SIA FEB-MAR 2018

Vol. 17 Issue 3 S Y S T E M

February - March 2018

I N T E G R A T I O N

[COVER] A Plaza of Technology STORY

Transcendence

A S I A

* AV Helps Fight Cancer At Sydney Hospital

* EZpro's Community At Wuhan's Cruise

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

Biamp & Rashid On A New Journey

IFC 2018: Turning in Record Numbers

Communications Coming in Full Circle

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

CONTENTS Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

Going Beyond the Job Scope for Perfection

04 06

32

50

50 52

54

66

FIRST WORDS

62

INTERVIEW

62 64

Biamp & Rashid Skaf on a new journey Siliconnovation at Core

70

FEATURE

70

Communications Coming in Full Circle

72

STRATEGY (S)TAKES

72

Aura of Competence

74

INSTALLATIONS

74

COVER STORY - Technology Transcendence at Golden Temple Plaza

79

Iconyx Sounds Clarity in Abu Dhabi

80

AV helps ď€ ght cancer in Sydney hospital

83

Tara sounds bright in Delhi with Quest Audio

84

Ezpro cruises with audio at Wuhan

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ON OUR WEB

NEWS

SOLUTIONS UPDATE

EXHIBITION PREVIEW

InfoComm China 2018 to Present Record No. of Exhibitors

Secutech 2018 Cutting Edge Solutions for Verticals

EXHIBITION REVIEW

54

InfoComm MEA 2018 - Holding onto Reality

58

TECH TALK

58

Unraveling FIBBR

60

Unleashing Beamforming Mics

FIRST WORDS

SI Asia is pleased to have kicked off the year with the SDVoE Alliance AV Over IP Training. The single day training was repeated over three days in Singapore at the Hewshott ofce, attracting 54 delegates. There is no denying there is change happening in AV especially where video is being transmitted and controlled over a network in a more cost effective manner compared to traditional switching. Interestingly in this issue there is a case study in relation to the Sydney Adventist Hospital's Integrated Cancer Centre conference room, where a SVSI by AMX video-over-IP system was integrated. Barbara MacKenzie head of IT operations at the hospital who was closely involved in the project comments, “I absolutely love the SVSI solution. This is the rst time we've used a product like this that's distributed across the network. For example, our Simulation Learning Centre uses a card and framebased video matrix solution, and it is so inexible. Utilising a virtualised product instead of hardware-based appliances ts in well with our approach to technology.”

We are sure at ISE we will be seeing more of the AV over IP solutions as the SDVoE Alliance celebrates its rst anniversary. It was at ISE last year that the Alliance had held its rst press conference with its six founding members. That number has grown to 30 members within the year.

A recent IHS Markit report highlights that Digital Assistants will surge in 2018. With heavyweights Google and Amazon aggressively ramping up competition in the space, smart speakers have risen in prominence over the last year, as both standalone products and voice-based interfaces to the smart home. In fact, 39 million smart speakers are forecast to be shipped globally in 2018, up sharply from 27 million units shipped in 2017.

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

ART / LAYOUT Shankar Venugopal

CREATIVE

CULT

“The smart speaker surge is only just beginning,” said Paul Erickson, senior analyst at IHS Markit. “2018 is the year competition in this market truly begins – and the year true mainstream adoption accelerates. We expect numerous thirdparty smart speakers built around one or more digital assistants, so consumers will have more choices, when it comes to price, form factors, style, and audio quality.”

Our feature in this issue, about voice controlled technology is thus timely and we hope it will shed more light on the challenges and opportunities.

Enjoy the read.

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

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 reect 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.

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Williams Sound Acquires Pointmaker INTERNATIONAL: Williams Sound, a global designer and manufacturer of wireless communication technology has acquired Pointmaker, as part of a new strategy to expand the Williams Sound product footprint beyond its traditional audio end markets. Pointmaker is a leading provider of hardware and software for video annotation technology, and will serve as a platform through which Williams Sound will develop new products to serve the larger professional A/V market. In concert with this strategy, three new board members have been added and the holding company will be renamed Williams AV. “Aligning Williams Sound audio with Pointmaker video is all about synergy, with both companies bringing different, but exceptional, expertise and experience,” said Richard Lough, Williams Sound COO. “We are bringing together two complementary and innovative companies with a similar vision – driving technology that enables communication, strengthens connections, and ultimately inspires collaboration. Referred to as C3 – communication empowered, this newfound synergy readies us to move forward as a stronger force in the A/V marketplace.”

Pat Brey, CEO of Pointmaker, will remain with the company and join the board of directors of Williams AV. “This acquisition provides an exciting growth opportunity and immediately enhances client access to inspired, innovative technology. By combining Williams Sound audio expertise with years of video expertise, we are delivering added value and depth of product offerings. As we move forward, we are mobilizing to capitalize, via forthcoming innovation, on a collaboration market that far exceeds the size of our current individual targets.”

Williams AV has also added two industry veterans to its Board, both with signicant

expertise in the video market. Rob Sheeley and Tom Mingo are the cofounders of Vaddio, a Minnesota based designer and manufacturer of video equipment used throughout the A/V marketplace. Rob is a serial entrepreneur who holds numerous hardware and software patents, and will assist the team going forward in new product development. Tom formerly led sales for Vaddio, and will assist the company in expanding its sales and marketing efforts to support Williams AV's next stage of growth. www.williamssound.com

S I A

Control4 Corporation Acquires Ihiji for Smart Home Market INTERNATIONAL: Control4 Corporation, a leading global provider of smart home solutions, announced the acquisition of the intellectual property and key operating assets of Austin, Texas-based Ihiji, a leading provider of remote management services for technical integrators servicing connected home customers.

By combining two industry-leading network and device management solutions -- BakPak from Control4 and Invision from Ihiji -- into one unied service platform, Control4 will provide thousands of professional integrators with powerful device monitoring and management capability to efciently and proactively support their connected-home customers.

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

“Connected home opportunities are emerging globally, and their individual performance, reliability, and resilience are foundational to all successful installations.

By combining Control4's BakPak, with its strong network management capabilities, and Ihiji's Invision, with its industry-leading device monitoring and management capabilities, Control4 can provide a set of unied cloud-based services to our dealers to securely and efciently monitor endcustomer systems. Dealers will receive alerts when performance concerns are detected; they can then remotely identify the root cause and initiate resolution actions, all without being on-premise. This will improve homeowner satisfaction through prompt and preemptive service, in a time-saving and cost-effective manner,” said Martin Plaehn.

The joint team is already developing the unied cloud-based service platform which will be made available in phases to all Control4 and Ihiji dealers and their endcustomers later in the year. The shared goal is to operate a single integrated monitoring and services experience that provides all dealers with complete visibility and control at the network level, which would include over 2,000 third-party products, as well as all Control4 and Pakedge smart home equipment. Today, Ihiji works with the industry's leading manufacturers including: Araknis, Belkin, Brocade, Cisco, Crestron, Dell, Denon, DLink, Integra, Luxul, Marantz, Netgear, Onkyo, Pakedge, Panamax, Russound, Savant, Sky, Sony, SurgeX, Synaccess, Yamaha, and others, and those integrations will continue to be central to the new unied management platform.

The new solution will also deliver a comprehensive view of every home and customer to enable dealers to monitor, assess, remediate, and track performance concerns associated with their customers' homes.

Control4 has started selling the previously named Ihiji APP-750 network appliance under its new moniker, the Pakedge NX-1, priced at US $650 MSRP. Control4 also announces the elimination of all subscription fees associated with the Ihiji Invision management service, making it easier and more nancially efcient for dealers to provide remote management services to their end-customers.

“Ihiji and Control4 share the conviction that network and device management capabilities are pivotal to every professional integrator in order to best

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NEWS

serve their connected home customers,” said Stuart Rench, CEO, Ihiji. “By providing all dealers with the ability to monitor and manage thousands of devices, we are enabling them to detect and remediate issues remotely – often before a customer is aware there is even a problem. By combining with Control4, we can accelerate our plans to deliver more robust capabilities to further drive dealers' success and end-customer satisfaction.” www.control4.com www.ihiji.com

vision across the new NSC company as Executive Vice President of Marketing & Innovation.

“The market is demanding a broader range of solutions that work better together across product categories, and this is a major focus of our innovation,” he said. “In particular,our 2GIG® and ELAN® integration creates opportunities that perfectly address the connected smart home market and the evolving needs of our customers.” www.corebrands.com https://nortekcontrol.com

S I A

Nortek Security & Control And Core Brands Merge INTERNATIONAL: Nortek Security & Control LLC (NSC) and Core Brands LLC (Core Brands) announced a strategic merger that combines the two industry leaders' innovation and resources to lead the smart home and security markets with a suite of connected solutions and business programs that create meaningful opportunities for dealers and distributors.

The combined company, now operating as NSC, is headed by President Mike O'Neal and remains dedicated to developing and manufacturing the control, security, access, entertainment, and personal digital health solutions that make the connected home and business a practical reality for more homeowners and business operators than ever before. Anchored by the 2GIG® security and ELAN® control platforms, the new NSC is able to offer partners an expanded range of increasingly integrated solutions to meet the needs of their customers.

O'Neal said today, “The combination of NSC and Core Brands helps us serve our customers with an unparalleled suite of solutions for the residential and commercial control, security, entertainment, access and personal wellness markets. Joe Roberts and I share a strong commitment to our customers, which will guide the innovation we develop into our products, services and programs.”

Core Brands President Joe Roberts now assumes responsibility for driving product

S I A

Exterity Eyes APAC Growth, Capitalises on Convergence

APAC: “Asia Pacic is one of the world's most innovative regions, and has consistently been the rst to adopt new AV technologies – from digital signage through to giant displays and interactive screens. In 2017, we've seen near 100% growth in the region, which is a positive reection of our strong, highly-valued relationships with our distributor, Midwich (Australia), and our regional channel partners, as well as our collective ability to capitalise on the AV/IT convergence and increasing demand for IP-based solutions,” said Colin Farquhar, CEO at Exterity. “The hospitality market has been particularly receptive to our solutions, for example, BAI Hotel Cebu in the Philippines now uses our solutions to offer TV and video entertainment in each of its 690 guest rooms, as well as digital signage in public areas and meeting rooms.”

To support this regional growth, the company has hired three new members of staff spread across the region, reporting into Jamie Hind, Regional Director for Asia Pacic:

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

Greg Bright, Solutions Consultant, Asia Pacic, based in Sydney: Greg joins Exterity's Asia Pacic team as a Solutions Consultant, bringing a wealth of technology and market knowledge.

Having been involved in large projects across Australia, New Zealand and SouthEast Asia, he has extensive experience in IPTV, AV/IT, VOD, and Digital Signage.

Recently, he also immersed himself in the expanding OTT/IPTV industry, adding to Exterity's solutions know-how across mobile content delivery, infrastructure design, and CMS utilisation. An expert in the IPTV space, Greg is a reliable and trusted source for designing and supporting complex solutions. Greg is a certied Redhat Linux System Administrator, and has a bachelor's degree in business management.

Stanley Chang, Regional Manager, Asia, based in Singapore: Stanley brings extensive local market and industry solutions knowledge and experience to Exterity's Asia Pacic team that support the company in its expanding hospitality business. A customer service focussed, highly versatile sales & marketing professional, Stanley has 15 years' solid experience in energy conservation and management solutions acquired at InnCom, part of Honeywell, and Interel, as well as surveillance and ELV solutions for a wide range of organisations. For the past 7 years, Stanley's main focus has been to provide advice, solutions and services to assist major international hotel groups and hotel owners plan their hospitality automation projects without negatively impacting the guest experience. This required reviewing requirements, proposing system options that best meet project goals, and assisting architects and designers with device compatibility and optimisation. A Singapore national, Stanley has a diploma in information & technology and is a strong communicator able to provide marketing counsel to local & international business managers & channels in English, Mandarin and local dialects.

Stephen Tsui, Regional Manager, Asia, based in Hong Kong: Stephen is responsible for managing sales and business development in the region, working alongside Exterity's partners.

Stephen is an expert in digital media technology, having spent 11 years in a regional sales role for Contentwise, D3 Technologies, Minerva Networks, ViaccessOrca, Verizon Business and more. A

10 NEWS specialist of the AV/IT/IP convergence, Stephen started his career in telecom and networking solutions before moving on to the digital media industry. A Hong Kong national, Stephen has a bachelor's degree in computer science and speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and English uently.

Jamie Hind, Regional Director Asia Pacic at Exterity, commented: “We welcome our three new members of staff – Greg, Stanley and Stephen – who will be working alongside our expert network of partners to offer the best-in-class products and solutions for Exterity's customers from Manila to Melbourne – and everywhere in between.”

In addition to investing in a growing team, Exterity has also strengthened relationships with an extended group of regional partners, including ANZ distributor Midwich (Australia); AVLS (Philippines); DVI Solutions (Singapore); Ideal Systems (Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and Indonesia), NDT (Hong Kong); PCT Goodbridge (Philippines); PixelByte (Hong Kong), and Technology Solutionn (Singapore). These partners are part of Exterity's StreamForce Partner Program – a global network of specialist channel partners that Exterity supports by providing ongoing, complementary training and resources to keep them upto-date with the latest innovations, product releases and system enhancements. www.exterity.com

S I A

Martin Audio Does 'GRAND’ Install at Xiaguang Theater'

the building's design is “creating harmony through spirit and song”, and it instantly became a landmark in the Hebei provincial capital.

Tasked with meeting the project's desire for a world class sound system, Beijing Pacic Budee and Shaanxi Lanyu Audio Video Technology teamed up to meet the demands. The choice was clear; Martin Audio's line of products would be able to handle the rich repertoire of diverse performances.

For the main theatre, the designers chose a mixture of 18 WT2's & WT3's as the main sound system, with the ability to cover the audience area and deliver excellent sound clarity. Around the stage, 12 AQ6s and nine AQ15s were used as lls to further boost the quality of the sound coverage. The acquisition also included 15 XD12s and ve WS218X subwoofers for use on larger shows, or those events needing a greater array of effects.

The smaller hall features electronic telescopic seating so that it can variously function as a concert hall, performance space, or be recongured to have seating around the outside of a T-shaped stage.

CHINA: China has been focusing on enriching its cultural landscape in recent years and the recently opened 50,000 sq. ft Xiaguang Grand Theater & Performing Arts Center in Shijiazhuang is a shining example of this.

The adaptive nature of this venue required an equally adaptive sound system and MLA Mini multi-cellular technology was perfect for the task. The PA design features 16 MLA Mini elements and four 15in MSX sub-bass speakers. The system has the advantage of quick response and its computer control allows for on-the-y adjustments, based on the performance and seating on the night.

The complex, put together at a total cost of RMB380m (48.5m euros), includes a 1,200 seat theatre, a more intimate 600seat multipurpose hall, a rehearsal hall, teaching rooms and ofces. The theme for

“This is a stunning theatre from the outside, and working with Lanyun, we wanted to provide an equally fantastic sound system,” said Budee's CEO Mao Yanjun. “From our client feedback, and

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

those who've attended the opening performances, we did just that.”

Shijiazhuang exists in the shadow of the Chinese capital, being situated less than 300 km away from Beijing (a distance traversed in little over an hour on the high speed trains). Now this little brother to Beijing has a theatre that stands out, and can match any of the offerings in the capital. https://martin-audio.com S I A

Nexo's New GEO M10 Array Makes Foray Into Thailand

THAILAND: Fuzion Far East (FFE) has completed an impressive installation of NEXO's new GEO M10 mid-size line array in a brand-new educational establishment, the Brighton College Bangkok, which aims to be the leading English-curriculum school in Thailand.

Sharing the aims and ethos of Brighton College UK, one of England's top coeducational schools, the newly-opened Brighton College Bangkok is the result of a collaborative partnership with the Ocean Group, a highly respected Thai company, led by the Assakul family. The school is

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housed on an iconic 20-acre campus, and includes a ne purpose-built auditorium with state-of-the-art facilities for music, art, dance and drama.

High ceilings and glass walkways characterise the Performance Arts Centre, a key part of the campus which houses a 620-seat theatre, dance studios, rooms for musical instruction and practice, art and design rooms, Mac suites and a traditional photography darkroom.

FFE recommended the newly-released GEO M10 line array for the PAC auditorium, designing a low-prole own system which uses L/R arrays each with 3x GEO M1012 and 1x GEO M1025 enclosures, below a single 15” MSUB. Additional subbass support is delivered by 2x NEXO RS15 cabinets hidden from view.

Front ll is provided by another new NEXO product, the super-compact ID24, with 4 of these small speakers along the front of the stage. Each unit is partnered by another ID24 which faces into the stage to provide monitoring. The entire system is powered and processed by just 1x NEXO NXAMP4x4 and 3x NXAMP4x1s. www.fuzion.co.th www.nexo.fr S I A

AIMS, MNA merge to Make one entity for Promoting IP strengths

INTERNATIONAL: The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has merged with the Media Networking Alliance (MNA) to form a single trade association for promoting IP in the media and entertainment industry. The merger comes after a two-year history of collaboration, and it will enable the organizations to have an even greater impact on the industries they serve. The new joint organization will retain the AIMS name and will be governed by the existing AIMS bylaws.

Like AIMS, MNA exists to promote a standards-based approach to IP interoperability. MNA is focused on AES67, and its membership consists of

companies doing business in the broadcast, professional audio, pro AV, and installation markets. In the past two years, AIMS and MNA have enjoyed a strong relationship, formally executing a liaison agreement and cooperating to promote AES67 technology, which is common to both organizations' roadmaps. Since the 2017 NAB Show, both organizations have also lent nancial support to the IP Showcase, their largest and arguably most impactful undertaking to date.

The merger between the two organizations will create support for common standards that benet multiple market segments at once. For example, products designed for the broadcast segment are in many ways similar to those for professional audio, but often the standards for those markets segments are developed without much coordination.

This merger allows AIMS and MNA members to work on adopting common methodologies for transport, registration and discovery, connection management, and other areas of interoperability even as they focus on the unique requirements of their respective market segments.

message to the industry, assuring true industry-wide audio/video IP interoperability across the broadcast, installed systems, and live sound markets.

We are excited to be a part of this major step forward in standards-based IP interoperability."

"As AIMS approaches its two-year anniversary, we have an exciting opportunity to increase our inuence and strengthen our ability to foster the adoption of a common set of protocols for interoperability over IP," said Michael Cronk, AIMS board chair. "After careful deliberation, both the AIMS and MNA boards reached the conclusion that merging our organizations was the natural thing to do, and our members agreed. By combining membership, the bigger, stronger AIMS can reach a greater section of the media and entertainment market.

We're excited about the potential of this merger to fulll our mission more quickly." http://aimsalliance.org http://medianetworkingalliance.com/

S I A

By creating standards that address a larger array of applications and market segments, AIMS members that are vendors will have fewer variants of the standards to support and will be able to cross-sell to other market segments more easily while making more efcient use of their R&D budgets. Meanwhile, AIMS members that are users will benet from a wider selection of vendors whose products comply with standards on the AIMS roadmap. Finally, AIMS members that are also members of MNA will pay only one membership fee instead of two.

Full members of both organizations voted to approve the merger on Dec. 13.

"The merging of the Media Networking Alliance and AIMS is great news for our industry. The MNA was formed by people and companies who wanted to support interoperability between various IP-based audio networks via the use of AES67.

Likewise, AIMS members support standards-based IP audio and video interoperability," said Rich Zwiebel, chairman of Media Networking Alliance.

"Now, with the merging of the two organizations, we have a larger voice and a single place for technical and marketing discussions amongst a larger group of industry leaders. As AIMS, we will be able to provide a much more compelling

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

Robert Juliat Dalis Cyclorama for Lasalle College of the Arts SINGAPORE: Founded in 1984, the award-winning LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore is a stunning example of modernity and creativity dedicated to providing its students with top class education in contemporary arts and design.

It moved its main campus to McNally Street in 2007 where its many new facilities included the 480-seat Singapore Airlines (SIA) Theatre and several studio and rehearsal spaces.

Ten years later, it was time to update some of the SIA Theatre's original lighting inventory, and Senior Technical Ofcers, Patrick Wong and Sayuthi Bin Jasmin, were happy to take delivery of ten awardwinning Robert Juliat Dalis 860 Cyclorama LED battens this summer to replace their 10-year old conventional cyclorama and groundrow lighting.

“Prior to the acquisition of our new Dalis units we were using eight tungsten

14 NEWS excellent after-sales service and support from Total Solution, which has a long reputation for being a trustworthy lighting distributor with great products and services.” www.robertjuliat.com www.tsm-int.com www.lasalle.edu.sg www.exterity.com LASALLE team, from le to right, against a backdrop of RJ Dalis 860 Cyclorama ligh ng: Herman; Senior Technical Officer, Sayuthi Bin Jasmin; Zahidi; LD and LASALLE alumnus, Adrian Tan; Senior Technical Officer, Patrick Wong.

cyclorama lights and a similar number of tungsten groundrows,” explains Patrick.

“These have been excellent workhorses, but conventional lighting xtures come with their problems as well.”

“The age and fragility of these xtures meant lamp replacement was becoming more and more frequent and a bit of a chore. Focusing was cumbersome and limited to the tilt angle provided by the yoke, and the weight of the xtures made it less attractive to move them around the venues as needed. The number of colours one could use was always limited to four, and we had to y the bar down between scenes to switch colours.

Most importantly, each unit within the four-part xtures drew 1000W of power, meaning all eight xtures at full power would draw 32,000W (double that, when you include the groundrows), which was simply too much and required quite a number of dimmers to power them.”

Tevin Heng, Executive Director at Total Solution Marketing Pte Ltd, Robert Juliat's exclusive Singaporean distributor, brought the Robert Juliat Dalis xtures to the attention of the team at LASALLE. Patrick and his team established that ten units would be perfect to backlight the 13m x 7m span of The SIA Theatre's cyclorama, despite the short throw distance available.

Five RJ Dalis units have now been installed on a truss behind The SIA Theatre's cyclorama cloth and another ve Dalis units placed on the oor at a distance of 1.5m, from where they combine to provide seamless and supremely controllable coverage.

“As with most venues in Singapore, there is always a lack of distance between cyccloth and wall for proper cyclorama lighting, with the distances normally

ranging from 0.5m to 2.5m,” says LASALLE's Sayuthi. “The Dalis, however, were able to give an excellent beam coverage even at these short distances.

The output is extremely bright and the operation is simple with a very userfriendly interface on the xture. Add to that the light weight of each unit combined with the good quality manufacture and we are very happy.”

“The Robert Juliat Dalis provided our venue with solutions to all the problems we had with the old lights,” agrees Patrick. “Being LED units, there is no more need to replace lamps, which in turn means we need less storage space for replacement bulbs. The 8-colour LED system provides us with innite colour possibilities, from dark blues, to bright reds and cool whites. What is even more impressive is the warm LED mode that provides a colour temperature similar to a tungsten source: Dalis succeeds where many other LED xtures have failed in creating exceptionally good warm white (2200k) and cool white (6500k) colours.

Focusing Dalis is easy, without any restrictions, and the weight of the xture is manageable enough to be carried effortlessly by one person, so we can move them to which ever space we want.

Best of all, because Dalis only draws 300W of power per unit, it is far more costefcient to run these units long-term. Ten of these babies would only take 3000W to power, which is less than one single unit of our old conventional xtures!”

