfect choice for the temple. What is more, the system has been designed according to our needs providing clarity and definition of the voice to our daily prayer program.” www.dasaudio.com

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NEWS

Tripleplay Install Digital Signage & IPTV Software at Qudos Bank Arena Sydney and preview images of the content that is going to be distributed to the relevant digital screens before it is published. Training and support from avt (AV Technology) and Tripleplay has been second to none and the solution is more cost effective in regards to ongoing licencing and training fees than others in the market.”

AUSTRALIA: Tripleplay has been selected by Australian performance venue Qudos Arena to install its digital signage and IPTV solution, promoting fan engagement and increasing on-site revenue generation.

Qudos Bank Arena is ranked one of the top 10 arenas in the world, is the largest indoor entertainment and sporting arena in Australia and can accommodate up to 21,000 visitors.

Qudos Bank Arena is managed by AEG Ogden, part of the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), one of the world’s largest entertainment groups. Managing more than 120 of the world’s premier venues and playing host to the world’s greatest performers, AEG’s absolute priority is to exceed the fans’ expectations.

The Tripleplay signage solution allows Qudos Bank Arena to deliver IPTV and digital signage content to around 130 screens across the site, as well as integrating with on-site digital menu boards at food and beverage concession stands across the venue.

Tripleplay’s technology has proven ROI for large venues and allows Qudos Bank Arena to efficiently communicate with fans and visitors inside the arena and enhance their experience.

Aimee Head, Graphic Design and Digital Coordinator at the Arena spoke about the Tripleplay solution, commenting “Qudos Bank Arena’s transition from the previous digital signage, IPTV, video streaming provider to Tripleplay has changed the way the commercial department uses our digital screen assets across the entire arena.

“Not only is the new interface and dashboard incredibly user friendly, saving time in the application and upload process, it also allows the team to make real time changes

Daniel Brooks, ICT Coordinator at Qudos Bank Arena also commented, “Qudos Bank Arena is very pleased with the Tripleplay system and we look forward to continuing the great relationship we have with Tripleplay team for the foreseeable future.”

Steve Rickless, CEO of Tripleplay is delighted with the project, saying “Working with Qudos Bank Arena, such an iconic venue in the APAC region, is a real privilege and Tripleplay was able to deliver a world-class solution alongside our distribution partners in the region, avt (AV Technology).

“This deployment re-affirms Tripleplay’s position as the most compelling solution for IPTV and digital signage delivery in large venue spaces.” www.tripleplay.tv S

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Nantong Middle School Installs Martin Audio MLA Mini

CHINA: With over 100 years of history behind it, Nantong Middle School in China’s Jiangsu Province is now looking to the future, with a new auditorium installed with high performance Martin Audio loudspeaker systems.

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

Founded in 1909 by famous Qing era industrialist and educator Zhang Jian, Jiangsu Nantong Middle School is well known across the province and the country. It is one of the first middle schools in the province set up in the modern fashion and its alumni include many politicians, nationally renowned artists, award winning scientists and even five Olympic gold medallists.

The new multipurpose hall in the Chongya Building on the main campus was dedicated to celebrate the school’s 110th anniversary, and the school required a high-quality sound system to suit the building. Their choice was the Martin Audio MLA Mini, for its consistent sound field coverage and high resolution, as well as the level of control offered by the Display optimisation software.

The system itself comprises two sets of MLA Mini, supported by two CDD Live15s, two CSX218 subs, and three CDD5s. For fill, a pair of portable Blackline F12+ was specified —which can be relocated subject to requirement—along with two installed XD12s. The system is entirely driven by Martin Audio amplification, in the form of an MA5.2K, and a pair each of MA2.8Q, and MA3.0, optimised by four of Martin Audio’s DX0.5 dedicated processors.

All Martin Audio components were supplied

by Beijing Pacific Budee, whose Sales Manager JT Liu stated, “We are very proud to have provided this unique Martin Audio sound system that students and teachers at this school can enjoy for many years.”

Over 5,000 leaders, successful alumni, retired teachers, and other dignitaries attended the school’s anniversary celebration and theatre dedication ceremony, and were able to hear the new sound system at first hand.

In summing up, Martin Audio’s Managing Director, Dom Harter said, “We are grateful to this prestigious School for their faith in Martin Audio and to Budee’s ongoing passion to deliver our signature sound, coverage, consistency and control in China.” martin-audio.com

DigiBird Powers TTM Video Wall in Thailand

We are delighted to announce that DigiBird video wall controller has been deployed to power a 5x2 video wall for TRAN THAI-MALAYSIA (hereafter referred to as TTM) control room.

TTM is a joint venture company by PTT Public Company Limited and Malaysia’s Petroliam National Berhad (Petronas) on pipeline and gas separation plant projects. Located at Amphur Chana, Songkhla 90130, the operations started since 1997.

With growing numbers of servers need to be monitored at a time, the owner realized they need a video wall controller to manage display of their iOT, Scada and RTU system, to improve decision-making efficiency should any emergency. As a 24x 7 plant, reliability will be the top priority when select video wall controller.

In the end, DigiBird VWC2-M4 series turns out the solution they are expecting for with below features. ·Hardware based controller, without OS vulnerabilities like blue screen, system virus. ·Extremely reliable with redundant control cards and PSUs. ·Dedicated channel bandwidth for video processing via FPGA chips, instant response without delay. · Supports live preview of input sources and video wall display to avoid misoperation. ·Web-based control over browser, without installing software. ·Easy to operate with GUI interface, support drag-and-drop to display sources to video wall via free App. “The performance is beyond my expectation; it is quite easy to use with user-friendly interface. Personally, I like the App very much, I can manage video wall display over iPad by drag and drop, that is a surprise to me.” said by one operator.

Work closely with our exclusive distributor Green Technology Engineering, DigiBird already got its voice heard in Thailand.

There are plenty of projects deployed for government, banks, and utilities, and we are expecting more in 2019.

For more information, please visit www.digibirdtech.com

or contact sales@digibirdtech.com

18

NEWS

Absen Appoints Rajesh Patkar as India Sales Director Atlona Appoints Alphatec Audio Video as India Rajesh to our Absen team. He brings with Distribution Partner him a wealth of industry knowledge and

Rajesh Patkar with Brian Cao

INDIA: Absen, a leading provider of LED display technologies, has appointed Rajesh Patkar as Sales Director for India in a move that sees the company underline its commitment to the region.

Rajesh Patkar, who joins from Christie Digital Systems, with 30 years’ experience in pro AV industry, will be part of Absen’s APAC region team where he will be responsible for India and to further develop the business and provide local support for Absen’s customers.

Commenting on his appointment, Rajesh said: “I am pretty excited to join Absen and I always have a passion to work in AV industry. The narrow pixel pitch LED signage is certainly a trend in this burgeoning industry. The demand for bigger advertising and infotainment displays continues to grow in retail, stadiums and public thoroughfares, and elsewhere, LED is being increasingly utilized in control rooms and corporations.

Absen has a fantastic reputation for highquality, reliable products and has been the top Chinese export brand for LED displays for 10 consecutive years. The company plays a leading-role in the technology innovation of NPP products. I am excited to further influence and develop the business in these segments, along with other sales and service engineers.”

channel perspective through his experience at Christie. He is well-known and respected in the Indian AV industry and has a proven record of working on marvellous projects.

Absen always values the Indian market and we have made remarkable inroads in India, and with Rajesh joining us, we can upgrade Absen’s influence in this market to a new level. His position is very much linked to our commitment to strengthening the cooperation with our partners. Absen’s new office in India is on the way, then instant onsite service can be realized for our customers, which I think is an effective way to solve the pain points for the customers in this market.”

Rajesh will be based in Bangalore with frequent travel to Absen’s global headquarters in Shenzhen. A new office and service centre will also open in August in Delhi, to serve the Indian market.

In addition a free value-added ACE (short for Absen Certified Engineers) training will be held in Delhi this August. Aimed at creating a local resource of trained LED experts, the 3-day training is mainly designed for engineers, technicians and freelancers who are installing and maintaining LED products.

The course goes through the basics of LED displays to more advanced technical issues. Engineers have the opportunity to learn and master new technologies, with hands-on experience troubleshooting real life scenarios. With over 1,200+ engineers already trained, Absen’s ACE team is an additional resource to ensure clients and partners get the most from Absen products. www.absen.com

Brian Cao, Director of Sales for Asia-Pacific, said: “We are extremely pleased to welcome

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

INDIA: Atlona, a Panduit company, will strengthen its brand visibility and product availability throughout India with the appointment of Alphatec Audio Video Pvt Ltd as its premier in-country commercial AV distribution partner, effective immediately.

Alphatec Audio Video will focus on expanding Atlona’s presence throughout India’s community of dealers, systems integrators, application engineers and rental companies.

Alphatec will proactively launch and manage customer-facing initiatives to breed familiarity with Atlona’s vast product range.

A leading distribution house for pro audio and AV equipment throughout India, Alphatec stands apart from competitors thanks to a deep pool of talent that includes a dedicated design team, an applications engineering team, and a focused marketing operation.

The company has also established a broad distributor and dealer network that reaches every corner of India, offering end-to-end support throughout the design, integration and post-launch process.

“Alphatec Audio Video has the infrastructure to channel the brand across the pan-India region and substantially increase sales and brand recognition,” said Mr. Devasis Bakataki, Managing Director, Alphatec Audio Video Pvt Ltd. “India is a nation of great business opportunity, yet requires strategic partners who understand how unique the market is as a whole,” said Sanket Sawant, Director of Business Development, SAARC, Middle East and Southeast Asia.

“Few if any distribution houses in India are as well-prepared and well-equipped to succeed in raising brand awareness and winning projects than Alphatec Audio Video. Alphatec also has a reputation for catering to client needs in terms of providing solutions and service from the start, and long after the installation has gone live. We look forward to a strong collaborative relationship for many years to come.” atlona.com

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE

Barco’s XMS Cloud Management Platform Allows for Remote Management of ClickShare and wePresent Units

XMS Cloud Management Platform has been launched for enterprise-grade device management. This Cloud-based tool gives administrators the freedom to optimally manage a large fleet of ClickShare and wePresent units throughout the entire company from anywhere.

For large installs, the challenge is to easily maintain, manage and monitor devices, often distributed over a number of different buildings and locations.

The introduction of XMS Cloud Management Platform offers more, secure possibilities for the IT manager than the existing Collaboration Management Suite (CMGS): user-friendly, remote device management, a guaranteed straightforward user experience and useful analytics to drive the Digital Workplace. To access the XMS Cloud Management Platform, a cloud gateway needs to be installed in the company’s IT networks. Therefore Barco additionally launched the XMS Edge, a hardware appliance as single gateway to the Cloud and the XMS Virtual Edge, a free download.

With XMS Cloud Management Platform, IT managers are always in full control of all

Base Units in the network. They can securely access and configure units, check their health status and update these with just a few clicks to the most recent firmware. Upgrading software does not mean meeting downtime, since the update can be scheduled after office hours. Notifications on the status of devices even optimize the maintenance and offer the chance for swift troubleshooting, even before meeting room users are aware of an issue. With access to the real-time information on all wireless collaboration devices, IT managers can make sure their users are always enjoying the greatest meeting experience throughout the entire enterprise.

Driving the Digital Workplace can be boosted with the right data. XMS Cloud Management Platform provides a personalized report on availability and utilization of Base Units.

Knowledge on user adoption of new tech and ROI of the collaboration experience in an enterprise helps to optimize the capacity of the workplace. A first set of analytics on meeting room usage needed for meeting room management will be available soon after launch. www.barco.com

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

LSC Lighting Systems Making a DIN About DMX

LSC’s significant growth into the global installation market has provided the opportunity to develop a new range of professional DMX DINrail devices to better serve and protect the installer from cheap and inferior data distribution products that can cause significant on-site problems.

The new MDR-DIN data distribution range is a new 4-way DINrail-mount version of the MDR DMX splitter with RDM as standard. Each of the 4-port outputs is individually optically isolated, protecting your expensive lighting system from earth loops, rogue voltages and transients.

Furthermore, each output of the MDR-DIN can be RDM enabled/disabled as required by the user and each port monitored remotely via LSC’s new Houston-X software tool.

The new MDR-DIN will deliver LSC’s legendary quality design and manufacturing expertise to the permanent installation market, in a range that is competitively priced and backed by a two-year factory warranty. www.lsclighting.com

SOLUTIONS UPDATE

21

Bose Professional Ships New Conferencing and General Purpose Processors a cost-effective, robust expansion for conference rooms using ControlSpace EXconferencing processors.

Bose Professional is now shipping new ControlSpace EX processors – two designed specifically for conference rooms (EX-440C and EX-12AEC) and one dedicated for general purpose applications (EX-1280).

With an open-architecture, all-in-one design, the ControlSpace EX-440C conferencing processor facilitates high-quality microphone integration and audio processing for small-to-medium size conference rooms.

Various inputs and outputs allow for flexible configuration: four mic/line analog inputs, four analog outputs, onboard VoIP, PSTN, USB, Bose AmpLink output, eight-channel acoustic echo cancelling (AEC) and 16 x 16 Dante connectivity.

With an open-architecture design, twelve acoustic echo cancellers (AEC) and 16 x 16 Dante connectivity, the ControlSpace EX-12AEC conferencing processor provides

The ControlSpace EX-1280 is an even more powerful “big brother” to the existing family of Bose ESP open-architecture digital signal processors. It is a robust processor designed for a wide variety of applications — from small, self-contained projects to large, networked systems. Leveraging advanced signal processing and a floating-point openarchitecture DSP, the EX-1280 processor has the precision and power to create dynamic, yet predictable audio installations.

The ControlSpace EX-1280 processor offers twelve mic/line analog inputs, eight analog outputs, Bose AmpLink output, and 64 x 64 Dante connectivity — featuring high-quality audio processing and expansive digital connectivity. It includes a USB connection that facilitates easy integration with PC audio devices for playback and recording. And the front-panel interface includes a large OLED display and rotary encoder, so it’s easier

to set network parameters and monitor channel activity. Installers can connect compatible Bose CC-64 and CC-16 controllers, ControlCenter digital zone controllers, and ControlSpace Remote clients for seamless and approachable interfaces that clients can trust.

Bose ControlSpace Designer software simplifies the setup process for all three processors with drag-and-drop programming, making configuration quick and easy.

Installers will benefit from the software’s expansive signal processing library, with automatic mic mixing, multiband graphic and parametric EQs, Bose loudspeaker libraries, signal generators, routers, mixers, AGCs, duckers, gates, compressors, source selectors, delays, logic, and advanced Dante device control. These new models are compatible with the Bose Professional line of Dante endpoints and end-user controllers – including wall-mount and mobile device control using ControlSpace Remote. pro.bose.com

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- HDMI 2.0 data rate up to 18 Gbps over one LC multi-mode fiber (OM3) - Extends 4K 60Hz (RGB: 4:4:4) up to 200m (656ft) - Adopted high-Retention HDMI connector for accidental disconnection - Complies with CEC, EDID, HDCP 2.2 - Supports HDR at 10/12 bit speed respectively within its©maximum bandwidth, 18 18 Gbps Systems Integration Asia | VOL. ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

22

SOLUTIONS UPDATE

SiliconCore Disrupts LED Display Market with Lotus 0.83mm Launch represents a giant step forward in large format display manufacturing.

SiliconCore Technology, innovator in LED displays and creator of patented Common Cathode technology announced another breakthrough with its highest resolution and brightest display ever.

The Lotus 0.83mm LED display is the result of five years of research and development, and the first product combining all of SiliconCore’s cutting edge technologies delivering displays with fidelity, brightness, efficiency and endurance. Based on its revolutionary driver chip, this display

SiliconCore LED displays are well known for having the lowest power consumption, highest brightness, and lowest operating temperatures in the industry. At 2000 nits, the Lotus 0.83mm display surpasses the market with the brightest and most efficient sub-1mm pitch LED display in the world, consuming up to 50% less power compared to similar displays of its kind.

It features SiliconCore’s latest innovation, LISA - a proprietary encapsulation process that guards the high density LEDs and ensures colour uniformity and a long lifetime.

Its cool surface is dust and water resistant which makes it very durable and suitable for touch and custom install applications, with a very close viewing distance.

This makes the technology perfect for a variety of environments including board rooms and meeting spaces, design centers, lobbies, home theatres, visualization applications and control rooms.

The display has excellent HDR performance with a visible 16 bit grayscale using SiliconCore’s Z.A.C.H. driver chip. This technology allows for better colour fidelity in low brightness with more detail for black and low grey scale content.

The Lotus 0.83mm is manufactured in Taiwan at the company’s facility and was designed by SiliconCore’s US and Taiwan based research and development teams building upon its patented technologies. The mass production of this display will start in Q3, 2019. www.silicon-core.com

A 4K resolution display can now be achieved at 144” with a smooth, touchable surface.

S

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Extron Ships the DMP 128 FlexPlus Flexible DSP for Dante Systems

Extron has announced the immediate availability of the DMP 128 FlexPlus series of compact Dante Digital Matrix Processors, featuring twelve FlexInput channels with full DSP, including AEC, and Dante connectivity, in only a half rack space. With an extensive mix matrix, a USB audio interface, and analog compatibility, the DMP 128 FlexPlus provides the ability to easily connect and route multiple types of source signals to accommodate diverse analog and digital system requirements. For collaboration applications, the V model includes up to

eight VoIP lines. Featuring an ACP bus for audio control panels, an expansion port for bidirectional digital audio connection with a DTP CrossPoint or another DMP, eight audio file players, and configurable macros, the DMP 128 FlexPlus can be used anywhere from a collaboration space, to a large conference room.

The Dante-enabled DMP 128 FlexPlus series is ideal for applications that utilize Dante ceiling microphone arrays and other Danteenabled devices. With network connectivity for up to 48 Dante sources and 24 Dante

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

destinations, the DMP 128 FlexPlus, featuring a built-in two-port Gigabit switch, enables the creation of simplified, cost effective audio systems.

All twelve main DSP channels of the DMP 128 FlexPlus offer FlexInput source selection to route any Dante input, expansion input, or one of the four mic/line inputs, to a main DSP channel. This enables the DMP 128 FlexPlus to process audio from any source with the full range of DSP capabilities, including AEC. www.extron.com

SOLUTIONS UPDATE

23

Panamax and Furman Launch New Power Solutions to Protect and Manage AV Equipment

Delivering systems integrators exceptional power solutions for their AV systems, Nortek Security & Control, a global leader in wireless security, home automation, access control and health and wellness technology, today announced the introduction of new Panamax and Furman power distribution solutions.

Two new Panamax vertical power distribution units – the VT-EXT12 and VT-EXT16 – add flexible protected power

to the system rack. The 12 and 16 outlet configurations mount vertically at the back of the rack, placing power where it’s needed and reducing cable lengths. The slim design of each unit allows for easy work-flow, while clip mounts make for a quick installation. The spacing allows for large transformers, such as wall warts. The 12-inch heavy duty extension cable – the 15-EXT1 – is ideal for extra-large transformer and wall warts.

While all Panamax Vertex models can be used as stand-alone Power Distribution Units, when plugged into Panamax and Furman power conditioners they share all the AC line protection and AC line filtering from the power conditioner to distribute protection and performance to extra outlets in the rack.

For clean cabling, four new Panamax IEC Cables Accessories provide power to monitors, TVs, sound systems, and appliances that have the IEC-60320-C14 inlet. The 10foot 15-IEC10, 6-foot 15-IEC6, 3-foot 15-IEC3, and 1-foot 15-IEC1 are ideal for connected equipment requiring power up to 15 amps.

Featuring Furman Extreme Voltage Shutdown (EVS), the new Furman SS-6B-PRO is a 6-outlet power block that adds Furman Extreme Voltage Shutdown (EVS) to the legendary performance and flexibility on the Furman SS-6B. The new unit also delivers EMI/RFI filtration, heavy duty steel construction, and a 15ft. power cord.

According to Desalernos, the incredibly versatile SS-6B-PRO “is as comfortable behind the residential equipment rack as it is on stage or in the office.” panamax.com furman.com

UNITE THE PEOPLE DIGITAL WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• Wireless Microphone • Interpretation Application • Assistive Listening • Guided Tours www.beyerdynamic.com/unite

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

24

SOLUTIONS UPDATE

dnp Launches the Transparent 80” ClearSign

MuxLab 4K Extender over Audix Launches an Easy to Install Dante | AES67 IP Offers a Zero Latency Integrated Microphone Signal Delivery System

MuxLab’s next generation HDMI over IP Uncompressed Extender, 4K/60 (model 500768) gives integrators a new method of connecting sources to displays that are all routed through a 10Gig Ethernet switch.

Individual transmitters and receivers can be added and removed as needed, offering an easy method of scalability supporting potentially hundreds of individual devices.

The transparent 80” dnp ClearSign sets new standards for advertising and digital signage. dnp ClearSign is an advanced optical projection screen that is crystal clear, meaning that there is absolutely no blurring of objects behind the screen. This means that you can display eye-catching images on it, still allowing the background behind the display to remain visible. A feature that has a positive effect on the entire shopping experience.

The 80” dnp ClearSign works with Ultra Short Throw (UST) projectors that shoot from steep angles and have a very small footprint. The rigid 8.3 mm thick screen is easy to clean and can be suspended from a ceiling, set on a floor stand or be installed into a wall.dnp ClearSign is available with or without frame – or as a complete plug-and-play solution with screen, frame, wire suspension kit and a dnp laser projector

With this kind of flexibility, system integrators can mount or place hundreds of displays anywhere required, allowing a seamless, wireless delivery of AV. This kind of solution is ideal for large-scale commercial installations such as corporate, educational, worship and entertainment facilities. Sources (transmitters) connect to displays (receivers) through the 10Gig Ethernet switch from up to 100m away, ideal for keeping equipment hidden and secure. The system supports one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many signal distributions, including virtual matrix configurations.

