SIA JUN-JUL 2018 by Spinworkz Pte Ltd

Vol. 17 Issue 4 June - July 2018

MCI (P) 023/04/2018 PPS 1669/08/2013(022992)

[COVER] A Mahajak Harmony STORY

in Thai Hospitality

* AV in Government Sector * IFC 2018: The Dragon Factor * New Realities for F1 Fans & Teams

Rob Fowler Upping the Philips Ante

Madame Tussauds Debuts in India

Crestron China for Closer Connect

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 4 ~ June - July 2018

PERFORMANCE PM10

FIRST WORDS

NEWS

SPECIAL FEATURE

AV in Govt. Sector: A Perfect Spec of SWOT

ME: Between Corporate Hospitality & Govt.

58 28

TECH TALK

SOLUTIONS UPDATE

EXHIBITION REVIEW

INSTALLATIONS

Ancient Chinese History Projected

Immersive Experience@Hyundai

BrightSign@Robinson Dubai

Prismatic Experience@ Nghi Resort

Sound Placement@Gimpo Art Hall

Pm10 Performs at Good Shepherd

Madame Tussads Delhi Beckons A Mahajak Harmony with Thai Hospitality

New Realities for F1 Fans and Teams

How to Master AV-IT Convergence Like Pro

Altman Brightens Abbotsleigh

Audio Networks and Audinate's Dante Platform

Deploying Portable AV over IP at ICTS

INTERVIEW

ON OUR WEB

IFC 2018: The Dragon Factor - Rearing to Roar

Upping the Philips Ante

A Tale of Two Monitor Makers

Transforming Digital Video Industry

Yearning for Learning Ticking IFC

66 68

Crestron: Closer Connect with Customers

FIRST WORDS

Is a Wearable Revolu on on? Looking through my email box, this press release certainly caught my a en on. The press release shouted out that “Smart homes and ci es lack disrup ve wearable technology solu ons.” Obviously most of us understand and have been bombarded w i t h i nfo r m a o n a b o u t d i s r u p ve technologies but this was a totally

different take – it was about wearable technology solu ons from WITgrip. So, what is WITgrip? The patented WITgrip designs and enables devices, such as smartphones or watches, to be securely and comfortably worn on the side of the wrist. This unique approach allows the wearer to adopt a neutral viewing posi on, enabling the wrist-based device to be used intui vely and naturally. It offers increased user comfort while crea ng a sustainable, connected interface between technology and the human body. Incidentally, the name of the product and the company is the same. WITgrip develops and provides IP and design strategies related to wrist-worn wearable technology. Developed in the UK by Dr. Raj Partheban and a team of product design specialists, the unique, patented WITgrip design is the only comfortable way of securing devices to the side of the wrist. The company further highlights, “WITgrip provides a truly useable interface for interac on, and influence the smart-world around us, enabling users to benefit from improved me and energy efficiency, reduced costs to the environment, decreased energy bills, and more.”

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

ART / LAYOUT Shankar Venugopal shankar@creativecult.in

CREATIVE

CULT

I write about this because the idea seems very simple but there has obviously been much research going into crea ng the WITgrip wearable technology. To understand the concept and possible beneﬁts or opportuni es, be er visit h p://www.witgrip.org/about and check the intro video. WITgrip has been created to provide a comfortable experience for the user. It would be interes ng to see how it will fare. We, in the AV Industry, are always looking to ensure a good experience for the users of our technology. I wonder if WITgrip holds any learning curve for us.

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.

NEWS

Aurora Multimedia World's First Automated Vehicle Drive with AI Relocates to New Ofce in Bengaluru research to make automated vehicles safer," CAN Drive: A New Drive in Technology Experience

she added. Seeing Machines is calling for Canberra drivers who are interested in taking part in the trial. Following this ﬁrst phase at Su on Driver Training Track, the trial will progress to phase two, where it is expected to move to Canberra's roads to study driver behaviour in real world condi ons. Ken Kroeger, Chairman & CEO of Seeing Machines, launches Phase 1 of CAN Drive in Canberra

AUSTRALIA: Seeing Machines, an industry leader in computer vision technologies which enable machines to see, understand and assist people, launched phase one of its world-leading automated vehicle trial, CAN Drive, supported by the Rachel Stephe-Smith MLA and the ACT Government, which has commi ed A$1.35m to the project. CAN Drive, the first automated vehicle trial in the world to focus on driver behaviour, using the Seeing Machines technology, is ge ng underway at Canberra's Su on Driver Training Track, tes ng how quickly a driver can be ready to resume control of an automated vehicle. The Seeing Machines so ware monitors the driver's facial movements and expressions to determine whether they are paying sufficient a en on and sounds an alert if they need to look at the road and retain full control of the vehicle. "The ACT Government is proud to have formed an industry partnership with local company Seeing Machines to conduct this trial," said Rachel Stephen-Smith MLA. "Seeing Machines is leading the world in decoding the interac on between people and machines, as increasingly-automated vehicles are developed.” "Canberra is a progressive and growing city that has earned the reputa on as Australia's testbed for innova ve new technology and business models that can improve the lives of our ci zens: we've supported Uber into our city, we're hos ng world-first drone delivery trials, and now we're pioneering

Seeing Machines is an industry leader in computer vision technologies which enable machines to see, understand and assist people. The company deploys its FOVIO machine learning vision pla orm to deliver real- me understanding of drivers through AI analysis of heads, faces and eyes for Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS), which monitor driver a en on state including drowsiness and distrac on. DMS is increasingly considered a core automo ve safety technology as well as an enabling technology for ADAS/Autonomous Driving. The company's pioneering commercial ﬂeet solu on (Guardian) delivers an a er-market, in-cabin safety interven on system with 24/7 monitoring and cloud analy cs services delivered on a telema cs SaaS basis. The company also serves Avia on, Rail and oﬀ-road markets, and they are seeking to innovate in new markets. Automated technologies are emerging across many transport sectors and it is Seeing Machines' goal, through our driver monitoring pla orm, to help advance these developments with safety as the highest priority. The con nued support of the ACT Government helps Seeing Machines sustain its leadership posi on as we develop our core technology to meet the needs of our partners, customers and stakeholders. Based in Canberra, Australia with the inten on to grow in the USA and Europe, the company delivers mul -pla orm solu ons from embedded so ware and processors to a ermarket system and service solu ons to industry leaders globally. www.seeingmachines.com S I A

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

INDIA:Aurora Mul media India has relocated to a brand new, and expanded premises. The new, mul -storied office premises is well furnished and spacious enough to accommodate the company's intended ac vi es in the country. The new office features an Experience Centre, Conference Room, Execu ve Cabins, and personnel worksta ons. That the company has drawn up a very ambi ous expansion plan, and going aggressive in work force strength in both sales and marke ng and technical support aspects, it needed to have a well-equipped office set-up to support all that, explained the company spokesperson. “We have been growing pre y strong since beginning our direct opera ons in India last year,” said Pawan Kumar, Aurora Mul media (India) Marke ng Manager. “There is a tremendous amount of excitement in the country about Aurora's products, from both the consul ng and SI community as well as from End Users,” he explained. “To meet all that demand efficiently, we needed this kind of set-up.” According to him, the company does a significant degree of direct interac on with End User segment, it needed an exclusive set-up to demonstrate Aurora's products to the clients, and also be able to engage them in more construc ve interac ons. The present set-up meets the current demands as well as near-future demands, Pawan Kumar said. “As it is, the present infrastructure can accommodate as many as 30-plus worksta ons, besides the execu ves,” he said. “We will consider further augmen ng the set-up as we move ahead, considering the increased demands.” www.aurora-in.com S I A

NEWS

ESCO Systems India Now Independent Entity

ESCO Systems (India), the Mumbai-based premiere audio-visual design consultancy and systems integra on firm is now an independently managed en ty. The move that came into effect just recently is significant in its own right for the company, and is taken to add a new dynamic to its tryst with Indian AV industry. Sharing the spec of the development with systems integra on Asia recently, ESCO India Managing Director Sunil Mehan said the move will strengthen the company's posi oning in the country in that its "resources and competencies remain dedicated to its objec ves unhindered and exclusively.” The context of the move may, probably, be construed that being part of the larger enterprise in Singapore that has spanned its ac vi es pan Asia meant that the competencies and resources from Indian arm o en went to servicing and value adding the Asian AV brand- while apparently dilu ng its home. Now, becoming independent of the yoke, the company stands to be er spend its resources towards be er addressing the increasing demands and business opportuni es at home. "Nothing changes, looking from outside," asserts Sunil. "Prima-facie, clients will not no ce any difference since and even during the period of associa on with others, the India opera ons con nued to improve it skill sets and services to the clients- offering all those at the highest quality and trust level." The ESCO India chief ruled out the dilu on possibility of its competency quo ent due to its deciding to stay on its own, from the combined en ty with combined strengths. "Esco India has always had a unique ability to turnout high quality integrators; it has been successful in this process since its concep on 24 years ago," he asserted. "Even during the short team partnership, it was the Indian opera on suppor ng its partners," he

remarked. "The deficit will mostly be felt by the others; ESCO has had the advantage of age and experience on its side for many years. In essence, we con nue to embrace new standards at every opportunity." Having taken the call of 'Independence,' Sunil's immediate priority is to concentrate on further strengthening ESCO India's posi oning in the industry- both organically, and inorganically. The objec ve, he ascertains, is to maximize the cer fica on creden als of the company work force – par cularly on the technical side – even as it pursues expanding to the allied industry domains. "The objec ve is to establish fullydefined permanent set-ups for all major loca ons in the country with professionally cer fied personnel.” According to him, the idea is to have at least 25 professionals cer fied in various industry cer fica ons including the CTS levels. "It does cost us money," Sunil admits. "We're taking it as inves ng in human talent today, to be able to reap the benefits tomorrow." That the AV world is increasingly becoming quality conscious, and projects are being awarded based professional competencies, than of mere market reputa ons, developing professionally trained, skilled workforce is impera ve for all AV players, says Sunil. "It is not just for the company to benefit from cer fied talent pool; it is contribu ng to the industry's common good too.”

Key Digital Appoints Evre & Stan for Indonesia Market INDIA: Understanding its commitment to increase its reach to worldwide audience of commercial AV resellers, Key Digital Systems has announced the appointment of Evre & Stan to Key Digital's Directorserve as a APAC, Abhinav Saxena Indonesia distribu on partner for the company's award-winning Compass Control Professional control system, Enterprise AV over IP pla orm, and related lines of video switchers, extenders, cables, ampliﬁers, boosters, processors, scalers and interface adapters. “Key Digital develops and manufactures high quality, cu ng-edge hardware and so ware technology solu ons for virtually all applica ons where high-end video and control are important,” said Key Digital's Director-APAC, Abhinav Saxena. “Our new partnership with Evre & Stan is going to help us bring the beneﬁts of our solu ons to more resellers in more ver cal markets around the Indonesia than ever before. The combina on of our products and Evre & Stan's sales force is going to result in a winning team that brings new performance, reliability and value to end-users in every ver cal market.”

The ESCO India chief sounds a high degree of conﬁdence and energy about the company's journey forward that is strongly based on its value proposi on to the industry. "The single-largest factor, if that be, has been ESCO's post-installa on service support, is probably one of the best," Sunil asserts. "Which is apparently why we have been able to retain most of our clients."

Evre & Stan CEO Ms. Ye e Inarie noted that the addi on of Key Digital to its partner por olio is going to open up new business opportuni es for its network of nearly 60+ resellers. “Key Digital not only manufactures an award-winning line of digital video processing and video signal distribu on solu ons, it is the creator of the industry's first fully integrated control system built from the ground up to run flawlessly on both the iOS and Android pla orms. Compass Control Professional offers customers an amazing degree of flexibility that can be u lized in the wide variety of installa ons. We are proud to represent this line of products to our customers.”

www.esco.systems

www.keydigital.com

ESCO India now has a diﬀerent logo of its own, and also made opera onal its own website. It is ac vely devising its promo strategies, leveraging its social media strengths.

S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

NEWS

Huawie, Groupe PSA Open a New Dynamic

World's First IoT-Connected Vehicle Arrives

Chief Awards its Japanese Distributor

cars, smart homes and smart ci es, giving users access to an array of services designed to facilitate daily life. All digital interac ons between the car and the cloud are secure; customer and car data are encrypted, and their integrity, authen city and conﬁden ality are guaranteed.