Patrick added, “There were several LED cyclorama options we looked at and, other than the product suitability, we also strongly considered the level of local preand post-sales support available from their distributors. We knew from past experience that we can depend on the

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

S I A

Mindstec Demonstrates Innovative Technologies at DesignInspire 2017 HONG KONG: Mindstec was appointed to be the dedicated Interactive Experience Partner of DesignInspire 2017, an international exhibition about creativity and design organized by HKTDC, on 7-9 Dec 2017 in Hong Kong.

Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of HKSAR was the Guest-of-Honour at the event.

Mindstec took the opportunity to showcase a variety of innovative solutions including 65” P-Cap Interactive Displays, 2x2 Video Wall and Irregular Video Wall for different applications thus creating an interactive experience for visitors to the event.

MTC 65” Projected Capaci ve Touch (P-Cap) Interac ve Display

65” P-Cap Interactive Displays & T1V BYOD Collaboration Software, ThinkHub There were two MTC 65” Projected Capacitive Touch (P-Cap) Interactive Displays showcased in DesignInspire 2017.

The P-Cap technology allows more accurate and exible operation of the displays. One of them was used as an interactive touch display for browsing websites near the entrance. Visitors found it very useful for nding event information or browsing websites via the large touch display.

16 NEWS

Johnee used interac ve display to draw his fun characters.

Another MTC 65” was used as a presentation tool for on-site workshops.

Instructors used it with the congured T1V BYOD Collaboration Software, ThinkHub, for drawing, writing or interacting with participants, thus delivering messages effectively. For instance, the instructor of “Draw something, no working” Illustration and Character Design Workshop, Johnee Lau, drew on the ThinkHub's digital canvas to let all participants see clearly what he was drawing. ThinkHub's diverse options of pen colour, pen thickness, eraser, plus the high performance of the display made it as smooth and vivid as a real canvas.

Mindstec's Sales Manager was introducing how the video wall content could be arranged

Mindstec also showcased a 2x2 Video Wall that showed instant and looping Instagram posts from DesignInspire 2017.

Conguring with Datapath Fx4 Video Wall Controller, the video wall with narrow bezel was able to show a complete layout across 4 displays without distortion of the marginal texts or images. This interactive “Post Wall” successfully drew much attention from visitors.

Last but not least, Mindstec set up an Irregular Video Wall that kept playing an animated video about “Hide & Seek of Happy Hong Kong”. The exceptional video wall was formed by 7 displays in totally different orientations. It was again all about the power of Datapath Fx4 Video Wall Controllers. 7 different videos or one complete video can be played across multiple displays. Such an innovative video wall helped draw visitors' attention and offered more fun than ordinary video wall. www.mindstec.com S I A

Clair Brothers is Music To the Ears in Flagship China Nightclub CHINA: TrueColor is the most popular night club in this thriving Chinese city located on the Zhujiang (Pearl) River in southern China, two hours north of coastal Hong Kong. TrueColor in Guangzhou City is the agship venue of a chain of clubs created in 1995, currently owned and managed by Alliance Art Group, one of the most famous entertainment groups in China, noted for its uncanny eye for detail in their high-end restaurant and club venues that focus on creating unique and visceral environments.

Modern in its design, innovative in its thoughtful delivery of the ultimate club experience, TrueColor Guangzhou City recently sought to upgrades its audio system. After consultation with trusted colleague Mr. Tan who represents dealer Guangzhou EGG Technologies Company,

The eye-catching Irregular Video Wall

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

Alliance Art Group called on DMT – Clair Brothers Chinese distributor – to help make the necessary improvements on behalf of TrueColor customers. Right on the heels of a complete upgrade and redesign of the layout and style of the club in June of 2017, the decision to call on Clair Brothers made total sense.

The TrueColor experience is fresh and exciting, with moving lights and lasers seemingly everywhere, smoke machines, acrobatics, dancing models – even an aquarium with live sharks and occasional models swimming with the sharks.

TrueColor is a true spectacle – a nightclub where music plays constantly, seven days a week with a full house, and permeates the entire establishment, so it has to sound awesome and perform reliably. After the redesign of the interior, the old system just didn't t the bill. The sound system needed to have bright high-end, clear mids and plenty of heart-pumping ultralow bass. The point is to make customers feel comfortable, to get them moving and to make them stay longer. Alliance Art Group went the extra mile searching for the just the right brand to install in their newly designed agship club. They compared top brands, but once they heard the powerful and unique excellence of the Clair Brothers system, there was no hesitation – the Clair Brothers brand was the unanimous choice.

Guangzhou EGG Technologies Company, in conjunction with DMT did the design, installation and commissioned the project, supplied the gear and gave technical support to Alliance Art Group throughout the install. The main system anking the large feature video wall is 3x CAT215 per

18 NEWS side with CS218 double 18-inch subs under the stage. Additional CS218s are spread through the club, tastefully integrated as cocktail table bases. The system consists of a range of additional Clair Brothers speakers for distributed coverage including the CAT115, kiTCURVE12, CS18-M, FF2-HX, and kiT12 as bar lls. Two kiTCURVE12s are used as center ll, paired with four kiT12s and two FF2-HXs, which deliver the delay ll.

Supporting the new loudspeaker system are Lab.gruppen FP Series amplication, and Lake Controller software for user operation of the system.

TrueColor club owners and staff in Guangzhou City explain their satisfaction in no uncertain terms: “The Clair Brothers system has exceeded all our expectations.

The sound, the coverage, the clarity is unbelievable. It feels like a Rolls Royce motor car!” Adding, “Customers are staying longer, business has picked up so much better than before.”

The TrueColor-Guangzhou City installation represents the largest Clair Brothers install in China. It also represents an inarguable raise of the bar for nightclub sound systems in this vast, quickly modernizing country. With its success here, Alliance Art Group already plans on using Clair Brothers in another, even bigger club in Beijing.

the market convinced me that they are the partner of choice. We are condent about growing our business in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia with them."

Aaltos AV Director Kelvin Wong with the different Biamp Solu ons

Visual equipment in Singapore and the region. Aaltos' leadership role and commitment in providing systems integrators, systems designers, consultants and their customers with the highest levels of sales, service and support has resulted in their appointment by Biamp as their partner of choice for this region.

According to Graeme Harrison, Executive Vice President, Sale & Marketing for Biamp, the appointment of Aaltos AV Distribution reects Aaltos' excellent reputation in the marketplace and dedication to provide a high level of support to the professional installed market.

"The combination of an excellent sales and support team with their network of channel partners covering many areas of

www.clairbrothers.com

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Aaltos AV started out in the distribution of stationery and ofce equipment products in 2009. They subsequently moved into the AV distribution business when Kelvin Wong, the former AV Distribution Manager of SiS Technologies, Innovix Distribution and Viewsonic took over the helm in 2016. Aaltos’ proven channel strategy has always been to never to compete with their channel partners, rather they work hand-in-hand with their channel partners to provide the correct products and solutions to t the client's needs.

Remarking on the appointment by Biamp, Kelvin Wong, Director of Aaltos AV noted, "Relying on our long term cooperation with our channel partners, we have developed a very strong channel base. We view this appointment as an excellent opportunity to further entrench our leadership in the Pro AV marketplace.

Biamp's products will allow us to reach more customers and supply them with high quality systems and solutions." www.aaltosav.com www.biamp.com

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QSC Systems and VIVID AV Media in Egypt

Aaltos AV Biamp’s Distributor for Three SEA Countries SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Aaltos AV Distribution Pte Ltd, has announced that it has been appointed by Biamp Systems USA as the exclusive distributor for the awardwinning Biamp product suite which includes: Tesira ® platform for digital audio and video networking, Devio ® collaboration tool for modern workplaces, Audia ® digital audio platform, Nexia ® digital signal processors, and Vocia ® networked public address and emergency communication system.

Aaltos AV Distribution Pte Ltd is a valueadded distributor for Professional Audio

Q-SYS Level One classroom training in Cairo EGYPT: QSC Systems and VIVID Audiovisual Media travelled to Cairo to present the Q-SYS Platform to various AV consultants and system integrators.

Chris Hellmuth, Managing Director of VIVID AV Media and sales representative for QSC Systems in Egypt, KSA and Kuwait

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states “While integrators in the region have used QSC ampliers in the past, Egypt is an untapped opportunity for system sales. We were proud to showcase QSC's IT-centric conferencing solution including the Q-SYS Core 110f Unied processor, TSC-7t touch screen controller,

20 NEWS I/OUSB Bridge and native PTZ conference camera, along with AcousticDesign Series loudspeakers and SPA Series small format ampliers.”

And in order to get even more familiar with the platform a Q-SYS Level ONE Classroom Training was held on 28th November at the Holiday Inn Cairo Citystars hotel. The fully booked event underlined the big interest and potential of QSC Systems products in Egypt.

“We are thrilled to see the Q-SYS Platform continues to reach new corners of the globe. Q-SYS continues to appeal to integrators and end users alike who understand the value of IT centric solutions and harnessing the scalability and value of a software-based platform,” says Glen Harris, QSC Director of Sales EMEA - Systems Group. www.vivid-avmedia.com S I A

Atlona Partner Venuetech Looks to AV Over IP Future MENA: Venuetech, recently appointed as Atlona's chief regional manufacturer's representative across the Middle East, Arabian Gulf and North Africa, held a technology seminar in December focused on the future of meeting and conference room solutions as end businesses

transition AV operations to IP networks.

Held at the Al Falak Ballroom in the Burj Al Arab luxury hotel in Dubai, “The Future of Technology in the AV Industry” gave the experts at Venuetech a centralized forum to communicate with system integrators and consultants working in the eld. The chief focus was to deep-dive into what the company sees as the most innovative audiovisual and conferencing technologies to address the IP transition and other important trends in commercial AV. Solutions from Arthur Holm, Atlona, Global Caché, and Televic were among those presented to the audience of 100 professionals from around the region.

“Venuetech puts a signicant amount of effort into training and education, which allows us to be a more full-service partner for manufacturers. It also helps the systems integrators and consultants we work with more effectively solve problems and address trends,” said Naisvyn Lucas, Brand Manager at Venuetech.

Beyond offering informative presentations, Venuetech also provided an ample amount of time for attendees to experience working demonstrations of these solutions that were set up at the venue. Atlona's award-winning OmniStream AV over IP solution was part of the hands-on demo with a video wall showcasing its capabilities, including low latency, crop and zoom support, and seamless integration with Atlona's Velocity networked AV control system. www.venuetech.ae S I A

Analog Way Strengthens EMEA Sales Force

Demetrio Faroldi

Johannes van Woudenberg

With a view to further strengthening its sales organization in EMEA region, Analog Way announced the appointment of Demetrio Faroldi as Sales Director for Southern Europe and MEA, and Johannes van Woudenberg as Sales Director for Northern and Eastern Europe.

To better support sales in EMEA and reinforce relationships with customers and partners in each area, the regional sales force has been split into two separate teams respectively dedicated to Southern Europe and MEA and to Northern and Eastern Europe.

Demetrio Faroldi will lead sales in Southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Demetrio Faroldi has been working for Analog Way for nine years as Sales Manager. His sales expertise, successful experience of System Integration (SI) and Rental and Staging (RS) and impressive technical skills will be valuable assets in his new position. He will be based in Milan (Italy).

Johannes van Woudenberg joins Analog Way to lead sales in DACH, Northern and Eastern Europe. Johannes van Woudenberg is a seasoned Sales Director with long international experience in direct and indirect technical sales. He brings to the company an extensive knowledge of the professional video, IT and system integration markets in Germany and Central Europe. He will be based in the region of Upper Austria.

Audience: An overheard look at the approximately 100 professionals in a endance for VenueTech's “The Future of Technology in the AV Industry” seminar.

Adrien Corso, CEO of Analog Way, commented on the new appointments, “these two professionals are a perfect t to further fuel our continued growth, support our geographical expansion and develop our new activities. We wish them every success in their new positions.” www.analogway.com S I A

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22 NEWS Hong Kong Marine Training Centre Upgrades Simulation Media-Go Takes the Prideful Integration Honor

HONG KONG: Media-Go has been a reliable partner for the HKSAR government for years where it helped the government to accomplish a number of key projects including the Tamar Central Government Complex, Civil Aviation Department Headquarters, Hong Kong Police College and more. In September 2017, Media-Go completed another remarkable project in relation to the Hong Kong Marine Department Training Centre.

The Marine Department Training Centre located at Government Dockyard provides professional maritime training to departmental ofcers. It has traditional lecture rooms tted with full audiovisual teaching aids, and there are also various computer-based simulation equipment installed. Advanced training equipment is essential for providing trainees with lifelike simulations that allow trainees to work as if they are on a real ship. However, aging of the former projection systems led to unsatisfactory performance in simulation

Upgraded Video Walls at Training Bridges assisted in simula on training

training. Competitive pricing, reliable services and proven experience were the reasons why the Marine Department approached to Media-Go to solve the problem.

Media-Go served as the main contractor and systems integrator in this project, having close cooperation with four other partners: Barco supplied the Projection Systems; AV Stump the Projection Mapping and Auto Calibration System; LG supplied high quality Displays and Mindstec supplied the Datapath VSN Series Video Wall Controllers. Media-Go integrated the advantages of each product to upgrade the obsolete projection and video wall systems to a new level.

Media-Go replaced and upgraded the projection systems of three Training Bridges and an Instructor Room of the Marine Department Training Centre. One of the most sophisticated installations was the high-end, 270-degree seamless edge blending video wall that simulates the situation on a modern ship's bridge. It was a great challenge for the blending and automatic calibration of the seven projectors that were used. But with the use of Datapath Video Wall Controllers with user-friendly control interface, the video wall was able to show 270-degree seamless animations in high resolution that facilitated simulation training.

Apart from providing the quality projection systems, Media-Go team also delivered effective and timely response in tackling technical glitches during the 4month project period. The Marine

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

The 270-degree seamless video wall made simula on training more realis c

Department was contented with the upgraded installations and the excellent one-stop services of Media-Go.

Media-Go installed various video walls around the Marine Department Training Centre

"Media-Go was willing to work with us in the spirit of partnership, and were involved with us by having dialogues and discussions with us for solving technical problems. Media-Go was also openminded to share and streamline the installation with us closely," said Mr. Leung, Marine Ofcer of Marine Department Training Centre. www.mediago-group.com S I A

24 NEWS Audio Majors Deliver First-of-its-kind 3D Audio Mixing Workshop in Dubai

these generic workshops, and it would also be good to see more detailed workshops in the future,” concluded Silva.

Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) has been a hot topic in the Middle East, dominating conversations at industry events and trade shows. However, while the capture of 3D video has received due attention, the importance of the accompanying 3D audio has been largely overlooked.

https://en-ae.sennheiser.com/ www.neumann.com www.lawo.com www.dolby.com

In a bid to address this shortcoming, audio leaders Sennheiser, Dolby, Neumann and Lawo successfully conducted the region's rst workshop dedicated to 3D audio capture, processing and mixing. The overwhelmingly positive reception and ood of early registrations prompted the extension of the capacity for the second workshop to accommodate all attendees.

Commenting on the regional awareness about 3D audio, Peter Van Dam, Technical Advisor – CEO's Ofce at LIVE HD Broadcast Facilities said, “for now in the region, we are limited to 5.1 in TV broadcast while immersive audio in TV broadcast is not really on the agenda.

Workshops like this help create awareness to the region. Having the right people to explain it in a way that everyone can understand and see the need for it, combined with the new video technology and video standards, is a very good initiative.”

Bruno Silva, one of the managers of Sound and Broadcast at Royal Opera House, Muscat, who also attended the workshop observed, “the more manufacturers and brands promote these events, the better are the opportunities to raise the level of education in the region among professionals that are embracing this industry because it is new to them as well. So, these are all great opportunities and I think manufacturers have the responsibility to work together with

institutions, schools and venues to promote and facilitate these types of events and eventually raise expertise in the region.”

Each full-day workshop featured sessions on capturing sound in 3D, mixing, controlling and monitoring immersive sound formats, and establishing efcient encoding workows for optimum results.

Also included were listening sessions designed to expose attendees to audio content originally recorded in 3D as well as recordings upmixed using Sennheiser's patented algorithm.

Attendees were also introduced to 3D and object based audio formats – Ambeo by Sennheiser and Dolby Atmos respectively.

Sessions that were particularly well received included one on 'mixing immersive sound formats', conducted by Lucas Zwicker, Technical Product Manager Audio Production of Lawo, and the one by Dolby presented by Senior Content Manager, Vikram Joglekar, which brought attendees up to speed on the company's latest developments and roadmap.

Silva further observed, “the main highlight of this workshop for me was the live music capture, as that's what we do in the opera house Muscat.” This session was presented by Tonmeister Gregor Zielinsky, International Recording Applications Manager at Sennheiser.

Both Silva and Van Dam echoed the general consensus among attendees that there is need for more discussion around 3D audio in the Middle East. “I think more events like this should happen and perhaps there should be even more detailed workshops into all the three different areas we've seen here today and the related products. It's good to have

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ClearOne Plans Record Number of Training Programmes in 2018 GLOBAL: ClearOne announced plans to host up to 175 regional and online training events in 2018 to help its partners, dealers, consultants and integration community are abreast with the company's new range of solutions comprising conferencing, collaboration and streaming products.

“ClearOne offers the industry's most comprehensive range of conferencing, collaboration and streaming solutions and the training we offer has to keep pace with the roll-out of our expanding product portfolio,” stated ClearOne Head of Training Ron Lynch, CTS. “To meet this increased need for a wider range of training options, ClearOne has doubled the size of its training staff and set a goal of hosting 175 training events during the course of 2018, utilizing a mix of traditional, regional in-person classes with an increased number of webinar-style classes that are open to Pro AV practitioners everywhere,” he said. “We will even custom design a training schedule for consultants and specic groups on an as-needed basis.”

The instructor-led training classes include live regional events and live webinar events using ClearOne Spontania, both of which are qualied as RU (Renewal Units) approved by AVIXA, hands-on trainings, private group trainings, and “teach-ins,” which are shorter classes tailored to meet the specic needs of individuals and companies. The self-paced, online classes are website-based trainings that will be available via YouTube videos.

To view the upcoming training schedule visit http://www.clearone.com/events_training www.clearone.com

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Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

26 NEWS Advantage Audio-Visual India AVIXA Membership, Programmes Made Affordable A very encouraging booster for aspiring professionals of audio-visual and systems integration in India! As a measure of extension to its increasing support to the rapidly expanding audio-visual sector in the country, AVIXA, the global AV industry's apex body (formerly InfoComm International) has reduced the charges for both Individual and Enterprise Memberships in developing countries, including India.

AVIXA offers three levels of Membership for individuals. Individual Basic Membership as it is, is free, and offers free tradeshow access and newsletter subscriptions.

The Premium Membership for Indian applicants now stands reduced at US$49; this provides free introductory AV classes, access to AV standards, discount on education, access to premium content and to 'members-only' events.

Further, companies in India can sign up for Enterprise Membership at a discounted rate of US$250. This provides access to AV standards, administrative access to team professional development, discount on bulk micro-credentialing and trade show booth purchases.

In recent years, AVIXA has bolstered its support for the Indian sub-continent, where audio-visual market has leaped from US$2.6 billion in 2012 to US$5.4 billion in 2016, and is expected to reach US$8.4 billion by 2022. Till date, AVIXA has trained more than 1,500 professionals in India in diverse areas of AV applications.

That Indian industry is growing at such rapid pace, the requirement for certied

talent pool to cater to that demand is greater than ever. While it's been a continuous endeavor at AVIXA to provide resources needed for AV professionals to acquire higher, acknowledged knowledge, the current measures are initiated with a view to further expanding the support platform so that it encourages larger aspiring communities from the industry to stay updated with the industry dynamics.

“The new model is a welcome offering to its partner community,” observes Bharath Kumar, Managing Director, Kramer Electronics India. “AVIXA's new membership model for India ts every stakeholder of the AV ecosystem to leverage the vast resources available with least monetary impact.”

Says Kaushik Mukhopadhyay, MD-CEO of IAV India: “The reduced Membership fee yet added value of services in the new AVIXA Membership model is extremely benecial to Systems Integrators as it

becomes more affordable to train a larger number of employees.”

According to him, the Elite Partnership model now not only offers all the benets of the Premium Partnership model such as discounted products and services on Education, Certication, etc. but also offers subscription to unlimited free online education. With more number of trained talent, the overall quality of installations in the industry would improve and contribute to a higher standard in the ecosystem.

“It is a recognition for not only the certied individual but also to the company to which they belong,” Kaushik says “kudos to AVIXA for the new Membership model.” www.avixa.org S I A

AVIXA conducts a host of training programmes both in theory, and hands-on prac cals in diverse aspects of AV applica ons.

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28 NEWS SI Asia Initiative evokes exciting response:

SDVoE Alliance AV Over IP Training Attracts Full House

Moh Tooh Hock of Netgear presen ng about switchers

Charles Dobson from the SDVoE Alliance kicks off the session

SINGAPORE: The SDVoE Alliance presented day-long AV-over-IP training courses in Singapore on January 16, 17 and 18, at the Hewshott Singapore facility.

Organized by Systems Integration Asia and sponsored by NETGEAR and ZeeVee, the interactive sessions covered the basics of IP networking, followed by hands-on training in small groups exploring an AVover-IP system.

“The SDVoE Alliance World Tour has delivered very well attended education and training sessions in the US, Australia, Latin America and Europe,” said Justin Kennington, president of the SDVoE Alliance. “We are excited to introduce this

intensive version of our AV-over-IP training in Singapore and to demonstrate how integrators and end users can take advantage of the exibility and scalability of Ethernet to deliver 4K video without compromise – without latency and without image artifacts.”

“The training initially scheduled for only two days was extended to an additional day due to positive response,” said Thomas Prakasam, Publisher of Systems Integration Asia magazine. “The training is part of our objective to bring valuable knowledge programmes to the industry in Asia and we are pleased to kick off the year with a well attended training.”

Delegates from the first day of training

Delegates from the second day of training

Delegates from the third day of training

The main training was conducted by Art Weeks of ZeeVee Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

30 NEWS the reports will be readily available for reference.

“GPP and PeopleLink have partnered for bringing in the most user-friendly technology in the Healthcare sector. This portal will simplify collaboration.

Consulting a doctor will now be just as easy as making a phone call. Consulting the doctor and ordering medications / diagnostics will only be a couple of clicks away,” comments Hayden Cooke, CTO, Global Patient Portal.

Delegates having hands-on experience

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GPP, PeopleLink join Hands for Online Healthcare Consultancy Each day 18 delegates mainly comprising of system integrators attended the event.

The training also attracted foreign participation from China, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Aaron Jardine of Tabulo Audio Pte Ltd commented, “The AV over IP training was great. It was nice to see SDVoe bring all the relative AV over IP companies together and show solutions to current market trends and request. Although Video over IP is relatively knew, having the knowledge now to execute and understand the limitations and work arounds to implement 4k video was enlightening.” www.sdvoe.org www.systemsintegrationasia.com

INDIA: An Australia based Healthcare organization, Global Patient Portal (GPP) is joining hands with PeopleLink Unied Communications Pvt. Ltd. to introduce the most effective online consultation platform to Indian Healthcare domain.

“Netik - Quick Clinic”, “Netik” in Hindi means 'Excellent' or 'The Best', and as the name suggests it is an online portal which will connect the patients to the doctors over the internet for quick consultations.