Both transmitter and receiver provide a 1G Ethernet port that can connect additional network devices in the system. IR and RS232 enable remote control of source and sink end equipment. When paired with MuxLab’s ProDigital Network Controller and the MuxControl app, the entire AV over IP system is accessible and configurable from anywhere using a PC, smart phone or tablet. muxlab.com

www.dnp-screens.com

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

The Audix Dante | AES67 integrated microphone system is an easy to install system that consists of two Dante | AES67 microphone interface models and RJ45equipped versions of their popular M3 trielement hanging microphone, the steerable, flush-mount M70 ceiling microphone, and the M55 hanging ceiling microphone.

High-quality audio and all microphone functions — including on-off contact closure and LED status indicators — are available through a single CAT5 - CAT7 cable with RJ45 connections at both interface and microphone. And the gain structures of all Audix RJ45-equipped analog microphones are optimized for their intended placement, providing quality audio at the DSP. At the heart of the Audix Dante | AES67 Integrated Microphone System are the DN4 and DN43 microphone interface units. The DN4 features four inputs for Audix RJ45equipped, single-element microphones; the DN43 features one microphone input specifically designed for the Audix M3 trielement microphone, one input for Audix RJ45-equipped, single-element microphones.

Both interface models have two 5V logic outputs per port, with source/sink capability for LEDs that are controlled by networkconnected DSPs and one logic input per single-element microphone port for buttons.

Audio is streamed out over Ethernet using Dante or AES67 protocols. Low-pass and high-pass filter settings are available on each audio channel, as are eight selectable gain levels, with all settings configurable via software.

AudixUSA.com/Dante

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26

SOLUTIONS UPDATE

BlueBOLT 2.0 Elevates IP Power Management

Providing integrators with new tools to manage installations and opportunities to generate recurring revenue, Nortek Security & Control has introduced BlueBOLT 2.0 IP Power Management, a major update to its real-time, cloud and LAN based control and monitoring platform.

BlueBOLT was the original IP power management platform, enabling integrators to manage power in their installations from anywhere with an internet connection.

BlueBOLT paired with Panamax and Furman power conditioners to deliver the best in power protection, performance and management for mission-critical projects world-wide. The BlueBOLT IP power management platform reduces service calls with remote reboots of problem devices; maximizes network health with scheduled power cycles; and self-heals network devices to save money & time – managed from anywhere with an internet connection.

BlueBOLT 2.0 elevates the IP power management experience, with an intuitive and exceptionally fast UI backed by a robust new IP infrastructure for maximum performance and reliability.

BlueBOLT enables integrators to deliver superior service to clients and ensure proper operation of the audio, video, control and security systems. Integrators can troubleshoot client systems without rolling a truck, use real-time and historical power monitoring to diagnose problems with a utility company, program ping-based outlet cycling to automatically reboot unresponsive equipment, and provide proactive monitoring through email alerts that are sent when a client’s system logs a new event. For commercial applications that don’t rely on the cloud, BlueBOLT enables local control through its embedded browser. The BlueBOLT embedded browser control is particularly important for sensitive installations where a cloud connection is counter to their security protocol. www.mybluebolt.com

Just Add Power Presents 3G+ 767DSS Dante Enhanced Sound System Transmitter The 767DSS not only distributes Ultra HD and 4K video with HDCP 2.2 over a single Cat-5e cable, but takes Ultra HD over IP systems to the next level by adding compatibility with Dante and AES67 audio networks, with separate switching of audio and video.

The industry’s first solution to support the latest Dante eight-channel chipset, the 767DSS transmitter, allows installers to input up to eight audio channels from the J+P system for playout on Dante-enabled and AES67 devices, and extract up to eight channels from the audio network for playout across the J+P system. The 767DSS is backwards compatible with legacy twochannel Dante and AES67 devices, while offering higher performance with lower compression — bitrates of 176.4 and 192 kHz — and latency as low as 0.25 ms on Gigabit Ethernet. Secondary connectivity is built in for glitch-free performance and to provide redundancy for high-availability applications.

The 767DSS brings cross-compatibility with hundreds of Dante- and AES67-enabled solutions to the Ultra HD over IP system, allowing audio of the highest quality to be played everywhere — from video walls to Dante-enabled hanging PoE speakers — in installations of any size.

J+P lineup, it integrates seamlessly with any generation of the company’s products.

This allows integrators to select the J+P solution that best fits the job, providing an evolutionary, scalable, systems-approach to 4K video signal distribution. www.justaddpower.com

The 767DSS supports control inputs with RS-232 and IR. As with all models in the

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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Contact your local Crestron Dealer for more information

Crestron.com/NVX All brand names, product names, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Certain trademarks, registered trademarks, and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Crestron disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others. Crestron is not responsible for errors in typography or photography. ©2019 Crestron Electronics, Inc.

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE

Middle Atlantic Launches Next Generation Power Distribution and Management Solution

Biamp desono P6-SM Loudspeaker

The desono P6-SM is a low-profile, two-way passive pendant loudspeaker intended for full range music reproduction in distributed audio applications. It delivers high intelligibility coupled with a wide coverage area; designers can use fewer speakers in a space while maintaining acceptable levels of speech intelligibility.

Middle Atlantic Products, has released the Premium+ PDU with RackLink. This next- generation power distribution and management solution builds upon the innovation first introduced in the awardwinning intelligent Premium and Select Series PDUs, unleashing the full potential of RackLink technology and leveraging Raritan’s XERUS platform. With individual outlet power cycling/logging/monitoring, advanced environmental monitoring and control, and maximum security, it delivers a comprehensive suite of control, data, and security capabilities that assure highest degree of network safety while eliminating unnecessary truck rolls for simple equipment fixes.

More than power distribution, the Premium+ PDU features the full potential of RackLink, Middle Atlantic’s industry-leading remote management system. RackLink allows integrators control either locally or virtually through third-party AV control systems, cloud platforms, RESTful API, and SNMP for flexible management that is smarter, faster and most cost-efficient to deploy. In addition, it’s developed around Raritan’s XERUS platform, a proven and trusted solution for the most secure networks in the world. Together, this power distribution and management solution

provides unmatched monitoring, control, logging, security and power protection capabilities available for the most demanding AV applications.

Available in horizontal rackmount and compact models, the new solution provides under/over voltage, filtering, and industryleading surge protection with Middle Atlantic’s patented Series Protection. It also provides accurate power monitoring and logging for current, voltage, watts, and power factor at the outlet level. This deep system insight enables integrators to understand exactly what any AV system is doing at any moment. Helping to curb the problems that heat and humidity in the rack can create, it features enhanced environmental monitoring capabilities with up to 32 individual sensors that can connect to a single unit to keep tabs on temperature and humidity. Finally, it enables integrators to solve simple problems through comprehensive, flexible control options for proactive system management and restoration if equipment issues occur, including IP, RESTful API, SNMP v3/MIB, CLI, RS-232, and dry contact. www.middleatlantic.com.

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

S

I A

The desono P6-SM utilizes a 6-position switchable transformer ranging from 1.875W to 60W for low-impedance bypass and constant-voltage operation, making it an excellent choice for large areas of BGM. The 6.5-inch (165mm) polypropylene woofer is mechanically isolated from the high frequency driver. Coverage angle is at 130°.

The desono P6-SM is IP34 rated for outdoor splash applications such as patios or concourses, and an ideal choice for both indoor and outdoor distributed audio applications that demand superior speech intelligibility and full range music reproduction.

The desono P6-SM is covered by Biamp Systems’ five-year warranty. www.biamp.com

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I A

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30

SOLUTIONS UPDATE

VuWall Presents New Capabilities of CoScape and TRx 2.0 and eliminate complex steps from the presentation process.

CoScape allows presenters to display all sources on one or multiple touch surfaces, creating a true high-resolution, interactive turnkey display solution for easy visual collaboration. It’s perfectly suited for collaboration rooms, allowing sources to be shared on a touch video wall or projection screen. It features an open platform to ensure full support of standard corporate applications and a high-end performance workstation driven by powerful NVIDIA graphics cards for 3D acceleration graphics.

In addition, it works with third-party collaboration programs, allowing users to interface directly and seamlessly with the chosen program from the CoScape controller

VuWall’s TRx 2.0 AV network management solution provides distribution of audio and video signals over standard IP networks.

Designed for presentation rooms, control rooms, and content distribution across multiple locations throughout a campus, TRx supports multiple formats of video streaming up to 4K resolution and offers simple management of an unlimited number of sources and display surfaces. The latest version offers a new, intuitive control panel designer allowing integrators to create custom control panels that can be run on any HTML-enabled device for easy control from anywhere on the network. TRx also supports a broadened range of devices and user management capabilities as well as the ability to stitch together multiple decoders, allowing for a virtually infinite number of displays to be brought together as a single video

wall with limitless resolution. The system consists of a centralized TRx server for easy deployment of a large number of devices and a series of encoders, decoders, and IP video wall processors that support H.264 4K/UHD, SRT, and SDVoE. www.vuwall.com

VIA Connect PLUS from Kramer delivers IT-friendly Collaboration The whiteboard feature lets you annotate, sketch out ideas or edit shared documents on the main display from your device. VIA Connect PLUS features mirroring for iOS (MacBook, iPad and iPhone), Lollipop OS 5.0 or newer (Android), and Chromebook.

Users can show up to four sources on a single main display, with an incredible 254 sources being able to connect simultaneously with a compatible network.

Kramer has used its considerable experience in education and corporate markets to bring an uncomplicated, yet powerful AV over IP solution to professional collaboration. VIA Connect PLUS provides simultaneous wired and wireless presentation and collaboration for a variety of spaces with no need for any additional hardware. This cost−effective solution includes all the benefits of VIA Connect PRO together with an HDMI input.

With any laptop or mobile device, meeting participants can display or stream full

uninterrupted HD video (up to 1080p60), images and documents, or share any size file.

Latest additions to the software include the integration of Zoom and Bluejeans video conferencing software, which makes collaboration using these popular sharing platforms a one-click process. Dynamic content can also be shown on the main display during meeting downtime with an optional Digital Signage license.

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

With BrainWare software from Kramer preinstalled, VIA Connect PLUS is a powerful tool that can monitor room booking and availability, for example. Meeting the needs of IT managers, VIA Connect PLUS connects seamlessly with Kramer’s VIA Site Management software, which can monitor and manage the ‘health’ of the system, its efficiency and how it is being used. www.kramerav.com

32

ADVERTORIAL

Optical Disc Archive Solution – Better Choice, Better Solution The Optical Disc Archive storage system from Sony employs new generation high-capacity optical disc that equips users with a system that ensures data is always safe, now and in the future. To further elaborate on the solution, the Professional Solutions team of Sony Electronics Asia Pacific, together with like-minded service providers, recently hosted a two-day workshop for clients and partners.

At the session, Tomas Chen of Content Creation Solutions Marketing shared that the Optical Disc Archive media does not require special storage requirements.

He presented the results from industry standard accelerated temperature and humidity aging test the media underwent.

With four different environmental conditions implemented with ISO16963 – 65°C/80% humidity, 70°C/75%, 80 °C/70%, and 80 °C/80% - alongside the used of arrhenius equation to derive an acceleration coefficient from the test results that enabled time for playback data error rate to reach a set criterion to be calculated for ambient temperatures of 25 °C. The results indicated that estimated lifespans for the media is more than 100 years at room temperature.

The results also validate that the media can be stored in green facilities – achieves not only reduced operating costs – full system only take 700W to manage 1.7PB of data - but facilitates a reduced environmental footprint.

Tomas continued to share that the Optical Disc Archive media is extremely durable and resilient in a wide range of environmental conditions – water, dust and heat. Corrosion resistance test was performed at 35 °C and 85% relative humidity in a corrosive gas environment for 295 hours. UV irradiation testing and sea water soak test for five weeks were also performed. Error rate in these tests results was negligible, a strong testament to the media’s proven robustiness and position it as the ultimate life-time archive media solution.

“It’s truly a solution that allows storage till Armageddon,” said Tomas. “the Optical Disc Archive solution from Sony is tough, safe, fast and

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

strong, providing a seamless read/write capability for generations.”

Apart from extremely high tolerance against environmental impact, Optical Disc Archive comes with dedicated disc unit with an associate software driver that is able to manipulate the discs individually. As such, users can randomly access data and retrive them in an instant since there is no linear access limitation – no time wasted on spooling through tapes. Further, with its 8-channel optical drive unit, the media realises high-speed data transfer with the ability to browse and scrub a file within a particular disc and play its audio and video clips with its read specification. As such, users can play 4K footage directly from the disc smoothly and efficiently.

With the complete family of future-proof Optical Disc Archive solution, from compact standalone desktop drives to large-scale robotic libraries, Sony publishes a clear technology roadmap, pointing to further exciting advances in performance, storage capacity and transfer speeds. Apart from very low total cost of ownership achieved by the media’s ability to be read for more than one million times, information stored today on the Optical Disc will always be readable on tomorrow’s hardware, making it the perfect media for long-term archive. Backward compatible, the Optical Disc Archive media essentially eliminates the need for data migration and users can concentrate on building their business, without the headache of costly migration strategies.

To find out more about the Optical Disc Archive solution, please visit pro.sony.

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SEMINAR ROOM 1

SEMINAR ROOM 2

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INDUSTRY FORUM

AV LEADERS FORUM & OPENING CEREMONY (BY INVITE ONLY)

INDUSTRY FORUM

9:30AM – 10:30AM 10:30AM – 11:30AM 11:30AM – 1:00PM

1:00PM – 1:45PM 2:00PM – 4:00PM

BANKING, FINANCIAL SERVICES & INSURANCE In collaboration with Bombay Stock Exchange PLATINUM PARTNER PRESENTATION EPSON

PLATINUM PARTNER PRESENTATION KRAMER ELECTRONICS AVIXA FLASHTRACKS

GOVERNMENT/HOTELS Powered by Express Computer

SEMINAR ROOM 1

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INDUSTRY FORUM

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HOMELAND SECURITY AND DEFENSE In collaboration with Computer Society of India Mumbai Chapter

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EDUCATION In collaboration with ICT Academy

GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT In collaboration with Government e-Marketplace (GeM)

PLATINUM PARTNER PRESENTATION

PLATINUM PARTNER PRESENTATION HARMAN INTERNATIONAL

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10:30AM – 1:00PM

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HEALTHCARE Powered by Express Computer

AVIXA BOOTH C110

TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN In collaboration with Institute of Indian Interior Designers, Mumbai Regional Chapter

INDUSTRY FORUM

DIGITAL SIGNAGE ASIA FORUM In collaboration with Digital Signage Multimedia Asia

4:00PM – 5:00PM

INDUSTRY FORUM

SMART CITIES: Building Liveable Cities In collaboration with All India Institute of Local Self Government (AIILSG)

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EDUCATION (Closed door session

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ENTERPRISE IT In collaboration with Computer Society of India Mumbai Chapter

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Beijing InfoComm China: Observations from the Show

by Thomas Richard Prakasam Floor

The shift of dates from the traditional April month to July did raise concerns. There was trepidation if that momentum that had been built up over the last 10 years will be affected. Beijing InfoComm China is a show on everyone’s radar. It is the gateway to the largest AV market in Asia. Well, it did not have any negative impact. The 11th edition saw another record breaking performance with a new high of 40,866 local and overseas visitors. That is roughly a 5% increase from the 2018 edition.

insights and in-depth exposition on a wide spectrum of topics, ranging from Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, robotics and big data. Beijing InfoComm China was, once again, able to deliver a rich learning experience for all visitors and delegates.

The NIXT! Conference

The show floor saw more than 400 exhibitors from China and around the world with 20% of the exhibitors being first-time exhibitors.

Adding a level of bite to the show was the fact that over 100 products were launched as new-to-China and new-to-Asia.

Hunger for Knowledge The Summit programme saw a total of 8,330 delegates attending the more than 60 sessions that were held over the three days. The seminars and workshops generated intensive and robust discussions and exchanges on wide-ranging issues and challenges arising from the impact of disruptive technology on the future of business and industry. More than 70 speakers from industry and academia provided Š Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

I would like to highlight about this brand-new platform organised by InfoCommAsia, for two reasons. One, this initiative by InfoCommAsia has come about to enable the AV industry to understand the impact

TRADESHOW - REVIEW on their business from technologies that are disrupting the world.

The acronym stands for Next Integrated Experience Technology. The intention is to empower AV professionals with the knowledge to adapt to digital transformation, embrace and adopt new-generation technologies which were previously feared upon and thought of as disruptive.

“In a world where change and innovations in technology are happening at break neck speed, we see ourselves in a position of identifying the opportunities early and enabling AV professionals to get up to speed. The new technologies addressed in NIXT! are potentially huge game-changers which can totally transform the way in which AV products and solutions are delivered and experienced in the near future.”

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I also feel we need to take note of the growing technological prowess of the Chinese manufacturers’ solutions. I think most of us would agree that when it comes to LED solutions, a number of Chinese manufacturers occupy the top slots. But there is growing advancements in other sectors other than LED. It is my impression that the next few years will see Chinese manufacturers showcasing cutting-edge solutions that will make the rest of the world stand up and take notice.

The US and China Trade War Impact

These ground-breaking technologies include artificial intelligence (AI), extended reality (XR), the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G wireless connectivity, robotics, quantum computing and more. AI, for instance, is accelerating innovation in professional graphics application while the emergence of 5G networks would mean that streaming 8K videos and enjoying virtual reality on their mobile phones would soon become a daily norm for many.

The other reason I am highlighting about NIXT! is that Systems Integration Asia in collaboration with InfoCommAsia will roll-out a new column in the magazine branded as NIXT!, as we feel that the AV industry needs to really stand-up and take note of new technologies that will disrupt their business and how they should be prepared to ride the wave rather than becoming a bit player.

The Chinese Exhibitors

Walking the show floor I was pleased to see that a number of American brands were prominently visible at the show floor. For some the impact is minimal in terms of business in China as they have a manufacturing plant in the country. For others they are looking at ways to mitigate the fallout. One company told me that they are actually bearing the import duties but that is not a long term plan. They are looking at the possibility of partnering a company to manufacture some components in China that would reduce the import duties.

Running Out of Space Beijing InfoComm China has been in the same location since its beginning. The show has obviously grown very sizeable. So my question was whether the show will move out to a bigger premise.

According to Richard Tan, Executive Director of InfoCommAsia, the organisers of the exhibition, the short answer was NO. “There are no other viable venues in Beijing for us to consider a move. This is based on easy accessibility to the venue, large enough space and even height considerations. For us the China National Convention Centre is the optimum choice.”

According to Audinate, their patented Dante media networking technology has been adopted by over 100 Chinese manufactures.

That is almost one-third of the total number of manufacturers who have adopted Dante worldwide. That is pretty impressive numbers.

To those not in the know there is a basement exhibit space that is not being used. There was an attempt one year to use the space and the experience was not positive. Visitors were not quite aware of the additional exhibit space and the height at the basement is also not conducive for some exhibits. That is not to say that the basement will not be re-considered. I believe it will be a matter of strategising how © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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Exhibits at the foyer

to make use of the space best to achieve a positive outcome for all.

To help accommodate the growing number of exhibitors, the organiser had decided to open up the foyers to the halls. I must say that this created a lot more energy to the whole experience.

Orlando. China by itself is also the largest AV market in Asia. The country commanded 53% of APAC revenue in 2018, out of the projected USD63.18 billion in pro-AV revenues, according to statistics from AVIXA.

Bringing in the End Users

There are already visitors from the region albeit not in large numbers.

One issue in my opinion is language. On the one hand the show is for China but on the other it has the potential to be a drawing point for the region. Credit to the Chinese exhibitors though. Compared to the first show, the number of booth staff who readily came up and conversed with me in English has gone up by ten fold. I believe that should there be more such staff it will add to the comfortability of foreign visitors, especially if one is there specifically to talk to the Chinese manufacturers.

One reason Beijing InfoComm China shifted from its early editions that were held in Shanghai was to cater to where the government decision making bodies were seated. That move has certainly paid off. InfoCommAsia, however, continued to pursue other vertical market end-users. Over the years they have successfully implemented conferences and presentations targeted at the vertical segments thereby drawing the end-users to the event. Forums have been targeted at Big Data and Smart City industry professionals, IT Technology managers, Live Event industry professionals, Education Technology Managers, Business Owners, the professionals from the Hotel sector.

On the other hand if the overseas brands bring their regional contacts to be at the show floor, that might add further impetus for those from the region to visit the exhibition.

In terms of numbers, InfoCommAsia estimates more than 30% of visitors were end-users.

Finally if there could be interpretation services provided for the more high level presentations, that would add to the regional interest.

Can the Show Become the ISE of Asia?

I must admit if Beijing InfoComm China does begin to attract regional visitors in larger numbers, I worry if that will have an impact on the InfoComm SEA exhibition? I am sure there are ways to mitigate this so that both shows bring value to the visitors and exhibitors.

I do not intend to compare but this was brought up by one of the visitors which I felt was interesting. What ISE has done for Europe is bring the whole industry across the region to a meeting point very successfully. Can InfoComm China bring the whole region of Asia to its doorsteps?