CHINA: In a yet another first-of-its-kind ini a ve – at the recent Hannover Messe 2018 in Germany – Huawei and Groupe PSA showcased a DS 7 CROSSBACK, the first connected vehicle resul ng from their partnership covering all of the Group's connected vehicles, announced in November 2017. The DS 7 Crossback is the first vehicle to use Groupe PSA's Connected Vehicle Modular Pla orm (CVMP) and is equipped with Huawei's OceanConnect IoT pla orm and Cloud services supported by Huawei, giving customers access to new connected services. Using Huawei's OceanConnect IoT pla orm, Groupe PSA has built its Connected Vehicle Modular Pla orm (CVMP) for its connected vehicles, which is deployed globally using Cloud services supported by Huawei. DS 7 CROSSBACK, launched this month in China, is the first vehicle to benefit from the CVMP. Customers can access new services such as connected naviga on, natural language voice recogni on and a connected service portal via the vehicle's dashboard screen. The vehicle's maintenance status and the history of journeys and driving styles are also accessible from the customer's smartphone. New services for private customers and fleet managers will be regularly added to these features. They include infotainment services, remote so ware updates and naviga on mapping, personal assistant, remote vehicle diagnos c and maintenance func ons, and services useful for car hire companies, fleet managers and carsharing operators. Huawei's OceanConnect IoT pla orm underpins Huawei's Connected Car Solu on. This solu on helps to develop connected Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

Huawei is commi ed to crea ng an open and flexible connected car infrastructural pla orm that can scale to manage the life cycle of cars, connec ng physical car assets to the cloud in a secure, reliable, and efficient way to allow new digital capabili es for drivers and businesses. Cloud services supported by Huawei will be used for all Groupe PSA connected vehicles in all regions where these vehicles are marketed. Commen ng on the big occasion, Jean Leflour, SVP Connected Vehicle & Services Architecture Strategy, Groupe PSA, said: "By deploying its new pla orm connec ng the vehicle to the Internet of Things(IoT), Groupe PSA enriches its service offering and makes the mobility easier for all its customers.” With Huawei, well known for its innova on capacity, we are pleased to show today the first tangible result of our partnership providing customers with a new experience enabled by the CVMP. DS 7 CROSSBACK is the first vehicle to benefit from this joint project, which will ul mately be rolled out to all group vehicles." Expressing their happy endorsement of the ini a ve, Leon He, Head of Automo ve Business Unit of Huawei Enterprise Business Group observed that “the key to successful digital transforma on of car manufacturers is to build a digital cloud pla orm. Based on the pla orm, car manufacturers, ecosystem developers, and industry applica on partners are gathered to jointly sell vehicle products and services across countries in the global market and provide personalized travel services to car owners and users.”

JAPAN: Moun ng solu ons major Chief has awarded its distributor in Japan, Audio Visual Communica ons Ltd. (AVC), for their outstanding sales achievement in 2017. As a mark of apprecia on for the commendable sales and marke ng support, the company recently presented the ‘Outstanding Award’ to AVC management. “Audio Visual Communica ons growth in 2017 was truly impressive,” said Joseph Mak, Director of Sales – Commercial, Asia Pacific. “Great rela onships with great partners are the founda on of success in the AV Industry.” Founded in 1968, AVC is a professional company in Japan to provide consul ng, design, installa on services and import sales for AV systems for various ver cal markets and events. In other news, we had a great me at Japan Shop exhibi on in March with our distributor AVC. Japan Shop is the interna onal exhibi on for shop systems and fixtures. It showcases the latest products and services related to commercial-space design and display that help store owners run their businesses more efficiently. At Japan Shop, Chief showcased the FRA freestyle rota on adapter and the ODMLA25 wall mount designed to withstand harsh weather condi ons. The products were well received by visitors. We appreciate the great support by AVC team leading to this successful event. www.avc.co.jp/en www.milestone.com/chief

www.huawei.com S I A

S I A

NEWS

Huawie, Partners Hold Global FSI Summit in Beijing KLANG:technologies Manager, HQ Informa on Technology Appoints Sorinamoo as Department, ICBC, said that, under the South Korea Distributor background of the rapid development of

CHINA: Chinese telecommunica on giant Huawei Technologies recently organized Global Financial Services Industry (FSI) Summit, with the theme 'Leading New ICT, Accelera ng New Digital Finance Transforma on' in Beijing. This summit a racted more than 800 financial customers and industry experts from financial ins tu ons and consultancies worldwide. These included Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), DBS Bank of Singapore, China Life Insurance Group, China Minsheng Bank (CMBC), the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), China Merchants Bank (CMB), and China Pacific Insurance Group (CPIC). The Leading with Digital in Banking white paper recently released by the Interna onal Data Corpora on (IDC), a global consul ng firm, iden fied that digital banks around the world are shi ing from digital services to digital transforma on. The next wave of banking transforma on will start with fully-connected banks. Banks are becoming more open regarding technologies and business models. The bilateral rela onship between tradi onal banks and FinTech companies will evolve into an organic ecosystem. Transformed and strengthened core systems will lay the founda on for new growth in the banking industry. "With the digital transforma on trend in the financial industry, financial ins tu ons across the globe need to con nuously deepen their digital strategies and transforma on ini a ves to achieve pla orm-based strategic transforma on,” Vie-President, Huawei Enterprise BG, and President, EBG Global Sales Ma Yue said. “Banks are the pla orm that connects everything and provides digital financial services in a fully-connected era,” he said. “Huawei follows the 'pla orm + ecosystem' strategy, helps global financial customers develop scenario-based products and services and implement intelligent customer management.” The founda on for implemen ng the financial pla orm strategy is that the ICT infrastructure is pla orm-based and has a prosperous financial ecosystem. Kong Bing, Deputy General

informa on Bank, ICBC has started the Smart Banking Informa on System project, which will be around the whole line of business transforma on work requirements, further strengthen the deep integra on of finance and technology, and con nuously strengthen the founda on for the innova on of science and technology, for the be er Smart Banking transforma on. With the technologies such as cloud compu ng, 5G, Big Data, AI, and blockchain, facial recogni on applica ons for payment authen ca on, una ended bank branches, and cross-border se lement are becoming a reality. In the future, financial ins tu ons will become a comprehensive pla orm for financial informa on bearing and transac ons, and connect all people and things. Huawei focuses on integra ng financial values, ensuring be er connec ons, and coopera ng with industry partners to accelerate digital transforma on. Looking to the future of the banking industry, Bre King, the author of Bank 3.0 pointed out that "5G will push the bank to be real- me. By 2025, more people will transact and interact with their money on a computer, smartphone, voice and augmented reality every day, than those that visit the world's collec ve network of branches on an annual basis.” During the a ernoon, bank customers and system integrators from home and abroad gave excellent speeches and interac ve discussions at the two tracks, Finance-New Pla orm and Finance–Full Connec on. The a ernoon also saw the establishment of Huawei-CMBC joint innova on lab. In addi on, Huawei FusionInsight LibrA, a new-genera on converged data warehouse, made its debut in China. At the summit, Huawei demonstrated 16 major financial solu ons, in a scenario-based manner, in a 600 square meter exhibi on area that contained four sub-exhibi on areas: Finance Cloud, Financial Big Data, High-Performance Open Pla orm, and Smart Branch. Huawei Global FSI Summit, is a global ICT event that focuses on the financial industry. The first summit was held in 2013, and all par cipants of this summit are elite members of the financial industry.

Established in 2000, Sorinamoo is a leading distributor of premium pro audio and video brands. The company represents Yamaha, Meyer, Inter-M and Harman brands, including JBL, Crown, DBX and Soundcra . Video brands include Blackmagic Design, Avics and ETC. Addi onal brands complete a por olio that makes Sorinamoo a complete AVL systems supplier. “Sorinamoo is constantly growing and developing ahead of our customers' needs and we are con nually looking for advanced new products to introduce to our market.” explained Sec on Chief, Yonghui Kim. “We first came across KLANG:technologies on Yamaha's YouTube channel. Andy Cooper has produced a couple of great videos introducing KLANG and explaining its set up with Yamaha CL/QL Series consoles.” “We evaluated KLANG further and were very impressed with the ease of use and excep onal audio quality,” con nued Mr Kim. “The advanced 3D technology presents a completely new paradigm for the IEM and sound field markets and we look forward to delivering this outstanding product to our customers.” Phil Kamp, KLANG:technologies' Head of sales, commented, “We are pleased to welcome Sorinamoo to our expanding network of interna onal distributors. With a great line of compa ble brands, they are technically experienced and will bring our systems to the market with great presenta on and support. I am confident they will do an excellent job in represen ng KLANG:technologies in South Korea.”

www.klang.com www.sorinamoo.com

www.huawei.com

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

SOUTH KOREA KLANG:technologies is pleased to announce the appointment of Sorinamoo as its distributor for South Korea. Busan-based Sorinamoo is managed by CEO Dosung Shim and prac ces the three principles of honesty, best prac ce and apprecia on.

S I A

NEWS

First Club Chain Rocks with Clair Brothers a ribute of this custom Clair Brothers system is its versa lity within all three spaces. While each First Club is slightly different in layout, the sound system is purposefully flexible to enable each venue to offer consistency of the signature experience.

CHINA: First Club is a new brand of nightclubs, commissioned by the respected Nuochuang Group, with its sights set on evolving the Chinese nightclub scene by combining art, fashion, music, sound, ligh ng and high-end social sophis ca on. The decision-makers at First Club insisted on the best of everything at every level. Both Wei, vice president of Nuochuang Group, and Wu, president of the First Club brand, agreed on the vision to create a nightclub that delivers high-octane EDM experiences unlike any other, which explains why Clair Brothers was the unanimous choice to provide the brand's signature sound. “Their reputa on for audio innova on and excellent service is worldrenowned,” explains Feng Min, First Club general manager. “This collabora on marks the first me that Clair Brothers have produced a speaker cabinet with integrated branding designed specifically by an entertainment chain anywhere in the world.” The result is kiTCurve12 speakers customized with the First Club logo prominently displayed on the grills. Integral to the brand architecture is the Clair Brothers custom-designed sound system that includes the Clair Brothers kiT12, kiTCurve12, FF2-HX, CS-218, CB-FP14000/10000+ and CBLM26 models. The result is a sound that sets First Club apart from other exis ng club brands, with special a en on being paid to treble transparency, low-frequency flexibility and high energy. “Our goal is to give club patrons a unique feeling they can't get anywhere else,” says Mr. Wu. “And Clair Brothers does that.” The system, installed by Newegg, a Chinese integrator specializing in the entertainment industry, is further augmented by custom Lake processing on the kiT12 making it more powerful. First Club is a growing chain, currently with three venues open for business. A crucial

The historic partnership between the two companies called for a brand release celebra on a ended by industry professionals from across China. Complete with food, DJspun music and hopeful toasts.“With con nued coopera on, our brands will surely grow together,” oﬀers Feng Min. “Clair Brothers has greatly exceeded our team's expecta ons. I can't wait to see what the future holds.”

www.clairbrothers.com S I A

Evolution 4G Wireless Series Hits MEA Markets

MIDDLE EAST: The Middle East and Africa (MEA) region got its ﬁrst look at the muchan cipated evolu on wireless G4 series of wireless mic and in-ear monitoring systems at events recently conducted by Sennheiser in the United Arab Emirates and Kenya. The seminar in Dubai centred around the company's audio for business solu on range, while in Kenya, the event took a more technical approach, with detailed workshops covering all aspects of wireless audio capture. Hosted by Sennheiser's long-standing UAE distributor Venuetech, the event in Dubai was a ended by over 60 industry professionals from systems integrators and consultants. The key presenta on, tled 'Wireless Microphones for System Integra on' was delivered by Kai Tossing, Por olio Manager for Sennheiser Business Solu ons and outlined the digital

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

workflows for deployment of mul -channel wireless systems in educa on and corporate applica ons. In addi on to a first look at the newly launched ew G4 solu ons, par cipants got live demonstra on of Sennheiser's SpeechLine Digital Wireless and Digital 6000 solu ons, with all systems monitored and controlled in a live environment by Sennheiser's new core control so ware, Control Cockpit. “I found the presenters and presenta on material very helpful in quelling my endeavours to con nually strive to be ahead of my compe tors in the current market and would recommend this event to all likeminded consultants in the region” said Gerald Stewart, Principal - Acous cs at Inhabit Group. Ryan Burr, Head of Technical Sales & Applica on Engineering, System Solu ons at Sennheiser Middle East who led the four training sessions in Kenya said, “The training session was organised by our partner, Audio Visual Engineering, who did an excellent job of promo ng the event and a rac ng over 50 of their customers from ver cals as diverse as media and broadcast, educa on, houses of worship and events companies, all of whom were eager to learn more about our wireless microphones, applica on-based theory and general best prac ces.” The presenta ons he delivered were aimed at both new and exis ng users of wireless microphones and in-ear monitor systems, including sound engineers, live event professionals, students, appren ces, sales people and AV technicians. Over the course of four sessions, a endees gained the knowledge and insight needed to operate mul channel wireless systems, covering acous cs and electrotechnology, wireless mics and monitoring, antenna technology, microphone technology, frequency management and wireless monitoring. “I like Sennheiser products because of their reliability and durability. The training offered a chance to be er understand their products and how best it serves my applica on” said Isaac Kamau Gachwe, Media Officer at Ridgeways Bap st Church. The Sennheiser evolu on wireless G4, which received an overwhelmingly posi ve feedback at both events.