They can instantly consult the doctor online from their home/ofces through their mobile device, laptops or desktops.

Micheal Koss, CEO, Global Patient Portal says “We believe, Netik - Quick Clinic will supremely benet the Indian Medical Market and assist patients in having a better access to Healthcare offerings.”

PeopleLink, a pioneer in the eld of software based video collaborative platforms in India, has partnered with GPP on the technological front in providing the most advanced designed solution. Netik will also have the provision of securely sharing and storing of medical images and e-prescription between the doctor and the patients. So, every time a patient enters the consultation session with the doctor,

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

The launch of Netik - Quick Clinic will ensure easier availability of Healthcare facilities for the patients, ignoring long queues, stressful and expensive hospital transits. This revolutionary Telehealthcare portal will be an added benet in elderly and pediatric care also. Amit Chowdry, CEO, PeopleLink Unied Communications Pvt. Ltd. says, “We have been successfully “video enabling” the business of our clients in the past one decade. We are happy to get associated with GPP in their endeavour to bring something effective for the patients and medical practitioners in India.”

Netik - Quick Clinic, will be among one of the most secured and complied under a set of Medical standards like HIPAA, HL-7 and a range of ISOs, available for safeguarding personal medical data online.

“Currently, we are focusing on video enablement of work processes to aid in smooth functioning of businesses. Netik Quick Clinic is a similar undertaking in the eld of Healthcare. This Platform shall make the General Practitioners available to the masses through their mobile devices.

This OPD (Online Pervasive Diagnostics) service will be a milestone in changing the patient journey and making an option available for a healthier living” says Abhishek Pratap Singh, Strategic Alliance, PeopleLink Unied Communication Pvt. Ltd. Netik - Quick Clinic which is due for release mid-February 2018, shall enter the Indian Healthcare arena. Speculations are on the rise about its impact on the stakeholders in the medical domain. It is expected that this innovative solution with take the Indian Healthcare market by storm and prove conducive both for the patients and medical practitioners. www.peoplelinkvc.com S I A

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE

ATEN Extender Makes Networked AV Easy

ATEN, the leading provider of IT connectivity and total management solutions introduced its rst professional A/V over IP solution, the VE8900/VE8950 Video over IP Extender. The ATEN VE8950 delivers visually lossless 4K @ 30Hz (4:4:4) AV signals with low latency over long distances via a standard Gigabit network, while the VE8900 supports resolutions up to 1080p. Representing ATEN's rst foray into the A/V over IP market, the VE8900/VE8950 also supports video walls function with simple layout control, which provides an effective, easy-to-use, and economical solution to meet today's large scale, multi-display, 1080p/4K digital signage requirements, such as limitless scalability and exibility, no complicated IP setup, no additional servers or software required and enable daisy chaining. The VE8900/VE8950 Video over IP Extender is an ideal product for a wide range of environments, such as trade shows, airports, campuses, conference centers, and shopping centers.

The new ATEN VE8900/8950 Video over IP Extender thus provides: Ÿ

Limitless exibility and scalability

Ÿ

Easy and non-complicated IP Set-up

Ÿ

Freedom from additional servers PCs or software

Ÿ

Lightweight compression with Ultralow latency

Ÿ

Support for video walls with intuitive Web GUI

“Digital signage is everywhere in our life and demand for over IP control is rising accordingly to achieve the most efcient management,” said Kevin Chen, President of ATEN International. “As a solution provider with vast experience in both the A/V and IT elds, we are excited to

introduce the VE8900/VE8950 Video over IP Extender to the A/V over IP market,” he said. “The VE8900/VE8950 fullls 1080p/4K high resolution demands while providing intuitive over IP control and will help our partners build up their digital signage portfolio with a solution that makes networked A/V easy.” www.aten.com S I A

Atlona Announces BYOD-Empowering Switcher Shipping

devices. Adding further value and convenience, the USB-C interface can also act as a charging station for laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

For wireless presentations, the SW-510W interfaces natively with iOS, Android, Mac, Chromebook, and Windows devices over built-in Wi-Fi capabilities, and offers screen mirroring without requiring the installation of an app. The SW-510U can automatically switch between input sources based on the connection or disconnection of a wired or wireless AV device, providing exceptional ease of use.

On the output side, simultaneous HDMI and HDBaseT interfaces enable multidestination presentation architectures such as concurrent primary audience and condence displays, while the HDBaseT output can be paired with Atlona's ATUHD-EX-100CE-RX-PSE receiver to extend video, audio, control, and Ethernet up to 100 meters. The SW-510W supports wired video signals up to 4K/UHD @ 60 Hz, plus support for 4K/60 4:4:4 and HDR formats on local ports (HDMI, USB-C, and DisplayPort) and wireless video up to 1080p/30 (up to 1080p/60 with Miracast).

The switcher is HDCP 2.2 compliant for compatibility with protected content. www.atlona.com S I A

Atlona announced shipping the AT-UHDSW-510W 5x1 universal switcher with wireless presentation capabilities. Costefciently supporting the bring-your-owndevice (BYOD) movement sweeping across corporate, educational and other commercial AV environments, the SW510W combines unprecedented input exibility with powerful integration features including automatic display control, automatic input selection, and mirrored HDMI and HDBaseT outputs.

The ground-breaking SW-510W simplies system design, integration, and operation by supporting both wired and wireless AV connectivity in a single, compact unit. For local wired sources, the new switcher features one DisplayPort and two HDMI inputs alongside a USB-C input for the latest Mac, Chromebook, and Windows PCs and other USB-C-equipped AV

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Allen & Heath Adds sE Electronics to Profactory Mic Presets

Allen & Heath announced the availability of the latest ProFactory channel libraries for its Qu series digital mixers. Following successful collaborations with Shure, Sennheiser and Audio Technica, the new presets cover a range of popular sE

SOLUTIONS UPDATE Electronics microphones, including the V3, V7, VR, 4400a and RNR1.

ProFactory Mic Presets offer engineers of all abilities an ideal starting point to get the best possible sound quickly and easily.

The team at Allen & Heath worked closely with sound engineer Frederik Brandt Jakobsen at sE Electronics who developed the optimal settings for each microphone and instrument combination.

“Convenience is key. On-board effects and snapshots are mandatory characteristics of today's digital consoles. Allen & Heath have taken this one step further with the addition of ProFactory Presets to their Qu series,” says Toni Scherrenberg, Global Sales & Marketing Director at sE Electronics. “We know the strengths of our products, and we have created a variety of awesome-sounding EQ settings for sE microphones.”

The presets are available now as a free download from the Qu series product pages on the A&H website. www.allen-heath.com S I A

33

Brainstorm, never.no Announce OnMedia Launch for 3D AV

Brainstorm, leading manufacturer of realtime 3D graphics and virtual studio solutions, along with never.no, leaders in live social media management, moderation and publishing, announced the NAB 2018 launch of OnMedia, a unique end-to-end solution for managing virtual and augmented reality 3D graphics based on social media feeds. OnMedia is one of the developments resulting from Brainstorm and never.no's partnership as leaders of Project VisualMedia in the Europe 2020 Horizon framework

programme. The project is funded by the European Commission, as a response to the needs of creative industries in the broadcast media sector.

OnMedia integrates both never-no's and Brainstorm technologies, delivering all the power of its 3D Graphics Engine to display the information gathered and structured previously from the internet. It allows endto-end social content management, customization, and publishing to both 3D TV graphics and second screen

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34

SOLUTIONS UPDATE

environments, going far beyond the requirement for displaying live social data in dynamic TV formats, but also provides a missing production ow in traditional broadcast environments. It is an integrated, stand-alone, modular application which makes it easy to search, lter, publish, visualize and engage with content from the audience.

Says David Alexander, Commercial Director of Brainstorm: “OnMedia helps broadcasters to enhance their programming content to drive higher audience ratings and foster loyalty from their audiences, providing a unique, endto-end solution for social graphics management that takes advantage of our more than 20 years of experience in delivering high-end real-time graphics.”

Scott Davies, CEO of never.no commented, “this goes far beyond the desirable requirement of live social data in visually dynamic TV formats, but also fundamentally provides a missing production ow in traditional broadcast environments.”

See OnMedia at NAB 2018 for an interactive demo of how to manage live social content, control and preview scenes, publish to 3D and virtual studio graphics, control gesturing as well as sync with 2nd screen applications. www.brainstorm3d.com www.never.no S I A

Avenview Introduces 4K Component for M-Series HDMI Over IP Avenview Corp, a manufacturer of ProAV components for management and distribution of video signals launched a 4K component to round out the successful MSERIES HDMI over IP line, the HDMC6MWIP4K-SET. The component is designed to provide a complete end-toend solution for the distribution of 4K content across an IP network using the same 1GB network switch.

The MSERIES is a modular video over IP product that uses a combination of encoders and decoders utilizing a network infrastructure to distribute HDMI using H.264 compression for high quality and low bandwidth signals over a 1GB network switch.

After launching the full HD (1080p) MSERIES in late 2015, Avenview experienced huge success with this IP solution and its standalone control system via iPad and windows 10 App. With a consistently increasing demand for Video over IP, Avenview continues to expand the features and components, including adding a MultiViewer decoder, which allows up to 9 images on one screen with 4K support.

The new 4K components are also compatible with the previous MSERIES 1080p line of products, allowing our clients to easily expand an existing system with the same easy setup. The new 4K device gives the exibility to control any HDCP compatible 4K HDMI source from an iPad or Windows 10 Application with live preview to create a videowall or matrix solution.

Like each product in the MSERIES line, the new 4K-component features modular design, which allows multiple uses and customized installations with full control from an iPad or Windows 10 Application.

Video is streamed and decoded live using H.264 video encoding, which ensures high quality and low bandwidth. The multifunction HDM-C6MWIP4K-SET extends 4K HDMI point to point, point to multi-point, or can create a video wall or matrix. www.avenview.com S I A

Biamp Introduces Wall Plates for Tesira Platform Biamp Systems announced a new line of Dante wall plates specically available for Tesira.

Developed in collaboration with Attero Tech, this new offering enables audio connectivity and control, as well as individual device

monitoring — unique to the protocol-agnostic Tesira platform. The wall plates are available in three models to address a range of input needs.

“While Tesira has always been capable of connecting audio to and from Attero Tech's Dante wall plates, it's the newly added capability of controlling and monitoring the wall plates directly through the software that truly benets our customers,” said Zach Snook, audio products manager for Biamp Systems. “It's just another way that Biamp continues to provide versatile tools to design the fastest, easiest and best solutions possible.”

The Tesira 3.4 software allows customers to control specic wall plate elements, such as audio input signal types, mute state, volume level, invert state and source selection. The platform also features a locate function, which enables programmers or IT personnel to quickly identify the location of a specic wall plate within the software.

The software can also act as a single point of connection for third-party control systems using Biamp's control API, Tesira Text Protocol (TTP). Before this collaboration, traditional control systems had to communicate with each wall plate directly. This worked functionally, but it did not scale well for large systems. Now all control commands can be sent through the Tesira software and then routed to the individual plates, providing a truly scalable solution.

The new wall plates are available in three models, identied with a “-B” at the end of each part number. The unDX2IO+ model features two XLR inputs, two XLR outputs, and two line inputs; the unDX4I includes four XLR inputs and two line outputs; and the unDX6IO boasts two XLR inputs, two RCA or 3.5mm inputs, two 3.5mm outputs, and two line outputs.

Each model is available in either a black or white nish. www.biamp.com S I A

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

SOLUTIONS UPDATE

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE

B-Tech AV Launches Universal LED Mounting Solutions

British mounting solutions major B-Tech AV Mounts has responded to growing demand for hassle-free mounting of today's LED panels with the launch of a new universal LED mounting range.

The company brought a solution to market that is simple to specify, with fast turnaround times from off-the-shelf stock.

Designed to work with the most popular LED panels on the market, B-Tech's LED mounting solutions can be specied to requirement using B-Tech's online LED conguration tool – available via www.btechavmounts.com/led-panelcongurator.

Using renowned System X technology at its core, the new range can be ordered for wall mounting, mobile and xed base applications. Using off-the-shelf components means that solutions can be packaged and shipped promptly, with BTech staff pre-assembling all key components to save installers valuable onsite time.

All key mounting requirements are met, with solutions for wall mounting, freestanding, mobile (on castors) and bolt down now available.

Ÿ

Easily specied for any display conguration using B-Tech's online congurator

Mark Walker, business development manager for B-Tech, said, “hot on the heels of our Manufacturer of the Year success, we are very proud to be able to bring these versatile LED solutions to our customers, as we believe it's the best way of mounting today's popular LED displays.

Our engineers were keen to design products that would be strong, reliable and fast to t for today's popular panels.”

B-Tech worked closely with several key manufacturers of LED to produce this new range, explains Walker. The AV industry has been crying out for a hassle-free mounting solution as LED becomes the popular choice for large scale digital signage, he elaborates. “Using System X components brings simplicity to any install and our universal LED mounts are no different. Our online congurator makes it easy to specify requirements, resulting in one single part code and fast order fullment from offthe-shelf components.” www.btechavmounts.com S I A

Christie Launches Apex 0.9mm LED Video Wall Solution

Suitable for front service or rear access panels

Ÿ

Silver aluminium, with black or silver upright colour choice

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Universal design suitable for variety of LED panels and congurations

Ÿ

System can be extended to any required width for large installations

Available in ultra-ne pixel pitches from 0.9mm to 2.5mm and featuring a 16:9 aspect ratio, the Apex Series displays content in impeccable detail, making it the ideal choice for applications where image quality and clarity is paramount.

Apex 0.9 is a 0.96mm pitch LED that delivers amazing colours, brightness at high uniformity. The new offering allows for scaling to popular resolutions in a smaller square meter area as well as reducing optimum and minimum viewing distances. The Apex Series offers a proprietary solution of high quality components that work as a system to provide the highest visual experience, maximize display time, and ensure complete peace of mind, unmatched by other LED displays.

“We've enhanced the popular Christie Apex Series to offer a variety of sizes and congurations for customers seeking high quality LED video wall performance,” said Ted Romanowitz, senior product manager, Christie. “Christie is committed to LED video walls that deliver long life, high quality components and features that reduce total cost of ownership.”

The Christie APEX 0.9mm video wall offers: Ÿ

16:9 aspect ratio

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Remote and redundant power supply

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Front serviceability

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Slim design that is ADA compliant

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Advanced monitoring capability (SNMP)

To help simplify the decision making process, the Christie Velvet LED video wall bundle provides an easier way to integrate a seamless, full HD LED installation. The bundle is a complete solution comprised of an ultra-ne pitch Apex Series LED designed for corporate spaces, control rooms, digital signage and architectural display applications.

Key features of the system include: Ÿ

experiences, is enhancing the Christie Velvet Apex Series line of products with the launch of the Apex 0.9mm LED video wall -- a quality ultra-narrow pitch LED solution backed by exceptional Christie expertise and customer service.

https://www.christiedigital.com Christie, a leader in creating and delivering the world's best visual and audio

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

S I A

SOLUTIONS UPDATE ClearOne Integrates Dialog 20 System With Converge Mixers

ClearOne announced that the recently begun shipping of small-form-factor DIALOG 20 wireless microphone system now features native compatibility withClearOne CONVERGE Pro 2 line of mixers, offering integrators a new level of unprecedented exibility and ease in system design.

According to Durai Ramachandiran, ClearOne's Senior Director of Product Line Management for Pro Voice and AV Distribution, the ability to natively integrate with CONVERGE Pro 2 mixers makes the DIALOG 20 the most attractive 2-channel

wireless microphone system on the market today, reinforcing the company's industryleading ability to design products that provide Sis with the breadth they need to meet each customer's specic requirements. All current owners of ClearOne DIALOG 20 wireless system will be able to upgrade and obtain native integration through an easy software update.

This new native integration feature utilizes ClearOne's new P-Link (peripheral link), which allows for PoE (power over Ethernet), audio and control connections with the CONVERGE Pro 2 DSP mixers. PLink brings the ability to connect to ClearOne's peripheral devices such as the

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Beamforming Mic Array 2, DIALOG 20 Wireless Mic Receiver, USB Expander and GPIO Expander.

The DIALOG 20 is a compact, two-channel professional digital wireless system with exible powering and mounting options, plug and play installation and the ability to connect digitally to CONVERGE Pro 2 DSP mixers. It also has standard audio and GPIO interfaces for any third-party audio mixer. It delivers full audio bandwidth through gooseneck, boundary, belt-pack or handheld transmitters and can connect to any type of audio conferencing or reinforcement system.

“ClearOne is a leader in the microphone space because we deliver what customers will appreciate, often before they even know they want it,” Ramachandiran said.

“We engineer our microphones and DSP mixers to maximize performance for awless audio and control, so integrators are condent that all of our products function optimally together,” he said. “The DIALOG 20 wireless microphone system also works with any third-party mixer specied by the systems integrator.” www.clearone.com S I A

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE

Crestron Begins Shipping DM XiO

Crestron, a global leader in enterprise control and automation technology, announced shipping of DM XiO Director, the new AV matrix for the IT age. An enterprise-grade network appliance, natively running simple yet powerful software, the DM XiO Director centrally congures, manages, and controls DM NVX network AV systems.

The DM XiO Director is available in three models, depending on the number of DM NVX endpoints. The software tool enables device discovery, domain conguration, endpoint mapping, multicasting management, and status monitoring. DM NVX Series is the industry's only secure solution that delivers 4K60, 4:4:4, and HDR video over standard 1Gb Ethernet.

“Once your DM NVX network is installed, you need to route the video and manage the system. The DM XiO Director makes it easy to set up large networks of endpoints, name rooms, monitor signal paths, and manage video data over a standard IP network,” said Rob Carter, Technology Manager, DigitalMedia.

Virtual DM switcher: The DM XiO Director virtually emulates the functionality of a traditional hardware-based DigitalMedia matrix switcher, routing 4K60 streaming AV signals throughout a room, building, or campus. Three models are offered which support 80 (DM-XIODIR-80), 160 (DM-XIO-DIR-160), or unlimited (DM-XIO-DIR-ENT) endpoint devices. DM XiO Director can handle even the largest corporate enterprise, university, governmental, military, medical, transportation, sports, entertainment, hospitality, gaming, or retail application.

switchers in every room, replacing them with the virtual equivalent running on the AV network.

Easy web-based setup and control: The DM XiO Director provides an intuitive web-based user interface to facilitate system conguration, signal routing, and comprehensive diagnostics of the complete AV network. Each domain and endpoint can be designated with a userfriendly name. Navigating the entire system is easy using the search box to quickly nd domains, endpoints, inputs, and outputs by name or address. A system overview screen is also provided, showing the video and audio signal status for every input and output in a graphical layout that's easy to view and navigate. www.crestron.com S I A

DisplayNote Does Montage for Enterprise Segment DisplayNote Technologies announced its most signicant update to Montage which sees the product available as a software only solution. This update includes a new streaming protocol, a cloud-based management portal, and enhanced security and network features.

Designed for the meeting spaces of large enterprises, Montage allows multiple

Simple, exible conguration: The DM XiO Director automatically discovers each DM NVX endpoint on the network, and allows each one to be assigned to a 'domain' using a simple UI. A domain is simply a logical grouping of endpoints that operate together as a single switching entity, allowing individual rooms and other subsystems to be arranged and controlled independently. The DM XiO Director effectively eliminates the need for physical Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

users, whether they're in room, remote or on separate networks to wirelessly cast content from their device to a main meeting room screen without the need for additional hardware.

Available as Windows or Android software, Montage can now be deployed securely onto hardware that typically exists meeting spaces, such as Mini PCs, Compute Sticks, Fixed PCs, or Flat Panels.

If no hardware end point is available Montage can be deployed and delivered on its own hardware.

Users can connect with any device with client apps for Windows, Web, iOS, Android & Airplay support.

Montage takes another giant leap forward in terms of video performance. Users have been able to create their own protocol which put low-latency as priority for Montage. At the core of this, is a new super-fast screen grabber which produces more frames per second, lower latency and higher quality video streaming.

Attendees on guest networks or connecting remotely can share content in the exact same way as those on the corporate network.

Attendees can also connect via Web, Windows, native iOS, native Android and Airplay. For enterprise deployments, client apps can be personalised to meeting branding requirements.

All inbound and outbound data from our backend layer is encrypted and transmitted over TLS or DTLS with 2048bit asymmetric encryption and 256-bit

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE

symmetric encryption using certicates from third party credited authorities. The solution uses a combination of both Azure and Amazon services to provide a resilient and redundant backend. The SaaS layer helps generate unique meeting ID ensuring enhanced security.

"Montage is now helping large companies balance two really important factors when it comes to wireless content sharing,” says DisplayNote Technologies Paul Brown CEO. “On one hand, users of meeting spaces expect consumer grade quality: they want to be able to share their screens without having to think about device types, dongles, network permissions,” he elaborates. “On the other hand, content sharing must meet the organisation's security, network and workow requirements.”

with ECLER WPm wall-panel control series.

Universal external power supply included.

The eCA120HZDN, on the other hand, is a 120 WRMS @ 70 / 100V efciency (class D) mono compact amplier for high impedance lines. It shares the rest of its features with the eCA120DN model.

The systems applications include, besides others, audio over IP transmissions using standard Ethernet networks, Dante digital audio receiver, Priority messages management for vertical markets such as Education, Museums, and Retail centres etc.

www.displaynote.com S I A

Ecler Introduces Compact Ampliers With Dante Interface

Spanish audio solutions developer Ecler Essentials announced the availability of two new compact ampliers with Dante audio interface. The two new products include eCA120DN and eCA120HZDN. The eCA120DN is a 2 x 60 WRMS @ 4Ω high efciency (class D) stereo compact amplier. It features 2 x analogue audio inputs and 2 x Dante audio inputs, both with selectable priority function (over the other input signal) as well as an auxiliary audio output. Its selectable auto stand-by function and fan-less design which makes it almost 100 per cent silent. It also has a remote control volume port compatible

Extron Brings CostEffective AV System for Collaboration Extron Electronics announced the immediate availability of the HC 404, an affordable and easy-to-use AV system for collaboration spaces. The system features built-in control capabilities and integration with occupancy sensors to automate display power and source switching for an intuitive, effortless user experience.

Created for professional integration, the low-prole HC 404 components can be discreetly mounted beneath a table or behind a display. HC 404 systems connect seamlessly to GlobalViewer Enterprise, providing an elegant AV system management solution to monitor and support all of your collaboration spaces throughout the enterprise.

"For customers searching for a simple collaboration solution that works right out of the box, the HC 404 system delivers," says Casey Hall, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Extron. "The HC 404 automates common functions and enables users to quickly and effectively work together using any device, simply by plugging in their laptops or tablets to share projects.”

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www.extron.com S I A

www.ecler.com S I A

Says DisplayNote Technologies CTO Andy Bell: “We're pushing the limits in what can be achieved in wireless presenting. This update sees great improvements not only in performance across all the platforms we support but latency of video to less than 100ms. Security wise we're aiming to be as secure as HDMI, only wirelessly.

The HC 404 switching transmitter and scaling receiver work together to extend video, audio, and power up to 230 feet over a single CATx cable for maximum performance and reliability. It features two HDMI inputs and one VGA input at the transmitter and one HDMI input at the receiver. Advanced Extron scaling technology in the receiver ensures excellent image quality with maximum detail and color accuracy. Add an Extron ShareLink wireless collaboration gateway to support BYOD – Bring Your Own Device environments, where users can share content from a wide variety of personal mobile devices for effective collaboration.