Beijing InfoComm China is already the largest AV show in Asia. The numbers attending is as good as those from this year’s InfoComm Š Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

The next Beijing InfoComm China exhibition will be held from 26 to 28 March 2020. www.infocomm-china.com

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INTERVIEW

Leyard Continues to Build on its Vision of Being a World Class Visual Solutions Company Visual performance, usability, reliability and service characteristics differentiates Leyard from its competition Leyard solutions have been prominent in a number of installations in Asia recently. From educational institutes, airports, hospitality, transport and retail, Leyard continues to push the boundary of visual technologies. The company has also been in the news with a number of high profile acquisitions in recent years. SI Asia talks to Norman Lao, VP International, Leyard, about the company’s directions and its latest solutions.

SI ASIA: Leyard is obviously a company that is strategizing to be beyond what it is known for - LED. What is Leyard’s direction now?

How does the company want to be perceived?

Though Leyard’s commitment to leadership in the LED video display industry is unparalleled, we continue to set the standard with groundbreaking advancements and industry-leading design across all display technologies. We work hard to tailor our trailblazing displays to meet every customer need.

Clarity Matrix G3 LCD Video Wall System

SI ASIA: We would like to start off with all the acquisitions that Leyard had completed in recent times. Which companies were acquired - what was their expertise - and why did Leyard acquire them?

The acquisitions have brought together the collective strengths and resources in customer service and distribution to build the world’s leading visual solution products for our existing customers and new markets.

Planar was acquired in 2015 and has more than three decades of experience in flat panel display technology, projection, and processing. In May 2018, Leyard completed the acquisition of eyevis and Teracue. eyevis, a German manufacturer of large screen systems, is a leading provider and integrator of visualization systems for professional applications in control rooms, broadcast, virtual reality and simulation. eyevis solutions include displays, graphics controllers, software and accessories. Teracue manufactures and supplies professional IPTV and video-networking systems, and was acquired by eyevis in 2014.

As a global leader in visualization products, Leyard is always evaluating opportunities to strengthen our market position.

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

The largest part of our business today is in video walls rather than individual video displays. Video walls lend themselves to be constructed modularly into nearly any shape or size. The leading video wall technologies are seamless direct view LED and narrow bezel LCD. We expect this trend to continue due to the seamlessness, visual performance, size flexibility, lifespan and declining cost of direct view LED video wall displays.

SI ASIA: How does the company want to achieve its above objectives?

While our display product portfolio has never been more extensive than it is today, that focus on valuable features and differentiation continues through visual performance, usability, reliability or service characteristics. Beyond product level differentiation, a great deal of our thinking and investment goes into better supporting our customers before, during and after installation. We are dedicated to fully understanding the particular needs of our different customers in order to help deliver the results they want from their display technology investments.

SI ASIA: Where are Leyard’s offices in Asia?

In addition to headquarters in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shenzen and Tokyo, and factories in Beijing and Shenzen, Leyard’s presence is expanding in India, Korea and Singapore.

Hong Kong is the APAC regional office and one of Leyard’s factories is located in Shenzhen. The goal of expanding the overseas offices

INTERVIEW is to build a strong customer relationship by providing excellent “inperson” support and solutions for our customers.

SI ASIA: How has Asia performed for Leyard in the past two years?

Leyard is well-established in Beijing and Honk Kong and we are currently experiencing the most momentum in India. India is supporting large conglomerates like Tata Group and Reliance Group.

And the customers also include global investment banks like Goldman Sachs.

SI ASIA: What would Leyard like to achieve for Asia by end of 2020?

Focusing on producing ever finer LED pixel pitch products is a goal for the company. Resolution remains an ever-advancing technology as well. There is talk about 8K for the Olympics next year in Tokyo, Japan. If 8K resolution is required in smaller rooms then you need smaller pixel pitches to provide 8K displays that will be feasible for the space. Technology always has limitations, but we will try to innovate and meet the requirements of our customers and deliver better, more reliable fine pixel pitch products that can handle the demands of the market.

SI ASIA: Can you share with us possible challenges and opportunities that Leyard foresees for Asia?

The US-China trade war is affecting confidence in terms of corporate capital expenditure, manufacturing production and growth globally.

Every business is facing direct and indirect impact because of it.

Some companies may prepare for the next economic downturn due to different forecast and analysis. However, we are forecasting some strong years ahead in our region. Our team is always working hard and has built a solid customer relationship by providing the best solutions in different economic situation.

SI ASIA: What are some of the recent solutions that Leyard has introduced and is excited about? Why are you excited about the solutions?

Planar ERO-LCD

In June, Leyard announced additions to the Clarity Matrix G3 LCD Video Wall System, dramatically increasing pixel density and more

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uninterrupted viewing area with industry-leading sub-1 millimeter bezels. As a result, Clarity Matrix G3 now boasts the industry’s narrowest bezels with the 55-inch Clarity Matrix G3 LX55M and Clarity Matrix G3 MX55M LCD video wall displays, featuring tiled bezel widths as small as 0.88 millimeters between adjacent LCD displays for a nearly seamless video wall solution. The new 65-inch Clarity Matrix G3 MX65U-4K is the industry’s largest, highest-resolution LCD video wall display, quadrupling the resolution of the long-standing industry standard 55” display and providing much greater pixel density and uninterrupted display area. The latest models also feature Planar EROLCD (Extended Ruggedness and Optics) protective glass for high-traffic and interactive touch video wall applications.

Leyard also re-introduced the Planar “LookThru” Transparent OLED Display in May, following positive response and strong demand from our customers. The new Planar LookThru display leverages Planar ““LookThru” Transparent OLED Display the latest in transparent organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology to provide a selfemitting transparent display for true see-through installations without the need for backlighting or enclosures. The new 55-inch display is suitable for both standalone and tiled installations in a wide range of applications including retail merchandising, corporate displays, museum exhibits, award and trophy cases and tradeshow exhibits.

In April we introduced a 1.2 millimeter fine pixel pitch model to our popular Leyard® TVF Series, providing exceptionally sharp, clear display images – even at close-up viewing distances. Leyard TVF Series delivers superior on-camera performance with a wide range of refresh rates to ensure that it can be used with a variety of on-camera recording needs. Plus as of June, our new Leyard TVF Complete, a family of LED video wall solutions optimized for Full HD and 4K resolutions and available in diagonal sizes ranging 109” to 219”, makes it easier and more affordable for customers to select and install an LED video wall.

In addition, January marked the launch of the of the Planar EPX Series, a 100-inch 4K LCD display with Ultra HD resolution (3840 x 2160) that offers high brightness of 700 nits and a wide color gamut for stunning image quality and deep, rich color reproduction.

Optimized for reliability, the Planar EPX Series offers 4K resolution for life-like picture quality and 24x7 operation to support extended use.

The Planar EPX Series is designed with commercial-grade features to meet demanding requirements of retail and corporate digital signage applications. It is also perfect demanding control room settings requiring multi-source viewing capability. The Planar EPX Series is mountable in portrait or landscape orientation and also available in a precise and responsive multi-touch version. www.leyard.com © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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INTERVIEW

Lifesize Stays Ahead of the Curve Technologically Amidst Growth Trajectory 4K quality, airtight security and embracing the cloud gives Lifesize the edge

by Thomas Richard Prakasam The video conferencing solution space is a crowded segment. It was also one of the first segments where companies offering traditional solutions took a hit when software-based solutions and the cloud changed the business model. Regardless, video conferencing has become an essential tool for most businesses as well as the government. Analyst firm Frost & Sullivan projects the video conferencing market will grow an average of 12.1 percent YoY from 2018 to 2023, representing a $13.82 billion industry within the next few years.

In recent months, Lifesize, a company that has been in the video conferencing space for the last 16 years, has had a surge of activities in APAC. SI Asia took the opportunity to find out more from Daniel Lee, Vice President of APAC Sales, about the company’s offerings and its plans for the region.

SI Asia: How is the APAC region performing for Lifesize?

HP and Dimension Data, contributing to both companies’ expansion in ANZ.

We are already generating more than 60 percent of our revenue outside of North America, which is quite uncommon. This is mainly because we have a very strong team in EMEA that accounts for quite a substantial amount of revenue. With regards to APAC, we are growing very strong, but in terms of percentages, I will say APAC is still not as large as Europe. We hope that the growth momentum of APAC will be able to continue and catch up to the momentum that we have already built in Europe.

Adil Khan has been named Country Manager for India and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Khan joins the company after multiple years directing Polycom’s enterprise and managed services sales team in India as well as a previous stint managing Cisco’s video and telepresence business following its acquisition of video conferencing provider Tandberg.

Having said that, I am pleased to share that we have experienced a strong year-over-year rise in revenue across APAC during the past six months, highlighted by 123 percent growth in Hong Kong, 55 percent in India and 51 percent in Singapore.

Sherman Lee has been appointed Country Manager for Korea, bringing more than three decades of engineering, sales and business development experience at enterprise software companies, including Autodesk and Mentor Graphics. Most recently, Lee led partner development for data protection and information management software vendor Commvault.

In addition, a surge in interest from hundreds of new APAC distributors and partners has resulted in a 200 percent increase in deals registered.

Additionally, Lifesize has hired a new Country Manager for Japan, Tom Okuda, who only started with the company on June 3rd.

The success of Europe actually gave us a lot of insight about how Lifesize should revamp itself in Asia-Pacific. We’ve hired industry experts who have a lot of knowledge and understanding not just about enterprise video collaboration but also about cloud-based video conferencing.

SI Asia: Daniel, you have been with Lifesize for only 10 months. Can you highlight what are the other recent appointments within the region?

In recent months, David Russell joined Lifesize as Country Manager for Australia-New Zealand (ANZ) after leading Nexon Asia Pacific’s unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) business unit for the previous six years. Earlier in his career, Russell also held management roles at © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

Lifesize Icon 700 offers 4K resolution

Since October 2018, Lifesize has more than doubled APAC employee headcount and the company expected another estimated 30 percent growth in that metric through the first half of 2019 to support Lifesize’s expanding presence in Australia-New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Northern India and Taiwan.

INTERVIEW SI Asia: What is fuelling this growth spurt?

Lifesize was the first company to offer high definition video conferencing systems, and at one point in time we were the only ones who actually offered the entire end-to-end solutions that included hardware and MCU on the infrastructure. In 2010, our founder Craig Malloy foresaw that the entire video conferencing industry was going to move to the cloud. I would say that he was one of the few executives in the video conferencing market that actually saw where the industry was heading, early on. With that foresight, the company aggressively researched and developed solutions that would integrate with the cloud.

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competitors out there talking about 4K camera resolution, when you start to do video conferencing they are not able to deliver 4K. They can only do 1080p.

To provide a true 4K experience, it needs to be from acquisition to delivery. You need to have both ends in order to achieve 4K video conferencing. In order to do this, Lifesize built an entirely new media infrastructure across seven different regions. In APAC, we have one region in Singapore, one in India and another in Australia, and we will continue to look into the right growth areas to spin up more infrastructure to support our 4K resolution.

SI Asia: Security is a key issue. How does Lifesize ensure that?

For the first generation of our video conferencing solutions in the cloud, we partnered with IBM SoftLayer. That was almost six years ago and since then our number of customers has ramped up aggressively.

As a company, we continue to innovate and evolve.

R&D is in our genes. From being the first company to offer high definition video conferencing 10 years ago, we have done it again by offering the world’s first cloud-based video conferencing technology that can deliver true 4K video conferencing together with content sharing – all in 4K and all powered by the cloud.

We believe that we are at least two years ahead of the curve compared to our competitors.

Our 4K quality and the ability to use the power of the cloud has contributed and continues to contribute to our growth spurt.

Security is key. It is always our top priority, as you do not want someone listening to your traffic through the open internet. Lifesize solutions are enterprise-grade, so all our visual and audio communication for video conferencing is encrypted by default. We don’t allow anyone to turn off the encryption, in fact.

“Lifesize remains committed to building our service atop secure open standards like WebRTC, ensuring enterprise-grade security controls are turned on by default, and conducting business on a foundation of transparency and trust with our customers.”

As our CEO Craig Malloy has previously stated, “Lifesize remains committed to building our service atop secure open standards like WebRTC, ensuring enterprisegrade security controls are turned on by default, and conducting business on a foundation of transparency and trust with our customers.”

In addition, as mentioned earlier, our cloud runs on AWS, which provides a host of added security benefits, including best-in-class network firewalls, robust compliance controls and 99.9% guaranteed uptime delivered through highly secure data centres around the world.

- Craig Malloy, CEO, Lifesize

What is happening now is that our customers who have been using our solutions for the past 10 years are ready to refresh and take advantage of our latest offerings. This has obviously contributed to our growth as well.

SI Asia: Daniel, tell us more about Lifesize’s 4K competitive edge.

For cloud service, we now partner with Amazon Web Services (AWS), which enables us to scale up and scale down dynamically to be able to meet the requirements for a quality experience for our clients.

More importantly, I would like to emphasize that we are different from the other cloud-based video conferencing technologies. We offer complete end-to-end solutions including our own cameras, codec and Phone HD speakerphone systems, which is something lacking with other vendors. Although there are a lot of other

I would also like to add that we push firmware updates to customers.

We do not wait for them to update meeting room systems themselves. As part of that service, we encourage our customers to set the proper timezone of their location when they’re doing setup.

This enables us to push the updates during non-office hours. And then once they are back to the office, they automatically have the latest firmware update with the latest security protections. So there really is a reason why we are considered enterprise-grade.

(Ed note: Read more about Lifesize security enhancements in the boxed up column)

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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INTERVIEW

SI Asia: Talking to customers, what has their reaction been?

SI Asia: Daniel, what else is Lifesize working on?

Our 4K Icon meeting room solutions are making a strong impact on customers. Our customers immediately recognise the beauty of 4K. Some have even commented that it feels like the person on the other side is actually in the room with them.

We are continuing to invest in enhancing our web, desktop and mobile applications for an even better experience for our customers. And our amazing R&D department has started to incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning in the background. For example, at our recent partner conference held in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam where we had more than a hundred partners gathered, we showcased our mobile app. This app helps you look for an available room for your video conference call. Once you find the room, you just need to click ‘Start’ in our app and the conference will begin.

We had one client who specifically requested for us to display a spreadsheet through 4K content sharing. One look at how the small details were captured so sharply was all it took for them to confirm their switch to our solution.

It’s that, it’s our security, our offer of a complete end-to-end solution and of course our strong customer support service. If there is ever an issue, because we offer the full solution, the client only needs to call one vendor. That in itself is a strong advantage that our customers have taken note of.

To further reiterate, with our cloud capabilities, it is easy for clients to scale up without worrying about capital infrastructure. They understand the huge advantage to them. We actually help them to offload all their infrastructure burden to the cloud. Once they have a good network, they just need to connect and work, as all the traffic is already encrypted and we are able to cater to as many rooms as they want.

Customers have also enquired if we are able to work with third-party solutions such as Cisco and Polycom. This is generally because they are looking to progressively change their systems. We do have these features called third-party device registration whereby we can register endpoints like Cisco or Polycom as part of our cloud so that they can still use their own legacy systems but join our cloud infrastructure.

SI Asia: Tell us more about your integration with Microsoft Teams and what is different from what other video conferencing companies are offering?

I would say that our integration with Microsoft Teams has enjoyed a lot of attention from Microsoft Gold and Silver partners because our integration offers them a seamless experience, and it is getting even better.

Unlike what is offered by other video conferencing companies where their integration still uses the Microsoft back-end, when customers use our Teams integration, they are using our Lifesize Cloud, which gives them a better experience. For example, with Microsoft backend, users are limited to a maximum of four people on display. You cannot see the rest. With our integration, they are able to see 10 people and the rest are shown on a participant list. We are able to support up to 300-way calls overall.

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

A next phase we are working on is related to The Lifesize App voice activation. Through the app, the user can search for an available room. Upon entering the room, the user can greet the Lifesize system. Once the system recognises the voice, it will start searching on the back-end for that individual’s calendar. The system is then able to inform the user when their video conference call is due to happen and ask if he or she would like to use the specific room for the conference. All that happens without touching anything!

In essence, we are helping to create a seamless total experience for customers, not just in terms of visual and audio quality but also in being user-friendly.

Last year we created a task force and they came up with a new product that we have named and released as Lifesize Share. This was in response to customers highlighting that they would like to do away with a dongle that enables them to share their screen. The concept of Lifesize Share is to allow wireless connectivity without the need to plug in any dongle. Once you are in the meeting room, you access the browser and it searches for wireless Lifesize Share solutions that have been installed in the office. If there is a Share installed in the room, you just need to click once and a four-digit code will be generated to pair your laptop to the system. Then, you’re all ready to share content or windows. This is another unique way we are helping customers have a better experience.

INTERVIEW

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Securing the Last Mile

Lifesize ensures comprehensive, secure video conferencing for their customers by layering on:

Make any room a video-enabled collaborative space with Kaptivo running on a Lifesize infrastructure

We also have an integrated solution with our technology partner Kaptivo. Kaptivo devices can be installed at the top of a normal whiteboard. The camera automatically captures the four corners of the whiteboard and all that is written within the space, including different colour pens used. That visual information is captured real-time and is sent across as crisp written and drawn content for discussion in a video meeting via Share. The Kaptivo equipment is connected to our infrastructure and is a reasonably-priced solution that is much more cost-effective than a fully interactive whiteboard.

Our strategy in partnering with Kaptivo is to make as many rooms video-enabled as possible. No matter the size of the room, collaboration will be happening and we offer a plethora of solutions to help you cross the digital collaborative divide effectively.

* End-to-End Encryption by Default:100 percent of communication on the Lifesize platform is secured by enterprise-class, 128-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption for media and TLS (transport layer security) encryption for signalling. By default, every Lifesize customer’s connection is encrypted using single-use encryption keys. Additionally, since Lifesize was architected from the ground up using WebRTC, which mandates secure connections, every call — either through their native apps or browser-based web applications — is secured without exception. * Secure Data Storage: Recording and playback of Lifesize meetings is encrypted using 128-bit AES while in transit and 256-bit AES while stored. User passwords are always encrypted, and no plain-text passwords are stored in the cloud. * Secure Authentication: Lifesize integrates with and supports leading single sign-on (SSO) providers, including Okta, Microsoft Azure Active Directory, OneLogin and Ping Identity, allowing IT administrators to easily configure user permissions and enforce password refresh and complexity requirements, reducing the likelihood of successful credential stuffing or other end user-focused attack methods. * Meeting Security: Lifesize virtual meeting rooms (VMRs) can be secured, requiring a password to gain entrance to a meeting. Meeting moderators can also easily access a full list of participants and remove individuals, should the need arise. Customers also have the option to use “disposable” one-time meetings to prevent unauthorized guests from joining meetings using details from a previous invite.

Lifesize at InfoComm Orlando

SI Asia: Daniel, any parting words?

We are offering a better video conferencing experience with peace of mind to boot. www.lifesize.com

* Firewall/NAT Traversal: Lifesize architecture keeps Lifesize room systems and client software safely behind existing firewalls and manages firewall traversal through Lifezie global calling nodes. Thus, Lifesize does not require any firewall ports to be opened inbound from the internet, nor is there a need for static public IP addressing or complicated static NAT and port-forwarding firewall configurations. Organizations can maintain their existing perimeter posture and protect users and devices from SIP and H.323 nuisance calls that are common on the open internet.

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Indian AV Industry: Going Places, Inside Out

By Ram Bhavanashi

The Maths and Science of Audio-Visual Adoption Taken to Scanner Yes. To say ‘going places’ is staid; it is out. Saying ‘inside out,’ fits the bill. Riding on the wave of rising purchasing power parity, increased focus by global manufacturers, renewed enthusiasm among their Indian arms to stretch into countryside, a new level of appreciation for ‘standard’ credentials, AND an automated realization among administrators- all are apparently making Indian AV go places, inside out.

SI Asia, In this special edition, seeks to present a perspective.

Ambedkar Museum

Precursor - Amusing For a regular observer of AV dynamics, periodical surveys about the industry’s performance is often boring. “It’s like reading in the newspaper columns about companies’ financial performance quarteron-quarter,” a close friend of this writer felt. “It’s all about numbershow much one did last year, how much is expected next year, from what activities, how many do it, and a capping SWOT,” he said. “Is that all? Does it help?” he wondered.

In a lighter vein banter, the other member in the trio quipped. “He always hated maths. He rather likes science- the science behind a thing, moving or not moving.”

Amusingly, that put a stop to an otherwise regular exercise of devising a dozen queries, chasing people out of their emergency client meetings, tender filings, boarding flights, and jammed mobile networks (the latest technology in-thing!). While this writer went about the routine till the other moment, the brief interception of ‘maths vs science’ gave out to a new reckoning: Find out just ‘what’s latest, and why it is so!’

With that effectively easing out the ever-challenging task of chasing people to fill out the infographic material, we went on trying to capture the ‘latest in-thing in the country,’ and probably the science (read factors) behind it.

We noticed the following: • Increase in ‘purchasing power parity (PPP)’ in the country resulting in increasing tendency on AV spending • Increasing focus of global AV majors on the country © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

Sai Teerth

• Increasing enthusiasm among Indian AV firms (both sellers and buyers) to stretch country side- tier-II and III territories • Increasing attention by solution developers/providers to attain hither standards AND • Increasing focus on spreading digital living by administrations How is it all increasing? Nothing static or decreasing? Came the obvious intrigue.

Of course there are, they are. However, it’s good to begin with positives. So here are the increases first.

Rising PPP Rising Industry Stakes Inevitably, we need to speak numbers, but little.

According to Trading Economics, India’s (GDP per capita) PPP has been on a constant rise for the last few years, and reached an all-time high in 2018- from US$4451.2 in 2010 to US$7100 in 2018, and is expected to trend around US$7300 in 2020.