www.sennheiser.com S I A

NEWS

Verrex Names Paul Cullum AsiaPac Director HONG KONG: Verrex, has announced that Paul Cullum, RCDD, has joined the company as Director, Asia Pacific based in Hong Kong. Cullum will lead the day-to-day opera ons of Verrex Asia Pacific teams and will oversee project and service performance, team development, client rela onships, business development, and strategic planning. He will be responsible for Verrex's full por olio of services in AV systems design, integra on, and service & support throughout key Asia Pacific hubs including Hong Kong and Shanghai. He is part of a senior leadership team that reports directly to Verrex CEO, Thomas Berry, Jr., CTS. “Paul is a recognized Asia Pacific AV industry leader with a wealth of high-profile experience in the region,” said Berry. “He is well-respected by clients with a reputa on for ensuring project and service success, and his background in systems design brings together Verrex's approach to fulfilling a client's en re AV life-cycle requirements. Paul's appointment provides Verrex with a strong local leader and mentor for our incredible Asia Pacific team and a knowledgeable resource for our clients.” Cullum adds over 25 years of Informa on & Communica on Technologies experience to Verrex including several of the largest installa on projects implemented in Asia. Most recently Cullum was a founding Managing Partner, Asia of Coherent Technology Consul ng Limited in Hong Kong. Here he helped establish the firm's AV design consultancy as a well-respected industry leader in Asia and North America. Addi onal career highlights include Associate Director of Technology Services of JBA Consul ng Engineers (Asia) Ltd. Cullum completed an Electrical and Electronic Engineering Appren ceship with the Bri sh Army and con nued his military career in the Bri sh Armed Forces as a communica ons technician for 8 years. He holds the RCDD (Registered Communica ons Distribu on Designer) designa on from BICSI (Building Industry Consul ng Services Interna onal) and a BTEC Na onal Diploma in Electrical and

Electronic Engineering. “The Asia Pacific region is not only the largest ProAV market, but I believe one of the most dynamic,” said Cullum. “It represents both a developing market because of the wealth of new opportuni es and an established market because of its sheer size and maturity. Verrex shares and consequently is uniquely posi oned to address this market characteris c. We are an established, process-driven 71-year-old integrator with a diverse, expanding Asia Pacific client base. I am excited to lead our con nued growth here and look forward to delivering the industry-gold-standard service synonymous with Verrex's reputa on.” Cullum is based at Verrex's Hong Kong office, Verrex Asia Limited, which is part of the company's global workplaces that also include New York, Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, London, and Shanghai. www.verrex.com S I A

Quest Hits Right Notes at Saro Lounge

MALAYSIA: Saro Lounge is a lounge and bar tucked away in the heart of the Kuala Lumpur city in Pavilion Elite. Saro is Italian for “I will”, and is a testament to the venue's commitment to providing guests with memorable experiences and quality service. Able to accommodate 130 guests seated comfortably, Saro Lounge is an

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embodiment of the finer things in life, boas ng sophis cated wood finishing and elegant leather seats to complement the elaborate bar showcasing a variety of premium and cra spirits. Saro caters to those looking for a hideaway from the hustle and bustle of the city, without actually having to leave. Everyone – from working professionals clocking out from work, to the trendy, stylish crowd looking for a place to hang out and chill with friends will find Saro Lounge a welcome addi on to the KL F&B scene. Other than the furnishings, Saro's architectural highlight, on the other hand, is its state-of-the-art light feature that has been cleverly integrated into the ceiling. The lights feature a mul tude of configura ons to suit any mood, adding to the overall ambience of the main lounge area. Larger groups can also enjoy the comforts of Saro Lounge's Private Room, equipped with karaoke facili es and other entertainment systems. Founder and Managing Director of Saro, Kesavan Purusotman (KC) who has a background in music felt that the quality of sound was essen al to complete the op mum ambience for Saro Lounge. KC was to say the least was par cular as to the sound system that was to be installed in the venue. KC finally se led on the Quest QM108 speakers. KC and his team were impressed with the robust build quality of the speakers as well as the flexibility of the systems in func oning as a primary sound source, as well as a delay or out-fill component of a larger system. “The quality from this unique Quest product allowed us to deliver the right energy to our nights, especially when our DJs hit the decks”. A total of 14 units of QUEST-QM108 QMOTION Passive 8"200W Timber Trapezoid 8 OHM Full Range Speakers were installed in the venue. The Quest systems were supplied by Concept Associa es (KL). www.conceptaudio.com.my

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NEWS

Singapore Scores Yet Another World's First: 'Smart Hearing' Facility

Maxwell Chambers Innovates from 'Smart to Smart' The use of smart technology is expected to improve the ease of administra on and logis cs and allow dispu ng par es to be er focus on their cases that are heard at Maxwell Chambers. The smart technology is developed jointly with two Singapore tech start-ups, Habitap and Techme cs.

Franklin Tang, CEO of Habitap with Ms Indrenee Rajah using the app to ac vate a mee ng room

SINGAPORE: Early April saw the launch of the ‘Smart Maxwell’ ini a ve by Senior Minister of State for Finance and Law Ms Indranee Rajah S.C. Along with being the world's first integrated dispute resolu on complex, Maxwell Chambers can now add ‘world's first smart hearing facility’ to its impressive resume – the resolu on complex now offers more convenient, secure and comfortable hearings for businesses, legal counsel, arbitrators and mediators, through the use of smart technology. This is part of the Ministry of Law's (MinLaw) larger plan to boost Singapore's posi on as an interna onal dispute resolu on hub, with the recently-launched “Smart Maxwell” ini a ve a step towards achieving this goal. The ini a ve includes smart booking, security, food and beverage, secretariat and concierge services, and a robot (affec onately nicknamed “Max”) to deliver files and food within the four-storey building. Supported by local enterprise development agency Enterprise Singapore, the ini a ve is also likely to generate more business opportuni es for the legal industry in Singapore – which serves clients seeking dispute resolu on at Maxwell Chambers. Said Indranee Rajah, Senior Minister of State for Law and Finance: “It's really about infusing technology into the provision of services... 'Max' the robot is a cute feature, but at the same me very prac cal. It's a good illustra on of how you can use technology for ameni es and services, and this really is the way forward, infusing technology into the prac ce of the law.”

Habitap CEO Franklin Tang hailed Maxwell Chambers' integra on of smart technology as “a major milestone for all of us in our goal to become a smart na on”, adding on: “From the me you browse for a booking, pay for it, access the building, order food, receive the invoice and leave – all this is done via the one single Maxwell Chambers app. For Maxwell Chambers, (the app) represents an opportunity to enhance their value through a more convenient, eﬃcient system.” Besides be er service, the adop on of technology will help Maxwell Chambers boost produc vity, meet growing demand, and result in signiﬁcant me and cost savings. For example, currently, a user can spend up to half an hour collec ng the physical access cards and distribu ng them to each business representa ve, legal counsel, arbitrator and/or mediator involved in the case, as and when they arrive, before each of them can make their way to the assigned room. In future, this will be instantaneous and automa c; each individual will be given secured access electronically and they can simply use their phones to gain access. The total cost savings from the smart solu ons are es mated to be over half a million dollars a year. With “Smart Maxwell”, Maxwell Chambers' users can enjoy a seamless experience from the point they enter the building. Features of the app are categorised into: Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Dynamic mobile access Smart Controls Facili es Booking One Tap Concierge Meal Ordering Automated Billing

Through the applica on, users will be able to securely check into the hearing rooms and offices. Visitors a ending hearings and mee ngs at Maxwell Chambers will be issued a unique and encrypted electronic access card through the applica on, and can tap into the rooms with their mobile devices. Organisers will be no fied of their guests' arrival as they tap in through the turns les, providing users of Maxwell Chambers with fast and private access to their hearings and mee ngs. In addi on, the applica on will enable users to control room se ngs such as ligh ng and air-condi oning, as well as request for secretariat services such as photocopying. The mul -func onal applica on also acts as a smart concierge to connect Maxwell Chambers' users with food and beverage, as well as ameni es in the vicinity. Users order food from the par cipa ng restaurants and eateries in the area directly, a list that Mr Tang joked “has been reviewed by a list of lawyers and law students who love to eat, and has been curated specially for the tenants and visitors of Maxwell Chambers”. “Max” will be piloted to deliver documents and refreshments to hearings and mee ngs efficiently. Users will be able to track their expenditure through the applica on as well – the applica on will provide them with a real- me itemised billing of the services they have engaged. This also allows Maxwell Chambers' staff to speed up administra ve and finance related func ons. The new solu ons are integrated with a revamped Customer Rela onship Management (CRM) system, bringing various aspects of the services offered by Maxwell Chambers onto a singular, intelligent pla orm. Naturally, there were challenges that needed to be overcome – Tang shared that one of the difficul es faced by the team was legacy infrastructure. “This is a conserva on building, it's an old building so you'll have to work around the old infrastructure of the building to provide S I A

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NEWS

the new technology. The good thing about technology today is that (it) is more adaptable – we don't need wires any more

New AVIXA Research Study Indicates

Small is Big: Retail Offers Big Bucks to ProAV USA: Retail is no longer just like its name, or so- if the latest AVIXA research study es mates are to be reckoned. For, the study es mated that retail is expected to generate $19.6 billion in proAV solu on revenue globally in 2018. AVIXA's new 2018 Market Opportunity Analysis Report (MOAR) covering retail inves gates the opportuni es and challenges for providers of pro-AV solu ons and technologies.

to run a piece of technology, but in the past you'd have to wire up the whole building. So for example signal coverage might be an issue, since the building is not designed or op mised for new technology. Just having full signal coverage within the building could be challenging.” According to Tang, these challenges were overcome by the experience gained from working on other buildings and projects, and through iden fying risk areas in implementa on. “In every building there will be its peculiari es, because no two buildings are the same design, structure or build. We are proud to partner with Maxwell Chambers in their journey to become a smart hearing centre. The benefits of adop ng smart solu ons and leveraging technology to improve value offerings are key to organisa ons remaining on the forefront of the current digital push, and shows that every industry can tap into this poten al.” The smart solu ons will be co-developed with users and rolled out in Maxwell Chambers by the end of this year. It will be extended, in Phase 2, to the adjacent Maxwell Chambers Suites and serve the 50 new offices there when the new extension completes in 2019.