Gefen Shipping New 4K UHD600 Extender

Gefen announced that its shipping the GTB-UHD600-HBT and GTB-UHD600HBTL, two new 4K Ultra HD Extenders that can extend full bandwidth HDMI 2.0 over the most widely used extension medium, Category cabling.

“These new 4K Ultra HD extenders address one of the most signicant issues that commercial installers face, and that is the extension of full bandwidth HDMI 2.0 over Category cabling – the most widely used extension medium,” said Gefen Product Manager Jason Fitzgerald. “For corporate, hospitality, retail, education, medical, and any other vertical markets in which content requires extension beyond standard cable limitations, Gefen is making the impossible possible!”

The GTB-UHD600-HBT and GTB-UHD600HBTL help overcome the bandwidth limitations of HDBaseT. The new 4K extenders employ Gefen's proprietary compression technology to extend the full 18.2 Gbps bandwidth and 600 MHz TMDS Clock of HDMI 2.0, in resolutions up to 4096x2160 at 60Hz and 4:4:4 Chroma subsampling.

SOLUTIONS UPDATE The new extenders are capable of 4K Ultra HD 60 Hz 4:4:4 (600 MHz) extension. GTB-UHD600-HBT has an extension range up to 80 meters at 4K and 100 meters at 1080p, while the GTBUHD600-HBTL is rated up to 40 meters at 4K and 60 meters at 1080p. The GTBUHD600-HBT also supports RS-232 extension for seamless integration of control signals. Gefen's priopertary BiDirectional POL (Power over Link) sends power from Sender to Receiver or Receiver to Sender over the link cable, offering the maximum level of exibility in choosing how each unit is powered.

Additionally, integration with Gefen's Syner-G software allows for easy rmware updates. www.gefen.com S I A

InFocus Announces Launch of IN3140 Series Projectors InFocus Corporation announced the launch of IN3140 Series projectors,

featuring exceptional resolution, brightness, and exible connectivity options to suit classrooms and meeting spaces.

At less than seven pounds each, the IN3140 Series projectors are lightweight, compact, and easy-to-install on a desk, meeting table, or mounted to the ceiling in an ofce or classroom. The projectors provide an excellent image in any light conditions, featuring 5,000 lumens in Normal Mode, or 4,000 lumens in Eco Mode. With a native resolution of 1080p (IN3148HD), WXGA (IN3146) and XGA (IN3144), the IN3140 Series also offers exceptional clarity.

To maximize value, the IN3140 Series features 6,000 hours of lamp life using the Dynamic Mode feature, which adjusts the level of brightness depending on the content, location, and scenario. Or, using Eco Blanking, the IN3140 Series projector lamp life is further extended by auto-

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dimming when not in use. The projectors offer 1.5x optical zoom, providing clarity for even small details, and all models feature exible aspect ratios supporting 2.35:1, 4:3, 16:9, and 16:10. To show the brightest whites and darkest blacks on screens, walls, whiteboards, or blackboards, the IN3144 features a 11000:1 contrast ratio, and the IN3146 and IN3148HD support 13000:1.

Users can experience smooth video playback of any content by connecting to one or both of the HDMI v1.4 (one with MHL compatibility), two VGA, Composite, S Video, as well as 3.55mm and RCA L/R audio ports.

The IN3140 Series supports multiple forms of 3D content, including Blu-Ray, 3D broadcasting, video games, and PC connectivity. For easy network management, the IN3140 Series projectors also feature RS232 and RJ45 connections.

Users can also effortlessly install the IN3140 Series with AMX and Crestron automation systems. www.infocus.com S I A

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE

Kramer Brings Out Galil 6-AW Speakers for All-Weather Applications 30W/15W/7.5W/3.7W/Off (Lo–Z); 100V: 30W/15W/7.5W/Off (Lo–Z).

The speakers' application areas include as wide range as indoor and outdoor use, restaurants, hotels, patios and gardens, corporate boardrooms, conference rooms, and classrooms. www.kramerav.com Kramer electronics has brought to industry the new variant of Galil Speaker Series with Galil 6-AW on−wall all-weather speakers aimed at all indoor/outdoor install applications. The speakers include a pair of high performance 2-way on-wall IP 66 speakers that can be mounted on a wall either vertically or horizontally, and are suitable for indoor and outdoor installations.

The Galil 6-AW features a multi−tap power transformer for selecting 70V/100V power settings which are suitable for an array installation, or 8Ω bypassing the transformer. The mounting U-brackets, made of painted steel, can be attached to each speaker, letting the user rotate each speaker to the left or right.

The feature-rich speaker variant comes in both black and white colours, with a 6.5inch polypropylene core woofer and oneinch silk dome tweeter. The speakers are also capable of handling 40W RMS, 110W continuous programme in terms of power, and transformer taps of 70V:

S I A

LED Digital Posters from NanoLumens for Retail Signage

NanoLumens announced the introduction LED digital posters empowering retailers to replace boring static signage that require constant replacement with compelling digital displays that immediately engage their customers, according to NanoLumens Vice-President of Global Retail Sales Matt Nurre.

“Digital is replacing static in just about every aspect of our lives, and retail is a massive opportunity for those willing to be early adopters of this technology,” said Nurre. “Whether the retailer is looking for heightened brand awareness, increased impulse buying or true customer interaction, our LED Digital Poster is easy to install and meets a variety of retail's top demands. Wall mounted, self-standing, fold out or hanging, digital posters can work as a single display or as part of a multiple display network to create an endless array of options.”

The NanoLumens Digital Posters are embedded with the industry-leading cloud-based NanoLumens AWARE platform, which allows retailers to route new content to any digital poster in their network around the world. At 2.55mm pixel pitch, NanoLumens Digital Posters

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

give content the utmost clarity, creating a deeper level of customer engagement.

They are also incredibly simple to install, and ship direct to any warehouse or store location. Purpose built with the retailer in mind, Digital Posters are plug-and-play; making content changes and additions a breeze. www.nanolumens.com S I A

Opticis Introduces 4K Display Port 1.2 Optical Fiber Extender Opticis introduced DisplayPort 1.2 optical ber extender that can solve Auxiliary channel problem with AUX emulator. The new optical DisplayPort 1.2 extender, DPFX-200A-TR is designed compact enough to be tted into various installation environments with one (1) Duplex LC bers connection.

Transmitter and receiver set, DPFX-200ATR, enables to transmit 4K UHD (4096x 2160) at 60Hz signal up to 300m (984 feet) over one duplex LC multi-mode ber, avoiding any tricks like scaling or data compression for lessening a burden of data transmission.

Between transmitter and receiver, pure ber connection by two LC bers gives clean, secure and easy installation with no electrical hazard and a perfect electrical isolation. The unit provides easy solution for any issue caused by auxiliary channel communication as using DPFX controller program (GUI) on PC. Other features of the extender comes with a capability to offer total data rate 21.6Gbps (5.4Gbps/lane), and data security with negligible EMI emission.

Coming in compact design to easily connect to the DisplayPort, it certies CE and GCC standards for EMI/RFI emission. www.opticis.com S I A

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE

Osprey Video Launches USB Video Bridge

Osprey Video announced the launch of USB Video Bridge line of stand-alone video-capture devices. The line contains three models, all of which let users capture uncompressed video and embedded audio to PCs or other USB 3.0equipped devices used for broadcastquality streaming. Besides the units' driverless operation and automatic functionality, an industry-rst topmounted display aids control and monitoring.

The USB Video Bridge suits a wide variety of use cases. Broadcasters can use Video Bridge devices in their streaming operations to connect to switching software such as vMix or Wirecast.

Organizations that stream conferences can input a 1080p60 signal into a laptop for use by Skype, Zoom, or other conferencing software. In other streaming scenarios, users can send signals through the USB Video Bridge into laptop software that connects directly to services such as Facebook, YouTube, and Wowza Cloud for full-featured internet broadcasting.

The cross-platform USB Video Bridge is UAC/UVC-compliant, meaning that in most Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X applications, there's no need to download a driver — a quality that makes it truly plug-and-play. UAC/UVC support is also included in some of the latest Android devices. USB Video Bridge communicates directly with users' encoding applications to congure scaling and frame-rate conversion automatically. Users can also override the software settings and congure the unit manually using the device's unique top-mounted LCD and control interface — a rst in this product category. The screen also displays the status of video input and output.

The compact USB Video Bridge devices are portable and easy to set up. Any facility

with laptops and cameras can add a USB Video Bridge at minimal cost, with no need for additional PCs or PCIe cards. www.ospreyvideo.com S I A

Powersoft Launches Snapshot Selector App for Mobile Devices

Powersoft announced a brand new app for mobile devices, called Snapshot Selector. The free and easy-to-use app, now compatible with Android devices, allows users of Powersoft's X Series amplier platforms to instantaneously recall a full slate of saved settings by simply connecting their phone to their amplier with a USB cable. The app makes the X Series amplier platforms an even more appealing solution for audio professionals, including in rental environments.

“We are always looking for ways to expand the functionality of our products to better meet the needs of our users,” says Francesco Fanicchi, Head of Brand and Communications of Powersoft. “The X Series amplier platforms are already among the most powerful and versatile amplication solutions on the market, and the Snapshot Selector app provides our users with yet another impactful tool that

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

makes setup of Powersoft-driven sound systems easier and faster than ever before.”

Settings in a Snap: When users connect a mobile device to their X Series amplier platform via USB, a link to Snapshot Selector in the Google Play Store will automatically pop up. There, users may download the app for free. Henceforth, upon connecting a phone to the amplier, the app will launch automatically. A simple user interface allows the user to save and recall an exact snapshot of all settings on the amplier, including routing, equalization, and limiting, at any time. The app also allows the users to select the source priority that will be applied after the snapshot has been recalled.

Snapshot Selector allows conguration of complete racks and system without connecting a computer, as long as the snapshots for the loudspeakers are already stored in the ampliers. This provides valuable functionality for rental amplier providers or users, enabling rental providers to apply applicationrelevant settings quickly to an amp before it leaves the warehouse. www.power soft.com

S I A

SOLUTIONS UPDATE

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Bringing 4K to the Table: Arthur Holm’s New 24” Monitor having to remove the monitor from the furniture. When the display is connected to the AH ERT interface, the intuitive addressing system facilitates the address conguration easier due to a single accessible push button.

In tune with its strategy of continuous innovation, Arthur Holm is launching the rst professional 24” 4K motorised retractable monitor during the Integrated Systems Europe 2018 exhibition in Amsterdam.

The Full HD spec meaning 1080p (1,920 by 1,080) is quickly being overtaken by Ultra High Denition (UHD) which is commonly called 4K. A UHD or a 4K display is one with at least 8 million active pixels. It is four times the number of pixels on a 1080 p display, and over 23 times the resolution of a Standard Denition monitor.

That makes a signicant jump in image clarity, assuming the system has native 4 K source contents to watch in that resolution.

The DB2 won a Red Dot Award because of its amazing design. It has 20° of adjustable inclination, the housing is made from solid aluminium and the operation button is placed on the top of the screen.

The monitor provides a 2mm double-sided anti-reective black edged glass. The retractable screen is congurable by way of a secondary LCD 2.2” display, and by remote control, being able to be congurable and operational without

The unit provides embedded speed and protection pre-sets to restore factory values and an auto-check diagnostic and internal protection functions as well as an auto calibration mode for mechanical speeds and safety parameters .It is rmware upgradeable through a USB port. A safety system detects obstructions (in this eventuality the unit stops). The adjustable mechanical parameters are operational via AHnet or ISD for calibration and mechanical adjustments.

Adjustable parameters of brightness, contrast and backlight are available via RS422. An auto calibration mode is available for mechanical speeds and safety parameters. www.arthurholm.com S I A

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE

QSC Announces Acoustic Coverage Ceiling speakers

QSC, LLC announced a new AcousticCoverage Series loudspeaker. The AC-C2T is a 2.75 full range loudspeaker with 70/100V transformer and 8 ohm bypass making it ideal for lower ceiling environments such as distance conferencing reinforcement, wide area paging and business music applications.

“This new addition to our loudspeaker lineup provides integrators a cost-effective option that not only provides exceptional voice coverage, but also improves musicality not typically found in products designed for background music,” said Travis Nie, Product Manager for QSC Installed Loudspeakers. “It also provides a much wider conical coverage which reduces the number of loudspeakers needed in low ceiling applications.”

To further enhance performance and create a complete QSC systems solution, integrators can use advanced voicing with Intrinsic Correction via the Q-SYS Platform or CXD Series ampliers. In addition, the AC-C2T includes a 4-pole Euroblock connector to easily loop thru wiring and eliminate termination hassles.

operation with Shure Microex Advance and Microex Wireless microphone solutions for AV conferencing.

The IntelliMix P300 boasts a small footprint and is simple to install, providing professional conferencing technology that offers just the right set of features to create a highly intelligible, collaborative meeting experience in small to mediumsized rooms. The new processor connects up to eight Dante microphone channels to a room video system, USB soft codec, or mobile device. Each channel supports multiple IntelliMix DSP features, including Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC), Noise Reduction, and Automatic Gain Control, plus best-in-class automatic mixing.

The xed architecture provides simple and intuitive setup, resulting in less DSP programming and commissioning time onsite. The USB connectivity enables the P300 to be used with common soft codec programs such as Skype and BlueJeans, while the 3.5 mm connector means anyone on a mobile phone or tablet can easily bring any remote participant into the conversation. www.shure.com S I A

RTI Introduces Next Generation XP Control Processors

The third generation of RTI's popular XP-8 advanced control processor, the XP-8v, combines the advanced control options of its predecessors with a new i.MX53 processor for increased processing power and expanded two-way driver support.

Designed for large-scale and complex projects, the XP-8v combines a real-time, multi-tasking operating system with tremendous expandability. For expanded integration capabilities, eight multipurpose I/O ports support optional modules for voltage sensing and RS-232 control. The XP-8v also features eight programmable relay input/outputs and eight sense inputs (voltage or contact closure). The processor's Ethernet port provides IP control in addition to support for RTI's RTiPanel app for smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Additionally, the XP-8v incorporates an astronomical clock, allowing for time-based events and timers to trigger commands and macros.

“Today's smart homes and ofces feature a wide range of electronic systems — AV, climate controls, lighting, blinds, security devices, and so much more,” said Mike Everett, Vice President of global sales, RTI. “For the end-user, managing all of these systems independently can be frustrating.

The XP-8v has the power to bring these separate systems into one unied platform and gives users complete control from the interface of their choice, including RTI handheld remotes and wired touchpanels, smartphones and tablets, or any TV screen.” www.rticorp.com S I A

www.qsc.com

Specim Launches World's First Mobile Hyperspectral Camera

S I A

Shure begins shipping IntelliMix P300 Shure announced shipping of its recently introduced digital signal processor, the IntelliMix P300 Audio Conferencing Processor. Originally introduced at the ISE 2017, the P300 offers Shure IntelliMix DSP algorithms that signicantly enhance audio quality in video meetings, a variety of connectivity options, plus seamless

Remote Technologies Incorporated (RTI) announced the release of the nextgeneration XP control processor line. RTI's new XP-8v Advanced Control Processor offers increased processing power, expanded memory, and an HDMI output for OSD control interface to bring together all of a home's or ofce building's electronic systems into one unied control and automation system.

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

Finnish hyperspectral imaging company Specim announced the launch of the world's rst mobile hyperspectral camera that allows users analyze material samples anywhere, in seconds. It is claimed that industries ranging from food and health to forensic investigation, recycling, art and agriculture will benet immensely when their real time mobile monitoring needs are met with a vast variety of applications that SPECIM IQ can offer.

bicast asia

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE information have limited its use in industrial applications. Specim claims to have solved these limitations by introducing its full line of industrial products complemented now by SPECIM IQ.

SPECIM IQ is claimed to be an advanced measurement and imaging solution that provides information in an instant for critical decision making and response. The camera and software are easy to adapt and congure for applications in food safety, recycling, health, forestry and many other sectors. The camera is ideally suited to the needs of OEM industry for building their own applications for their own clientele. This has been made easy by Specim's Application Development Tool.

According to the company, a few examples of what SPECIM IQ can do include: In the eld of agriculture, farmers will be able to screen their crops for infestation and see the results immediately, in many cases a week before any problems are visible to the human eye. Rather than routinely treating crops, they will be able to treat them just where needed.

Forensic investigators will be able to screen a crime scene for evidence in just seconds. Prior to the SPECIM IQ the process of collecting samples, sending them to the lab, and waiting for the results could have taken days or even weeks.

In the art world, immediate forgery detection could become a routine part of the art sales process, eliminating dispute and costly court proceedings.

Hyperspectral imaging, which combines spectroscopy and digital imaging, is the best available measurement technology for demanding measurement applications.

By enabling spectral analysis down to the pixel level, it provides unprecedented capabilities for analysing the physical and chemical make-up of both large and small samples.

“SPECIM IQ is a truly smart design which enables users to concentrate on problem solving rather than complex data acquisition and processing,” states Esko Herrala, one of the founders and innovators behind Specim. “The graphical user interface is simple to use, and it provides instant measurement results and insights into the problem without requiring complex mathematics or signal processing skills,” he explains. “This makes SPECIM IQ an ideal OEM product for medical, cosmetics, and other industries.”

other little-used functions that add cost and complexity. Supporting Digital Audio at up to 24bit/96kHz, both units feature analog line level I/O via D-Sub connectors (8 on ML-32D and 4 on ML-16D) and feature front panel LED meters to display both signal level and overload for each active channel. www.tascam.com S I A

TechLogix Expands Their 18G Over Twisted Pair Range

www.specim. S I A

TASCAM Brings Up Dante-Enabled Multichannel Interfaces

TASCAM has unveiled two innovative new additions to their line of Dante enabled offerings. Designed to provide powerful and exible connectivity between analog and digital components, the TASCAM ML32D and ML-16D are multichannel Line Level to Dante and Dante to Line Level interfaces.

With Dante-enabled devices becoming increasingly ubiquitous in professional AV systems, TASCAM's ML-32D and ML-16D empower audio engineers and systems integrators to quickly and easily connect 32 or 16 channels of audio between the analog domain and Dante-enabled digital components, including the TASCAM DA6400, SS-R250N, and SS-CDR250 multichannel audio recorders.

The ML-32D and ML-16D deliver pure Dante connectivity, without unnecessary features like mid-level microphone preamps, MADI and S/PDIF interfaces, and

TechLogix Networx is expanding their 18G over twisted pair product portfolio with the launch of the TL-TP100-HDC2, a compact extender set which transmits HDMI, bi-directional control, and Ethernet up to 100 meters over standard twisted pair cabling. The TL-TP100-HDC2 supports 18G 4K@60 4:4:4 HDMI, HDR, HDCP 2.2, and multichannel audio.

“The TL-TP100-HDC2 is another exciting launch for us,” states Cameron Smith, TechLogix CEO. “18G HDMI is now a standard in most custom installations and signal extension options are very limited.

The TL-TP100-HDC2 is a much needed solution. ” The TL-TP100-HDC2 leverages VLC processing to extend full 18G 4K@60 4:4:4 HDMI up to 100m (330 ft.). This unique technology senses signals over 10G and automatically compresses the color space for transport over lower bandwidth cables, such as Cat 5 and Cat 6. After transmission, the color space is then decompressed back to the original, full bandwidth.

Additional features include built-in audio return channel (ARC), analog and digital audio embedding, analog and digital audio de-embedding, and exible power at either the transmitter or receiver. www.tlnetworx.com

Until now, the complexity and bulky size of the equipment and lack of real time Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

S I A

SOLUTIONS UPDATE tvONE Introduces Three Scalers in CORIO Series With New Capabilities

Leveraging their renowned CORIO 2 C2000 Series scaler technology, tvONE introduced a new generation of scalers that are extremely intuitive and userfriendly providing greater exibility. The new scalers include the C2-2855 Universal Scaler, the C2-2755 Video Scaler and the C2-2655 Scan Converter that work in the matrix of the CORIO 2 technology.

Bringing more I/O exibility than any other previous tvONE scaler, the new scalers are easy to set up and manage using a new, innovative front panel or via computerbased control panel. The interface provides two distinct sections for unrivaled ease of use; one for system setup and another for live, real-time operations. The front panel helps with setup time through color modulated soft-buttons, intuitive categorized menus, and simple recall of up to 12 presets. tvONE's Calibrate feature automatically sizes and positions computer images to  t exactly on the video display, and the 10X Variable Zoom can enlarge and position any part of an input to  ll the entire video output display. Variable Shrink with as much as 90 per cent size reduction allows almost any image to t on the tiniest screen. Motion compensation, diagonal interpolation and a 3:2 Pulldown feature for NTSC greatly improve the image quality. The system's 4:4:4 sampling format for RGB sources allows precise keying at the pixel level.

manage system congurations; update rmware; and backup and restore system settings. www.tvone.com S I A

Yamaha Begins Shipping CS-700 Video Sound Bar Yamaha UC, a dedicated department combining the expertise of Yamaha and Revolabs Inc., announced shipping the Yamaha CS-700 Video Sound Collaboration System for huddle rooms.

Available in select worldwide regions, the all-in-one wall-mounted UC solution is engineered to simplify installation and deployment and ensure the highest quality audio and video in huddle and small meeting spaces.

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The Yamaha CS-700 Video Sound Collaboration System for huddle rooms is the rst solution that optimizes audio, video, and collaboration capabilities in a wall-mounted system, ensuring an intuitive meeting experience. It boasts an adaptive beamforming microphone array, which guarantees that every word is perfectly captured and delivered to the far end, four Yamaha speaker elements to provide the highest degree of audio intelligibility, and a wide-angle HD camera that captures every meeting participant in clear detail.

"The Yamaha CS-700 has been a highly anticipated solution from our UC customers,” said Revolabs Chief Executive Ofcer Mick Kamihara. “Bringing together the technology expertise of both Yamaha and Revolabs, the CS-700 provides a dedicated UC platform that doesn’t sacrice on quality and delivers exactly what users and technology managers need to support the growing number of huddle and small meeting room environments.”

Through a single USB cable, it is ready to connect to an organization's chosen UC platform, such as Skype for Business, Cisco Spark, GoToConference, Zoom, and many others. This plug-and-play approach allows users to quickly get started without wrestling with disparate video, audio, and collaboration components, thus eliminating complex steps that can waste valuable meeting time or require the assistance of on-call IT staff. www.revolabs.com S I A

CORIOcontrol software encompasses all the three unit systems. The software consists of a number mini applications that allows access to separate elements of the C2-2x55's functionality. The mini apps allow users to upload and manage internally stored still images and Logos; store and recall Presets; edit resolutions; Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

50 EXHIBITION PREVIEW Beijing InfoComm China 2018 to Present Record Number of New Exhibitors From Around the World Asia Pacic's Premier Professional AudioVisual and Integrated Experience Tradeshow is gearing up to showcase a wide array of new and groundbreaking technologies for visionary business leaders and decision-makers

The 13th edition of Beijing InfoComm China will return to China National Convention Center on 11 – 13 April 2018 with record number of exhibitors and brands. Occupying all ten halls of the venue, more than 348 exhibitors from around the world will present a comprehensive range of Professional AudioVisual (ProAV) and Integrated Experience solutions, some launching for the rst time in the world. The trade exhibition also welcomes a record number of 56 new exhibitors joining the annual industry event for the rst time. The learning platform of the show, Beijing InfoComm China Summit, will see many luminaries from the industry sharing their wealth of knowledge and experience, promising richer educational experiences and more vibrant discussions on the impact of the latest digital technology on ProAV applications and on the broader ecosystem.