According to yet another study, India’s PPP is third highest in the world- next only to China who top ranks with over US$23,000, and USA who is close with US$19,360. India took post a distant third with over US$9,000, that it is almost double that of a distant fourth in Japan speaks of its rise in the global economy.

That is taken to be a positive factor influencing the growth of the industry. How? The ‘science behind this maths’ is reflected in such simplest things as

COUNTRY FEATURE Retail AV, and some subtle things like Enterprise AV. It is quite evident these days in the country that every little occasion is an ‘event’ to celebrate. Fairs and festivals, product or concept promos in shopping destinations, and even weddings- everything is a case for AV business.

“Thanks to the growing NRI community, even middle class wedding these days are big takers of AV,” said an AV vendor. “They install large LED screens, rope in studio-class broadcast cameras, and stream the proceedings live, across the continents even as the Skype App works constantly,” he said. “And we speak of the like of Robbie Williams and Nokia 5Gs going intercontinental; we see both in the same league.”

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begun building ambitiously scaled Customer Experience Centres for a whole big reach across the SAARC markets. AV gear major KRAMER has done it long ago, HARMAN made one post-AMX acquisition, Crestron followed suit, and Extron too did it Bengaluru last year.

The Christie space includes the Clean Room

Christie Digital went one step ahead building its “Clean Room” – said to be second only to one at its Canadian headquarters – aimed at catering to rising service-support requirements from rapidly increasing digital cinema business. This, in addition to its own kind of spacious, and swanky CEC. Dandi Kutir Interactive Zone

LED business, and Digital Signage industries stand to be the biggest gainers from the trendy living in these transformational times.

Networking industry too has been gaining significantly due to the streaming business opportunities.

While that gave a measure of how Indian AV was progressing, “2019 has been a year of new reckoning,” says an observer.

On the Enterprise level- the rising PPP has been giving them more business options to the extent that they have been tending to spend on audio-visual technology means towards furthering their connect with customers. Even a small time business entity in a tier-II or III today is going for conferencing set-ups on their premises. Emergence of wired and wireless gadgetry has also been contributing to these companies and territories to embrace AV technologies.

While conferencing set-ups has been an unwritten prerogative of SMEs across the country, Auditorium building has been a most vibrant and dynamic commonality for companies, academic and religious entities across the country side. All this, due to their ‘capability to buy AV of their choice’- either by discretion or fancy.

Yamaha Executives at the press conference to reveal their India Made keyboad

Global OEM’s Focus on India

The biggest exemplification of this phenomenon has come in four global AV majors setting up ambitious ventures in India. Yamaha Music India Pvt Ltd., the musical instruments arm of Japanese giant Yamaha Corporation has shown a fascinating sign for the future when it opened a manufacturing plant at Kanchipuram, near Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The musical major will roll out its popular keyboard ranges from the plant.

While this has been happening for some time, it actually picked up an increased pace in the recent times. Most AV manufacturers have

Set-up under the Make-in-India initiative, the company has already launched a made-in-India keyboard PSR 1500.

On a vague estimation, at least 500 colleges have been upgrading their AV set-up every year, an even number of auditoriums are builtsome of them in a very ambitious scale. All this is a new fortune for the AV industry- either mapped, or unmapped.

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COUNTRY FEATURE

Even before Yamaha plant came up near Chennai, the Southern metropolis had already turned host for American audio major ClearOne’s India office. While it is essentially a sales and marketing venture, there is a likelihood of the centre playing a role in some R & D activities of ClearOne.

consultancy agency ihD has opened its India office in Bengaluru recently.

Going Out Country Side This has been a fascinating revelation. Most AV manufacturers in the country have been aggressively tapping the Tier-II and Tier-III territories in the country. With saturation of AV markets in metro cities and high-urban places interestingly coinciding with vastly emerging markets in Tier-II and Tier-III regions, those territories have turned the greenest pastures for AV solution developers and providers.

The Boardroom at the QSC Customer Experience Centre

QSC has recently opened up what is said to be one of the largest Customer Experience Centres in the country. The CEC is again equipped with all that QSC is characterised with, and is built on a scale to cater to the entire SAARC region.

Coming on close heels is American networked AV solutions major Biamp setting up its India office in Bengaluru.

The Case of Indian Manufacturing

LOGIC’s CEC showcasing LED solutions for Control and Command Centres

The most fascinating development though is the LED Display manufacturing foray made by Bengaluru-based AV solutions major Online Instruments. The company has not only upped its manufacturing credential under its LOGIC brand recently with LED display manufacturing, but also set-up what it calls ‘India’s largest Customer Experience Centre’ in Bengaluru.

The CEC demonstrates diverse solutions developing capability of the manufacturer.

The message is clear. Indian market is growing; there are increased gains from and for Indian AV. So much so that, international AV © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

Kramer conducting its SNYAPSE conference

Kramer, evidently ranks top in this pursuit having evolved its own proprietary brand programme of Synapse that is being taken to as many as 10 tier-II and III cities every year. The three-month-long ‘goto-market’ initiative, launched only last year, travels to as many as 10 cities in the country- Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Bangalore- with the Garden City being the culmination point of the whole.

“The very theme of SYNAPSE itself is “Connect, Collaborate, and Conquor,” quipped in Bharath Kumar Allur, Managing Director of Kramer India. “It’s like convincing people through those intense focused networking,” he chipped in immediately. “It’s simply going to their doorstep, not waiting or asking them to reach us, and explaining to them what we have done and brought to make good their market standing,” he explains.

The SYNAPSE has been a great experience for Kramer, maintains the India chief. “It’s been an immensely fulfilling exercise for us.

According to him, ‘while India has been an exploding market with immense potential emerging from hitherto unknown terrains, not everyone from those regions can reach out to tradeshows and roadshows in metro cities to know what is on offer. “So, we stand to know about them. That itself is a big gain,” Bharath explains. “It also helps us capture their impressions about our solutions; we employ that feedback to improvise our offerings and thereby stay closer to the market expectation, if not right on spot.”

COUNTRY FEATURE Audio majors like Sennheiser and Harman too are known to conduct roadshows in different parts of the country trying to tap those markets.

A new vibrancy of entrepreneurism from primarily hospitality, entertainment, healthcare and education from the tier-II and III regions is taken to be the hot and up-for-grabs sort.

“In fact the most ambitious auditoriums of the country in the last one/two years have come from the hinterland,” observed an analyst.

Interestingly, even distribution majors have begun to conduct roadshows to value add their business in distant places.

Digital India Drive While this has been the talk of many platforms – advocates and adversaries charting their lines – the country has been witnessing increased thrust from both Central and State Governments, as also regional councils and administrative bodies.

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That there is a decisive policy directive for digitization of various government institutions such as judiciary, higher education, science and technology, space research, defence and security in place, and that Modi 2.0 Government is apparently bullish on the phenomenon, it is taken to contribute to increased adoption of audio-visual technology deployment- across the government machinery.

THE NAGATING THINGS… “For every good thing, there are ten detracting things,” they say.

The best exemplification of this is Modi 1.0 government’s most ambitiously launched SmartCities programme. Launched amidst a huge amount of hype, the initiative hasn’t apparently progressed as intended- thanks to a multitude of factors led by ambiguity amongst the implementers themselves, let alone takers.

Dholera Smart City, Gujarat, in the making

“Despite spending so much of time, money and publicity mechanisms, there is still a high level of ambiguity on the very definition of a SmartCity,” is a serious critic’s say. “That is because there still so much lack of knowledge,” he maintains. “While administrators have not been able to define various aspects of the concept, the understanding levels among Indian takers is vastly different from those in advanced cities.”

On the other front, reluctance of AV firms for funding and encouraging their workforce to upgrade their skillsets – with a misconception of the employees’ leaving the job soon after acquiring skills – is seen as a big deterrent.

While most AV players have been going agog about tier-II and III territories, the users and buyers in those regions not really informed about the ‘standards of AV’ the providers normally roll out stands to spoil the whole enthusiasm of country-wide AV adoption.

Rajasthan pursues digital governance

While the Government of Rajsathan took truly awe-inspiring digital strides – setting fascinating models for the country to follow – some other governments such as the two Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been aggressively pursuing digital governance and AV-synchronization of their tourism industry.

Price wars, undercutting, and often the reportedly dubious instances of ‘cartelization’ stand to dampen the otherwise promising opportunity that Indian AV poses to the world.

So, that’s both maths and science of AV?

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Catalysing Growth by Audio-Visual Sensitization Needless to say, global AV’s apex representative body AVIXA is arguably the one pivotal organization endeavouring for wider and better implementation of audio-visual technologies across the globe. In tune with its global pursuit, the organization has been playing an important role in furthering the cause of AV in India.

SI Asia catches up with organization’s Regional Director for IMEA Gaurab Majumdar to know their take on Indian AV industry.

Excerpts:

solutions to the door step of users. That activity too has a role in the growth.

SI Asia: We see AVIXA getting more and more aggressive in recent times towards promoting the cause of AV in India. What role you think AVIXA has been playing?

GAURAB: Being the only Pro AV not-for-profit global trade association, we have the responsibility to create a mature AV market in India.

I would like to thank AVIXA members in India for supporting this cause. Education creates sustainable growth for every industry and AVIXA is primarily focused on this. Our association is committed to the advancement of Indian AV industry. We do undertake several programmes to further our objective to sensitizing the markets towards realizing the importance of AV. SI Asia: In a very generic tone, how has the industry progressed in the last five years?

GAURAB: The Pro-AV market in India appears to be growing at a very encouraging rate. The studies conducted by AVIXA revealed that the industry has doubled up from US$2.6 billion to US$5.4 billion in four years from 2012 to 2016, and is expected to reach US$8.4 billon by 2022.

SI Asia: Most people talk about Tier-II and Tier-III cities for AV industry growth. How do you look at that?

GAURAB: Yes, in the last five-six years, we have noticed good growth for the industry in tier II and III cities, otherwise only metro cities couldn’t cover 6.5 billion current market.

SI Asia: What specific factors you think have influenced that growth?

GAURAB: I feel that a fair level of awareness among the users in these Tier-II & III territories about AV communication technologies have created a momentum. Clients and End Users now appear better informed on how AV can make a difference in their businesses. Also, majorly the Government’s initiatives such as Digital India, Smart Cities, airports modernization have been contributing to the cause of AV to a good extent. While corporates have been increasing their spending in Smart Boardrooms, implementation of Smart Classrooms projects in Education segment have also spurred the growth.

Interestingly, AV manufacturers too seem to have realized the potential in these territories which is why there has been in increasing momentum among them conducting roadshows- taking their © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

SI Asia: What specific initiatives did AVIXA bring to place till now (in recent times)? and what programmes are in the pipeline?

GAURAB: AVIXA (formerly InfoComm International) has recently celebrated five years of operation in India. In the last few years, we have seen substantial increase in the number of AVIXA certified professionals as well as enormous increase in the demand for membership in India.

AVIXA has been engaging with AV community through diverse formats of trainings, seminars, and road shows. As known to most people in the industry, AVIXA’s flagship project in India, the InfoComm India show (www.infocomm-india.com) held annually in Mumbai, is the only Pro-AV show for India and it is THE market place for the industry.

With a view to furthermore catalyzing our activities, AVIXA has created the India Advisory Group with leaders from the AV industry, and also formed AVIXA Women’s Council to empower and encourage more women in the idustry. This year, AVIXA has introduced in India the AVIXA Award Programme that recognises and celebrates outstanding achievements of individual AV professionals (www.avixa.org/awardsindia19).

AVIXA also regularly engages with Central and State Government agencies, federal and regional associations as also the chamber of commerce to create more awareness among the indusry ranks about our initiatives. With the support from our members, I can say that AVIXA plays a curcial role in creating awareness and educating End Customers about benefits of harnessing AV technologies. Gladly for

TOGETHER, WE CAN CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE EXPERIENCE THE WORLD. AVIXAâ„¢ members believe audiovisual technology can change how people communicate and experience the world.

Find out how top AV companies in India are using AVIXA membership and resources.

Visit avixa.org/membership2

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The delegations of AVIXA on left, and NABET (National Accreditation Board for Education and Training) on right exchanging the Memorandum of Understanding document on NABET’s accreditation for Avixa’s CTS programme in India.

us, more and more Governmental, Institutional and corporate clients have been engaging with AVIXA- which is a very positive indication on our efforts and prospects for Indian AV.

urban infrastructure, but also accelerate advancement of segments like banking, retail, education, tourism, hospitality, business, and healthcare, besides segments like defence and security.

Perhaps, not out of place to mention here,that we recently accredited for the first time the AV Excellence Provider (APEx) credential to an Indian company. APEx is a company accreditation programme that will help the industry in India to further mature. We also work on creating awareness of this programme amongst end customers, so they understand the importance of choosing AV providers with well-trained staff.

SI Asia: What’s the biggest challenge? How have you been addressing it?

GAURAB: I feel there is a major need for acquiring skills. AV firms must focus on encouraging their workforce to acquire professional skills by various means and methods available so that they become more productive. The importance of certification has come lately. Still, many AV companies in India are reluctant There is a major towards training their employees as they falsely fear need for acquiring skills. these employees might leave the companies for better prospects.

AV firms must focus on

Another important initiative we brought on with respect to India is we have lowered membership and certification fee to make them more accessible to individual encouraging their workforce However, gladly the Box selling approach is and enterprise members. We have also to acquire professional skills slowly giving in to solution selling approach. We lowered our training fee for members. encourage all AV companies in India across the by various means and Furthermore, we are now encouraging eco-system – whether they are manufacturers, IT methods available so that students to join the industry upon and AV systems integrators, dealers/distributors, they become more graduation. This in a way helps us build new design consultants, rental/staging companies or generations of AV-versed professionals for productive. end-users – to become AVIXA members, so they can future. This may be a subtle way of addressing take advantage of the many benefits that the organization the long challenging issue of dearth of skilled/trained/ offers. certified professionals for the industry.

Most major companies have already engaged with us; still there are SI Asia: What is the biggest strength of Indian AV industry, as you many others who are yet to get into the fold. see it?

SI Asia: How do you look at the quality standards of AV deployment GAURAB: Increase in India’s purchasing power parity, and in India? What specific areas do you see improvement, and discernment among people to understand and appreciate the use of persisting challenges?

AV. That will spur the industry growth. A measure of understanding GAURAB: Standards established by AVIXA now set benchmarks for the AV communication technologies will not only help boost the quality and consistency in AV project implementations throughout efforts of creating more and more modern cities and develop © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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AVIXA is pretty active in India: (Left): One of the Networking programmes; and (right) Training programmes

the country. And those standards – working synergistically with the benefits of AVIXA’s CTS certification – not only help companies manage the project better, they also manage the outcome. Including the only outcome that counts: the assurance of best service to the customer.

Unfortunately, AV global standards are not always and consistently followed in projects sometimes. This is a major challenge towards sustainable growth. Adhering to AVIXA industry standards will help the international companies win global projects in India.

SI Asia: Do you think MODI 2.0 government is a positive factor for the growth of AV industry in the country? if yes- why, and if NOwhy?

GAURAB: My personal feeling is that after 2014, we observed ‘Digital Technology’ in India becoming majorly important. With AV communication technology forming an integral part of digital technology, we have also seen the increased demand for proper professional training and for professional certification. I feel happy about the ‘digital blackboard mission’ implemented by the present government.

Having said that, there is also a need that the Government give proper importance to AV technologies as this can bring more global investment, jobs, increase in growth of tourism and create major thrust to Digital India programme. If I may suggest, proper training and capacity building for smart classroom implementers be included in the draft Education Policy of 2019. AVIXA will be happy to help Government agencies to draft standards and guidelines for such programmes.

SI Asia: There have been commendable instances of E-governance, but NOT Smart Governance. your comment?

GAURAB: I feel it takes time and patience to embrace something new.

Government E- Marketplace (GEM) is one of the Smart Governance programmes which is coming to limelight now. Though India has traversed a long journey, which is visible through its improved ranking in ease of doing business index and initiatives like e-biz portals, single window clearances in multiple sectors, the country is still plagued by a multitude of issues confronting a dynamic implementation of Smart Governance framework.

SI Asia: Is today’s AV buyer - at Tier-I, II or III – more informed than what they used to be earlier? in what specific sense?

GAURAB: Evidently, Internet has helped users and clients a lot to learn about different specifications of AV products and solutions.

Manufacturers also have educated them about different solutions.

Some generic knowledge has also helped them to be smart in their choices, but they do lack proper guidance for implementation of their projects. This is essentially because of their lacking in knowledge of standards (such as checklist) to verify whether the vendors have implemented the system as per global guidelines. That is one challenge where we both need to work on.

SI Asia: Would you please list three important factors that contribute to genuine and sustained growth of AV industry in the country?

GAURAB: • Certification of the AV professionals.

SI Asia: The much hyped-Smart City programme initiated by MODI 1.0 government doesn’t appear to have taken off as intended! Your comment? and why?

• Educating End Users on ‘the science behind technology’

GAURAB: We need to understand the definition of SmartCities.

Technology is not only the key factor in the SmartCities. After so many years of Independence, at least now we are thinking of livable cities. Government in the first place took commendable steps in e-governance and waste management. Investment in technology will follow. AVIXA members are already engaged in many SmartCities projects.

www.avixa.org

• Implementing global AV standards in system design and integration

S

I A

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Building Aesthetix Excellence for User Experience Bengaluru-based AVSI Becomes India’s First ‘AV Provider of Excellence’ That Indian AV is going places may be an oft-said staid statement. But an otherwise ‘just-in-the-league’ firm working out its strengths and competencies, and coolly notching up an internationally acclaimed AVIXA certification of AV Provider of Excellence (APEx) is the latest statement that speaks about where Indian AV is going.

Bengaluru-based audio-visual firm Aesthetix recently achieved that prideful accolade recently, and SI Asia is quick to capture the essence of it. As part of our India Country Feature, we present this ‘building excellence’ thought process.’ Read on.

Manoj Kymar of AVIXA (right) presenting the APEx Certification to Sudan Mylsamy

SI Asia: Upfront, congratulations for the achievement. What does it mean to Aesthetix?

SUDAN: Thank you for the wishing. For Aesthetix, this is a milestone that encourages us to pursue more avenues and opportunities to build excellence in terms of what we provide to our clients, and how we service them. The acclaim is the effort of team work, and it is for every member of the company.

SI Asia: Do you see it meaning anything to you personally?

SUDAN: It’s gratifying. As the head of the company, any achievement for the company is like a matter of gratification for me; it is heartening to know that Aesthetix team believes in the philosophy of constantly bettering ourselves in what we do, and the results have come in such a gratifying fashion.

SI Asia: Do you see it meaning anything to the industry you work for? How would you describe it?

SUDAN: If there is any take away for the industry from this, then it would be that acquiring expertise in the realm of services we provide, and subsequently implementing them on the job will ensure that we are held in higher esteem by our clients. That would perhaps contribute to change the perception of the industry in general where © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

Client Excellence Center for a global IT solutions and services Client

the notion of “good enough to go by” is taken to be widely prevalent.

If this particular achievement contributes that change, then it is another gratification.

SI Asia: Aethetix company as such, is taken to be keeping low profile for some time. How is this sudden and prideful accolade? How would you explain this?

SUDAN: One of our objectives as a company is to ensure that our clients along with our partners flourish as an ecosystem. We’ve been reasonably successful in doing that, and most occasions we are happy letting our installs speak for themselves, and thereby about our work, than we doing it ourselves. So, it’s not that we have been keeping a low profile or suddenly aggressive as to chart acclaimed positions. We have been continuing to do what we believed in, and it just happened as part of the same process.

SI Asia: What made you pursue it?

SUDAN: We didn’t set out to pursue APEx in the beginning. For us, it was initially about having the team well educated and equipped with the necessary skills. Naturally, AVIXA’s certifications, which are brand agnostic, are perhaps the best way forward and we got going. As we collaborated more with AVIXA and with our own team members,

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Townhall Cafeteria for an Energy and Petrochemical Client

we noticed that some of the criteria were already being met by us. For instance, the processes of implementation, verification and documentation as per AVIXA standards were already in place.

Having seen the synergies, we figured out that we could pursue APEx, and we went about examining what else we needed to bring in.

SI Asia: Having decided to go for it, how did you make it possible?

SIAsia: APEx is not something that can be made possible by set of changes or implementing a few processes. The parameters needed to achieve APEx ideally ought to be present in the organization from an early stage itself; else it can be an intimidating task. Fortunately for us, as I mentioned earlier, we were possibly half way already there when we reckoned it, and the rest of it involved process implementations, checks and balances, certifications etc.

the modus operandi was only fine tuning and nudging things along one step at a time.

SI Asia: We see today’s Aesthetix as a significantly different from what it appeared a few years ago- would you please explain the transformation process?

SUDAN: Yes, under the earlier management one of the primary strategies was market and client acquisition, and it went about the task, spreading geographically. It was good in a particular perspective.

However, after I took over the reigns, I preferred to put our Customers at the centre of all our actions, taking their comfort and trust with us as our primary responsibility. It might seem a bit clichéd but I believe for any business to thrive, getting these fundamentals right is the way to go.

SI Asia: What other aspects did you bring to place to qualify/merit the prideful Certification? please explain....

Having said that, I wouldn’t term our new journey until now as sedate; it was more of a measured and cautious approach at times but driven by our strong resolve to move forward one step at a time.