With less than 10 per cent of revenue captured online, brick-and-mortar stores s ll present an industry rich with opportuni es for pro-AV providers. Retail marks the first in a series of ver cal market studies, conducted throughout 2018, with forthcoming reports on corporate, sports venue, hospitality, educa on, and transporta on. Consistent with AVIXA's focus on excep onal experiences created by integrated AV solu ons, AVIXA has employed a design-thinking approach to understanding the markets. MOAR starts by a emp ng to understand consumers on their journey through the retail experience. The report then focuses on the clients of AV solu ons - o en referred to as end users - including the influencers and decision-makers involved in pro-AV systems integra on projects. For the retail ver cal, this includes those who are responsible for the consumer experience and/or the audiovisual technologies deployed in stores. Finally, the study provides a view from proAV integrators on their successes and challenges working in retail. The 2018 MOAR: Retail offers rich insight into the retail market. Highlights include: Ÿ

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Looking to stay compe ve against the rise of e-commerce, brick-and-mortar retailers are evolving into more experien al loca ons with AV as a strong component. Survey results show large

capital improvement plans among retailers in support of this trend, genera ng about $6 billion in projected AV related spending in North America alone Ÿ

Surprisingly, only about half of AV providers are currently ac ve in retail. Reasons vary, but lack of knowledge about the space plays a key role. Retailers say they o en will work with more tradi onal IT ﬁrms, general contractors, or architects instead

This may keep some AV providers out of the mix, no ng they are less familiar with the category and unsure how to break into the market

Majority of retailers surveyed are planning to integrate mature technology, such as audio equipment and video displays. The same is true of the bundling of technologies into solu ons such as security, point of sale, and digital signage. Retailers are not yet inves ng in newer technologies like augmented or virtual reality, although the interest is there

Both end users and providers of AV solu ons agree the two biggest challenges faced by retailers are technology selec on and adherence to budget. Retailers rely on AV providers' knowledge of the various op ons to help them determine how to eﬃciently and eﬀec vely create excep onal consumer experiences

“As shown in this report, a large por on of AV providers are not playing in the retail space. And with a thriving industry, they're doing themselves a disservice," said Sean Wargo, Senior Director of Market Intelligence, AVIXA. "This is leading retailers to rely on service providers that don't necessarily have AV exper se to deliver experien al retail environments. This report will outline the opportuni es retail presents for pro-AV providers and oﬀer thoughts on successfully breaking into the market.” www.avixa.org S I A

NEWS

Nortek Security & Control Acquires IntelliVision

USA: Leaping to the forefront of the rapidly growing fields of Ar ficial Intelligence (AI) and video analy cs, Nortek Security & Control LLC (NSC), announced the acquisi on of San Jose, California-based IntelliVision Technologies. A pioneer and leader in Ar ficial Intelligence, smart cameras and deep learning-based video analy cs so ware, IntelliVision will henceforth operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of NSC. However, it will con nue to support its customers and products as usual. “This acquisi on is a great fit for us,” said NSC President Mike O'Neal. “The IntelliVision team brings incredible strengths from which we will together build rich, futureready solu ons, with intelligence that will transform the NSC product line,” he added. “This will extend our leadership posi on in security, automa on and entertainment technology, with significant benefits for our partners and customers.” IntelliVision AI and video analy cs solu ons provide ac onable insights for security and monitoring in smart home, smart enterprise, and smart city applica ons; business intelligence for smart enterprise and smart retail; and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for automobiles. The company's so ware includes licenses for dozens of patents and has been deployed globally in over 4 million cameras from over 50 top er brand customers and consumer electronics manufacturers. Customers include Comcast, ADT, Netgear, Ring, Ambarella, Schneider Electric/Pelco, Dallmeier, DLink, Disney, and Zebra.

“We are thrilled to become part of Nortek Security & Control,” commented IntelliVision CEO Vaidhi Nathan, who will stay on to lead video analy cs and ar ficial intelligence development under the NSC umbrella. “We now have the support and resources of a major market-leader. Plus, integra ng IntelliVision's AI and video analy cs technologies into NSC's security, control and entertainment pla orms will create clear leadership advantages in the markets we collec vely serve.” NSC Execu ve VicePresident of Marke ng and Innova on Joe Roberts said that IntelliVision technology will be embedded in key NSC products and systems. “The video analy cs and AI technology will empower us to offer incredibly personalized control and automa on solu ons, and will add significantly to our security pla orms,” said Roberts. “This will create important new benefits for our dealers and excep onal experiences for the end-users of our products.” Roberts cited IntelliVision's strengths in face detec on, recogni on and search, intelligent mo on, object detec on and tracking, intrusion/perimeter watch, object classifica on (people, vehicle, pet), license plate detec on and recogni on (LPR/ANPR), and audio recogni on. “For example, imagine a security or access control system that can recognize an approaching person,” con nued Roberts. “The system itself can provide a hands-free, mul -factor authen ca on that nearly eliminates false posi ves all while improving the user experience. And for automa on, knowing who is in the room enables se ng the ligh ng and climate scenes according to that person's preference. Now the connected home is not just smart, but intui ve.”

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According to Roberts, the acquisi on also strengthens the company's ongoing investments in voice and natural language technologies and signiﬁcantly adds to the company's growing patent por olio. www.intelli-vision.com www.nortekcontrol.com

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ONELAN Acquired by Uniguest

UK: ONELAN, a global leader in digital visual communica ons announced their acquisi on by Uniguest, a Nashville-based cyber security technology specialist in the secure opera ng system space. Uniguest delivers marketleading solu ons which assist customers in driving guest, shopper, and resident engagement in the hospitality, office retail, and community living industries respec vely. The acquisi on will strengthen ONELAN's presence in the US, with customers and partners benefi ng from Uniguest's team of 180 US-based staff and a further 75-person 24/7 call center. With clear synergies between the two customer-centric organiza ons, the acquisi on presents Uniguest the opportunity to become a truly global company, with its customers able to access ONELAN's leading digital signage and visual communica ons solu ons as a natural extension to their current por olio of products.

NEWS

ONELAN is a global leader in developing and managing visual applica ons such as digital signage, wayfinding, and mee ng space bookings. Its footprint spans across 6,000 projects in 50 countries and operates in the educa on, corporate, retail and hospitality sectors. “Uniguest is a natural partner for us as their Secured Advantage product goes hand-inhand with our interac ve signage solu ons,” ONELAN Chief Commercial Officer Hugh Coghill-Smith said. “Both companies strive to bring the most value to our customers. We determined the best way to provide a seamless customer experience was to bring the two por olios together as one offering.” “Digital engagement is something we see as a crucial component to the future of the industries we operate in,” Uniguest CEO Jeff Hiscox said. “A er doing a thorough review of the market, we realized ONELAN's solu ons are best in class and our combined solu ons will drive a new “digital infusion” in the public use space of our customers.” For the near future, ONELAN will con nue to operate as a stand-alone business with its current team members out of the Reading, U.K. headquarters. Uniguest will add the signage offerings into its solu on set, and the products will immediately be available to Uniguest clients. Prior to the ONELAN acquisi on, Uniguest operated more than 28,000 devices across 15,000+ loca ons in 68 countries. Adding ONELAN expands Uniguest's footprint not only in the U.K. but across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australasia as well. Its innova ve suite of fully managed and supported solu ons includes business centers, interac ve kiosks, digital signage, purposed tablets, mobile prin ng, and personalized prin ng. The Nashville, Tennessee-headquartered Uniguest – while essen ally spread across the USA – has interests spanning across the con nents. operates across the globe with offices in Las Vegas, Nevada, Torrance, California; and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. www.uniguest.com www.onelan.com

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Yamaha Music to Distribute UC in Singapore

SINGAPORE: Yamaha Music (Asia) Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary company of Yamaha Corpora on announced its engagement to expand product por olio for Uniﬁed Communica ons (UC) solu ons. The Yamaha CS-700 Video Sound Collabora on System for huddle rooms and the Yamaha YVC-1000MS, a USB speakerphone cer ﬁed for Skype for Business is now shipping and available through Yamaha Music Asia in Singapore.

degree of audio intelligibility; and a wideangle HD camera that captures every mee ng par cipant in clear detail. Through a single USB cable, it is ready to connect to an organiza on's chosen UC pla orm, such as Skype for Business, Cisco Spark, GoToConference, Zoom, and many others. This plug-and-play approach allows users to get started quickly without wrestling with disparate audio, video, and collabora on components.

Yamaha Music Asia established in Singapore for over 50 years and is the market leader in Singapore's musical instrument industry. The company's Professional Audio Division was set up 35 years ago and had been ac vely involved in the sales & marke ng of Yamaha digital mixing consoles, digital signal processors, power ampliﬁers and loudspeaker.

Yamaha Music Asia also will start the Yamaha YVC-1000MS, a USB speakerphone and Yamaha's first product cer fied for Skype for Business, which is engineered with Yamaha's superior audio technology and exper se to enhance the user experience in large mee ng rooms, rooms with special table configura ons, and even remote educa on classes or seminars within the UC pla orm.

“With the valuable addi on of Yamaha UC products to our current line-up of Yamaha commercial audio products, Yamaha Music Asia will be able to deliver a wider range of products and a total system solu on to our business partners and customers in this industry,” said Lawrence Tan, Assistant General Manager of Yamaha Music Asia. The recently launched Yamaha CS-700 Video

Available worldwide, the microphone and speaker system provide natural, clear audio that deﬁnes the pla orm's mee ng experience and the intui ve design provides fast, simple connec on via USB to a PC and/or smartphone with Bluetooth. Meanwhile, Yamaha's adap ve echo cancella on and other unique soundprocessing technologies facilitate stress-free conversa on.

Sound Collabora on System for huddle rooms is an all-in-one wall-mounted UC solu on engineered to simplify installa on and deployment while ensuring the highest quality audio and video in huddle and small mee ng spaces. It is the ﬁrst solu on that op mizes audio, video, and collabora on capabili es in a wall-mounted system, crea ng an intui ve mee ng experience. It boasts an adap ve beam-forming microphone array, which guarantees that every word is perfectly captured and delivered to the far end; four Yamaha speaker elements to provide the highest

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The company will showcase the Yamaha CS700 and YVC1000MS in the Yamaha Music Asia's booth at NXTAsia 2018, scheduled to be held from 26-28 June 2018 at Sands Expo and Conven on Centre in Singapore. In addi on, Yamaha Music Asia will show its por olio of market-leading solu ons for providing customers high-quality UC experiences. www.yamaha.com S I A

NEWS

Riedel's Bolero Integrates Intercom Competence

Star Performing Arts Centre Goes Wireless “With the Bolero-Ar st integra on, we can change the Bolero beltpacks' programming easily and on the fly, while end users can cater the se ngs to their own requirements,” Ong added. “In ini al tes ng so far, our crew and staff have felt very posi ve about the new system. The learning curve has been minimal since they're already familiar with the Director so ware, and the built-in bo le opener on the Bolero beltpack is a big hit!” SINGAPORE: The Star Performing Arts Centre (Star PAC), a renowned theater venue in Singapore, has expanded its intercom capabili es with the Bolero integrated wireless intercom. Bolero will offer complete wireless integra on and channel support for The Star PAC's exis ng Riedel Ar st digital matrix intercom system, delivering clear, reliable communica ons throughout the facility's 5,000-seat auditorium, func on halls, and broadcast produc on center.

“A reliable and crystal-clear comms system is a must for a large-scale facility like The Star Performing Arts Centre, not only to ensure a smooth-running live performance but also to provide safety and emergency communica ons,” said Cameron O'Neill, Director, APAC, Riedel Communica ons. “As our ﬁrst Bolero venue in Singapore, The Star PAC has taken a big step forward in ge ng the most out of its Ar st system and staying on the leading edge of wireless intercom technology. We're conﬁdent that Bolero will

“Reliable intercom systems are cri cal for our live shows and broadcast opera ons,” said Reuben Ong, Head of Audio, The Star PAC. “A er five years of success with our Riedel Ar st system, Bolero is a very welcome addi on — providing complete integra on for all wired and wireless intercom users. Our crew members have always raved about the programming flexibility and high audio quality of Ar st, and now we can offer those benefits through the wireless system as well.” The Star PAC chose Bolero to replace a legacy wireless intercom that could only integrate to Ar st via analog four-wire connec ons. Of the systems The Star PAC evaluated, Bolero offered the easiest integra on and the most flexible programming capabili es. Through the Ar st Director so ware, Bolero beltpacks can be programmed quickly and easily via a dragand-drop interface. In addi on, Bolero's modern codec and efficient use of bandwidth means The Star PAC team can support up to 10 beltpacks per AES67-networked antenna, and provide much wider coverage with outstanding sound quality. The Star PAC has deployed eight Bolero antennas to ensure coverage for the en re building, including the main auditorium and smaller mul purpose hall. Antennas are connected to three stacked AES67 switches (which perform as a single switch) that then link to the Ar st mainframes equipped with AES67 client cards. In addi on, a fiber-to-Cat 6 extender will allow The Star PAC team to deploy a ninth antenna to cover distant mee ng rooms, The Star Lo , and the outdoor amphitheater, Star Terrace, when required.

provide the best possible coverage as well as outstanding support for The Star PAC crew through its intui ve and advanced features.”

www.riedel.net S I A

Symetrix and Visionary Solutions Expand Strategic Alliance USA: Symetrix and Visionary Solu ons are excited to announce na ve integra on of Visionary Solu ons' PacketAV Duet Danteenabled IP video encoder and decoder products into Symetrix' Composer DSP programming and control so ware. The integra on, co-developed by Symetrix and Visionary Solu ons, enables PacketAV Duet and E/D4100 video encoders and decoders to appear as na ve units in Composer 7.1 and later. Harnessing the ﬂexibility and scalability of converged IP networks, PacketAV Matrix products ultra low-latency 4K UHD video can