ALL UNDER ONE ROOF: TAPPING CHINA'S RICH INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM China is poised to leapfrog into a new era of modernization, powered by game-changing technologies such as Internet of Things, Big Data, Articial Intelligence and AR/VR. From being a low-cost manufacturing hub of the world, China has become a world leader in the adoption of smart manufacturing, ecommerce, nancial technology, smart cities, e-education and other digital innovations. It is a living showcase of digitallyconnected businesses in a connected future. Increasingly, China's Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

innovation drive is spawning new technologies and business models which are shaping the future of business.

These technologies are also transforming the AudioVisual industry.

China is increasingly a testbed of Pro-AV and Integrated Experience innovations that will shape the future of businesses across all industries around the world. Technologies are constantly being developed and improved to integrate AV applications seamlessly with enterprise information communications and management systems.

By gathering all latest technological products and solutions, innovations, brands and thought leaders together under one roof, Beijing InfoComm China is the go-to platform for integrators, purchasers, business end-users and entrepreneurs from all around the world to source solutions and learn new developments and trends affecting the Pro-AV industry and businesses at large.

THE EXHIBITION: GAME-CHANGING TECHNOLOGIES THAT INSPIRE UNIQUE BUSINESSES Beijing InfoComm China continues to grow from strength-tostrength as the premier marketplace for Pro-AV and Integrated Experience technology information gathering, solution sourcing and network expansion. Returning exhibitors continue to leverage the show as their go-to-market strategy, tapping its wide regional

EXHIBITION PREVIEW51 reach and extensive networking opportunities to launch their new products to international markets. A record of 56 new exhibitors will offer even more varied technologies and solutions, inspiring visitors with ideas for strategic business advancement. Capitalizing on the show's increasing number and quality of visitors and media coverage, 72 new-to-Asia products will debut at Beijing InfoComm China 2018.

“The Pro-AV and Integrated Experience industry is on the cusp of a digital revolution, with wide ranging impact on the future of business across every economic sector,” said Richard Tan, Executive Director of InfoCommAsia. “Over the years, Beijing InfoComm China has grown to become an integral part of the global Pro-AV innovation ecosystem, and is thus well-placed to facilitate enterprise adoption of game-changing technologies, and transformation of business models.”

THE SUMMIT: INSIGHTS INTO THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL ADVANCEMENTS ON BUSINESSES

Technology Forums F

Opportunities and Challenges of Smart Networked Vehicles in New Smart City Development

F

In-Vehicular 4G Communication Applications

F

Car-Sharing – Building the People's Car-Sharing Program

F

Opportunities and Challenges in the Industry Applications of AI

F

Breakthroughs in Technologies in Smart Service Robots Industry Applications

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Demands for Smart Service Robots in Industry Transformations and Service Upgrades

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The Importance of Customized AI Strategy for the Industry and Traditional Enterprises

Industry Forums

Beijing InfoComm China Summit complements the showcase of hardware and services on the exhibition oor, providing many programs for sharing and exchange of knowledge and information over three days.

Following the success of previous Summits, show organizer InfoCommAsia has once again collaborated with leading publications and end-user industry trade associations to ensure presentations and discussions address relevant current and future issues that will impact each industry. Collaborators include China InfoWorld, Electronic Government Association of Guangdong Province, Digital Signage Multimedia Alliance Taiwan (DSMA Taiwan) and China Articial Intelligence and Service Robot User Federation.

Delegates can look forward to industry-specic sessions (Industry Forums) as well as sessions focused on specialized technologies (Technology Forums) – namely, AI, IOT and Robotics – and how these are transforming the way different industries do business.

Highly relevant to professional end-users, session topics include the following. The full line-up is available on the website.

Ø

The Digital Trend of Hong Kong Fashion Boutique Products

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The Digital Media Applications of Museums

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A Discussion on Asia's Cross-industry Applied Media

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Digital Multimedia Applications: A Case Study of TPV

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The Choreography and Direction of Visual Design: A Case Study of Taiwan's National Taichung Theater

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An Analysis of Award-winning Digital Multimedia Cases

Testament to its growing reputation as the industry's knowledge hub, the Summit continues to attract business and academic luminaries to present their expertise and share insights on key issues and trends. This year, speakers include Jose Alvaro Avalos , Vice President of IoT Group and General Manager of Visual Retail and Digital Signage Organization, Intel; Kane Zhang, Senior Applications Engineer (Asia Pacic), Biamp Systems; and Lu Xiaozheng, President of Luxi Electronics Corp, a trailblazer in digital audio technology. They will be addressing delegates at the InfoCommAsia Seminars, which are sessions pertinent to AV and IT industry players.

ONLINE REGISTRATION Admission to Beijing InfoComm China 2018 and all its Summit sessions are free. Those interested to visit Beijing InfoComm China 2018 may beat the queue by pre-registering their interest to visit at infocomm-china.com or ifcshow.com. Visitors can check out the complete Summit program along with the latest updates at the show's ofcial websites. www.infocomm-china.com ifcshow.com S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

52 EXHIBITION PREVIEW Secutech 2018

Cutting Edge Solutions for Verticals E What real benets can AI bring to surveillance and facial recognition?

E What are the different approaches for combining video analytics, computing and AI?

E How to choose the most cost effective AI solutions for IP cameras?

E What are the latest storage and transmission solutions for AI surveillance?

E Why is edge computing critical to AI? E What are the key technology trends in AIoT?

The annual leading trade fair for the security industry, Secutech 2018, will once again be held at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center in Taiwan from 25 – 27 April 2018. Moving beyond traditional security devices and solutions, this edition will cover the most advanced security and safety, IoT, articial intelligence, big data, intelligent video analytics and smart identity technologies from over 400 exhibitors from 15 countries and regions. These companies will be grouped into seven intelligent solutions pavilions showcasing their most in-demand applications for the growing vertical market sectors. This includes: smart street lighting, safe city and intelligent transportation, smart retail, smart factory, intelligent healthcare, smart living and smart disaster prevention.

Fringe Events:

Exploring Multiple Opportunities Held in conjunction with the exhibition are a number of activities to invigorate the industry's connection with the market and immersive technologies. One of the major highlights is the Security + AI Forum. As suggested by the name, the forum will focus on how AI drives the transformation of the security industry.

The two-day forum will break into individual sections addressing different security and AI applications, and AIoT technology (key components). Topics include:

There will also be a Key Components Pavilion and a business matching session scheduled during the forum to enhance interaction between the experts and users in the related elds.

Meanwhile, a new Software Innovation Zone will feature various recognition systems such as 2D and 3D image recognition, facial recognition, license plate recognition, deep learning, machine vision and other powerful solutions for the industrial, agricultural, healthcare and business management sectors.

SMAhome Expo:

From Smart Home to Smart Living The advancement of smart home devices has quickly evolved to match with the growing desire for smarter living. As an international smart home business sourcing platform, the concurrent SMAhome Expo 2018 will provide solutions for a better and efcient smart home living through ve main applications: Smart Home, Telecare, Smart Ofce, Staff-less Shop and Smart Hotel. Visitors can also learn more about the latest technologies for smart house, safe house and comfort house in the Scenario Demo Area and from the SMAhome Premier Product Awards demo area. Industry experts will be present to explain the integration of smart home devices with Amazon Alexa, Apple Homekit, and Google Assistant.

Another concurrent event is the 17th edition of the International Fire & Safety Expo, which will demonstrate IoT, big data, cloud, and integrating smart applications for re safety, disaster prevention, and rescue. The Asia Pacic Smart Disaster Prevention Summit will be held during the event to provide insights in intelligent applications, disaster prevention and re protection within the region.

Secutech is organised by Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media Ltd. For more details, please visit www.secutech.com.

Alternatively, please call Ms Kirstin Wu at +886 2 8729 1017, or send an email to kirstin.wu@newera.messefrankfurt.com. www.secutech.com S I A

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

ADVERTORIAL

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Smart Glasses and the Future of Augmented Reality Besides applications for logistics, repair and maintenance as well as audio-visual experiences for the hospitality sector in hotels and museums, Epson's Moverio smart glasses are key to innovative applications in the healthcare sector.

Moverio smart glasses are helping surgeons and clinicians concentrate fully on their patients by freeing them from manually handling data, allowing them to focus on their often complex tasks. Moverio is also helping to augment the sight of visually impaired patients sufciently to enable them to interact socially through enhanced facial recognition, read individual words or signs and even navigate through crowded areas such as stations.

Overview After some false starts, it looks like 2018 could be the year that Augmented Reality gains serious traction and begins to become part of the consumer's everyday world.

In the B2C market, several well-known brands are already pioneering AR applications – IKEA Place allows shoppers to superimpose virtual images of IKEA furniture in their own real-life setting, and Timberland offers a virtual tting room for customers to check the look of a new outt before buying.

This is just the start – major tech industry players are committed to developing AR marketing. Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook all are providing deep toolsets for developers to create apps for this approach. All have quietly adopted the implicit assumption that a persistent, wearable articial reality is the next big thing.1

Dentists too nd their work is greatly aided by Moverio, using the smart glasses to provide a precise heads-up overlay of their patient's teeth. This enables better hand-eye coordination and a more precise treatment time.

In the logistics industry, ST Logistics has piloted Epson's Moverio headset for an augmented reality notication and navigation system for collecting of orders in the warehouse, which has helped to improve productivity.

The potential is huge. Following the personal computer, the Internet and the smartphone, Epson believes that AR and smart glasses are the world's next transformative technology.

1 2

https://www.wired.com/story/future-of-augmented-reality-2018/ https://epson.com/moverio-augmented-reality

www.epson.com.sg/moverio

Acceptance in B2B market Outside the growing acceptance of AR among consumers, the technology has been quietly breaking new ground in the enterprise sector. One key to unleashing the full potential of AR in an industrial context is developing new apps on the smart glasses platform.

Smart glasses, designed for purpose, allow hands-free operation in such environments as healthcare, logistics, maintenance and construction, where the ability to devote both hands to the specic task is critical. Operators can benet from remote work assistance and projected instruction manuals, saving time, increasing productivity and enhancing safety.

Moverio - The Epson story One of the pioneers in the application of AR through smart glasses is Epson. The visual communications industry leader launched their rst Moverio smart glasses model in Southeast Asia in 2012 and have continued to expand their product range.

Epson has carefully researched the needs of different market sectors and their range of smart glasses meets the demand for commercial, personal and industrial sectors.2

S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

54 EXHIBITION REVIEW

IFMEA Holds on to Reality (S)takes

By Ram Bhavanashi

The seventh edi on of InfoComm Middle East & Africa (IFMEA 2017) – its second independent ou ng – organized at the Dubai World Trade Centre from 5-7 December, so to say, has had many reality stakes. Fes val/Na onal Holiday season; year-end financial closures and project comple on compulsions; independent standing – not to speak of the regional poli cal equa ons – seemingly impac ng the event in their own right, the industry fraternity and the organizing body appeared to have taken it in their stride towards more reality (s)takes. There were indeed some posi ves though.

For the Show Stakes, it had AR & VR, LEDs and digital signage applica ons as dominant signs while bringing some path-breaking solu ons to the floor. An SIA account:

The 2017 edition of InfoComm Middle East and Africa organized at the Dubai World Trade Centre in the rst week of December last was a sort of both cryptic and clear in that it offered reasons for what it was as well as added to ambiguity as well.

The event had moved to a much comforting venue with the Main Hall of WTC from a far-off extension it had in 2016. It was taken to be a very congenial time of the year with very pleasant weather, 'free-from-maddening-crowds' events' and an encouraging signoff before the Year-End Holiday.

A few unforeseen developments, and the impact appeared to be telling. UAE's National Holiday happening just before the event dates; a very uncomfortable market uncertainty owing to the suddenly changed political equations in the region; an undened urgency of nancial closures and project completions before the Year-End appeared to have a spiralling effect altering the dynamic of the industry- resulting in a lower turn out of what was taken with a great anticipation.

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

On the other hand though, the event did have its positives. “It is okay, given the typical conditioning of the event,” was the generic sentiment on the oor.

“IFMEA has mostly been like this only; we do not want or expect Gitex genre of consumer crowds,” opined Philippe Vitali, Marketing and Communication Director at Analog Way. “We come here to reconnect with our network; sometimes it is better, sometimes, it is not that good.”

“It could have been better,” felt Ron Schouwenburg, Mitsubishi Electric's Trade Show & Event Manager-EMEA. For him, they didn't expect huge footfalls, but it could have been better from what it was the previous year. That the 2016 edition raised some great hopes – owing to the quality visitors and focussed interactions, the sentiment was pretty upbeat for the 2017 outing.

For Kazuhiro Yamamoto, Chief Global Strategist at Japanese digital processing/signage solutions major Asukanet, the event was good in that they got exposed to the Middle East markets they had been wanting for some time. “We found visitors getting impressed by our solutions; we hope we will make a headway,” he said. “We had some encouraging enquiries.”

So was it for Unilumin's Vice-President-EMEA Steve Scorse who wanted to expand and establish the Chines LED solutions major in the ME markets.

“It is one right platform to come here,” he maintains. “So far so good.”

EXHIBITION REVIEW 55 A still happier man was Sanjeev Singh, Managing Director of AV distribution enterprise Aviss LLC. “It was a good outing for us; we even closed a couple of good business deals,” he said. “We also had some big enquiries too. That was very encouraging.”

Two of the most notable positives have been the coming of VR AR Conference and Russian Export Center. The conference programme titled VR AR Conference – the Immersive World – jointly organized by the VR AR Association and IFMEA presented how the articial reality, and virtual reality technologies are changing the face of the industry.

The conference, while seeking to deliver some insightful knowledge into the VR/AR domain, sought to substantiate the concept with some impressive case studies. It did have some reputed Industry stakeholders on deck sharing their experiences.

The Russian Export Center, on other hand, sought to share how the institution contributes to technology domain and what it expects from stakeholders to value add the advantages.

For the exhibits on the Show Floor, most of the major, regular exhibitors showed products that were demonstrated at ISE and / or InfoComm USA 2017, or have been on the market for some time. Some exhibitors introduced to the ME markets that have been popular on global markets. However, though, the event did have some very unique and new global launches.

promotion across the region. Two biggest markets in the region Saudi Arabia and Qatar had their own share of challenges that had a bearing on the event.

“For the rst time, we are in a reality check. It can't be rosy every time, or like previous years,” Richard observed. “We did predict that it wouldn't be that good- owing to obvious reasons. But, admittedly, it could have been better.”

According to him, they needed to explore alternative dates for the event. “We are looking at all opportunities and possibilities,” he said.

From the Show Floor Evidently, the IFMEA had a fairly good presence of AR/VR, UC, and digital signage representation, it had all the segments showing their presence.

The audio segment comprised majors like Analog Way, Biamp, ClearOne, Clock Audio, Electro-Voice, Dynacord, QSC, Shure, Taiden and Yamaha, while the video/display segment majors like Mitsubishi Electric, SiliconCore, Transtech LED, Unilumin, and Yipled on one side of the spectrum, and Arthur Holm and Soltec on the other end of display segment.

For InfoComm Asia, the organizers of the event, the regional situational factors have admittedly inuenced the show in a very physical sense, while it did not have much of an impact on the show composition.

“There is a good level of technology showcasing with new solutions coming in as usual,” says Richard Tan, Executive Director of InfoComm Asia Pvt Ltd. According to him, the show had a good combination of AR & VR, UC, control systems, projection technology and digital signage solutions.

However, it's been a very challenging time for the last six months or so for the typical reasons discussed, affecting the show

Enthusias c visitors from the Middle East markets The digital signage segment is represented by Asukanet, Blackbox, PNY Technologies, RGB Link, and Tri Color solutoions.

B-Tech AV Mounts and Vogel's represented the mounting solutions segment while Arthur Holm and Soltec brought their latest monitor solutions to the region.

Remote Technologies Incorporated (RTI) showcased a whole big range of solutions catering to different segments of the market while switching and network control solutions majors Extron and Wyrestorm came up with new launches for the region.

Director General of the Government of Dubai Media Office (GDMO) Mona Ghanem Al Marri visi ng the exhibitor stands on the IFMEA 2017 Show Floor, a er inaugura ng the event. Richard Tan, Execu ve Director of InfoComm Asia, and Terry Friesenborg, Chief Global Officer at InfoComm Interna onal are seen accompanying the DG.

Angalog Way was one among the prominent in that it took to the Show Floor fresh from its acquisition of Finnish media server solutions player Pictureall, and expectedly showcased a blend of both Analog Way rmware and Picturall software. The products demonstrated included the VIO 4K, a premium 4K multi- format converter, and the Ascender 48-4K-PL LiveCore multi-screen, seamless switcher with Soft Edge and 4K capabilities based on the LiveCore platform.

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EXHIBITION REVIEW

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EXHIBITION REVIEW 57

Opportuni es-curious and solu ons-keen visitors have had some good me on the floor...

“Our coming together may be news for the market but not for us; we have been associated with each other for quite some time now,” stated Vesa Laasanen, Co-Founder of Picturall. “We have been providing the software base for most of Analog Way's rmware functionalities, and have been very successfully journeying,” he explains. “Having said that, we admittedly lacked the marketing strengths that Analog Way possesses, so Picturall gains that new exposure through the initiative.”

The French ProAV solutions major also demonstrated its HDBaseT enhancements to four systems based on its popular Midra product family.

One of the busy booths on the oor, conferencing major ClearOne demonstrated the company's collaboration competence by showcasing their Collaborate Pro suite of solutions comprising Versa 150, Pro-300, 600 and 900 addressing different segments BYOD Collaboration, small or huddle rooms, medium size room and large set-ups respectively.

Shure MEA brought to showcase a wide range of solutions catering to practically every segment of the market. The company showcased MXC Microex suite of solutions that comprised Mircoex Complete for Government, Microex Complete Wireless for Conferencing applications, Microex Advance for Corproate, and Mircoex Wireless for education segment.

IFMEA did have its own regular share of audio distribution players such as Aviss, Dutco Tennant, SGTC, and Thomson Trading.

Aviss showed a whole big range of all its principal brands, while Dutco demonstrated Biamp Tesira solution. SGTC showcased its QSYS solution from QSC, besides the other principal Clock Audio while Thomson Trading highlighted the Yamaha CS-700 solution its booth.

Mitsubishi Electric brought to show its direct view LED display solutions that have been doing the talking rounds for some time now. SiliconCore, on the other end of the hall launched its newto-the region LISA technology platform, besides the company's popular range of Lavender, Magnolia and Camellia display solutions.

Monitor majors Arthur Holm and Soltec sought to reinforce their launches from the ISE. Arthur Holm brought to show three models of its Dynamic range the Dynamic X2BC, Dynamic DB2, and the Dynamic3 and UnderCover monitor solutions.

Soltec, on the other hand, highlighted its product showcase with 24-caret gold plated monitor solution aimed at premium segment.

For the mounting major B-Tech AV Mounts, the spotlight was on their newly-engineered BT8350 modular video wall mount which utilises the company's popular System X technology for even faster and more precise video wall assembly. Also on show was B-Tech's heavy duty projector mount – ideal for today's large projection mapping projects.

To meet the growing demand for LED in the region, B-Tech also showed their latest BT9340 universal mount in the Middle East for the rst time. Available as a free-standing, mobile, bolt-down and wall-mounted option, the solution attracted signicant visitor attention.

Notwithstanding with the numbers count, the show has had its visible share of technology fare, which is taken by most exhibitorswho also seemed to take the emerging situation of the time.

S I A

The show organizer AVIXA's technology sessions have had some good programming and audience too.

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

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TECH TALK

Who is FIBBR?

FIBBR is a global brand name founded by YOFC, the world's biggest ber cable producer and EverPro Technologies, a pioneer in AOC (active optical cable) design and manufacturing. FIBBR's portfolio is a unique range of HDMI AOC connectivity solutions that are placed to make a strong impact in visual transmissions.

FIBBR solutions offer reliable high bandwidth, extremely low signal attenuation and high resistance to external electromagnetic interference – all necessary features for future, higher-denition developments.

Unlike traditional coaxial copper cabling, ber is designed to reliably deliver a high bandwidth of data over long distances. As the 4K market evolves, HDMI cables will need to handle the increased bandwidth. With copper reaching its physical limits in terms of length and bandwidth, FIBBR offers a smart choice for integrators preparing for HDMI2.1 and beyond while providing ultimate performance.

By its nature, ber is strong but lightweight – 60% lighter than traditional cabling – and exible, especially over long distances.

This key advantage is critical to protect valuable connected hardware devices from potential harm caused by heavy cabling pulling on delicate connectors. Also, with less weight and physical size to deal with, logistics of storage, transportation of the cables, etc, are more easily managed.

AOCs from FIBBR all feature their proprietary BendRobust technology, to guarantee durability in extreme conditions. Unlike other AOCs, FIBBR's AOCs provide extra ease of use by regenerating the power received AC coupling, eliminating the need for an additional power supply at the signal-display end.

The following graphics show the distinct advantage provided by FIBBR's AOCs:

FIBBR's Op cal HDMI versus Conven onal Copper Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

BendRobust Fiber Technology exclusively from YOFC

1.5mm bend radius Normal Fiber

1000 C boiling water

Bending Insensitive Fiber

YOFC's BendRobust Fiber**

** Accelerated Aging Test – 7 Hours in boiling water until it physically breaks.

FIBBR's superior bending capability

TECH TALK Ensuring easy installation

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Though FIBBR's main target market is the residential segment, the cables can be easily used for commercial applications such as museums, concert and exhibitions halls, HD-Video conference rooms and even entertainment establishments such as retail, restaurants and bars.

If you have any enquiry please contact sales@tiansolutions.com

AOCs transmit data through light signals; therefore, all AOCs are single-directional. To ensure trouble-free installation, the “Source” and “Display” ends of FIBBR AOCs are clearly marked. In addition, the SmartLED indicator placed on the “SOURCE” connector conrm their proper connection and operation status. The FlashLED placed on the “DISPLAY” connector provides lighting, which always comes in handy in super-dark spaces – just a little extra glamour from FIBBR's design studio

ISF Certication and World's rst 8K Optical cable At the September 2017 CEDIA, FIBBR announced that its UltraPro 4K has been certied by the Imaging Science Foundation for 18Gbps transmission which means the cable is able to easily deliver 4K and HDR content with distances up to 50 metres.

Joel Silver, ISF Founder, comments, “The true cost of this next wave of video media innovation is bandwidth. It's visually superior to anything we have had previously with colour-rich images and stunning clarity.”

FIBBR also showcased a preview of the world's rst 8K Optical Cable at CEDIA. FIBBR's current portfolio includes the Ultra, UltrPro and Ultra 8K.

www.bbrtech.com S I A

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

60 TECH TALK The Power of Today's Beamforming Mics

by Martin M. Bonsoir

It is probably safe to say that the world of microphones, especially those used for conferencing applications, has been experiencing a bit of a revolution lately. Not only that, but it is also safe to say that when we make that statement, our voices are likely to be picked up cleanly by a beamforming microphone, even if we aren't standing directly in front of it. Intrigued? Let me explain.

positioning of microphones relative to the desired sound source has been a crucial element in good sound system design. And, it's fair to say, a common source of conict, as all too often the ideal position for the microphone(s) is exactly where the architect, interior designer, or end user does not want to see a microphone.