SUDAN: Honestly speaking nothing in particular as such, but essentially a thought process to guide the organization in the direction. I would like to think my primarily role – besides ensuring that I was certified myself – was to encourage the team and make them see value in APEx in more ways than one. Once that was sorted,

Adding to this is our trusted ethos- with each person at the helm of respective areas bringing their own set of values. This transformation in our ethos and our teams’ approach to market is reflective of what we believe in, and working in concurrence towards – ‘building excellence.’

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Client Excellence Center for a global IT solutions and services Client

VC and Collaboration Room for a Data Software Clien

SIAsia: What particular brand value you think the APEx tag will bring to Aesthetix ?

This may not have a certification or accolade associated with it but it is our strong belief that ‘user experiences’ drive businesses. Also, this is one area that doesn’t have a constant, and keeps on rising up as we move in time and technology. It is that passion – to create constantly better user experiences – that drives us.

SUDAN: Established clients who reckon the importance of AV as quintessential for their infrastructure recognize the value of APEx, and that always helps in our endeavour to be their choice AV Integrator.

For others, we hope it contributes to their understanding of our competence.

SI Aasia: What particular responsibilities do you think the certification will add to Aesthetix work profile ?

SUDAN: I think it is simple. We need to maintain the standards that the APEx vouches. Need to make our work profile reflect the essence of the certification at every stage of our expression. It’s a responsibility to live up to what APEx entails.

SI Asia: What is the next big thing that Aesthetix is aiming at?

SUDAN: The next big thing in our ideation, so to say, is our focus on ‘User experience’ and on bettering the value we provide to our clients for the solutions that we design, install and deploy. If the solution deployed is intuitive and robust, we think it will ensure a user experience, and will go a long way to qualify our value for the clients.

I’d like to have a special mention of our team members who brought in so much value to aid us in this process – Sudheer Mani, our Sales Head; Karthikeyan S, our Design Head, and of course, the rest of our senior team.

SI Asia: How about the ‘Notional 2020’ – taken to be a perfect vision – with Aesthetix?

SUDAN: I opine that being perfect may be an unrealistic endeavour to seek. However, the passion, and resolve to build excellence which we stand for, is an avenue we wish to get better at and look forward to working towards this vision of ours in 2020.

Lastly, I think I cannot over stress the importance of having a great team backing your vision for the company. I’m thankful that we have a team that is willing to walk the talk; it understands that excellence in what we do requires discipline, dedication, hard work and at times it can be unrelenting. For instance, Sudheer Mani, our Sales Head, is pretty much involved in most of the avenues that impact how we engage and deliver our solutions to our clients. Having resources like these is an asset. Having the right team requires investment of time, effort and naturally there is a monetary aspect to it but the return we receive when having the right team is priceless. www.aesthetix.in

“The next big thing is our focus on ‘User Experience’ and on bettering the value we provide to ourclients for the solutions that we design, install and deploy”.

Sudan flanked by Karthikeyan and Sudheer Mani © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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A New ‘LOGIC’ to Indian LED Display Industry

Like its newly-joined dominant segment of IT, Indian AV sector has long been taking the painful charge of not having a dynamic manufacturing model to qualify its prowess on global scale. While there have been a case here and there, they haven’t been so demonstrative as to exclaim the ‘arrival’ of one. However, it appears the scenario is changing steadily.

Online Instruments – the Bengaluru-based multi-faceted AV major – recently added one more fascinating feather to its cap. Putting market foresight, aggression, and competence together, the company had not only forayed into LED display manufacturing business under its LOGIC brand but also set up in Bengaluru a very ambitiously scaling Experience Centre that is said to be one of the largest in India.

The world-class Experience Centre – as it looks like – practically demonstrates almost every possibility in LED display business- from digital signages of different kinds and applications to seamless 90-degree video walls to complete home theatre application with 3D cinematic set-up.

As soon as the visitors enter the CEC, they are upfront greeted at the reception with a Welcome signage on the left, while the panels behind the Reception desk display the ‘LOGIC’ of the CEC. Next to the Reception is the ‘demo board’ of diverse applications that LED displays can get into. Displayed intuitively, they seek to explain what all the LEDs can do.

The WOW factor begins right up, with a virtual sky signage atop the space, while a interactive robotic kiosk ‘welcomes’ the visitor, into taking a virtual tour of the facility. The visitors can speak to the robot, or key in their credentials to the screen on its chest, and begin the journey.

Beginning from the left of the Reception, are a Client Briefing Centre, with a large LED screen facing crescent shaped seating area. The seating area is also backed up by rows meant for smaller displays of

various pixel pitch ranges. The one on show was to demonstrate the difference between HDR and non-HDR. Moving along the left of the space is a yet-to-be fine tuned Corporate Boardroom facility, but immediately after that is another WOW factor- the transparent digital signage. The beauty of this signage is that the exterior surface of the panel can be explored of choicest signage, while people from inside the signage surface can see the outsiders, and continue to work as usual.

Facing this transparent LED display is another fascinating display- the 90-degree LED, standing perpendicular. Adding to the WOW factor is the 3D-equipped Home Cinema set-up using the LED screen for image display. Designed as if for discerning corporate clients wanting to entertain their guests in leisure, the set-up here is characterized by the 3D AV environment.

Next to the Home Theatre is the large LED screen aimed at Command and Control Centres. There is also a way-finder kiosk in the same place, signifying use of LED panels for wayfinding applications in retail, education, and transport destinations etc.

(left) Client briefing centre, with large LED screen; (right) behind the seating area in the client briefing centre showing panels of non-HDR and HDR difference © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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Large LED Video Wall aimed at Command Control Rooms, Network Operation Centres etc. Observe the wayfinding LED kiosk in the front- aimed at retail, transport destinations, and education campuses.

The CEC also demonstrates certain other retail signage possibilities such as objects kept on the sensor, are immediately projected on to the screen, giving away all its specifications.

Shivanand Mahashetti, Online Instruments’ Managing Director shares his vision and views about what apparently is seen to bring a new ‘logic’ to Indian AV manufacturing.

ON WHY Online Instruments had to foray into LED Displays manufacturing/ Business…

Global Display market as also the technology is evolving at an exponential level. As the demand for digital visuals spikes, people in the business must always keep upgrading their offerings to fulfil the customer needs, and stay happy with them.

The Active LED display technology took to the industry with very large basket of applications, and several advantages over the LCD-based Video walls, projection and edge blending technologies. Quite unlike other existing display technologies, this format is not bound by any limitation with respect to size and / or shape.

With the emergence of outdoor advertisement segment, the very definition of LED took a new connotation and expression. Perhaps the biggest advantage of LED advertising is its attention-grabbing capability- perfect for any type of event from festivals to fairs to events.

Given that background, the LED Display business potential is so immense that it is taken to be pervasive. We have foreseen the

business potential, and putting our manufacturing competence which already made its mark decided to step into a new vertical.

Under this new vertical, we will be providing integrated display solution to the End User and other SI partners, in general.

ON WHAT competencies has Online Instruments brought to place to manufacture LED Displays…

As one of the major AVSIs in the country, we have been providing LED display-based solutions to our clients for few years now. In the process, we gained an in-depth knowledge about this technology right from designing the product to development, devising solutions, implementing and servicing. Working hard for over three years, we built a very strong team with proven domain expertise to take this initiative forward.

While we are fortunate to have a large clientele in enterprise as well as channel business, our recent install projects with large LED video walls have been talk of the industry- which gives us the confidence that we can be a potential stakeholder in the LED manufacturing domain.

ON WHAT components manufactured locally, and what components are outsourced or ‘contract-manufactured’…

At the moment, we are designing the products locally, and getting it developed through contract manufacturing in China. We do have an

(Left): The ‘Virtual Sky’ signage at the Reception; (right) the LED screen in the Client Briefing Centre © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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Transparent digital signage in action

in-house manufacturing facility, and we did intend to manufacture on our own. However, the economy of scale hasn’t permitted, as it required a certain quantity of manufacturing to be able to satisfy production cost and market price- which ironically is not there currently.

Having said that, we want to emphasize our resolve to manufacture LOGIC Displays full-scale locally in near future. We see the demand for these solutions growing at increasing speeds, we hope the demand soon reaches a level of satisfying the market dynamics.

ON WHAT pixel pitch ranges are the Displays manufactured with…

Currently, they are manufactured with the lowest pixel pitch of 0.8mm and highest pixel pitch is 13mm for indoor category. However, the highest pixel pitch varies depending upon the requirements sometime.

In the outdoor LED Display category, minimum pixel pitch is 4mm and maximum pixel pitch is around 20mm. It’s, however, a very vast range, as showcased in our website.

ON TWO war scenarios of pixel and price for LOGIC brand positioning…

As far as technology is concerned we standing shoulder to shoulder to all the big brands. In fact, in few categories we have introduced some very unique feature-rich display products. They are futuristic and open new vistas of display business.

While we have all the ranges of pixel pitch LEDs with us currently, the edge we believe we have is the affordability of our solutions. They are very competitively priced, without compromising on quality.

ON THE WOW factor at Experience Centre done on a grand scale…

Perhaps, the simplest answer is ‘we believe in the concept of “seeing is believing.”

At our modest best, LOGIC DISPLAYS’ being a new brand on the market, we understand customers may not upfront feel confident

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

about our competence. The best way to make, and help them gain that confidence is to demonstrate the competence. The very nature of the business being “display”ing, we decided to make it the grandest way possible.

More, as we are introducing many distinct category products and fascinating possibilities for future, we thought we demonstrate the solutions rather than mere products- all under one roof which needed a large space to justify our full array of solutions, with future possibilities. That being the ideation, we needed to create concepts for every segment like retail, corporate, government, entertainment, and also ‘discerning designer spaces-’ - which is why LOGIC DISPLAYS today expresses itself through ‘India’s largest Customer Experience Centre’ with a holistic demonstration of solutions and future possibilities.

ON ANY understanding with other majors whose products are weaved in at the CEC… As we are showcasing solutions of diverse nature in a realistic scenario, we wanted to create an experience of a working prototype to the clients. Appreciating the thought process, many brands have joined the cause- which is why people get to see in-action brands like Cisco, QSC, Clearone, RGBLINK, Crestron, Bose and Harman.

That effectively helps us create packaged solutions to discerning clients.

ON THE investment made in the business…

Sizeable investment, so to say. It justifies the time and money being spent on qualified manpower for the presales, sales, services and brand building activities.

Just only as curious spec, over 1 million USD have been invested on the CEC alone till now. More, the CEC as it is, is planned for technology up gradation once in every six months- which makes it even more significant. www.logicdisplays.in

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Supporting Customers with Right Tools for Success QSC Opens Expansive Experience Centre for SAARC Region in Bengaluru In what is seen as a fitting statement of Indian AV’s growing stake in growing competence, American major QSC has become the newest multinational enterprise setting its direct presence in India, with an expansive Experience Centre in Bengaluru. With both its infrastructure and intent being demonstratively ambitious, the Centre’s spread is aimed at catering to entire SAARC region. SI Asia interacted with QSC India’s Managing Director Rajesh Mittal recently, to know what the AV&C solutions major is up to from the initiative. Excerpts:

SI Asia: The new QSC office is so vast and expansive. Any particular reason for that?

RAJESH: When we decided to build our new office in India, we had two things in mind: provide a world-class work environment for our employees, and build a space to host customers and allow them to experience QSC solutions first hand. Keeping that in view, we evolved an office model that meets both the objectives. While the interiors are treated with different communicative wall finishes of QSC’s focused areas, the office is equipped with complete Q-SYS Ecosystem of audio, video, control solutions, Premium Business Music mixers, amplifiers and loudspeakers, besides a dedicated training and demo room facility.

This office spread and set-up provides a well-equipped vehicle for product training initiatives, and a world-class venue for consultation and collaboration with customers and channel partners from across the SAARC region.

The combination of both these aspects seeks to meet expectations of a desirable and collaborative work environment, and inspire innovation. As we proceed to recruit new talent to realize our growth objectives, incorporation of our leading edge technology demonstratively, in an ambience like the way we did can not only help our team to be more efficient, but also inspire innovation!

continues to show significant growth year over year. As a crucial part of our international growth strategy, this new dedicated facility also includes sales and marketing, business development, and a 24x7 technical support for Q-SYS systems deployed in this region. With this new dedicated training centre, now we are also able to offer in-region trainings including Q-SYS Level 1 and Level 2 certification courses, Q-SYS Control certification, Q-SYS Architect and TouchMix trainings.

We also intend to offer in future training programmes for our Cinema customers.

SI Asia: This Experience Centre is to cater to the needs of entire SAARC. How does it handle those regions from here? Does it have enough competencies in terms of human talent strength and infrastructure?

RAJESH: We have in place dedicated sales and technical support team to help our distribution partners across our three businesses throughout the region. Infrastructure- you saw, it is for all industry fraternity to see and experience. It meets all the expectations of a discerning customer.

The main focus of QSC India team will be to develop business opportunities with End Users and, at the same time, equip our Partners with the right tools to grow their business, deepen customer relationships and realize profitable growth.

SI Asia: What specific functions does QSC intend to perform from this vast and multi-faceted set-up?

SI Asia: What vertical and segments are more promising and challenging? And why?

RAJESH: This new office is designed to support our Systems, Live Sound and Cinema businesses for the entire SAARC region, which

RAJESH: For QSC Systems, corporate market will continue to be a top priority, and where we see the most growth potential in the coming

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The Workspace: Defining work

years, specifically medium- to large-size conference rooms and training rooms. Unlike anything in the market, the Q-SYS Ecosystem offers integrators an end-to-end component portfolio, including processing, networking, audio, video and control capabilities in one software-based platform. This native approach to AV&C offers the ability to replace dedicated video and control processors with a single, integrated solution, while also bringing along the ability to easily scale up as and when more features are required- all this without the need to add additional units of hardware or complex programming.

This unique aspect of the solution makes it all the more compelling proposition for any discerning AV designer/user, and we hope it takes us forward with strength and success.

SI Asia: Would there be any R&D or manufacturing activity from this Centre in near future? If so, of what specific type and level?

RAJESH: Currently, all R&D activities are and will continue to be through our corporate headquarters in Costa Mesa, California. The Q-SYS development team, however, sits in our office in Boulder, Colorado. So, the Experience Centre in Bengaluru will essentially be a sales & marketing, training, technical support, and solutions demo centre. We do not see the R&D possibilities here.

SI Asia: In what specific ways woud this Centre contribute to improvising the Indian AV industry, in general?

RAJESH: India has always been a strong region for QSC and with this new SAARC headquarters, we are now able to demonstratively advocate the use of software-based AV&C systems and change the way integrators design, build and install systems. The Q-SYS Ecosystem is really the only truly integrated audio, video and control platform built on standard off-the-shelf IT hardware, allowing it to easily integrate with other IT platforms. This opens the doors for our Partners to collaborate with not only integrators, but worldwide enterprises looking to effectively connect anywhere from 1 to 1,000 conference rooms or more to the network.

SI Asia: Having done this, what is QSC’s next immediate priority?

RAJESH: Our next priority is to work directly with our customers and channel partners to provide the tools they need to be successful.

With the dedicated team and infrastructure in place, along with a comprehensive Live Sound, Systems and Cinema product portfolios, we can offer an increased level of support, and contribute to our customers’ overall success.

The Q-SYS Platform Demo Centre

www.qsc.com © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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Yamaha Opens Factory in India for Musical Instruments

(from L-R) Rehan Siddqui, Business Head-Musical Instruments; Takashi Haga, MD Yamaha Music India Pvt. Ltd; Masayuki Imanishi, Director Sales & Marketing; Hisayoshi Matsui, GM Musical Instruments;

Japanese Electronics manufacturing giant Yamaha Corporation recently opened its manufacturing facility in India for musical instruments. The Yamaha Music India Pvt. Ltd.’s factory – located at Kanchipuram, some 71 km from Chennai – is fully geared up to produce the full line of Yamaha Musical Instruments.

Takashi Haga, Managing Director, at Yamaha Music India said “Yamaha Music India is proud to present the keyboard built for India and built in India. Under the “MAKE IN INDIA” initiative we have designed and created the most versatile and customized portable keyboard for Indian customers till date.”

“India, as we know, is a land of diversity,” the MD said. “ The new keyboard will address the requirement of customers ranging from West to East and South to North.”

The Yamaha top exec thanked the Government of India for its support for setting up the plant saying “a journey which started exactly two years back has finally taken shape; we wholeheartedly thank the

Government of India, Government of Tamil Nadu, departments concerned, and also our internal implementation team who have supported us at every step to fulfill this dream.”

Yamaha Music India will not only produce its equipment for the Indian market but make India its major export hub. The company plans to upgrade its factory as and when required depending on the growing demand.

Yamaha Music India Ltd. launched its first model from the plant the PSR I500, which is an ideal portable keyboard for Indian music lovers. A vast collection of onboard Indian instruments (Voices) and auto accompaniment function (Styles) covers a broad spectrum of Indian music genres from every corner of the country. Functions like ‘Quick Sampling’ are designed to assist users to perform in a variety of situations. In addition, the PSR-I500 features a number of lesson functions including a built-in Tabla/Mridangam and Tanpura function called ‘Riyaz,’ to help you learn how to play songs or traditional Indian Raga scales.

The PSR I500 consists of 801 instrument tunes, of which 40 are of Indian instruments. The keyboard also has a variety of instruments from Pianos to Synthesizers, making it possible to play songs from a variety of genres which ranges from orchestra classics to electronic dance music. The instrument is the ideal portable keyboard for music lovers. www.in.yamaha.com S

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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Unique Technology deployment Deployment in in One One of of the the Most Ambitious Government Installs

A New ‘AV Science’ for Agri Research

by Ram Bavanashi

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) – the apex governing body of agri research and animal sciences in India – is quite a name in the field and world. Deeply rooted into its ground with many a credential, the institution recently implemented at its NASC campus in New Delhi what is said to be its most ambitious technology embracement ever, and one of the largest and most unique AV projects in the country.

AV gear major Kramer Electronics, and visual solutions leader Christie Digital – along with Delhi-based Systems Integrator AV Science & Technologies – had a major role to play in the massive install project that also had many others sharing the honours.

This issue of SIA prides its privilege to present this prestigious install, as its COVER STORY this time.

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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FACTFILE

The Roots & RITES… Project name

: ICAR Auditorium

Project location : NASC Complex, Pusa Campus, New Delhi Project segment

: Government

Project Install : Multipurpose Convention Centre Project owner :

Project operator The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) – an autonomous body working under the aegis of Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India – is an institution with rich reach and repute. Founded as Imperial Council of Agricultural Research in 1929 under the Imperial (British India) Government, it is the one of the oldest in the country.

With over 100 ICAR institutes and over 70 Agricultural Universities from across the country, besides numerous associated agencies working under its umbrella administration it is also one of the largest agricultural systems in the world.

The vision of the institution – as specified by its Vision 2030 Document – is to ensure food and income security for all, through technological innovation and sustainable agriculture. As part of this vision, ICAR constantly engages itself in deliberations and interactions not only within its umbrella network, but also outside with various international agencies and representatives.

Playing a very pivotal role in the institution’s pursuits is its very own National Agricultural Science Complex (NASC)- a sprawling 22-acre ensemble of diverse, multi-dimensional facilities including a huge Symposia Complex, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and several such others.

ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research)

: ICAR / RITES Ltd.

Project overall budget : ₹135 Crore (US$19.6 million) Project AV cost :

₹ 14 Crore (US$ 2 million)

The complex, being an interactive platform for most national, international institutes, Agricultural Universities, other public sector units engaged in promotion of agricultural research coordination, is occupied throughout the year with conferences, symposia and other activities.

The enormity of these activities arguably required an expansive technology network that can enable the pursuits of intended activities for desired results. ICAR administration therefore decided to create an all-powerful, multi-dimensional facility featuring futuristic, yet userfriendly, technology architecture.

In tune with the mission, ICAR roped in RITES – a Government of India-owned multi-disciplinary consultancy organization for physical infrastructure – to help realize its objective. Appointed as Project Management Consultant, RITES, which enjoys a prerogative of being PMC for almost all Government of India infrastructural projects, thus helped ICAR to create a sizably big, four-story establishment that cost agri body a whopping ₹135 crore approx. (US$19.6 million approx).

The all-important Auditorium: (left) View from its centre of the Main/Front Audi; (right) view from left, with the left hand side audi masked. © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS • • • • • • • •

The RHS (right hand side) Auditorium. Observe the creation of dedicated stage and podium, as also the ceiling-mounted projector.

Having built the edifice, the next immediate task was to weave in a technology architecture that would stand the demands of future even as it meets the current requirements on a ‘UN-grade’ conferencing (a high-quality technology ambience that is seen at conferences of United Nations).

Top AV Brands at ICAR • • • •

Post due diligence with the RITES – following the tendering and bidding processes – Bengaluru-based AV design consultancy firm 3C Design Networks was appointed Consultant for designing AV and multimedia systems for the entire project, while New Delhi-based systems integrator AV Science & Technologies (AVST) landed the project for ‘supply, installation, integration, testing and commissioning of audio visual and conferencing system’ for the multipurpose facility.

• • • • • •

“This project is not only prestigious, but also unique for its very nature,” observes Mradul Sharma, Managing Director of 3C Design Networks. “This is perhaps the only Convention Centre in this region with such variety and diversity of spaces- a 1200-seat auditorium, divisible into three independent smaller auditoria; meeting rooms; training rooms; banquet space and conferencing space spread over different levels,” he said, “and all of them with a centralized AV distribution and control system.”

Says Gopi Ram Malik, Managing Director of AVST: “The project is one of its kind. Having multiple facilities under one single roof is one big feature, and wanting to have centralized distribution of AV is the other.”