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be streamed over IP together with a Danteenabled Symetrix DSP system, offering a complete Audio, Video, and Control solu on, all while bypassing the constraints of tradi onal switch matrix systems. Scheduled for release in the third quarter of 2018, Symetrix Composer 7.1 takes full command of the PacketAV Matrix products, with drag and drop configura on, network discovery, video rou ng, and video wall control. Live video previews for at-a-glance confidence monitoring of both encoders and decoders are supported, and may be freely placed on custom user interfaces deployed to Windows - or Web-based devices. Composer also fully manages the Dante audio interfaces on Duet products, including discovery, device naming, channel naming, and audio rou ng. Using Visionary's PacketAV Duet encoders and decoders, audio from an HDMI source may be stripped off and routed through the DSP for processing, mixed with other sources, and distributed to sound reinforcement systems throughout a facility, as well as re-embedded into the IP video stream for local playback at the displays. A design can be completed offline, without hardware. Once hardware is installed, Composer efficiently locates all hardware on the network; updates and reconciles network names, IP addresses and channel configura ons as necessary; and configures ini al audio and video routes. "We are very excited to have Visionary Solu ons as an integra on partner," declares Symetrix Senior Product Manager Trent Wagner. "PacketAV Matrix products elegantly bridge the IP video and IP audio worlds, while Symetrix DSP and control makes system management effortless." "System designers will reap major benefits from this new level of integra on," observes Sco Freshman, Chief Opera ng Officer for Visionary Solu ons. "Composer is well known for its ease of use, and with version 7.1, configura on and management of PacketAV Matrix products becomes faster and simpler than ever." www.symetrix.co www.vsicam.com/product/duet-encoderdecoder

SOLUTIONS UPDATE

Christie Extreme Series RTS Launches ODIN Has a New, Thin Member OMNEO Digital Matrix

Chris e is expanding its Extreme Series lineup of high-performance LCD displays with the introduc on of the FHD493-XE 49inch extremely narrow bezel display. Featuring a 1.8mm combined bezel width, advanced panel matching and Chris e Phoenix EP compa bility, the FHD493-XE is ideal for 24/7 high-performance, nearseamless video wall applica ons. Chris e Extreme Series displays feature advanced panel matching, ensuring that the color and brightness of each panel comes calibrated, thereby elimina ng many of the image adjustments typically required when installing video walls. The integrated electronics support video wall scaling up to a 10x10 configura on and 4K mul -stream transport across up to four panels. Addi onally, Smart Light Control automa cally adjusts the brightness of each panel across the video wall for uniformity and consistent performance for the life of the video wall. The Chris e FHD493-XE is compa ble with the Chris e Phoenix EP, an embedded processing solu on, via an OPS slot. The Chris e Phoenix EP installs directly into the FHD493-XE to process network sources, decode and manage video and data sources on mul ple Chris e panels. “Chris e's Extreme Series of displays in 49inch and 55-inch sizes offer customers the flexibility to tailor the size and shape of a video wall to best fit their space,” says John Dixon, senior product manager, Chris e. “The 1.8mm combined bezel width, in conjunc on with 24/7 operability, make these displays ideal for control rooms, retail and digital signage applica ons.” The FDH493-XE meets ADA depth requirements with a Chris e ML20 mount making it ideal for video walls in public spaces, or where space is limited. The system will be available from July 2018.

RTS announced the global launch of the ODIN OMNEO digital intercom matrix. The latest in an on-going program of IP-focused product launches, including the ROAMEO DECT-based wireless system and KP-Series keypanels, ODIN is a major new addi on to the RTS por olio. ODIN condenses decades of experience and the latest RTS innova ons into a compact single rack unit package that offers state-ofthe-art IP technology along with analog connec vity. Where previous-genera on digital matrix products were significantly larger and more costly to own and operate, ODIN's feature set and form factor are designed to make a professional matrix solu on more accessible and easier to use than ever before, opening up the benefits of IP-based communica ons for wide range of new markets and users of all levels. In keeping with the RTS principles of forward thinking and backwards compa bility, ODIN can seamlessly integrate into the most sophis cated, large-scale intercom opera ons, extending the value of the ini al investment, while also providing a path for system expansion for smaller users who want to upgrade exis ng RTS systems to the latest technologies. The front panel has a color graphical user interface based on icons to support the most common setup and configura on tasks. The AZedit and IPedit so ware applica ons have been updated to support ODIN for more complex configura on tasks. Whether the user wants to expand intercom func onality with an IP-based system at a regional theater or large house of worship, or whether the goal is to start streamlining a larger system's footprint and cost of opera on in an OB van or broadcast control room, ODIN stands apart as the most comprehensive intercom solu on RTS has ever made … all in 1RU.

Extron Shipping New HDMI Matrix Switchers

Extron announced immediate availability of the DXP HD 4K PLUS Series of high performance HDMI matrix switchers that support signals up to 4K/60 with 4:4:4 chroma sampling. They support HDMI 2.0b speciﬁca ons, including data rates up to 18 Gbps, HDR, Deep Color up to 12-bit, 3D, and HD lossless audio formats. These HDCP 2.2 compliant matrix switchers incorporate Extron technologies such as SpeedSwitch, EDID Minder, and Key Minder as well as HDMI input equaliza on and output regenera on to ensure reliable system opera on. Digital audio can be de-embedded from any input and assigned to digital or analog stereo outputs for ease of integra on. Available in 4x4, 8x4, and 8x8 sizes, the DXP HD 4K PLUS Series is ideal for applica ons that require reliable, high performance matrix switching of 4K/60 HDMI signals. The DXP HD 4K PLUS Series matrix switchers are designed for use with computers equipped with 4K graphics cards, 4K media players, 4K Blu-ray players and other similar signal sources, as well as 4K na ve resolu on displays. With a maximum data rate of 18 Gbps, they support computer and video resolu ons up to 4096x2160 at 60 Hz with 8-bit color in 4:4:4 color space. In addi on, these matrix switchers fully support 1080p/60 with 12-bit Deep Color. To maintain signal integrity, they feature automa c cable equaliza on on inputs and output reclocking to reshape and restore ming of the video signal at each HDMI output. www.extron.com

www.rtsintercoms.com

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE

Matrox Video Support for NewTeck NDI Crestron Introduces ecosystem and facilitates the transmission of many high-quality, low-latency, frameaccurate video and audio streams to all other NDI devices.

Matrox Video announced support for the widely-adopted NewTek NDI IP standard with the complete range of Matrox SDI and SMPTE ST 2110 network cards and DSX Core so ware products. Leveraging NDI, OEMs can now easily incorporate Matrox products with any NDI-capable device, signiﬁcantly increasing the number of IP sources required in broadcast and live produc on environments. NDI allows video and audio sources to be shared bi-direc onally across a standard 1 GigE network, elimina ng the need for costly infrastructure upgrades, while turning every source into a des na on instantly available anywhere on the network. DSX SDK support now permits Matrox board-level products to become automa cally discoverable on an NDI

“The adop on of NDI demonstrates our unwavering commitment to both the broadcast industry and to our customers,” said Alberto Cieri, senior director of sales and marke ng, Matrox Video. “OEMs now have a simple, easy way to integrate NDI to fulﬁll any video capture, source, and delivery requirement in NDI-centric infrastructures.” “The Matrox mul -channel video I/O cards are a natural ﬁt in the NDI ecosystem,” said Dr. Andrew Cross, president and CTO, NewTek. “The industry-renowned video cards exponen ally increase the video sources available for live produc on, crea ng new deployment opportuni es for customers looking for a smooth path to IP.” Matrox NDI support will be available in Q2 2018.

www.matrox.com/video

DM Lite Extenders

Crestron announced it is now shipping DM Lite, a new ecosystem of simple, interchangeable signal extender products. DM Lite delivers a winning combina on of low cost, high performance, ﬂexible form factor, and wide selec on. Simple to deploy, and available in both 1-gang and standalone boxes, DM Lite products are ideal for basic point-to-point and small auto-switching applica ons. They can extend 1080p signals up to 70m, and 4K60 4:2:0 signals up to 40m using CAT5e. “DM Lite products were designed to meet the need for inexpensive video extenders in small oﬃces and conference rooms, as well as in classrooms,” said Aalap Patel, Product

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE

Manager, DigitalMedia. “They're perfect products for our dealers to keep in stock and roll out for quick installa ons.” Mix and match: The DM Lite product line currently consists of six transmi ers and four receivers, any of which can be mixed and matched. Addi onally, they can be paired with popular Crestron extenders with HDMI connec vity (HD-MD-400-C-E and HD-MD300-C-E). DM Lite transmi ers include a USB port to power mul -head or ac ve cables. DM Lite transmi ers and receivers are available with and without COM/IR/CEC pass-through. www.crestron.com S I A

Christie Expands Laser Phosphor GS Series

points customers are looking for in either HD or WUXGA resolu on.”

matrixes and replace them with a more scalable, ﬂexible, and reliable approach.

Delivering advanced and highly eﬃcient laser diodes for up to 6,750 ISO lumens of light output with 20,000 hours of worry-free opera on, both projectors are equipped with Chris e RealBlack technology to produce 4,000,000:1 full on/oﬀ contrast ra o in a whisper-quiet (36dBA) solu on.

The ingenuity behind the J+P design is that it maximizes func onality by using a common IP infrastructure while minimizing costs so that video distribu on technology is accessible to customers who don't want to — and o en can't — pay the exorbitant cost of systems that deliver the same or less quality. Using standard PoE, J+P solu ons consume a maximum of 10 wa s per device, decreasing power consump on by 30 percent and elimina ng the cost of proprietary PoE injectors. They use standard network protocols (telnet, TCP/IP, UDP and mul cast) and are built to work with oﬀ-theshelf gigabit switches. Opera ng from an isolated, ﬁrewall-protected VLAN that has no access to other corporate databases, informa on, and servers, the device don't require addi onal security measures.

“Live staging events customers will enjoy the compact design and low cost as enabling technologies that make middle brightness more aﬀordable,” added Mar n. Compa ble with all GS Series lenses – including a new Ultra Short Throw – both 1DLP projectors are capable of 24/7 opera on and ship in April 2018 with a three-year parts and labor warranty. www.chris edigital.com

www.justaddpower.com S I A

J+P Pushes Video Distribution Limits With Ultra-Low Latency Chris e con nues to expand its comprehensive mainstream projector lineup with the new 1DLP Chris e DHD635-GS and Chris e DWU635-GS laser phosphor models featuring embedded warping and blending technology, Dynamic Contrast, 360-degree orienta on, and both portrait and landscape mode. Compact and lightweight for easy transporta on and handling, these superior image quality projectors blend seamlessly into any environment including corporate boardrooms and mee ng rooms, classrooms, lecture halls, houses of worship, hotel conference rooms, museums, libraries, and other ﬁxed or rental staging applica ons. “With the introduc on of these premium solu ons, and with the 630-GS now shipping, Chris e con nues to answer the needs of customers looking for choice in 1DLP laser phosphor for their various applica on needs,” said Brad Mar n, product manager, Chris e. “Image quality is paramount in any projector, and Chris e's GS Series hits both the lumens and cost

Just Add Power (J+P), the leader in Ultra HD over IP, announced that its 3G Ultra HD Over IP series of solu ons now deliver Ultra HD video signals over IP with an ultra-low 16 ms of latency from source to screen. Leveraging a common IP infrastructure, J+P's devices allow integrators to choose the model that best meet their clients' hardware and budget requirements. Widely deployed in ballparks, arenas, command centers, and many other 4K installa ons, J+P's 3G Ultra HD over IP solu ons are designed for any size UHD distribu on and matrixing applica on. En rely made in the U.S., the non-OEM solu ons are designed to remove the limita ons and expense of tradi onal

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Sleek New Extron 7-inch Wall Mount Touchpanel

Extron announced the immediate availability of the TLP Pro 725M 7" wall mount TouchLink Pro touchpanel. We redesigned this latest TouchLink Pro touchpanel inside and out with a new, high-performance quadcore processor, eight mes more memory, and a higher resolu on, 1024x600 capaci ve touchscreen built with scratch and smudgeresistant edge-to-edge Corning Gorilla Glass. The TLP Pro 725M also features the convenience of PoE - Power over Ethernet, which allows it to receive power and communica on over a single Ethernet cable. It is ideal in any environment requiring a stylish, wall-mountable touchpanel with a fully-customizable interface.