Fortunately, technology is coming to the rescue.

Microphones, as I'm sure we all know, are transducers that convert sound waves into an electrical signal. One of the characteristics of microphones is their directivity, usually documented or referenced as “polar pattern”. For many years now, microphones have been available with several different polar patterns, ranging from omnidirectional, capturing sound equally from all angles, to shotguns, where the pick-up pattern is a narrow beam in front of the microphone. In between, we nd the more commonly used cardioid, hypercardioid and supercardioid varieties. These microphones reject audio coming from behind, being more sensitive to sound coming from the front. This characteristic has been used to good effect, as selecting a microphone with the appropriate polar pattern enables the system designer to maximise the capture of “desired sound” (like human speech), while minimising “unwanted sound” (HVAC noise, anyone?). The rejection of unwanted noise is also one of the most powerful tools against feedback.

But native polar patterns of microphones are, by denition, static: cardioid microphones have a single, “heart-shaped” polar pattern with a fair degree of directivity (unless mishandled, of course), and will always be pointing in the same direction. Thus, the

Strength in Numbers Although not necessarily an entirely new idea, microphone arrays have been launched by manufacturers with increased assiduity over the last couple of years. Whilst a relative rarity up to a few years ago, the system designer enjoys now a healthy portfolio of options to choose from. These microphone arrays are comprised of several microphone elements encased together, acting as a single spatially distributed microphone. Depending on the model, the elements can number a few or several within a single mic.

Undoubtedly, the rapid improvements made in the eld of MicroElectro-Mechanical System (MEMS) microphones has enabled this new trend. MEMS microphones have their diaphragms etched into a silicon wafer, usually containing other related electronics, resulting in a fully working microphone element with a tiny footprint. MEMS have been used extensively for years for applications like mobile phones or radios, but only comparatively recent technological advances have allowed producing MEMS microphones capable of achieving the audio quality expected in the professional AV industry, especially when it comes to signalto-noise ratio.

These miniature, high-quality microphone elements allow manufacturers to place several of them together, aligned in specic manners and with tightly dened spacing, thus creating a microphone array that result in products signicantly smaller than a typical refrigerator. By summing (mixing together) the output of those elements into a single signal—and due largely to the difference in phase caused by the variance of the audio signal's arrival time to these elements—the resulting signal experiences a series of constructive and destructive ltering, creating a dynamic, summative polar pattern. Furthermore, if those differences in phase (delay) are altered, it is possible to manipulate the resulting directivity pattern.

This steering and shaping of the array's directivity is known as beamforming. More precisely, the example above is usually known as “delay-sum” beamforming and is perhaps the simplest and one of the most commonly used.

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

TECH TALK 61 “Beamforming microphones allow designers to control the pickup pattern, usually through software, thus affording the exibility of being able to locate microphones in “less than ideal” positions, yet still enjoy the audio quality usually only reserved to those located in the pick-up sweet spot”

The Devil in the Details Beamforming techniques exist in other industries, with antenna arrays being rather commonly employed. Likewise, one could argue that a microphone array looks remarkably similar to a reversed speaker line array. And just as it is in other industries, there are several methods to further process or interpret the signal from the various elements in the array that result in additional advantages, including the increased rejection of noise, tighter and more dynamic control of the beam, or interoperability with other technologies. Think, for example, of the potential advantages that can be gained from knowing the direction the audio source is coming from, derived easily by comparing the arrival time to the various capsules. This is, indeed, very exciting as the eld continues to evolve.

But even at its simplest form, beamforming microphones allow designers to control the pickup pattern, usually through software, thus affording the exibility of being able to locate microphones in “less than ideal” positions, yet still enjoy the audio quality usually only reserved to those located in the pick-up sweet spot.

Some microphone models allow for the creation of multiple beams, enabling a single microphone to replace multiple individual ones, all while providing a less intrusive and “interior design-friendly” form factor than traditional gooseneck or lapel microphones.

However, beamforming is still essentially static in nature. Once designed, most beamforming microphones are rarely re-aimed, and certainly not dynamically based on changes in the room.

Thus, traditional beamforming mics still determine where the people speaking should be located. The ability to change a microphone's directivity—especially in real-time—should the arrangement in the room change or people utilising the space prefer to move about (you know, doing crazy things like use whiteboards or other digital tools), should not be underestimated.

How indispensable a microphone becomes when its directivity pattern is able to automatically adjust, tracking specic signal sources—like a person speaking as they walked around a conferencing room to write on a whiteboard. Evolutions of this kind make traditional beamforming much more powerful and impressive.

Really, what's not to like about beamforming microphones today?

Martin M. Bonsoir, MInstSCE, is the International Applications Engineering Manager at Biamp Systems, overseeing technical operations globally outside of the Americas. With more than 23 years of industry experience, Martin's passion for people and all things audiovisual continues to add richness and insight to his work every day. www.biamp.com

S I A

Biamp DCM-1 Beamtracking Ceiling microphone.

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

62

INTERVIEW Rashid Skaf &

on A New Journey

Strengthening Technology Business Exploration Biamp Systems getting acquired by Highland Partner, and Rashid Skaf leading the charge might be an old new now. But the coming of Rashid – as the audio-visual industry has known him – to the helm of the Beaverton-based, innovative networked media systems company keeps the excitement ticking, even after nine weeks of what was seen as one of the most 'industry-dening developments,' in November 2017.

Knowing the dynamism that both Biamp and Rashid demonstrate from time to time, their coming together is watched with an anticipation of an undened technology business exploration. A new journey has just begun. systems integration asia, rightly caught up with Rashid on the eve of ISE 2018, an event that most on the planet AV look forward to moving with expectations.

Excerpts:

SIAsia: Upfront, applauds for the big move. How and why did you ideate buying Biamp?

RASHID: Thank you; I'm excited about our latest endeavors.

Biamp has a great reputation in the industry and I've been interested in Biamp as a company for many years. In fact, I've tried to buy Biamp as many as four separate times in the past 10 years or so. I'm thrilled it nally happened. In this most recent effort to buy the company, the goal was to nd a platform on which we could build a much bigger company to deliver valuable and comprehensive solutions to solve communications challenges our customers have been confronting.

SIAsia: How would you describe your journey from technology company to non-tech, investment company to technology company again?

RASHID: Exciting – that's the rst word that comes to mind, but what may seem to be three separate journeys is really just different parts of one journey. I have decades of experience in technology and I joined Highlander Partners with the specic intent and responsibility of nding a technology investment platform that would take the highly successful Highlander investment model to a different industry. The strategy of utilizing experienced industry executives to identify and lead Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

portfolio companies is one that Highlander has used many times, combining the strengths of the executive's familiarity with the industry with Highlander's experience and strength in nancing and corporate development. The Biamp purchase is simply that most recent execution of this well rened strategy.

SIAsia: Taking Highlander Partners as a Consumer, F&B company (non-tech), how would [it] connect with Biamp which is a pure tech enterprise?

RASHID: Highlander Partners isn't a Consumer, F&B company, it is a private equity investor whose investments have been mostly in those sectors to date. However, the industries Highlander invests in reect the background of the operating executives it works with. Its investment model is industry independent, and it will consider investments in any industry that meets its criteria so long as it has operating partners deeply experienced in those industries. My experience in technology sectors offered Highlander the opportunity to consider new investment candidates such as Biamp which it would not have considered previously.

SIAsia: In what particular/specic ways does the move t into the business interest of the holding company (Highlander)? What brand value add per se?

INTERVIEW 63 RASHID: Highlander looks for companies SIAsia: How would you want to execute that are well performing businesses your plans? Any particular road The Roadmap Ahead with established and respected " map for immediate future?

“We see three immediate opportunities brands that can become the for growth: solutions, vertical applications, and foundation upon which we can RASHID: We see three geographic expansion. One thing I definitely build a much larger enterprise immediate opportunities for see is a much greater opportunity in markets through a combination of organic growth: solutions, vertical outside the Americas. We will be putting much growth and strategic acquisitions. applications, and geographic more attention and resources toward building Biamp meets that criteria precisely. expansion. One thing I denitely a larger share in other markets including those Biamp is the leading audio and see is a much greater opportunity throughout Asia where we see strong demand audio processing brand in the in markets outside the Americas. for the type of solutions Biamp is uniquely professional AV industry with a We will be putting much more positioned to address.” proven history of translating technical attention and resources toward building expertise to business success and customer a larger share in other markets including satisfaction. It has plenty of opportunity for those throughout Asia where we see strong additional growth and well rened business systems and demand for the type of solutions Biamp is uniquely positioned infrastructure to support integrating acquisitions. to address.

SIAsia: In what particular way [will] this big move will help Biamp go places?

SIAsia: How about Biamp's R&D competence in the new mold?

RASHID: Biamp is already going places. That is one of the things I love about it. The purchase by Highlander Partners brings fresh executive perspectives and access to funding that can accelerate the strategies Biamp already has in place, and investigate new opportunities it might have considered beyond its reach previously.

RASHID: Biamp is renowned for innovation of, and dedication to well-engineered products. That philosophy will be applied to all new products Biamp introduces, whether those products are in segments Biamp is well-known for, or entirely new segments Biamp enters in the future. Our dedication to product excellence, project success, and customer satisfaction will be a constant our customers and channel partners can depend on.

SIAsia: Having taken the helm at Biamp, what is your immediate, and biggest priority? (assuming both are not the same!)

RASHID: Understanding the business completely from the inside out. Understanding the capabilities, aspirations and possible limitations an organization has is the best way to plan for growth; it enables us to create a strategy to get us where we need to be.

SIAsia: Does that in any way mean deviation of the path Biamp would have otherwise taken? please explain.

RASHID: The current Biamp strategy and its business practices are fundamentally sound. That is especially true about the outstanding way it treats its customers during all phases of the relationship and product delivery. There will certainly be new initiatives that we will undertake but we're still determining those ourselves. It will be exciting, I can promise that.

SIAsia: How about the notion of AV over Fiber impacting AV Over IP, a strength area of Biamp?

RASHID: The only thing you can depend on in technology intensive businesses is that the technologies will change. We are constantly watching evolutions in customer requirements and technical innovations to build products that deliver the promise of new technologies to our customers in the form of innovative and valuable new solutions. We never forget that our customers don't come to us for technology, they come to us for solutions to their problems. We remain exible to utilizing whatever technologies are available to fulll that mission. www.biamp.com S I A

Biamp solu ons have powered some of the mos awe-inspiring projects of diverse nature across the industry geographies.

Zeyed university in Abu Dhabi, UAE (le ), and Dandi Ku r in Mumbai, India (right) are a couple of cases in point.

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INTERVIEW

SiliconCore Top Executives Exude New Energy

Innovation at Core; 'Chip'ping With More SiliconCore, which came to the fore of Audio-Visual industry with cutting edge LED displays and laser diode, controls has carved a niche of its own kind, and had been impacting the industry in its own right. First company to bring sub-zero pixel pitch displays to industry, SiliconCore had been innovating with regular frequency, improvising its precision solutions.

With its latest ZACH and Chip-on-Board innovations, the Miliptas, Californiaheadquartered LED display solutions major is taking the year 2018 towards upping the ante.

SIAsia caught up with the company Senior VP-Strategic Initiatives Jim Wickenhiser, and Vice-President, Asia Pacic Glenn Bailey to know what's up from the LED major. Excerpts: SIAsia: Tell us about SiliconCore's focus and perspectives on Asia Pacic...

GLENN & JIM: Asia-Pacic market has always been a focus due to how innovative the region has been in the uptake of the latest technologies. We have had dedicated ofces in the region for a number of years and the focus for this year will be expanding our infrastructure of expert engineers to support the region as it expands with the explosion of direct view LED displays in the market. We're being presented with some blossoming opportunities such as the 85m wide, 1.5mm pitch display we recently installed around the baggage reclaim hall at Melbourne Airport.

SIAsia: How about the notion that SiliconCore hasn't been that active in AsiaPac, compared to what it is in rest of the world?

GLENN & JIM: We've had a head of the region for many years working on projects but unfortunately many of the projects we have won are highly classied so often embargoed by the client.

As a business which puts a high emphasis on reinvestment in R&D, we don't spend as much on marketing as many of our competitors which might also be part of the perception from parts of the APAC market.

We're expanding throughout the region with new installations across all areas, which include a 1.2mm in Beijing, 3.9mm in Dakar, Tokyo and now 4K displays in Perth. SiliconCore displays are being chosen on projects that have specications for highresolution, while maintaining brilliant viewing angles. We are looking to target the clients who have a focus on quality.

SIAsia: Where does Asia Pac gure in SilconCore's global strategy?

GLENN & JIM: APAC is of utmost importance just like all our other regions, so our focus is to broaden the exposure of our projects in the region and to expand our marketing efforts to educate the market about LED and its specication.

SIAsia: What typical challenges does SiliconCore feel it's been facing in the region?

GLENN & JIM: There is a lot of product coming out of China that is being manufactured at a low cost by cutting corners. Low quality product is now inltrating the market, which does not perform in brightness or lifetime expectancy over the years a product is in place. Clients are still learning about the advantages of using LED displays via trial and error, often resulting in bad experiences.

SIAsia: How does SiliconCore want to address them?

GLENN & JIM: As a company, we're attending the majority of all the major shows across the world to showcase our latest developments and range of products. We're also consistently looking to help educate the market with technology training days, LED bootcamps, talks and White Papers to help clients understand what the difference is between the high end and lower end of LED displays.

SIAsia: What particular country/geography in the region you feel as the most dynamic, and the one most challenging? & Why?

Glenn Bailey, SiliconCore Senior VP - Strategic Ini Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

a ves

INTERVIEW GLENN & JIM: There are dynamic clients in all the regions through APAC, especially in Corporate and Control Room applications.

Japan, Malaysia, Australia and Thailand all have on-going projects which are among our most innovative in the World.

SIAsia: What makes SiliconCore innovate regularly with its products and solutions?

GLENN & JIM: With our headquarters in Silicon Valley, CA, we are always evolving new technology and looking at how we can drive the innovation within the LED market. Our proprietary Common Cathode Technology has revolutionized the LED display market, enabling higher brightness screens with the pixel pitch now as low as 0.95mm, at an industry leading TCO. It's for this reason that we're number one in the Narrow Pixel Pitch market in most areas of the globe. We're now focusing on developing our LISA technology, which will be our proprietary Chip On Board (CoB) manufacturing and will help drive the quality and applications of LED, placing it as the leading technology in the display market.

SIAsia: From Common Cathode initiative to LISA and ZACH, how would you describe the journey?

GLENN & JIM: Each of the technologies are created from years of research and development. They are generated from listening to customer needs and analysing the performance of the displays in order to keep creating a new generation of products. We have a great team of innovators based in the US and China, and their sole focus is to not watch what other manufacturers are doing but to break new ground. As with anything, being at the cutting edge brings challenges but we strive to be at the forefront of the market and its developments.

SIAsia: How have these initiatives impacted the industry thinking?

GLENN & JIM: We lead the industry in technology advancements.

We were the rst company to bring to market sub zero pixel pitch displays, which is enabling the industry to use LED displays in new environments including Control Rooms and Corporate set-ups.

Our technology advancements such as Common Cathode, LISA and ZACH continue to perfect aspects of power/heat management, reliability and image quality for the LED industry.

The strides we make continually push our competition and advance the industry.

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brightness, lifetime, color gamut, dynamic range and TCO. This may come down to regulatory bodies such as AVIXA or perhaps leading LED manufacturers joining forces to create a standard to which they all work. At the moment it can be a mineeld for customers and so it's important that you have a close relationship with the manufacturer to ensure quality of both the product and the service.

SIAsia: Are there any efforts from SiliconCore towards working out a standard for LED displays?

GLENN & JIM: At present there aren't any standards that regulate how LEDs are manufactured or the measured specications.

SiliconCore as a company holds its reputation on the quality of its image and manufacture. We strive towards building the nest pixel pitch products in the industry and adhere to a higher standard of doing business. We take the time to educate our clients not only on the display itself but other aspects of installation and design. Education is an important part of working towards a standard. As a company we would be eager to see specications implemented in the industry to help the consumer and reduce confusion in the marketplace.

SIAsia: Having come out with ZACH, what's the game ahead for SiliconCore?

GLENN & JIM: We are constantly innovating, with a clear road map ahead, and numerous developments underway to improve the driver chip, manufacturing process, technology and electronics in our displays. We're keen to work with integrators and end users to see where products can be improved and shifts in future demand. Chip On Board manufacturing is denitely the major focus to us as we look to 2018 and the projects which require a more robust and exible product for various applications that require seamless, high resolution, large scale displays. www.silicon-core.net S I A

Introducing front and rear servicing options opened up new mounting and placement possibilities. Common Cathode Technology eliminates the need for fans and external cooling. A major impact of LED's energy efciency reduces Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and increasing the reputation of LED as a reliable and high quality product to use in wider industry applications.

SIAsia: With no particular standard for specications, colour or dynamic range, where do you think the LED industry is heading?

GLENN & JIM: As LED displays mature and become the prevailing large screen display solution, standards will prove to be inevitable.

Those standards can rise out of a segment of the market, or the industry as a whole. This will include formalization on measuring

Jim Wickenhiser, SiliconCore VP - Asia Pacific Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

66 INTERVIEW Novena Church: Architect Goes Beyond Job Scope for Perfection

Ensuring Seamless Syncing of Structure And Texture - by Thomas Richard Prakasam

It was a great pleasure for me to meet Senior Architectural Associate, Melvin Gamayot of cgnArchitects Pte Ltd. One of the biggest sore point for many in the AV industry is the lack of communication or ability to work towards a common ground between an Architect and the AV consultant or System Integrator on a project. It was thus a breath of fresh air of how Melvin not only showed exibility but took initiative to learn about acoustics to ensure that he made informed decisions.

The Church of St Alphonsus in Thomson Road, Singapore, better known and referred to as Novena Church, is renowned for drawing the multitudes of faithful and even non-faithful who come to the Novena services on Saturdays. The church attracted as many as 20,000 for its services on Saturdays and it was bursting at its seams when the church decided that it needed a larger worship hall. After 3 years of development, the church reopened for its rst service in the last quarter of 2017. The church Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

(L-R) Melvin Gamayot with David Seow had to adhere to conservation regulations and thus kept the facade of the old church with the side adjoined to the newly built sanctuary. The new church has a traditional classical church design and is able to accommodate 1500 worshippers.

Melvin highlights, “The church is run by the Redemptorist priests whose objective is to evangelise and help the poor and the abandoned. Many people come to the church for help through prayers. For the church it was important that the new sanctuary continued the work that they had been doing in the past but at a larger scale.”

INTERVIEW

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Designing the Sound System “When the rst set of sound design was submitted, I was not too happy with it. I felt that it was a conventional design – many speakers in the middle of the sanctuary hall which are placed on ALL columns. Furthermore, there are sub-woofers placed in front of the altar area and at the bottom of the columns just in front of the pews. I felt it was a distraction and defeated the purpose of steerable speakers,” commented Melvin.

The Fohhn LFI-450 integrated within the column

EASE reports from the system integrator was also requested and Melvin took time to study it so as to understand the measurements better. It was also at this point that Melvin with much persuasion managed to convince the committee that an acoustic consultant was required to measure the sound reverberation time. The building committee invited 3 acoustic consultants to tender, with Acoustic and Environmental Solutions Pte Ltd winning the bid.

The project was awarded through Tender bid and Melvin proposed a classical design for the new sanctuary. “I felt that those who entered the church should have an instant connection spiritually and be ready to encounter God. The sanctuary must make people feel that they are entering the House of God with humble hearts, as that is the feeling you get when you enter the classically designed churches.”

“I had a number of questions in relation to the EASE report and I decided that I needed to hear from the Fohhn representative in Singapore.” Thus contact was made and David Seow of Control Logic Systems Pte Ltd, the distributor for Fohhn started communications with Melvin.

Melvin lets on that he was adamant about the classical design but was not sure if it would be accepted as there were two schools of thought amongst the church committee, even after his bid was accepted. At the end the majority of the committee decided to go with the classical design.

David and Melvin spent many evenings working on the design congurations including couple of video conferencing with Fohhn Engineers in Germany with regards to precision. “Instead of quantity I suggested a much longer column that would be able to cover 90% of the entire church,” said David. The acoustic consultant did a test with the suggested design that had less speakers and shared with the team the RT results.

Challenges “The rst challenge I had is that the building committee did not want to spend money on appointing an AV consultant. So I had no choice but to step in and learn about technical requirements,” said Melvin.

“Generally architects do need to be knowledgeable about acoustics. I knew from the start that with my proposed design the ceiling would need acoustic treatment knowing my intention for the oor and walls are hard surfaces. I studied and identied three different types of acoustic panels which had their respective advantages and disadvantages. After discussing with the committee we settled on the perforated aluminium panel with rock wool. Two key reasons we chose this material was that it is easy to maintain and it had a good sound absorption average of 0.79 (200Hz-2500Hz).”

Melvin's intention to minimize the quantity and positioning of the speakers were addressed. With the result Melvin took the decision that there was no need to treat the walls.

At this point, the committee decided to hand the main sound system design and installation for the new and existing sanctuary to Control Logic Systems Pte Ltd. “We wanted every spot to be comfortable with the audio and that it should not be more than 3 decibel with the STI (Speech Transmission Index) to be within 0.60 to 0.70. It was a very challenging and exacting standard but we are very happy with the nal result,” says Melvin.

Identifying the Sound System A blind sound test was carried out at the Nativity Church in Singapore. “This church had no acoustic treatment and that is why we chose it. I had decided that we would need column steerable speakers to integrate with the new sanctuary design and so the shoot-out was amongst four brands that had the desired type of speakers. Two were short-listed and the nal choice from that were the Fohhn speakers. For all of us who were making the decision, clarity and intelligibility was the key requirements as one of the objectives of the church was about evangelisation.”

The LX-60 and LX-10 perform monitor du es for the choir and the priest Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

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INTERVIEW

The AS-31 subwoofers placed in cardiod mode and suspended and the LFI-220 installed further into the main sea ng area of the church “As can be expected there was much tuning to be done. Fohhn even ew in their engineer to ensure that the system would perform accordingly,” said David.

The nal conguration resulted in one unit of LFI-450 chassis integrated onto the left and right side front columns, comprising 32 loudspeakers with ampliers and DSP-control. The column speakers measure 4.5m in height. Three units of AS-31 subwoofers placed in cardiod mode powered by one unit of D2.1500 amplier is suspended and placed in the front extreme right side of the sanctuary. Two units of LFI-220 cabinets are installed further into the main seating area for delays with AS-22 subwoofers placed in the centre of the church.

Monitoring duties for the priest and choir is handed over to LX-60 and LX-10 monitor speakers, one of which is integrated into the altar table with another LX-10 installed at the pulpit. Two units of LX-60 passive column speakers are also installed within the main foyer to create a mood for worshippers who are entering or leaving the church.

“We tweaked the system to give a little bit of echo – a little bit of bounce and this was on purpose to create a cathedral feel. The audio sounds more natural without too much reverberation,” highlights David.

The existing church hall was also integrated with Fohhn speakers.

Three units of LFi 120 is mounted at 45° towards the audience Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

plane and another two units of AS-22 subwoofers powered by D2.750 DSP ampliers in cardioid mode is installed as well.