According to the SI, the beauty of this centralized facility is that it is tasked not just to control but also to distribute AV feeds by means of three Control Rooms on three floors. Any audio or video feed can be initiated from any of the three, and can be distributed as per the requirement.

The RITES team, led by its General Manager S K Mishra, deliberated with the Design Consultant and the Systems Integrator on mapping © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

A 1200-Seat Auditorium, divisible into three separate auditoria of 400 seats each Four lecture-cum-training halls of 400 seats each Three conference halls Twenty-language interpretation provision Two indoor LED Video Walls Centralized Control and Streaming provision Complete wired & wireless distribution, AND Thirty five km of cables running all through the edifice

• • • • • • •

Behringer: Active Monitor Loudspeakers beyerdynamic: Wired/Wireless Microphone System Bosch: Audio Conferencing System Bose: Line Array Sound System, Amplifier, Digital Signal Processors etc.

B-Tech AV: Mounts for large video wall in Main Auditorium Christie Digital: 4mm LED Video Wall System, 20K WUXGA, WXGA Projectors Dell: Computer Systems Draper: Motorized Projection Screens Extron: Streaming appliances Kramer: Switching System, Twisted Pair Transmitters/ Receivers, Touch panels, Wireless Presentation System, Centralized Control System & Cables etc.

Lumens: PTZ Camera System Netgear : PoE Network Access Polycom: Video Conferencing System Ruckus : Wifi Networking System Samsung : 220-inch video wall, LED Professional Display System SoundCraft: Audio Mixing Console Valrack: Equipment Racks

the design theme based on the requirement as given by its client ICAR. The four-story Convention Centre in general comprised a 1200-seat multi-purpose auditorium, four lecture-cum-training halls of 400 seats each and three conference halls ( two 75-seater and one 25-seater).

The audio-video technology deployment – as mapped by the client, and its PMC – had to comprise:

•

Three separable 400-seat auditoriums within the large, 1200seat convention facility

INSTALLATION

• • • • • •

Four lecture-cum-training halls of 400 seats each Three conference halls Centralized AV Control and Streaming provision A Twenty-language interpretation provision Two indoor LED Video Walls- one large screen on stage and one medium screen for stage occupants, AND Complete wired & wireless collaboration

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PROJECT CONSULTANTS Project Management Consultant

: RITES Ltd.

Project Structural Design Consultants : CRN Consultants Project Architects/Interior Designers : Aadharshila Designs Pvt. Ltd. Project AV Consultants

: 3C Design Networks

Project System Integrators

: AV Science & Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

The Design Philosophy

“The idea was to replace the one-way audio capture with the twoway interactive conference microphone system,” explains Gopi Ram. “Accordingly, the conference delegate buttons were added.”

“Each space across the three floors required modularity, interconnectivity and close monitoring (given the criticality of events conducted there),” explains Mradul. “We, therefore, adopted a design philosophy of having centralized distribution and control of AV system, not just within the floors but also between them.”

Kramer Backbone: While the permutations and combinations are pretty common in installs of this massive scale, there is one single spec that ran to, perhaps, an unprecedented scale- the cabling!

“The project as a whole has over 100 video input sources, and an even number of output displays with a mix of sources from PC, VC, Wireless, Cameras, Blu-ray, Digital Signage etc.,” the SI explains. “The displays comprise different technologies and resolutions such as a 4mm-thick, 8m X 5m LED video wall, 220-inch video wall, differently sized individual displays, with 4K resolution, and more.”

The spec of the large Convention auditorium to be divisible into three equal capacity auditoriums also required some specialty act of genius not only from the viewpoint of back-end AV system, but also on how the sound and video systems to be designed to support individual and combined modes of operation.

“Guess how much cabling it might have required!” he throws up an intrigue. “Over 35 km of cabling of different types and lengths for different sources,” he further adds. “Imagine the challenge of laying such a lengthy cabling across four floors, and ensuring all the input/ output sources work seamlessly. No easy task, that.”

More, the initial design as per the tender was a point source audio system in the Main Auditorium. However, with a view to scaling up the audio impact, it was upgraded to Line Array System. Similarly, in the remaining two left-hand side (LHS) and right-hand side (RHS) auditoriums, the audio capture solution was changed from headphones to conference microphones.

A thing of statement here for the vendor too- Kramer Electronics, for landing such a ‘lengthy’ credential! In fact, it is not just the cabling that the AV gear major prided in; the entire gear of switchers, receivers, transmitters, extenders, scalars, and even touch panels for the whole project install are staked out the Israeli AV major.

While the requirement of technology deployment was itself huge, the client specification for varied programming made it all the more challenging.

Apparently, Kramer’s 4K solutions form the AV backbone to the entire facility comprising multiple conference rooms, auditorium, seminar halls, and control rooms. Few 32x32 4K Matrix switchers, along with connected 4K modules enable seamless presentation.

“The ICAR project is one of those rare opportunities that every OEM prides in,” observes Bharat Kumar Allur, Managing Director of Kramer Electronics India.

“It is, of course, one of Kramer’s largest projects in the country, which we are glad about; but more than the size, it is the scaling that makes it all the more prideful for us,” he explains.

The Cental Control Room for the Auditorium

Notwithstanding the immensity of challenges in ‘pulling’ it through, it is one grand exploit, says the Kramer exec. According to him, ‘this © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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particular scaling stands the brand singly on one side, against a multitude of other brands of audio and video.’ “This doesn’t happen every time,” beams in Bharath. “We are happy we landed it.”

“The philosophy of the project design and install, is fully futuristic,” observes the Kramer India chief. “The current install done with such an immensity will stand the project in good steed for at least five years to come; it can easily take any new technology coming to place, without needing to upgrade.”

The science behind choosing one single brand for such a vast basket of solutions is simple, simple, says the AV Science Chief. According to him, “when such a wide variety of I/O sources and wireless collaboration points are to be connected, it is wise to have one brand in place. “For, multiple devices coming from the same fold sync with one another very well; the chances of their failure are almost nil,” he reasons. “If we choose different brands and makes, any disconformity between them while in action may end up in disaster. Why would we hazard it!”

Moreover, Kramer is brand that doesn’t need to be spoken or feel wary about, commends the SI. While Kramer has had a very leading stake, it’s not the only one that scaled big in the install; there are indeed other majors such as Christie Digital, Bosch, and Bose, and not to miss out beyerdynamic and Samsung.

“The RITES ICAR project has been one of our most prestigious Public Sector Projects in recent times,” informs Rishubh Nayar, National Sales Manager at Christie. “The project is unique for both its size and scale, as also the technology deployed.”

Evidently, the main auditorium is characterized by a 8m X 5m video wall, carved with Christie’s popular Velvet Merit Series Direct Lit 4.0mm LEDs. That it comes with extremely high fill factor, and 1:1 aspect ratio, the brilliance of images

PROJECT CONTRACTORS Construction

:

Unity Ltd.

Electrical

: Asian Contracts

ELV

: MAC Associates

HVAC

: Asian Contracts

AV : AV Science &

Technologies Pvt. Ltd. PA/VA :

AV Science & Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Security

: MAC Associates

Other electronics

: Canara Lighting

TECH TEAM From Design/Architecture : Jyotimitra Raghuvansh / Mridul Sharma From Systems Integration : G. R. Malik / Harpreet Malik From Install team

: Manpreet Singh

displayed is promised to present an amazing viewing experience.

“The feature-rich Velvet Merit Series video wall with its 1:1 aspect ratio syncs with any design parametric, yet gives out stunning clarity,” explains the Christie exec.

The project also features as many as 13 projectors from Christie that include 11 high brightness 3LCD projectors and two 1 chip-DLP high brightness projectors.

The way the AV solutions have been designed and deployed, it is a future-proof install, commends Rishubh.

The Integration Ingenuity The ICAR Convention Centre – as it may be called – is by far characterized by its large 1200-seat auditorium that essentially spreads in two floors. Interestingly, while it was originally designed to be one single auditorium, because of its very high ceiling, it was ideated to divide it into three equal sized auditoria of 400 seats each, keeping in view requirements of smaller gatherings. Accordingly it was first divided into two halves, and second half remained in the ground floor while the first half got into the first floor.

The Main Auditorium stage with Christie LED video wall © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

The first half, therefore turned out to be the Main or Front Auditorium, the second half was again bifurcated into two equal halves with a partition space rising up to the first floor Main Audi and house the Central Command Control Room.

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The Training Rooms of different capacities. provided with projection system, display screens, and speakers and microphones

Owing to this structural amendment, the Main Auditorium got the flexible desk-seating like those in Senate Halls, while the rear auditioria – conveniently referred to as RHS (right hand side) and LHS (left hand site) – got fixed seating due to space crunch.

two occupants) while the RHS and LHS auditoria are have the DCN systems mounted on to the seats’ armrests. This, in a way, resulted in each seat with its dedicated microphone, unlike the Front Audi seating where they are shared by pairs.

So, while the auditorium looks in fine artcoustics (architecture and acoustics) in a nice blend of colours, wood and fabric, coupled with diffused lighting, the interior looks a bit amusing with the half-way point being partitioned- to create two smaller audis on one hand, and on the other, to make for an approx. 20-plus feet space taking the Central Command Control Room.

Another spec of interest here is that the RHS and LHS were originally designed only for headphones. However, with a view to providing two-way interactive communication, the spec was later changed to armrest-mounting microphones, recalls Gopi Ram.

The exterior of this space is fitted with a 220-inch LED video wall done with 4x4 55-inch Samsung UD55E-B Super Narrow bezel panels, and built at a height and sight angle as to ergonomically face the occupants of the stage.

Right below the video wall, and above the Central Command Control Room is one of the three Full HD Lumens cameras, with the other two going either side of the Front Auditorium. One each camera handles the video capture in the LHS and RHS auditorium.

The Front Auditorium with its desk seating, is equipped with Bosch DCN conferencing units with gooseneck microphones (one for every

The entire conferencing and language interpretation system with 20 languages have been configured with Bosch DCN solution.

German microphone and conferencing major beyerdynamic too speaks throughout the Convention Centre- albeit through its TG and BM microphone ranges. As many as 50 units of beyerdynamic microphone sets – capture voices in auditoria and training rooms in two floors.

The Main Auditorium features four units of GM 115 goosneck microphones for the stage occupants; six units TG-V50ds dynamic microphones for vocals; four units of TG i50d wired instrument microphones; and three units of TG558 UHF wireless body pack transmitters with lapel microphones, besides four units of TG550 wireless handheld transmitter with microphone capsule.

The RHS and LHS has two each of TG550 and TG550 units, besides one each of GM115 for their podiums.

The sound reinforcement is done by means of a cluster of Bose Professional ShowMatch Line Arrays for the Front Auditorium, comprising Bose SM20; SM10; SMAFT; SM20WG12; and SMAFMP. These Line Arrays were brought into the audio configuration replacing the originally spec’d point audio sources.

In addition, the sound set-up is also powered by eight numbers of Bose’s RoomMatch Utility RMU-108 stage monitors which are further augmented by four number of high spl Fill loudspeakers, with two each going into RHS and LHS.

The Samsung LED video wall above the Central Command Control Room in the auditorium facing the stage of Main Audi. © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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The Lengthy, Loadbearing Spec As many as 10 distinct audience spaces, and three control rooms, with over 100 input and even number of output sources of diverse size and scale, across four floors- all are laid on a backbone (twisted pair) cable network of single brand KRAMER. The AV gear major also took honours for entire wireless collaboration, switchers, transmitters, receivers, extenders, and scalers. That’s a commendable loadbearing.

For Vibhor Khanna, Country Manager of Bose Professional India, ‘It’s a matter of great pride to be associated with the ICAR-NASC project.’

According to him, a closely coordinated teamwork from both Bose technical design team, and AVST has produced absolutely stunning model of integration.

“I believe the ICAR auditorium at the NASC is a shining example of a truly adept and efficient performance space,” Vibhor commends. “It is a matter of great pride for everyone involved with the project, that the eventual result is nothing less than spectacular sound.”

While the sound department came up with a sound performance, vision department too shone in brilliance. The display component is characterized in the Front Audi by an 8m X 5m Christie video wall (mentioned earlier) while the same in both RHS and LHS is tasked to 240-inch Draper motorized front projection screens that can be rolled up into ceiling on combined events, and rolled down on individual events. These screens can be brought down by 12 feet, in keeping with the sight lines from the seating areas of the auditoria.

The projection component here is taken by one each of Christie 18,000 lumens D20-WU-HS DLP projectors for RHS and LHS.

Training Halls & Conference Halls Compared to the complexity of the three auditoriums, the training and conference halls – though running into multiple numbers – do not seem to be as challenging. The audio capture is tasked to beyerdynamic boundary microphones, and sound reinforcement is handled by Bose, while the display tasks are taken by Samsung displays.

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One of the Conferencing Halls, fitted with audio, video conferencing, display monitors, boundary mircophnes and ceiling speakers...

Redundancy: An important part of the design philosophy at the ICARNASC Convention Centre is the redundancy element.

“With a view to seamlessly getting the systems into action in an unlikely event of a failure of a node, we deployed 32 x 32 Kramer Modular Matrix Switchers in a redundant fashion,” informs Gopi Ram. “Similarly as many as 10 units of DSPs with Dante extension have been roped in for a failsafe audio distribution across the facility.”

Challenge OR Prestige!

“It’s both,” recalls Mradul. “The structural nature of the auditorium, and the design requirements makes it all the more challenging,” he says. “However, addressing such a challenging situation is a matter of prestige, and even privilege.”

There were, of course two challenges- one on the field, and the other, off the field. The on-field challenge comprised close coordination with all the teams involved in installation and testing before going to handing over to the client. The challenge posed as big as the edifice.

The off-the-field challenge was the client being a PSU, and a defacto technology standard, marrying both had its own set of things, according to the consultant. Using network-based design for signal transportation, control and monitoring was a key factor to identify such necessities.

Overall, the ICAR-NASC Convention Centre is a statement of audiovisual science & technology. www.3cdesignnetwoks.com www.avscience.in www.kramerav.com www.beyerdynamic.com www.bosch.in www.christiedigital.com www.pro.bose.com

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Event: SI INDIA AWARDS DINNER Date: 18 September 2019 Venue: At the Bombay Exhibition Centre Grounds Time: 6pm - 10 pm

The Grand Celebration of AV Excellence Beckons You For the Third Edition of

SYSTEMS INTEGRATION INDIA AWARDS Founding Partners

Foyer LED Partner

Organised by:

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Sound System Partner

Ofcial Media: INTELLIGENCE INTEGR ATED

SHYAMINDIRA M E D I A N E T W O R K S

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LED Stage Partner

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QATAR

Dante Over Fiber Optic Connectivity Added Significantly to the IC Live’s Suitability for the Project

Renkus-Heinz Makes Beautiful Sound a Walk in the Park at Katara Hills For the Katara Hills Gardens project, 15 Renkus-Heinz ICL-F-Dual-RDWR digitally steerable line array enclosures are fed by sound system electronics from LDA Audio Tech of Málaga, Spain, who collaborated with Informatica and Renkus-Heinz on the project. A close collaboration between Renkus-Heinz and LDA ensured a seamless and hassle-free integration of the IC Live Gen5 arrays.

“The loudspeakers were made with a custom colour, RAL 8016, to match the woody look of the trees on site and to try as much as possible to fit the speakers into their outdoor locations unobtrusively,” describes Youssef. The loudspeakers were mounted on poles located around the parks and were connected to a Dante network through dual ports with fiber optic inputs, thereby eliminating cable length limitations across the broad, open expanses.

The fact that Renkus-Heinz was the only loudspeaker manufacturer equipping their products with Dante over fiber optic added significantly to the IC Live’s suitability for the project.

Summer 2019 will see the opening of Katara Hills Gardens, a 606,000 square meter (652,000 square foot) waterfront development within the Katara village that features two parks containing jogging trails and other public recreational facilities. The parks needed a sound system for background music and announcements, so Katara Projects tapped Doha-based system integrator Informatica Qatar to design, supply, and install CCTV, AV, and background music systems. BOOM Construction was the general contractor for the project, and KEO International handled project construction management.

Informatica decided the best way to fill the large outdoor space with quality sound and a non-intrusive appearance was to install ICONYX IC Live Gen5 digitally steerable line array loudspeakers from RenkusHeinz. “Renkus-Heinz was chosen for its durability, especially under rough outdoor conditions, and also for their line arrays’ ability to cover large areas such as the park we are talking about here with very high-quality playback,” states Informatica Project Manager Ahmed Youssef. “Renkus-Heinz also has a strong presence in Qatar, with a lot of successful installations.” © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

The ICL-F loudspeakers were well equipped to meet the demands of the job. “The objectives for the sound system were to provide maximum coverage at a comfortable level for the jogging tracks and other walking and sitting areas,” Youssef explains. But the hilly topography presented challenges. “We needed to ensure uniform distribution of music in the park, despite there being different heights inside the hills,” says Youssef, “and the wind speed can be high in some parts of the year.” The ICL-F-Dual, however, combines two ICL-FRN modules, each equipped with five 6.5-inch cone transducers with powerful neodymium magnets, and three 1-inch titanium nitride compression drivers. This gives the ICL-F-Dual the ability to form up to eight separate beams with different coverage angles and throw full bandwidth (80 Hz to 20 kHz) sound at 105 dB SPL over distances of up to 30 meters (100 feet).

The sound system is generally supplied with audio from a client workstation, an LDA NEO8060S02, or an LDA RCD-21R multi-source audio player that incorporates a CD/DVD player, FM/AM radio, and USB and SD Card interfaces. LDA also supplied controllers, software, paging microphones, and other components that are located in the control room for the facility. Signal switching is performed by Cisco switches.

“The client is very happy with the system,” Youseff reports. “In fact, they told me they want to use Renkus-Heinz speakers in other new areas of the village as they get built.” www.renkus-heinz.com

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CHINA

Live Legends Design the Stunning Lighting and Visuals

One Third Hangzhou Gets Sweet with Robe

Hangzhou is the capital of the Zhejiang province on China’s eastern seaboard, and considered one of the country’s most prosperous areas. Its diverse nightlife scene has just been further enriched with the opening of a brand new One Third club destination, another of the NOA’s Arc Group’s premium entertainment ventures.

At the heart of designing the stunning lighting and visuals associated with the One Third identity is creative director Daan Oomen and his team from Netherlands-based Live Legends. They specified nearly 250 Robe moving lights to ensure One Third Hangzhou stands out in a competitive marketplace!

One Third Hangzhou is the third family member to be rolled out after OT-Kunming earlier in the year, a process that started with the launch of ‘mother brand’ One Third in Beijing.

The One Third vibe is all about the story of an old locomotive factory that comes to life. Live Legends delivered all creative elements from concept to execution, including show production, interior and technical design which included co-ordinating all the visual disciplines and optimising the guest experience with their usual flair and imagination.

With the One Third identity built on quality and reflecting a ‘gold standard’ in clubbing, Live Legends was asked onboard, to bring their extensive skills, knowledge and visions from the world of live events.

Having a ‘named’ European manufacturer associated with the main lighting fixtures is essential to the One Third brand architecture. © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

The Robe count is 246 in total, made up of 210 x Spikies, 130 x VIVA CMYs and six T1 Profiles.

The 2500 capacity club’s multi-layered main room design features a large balcony / with industrial style first-floor runways on the long sides. There is a mezzanine and 12 sizable VIP rooms. The main hall can host 2000 people for a standard club night, and the full capacity should they decide on a concert setup.

The inspirations for the lighting design were maintaining a continuity with the One Third narrative – lively, fun, energetic – and it needed to integrate with all the other visual aspects as well as being powerful, innovative and unique.

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Daan and senior LD Serge Patist chose to work with so many Robe fixtures because they were bang-on for getting the desired effects and because of their power, durability and impact.

LED screens extend the physical décor pieces, and these ‘windows’ enable the audience to be transported into a succession of other worlds.

The T1s are used for specials on the DJs and live acts appearing onstage, selected for their adaptability, good shuttering and excellent zoom.

Lighting is controlled by grandMA2, video via a disguise server and there is also a laser system with Pangolin control. All these plus the motion controller are integrated into a series of timecoded visual showcases that play out throughout the whole environment.

As the Spikie wall is a signature design element of the One Third brand, they wanted to integrate this iconic piece into the Hangzhou set, but differently and in an upgraded version. To make it more dynamic and eye-catching, the wall became a triangle.

The 210 Spikies make up one side of a hi-impact triangular-shaped rotating wall, which has LED panels mirrored on the reverse and can be flipped back and forth as the evening gets going.

The VIVAs are dotted around in the whole room, most on tracking beams. A U-shaped structural automation system in the main room transforms it into a train wagon-like space as the atmosphere ramps and the evening unfolds, carrying people into a great adventure.

The club is on the site of a former train station serving the Xiacheng area, which was demolished in summer 1997 as the capacity could barely cope with predicted future demands, so a new one was constructed instead.

A few years later, the local government instructed an architect to produce plans to reconstruct the whole area, retaining some elements of the old train station. The actual One Third building was an ancient foundry, which Live Legends turned into an old train factory for their narrative.

VIVAs are used for gobos and beam effects – those big all-embracing looks that can air-lift a room of people into another stratosphere. “We actually wanted to step away from the beamier club looks and the VIVAs give plenty of options on that,” explained Daan.

As with almost every Chinese club, the main room is filled with VIP tables as opposed to being an open dancefloor, however here the mid-section can be removed to create a full dancefloor / standing area.

There were several aspects of continuity with the original One Third Beijing installation, but One Third Hangzhou is much larger and more ambitious in scale, with enhanced technical features to WOW the crowds.