SOLUTIONS UPDATE The TLP Pro 725M is built for today with an eye on the future. With its improved graphics engine, quad-core processor, and increased RAM, you'll see faster background graphic loads and crisper page flips. These performance enhancements offer an enhanced user experience now, while providing ample memory and processing power to support exci ng new features and capabili es in the future via firmware updates. A variety of moun ng kits are available, providing a clean installa on on a wall, glass, podium, or other surface. All TouchLink Pro touchpanels can be customized using Extron GUI Designer so ware. This powerful interface design so ware offers readyto-use templates for a wide variety of rooms and presenta on environments. www.extron.com S I A

Marshall Electronics Releases New Quad-Viewer Marshall Electronics announced the Marshall VMV-402-SH, a new quad-viewer and switcher. The Marshall VMV-402-SH allows users to view up to four 3G HD-SDI video signals in resolu ons up to 1920x1080p, and then easily switch between the inputs to select a single view for output. The Marshall VMV-402-SH is a great solu on for broadcasters who want to add more cameras to a produc on and seamlessly switch between the different camera feeds to create even more compelling video content. The Marshall VMV-402-SH has an embedded processor that converts signals from input sources to match the na ve resolu on of monitors, flat panel displays and projectors. The unit has one SDI output and one HDMI output, with user-selectable output se ngs up to 4K2K 60Hz (HDMI output), and further op ons for output adjustment including brightness, contrast, hue and satura on. The Marshall VMV-402-SH is preprogrammed with five default quad-view

layouts and supports tally func on when using the quad-view output. The easyaccess, front-facing bu ons illuminate to let users know which video source is currently selected. The unit can also be controlled through IR remote control, RS-232 over USB and Ethernet. Packaged in a lightweight, compact frame, the Marshall VMV-402-SH is a great op on for any control room that requires mul ple video inputs to be displayed on a single screen. www.marshall-usa.com S I A

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE

Kramer BRAINware for KT-107 Family Touch Panel Kramer Electronics introduced a very revolu onary, installer/user-friendly, enterprise-class so ware applica on BRAINware- that enables the installer/user to execute all room control ac ons straight from a KT−107 family touch panel without requiring to install a hardware brain between the user interface and the controlled devices. Using the power of Kramer Control cloud–based control and space management pla orm, Kramer BRAINware enables the KT−107 touch panel to operate mul ple devices over Ethernet such as scalers, video displays, audio amplifiers, Blu−ray players, sensors, screens, shades, door locks, and lights. Designed specifically for KT−107, KT−107RB, and KT−107S touch panels, Kramer BRAINware uses custom user interfaces configured in the Kramer Control Builder. Designing a system was never easier, with Kramer Control's programming free, intui ve drag & drop Builder. One can install, configure and modify the control system without any prior knowledge in programming.

Kramer BRAINware is available as a one− me license. Check the feature-rich app: Ÿ

Simpliﬁed Installa on — Controls room devices without installing a hardware brain

Signal Conversion — Uses Kramer FC family of signal converters to enable controlling almost any device from the touch panel

Fully Customizable UI — Using Kramer Control, one can easily personalize the control interface any way one likes

Space Controller — Controls any AV device/display with its corresponding logic.

www.kramerav.com

Yamaha Launches Next Gen. SR Loudspeakers

Yamaha Corpora on announced new addi ons to the professional audio line-up: the DZR/DXS-XLF powered loudspeakers/subwoofers and CZR/CXS-XLF loudspeakers and subwoofers. The new DZR arsenal is comprised of eight full-range DZR models and four subwoofers including “D” versions that feature onboard Dante IN/OUT capability—the DZR315, DZR315-D, DZR15, DZR15-D, DZR12, DZR12-D, DZR10 and DZR10-D for full-range, and DXS18XLF, DXS18XLF-D, DXS15XLF and DXS15XLF-D for subwoofers. Featuring best-in-class SPL performance, sophis cated 96kHzDSP processing, and unrivaled low-frequency sound reproduc on, the new DZR realizes professional sound delivered with a considerably higher level of power than their compact, lightweight design would suggest. The new DXS-XLF's can reach an extended low frequency of 30Hz—the lowest of any DXS yet. The CZR/ CXS-XLF Series share the same cabinet and speaker components offering five passive models capable of very high power-handling and focused, professional sound–the CZR15, CZR12, CZR10, CXS18XLF andCXS15XLF. The DZR/DXS-XLF Series owe their focused powerful sound to 96 kHz DSP processors and the newly developed Advanced FIR-X tuning, an upgrade of Yamaha's proprietary FIR-X tuning technology which u lizes linear phase FIR filters for the crossover network and correct EQ to realize smooth frequency response for impressive clarity without phase distor on. An onboard LCD screen allows users to navigate a variety of DSP func ons, load presets, and make precise adjustments to PEQ, delay, and rou ng. Store up to 8 user presets to save custom parameter adjustments, or use the op mized dedicated factory presets for using DZR and DXS-XLF series in combina on.

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A perfect complement to the DZR's versa le cabinet, D-CONTOUR dynamic mul -band processing for consistent sound throughout all output levels with two op mized se ngs, FOH/ MAIN or MONITOR mode(only for 2way models). The DXS-XLF subwoofers also feature powerful DSP with D-XSUB presets for flexible control of the powerful bo om end, as well as protec on circuits that help extend component life and usability. The DZR's power amp features a lightweight 2000W Class-D amplifier module and switching power supply that delivers high fidelity sound at best-in-class SPL. The new line-up also includes DZR “D” models equipped with Dante I/O out enabling flexible system control and expandability, and system integra on with Yamaha consoles and other Dante devices via the Dante I/O (2in/2out) which also features SRC (sample rate conversion) allowing 48kHz device compa bility. Patching is also simplified considerably with Yamaha CL/QL digital mixing consoles from the I/O device display, while TF console users can select Quick Config for surprisingly fast, easy set up and opera on of a sophis cated audio system. Addi onally, Yamaha's customizable control panel so ware “ProVisionaire Control” for Windows and “ProVisionaire Touch” for iOS (iPad) are also Dante compa ble, adding simpler remote management for sound reinforcement systems. The DZR line-up features newly developed LF transducers with 3” voice coils for improved bass performance, and for more bass-heavy applica ons, the new DXS-XLF 18” and 15” models match perfectly with the DZR fullrange models for a more full, focused, topto-bo om sound. The HF transducers are comprised of a 2” voice coil and 1” throat compression driver, a tanium diaphragm, and a Neodymium magnet housed in a durable heat–resistant aluminum cast frame. The constant direc vity horns were designed to provide smooth, level coverage across the intended area, minimizing roll-off that is common in conven onal horn designs. DZR15, DZR12 and DZR10 speakers also feature a rotatable horn allowing ver cal or horizontal moun ng to further adapt to the acous c dimensions of a venue.

SOLUTIONS UPDATE The MF transducers for the 3-way DZR315 models feature an 8” Cone and 1.5” voice coil providing be er efficiency and superlow distor on for the low-to-middle frequencies, and contribu ng to the clarity of the very high 143dB maximum SPL. The cabinets are constructed from a high grade 15mm thick plywood, and painted with an extremely durable, military grade Polyurea coa ng. DZR Series loudspeakers also offer plenty of rigging points, allowing for rigged applica on with standard eyebolts and specialized U-brackets for convenient flying and hanging installa on. The CZR series is a range of passive loudspeakers offering high power handling and superior sound quality in a portable, lightweight, yet rugged design suitable for a wide array of sonic environments. For more bass-heavy applica ons, adding CXS-XLF series subwoofers will extend a sound system's low-frequency performance drama cally down to 29Hz.The CZR series features 15", 12" and 10" models featuring transducers with die-cast aluminum frames

with a 3” voice coil for very high power input, and a lightweight yet powerful neodymium magnet. The HF unit produces soaring highs with impressive clarity from its tanium diaphragm with a 2” voice coil and neodymium magnet. Like the DZR, the CZR models also feature the rotatable constant direc vity horn design offering more flexibility for rigging and moun ng. “This really was a speaker line-up that only Yamaha could design, due to our breadth of experience in all areas of sound reproduc on, acous cs, and digital technology” commented Yoshi Tsugawa, general manager of Yamaha's Pro Audio Division. “Par cularly with the integra on of Dante networking technology enabling smart, simplified system configura on and opera on with industry leading digital consoles, we have not only expanded our range of professional powered loudspeakers, but also updated our pro audio solu ons as a whole in order to adapt to the growing demands of today's sound professionals.” www.yamahaproaudio.com

Studer Debuts Cost-Effective Vista 5 Black Edition

HARMAN Professional Solu ons announced the immediate availability of the Studer Vista 5 Black Edi on console. Built upon the tradi on of the massively successful Studer Vista 5 M3 mixing console, the new Vista 5 Black Edi on brings even more advanced capabili es to the pla orm with the addi on of the industry-leading Studer Inﬁnity Core processor. Studer Vista Black Edi on consoles were designed to deliver the ﬂexibility and advanced features of Vista mixing surfaces

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE

to a more cost-conscious market, bringing

WyreStorm Launches NetworkHD 600 Series

Studer's legendary sound quality to even more applica ons, including radio and TV broadcast, OB trucks, houses of worship, performing arts, and more. “The response to the Studer Vista 1 Black Edi on has been very strong,” says Mark Hosking, Director, Broadcast Sales at HARMAN Professional Solu ons. “The larger Vista 5 Black Edi on opens up more poten al applica ons offering the same sleek look but in a scalable mixing system. And because it is built upon the Infinity Core processing engine, it can deliver full processing redundancy in a very cost effec ve, yet full featured console with the sound quality our customers expect from Studer products.” The Studer Vista 5 Black Edi on is available in 22, 32 and 44 fader sizes, and supports an op onal TFT meter bridge. The console's features include Studer's unique Vistronics interface and FaderGlow technology, as well as the Infinity Core's advanced capabili es such as Dynamic EQ plug-ins and full Core redundancy with up to 1000 MEQs (Mono Equivalent Channels). The Vista 5 Black Edi on supports any of Studer's range of Infinity Core products, including the Infinity Core 300, 600 and 1000, as well as the new Studer Infinity Core Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) solu on. This IT-friendly solu on allows customers to run Studer's real- me audio processing on their own server hardware just by adding a standard PCIe Infinity CoreLink card. “We are excep onally excited to bring the Studer Vista 5 Black Edi on to market,” says Hosking. “The combina on of advanced features and compelling price point make this an excellent solu on for a wide range of applica ons in today's market.” h ps://pro.harman.com/ S I A

WyreStorm, a leading AV over IP solu ons provider and SDVoE member, adds to its unique line of award-winning mul -pla orm AVoIP solu ons for pro AV and residen al applica ons with the much-an cipated release of its ul mate quality NetworkHD 600 Series 4K HDR over 10GbE using SDVoE technology. NetworkHD - The Power of Three AVoIP: Illustra ng precisely what it means by its tagline of providing the “Right Technology for the Right Applica on,” WyreStorm's mul -pla orm NetworkHD line – unique in the market – was developed to counter the misplaced no on that “one-kind-fits-all.” By offering pro AV and custom install integrators a choice of three separate AV over IP technologies, the installer can select the solu on that best fits their specific applica on. Adding to its low bandwidth NetworkHD 100 Series HD over 1GbE using H.264 and video wall and mul view-suppor ng 200 Series, and the low latency 400 Series 4K HDR over 1GbE with JPEG2000 – which both feature the free NetworkHD Touch iPad control app – the 600 Series adds major enhancements to WyreStorm's AVoIP arsenal with plethora of powerful, industry focused features for both commercial and residen al applica ons. States WyreStorm Director of Technology, David Silberstein: “As the flagship solu on in the WyreStorm's extensive NetworkHD product line, the 600 Series brings the best picture quality and the lowest latency to the market. With support for 4K/60 with HDR and SDVoE-powering a 10GbE network to eliminate compression ar facts, the quality is highest available. The benefits of this are not only felt in specialist or mission cri cal applica ons, such as medical, visualiza on, and large -source monitoring in command and control applica ons, but also boardrooms, where real me images can be displayed with no image lag. WyreStorm solu ons make sure you have the right product for the right applica on, making every AV project a success.”