“I am most pleased to see the audio, architecture, aesthetics, ambiance coming together to achieve the objectives set up by the church,” said a very pleased Melvin.

David highlights, “It was a great pleasure working with Melvin. He was open to suggestions, he put in the effort to know about audio and it was a great exchange of ideas.”

One aspect where Melvin was open to suggestions was the placement of the AS-31 subwoofers which were placed in cardiod mode in the new sanctuary and which are very visible. “There were many other suggestions including placements at the front of the altar but I wanted a clean look for the altar and felt installing the speakers at the corner was not too much of a bother and thus agreed to it,” said Melvin.

The systems have been running as they are meant to be, with Melvin most pleased that despite the challenges of a classical design, the importance of clarity and coverage was achieved.

“It was great working with David and Fohhn. I will not hesitate to recommend the speakers as I am condent of their capability.” www.clspl.com S I A

70 FEATURE Communications Coming Full circle

Are we moving back into a Voice-First World?

Security will be critical if we are to start having our enterprise systems relying on voice commands – should anyone be able to command critical equipment or systems just by speaking? The answer, clearly, is no. Privacy too is a top concern, and while the physician example above seems simple enough, we need to think about this in context of regulations. Are a patient’s rights – as per HIPAA regulations in the US – violated if these verbal commands expose the patient’s medical information to third parties?

Secure access

With the wave of personal assistants, such as Siri, Cortana and Google Assistant, and new startups leveraging AI and analytics to build personal companions, it’s becoming clear we are moving toward a new voice-controlled relationship with technology. As we have already seen in the consumer market, it is all but a given that these voice-activation systems will eventually make it into the enterprise environment, as the potential benets of these systems could be tremendous in simplifying and automating activities.

Pierre Samson, Vice President of Sales, APAC, at Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, explains that although it may be a long time before we see the full likenesses of “HAL” from “2001: A Space Odyssey”, the technology is already here that can improve the ways businesses operate.

Lights, camera, action!

Think how much easier it would be for a physician to just say “System: update Mary Smith’s chart with the following: “Patient experiencing abdominal pain, issue pharmacy order for 200MG of ‘SuperAntiGas’, signed Dr. FeelBetter.” Or in a conference room, instead of the struggle to gure out which remote control puts on the projector and the screen, a simple voice request “System: turn on projector, turn on TV and dim lights.”

The challenges So, where are we on the road to voice-rst? Voice analytics rm, VoiceLabs, has provided a view on the various layers needed to support a voice-rst approach in the consumer world. However, to move from the simple consumer-based use cases to providing a more voice-rst environment in the enterprise world, a few things will need to happen.

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We are already seeing the next step of voice recognition systems where the technology is able to support secure access.

Banks are among those introducing voice authentication to their telephone banking systems. While this may leave some customers a little concerned over the security of their account, my feeling is that it will follow the adoption cycle we saw in e-Commerce where the initial concerns for credit card fraud needed to be overcome before we saw the meteoric rise in online purchasing.

We will continue to see continued innovation in voice recognition systems and improvements that will enable voice system security to be viable in an enterprise environment and ensure that only authorized users with the right privileges can perform the associated actions.

And whereas your microwave might not be spying on you, some devices will be always-on, always listening and potentially recording. A few well publicized cases of privacy invasion, commercial espionage or legal jeopardy could stall adoption. This suggests that a big On/Off switch or function needs to be included in voice-rst products, so that users may get the benets without risking the downsides of constant monitoring. A reliably secure software access would also need to be in place in the products to prevent and detect hacking efforts.

Building even more effective voice recognition systems The rst use cases are primarily around voice response systems – whether from a call center perspective or those implemented in our cars and smartphones. But as many of us know from rsthand experience, this works marginally at best. Recognition and contextualization need to be rened through technological developments before we can realistically think about enterprisewide adoption.

Research programs such as Carnegie-Mellon University’s Sphinx project continue to enhance language recognition capabilities. An Internet Trends report by Mary Meeker indicated that in 2016, Google’s voice recognition system could recognize over ve million words with around 90 per cent accuracy – but that’s still not extensive or accurate enough. Is 90 per cent accuracy good enough to interact with a life support system in a hospital or a utility provider’s network?

FEATURE It’s not just about recognition of the words either, it is about what to do with the words. Here is where cognitive engines and AI come into play. Some of the biggest players in the industry – for example Microsoft, with its open source cognitive recognition engine – can be leveraged to understand the context of the words. “How do I get to Penn Station?” may sound simple enough, but it needs to be put into context. Location awareness could indicate you likely mean Penn Station in NYC and assumptions about transportation mode. If you were sitting at Columbus Circle in NYC, the answer could be, “Take the A or C subway line to the 34st St. Penn Station stop.”, but here we assumed it was Penn Station New York and not Penn Station Newark or Philadelphia.

The search for a deeper meaning The real challenge comes in what is behind the voice recognition systems – both from the integration of the IoT devices to the system itself, and ensuring the commands requested make sense.

Here, we need to further leverage those cognitive engines as a check and validation system. Think of someone accidentally giving a command to “Turn off cooling system to reactor 4” instead of reactor 3 - which has already been shut down, or a doctor using the system to prescribe a harmful dose of medication because he accidently said 400 grams instead of 400 milligrams. These might be extreme examples, but there will need to be a holistic view of the actions that are being automated to prevent human error and bring in broader intelligence to understand the actions related to voice-controlled requests. For example, maybe “Turn off cooling system to reactor 4” was correct, but the system would then need to understand the set of operational procedures to implement those actions.

Creating an API platform for true voice integrated solutions

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with the historic “Beta vs. VHS” battle from decades ago, may lead to product obsolescence. Just as a consumer doesn’t want to invest in the latest “smart coffee maker” only to nd that the platform that controls it was just discontinued, an enterprise wants to ensure that investments they make into new technologies won’t be obsolete before they are able to realize a return.

The best is yet to come The good news is there are a set of technologies in the works to help minimize potential obsolescence. Frameworks like IoTivity are being developed to build a standardized platform. We are already seeing the value, benets and rapid expansion of new voice applications for consumers. In the near term, we will see some of the basic use cases move into the enterprise. Longer term, as advances continue to be made in voice recognition, voice security and simplication/standardization in device connectivity, we will see more and more voice-rst activities in both the consumer and enterprise world to help reduce complexity and improve our productivity.

Links: * VoiceLabs view on the various layers needed to support a voicerst approach in the consumer world: http://voicelabs.co/2017/01/15/the-2017-voice-report/ * Sphinx project: https://cmusphinx.github.io/ * Internet Trends report by Mary Meeker: http://www.kpcb.com/blog/2016-internet-trends-report

Pierre Samson, Vice President of Sales, APAC, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise

An interesting element that could tie in strategically with the development of true voice-controlled enterprise environments comes from the innovations occurring in the traditional voice communication world. We are seeing the explosion of CPaaS (Communication Platform as-a-Service) in the enterprise, leveraging APIs to transform today’s applications into voiceintegrated solutions. Some of the major voice communication vendors are now entering this market, providing CPaaS infrastructures with a standardized set of APIs to enable companies to integrate communications into their business processes.

While we traditionally look at integration as things like incorporating voice and video services into existing applications – think of a banking application that allows you to move from an online application to a voice call with your banking advisor – I believe these will play a big part in that “voice-rst” environment by leveraging the rich API infrastructure of CPaaS to communicate to applications and things.

Behind the communications infrastructure requirements, just how CPaaS or other platforms communicate with devices really needs to be standardized before we will see rapid development of voice technology. Each of today’s consumer-based voice-controlled systems have their own interfaces, own API integrations and, as

Based in Singapore, Pierre is responsible for strengthening and expanding ALE business and presence in the APAC region. Pierre has more than 12 years of experience in IT and communications, having headed the unied communication and collaboration business unit for large accounts at Orange Business Services, alongside Chief Operating Ofcer and Chief Sales Ofcer roles at Lexsi, a cyber security specialist which was acquired by Orange in 2016.

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72 STRATEGY (S)TAKE

Aurora – Carving An Aura of Competence Aurora Multimedia has been in India for about seven months now; and the dynamism displayed is like Seventh Heaven!

Aided by a strong global identity of cutting edge competence, coupled with some hard ground work and intelligent planning by its India team, the IPBaseT pioneer feels charting new marks of excellence- not just for itself, but for the industry.

Nataraju Upputuri, Director at Aurora Mul media India shares what shaped up the journey, and what future holds for them…

On how has been the journey, since setting up India ofce…

It's been just seven months since our inception here in India in June 2017, but we are counting. In that we can assertively say we have been able to make our presence felt here in the domestic AV Industry. It's been admittedly challenging but at the same time fullling as well in that we have been able to make quite a successful headway.

Aurora is a strong brand and very well known for its innovative AV over IP technology and superlative products, particularly in North America and Europe. Also over last one year, Aurora Multimedia, as a brand, has proven to be a global leader in AV over IP segment through its innovative products and solutions- not to speak of those 'rst-in-industry' solutions.

We wanted to bring those strengths and technology expertise to India and within a short span of time; gladly for us, we have been able to create an perceptible impact among the AV fraternity and customers in the country.

We focussed on an extensive branding and marketing plan with a 360-degree approach including sales promotions, exhibitions, media coverage, and social media. As a part of the 'go-to-market' strategy, we conducted product demos and training programmes to our dealers and partners as well as End Users. It's been a very satisfying feedback and acceptability for us.

We started with Bangalore operations, and today we have nationwide presence connecting four metros and cities like Hyderabad. So far, it has been a journey of outperformance lled with hard work of all the peers. We hope to continue the same through 2018 and beyond.

On bumps and downs through the journey…

Every new brand is prone to go thorough bumps and downs during those initial stages, and we are honestly no exception.

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However, our being pioneer in AV over IP technology globally gave us the opportunity to hit the right chord among the End Users in India. While we did face hesitations and apprehensions from top consultants and systems integrators about considering Aurora solutions, we were able to convince them- thanks to the compelling beauty of Aurora products and the benets they bring to install space. Once taken for evaluation, they spoke for themselves and got their way ahead.

Top customers showed their trust on us and we just not met, but exceeded their expectations in terms of quality, service, and delivery. The project of S B Energy would be a perfect case in a point where we took just one week time from conceptualization to design to delivery to installation and handed over to the client creating a WOW factor.

Having passed those testing times and challenges, we gained ground and expand with End Users like Airtel, Citrix, Microsoft, Firstdata, EMC, FAI, TIVO, HDFC and ERGO – to name a few – who believed in our futuristic AV over IP technology solutions, and helped us stand what we are today. At the risk of sound a bit selfconceited, we may as well say we have been able to move past competition that had some very potential players.

Our success has also been due to our strong team that believed in our brand, solutions and leadership too, and the commendable work they did on ground. We came out happy victors.

STRATEGY (S)TAKE

On leveraging positives and addressing negatives…

We have been already taking the advantage of AV over IP technology with our patented IPBaseT solution, and our global, domestic and eld-level partnerships which have afrmatively opened new vistas of opportunities with Integrators, Consultants and End Users. Now, that we also have developed good cases for our authorised partners in last few months, we foresee very prospective times ahead. We feel that we have addressed the negatives to the best of our capabilities and therefore hope for a promising future.

On biggest challenge they think yet, and how they intend to address that…

Since we progressed very well in 2017 with just seven months into business, the biggest challenge would be to sustain this signicant growth. Also, with Convergence of AV with IT happening faster than expected, it brought out the grey area – of lacking of (adequate) IT knowledge – among the AV fraternity in bigger clarity than ever. This is more so, when it comes to networking and security.

With a view to address this situation, we have with us a CISCOcertied resource with a strong IT/Networking background as well as adequate exposure to AV dynamics. In other words, we have a qualied set-up to work along with partners to overcome the challenge of IT knowledge requirement, and also impart the knowledge to them. With this ongoing process, we are able to bring out the right knowledge transfer to our authorised partners and our committed end users.

With the AV over IP trend evolving at much faster pace than anticipated, we hand hold our partners both during presales and post sales activities, solution positioning to complete the projects efciently, and thereby meet, if not, exceed the customer's expectation.

With new product offerings and solutions set to greet the market

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takers in the near future with new possibilities and competencies, we hope we will be able to gain entry to new markets and business verticals like Residential, Hospitality etc. That we also hope will ensure a stable business in coming years.

On what is their immediate priority…

With the right brand, at right place and with the right team to move with, the only priority now is more projects; supporting partnerships, business growth and happy customers.

On their take on evolving standards for AV deployment…

A recently-released industry report from Futuresource Consulting says that AV over IP is poised to revolutionise the low-latency Pro AV market. It further states that moving from a position of relative obscurity, AV over IP encoder/decoder ports will enjoy a year-onyear increase of over 130 per cent for the coming times.

Aurora, being a global pioneer, is ahead of all other existing AV brands in its line. We have been showcasing evolving AV over IP 10Gbps solutions for over six months in India and globally toothe IPX series which is the world's rst 10Gbps IPBaseT transceiver capable of 4K60Hz 4:4:4 with an extremely low 1.3:1 real time compression and zero frame latency with DANTE digital audio support. This, we are condent, will take us places.

Today's intelligent enterprises focus on increasing productivity and streamlining operations to achieve higher levels of efciency. They not only prefer premium brand but also look for that costeffectiveness. Here, Aurora will play a signicant role as it develops cutting-edge solutions for markets looking for the most bang-for-the-buck, and their offerings are both competitive and innovative. www.auroramm.com S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

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Audio-Visual Wonderment at Golden Temple, Amritsar

A Plaza of

Technology Transcendence It is indeed a wonderment for a commoner; it can be a transcendental technology for a connoisseur! Yes, the recent commissioning of audio-visual spectra-vaganza at the basement plaza at the world famous Golden Temple in Amritsar, is yet another journey in wonderment over technology expressing tenets- a er the iconic Virasat-e-Khalsa, executed by the same team a year ago.

A first of its kind, extraordinary ensemble of physics and metaphysics – the richness and relevance of Sikh heritage expressed through an exquisite AV technology exploit – the Golden Temple Plaza Phase-II is yet another revela on in itself. An SIA exclusive.

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[COVER] STORY

By Ram Bhavanashi

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FACT FILE

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through a place of worship before reaching the heart of the venue!

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Project Name: Golden Temple Plaza

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Project Location: Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib), Amritsar, Punjab

That is what in a very modest sense, the Golden Temple Plaza- the basement audio-visual fare before one seeks entry to the central abode of the Sikh faith, Harmandir Sahib, or the Golden Temple, Amritsar.

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Project Segment: Place of Worship/Museum

The Backgrounder:

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Project Owner: Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Archaeology and Museums, Govt. of Punjab

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Project Type: Dynamic Narrative-based Multimedia Interpretation Centre

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Project Consultant (AV Design): Design Habit, New Delhi

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Project Integrator (AV Systems): Pan Intellecom, New Delhi

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Project Management Consultant: Design Habit

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Project Architecture: Jay Kaktikar - Design Associates

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Project Total Cost: INR 130 crore approx. (>30 million USD approx.).

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Project's AV cost: >INR 30 crore (>3.5 million USD).

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Project Commencement: 20 July, 2015

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Project Commissiong: 31 December, 2016

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Project highlights: First of its kind multimedia interpretation centre based on religious/cultural heritage of Sikhism; four distinctly carved out AV enclaves, one of the largest install sites for Christie.

A Very Unique AV Fare What would one call an AV install project that has four distinct galleries – all unique in their own right in terms of theme and design methodology, and application?

One gallery has huge 10-feet, and 10-sided inverted glass pyramid projecting images onto circularly seated audience?

One gallery done with 270-degree projection screen surface covering all the three directions?

One gallery featuring a huge number of LCD panels in an X shaped overhead lay out radiating content to four directional partitions? And, One gallery featuring an impressive holographic projection on an almost wall-size screen? More, All that video content is accompanied by a very lucidly spoken/recited audio so that the content is soothing both for the aural and visual senses? All this, made an integral part of a tour

Amritsar, and Golden Temple! These terms do not need any intro for anyone who is familiar with (famous) Indian spiritual places.

For those uninitiated enthusiasts, the city is spiritual capital of Sikhism, and the venue is the abode of the God (Harmandir Sahib).

The epochal temple is a huge complex of equally huge repository of Sikh heritage (see box-1)- a ner aspect of which is manifested in the visits of over 100,000 pilgrims and tourists daily, from across and outside the country.

With a view to creating a self-explanatory, as well as inculcating platform for people to understand and appreciate the history and ethos of Sikhism as also to promoting Amritsar as heritage city, the Punjab State government (Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Archaeology and Museums) commissioned the construction of a basement complex, contemplating creation of multimedia galleries equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual technology.

Bettingly for them, they had a very highly acclaimed precedent of similar exploit – the Virast-e-Khalsa – one of the country's most magnicent audio-visual projects of scale, in the nearby Punjabi city of Anandpur Sahib. While the government initiated the mega project through the proper procedural mechanism of tenders and awarding the project to the lowest bidder, it all materialised to the same team by the sheer brilliance of their previous work as also the lowest bidding competency.

It was therefore the team of Designhabit, headed by noted AV design consultant Amardeep Behl, and Pan Intellecom, one of the major systems integrators in Northern India on one side – weaving up the design theme and integration methodology – and system solutions providers Christie, Sennheiser, Electro-Voice, Biamp and Kramer on the other side getting in their audio and visual systems to enliven the ideated message.

“Our task was to ideate and create a very dynamic interpretation ensemble of Sikh history, ethos, spiritual relevance to the current generations,” says Amardeep Behl, DirectorDesign Habit, the Design Consultant for the project. “The job was both as prestigious as it was challenging,” he recalls. “It entailed us to design, specify suitable equipment, supervise and ensure smooth commissioning of the project.”

According to him, the project was much similar to the Virasat-eKhalsa and the credential of coming out with the Khalsa project had a huge value-add at the evaluation for doing Golden Plaza install.

Harbir Singh, Managing Director of the project integration rm Pan Intellecom observes: “Owing to the exalted nature of the holy shrine, it was felt imperative that the pilgrims understood the Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

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value, heritage, and relevance of the religion and place, before they enter in. The whole idea actually began there.”

According to the SI, the ideation led to extensive deliberations that ultimately resulted in the decision to leverage audio-visual and digital technology to reinforce the message as a holistic WOW factor so that it stays with the pilgrims even after they left the place. To get this whole ideation scripted, the client wanted a narrative-based multimedia interpretation centre at the entrance plaza itself.

Galleria of the Glorious, Sikh Spirit A very decisive spec of the deliberations' outcome was to create a four-gallery multimedia ensemble, with each of them presenting a

very simple and suave but strong message of the Sikh spiritheritage, culture, ethos in all their glory. Each gallery was to be made with a seating capacity of around 250 people.

While the video content is beamed by different means of pyramidal, 270-dregree oriented, 3D, and holography, the accompanying audio was to be made in two versions. While the audio in Punjabi language was specied to be rendered live, its Hindi and English translations were to be facilitated by means of AudioGuide systems.

“The programming process is aimed at making the visitors appreciate the rich heritage of Sikhism and establish an emotional connect through the multimedia showcases in the galleries,” explains the Designhabit chief. “We have carefully ideated, themed, and integrated various solutions into each gallery and complemented them with meticulously designed animations, voiceover narrations and composed music to create that essential emotional impact and immersive experience.”

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Gallery 1 – Jyot Mein Jyot Generically translating to light emitting light this gallery seeks to impart the visitor with a sense of Akal Murat (or the 'Formless Creator') – the hallmark of the Sikh faith – governing the universe with invisible hands in a preordained and subtle manner.

The intended message here is sought to be communicated by means of fascinatingly created 10-feet and 10-sided inverted glass pyramid suspended from the ceiling, with its surfaces glowing in the light thrown up by as many number of Christie WU12K-M 10,500 lumen WUXGA projectors. With a view to achieving the desired visual impact, these 3-chip DLP projectors are placed in a camouaged niche with the Christie Pandora Box driving the

coentent, and an accompanying audio resonance in three languages.

The multimedia showcase portrays an apparently perfect preface to Sikhism by highlighting the 10 Sikh gurus and their preachings.

“The experience is nothing less than ying, and uplifting,” afrms Harbir. “It sets the tone for the ensuing experience in the remaining three galleries.”

Compact and reliable, the Christie WU12K-M dual mercury lamp projectors are taken to provide high-performance with stunning effects in combination with Pandora's Box family of hardware and software capabilities.

The live audio is enlivened by as many as 16 Electro-Voice full range speakers, augmented by 8 units of EV subwoofers and powered by one each of EV amplier and Biamp Nexia audio management system.

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That apart, the gallery ambience is illuminated by means of huge numbers of ber optics by Mitsubishi that also impart a unique glow to the pyramid faces showing the Gurus.

“This gallery is actually very complicated,” reveals Amardeep, the concept design consultant. “For, it required an extensive research and expertise to ideate content as per the aspirations of the client.”

According to him, the client aspirations did not just mean content, but aslo the fashion it is shown by technology integration.

Gallery 2 – History of Darbar Sahib

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Harmandir Sahib - Golden Name n Fame The Golden Temple – originally called Sri Harmandir Sahib, having been named after Hari (God), is also referred to as Sri Darbar Sahib.It was conceived by the Fifth Nanak Guru Arjan Sahib. Construction work on the Sarovar (the tank) began in 1570 and was completed in in 1604. The temple features a number of architectural tenets that symbolize the Sikh world view. Instead of the normal custom of building a shrine on high land, it was built at a lower level than the surrounding land so that devotees would have to go down the steps to enter it. That the Temple is surrounded by a auspicious Sarovar (a large lake or holy tank) it is taken to consist of holy water owing from River Ravi. The temple premises has three holy trees, each signifying a historical event or Sikh guru.

The temple’s interior houses many memorial plaques that commemorate Sikh historical events, saints and martyrs, including commemorative inscriptions of all the Sikh soldiers who died ghting in World War I and World War II.

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sense of devotion, service, and humility (Kalyug Mein Kirtan Pardana and Sangat Sewa) with an endless commitment that is energised in the background of continuous recitation of Gurbani (singing in praise of God).

As it was again ideated to do it differently, the designer evolved an X-form architecture hung from the ceiling featuring as many as 72 units of 55-inch full HD dual display (FHD552-X) LCD panels that continuously display the daily activities of devotion on the premises.

The ultra-narrow bezel 55-inch displays are claimed to offer perfect, professional-grade, tiled LCD panel solution with high pixel density and an LEDbacklit screen. An equally immersive creation in the gallery is even as the pilgrims are taken by the charged up environment of devotional recitations, that experience is taken to further highs with a lifelike projection of a highly detailed Golden Temple model in the middle of the gallery using four Christie D12WU-H projectors.

The temple suffered several attacks and demolitions under the subsequent Muslim rulers, but every time the resilient Sikhs rebuilt it to glory, and nally Maharaja Ranjit Singh rebuilt it in copper in 1809, and again embellished the Sanctum Sanctorum with Gold in 1830. Thus came the title Golden Temple.

Characterised by a 270degree edge-blending projection covering three walled surfaces of the space, this gallery presents gloriously depicted recreation of the origin of the shrine, its entwinement with Sikh generations through ages, the miraculous healing power of the Holy water, visits and contributions of the Sikh Gurus, and in the matrix, emergence of the Holy city of Amritsar.