The Live Legends team’s delivery schedule included providing comprehensive training for all the house technical crew who look after everything day to day.

It’s intended that One Third Hangzhou will be another landmark for the city which has been awarded the 2022 Asian Games, is an emerging technology hub, home to e-commerce giant Alibaba and that hosted the 11th G20 Summit in 2016!

Live Legends is also expanding its horizons into music production and has just released its second single – the club anthem “Gone” produced for the One Third Hangzhou show set under the banner Live Legends Records.

Photos©Nico Alsemgeest www.robe.cz

These fixtures were also all selected for their strong LED lightsources.

Around 3km of RGBW LED strip is integrated into the lighting design mainly accentuating the shape of the room, with 300 small LED lights to illuminate the décor, plus around 400 1-cell blinders.

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DUBAI

Pulse Middle East Designs Multi-zone Sound with Different Requirements for the Bandwidth and Achievable SPL in Each Zone

TW AUDiO Keeps the Sound Flowing at Wavehouse

The latest addition to the entertainment outlets at Dubai’s Atlantis, The Palm Hotel is Wavehouse, a family-friendly entertainment centre which has been created on the site of a former nightclub. Wavehouse offers its patrons four bowling lanes, two floors of arcade attractions, a 13m high soft play area and a ProSlide Waverider surf machine as well as numerous F&B outlets, a sun terrace, mezzanine and a pair of live stages.

Wavehouse’s operator, Solutions Leisure, has had a long relationship with Dubai-based systems integrator, Pulse Middle East, relying on the company to handle the audio integration at a number of its other venues. As such, Solutions Leisure contacted the team at Pulse ME to create a comprehensive solution for the venue.

“The team at Solutions Leisure invited Pulse ME to come and have a look at a venue,” recalls Joe Chidiac- Managing Director, Pulse Middle East. “After the audio requirements brief, the team at Pulse ME presented a competitive and creative sound system to land the project and hopped on board with three months to design, install and integrate the sound system of this enormous space.”

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

Covering such a large and diverse space required a high-quality networked audio solution that would be able to adapt to the needs of the changing clientele throughout the day. The solution designed and installed by Pulse ME is based upon the qualities of a variety of different TW AUDiO cabinets.

“We were asked to design a multi-zone sound system where it’s possible to play any source in any zone, with different requirements for the bandwidth and achievable SPL in each zone,” explains Chidiac.

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“There are two stages – one inside and another outside. These zones in particular required a high dynamic range, for which we deployed T24Ns, backed up by an array of three B30s in the centre under the stage inside. Outside, we used five T24s to cover the whole area in front and to the back of the stage, along with four S33s for high output and pattern control.

being built in a matter of days. Constant site presence was necessary to ensure all the conduits, cables and supports were in place before areas were getting completed and closed off. There were also regular revisions to drawings based on site condition, in order to minimise visual/spatial impact of the sound system whilst maintaining consistent coverage throughout the venue.”

“The transition between the setups of bands playing on different stages, DJs or TV must be seamless,” he continues. “Therefore, firstly speaker placement had to be carefully considered to allow the whole venue to get adequate sound coverage considering an audio focal point of either stage. Then, delays and levels had to be set correctly for each of the three modes to change the focal point. With T24Ns used as the main speakers, we used T20s, M12s and M10s to provide high output coverage to the rest of these zones as delay speakers.”

The team also faced a challenge in setting up and tuning the final system. However, this is where the qualities of the TW AUDiO loudspeakers have proven to be a real advantage. “With the multiple operation configurations, the system had to be tuned three times,” reveals Chidiac. “With the TW AUDiO speakers, adjustments to equalisations were kept to a minimum as they sound great straight out of the box. This is particularly important when dealing with such a large multi-zone venue, as having to make large EQ adjustments to every individual speaker would be very impractical, messy and slow.”

Inside, further T24Ns have been installed, alongside C5 multifunctional loudspeakers while the restaurant areas are covered

by M8, M10 and M12 enclosures. “We used TW Audio speakers for their high quality, not only in terms of sound, but also build quality and longevity,” explains Chidiac. “Additionally, the speakers provide exceptional SPL output for their size, making them easy to integrate into a venue with minimal visual impact, as well as being a costeffective solution when compared to line arrays which may have otherwise been specified.”

As would be expected with a project of this scale, there were plenty of challenges for the Pulse ME team. “The sheer size of the venue was one challenge, meaning that cable lengths were a concern from the beginning,” recalls Chidiac. “We decided that it would be necessary to use two separate AV rooms in order to minimise cable losses and for reasons of practicality. Helpfully, the Powersoft amplifiers come with damping control to compensate for some of these cable losses and maximise damping of subwoofer drivers.

“The next challenge was the speed of the construction phase,” he continues. “This venue was built in a very short period of time. Site conditions were changing on a daily basis, with entire new floors

In total 63 TW AUDiO loudspeakers have been deployed across Wavehouse in an installation project that ran for just 12 weeks. With each model specifically selected to meet the needs of the area it was covering, Pulse Middle East has ensured that Wavehouse has the best possible sound.

“Everybody involved is thrilled with the outcome,” concludes Chidiac.

“Wavehouse turned out to be a great looking venue with amazing sound that serves all requirements initially requested by the client.

It was a challenge finding the best way to tackle this venue, but after planning it out, the team and I were so excited to see it come to life.

Wavehouse is a project we are very proud of at Pulse ME and believe will be a huge success and a true crowd pleaser.”

www.pulse-me.com www.twaudio.com

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CHINA

Over a Dozen Projectors Comprising the Christie Boxer, GS and Q Series were Integrated by Wincomn Technology

Christie Visual Solutions Deliver the Thrills at Guangzhou Sunac Cultural Tourism City

The façade of Guangzhou Sunac Cultural Tourism City

More than a dozen Christie 1DLP and 3DLP projectors deployed in the newly opened Guangzhou Sunac Cultural Tourism City are wowing visitors with vivid and lifelike images at two popular attractions that greatly enhanced the overall experience.

Known as “Rage of the Seas” and “Octopus Attack”, both attractions feature eye-catching projections accomplished with the Christie DWU850-GS 1DLP laser projectors, and Christie Boxes 4K30 3DLP projectors respectively. The projection design, installation and commissioning of all projectors in both venues were undertaken by Christie’s longstanding Chinese partner, Wincomn Technology.

“We’re very pleased to be involved in the projection design and deployment of projection systems for these highly popular attractions,

© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

widely seen as the flagship rides of Guangzhou Sunac Cultural Tourism City,” said Tony Chen, General Manager, Wincomn Technology. “Given the scale and complexity of the installations, we are of the view that Christie’s projection solutions are most ideal for use in both venues due to their proven performance and reliability in high usage environments. This sentiment is also shared by the theme park’s management, preferring Christie over the competition.”

Michael Bosworth, Executive Director for Asia Pacific, Enterprise, Christie, commented, “We are delighted that Sunac has chosen our high-performance and robust 1DLP and 3DLP projectors for its newest theme park in Guangzhou. The GS and Boxer Series are fieldtested and well-suited for use in high usage environments, where performance, reliability, ease of maintenance and cost of ownership

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are key. Kudos to the Wincomn team for delivering yet another spectacular installation which aptly demonstrates the strengths and benefits of our visual solutions.”

Visuals for the “Rage of the Seas” attraction is powered by Christie DWU850GS laser projectors

“Rage of the Seas” is an exhilarating rapids adventure that invites visitors to experience the ferocity of tornadoes at sea by combining a characteristic dark ride with sophisticated lighting, projection, audio and special effects. Among the most spectacular scenes of the ride are detailed projections of the raging tornado on a 13-meter high, 12-meter wide screen using nine Christie DWU850-GS laser projectors, which are ceiling-mounted and placed in weather-proof enclosures to repel moisture and humidity.

Featuring Christie’s patented BoldColor Technology for the highest quality images, lifelike color reproduction and reliability, the DWU850GS’s laser illumination source, low power consumption and 24/7 operation capabilities make it ideal for deployment in this highly demanding location.

reproduction and image quality, the 30,000-lumen, 4K-resolution Boxer 4K30 is designed for high impact live events. With the added benefits of single-phase power, omnidirectional installation options, and built-in Christie TruLife electronics for the highest bit depth and fastest frame rate, the Boxer 4K30 packs a punch in creating powerful and inspiring visual experiences.

In addition, several Christie DWU851-Q 1DLP projectors are fitted in the queue area of the “Octopus Attack” 5D theater attraction, allowing patrons to enjoy bright and vibrant images on the various screens during the pre-show segment, as they wait for their turn to enter the theater.

Christie DWU851-Q projectors are used in the queue area of “Octopus Attack” 5D theater attraction

The amazing visuals for “Octopus Attack” 5D theater are accomplished using Christie Boxer 4K30 projectors

Over at the “Octopus Attack” 5D theater attraction, visitors can enjoy a highly immersive visual experience presented by two Christie Boxer 4K30 projectors on a gigantic curved screen measuring 23 meters in length and 11 meters in height. Noted for its stunning color

Located in the port city of Guangzhou in southern China, Guangzhou Sunac Cultural Tourism City has a floor area of 220 hectares and is home to eight major zones, including Snow World, Water World, and Sports World. In particular, the Snow World zone boasts the largest indoor skiing resort in southern China. The mega attraction is estimated to lure 20 million visitors annually, further boosting the tourism industry in Guangzhou.

Photos courtesy of Wincomn Technology www.christiedigital.com

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INDIA

Weaving in AV Innovation with Functionality Analog Devices India Deploys Awe-Inspiring AV; Sigma AVIT Takes the Honours

By Ram Bhavanashi ‘However digital you go, you still need analog to experience digital’they say. More so, in our world of AV. Practically every wireless call, text, and data download today needs an analog device IC to go through to the destination. Such is the power of the format, and arguably so is the positioning of the company that champions the technology- Analog Devices. Playing a very decisive role in the dominance of the Norwood, Massachusetts-headquartered IT giant is its Indian arm- Analog Devices India.

When such a big impacting AVIT contributor does a technology deployment for efficient functionality, what might it be like? Read on:

The Story Precursor…

Analog Devices India (ADI) – the Indian arm of the Norwood, Massachusetts-headquartered Analog Devices – when it relocated to new premises in Bengaluru, wanted to have in place not a very fancy and ambitious technology statement, but something that runs as a standard across all the office spaces while being innovative and also user friendly.

While the Project team – led by a dedicated, in-house AV Consultant and a Technology Head – did have an idea of what it wanted it did not know where to begin and how to proceed.

“That we were coming from a legacy office that had a lot of unmanageable infrastructure in terms of technology deployment, it © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

was high on our mind to ideate just what we wanted for an efficient but smooth functioning solution, and prioritize our actions in the direction,” recalls Raghav Pillay Mohan, Senior Manager (Information Systems), at the new ADI establishment.

“Our basic premise was to create a standard, and stick to it all through,” he explains. “The user experience has to be just the same across the premises, irrespective function, size or capacity, such as meeting rooms, conference rooms, training rooms and so on. Second premise was easy manageability; it should not necessitate a dedicated person to be always on spot to manage it.”

INSTALLATION According to him, that ADI as such did not have an AV standard per se, it was paramount for them to evolve one- to work for now and be a standard for future exploits. To realise this objective, they had hired a very senior AV expert, two years ago, and started looking at how they could standardise their AV infrastructure.

The Project Team’s search for a suitable partner quickly zeroed in on the Bengaluru-based AVSI SigmaAVIT which is quite a name in itself, having some of the most awe-inspiring installs to its credit. “It’s like coming together of three teams,” informs Raghav. “Project Team from AD’s headquarter, Facility Team from ADI Bengaluru, and the Integration Team from Sigma.”

While the ADI Senior Manager is highly appreciative of what appeared to be truly commendable job by Sigma – so much so that the client is gearing up for the next phase too to be executed by the same AV solutions provider – it has also been one of the most prestigious projects for the SI. They were entrusted with the task of complete project design and build of the client’s AV environment.

Says Raymond V Soans, Director - Sales & Marketing at Sigma AVIT: “It’s a classic case of an ‘informed’ client explaining to the solutions provider what solution to pick and how to weave it in. They knew what to expect from us; and tasked us for the deliverables that included not just solution but particular set of AV gear that is on their preferred list.”

According to him, the client’s in-house

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FACTFILE Project Name: Analog Devices India Project Location: Bengaluru, India Project Segment: Enterprise/Corporate Project Owner: Analog Devices India Project AV Consultant: In-house (Analog Devices); Sigma AVIT Project AV Systems Integrator: Sigma AVIT Solutions Project AV Budget: ₹ 6.5 crore Project Commencement: June 2018 Project Commissioning: October 2018

“It’s a first time that Fusion Media was considered as preferred technology at ADI,” informs Raghav. “Because it was first time being brought in, there were challenges as to how to marry that technology with those existing in other ADI locations,” he recalls, “we were actually looking for someone who had the certified expertise to do that and Sigma AVIT exactly filled the bill.”

AV team from their head office in the USA set the guideline and functionality as a standard based on which the SI firm went about working out the deployment strategy, in tandem with the local Project Team.

Unfolding the Deployment Schematic…

ADI Project Team, with the user-based set-up running high on its mind, mapped the premises as to how many rooms of what capacity was required, and tasked the SI with evolving a feasible methodology.

Accordingly, three floors of the five-storey edifice – that the ADI establishment is – are spec’d for user-based systems with six, eight and ten-seat meeting rooms while the fourth floor was dedicated to house the Data Centre, and the fifth housing the Cafeteria and Town Hall set-up for occasions of large gathering.

As the Integration firm went about evolving the deployment methodology, the Project Team brought in the company’s preferred allegiance to certain brands such as Sharp and Crestron, besides a few others. Added to this was the desire to deploy Crestron’s Fusion Media as one standard network backbone architecture.

The Swing-Arm mounting solution, first in India, in action

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Project Scope: Integrating innovative, state of the art audio-visual systems, across the establishment as per the user-based, functional requirement- Training Rooms, Meeting Rooms, Boardroom, Auditorium, Caterria/Town Hall etc.

Project Highlights: Installing, for the first time in India – Swing Arm Mounting technology; Titus Labs Mic Mute / In Call system

Chips in Ashok Kumar R M, Sigma AVIT’ Regional Manager-South, and a member of the Project Team from the Integration firm: “The Initial plan was, of course, to install a conventional mount with the AV gear supporting from outside. But that would have not only stuffed the display tight into the wall, but also required a special rack space outside which would disharmonize the interior décor.”

That apart, the integration is also characterized by one Whiteboardequipped Meeting Room on each floor, an auditorium with some specialty fittings, and a large Town Hall on the top floor with some exhaustive AV set-up.

It’s not just the Crestron Fusion Media that is so characteristically woven into the integration. The AV deployment here is also characterized by two ‘first-of-its-kind-in-India’ technology formats:

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Swing-arm technology mounts from Chief, holding large flat screen displays from Sharp. The format allows the large display not only to pop out, but also swing in either direction up to almost 40-degree angle. All the meeting rooms across the premises are characterized by this feature Titus Lab Mic Mute / In call Sign system to indicate if an audio session in progress. Deployed in the Training Rooms, the system captures the sound when someone from the audience begins to speak, and glows in green

“We were looking for options on the display mechanism, something that doesn’t require hard-labour and easy to maintain,” Raghav recalls, “Sigma suggested deploying swinging display mounts which our people were actually sceptical about in the beginning,” he reminisced. “But the integrator brought in a really sturdy one, and that not only held the display intact but also offered very comfortable angles of view – beating the glare – particularly for those sitting near the display.”

That the display screen can be popped out from the wall groove, and swung in either way, it not only made it easy to maintain, including cleaning, but also provided enough space as to conceal the entire AV gear, including the Crestron Flip-top and Transmitter/Receiver combo.

Not even a single cable is visible hanging out.

More, due to its pop-out, and swinging flexibility, the screen can be moved in either direction thereby undoing the sightline effects of glare for those sitting nearer to the screen. © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

Naming of cabins: Indian Rivers and Sashtras give their names to ADI office cabins.

Overall, the AV deployment across the establishment comprised: • 20 Pax Boardrooms – 4 • Meeting Rooms (4/6/8/10 pax) - 29 • Training Room • Auditorium • Café – Atrium space • Reception Area • Work Café/ Pantry (Signage Monitors) • Whiteboard Room (Annotation Monitor) • Hobbiest Room The technology architecture is matched by a structural architecture that is characterized by a suave colour theme accentuated with a seemingly judicious mix of glass and metal. Interesting though, the spaces of AV are named after Indian rivers such as Cauvery, Narmada, and Bhadra, and traditional valour terms such as Dhanush (bow), Shaurya (valour), and Prahar (strike).

Integrating the AV Technology…

While the standard theme of user-based, functional set up flow all through the edifice, visibly large that the ADI establishment is, and technology specifications too being comprehensive, the systems integration does look expansive. Consider this:

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Training Room: These are larger than meeting rooms with somewhat larger specs of AV gear featuring essentially a 3500 Lumen Panasonic 1-Chip DLP laser source, ceiling-mounted projector PT-RZ370 aiming on to a Dalite 133-inch 16:9 motorised projection screen hung on the facing wall. A Crestron Digital Media DMPS3-4K Switcher/Control Processor is tasked with A/V switching as well as process and control the proceedings through a seven-inch Crestron TSW-760 NC W-S7 wired touch panel mounted on the wall outside the room.

One of the Meeting Rooms: Pure Functionality

Meeting Rooms: The large Sharp flat screen display mounted on Chief Swing Arm wall mount integrated into the wall groove, and Crestron Flip-top unit along with the transmitter/receiver units being hidden behind the screen is thus a common place. In addition, a Polycom Trio 8800 unit is tasked with audio-conferencing while the Liberty ring offers flexibility to connect various input sources.

The audio configuration here is a combo-matrix of many brandsaudio capture is taken by ClockAudio ceiling-suspended microphones as well as Countryman ear set microphones for the trainees, and ClockAudio gooseneck microphone for the speaker on the podium.

The sound reproduction is handled by Tannoy ceiling speakers hovering on the ceiling while it is amplified by Extron amplifiers.

The unique, interesting feature here is the installation of Titus Lab Mic Mute / In call Sign system that glows in green when the audio session is in progress, and glows in red when the microphone of a speaker is muted.

Auditorium: A still larger space that it is, the auditorium feature more comprehensive AV configuration that is characterized by a ceilingmounted, high brightness Full HD, 7200-Lumen Panasonic 1-chip DLP laser source projector PT-RZ770 (WUXGA) aimed onto a Dalite 130” 16:10 ratio motorised screen on the stage that is flanked by two Sharp 55-inch fixed wall-mount monitors on either side, and fronted by one 49-inch portable display monitor- all meant for reinforcement of projected video feeds.

20 PAX Boardroom: The Boardroom, considering its size and number of occupants, features a 70-inch Sharp display, mounted on Chief swing arm solution. In addition to the concealed Crestron Flip-top, transmitter/receiver, a Crestron powered sound bar is roped in to handle the audio routing. AV conferencing has been entrusted to the Ploycom RealPresence while a Polycom touch panel does the control mechanism.

White Boarding Room: Besides the PolyComm 8800 unit, Chief’s Swing Arm mount, and Creston Flip-top unit, these rooms are characterized by a Sharp Interactive flat screen and Crestron HDMI Scaler Receiver unit joining the Fusion Media configuration.

One of the Boardrooms: decent and functional

The Auditorium: Technology anew

The audio set-up is again a matrix of multiple audio brands comprising 24 units of Audio Technica boundary microphones – with one each for two speakers behind the tables – in addition to Countryman Ear set microphones for each of them, besides Shure lapel and hand held wireless microphones doing the rounds for speakers on the stage, while a Clock Audio gooseneck takes the podium.

Fourteen units of Tannoy ceiling speakers take the ceiling to reproduce the audio that is sought to be amplified from the racks by Extron amplifiers in combo with a Polycom 16 x 16 DSP. Crestron Digital Media takes a full swing with a 8x8 Digital Media Switcher, along with DVI, VGA, streaming card, 4K HDMI card, and a 4K output cards playing out as per their roles. A Crestron Enterprise© Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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class control system PRO3, along with a 10.1-inch wired, wall-mount touch panel handle all the control functions of the ambience requirements.

Perhaps, for the first time in India, Middle Atlantic racks have come to house the entire AV gear wherever they could not be concealed and needed a dedicated rack space.

“This was one challenging area for us,” recalls Raghav. “The ceiling measured just nine feet high from the floor- making it complex for positioning the AV gear, particularly the large screen,” he explains.

“Working closely with the Facility Team, Sigma brought its expertise to place, devising its schematics to fit in a beautiful solution.”

According to him, the ADI Project Team initially thought of having only one large screen, and one display monitor in front. However, Team Sigma suggested incorporating two more displays on either side of the central large screen for reinforcement of the content all over the hall with equal effect.

Café – Atrium: Biggest of all spaces at the ADI, and equally big in terms of the job for an SI. For, it has everything that will excite both the User and the solution provider. A long, expansive rectangular space, two sides of which are lined by cafeteria like an ‘L’ – taken to cause all the disturbing ambient noise – and the other two sides are glass-walled ‘L’ exposing the space to natural light and sunshine. The roof is like a typical tradeshow hall, a tin-sheeted surface resting on a steel truss.

The Town Hall Ceiling: A high level of ARTCOUSTICs (acoustics and architecture) plus AV

More, that the AV solutions provider had to design a system that had to cater to normal usage like Cafeteria, and also double up as a Town Hall application for special occasions of large gathering, it made a big testing space for any acoustician- let alone AV consultant.