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Next Genera on of AVoIP: The standardized hardware/so ware pla orm of SDVoE provides the firepower for the 600 Series. The highly scalable delivery of mathema cally lossless, zero latency ultrafast seamless switching of 4K/60Hz and HDR using RGB or YUV, along with audio, control, scaling, processing, encoding, and encryp on, over 10Gb IP network. 4K video is supported up to 4096x2160 60Hz at 4:4:4 8bit or 4:2:2 12bit HDR-10 over both HDMI and DisplayPort, with Dolby Vision to be supported by the end of the year. Fully HDCP v2.2 compliant, 600 Series encoders and decoders feature auto-switch or so ware selectable input ports, with EDID capture and assign. Plethora Engine video scaling, re- ming and color space conversion, in addi on to powerful rou ng enabling stream breakaway for video, audio and control further add to a compelling feature set. HDMI audio is supported up to any known format (Genlock), as is mul channel audio up to Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, and Dolby/DTS High Defini on codecs for breakaway/rou ng. The 600 also supports audio embedding and de-embedding on encoder and decoder with DAC/ADC func onality, 8ch PCM audio downmix, and the crea on of independent audio distribu on via analog ports. Unified NetworkHD Install and So ware Experience: The 600 Series uses the same NHD-000-CTL controller, shares the same universal API and so ware environment, the same network switch setup, and the same suite of WyreStorm-supplied free third party drivers. As an essen al part of the NetworkHD family offering, this unified install and user experience benefits from a very small learning curve, requiring minimal training and minimal effect on support func ons. This enables integrators to migrate easily between all NHD Series solu ons – so if they've installed the NetworkHD 100 or 200 Series, they can install the 400 or 600 Series – and vice versa. www.wyrestorm.com

SOLUTIONS UPDATE

InFocus Brings Up SimpleShare Wireless Presentation Solutions InFocus Corpora on announced SimpleShare, a point-to-point presenta on solu on for wireless connec vity and sharing of videos, presenta on, documents, data and more. A true cable replacement, SimpleShare is device-agnos c and allows users to share high-deﬁni on video and sound wirelessly to any display with an HDMI input, from any PC, Mac, DVD player, tablet, camcorder and many other devices in real me. SimpleShare allows for a simple plug-and-play installa on with no so ware, downloads, or network management required, making it incredibly user-friendly for anyone to implement without burdening the IT department. Users can also switch between up to 254 presenters with the click of a bu on. Available in three bundled solu ons, there is a SimpleShare package for every applica on. The base model SimpleShare (INA-SIMS1) includes one transmi er and receiver perfect for a small mee ng room; SimpleShare Presenta on System (INA-SIMPS1) is a

complete conference room solu on with three transmi ers and a charging sta on; SimpleShare Touch Presenta on System (INA-SIMINT1) supports up to three presenters with wireless touch control from a touch display panel, and allows users to annotate on anything they present from their source device, as well as draw and write on a built-in digital whiteboard. True to all InFocus collabora on products, the SimpleShare pla orm was designed with informa on security top of mind. SimpleShare u lizes WPA2, the most secure encryp on method available, developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Servicing a radius of 15 meters from the receiver, the AES-CCMP algorithm used is a cipher key encryp on with variable key size and changes at varying intervals, preven ng any possibility of leaked data or hacking. “At InFocus, we recognize that companies and school districts have varying equipment and device preferences, and true collabora on is not always possible when

you are forced into a singular pla orm,” said InFocus VP of Marke ng, Loren Shaw. “With aﬀordability and ease-of-use at the forefront, SimpleShare makes one-touch collabora on accessible to anyone – regardless of the equipment being used. It's a gamechanger for secure wireless sharing.” SimpleShare is now available worldwide through InFocus resellers and will be available directly from the manufacturer at www.infocus.com/store, star ng at $899 US MSRP. www.infocus.com S I A

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE

RTI's Full Line of Distribution Solutions

RTI announced that the company's shipping an extensive line of A/V signal management solu ons. Offering ght integra on with the RTI control ecosystem, the video matrix switches, extenders, presenta on scalers, and audio mixer amplifiers deliver a complete end-to-end solu on for residen al and commercial projects. The comprehensive video distribu on offering u lizes proven HDMI and HDBaseT technology to deliver reliable, high-quality 4K video throughout an installa on. The VHD-4 and VHD-8 HDBaseT video matrix switchers extend video, IR, and RS-232 signals up to 230 feet over a single Cat 5e/6 cable. Also new to the lineup are the VHX-4 and VHX-8 HDMI matrix switchers, featuring cross-point switching and HDMI 2.0 to deliver 4k video at 60MHz. In addi on, a range of extenders, spli ers, and wall plates is available to meet the unique needs of every installa on. To meet the A/V requirements of today's corporate, educa on, and retail environments, RTI now offers highperformance, modular matrix switchers and presenta on scaler switchers. Delivering the ul mate in versa lity, the VFX-124 and VFX248 flexible-matrix switchers have the perfect blend of fixed outputs and open slots (12 and 24 respec vely), each configurable as inputs or outputs depending on the applica on. To handle different signal types, a wide variety of input and output cards is available for HDMI, HDBaseT, VGA, audio, and more.

halls, the unit accepts a variety of video input formats and includes a microphone input. The kit also includes the VSW-51R HDBaseT receiver for convenient delivery of video to an addi onal display. “RTI control systems oﬀer the customiza on, processing power, and integra on op ons that are essen al in commercial projects,” said Mike Evere , Vice President of Global Sales at RTI. “The addi on of our line signal management products expands the RTI ecosystem and gives our dealers a complete solu on for ghtly integrated control and A/V distribu on.” www.r corp.com S I A

TASCAM Expansion Boxes for ML-Series Dante Converters

The VSS-51 Presenta on Scaler Switcher Kit combines seamless switching with advanced scaling to provide excellent picture quality regardless of the source. Perfect for conference rooms, classrooms, and lecture

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TASCAM is now shipping its BO-series I/O expansion boxes for TASCAM ML-32D and ML-16D professional analog/Dante converters, and other D-Sub equipped devices. Three BO-series models are now available. The new BO-32DE 32 Channel D-Sub breakout box provides 16 input and 16

output channels. Four rear-panel DB25 connectors connect to an ML-series interface, and four front-panel Euroblock connectors provide analog network input for microphone and line-level audio signals. Euroblock, or European-style terminal block, is a low-voltage, pluggable terminal block that employs solderless connectors with screw terminals to clamp connec ng wires. For applica ons requiring XLR connec vity, TASCAM offers two new breakout boxes for ML-series analog/Dante converters. The BO16DX/IN offers 16 channels of analog audio input on front-panel female XLR connectors. Each of its two rear-panel DB25 connectors send eight channels of audio to an ML-series converter. Similarly, TASCAM's new BO16DX/OUT breakout box receives 16 channels of audio from an ML-series converter via a pair of rear-panel DB25 connectors and sends analog audio output on 16 front-panel male XLR connectors. TASCAM's ML-32 analog/Dante converter inserts 32 channels of audio into a Dante stream and extracts 32 channels from a Dante stream, using DB25 connectors. The ML-16 offers 16 channels of input and 16 channels of output on DB25s. Both converters feature dual redundant Ethernet jacks that support primary and secondary connec ons; handle up to 24-bit, 96 kHz digital audio; and are AES67- and Ravennacompa ble. With the addi on of the BOseries breakout boxes, the ML-32 and ML-16 provide an all-TASCAM solu on that can be interfaced with a wide variety of audio devices, including direct connec on to a TASCAM's DA-6400 64-channel digital mul track recorder/player without requiring its op onal Dante card. www.tascam.com

SOLUTIONS UPDATE

Atlona Strengthens AV over IP Value Proposition experience through more eﬃcient organiza on of devices and systems by room, ﬂoor, building, site or campus.

Atlona will come to InfoComm 2018 with several new network-based solu ons to switch, distribute, configure and manage video and audio content over IP in virtually any AV environment. The latest Atlona Management System (AMS) and OmniStream AV over IP solu ons, now shipping, will respec vely receive their global and North American debuts at InfoComm Las Vegas 2018. AMS is an easy-to-use resource for AV integrators, AV/IT system administrators and technology managers to very quickly configure, monitor and service mul ple Atlona products from a web browser. The second-genera on AMS pla orm evolves this concept with a newly redesigned GUI that adopts the same user-friendly interac on and naviga on elements from Atlona's Velocity solu on. As a result, AMS offers a worry-free installa on and user

AMS offers powerful features for all users across automa c network discovery, mul device configura on and management, automa c firmware updates, event logging, and no fica ons and alerts. AMS is available as the AT-AMS-HW server appliance, or as a free so ware applica on. The AT-AMS-HW is compact and easily installs into a rack or any other discreet loca on. Setup is fast and easy, with no so ware installa on or configura on procedure necessary. In its ini al release, AMS will offer immediate value for the configura on and management of OmniStream solu ons. Along with AMS, Atlona announces the immediate availability of the en re OmniStream R-Type AV over IP family for light commercial and residen al AV systems; and a new IP-to-analog audio bridge for its OmniStream Audio line. OmniStream R-Type is a solu on 4K HDR over IP distribu on for professional and wholehouse installa ons. The family supports 4K HDR, including HDR10 @ 60 Hz and 10-bit

color, as well as HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) for future 60p HDR broadcast services. Consis ng of dual channel AT-OMNI-512 encoders and single channel AT-OMNI-521 decoders, OmniStream R-Type oﬀers the lowest latency of any AV over Gigabit Ethernet pla orm, plug and play compa bility with PoE network switches, and works with exis ng CAT 5e cable plants. Both models are now shipping. Also shipping is the AT-OMNI-238, coinciding with InfoComm 2018. The OmniStream 238 provides integrators with an IP-to-analog audio bridge to support 16 audio output channels. Designed to receive Dante or AES67-compa ble audio streamed from OmniStream AV encoders, the audio bridge is ideal for pairing with mul -channel amps, this enables integrators to target ceiling speakers and other end points in mul ple rooms or zones for informa onal, entertainment, and other needs. www.atlona.com S I A

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EXHIBITION REVIEW

Show Review – IFC 2018

The Dragon Factor – Rearing to Roar Yes, the Dragon is rearing to roar, audio-visually on the Asian con nental, if not the global stage. While visitors who had been to the 12the edi on of InfoComm China (2018) organized in Beijing last month must have felt this factor to a good extent, it would have felt doubly expressive for those paying a repeated visit! Growing not just in size but scale as well, IFC is going places - in products, processes, and, of course people - with an apparent message to the world of AV. It's a big pla orm out there for game-changing technologies and solu ons. An SIA perspec ve: -By Ram Bhavanashi Numbers say it all, they normally say! But o en there may be more to it than visible to the eye, and this is perhaps one of those occasions. It's not just about visitors thronging the exhibi on halls in herds; nor about the mul ples of expansive halls occupied by large exhibitor booths; neither it is about fancied products and solu ons. It is rather the spirit of technology adop on; passion to learn newer things and explore the higher opportuni es of embracement, and contribu ng to a common good. It's a seemingly serious case of forging the Chinese excellence ahead with audio-visual technology brilliance. How else one would explain that a country-speciﬁc show that the IFC is all about – in the strict sense of the term – there have been as many as eleven world premieres of cu ng edge pro-AV technology, besides a good 72 new-to-china, including some new-to-theworld products/solu ons launched at the show. While the increased number of technical sessions having increased delegate par cipa on was one, the incredible AV Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

IFC 2018 in Numbers Ÿ

> 350 Exhibitors from 11 countries/regions

56 New Exhibitors

10 Exhibi on Halls

>55000 square meters of ﬂoor space

World Premiere of as many as 11 technologies

72 New-to-China products/solu ons

38,809 visitors

21 pc increase in foo alls

60 free-to-a end tech seminars

@5500 delegates

9 pc increase over last edi on

Key highlight: Quickﬁre Arena

EXHIBITION REVIEW

solu ons that some exhibitors brought to fore was the othergrabbing a en on. So, the 12th edi on of InfoComm China had some big stakes to claim. The China Na onal Conven on Center (CNCC), Beijing, where the three-day event was held, appeared full of technology show all through in that it wasn't just about exhibi on halls on three floors that got filled with AV booths and people, but also the Mee ng Rooms, as well as the 'free spaces' on floor-three and four occupied by exhibitors taking enthusias c visitors.

“China is a very huge market; it offers great opportuni es,” says Kotaro Take, President, Uchida Yoko Global Limited, one of the firstme exhibitors at the IFC 2018. “There is so much demand for control systems, especially with so many Control Centers in almost every field…That's why we decided to par cipate in InfoComm China,” he declares. “It's our first me par cipa ng in the show, and we have had very good response from the visitors. There have been many dealer enquiries, especially from overseas system integrators.” Says Blurr Wong, Managing Director of Orange Events, another first mer to IFC: “China is the biggest marketplace for hardware, and InfoComm China is where all the hardware companies, system integrators and solu ons providers congregate every year. That's why I'm here, to look for some of the latest products. There is always something interes ng everywhere you turn at the Show – infrastructure integra on, digital signages and building management systems, technologies that I can use for my clients at conven on centers, venues and airports.”