All that is presented by means of as many as 10 Christie D12WUH 11,000-Lumen DLP projectors are weaved into and edgeblending and projection mapping solution. The overhead suspended projection network is again accompanied by the Pandoras Box for the 15-minute rendition of the content with animated as well as archival video footage in the background of an engaging Punjabi voiceover.

Sennheiser Audio Guide does the Hindi/English narration, while the Punjabi narration is radiated by as many as 14 units of ElectroVoice full range speakers that are augmented by four EV subwoofers, and powered by two units of Biamp DSPs.

Gallery 3 – A Day at Darbar Sahib Having got treated with the Sikh idealism and spiritualism in the rst two galleries, it is like time for getting imparted with the

The live audio is again rendered by 16 units of EV full range speakers, augmented by six units of EV Subs, and powered by one each of EV amp, and Biamp Nexia DSP. “The galleries 2 and 3 have indeed come out very well,” chips in Amardeep. “Both in terms of technology integration as well as content integration,” he elaborates. “We were able to create it as we had intended.”

Gallery 4 – Bani Guru-Guru Hai Baani This gallery – embodying the pious utterances of Hindu Saints, Sikh Gurus and Islamic Sus, and Bhaats as compiled in the Guru Granth Sahib, and worshipped as a Living Guru – presents all that in a very engaging holography- weaved in by means of rear projection and glowing ber lighting. It therefore seeks to establish the relevance of the Gurdwara with the Gurbani as a revelatory medium, as well as a work of divine solace.

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The eye-catching holography is achieved by four Christie D12WUH projectors powered by the Christie Pandoras Box. The live voiceover is presented by 16 units of EV full range speakers and 8 units of subwoofers, powered by one each of EV amp and Biamp Nexia.

Considering the immensity of the requirement of reinforcement, as many as 300 Audio Guides are roped in to handle the Hindi/English versions of the audio.

This gallery is also shone by as many as seven units of RGB light engines with DMX control, lasers, and multiples of thousands of bre optics.

a big deterrent for completion. “Ideally, we needed dust-free environment for a safe and effective install of the highly sensitive AV systems; but the same was just not available to us right up to three months,” says the Pan Intellecom chief. “Our activities, therefore, remained conned to conduiting, cabling, earthing and placement of UPS and so on- as these could be executed even in dusty environment.”

With the last one month being of intense activity, “it was like an endurance test of skills and management,” recalls Harbir. “We came out victors by sheer perseverance, and some extreme rapid action expertise.”

Elated Christie!

While the content presented is impressive for an onlooker, an informed designer that he is Amardeep observes the gallery could have been made much more immersive had they had some more time exibility.

Time, the biggest factor constraint!

As in most cases, it's time again that stood up as the biggest challenge. “We were hard pressed with the time constraint,” explain the Consultant and SI. “We hardly had three months of time from tendering to commissioning,” the elaborate. “Given the conditioning of the project construction that was a heavy pressure.”

According to the integrator, the install site's being still under construction even as they moved in all their AV equipment posed

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Says Rajesh Patkar, Deputy General Manager, Chris e India: “This high-tech basement plaza has become a must-see destination for both pilgrims and visitors alike. We're honoured that our stateof-the-art M Series and H Series projectors, Ultra Series LCD panels, and Pandoras Box system are chosen to showcase the rich Sikh heritage.” www.designhabit.com www.pangroup.in www.christiedigital.com https://en-in.sennheiser.com/ www.electrovoice.com www.biamp.com S I A

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Crownstar Technology does an iconic installation

Iconyx Steers Clarity at Abu Dhabi St Paul's Church

The battle of architecture versus acoustics is an age-old conundrum for churches, mosques, temples, and other houses of worship throughout the world. These large, open spaces with soaring walls and windows, vast reective surfaces of marble, stone, wood, and concrete are designed primarily for their aesthetics; acoustical considerations, if any, are focused on reverberation that accentuates choir and organ, at the expense of spoken word intelligibility.

St Paul's Church, situated in the Musaffah Industrial Area of Abu Dhabi, is a stunningly beautiful space - a large, open, circular hall with marble oors, curved walls, wooden pews, and more than its share of acoustical challenges. Intelligibility was elusive, and the church had been through no fewer than 15 different sound systems over the years in search of a solution that would enable the congregants to hear parish priest Father Ani Xavier and his assistant priests.

"It was one of the parishioners that got in touch with us," recalls Laurane Zeta Johnson, Manager of Business & Operations at Crownstar Technology- the integrator of the install. "They could hear that there was a problem at the church, and they asked if we could give some advice and possibly rectify the issue. We then made contact with the priests.”

The church holds a traditional English service, as well as an Indian service featuring drums and percussion, creating additional challenges for the highly reective sanctuary.

“It's not a small building, and they want the music loud, but without the echo," John reports. "They also didn't want to disturb the interior design aesthetics with any acoustic treatment."

Crownstar designed a simple solution with a main PA comprising two Renkus-Heinz Iconyx IC24-16-RN digitally steerable line array loudspeakers, mounted left and right of the proscenium. A pair of CF81-2R two-way active loudspeakers is located in front of each of the two pulpits, serving as front lls. The choir, situated at left in front, is served by a pair of CF121M-2 two-way monitors, with an additional unit for the priests.

"Previously, the choir had only one speaker," explains John. "With the CF121M-2 modules we keep the volume low so it doesn't hit the congregation behind. Now the choir can hear their monitor feed much more clearly. The monitor on stage provided more than enough fold back for the priests." A pair of Renkus-Heinz IC16-RN columns covers the upper balcony, with all speakers painted white to match the décor.

The Iconyx system's beam steering technology proved an ideal solution for addressing the church's intelligibility issues, with overwhelmingly positive feedback from priests and congregants As Sabu John, Managing Director of Crownstar Technology, alike. "It is a beautiful and quality sound system and it observes, the space had an echo time of several seconds. "I reaches all of the people," says a excited Father Ani recalled that the State Mosque of Qatar in Al Khuwair, Xavier. "We are thankful to Crown Star for their which has a capacity of 30,000, had experienced “It's not a small building, wonderful service and a good job." similar issues, and had installed a Renkus-Heinz and they want the music loud, ICONYX system. The feedback there had been but without the echo," John reports.

"They also didn't want to disturb the excellent, so I personally visited the mosque www.crownstaronline.com interior design aesthetics with to hear it for myself. Afterwards, I contacted www.renkus-heinz.com any acoustic treatment.”

Renkus-Heinz to nd out more, as we had Sabu John, Managing Director, Crownstar never specied their systems before."

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AV over IP solution helps achieve objectives

Adventist Hospital Fights Cancer with AV Strengths

Sydney Adventist Hospital's Integrated Cancer Centre conference room, dubbed the “cancer war room” is a purpose built facility where clinical multi-disciplinary teams (MDT) meet to discuss cancer patients' cases. Each meeting is focused on a certain cancer or tumour stream and normally lasts an hour. Often an MDT meeting will work through some 20 cases in that time with clinicians both in the room or remotely via video-conference. It's a punishing schedule where lives are at stake.

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

That was until the new Integrated Cancer Centre was being planned.

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

Barbara MacKenzie is head of IT operations (ofcially her title is: Manager, Information Services Operations and Infrastructure at Adventist HealthCare) and had a sense that because these MDT meetings followed an unusual format they needed special design attention.

Roneel Singh is an AV/IT consultant with WSP (ofcially his title is: Technical Director — Head of Technology Systems (ANZ) at WSP) and he was engaged to consider this knotty problem, after all, what we're talking about isn't a boardroom, or a video conference room or a teaching space, even if there are elements of all three.

Barbara describes the breakthrough: “I think the lightbulb moment came when Roneel said: 'you're describing a crisis management centre'. That opened up our thinking conceptually and gave the architect a fresh sense of what the space could be.”

With the big initial breakthrough made, the hard work lay ahead: Barbara, Roneel and his team embarked on a consultation process that included the clinical leads from each specialty in order to intimately understand the running of an MDT meeting. As Barbara puts it: “We looked closely at the process the clinicians go through to work out how we could better provide technology to

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empower them. Our MDT room is the culmination of everything we've learnt.”

AV Anatomy Lesson There were some key learnings that provided a framework for the MDT room's AV: Ÿ

Although there may be between 10 and 20 doctors and specialists contributing to most MDT meetings, the space needed to cater to up to 40 people — mostly observers, such as students, but also additional contributors in the instance of complex cases.

Ÿ

The space needed to be entirely 'democratic' — everyone around the table must feel they have an equal voice.

Ÿ

The MDT room needed to function as a VC space to enable clinicians to participate remotely.

Ÿ

Multiple sources of content needed to be displayed simultaneously (and in a variety of congurations) on the big screen.

Ÿ

All the audio and video needed to be on the network.

Barbara MacKenzie comments, “My view has always been: if it's not IP-based — if it's not delivered across Ethernet — then it doesn't belong. That's a pretty challenging approach to take, especially a few years ago when we rst mandated this.”

“Barbara's always maintained she wanted an 'enterprise solution'.

She wanted to standardise and she doesn't have an AV team or an IT team, she has one team that runs the whole facility,” added Roneel Singh.

Understanding the challenge, Roneel immediately looked at an SVSI by AMX video-over-IP system.

“I absolutely love the SVSI solution. This is the rst time we've used a product like this that's distributed across the network. For example, our Simulation Learning Centre uses a card and framebased video matrix solution, and it is so inexible. Utilising a virtualised product instead of hardware-based appliances ts in well with our approach to technology. And SVSI is a mature solution,” said a delighted Barbara.

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conferencing solutions on the market but Barbara and Roneel's consultations suggested on-table gooseneck microphones (or similar) wouldn't cut it.

Barbara shares, “I didn't want a 'mics on tables' solution because it needed to feel more conversational. In my view, desktop mics foster a 'one person on the mic at a time' style of formality that wasn't appropriate. When the Shure MXA910 ceiling array microphone popped up we were really keen to know more.”

Roneel adds, “We'd normally advise against ceiling mics given the room has an open ceiling and the mic will need to share the ceiling space with the noise of large projectors — regular pendant ceiling mics would sound quite harsh in a space like this.”

“But equally, we knew we needed a broad uniform coverage.

Some of the clinicians are very softly spoken — you can't hear them across the 4m diameter of the horseshoe seating — so sound reinforcement was essential.

The traditional approach of a series of mix minuses would have been quite cumbersome.”

Barbara further adds, “Desk microphones also change behaviour.

Some people lean right in close to talk into the mic. Some lean way back and mumble. The goal was to provide a more natural experience, where the technology is working for you even if you don't notice it working for you. That's my approach to the ideal user experience across the entire hospital.”

“With the Shure MXA ceiling mic array coupled with the JBL distributed loudspeaker system, participants can contribute in their normal speaking voice and they don't even think they're being amplied or recorded,” said Roneel.

Jands Solution Roneel comments, “It was benecial that the products we required were all in the Jands house. This includes the Shure ceiling array microphone and the SVSI solution. From there the BSS Audio processing, JBL loudspeakers and Crown amplication being handled by Jands allowed us to get a whole solution from one distributor, which had distinct advantages. It meant we weren't locked into products that were sub-standard but still made it easier for the contractor Fredon Technology to order and to have a single point of contact. And when you have a compressed time frame to complete a project, that sort of advantage can be very important.”

Roneel highlights, “The solution had to sit on the enterprise network and take full HD video with very low latency. SVSI had a product that was tested, proven and we'd used it on a number of other jobs in a similar application, so we were condent in recommending it to the client.

It also meant we were able to do without a large frame-based solution and put the SVSI system into a compact communications room. What's more, the expansion of the system is relatively easy — in effect, Barbara doesn't need us back for that.”

Networked Audio A networked, and scalable video-over-IP solution needs an audio solution to match. There are plenty of Dante-based audio Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

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afterwards. One of them said to me that at least 10 minutes were saved (because they were able to move instantly and seamlessly from one piece of digital information to the next), allowing each patient to be discussed without rushing.

An MDT meeting coordinator plays a pivotal role in the meetings' efciency. Using a runsheet listing patient cases and clinical information for review they sit at the control position orchestrating via a touch panel what is displayed. Clinical information, diagnostic imaging, pathology and clinically relevant photos/video is instantly toggled between the bigscreen multiview congurations — at least 50-60 display source changes through the course of each meeting… all different clinical perspectives coming into play with no waiting. Because each of the contributors have their own computer, they can be set up, ready to go on cue. No one is waiting their turn for access or restricting anybody else who is contributing digital content.”

Putting Heads Together Increased efciency is a big deal when time is of the essence. As Barbara puts it, “the whole process ows, and the ow of information has momentum.” But of equal importance — and the reason for so many highly paid, time-poor professionals to be convened in the rst place — is the cross-pollination of ideas and information.

More Audio The Shure MXA910 ceiling array microphone sits above the horseshoe seating with its lobes programmed to dynamically pick up those seated at the table and reject mechanical and ambient noise. An additional six Shure MX202 pendant ceiling microphones cover the 'gallery' section of the room. Audio from the microphones are fed via Dante to a network of BSS Soundweb London Digital Signal Processors including BLU-806 and BLU-103's that take care of DSP and acoustic echo cancellation. On the output side, a JBL loudspeaker system ensures a natural sounding speaking environment. A combination of Control 52 and Control 62P loudspeakers cover the room, powered by JBL and Crown ampliers.

Positive Prognosis With innovation, comes a certain amount of consternation. No matter how much you consult, a new approach will throw up the unforeseen. So it was with a few butteries in the stomach that Barbara and her team sat in on early MDT meetings, aware they had a limited window of opportunity to maximise the trust of the clinicians.

Barbara says, “We attended every MDT meeting for a number of months. The rst indication the facility was delivering as we'd planned came after an hour long meeting where 20 cases were being brought for review. The room was full of highly-scheduled specialists, some already in scrubs ready to go straight to theatre Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

Barbara adds, “In one meeting a Pathologist when asked for his input on a particular patient's case said “I'm interested to see the radiology imaging presented and hear what they have to say before I nalise my conclusion” In another instance PET and MRI scans are displayed side by side for review because comparing multiple content sources better informs the clinical decisions being made.”

“It doesn't sound like much but rather than specialists submitting their comments about a patient in isolation, they're actually waiting to hear what others have to say to better inform their own conclusion. So you're really starting to see how the process is moving beyond the sum of the individual specialties.“ Barbara concludes, “I would put it like this - Sydney Adventist Hospital's Integrated Cancer Service is bringing clinical best practice and combining this with the best technology, elevating the entire process and achieving the best possible outcome for our cancer patients.”

GEAR LIST: Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Shure Microex MXA910B Ceiling Array Microphone Shure Microex MX202BPC Overhead Microphones AMX SVSI Video-over-IP System JBL Control Series Loudspeakers JBL CSA2120Z amplier BSS Audio Soundweb BLU DSP Crown CT875 amplier

www.jands.com.au S I A

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Room Tone Tunes in Perfect Sound; Sun Infonet Shares Honours

TARA Sounds Bright with Quest Audio at Roseate Hotel Roseate House a part of the nouveau hospitality chain – Roseate Hotels & Resorts under Bird Group is a contemporary narra ve crea ng a new age revolu on in the hospitality space. It is a progressive yet relaxed urban hotel that brings a new flavour to the city. The hotel tells a story that knits through every room and floor. With cu ng edge facili es and state of the art technology, the Roseate House offers an interna onal fragrance. Situated in the Hospitality District of Aerocity, the hotel is within a convenient 15 minutes' drive from the airport with easy access to corporate hubs and entertainment centres in Delhi and Gurgaon.

Spread over a 1.6-acres, the hotel is designed to capture the imagination of cosmopolitan travellers and globe trotters with a distinct taste and style. One such inspirational feature is the Japanese roof top Lounge Tara.

Nestled at the pool level is Tara, an open roof top Japanese lounge and a perfect setting under the stars to unwind with your friends and folks. With picturesque views to ight landings and take-offs from the adjacent Indira Gandhi International Airport, it presents a stimulating environment to help guests unwind and rejuvenate.

A recent refurbishment of sound reinforcement at the venue rendered it anew.

Open for dinners from 6 pm till 11 pm one can't miss this gorgeous outlet with scrumptious food and surreal settings.

“We had an old sound system running for some time now, but realised that it was getting worn out and not giving the kind of experience that our discerning guests expect,” exclaims Munish J Pande, Manager- Hospitality IT at Roseate House. “We therefore wanted to refurbish the full sound reinforcement system with something new that would bring about a refreshing change,” he said. “For this we were clear in mind that we had an expert to do the needful - Room Tone Consultancy.”

According to Munish, Room Tone Consultancy, headed by Director Samir Kriplani has been associated with the Bird Group and Roseate House for some time now in terms of all design, décor and AV systems installations. Samir, who is a sound engineer by profession, is passionate about systems that sound natural and loves to experiment with the best in trade.

Having known and worked with Sun Infonet earlier, Sameer invited the Delhi-based audio distributor to present a system that would t the requirement. The system had to be robust and

weather resistant – owing to its outdoor installation proposal that would be prone to seasonal harsh climate of Delhi and also aesthetic in appeal to gel well with the décor of the outlet.

Team Sun Infonet, led by Neeraj Chandra, Director presented the Quest Audio conguration comprising MX801 weather-proof speakers and amp. Samir tested the systems, evaluated, before being convinced about the systems.

Team Room Tone, installed seven Quest Audio MX801 weatherproof speakers powered by an amp. The locations for xing the speakers were carefully chosen so that they do not tamper the venue décor yet get the audio installed with desired specs.

Though there were not many reverberation concerns as the space is open on the sixth oor, along with a swimming pool on one side, it did require a fair degree of attention.

Says Neeraj Chandra of Sun Infonet: “Having done many similar jobs before, it wasn't a very challenging job for us; but the highprole brand identity of the client, and the level of their expectation made it prestigious.”

“It was thumbs up for all of us,” says Munish. “I being the bridge between the management and the solution provider, worked with the installation team to ensure that they were properly calibrated.

It came out perfectly ne.”

For Neeraj and team Sun Infonet, it was yet another success story.

“While by size it may be small, but making the client happy is a big thing,” says Neeraj. “We did that; that was very satisfying.” www.suninfonet.net S I A

Quest Audio systems weaves in the desired aural ambience in a perfect match with the environment Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

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Community Speakers Weave in Immersive Experience

EZpro Audio Permeates Wuhan's New Attraction

Zhi Yin Hao is an outstanding multi-dimensional live theatrical performance, created by the famous director and artist Fan Yue. The drift-style experience show is held on a steam ship that cruises the Yangtze River from its base in Wuhan City, China. A 1920s styled steam ship and two piers have been built to recreate Wuhan during an era when it was China's second largest city after Shanghai. Wuhan was often called 'Eastern Chicago,' due to its cosmopolitan atmosphere.

EZpro International was responsible for the highly creative design, installation and commissioning of the audio and video systems, which deliver an immersive experience for the performers and the participating audience.

The two-year, RMB 400 million project was developed by the Wuhan Tourism Development Investment Group, together with Fan Yue. Determined to nd the best audio system for the production, the director's team initially approached several different companies. The EZpro International team was led by Vice-President Tao Zhang, who took on the role of chief designer.

EZpro designed the rst version of the system and rented a warehouse in which they built a 1:1 steel structure to simulate a section of the ship for proving and demonstrating the system. The Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

director, composer and sound engineers were so impressed that EZpro was appointed and the project commenced.

As the show runs every day, reliability is crucial and EZpro designed a system combining Community, Powersoft, Symetrix, Allen & Heath, Apart Audio and Furman equipment, running on a Dante network with bre optic transmission and full redundancy.

The show has three separate performance areas. Audience members enter the world as it was in Wuhan 100 years ago when they walk down a pier and onto a pontoon. From here they board the ship and become a part of the performance.

The pier and pontoon both have independent control rooms, housing Allen & Heath Qu Chrome consoles, Symetrix processors and Powersoft ampliers. Thirty-nine Community IP55-rated R.15COAX loudspeakers are installed along the left and right sides of the 220m-long pier. The 140m-long by 20m-wide pontoon is equipped with twelve Community R.5COAX99 loudspeakers and four WX-218SDF subwoofers.

Based on the early 19th-century boat, Jianghua, the ship is 120m long, 22m wide and 15m high. It has four decks with ninety-eight

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cabins, a bar, entertainment area and a dance hall. The nightly shows involve different stories taking place on each deck. The design team used EASE to simulate sound leakage of the different zones and calculated the acoustic curtains required to achieve isolation between them.

dance hall, bar or between the aisles. The actors use Shure ULX-D wireless systems, with Countryman miniature capsules. Wireless antenna points have been set up to ensure the frequency isn't lost as the actors move around the different performance areas of the steel ship.

Over four-hundred and seventy loudspeakers are installed around the ship, all powered by Powersoft ampliers. To create an immersive effect without comb ltering, EZpro opted for stereo conguration throughout, even though this required more complex cabling and high amplication. Four Community D10 loudspeakers are installed on the rst deck to cover the dance oor, while two levels of audience seating on the main and rst decks are covered by sixteen Community D6 and fourteen C6 loudspeakers respectively. The bar area uses sixteen D6 ceiling loudspeakers, with sixteen V2-28 loudspeakers around the main deck for surround effects.

The director required the sound of the pier and the pontoon to be consistent as the ship moves close to the pier. A wireless system is installed on the pontoon to receive the signal from the ship and connect to the Allen & Heath Qu Chrome console in the pier control room, synchronising the sound on the pontoon and ship.

Two Community R2-77Z and two R2-94Z loudspeakers, together with four Community R2SUBDF subwoofers, are installed on the ship's navigation deck to provide reinforcement for the pier as the ship gets close.

The ninety-eight cabins on the rst and second decks each have a 'window,' created by using a Samsung LED TV displaying period scenes. Each cabin is also installed with a 2.1 audio system comprising two Community C6 loudspeakers and an Apart Audio CMSUB8.

The heart of the system is the main control room in the middle of the rst deck. This houses an Allen & Heath dLive S5000 console, together with a dLive DM64 Mixrack of 65 mic/ line inputs. Two Mac Pro computers play multi-channel music and audio can be sent to any of the 114 channels using the Dante controller.

Symetrix Edge modular processors are installed in equipment rooms on each deck.

With 108 actors performing the story of Wuhan, audience members can either watch or interact with the players in the

The director's team and main investor continually sought perfection during the show's creation. While the ship was under construction, the investor rented a warehouse in Wuhan and built a 1:1 steel model of the rst two decks of the ship so that rehearsals could proceed.

Fully justifying its investment, its resolute attention to detail and the sheer hard work of all involved, Zhi Yin Hao is proving a world-class attraction that has played to a full house at every performance since its debut.

Tao Zhang, the designer of the system, commented, “Participating in this project has been exciting, but we also faced a lot of difculties. The complexity of the entire sound system, the limitations of the construction environment and the uncontrollability of the acoustic environment were all enormous challenges. At the same time, it was a very creative project; in the process of continuous creation, the director's team constantly comes up with new ideas and we needed to temporarily adjust the conguration accordingly, which demanded high exibility from the system.”

Mr. Zhang continued, “Another challenge lay in the system stability, because Zhi Yin Hao performs every day. In order to ensure smooth performance, there could be no problems with the audio system. We achieved all signal channel distribution by multitrack playback and xed microphone signal routing. Ultimately, with every effort by our entire team and the strong support of the director's group, we have provided an excellent solution.” www.ezprointl.com www.communitypro.com S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 3 ~ February - March 2018

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