“It was quite challenging due to its very orientation,” explains Raymond. The dual application meant it had to have video capture and reproduction, audio distribution, recording of sessions, and a portable podium setting, he elaborates.

“We had to play a triple role of Acoustician, Architect and an AV Consultant-Integrator,” informs Raymond. “We needed to treat the roof with large slates and stripes of acoustically absorbent ceiling tiles on one hand, and on the other, cover the entire stretch of glass walls with acoustically absorbent blinds,” he explains. “Then came the AV solution of speakers, display monitors, cameras, projection screens and sightlines etc.”

As for the AV gear, the space is characterized essentially by three 7200-lumen Panasonic PT-RZ770 (WUXGA) 1-chip DLP laser projectors suspended by specially customized ceiling mounts, and aimed at three 130-inch Dalite 16:10 ratio motorised screens hung along the long glass wall; three Vaddio PTZ cameras suspended from the ceiling at both the ends and centre of the hall; and as many as five 70-inch Sharp flat panels wall-mounted, with two alternating with the large screens, and one each on the remaining three sides.

A Crestron 8x8 Digital media switcher with its DVI, VGA, streaming and 4K HDMI card, and 4K output cards are configured to process and switch between sources and receivers while the Crestron PRO3 along with the 10.1” wired, wall-mount touch panel as well as 8.7” wireless touch panel handle the control mechanisms.

The Town Hall: Expansive; Exploring possibilities © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

That the AV ambience had to play a dual role of cafeteria and Town Hall, the audio was zoned into different areas of the place so that it plays fully directional. The PTZ cameras were also installed in a way that it caters to both the demands.

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THE AV RACK »» »» »»

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Audio Technica Audix Chief Swing Arm Mounts Clock Audio Countryman Crestron Fusion Media Da-Lite Extron Harman-JBL

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Middle Atlantic Panasonic Polycom Sharp flat panels Shure Tannoy Titus Lab Mic Mute / In Call Systems Vaddio Liberty

More, when the motorised screen was being installed, a problem was noticed with regard to viewing angle. In order to address this issue, the whole mounting had to be customised at site itself, and the screen had to be repositioned to the desired viewing angle for all the participants.

The ceiling is treated with Harman JBL ceiling speakers.

Within the same ambience is the pantry which is fitted with two Sharp flat panel displays of 70-inch and 90-inch dishing out diverse content like news, sports and business. Similarly, the Hobbiest Room has also been fitted with a 55-inch flat panel.

Corridors of Corporate Creativity

“The programming capability is another beauty,” commends Raghav.

“We play chosen content, zone it and zoom it on the preferred device, and with just a click of a button” he elaborates. “While Town Hall was our requirement, we haven’t expected so many options; that was another big value-add from Sigma,” he compliments.

Work café / Pantry: The area is provided with Sharp 49” & 70” displays mounted on Chief wall mount brackets, The signage player provided by client for digital signage purpose.

Success-Defining Coordination…

The best part of such an ambitious install has been the defining coordination amongst the three teams involved. With all of them having done their ‘home work’ and mapping the work tasks before they met, the intended jobs were executed in the desired fashionthis, despite the all-natural-constraint of extremely tight timeline.

“We did all the basic work and thought lines before we made our BOM,” informs Raghav, the Client side Project member. “We were here even before day one; it was like having everything ready to act before we got to the site”, confirms Ashok Kumar the integration team member. “We started discussing things in June, and two phases of the project went up live and running in October,” he details. “We had the schematics, drawings and documentation all ready before we hit the site, so we both were clear on what we wanted.”

“It’s a very reassuring story of work dedication tasting the sweetness of success,” sums up Raymond. www.sigmaavit.com

(Left) Ceiling suspended hanging microphones; & (right) Mic Mute / In Call system add a distinct value to the install © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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NIXT!

“We are on the cusp of the next revolution of this marketplace. If we are not prepared or proactive we will be sidelined” NIXT! is our new column in collaboration with InfoCommAsia Pte Ltd, the organisers of Beijing InfoComm China, InfoComm India and InfoComm SEA. The acronym stands for Next Integrated Experience Technology. NIXT! took the form of a conference at the recent Beijing InfoComm China. We speak to InfoCommAsia Executive Director Richard Tan, who is the driving force behind NIXT! to find out what is NIXT! about and why it is relevant to our industry.

Richard, why did NIXT! come about?

NIXT! started with a realisation a couple of years ago that there are cutting edge technologies that have been in play for a while already.

Perhaps more in the consumer space than the commercial space initially, but we’re starting to see these technologies being applied to the areas that we work in, primarily in AV. To give an example, there’s a company called Charoen Pokphand Group in Thailand. It is a huge conglomerate that has diversified businesses, including agro-food and retail. They operate arguably one of the largest supermarket chains in Thailand, and they get their produce supply from their local farmlands. They started using drones to monitor the farm plots that are meant to supply directly to the supermarket chain. So these drones monitor to check if there are insect manifestation or the heat levels that determine the quality of the crops ultimately. So these quality control takes place even before the crops leave the farmland. Then at the CP end of the operation, there is a Command and Control Centre where all these are being monitored.

So in the good old days, our InfoComm shows will just be concerned with visualisation and how to ensure that all the inputs have proper outputs to enable the client to view the images or data effectively. But now, when you have a situation like this, where drones are essentially a fleet of robots operating in tandem, they need to be networked and therefore IoT comes into play. When you have a fleet of drones that are constantly feeding data that is highly unstructured about heat levels or about fuzzy logic determining possible insect presence and what kind they are, we are looking at substantial unstructured data in real-time and that would require AI to help the operators make sense of it.

So we are now in a situation in a space that we the AV industry operate in with somebody like CP using Command and Control solutions, but we also need to be looking at what kind of AI they are going to use, who are they going to be using and who is going to supply the expertise. We could be looking at robots in the form of drones and how they are going to be equipped with IoT. And then we got to be looking at the wireless infrastructure that it could be operating in and who is going to be able to support that operation. © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

And then, of course, we will be looking from the AV specific environment what are they going to need. But in a context now of that expanded project scope, the dynamics would change.

Who will be taking the lead?

Who’s going to make the decision and it may not be our industry. We’ve started seeing that happening over the years, which has led to my concern that we’re missing a vital Community within that Spectrum of forces in play.

The InfoComm show as it is right now brings three primary segments of people in our community – the technology innovators in the form of exhibitors, then we got the AV and IT channel and the end-users, and that is the entire ecosystem that we address. The technology innovators of the next-gen set - AI, IoT, 5G Wireless, XR Reality and Robotics - they’re not present in our space, and we have little or no understanding of what is the supply chain. How does an AI innovator supply to the banking industry or the transportation industry, which are going to be hugely impacted by all these technologies? But are we as an industry thinking about the future? When the mentioned technologies merge with our industry, are we ready? So NIXT! was started because of that realisation that the ecosystem of our show needs to expand to include that extended community of players - the technology innovators in those six technology sets that are not really in our show and the supply chain players that act as bridges between these technology innovators and the critical vertical markets that they serve.

We want to target these technology innovators and the supply chain players that we do not have within our InfoComm shows to come and be part of our community. So when we decided to do that, there were two basic options laid before us.

NIXT! One was the acknowledgement that we already really have a successful platform, which is the show. Let’s just tell the targeted community about InfoComm and get them to come to the show.

But we’re unfortunately victims of our success. Our show is a strong brand, and that brand stands for AV. It doesn’t say AI, IoT or 5G so there is not going to be that connection between them and us. So I felt that at the end of the day we would be better off starting a new show that we could create a story around which has a decent chance of making a connection with this new community. Then have this show co-located within our InfoComm Show so that we bring this community into our space.

Tell us about this year’s NIXT! Conference at this year’s Beijing InfoComm China

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targeted at Media and Entertainment with NVIDIA sharing about the growth of professional graphics technology with AI and how to build a diverse visual environment with GPU technology?

We hope that through these conferences, we bring the community that we have not served before to engage with the traditional community that we do serve and start a conversion.

What outcomes do you hope to achieve?

I want to focus on our role as a facilitator by providing the best platform to facilitate the conversations that are going to be happening around AI, IoT, 5G, Robotics, XR and Quantum Computing. Because regardless of whether we assist that or not, it is going to happen. By facilitating these conversations, we at least play a role to help our AV players understand what’s coming and to be better prepared for that.

This year’s conference is just a small tiny little baby step. We wanted to have a feel for the interest level. There are really quite a lot of I wholeheartedly believe that we are on the cusp of the next shows about robotics and AI, and our intention is not to create revolution of this Marketplace or evolution at least and our industry another one. NIXT! is really about how AV solutions are going to be needs to take the time to understand what is happening and how this elevated to the revolutionary level in the future and how that’s going to be delivered to the Future Market. So we want to have an idea with will change their business. If we do not take proactive steps, we will be sidelined and end up being a commodities supplier rather than a this small little tiny step to understanding better what the level of full solution provider. interest is in that area. We wanted to get our AV Community to start thinking about - be aware that these To reiterate, I hope that by bringing the different things are happening. We need to start having communities together and facilitating conversations about this so that we don’t feel I wholeheartedly conversations it would create better synergistic that these are the enemies who are going to believe that we are on the understanding about each community’s take away our business but rather its about cusp of the next revolution of space, the roles we all play and where there embracing these technologies. It is about this Marketplace or evolution at is room, for collaboration to happen. how do we work with these technologies least and our industry needs to and the players in that space so that we are On the other hand, for the more progressive better prepared. take the time to understand companies in our field, I am hoping this what is happening and how understanding of what is happening will So these two half-day conferences that we this will change their make them take positions proactively. As in the planned is to start that conversation. On the business. example I first mentioned in our conversation, first day, we had a plenary session that touched the Command and Control Centre is not just about about the broad case of where these technologies visualisation. We need the ability to digest, analyse the are headed and how it will impact businesses at large. We brought, for example, people like MIGU, which is a subsidiary of China data that is coming through and present it measurably. So how do we go about this? Do we go and acquire AI technology or maybe recruit Mobile. China mobile is the largest telecom operator in China, and a long-term collaboration partner who is an AI expert and work of course, it is like the blood that runs through the vein in this whole together to deliver a total solution. So that’s the second thing that we new space. If they can’t provide adequate infrastructure to support hope will happen - that companies will start to make decisions and all that is happening, nothing is going to happen. So these guys have become more proactive in bringing these agenda forward and closing already started doing a lot of work in that area, and MIGU mostly the gap between the space. shared what the future scape is going to be like.

The second conference, we had two break-out sessions that addressed specific industries. One, was in the manufacturing space and designing where again there’s a lot of applications of not just robotics because robotics has been used in manufacturing for a long time. But now we’re talking about connected robotics in a network using AI to analyse all the information, and then the workforce being able to communicate in a digital way with the robots. The other was

NIXT! will be a staple at the InfoComm shows. The effort by InfoCommAsia to help the industry bridge the technology divide can only bear fruit if the industry stakeholders participate actively and engage with the communities that are involved in the next integrated technology experience.

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VOICE BOX

Joe Pham: We Need to Transform Our Industry to New Economics of AV SI Asia would like to highlight that this article has been constructed from Mr Pham’s insightful presentation at InfoComm 2019. Joe Pham is the President and CEO of QSC and is also the current Chairman of the AVIXA Board. SI Asia was one of the privileged invitees to this by-invite event, and we hope we have captured the essence of his message with in this article.

Joe kicked off his presentation by comparing the AV industry to the “Game of Thrones.” In brief, he felt that the industry spends too much energy on things that do not matter such as which product, protocol or spec is better, just like the fighting and conquering of different kingdoms in the “Game of Thrones” did not matter as “Winter is Coming”. The message was that the AV industry should instead focus on things that really matter.

So what does matter?

Mr Pham circled to what AVIXA has been propounding for the past year or so - Creating Exceptional Experience. Joe gave an example of attending the world premiere of “Avengers: Endgame”. Though he highlighted that QSC solutions played a big part in the premiere, the key take away was the exceptional experience that the audience experienced, where the Los Angeles Convention Center was transformed into a large movie theatre.

to be an AV professional. The bigger picture was to reinvent our industry. Joe suggested starting off the reinvention process with your own company. He talked about QSC’s evolution, and how as the company reinvented itself over the years, the talent needs within the organisation changed as well. Different types of talent were brought in to complement the transformation.

The next gem Joe identified was Software. He mentions, “By its very nature, software is powerful. Software brought together with hardware is where the magic happens. That’s where it becomes a living system that grows with the customer over the customer lifetime.”

Joe highlighted about how QSC reinvented itself from a product maker to a software and cloud solutions provider. He also clearly stated that hardware is here to stay but felt that the industry is losing a huge opportunity where software is concerned.

Seamlessly Joe connected the AV industry to the Avengers movie as well. His take was that we have found the infinity stones, but we have not harnessed them sufficiently to create an exceptional experience.

For those who may not be in the know, The Infinity Stones are six gems appearing in the Marvel Comics. The six gems are the Mind, Power, Reality, Soul, Space, and Time Gems.

To emphasise his point, Joe referenced a 2011 article by Marc Andreesen, “Why Software Is Eating the World.” In the article, Andreesen makes the argument why companies in every industry need to assume that a software revolution is coming. Joe than rattled off examples that all of us are familiar with from Spotify, Netflix, Salesforce, Google and Amazon.

What are these gems in the AV industry?

His point was that we as an industry are not there yet as far as software is concerned, but we certainly need to get there.

Mr Pham highlights that the first gem in our industry is talent. He felt that people in the industry are passionate, and that is certainly a plus. He, however, felt that we needed to reinvent what it means © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

The next infinity gem that Joe identified is our ecosystem. His point was that products by themselves have no heartbeat, but a platform,

VOICE BOX

on the other hand, is an integration of products brought together intelligently, coupled with software to create a living platform that grows with the client over the lifetime of that platform. “The platform should evolve with customers needs and not become irrelevant in a few years,” said Joe.

Big data is the fourth gem identified by Joe. He mentions that there are now AV management systems that are getting access to data and suggests that data can be turned into information which in turn offers us knowledge that will enable the industry to understand customer needs. Mr Pham highlights that people will pay for actionable insight and value. “We need to think about how do SIs and consultants provide that?”

Mr Pham than drew the attention of the audience to a McKinsey and Company, IDC report that highlighted that 92% of companies believe their business models need to change to win the era of rapid digital disruption but that 54% of channel partners are reluctant to adopt new business models citing “it doesn’t fit my business”. According to the same report, bold movers who adopt new digital business model are more likely to survive and rise.

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economics of AV. The McKinsey report highlights that by 2025, almost a third of the total global sales will come from ecosystems.

As an example, Joe highlights that QSC REFLECT delivers actionable AV data connected to other IT service and enables the new economics of AV.

Rounding up his presentation, Joe encouraged the audience and the AV industry at large to understand better our customers, where they are going and how to provide exceptional experiences for them. The gems identified are crucial to creating that exceptional experience and offering customer lifetime value.

Hold on was there not a sixth gem as part of the Infinity Stones? Well, that is for us as an industry to identify a new value that is out there that will make us indestructible.

As parting words, Joe Pham told the audience in a smart play of words that we should all become AVengers!

How does that play in our industry? According to Joe product margins and integration services will reap lower revenue whereas managed services and customer lifetime value will shift the economic value for the industry. The fifth gem is for the AV industry to adapt to the new © Systems Integration Asia | VOL. 18 ISSUE - 6 ~ Aug-Sep 2019

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Let There Be Silence - An Acoustic Solution to Noise Pollution

by Robert Adrian As an AVL Consultant, veering into the needs to further reduce the footprint of noise while achieving a properly treated venue or space through Acoustics Materials and Formulas, has proven to be a very challenging task. This has become more evident with the mushrooming of open concept offices.

Saving on real estate and rental is the key driving force of organisations opting for open office plans. Unfortunately the noise aspect of such office plans have not been taken into consideration. Unlike recording studios or performance venues where acoustic treatment plays a critical role, it is not an option when it comes to open office spaces.

The expectations of an ideal workplace can be very challenging when it comes to finding acoustical solutions for such a wide range of physical and environmental demands.

Most of us are used to the sounds we hear in our daily life. Loud music, the television, people talking on their mobile phones and all other paths of noise. All of these have become a part of urban culture.

However, when the sound of the people talking on their hand-phones and other noise generators, keeps you from focussing or when the traffic noise starts to give you a headache, it starts becoming a real issue and will be translated into what is defined as “Noise Pollution or Bad Noise”.

By definition, “Noise Pollution” takes place when there is either an excessive amount of noise or unpleasant sounds that cause a temporary disruption in the natural listening environment. This definition is usually applicable to sounds or noises that are either higher in volume or their production. Our environment is such that it has become difficult to escape the noise.

On my recent visit to the GET Show in Guangzhou, I met up with the Acoustics Team from SoundBox Acoustics where they launched a new product, which after years of R&D, has pushed the boundaries of a noise isolation solution.

The new product is called the “Silence Booth”. It is more than just a Soundproof Booth. It is flexible and movable, and the Silence Booth satisfies the needs for a Creative Design Space. The Booth is made of aviation aluminium, carbon composite panels, and tempered glass. Assembling the Booth is made easy with only one type of fastener used. The air in the booth is also 100% refreshed every three minutes. The Silence Booth features 4000K natural colour lighting and is suitable for 100-220V/50Hz and 12V-USB power supply.

The Silence Booth’s Design has a cabin sound insulation performance that meets the standard of acoustic environment index and a Design value of NR30dB (±5dB)/RT0.75s (±0.1s).

The built-in low noise exhaust system reduces sound interaction on the inside and outside of the cabin, while simultaneously refreshing internal air in 3-minute operational efficiency.

The interior material which is Environmentally Friendly caters to an Acoustic Simulation Design (By SoundBox Acoustics), which is 60% of the equivalent area of the cabin and is covered by Polyester Fibre sound absorber; the technology integrates active reflection sound from 40% equivalent area.

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The engineers at Soundbox Acoustics refuted the idea of a typical assembly design that relied on screws, nails and glue and through accurate modelling, they found a method that only requires a 90-degree fastening assembly to assemble the booth.

Drum set, or a Baby Grand Piano or a booth for a single Saxophonist or a Violinist, which would be ideal for a recording studio. In the open office space, the booths can be incorporated into the design for meeting rooms, conference rooms, phone or single person private booth where interaction with an overseas party is required.

Because of the flexibility of assembling the system the set-ups can be permanent or temporary.

The exterior left and right sides and top and bottom surfaces of the booth’s insulation panel is covered with Korean-made Nanometer Polypropylene material, which offers high resistance to friction, pollution, ultraviolet rays, fire and moisture. It is Eco-Friendly Certified and Flame Retardant.

Pressure coefficient and resonant frequencies are the basic data used for the anti-vibration cushion that the company designed. Even though the bottom of the cabin is hidden, Soundbox insists on the use of raw rubber modified materials to achieve favourable broadband damping pressure index and more extended anti-ageing period. There is no doubt that the the modified materials are the optimal choice for vibration damping material.

Where environmental applications such as Studio recordings, Live Sound Reproduction, Interpretation Booths are needed, an external hole is made for information connection between the cabin and external equipment.

The Silence Booths come in different booth sizes that can cater for a full range

In the area of Conference venues, it is also justifiable, to use the Silence Booths as Interpretation Booths that are movable and placed anywhere in a Conference venue. The ease of assembly means venues can actually invest in these booths and offer it as a service to clients.

A Noise Free working environment, in which management values transparency and visualisation and optimising of productivity during operation, will be a great asset. SoundBox’s Silent Booth has combined acoustics and aesthetics to achieve a great product.

About Robert

Robert Adrian Tan J. C is the Founder & Director and Senior AVL Consultant of Creative Elifestyles Pte Ltd. Though Robert has been involved in the industry for several years, in the last 15 years, he has been working closely with Audio Visual Manufacturers & Companies in Singapore & Overseas that has given him a better indepth of System Integration & Consultancy Projects. Handling Government Consultancy Projects and also Integration Projects locally & overseas where Video, Sound & Lighting is concerned is now a

forte to Robert’s portfolio. www.creativeelifestyles.com

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VSI Limited Invests in Experience Centre for Control Room Technologies Hong Kong-based distributor VSI Limited has set up an Experience Centre at the KITEC building in Kowloon Bay. The Experience Centre focuses explicitly on control room technologies – a segment that VSI has specific interest in.

MultiDyne Appoints Kevin Dowd as Director of Business Development for APAC Region MultiDyne Fiber Optic Solutions continues to build on its aggressive global expansion strategy with the appointment of Kevin Dowd as Director of Business Development, APAC, effective immediately. Based in Hong Kong, Dowd reports directly to MultiDyne President Frank Jachetta.

Prism Sound Appoints Digital Media Technology as Distributor for the People’s Republic of China Industry leading professional audio manufacturer Prism Sound has appointed Digital Media Technology Co. Ltd. (DMT) as its exclusive distribution partner for the People’s Republic of China.

AV Resources Appointed as Samsung’s Authorized Distributor AV Resources Limited (AVR) is pleased to announce a partnership with Samsung Electronics HK Co. Ltd. With this partnership, AVR has become an authorized distributor of Samsung for Professional Displays products and solution with immediate effect in Hong Kong.

Riedel Communications Chooses Venuetech to Distribute Full Product Line in UAE Riedel Communications has announced that Venuetech has signed an agreement to become a distributor for Riedel’s full line of real-time media network and communications solutions in the Middle East. Based in Dubai, Venuetech is a leading professional AV systems integrator and distributor serving the broadcast and AV markets throughout UAE.

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