Addressing the large gathering during the Opening Ceremony, AVIXA's Chief Execu ve Oﬃcer David Labuskes underscored buoyancy of Chinese market as one good reason for IFC to evolve as an important event in the region. “Beijing InfoComm China is the region's premier event for showcasing professional audiovisual and integrated experience solu on,” he said and noted “AVIXA and InfoCommAsia con nue to expand our trade show oﬀerings in this exci ng, growing region of the world.” According to AVIXA's Industry Outlook and Trends Analysis Report, the market for pro-AV products and services in China would reach over 250 billion yuan by 2022. Researchers expect to see rapid growth in control system adop on, new video display technologies, and AV technology services. “That last one is an exci ng sign of a vibrant, crea ve market, dedicated to bringing together all the technology tools…into solu ons and experiences that solve customers' business challenges,” observed the AVIXA chief. This year's event dished out its own a rac ons in that it had Ÿ

As many as 60 free-to-a end insigh ul technology sessions – organized in associa on with four premier Chinese ins tu ons, with a view to a rac ng a wider and focussed audiences to the programming.

A World Premiere of 11 dis nct, soon-to-hit-world markets technology solu ons to a strong media con ngency of 30 reps from trade and business media

A new program called QuickFire, a series of 20-minute educa onal sessions designed for AV professionals of all experience levels. Conducted in a dedicated space called IFC QuickFire Arena, sessions focused on the latest industry buzz such as digital experiences, understanding 4K, acous cs, and more

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

Being a delegate to the Summit programming as well, Mr. Wong commended the efforts put in to disseminate knowledge and ideas on AI, and digital signages. These are two important technology traits that will play a key role in the region's industry dynamics, he observed. Solu ons rela ng to interac ve operability were of a good interest, he noted. According to Nick Cheng, President, Digital Signage Mul media Alliance (DSMA) Taiwan- the Co-organizer of Digital Signage Asia Forum 2018 at the IFC Summit, the ability of the event to provide a pla orm that meets the needs of everyone in the industry has been what helping it to grow. “The InfoComm China show provides an appropriate pla orm. Besides looking for poten al customers, visitors to the Show are able to hear different voices and reflect on their own product offerings,” he observed. “Also, the market is ready and has reached a new level where there is the need for visualiza on to trigger more market demand.” Another commending endorsement: “The Show is fantas c! The crowd is great, and the quality of visitors is superb,” says an excited Stuart Dodd, Technical Support Leader at Black Box Network Services, one of the exhibitors at the show. “We have been able to gather many sales leads; we have even found our overseas distributors right here at the Show,” he said. “The Chinese market is the biggest at the moment, and there appears nothing else in the world that matches it's size and opportuni es. We're definitely going to be back next year, and probably for many years to come.”

EXHIBITION REVIEW

World Premiere of Reinforcing cing AV A Into its fourth ou ng since incep on in 2015, the World Premiere has now become an important showcase of IFC. This year, it saw media reps being taken on a guided tour to 11 specially-selected exhibitor booths that were inherently Chinese. The exhibitors – some of whom were apparently seeking aspiring distributors from the visitors – demonstrated some truly incredible products- solu ons. The objec ve of the programme is to provide media persons with ﬁrst-hand exposure to these yet-to-hit-the-market solu ons, and help them comprehend the technology competence and business opportuni es that these solu ons bring to place. The ini a ve did appear to have generated a good measure of excitement among visitors. Here is a brief presenta on of the eleven technology solu ons that were premiered as part of the World Premiere at the IFC. An important aspect of the otherwise conven onal premiere was that it demonstrated solu ons and, and possible opportuni es for new mode of AV applica on ideas. SIA presents a glimpse: Ÿ

Beijing Bohui Science & Technology Co., Ltd. - Bohui showed its Emergency Command and Dispatch System, a mul -source display scheduling solu on charactersized by a one-bu on interac on communica on system, as also a mul -channel emergency release system. It promises long-distance supervision maintenance and reliable operability for long me BXB Electronics Co., Ltd. – BXB demonstrated its new Clax Smart Classroom Solu on that promises to combine together capabili es for smart teaching as well as for enhanced administra ve, estate management and security opera ons Citen Communica on Technology Co., Ltd. – CCTC unveiled what it called protec ve eyesight giant screen TV that is promised protect the users' vision even as it delivers visuals with supreme quality of contract and brightness. The solu on is also claimed to be coming with eco-friendly speciﬁca ons, presumably in terms of energy consump on Crestron China - Crestron presented its fancied AirMedia Presenta on System (AM-300) that promises secure wired (DM in and HDMI in and out) and wireless presenta on with autoswitching in diverse loca ons such as lobbies, lounges, and other public spaces while integra ng with popular calendaring pla orms

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Guangzhou Southwing Informa on TTechnology Co., LLtd. td. brought to display its all-in-one display machine that is visibly stylish, and is promised to bring with it versa le func onali es

Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd. exhibited what it called an Intelligent Conference Pla orm that the company promises to seamlessly integrate diverse conference tools, interfaces and remote control across mul ple loca ons, and supports mul -user simultaneous usage. Hailed as the next-gen conference system, the solu on visibly a racted many a visitor's a en on

Shanghai Mviewtech Co., Ltd. – brought to show MM7000 Thunder Professional Videowall Processing System that claims to bring a slew of fascina ng func onali es such as losslessly doubled processing picture pixels and refresh rate, and direct access to mouse and keyboard, besides many others

Shenzhen Acorid Communica on Technology Co., Ltd. – explained its ACORID Exypons Series AI PoE Switch that promises to enhance the performance of PoE-enabled terminal equipment

Shenzhen YDEA Technology Co., Ltd.- unveiled what it called easyto-install, and maintenance Ice Screen Series, a large display that is promised to accommodate chunks of new adver sing media

Zen-Ai Technology – yet another next-gen all-in-one device system demonstrated by Zen-AI Technology as the AI-IBOX. It is characterized by a system of one screen to call, manage and manipulate mul ple signal sources, bringing revolu onary experience in many ﬁelds such as command system, exhibi on, conference, educa on, healthcare, and more

Zhejiang Guanxuan Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. – the company demonstrated its Smart ELF, a programmable plug-in that enables smart AV management center

Fascina ng spectrum of audio-visual solu ons Notwithstanding the World Premieres, the IFC 2018 spread over in three levels of Halls C,D, & E, apart from the Mee ng Rooms of the CNCC comprised a plethora of solu ons that were dominated Ar ﬁcial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), AR & VR, networked audio over IP, digital signage and Smart technologies. There have indeed been some truly fascina ng system solu ons from diﬀerent segments of AV. Fametal and Desk Media appeared to break new grounds of innova on in display monitor solu ons – so much so that they challenge the current global leaders – while iBuild conferencing

EXHIBITION REVIEW

phone system promised to bring new blend of technology and performance at an arguably lower costs than fancied ones on the world markets. Laser Projec on brought to show new possibili es with the technology like 6K seamless arc-shape projec on, Sonnoc demonstrated full 360-degree projec on on PoP surface. The iBuild Co., Ltd is keen on exploring overseas market in later part of this year, according to its Interna onal Sales Manager Lu Wang, the two monitor solu ons manufacturers say they are 'too busy with the domes c market demands itself.' “Our market is so huge that we are always full with job orders,” maintains Tong Wei, Vice-President of Desk Media, as also Liyun Yin Senior Manager at Fametal. “We do not think we need go out,” they say. “The world will come to us, just like you did.” Other global/regional players had their own ways. Adder made a global launch of its new ADDERLink Inﬁnity, an Enterprise IP-based KVM matrix solu on that allows every console to have access to mul ple computers. RGBlink demonstrated its ﬁrst-to-the-world markets X14 Universal Video Processor that supports upto a massive 56 inputs and 40 outputs, besides a strong package of advanced video processing features for large display set-ups, including 4k@60 signals. Elsewhere, HDVCT exhibited Video Over IP Distribu on and Video wall func on, besides the HDMI2.0, 18Gbps 4K@60 4:4:4 and 16x16 matrix solu on while visual solu ons leader Optoma launched its latest 4K LED display scaler-switcher solu on LS300T. Also, one of the highlights of the event was the projec on mapping and related opportuni es shown up by almost all projec on solu ons manufactures while LED display solu ons developers showed up their variance. And, there are many- Analog way, Aten, Aurora, ClearOne, d&b audiotechnik, dataton, Gefen, Harman, Kramer, Leyard, Lightware, Mindstec, Sennheiser, Shure, Yamaha, and the like brining their

solu ons as an Asian extension from ISE 2018. As a generic tendency, most global manufacturers con nued from their show in Amsterdam. “We are pleased with the increase in number of visitors and summit a endees coming to the Show, majority of whom are senior management and high-level officials,” said Richard Tan, Execu ve Director of InfoCommAsia. “We believe this is a tes mony to our focus on striving for con nuous improvements and innova ons in order to curate high-quality programs and pla orms, and deliver the best experience for all stakeholders.” According to him, one of the important things about the Chinese (market) vibrancy is their willingness for in-depth learning. A very strong characteris c of Chinese- they like data and complex combina ons, and they are not scared of tomes of informa on. “They want to embrace technology with the minutest possible detail; that helps them understand how things are made in the outside world, and how they can be er those things,” Richard says. “It's a constant and burning desire to master the finer detail that makes them grasp technology faster than most.” Introducing, perhaps, the largest con ngency of mul na onal brands to Chinese market from under one channel was the Mindstec Distribu on. The Dubai-based AV distribu on major exhibited a widest and latest array of solu ons from almost all of its principals from the UK and US-custom automa on solu ons from RTI; signal management solu ons from MTC; professional AV moun ng solu ons from B-Tech; streaming and digital signage solu ons from Cable me; video wall management solu ons from Datapath and Polywall; interac ve collabora on solu ons from T1V and Flipbox; and eye-catching 3D holographic displays solu on from Realfic on. While all the displays had their own audiences, it was the very aptly named RealFic on that appeared holding too many pairs of eyeballs glued to its array of 3D holographic displays. For, the increasing demand of technotainment in the Chinese market, appeared to promise big opportunity for such op ons.

S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

EXHIBITION REVIEW

A Tale of Two Monitor Makers This may well be up for grabs for the world outside of China. For both believers and disbelievers! IFC 2018 show ﬂoor – while it had several things of interest both for seasoned and naive – had two things of technology in par cular. Interes ngly, both represen ng the same industry domainprofessional monitors.

FAMETAL: SIA ﬁrst met FAMETAL, a 15-year-old company from Changping District of Beijing, to ﬁnd some very fascina ng variety of monitor solu ons. Calling itself 'smart consoles customized expert,' the company appeared to be capable of customizing anything around its console. Consider this: Consoles manufactured by FAMETAL can not just sink into the table but also lt either way; it is accompanied by not just a conferencing mic and miniature bu on-like speaker, but also by a personalized night illumina on light, and also a telephone docked adjacent.

Desk Media: SIA, even as it proceeded to the next by sheer natural ﬂow of walk, found a beau ful girl holding a water sprinkler onto a monitor enclosed in a glass cabinet. For an ironical reason, SIA could not understand her language (Chinese), but got the meaning. It was a waterproof monitor. Enthused, SIA ventured into the booth. SIA took the help of a translator to talk to the exhibitor and elicit some info. A Hangzhou-based monitor solu ons developer, Desk Media makes an en rely diﬀerently stylized range of monitors.

That's not all. One can get a mobile phone wirelessly charged as well as warm the coﬀee and hold a chilled beer glass too. If one is tall or short and feel like the console table is not upto suitable height, one can raise or lower the table with the press of a bu on.

Apart from accompanying conferencing mics, 'bu oned audio speakers,' USB socket, back & forth, and up & down movement – all by dedicated table-top sensors – the company manufactures monitors in doublets, triplets, quadruplets, and even curved and wide screen monitors- all coming with the regular set of sensor bu ons for diverse func ons.

The console table also plays an all-concealing rack – with en re cabling, CPU and other accessories hidden inside – as well as a Command Control Centre in demanding situa ons. The tables also come with detachable charging docks that sync so seamlessly into a rubber-sheathed cable channels.

"These systems are the most preferred for Control Command Centressmall and big," informs the Desk Media Rep on the booth. "The wide and curved screens coming in full HD oﬀer much be er visibility and are vision-friendly too," she explains.

Offered essen ally in four varie es of Fantasy, Fashion, Elegance, and Concise models, FAMETAL consoles brings to table a mul tude of op ons for prac cally every ver cal- which is why they call themselves console customiza on experts. According to Yin Li Yun, Sales & Marke ng(Interna onal) Manager, each system set is manufactured comprising double monitor arm,300-mm high aluminium wall, Wilsonart fire-rated laminate covered table, and all that built into an absorbent co on complement the ergonomically built chair. Largest console solu ons manufacturer in Asia, as they claim to be, FAMETAL sells good outside China despite enjoying huge demand from domes c market. Depending on the bod measurement of different countries and regions, they customize the consoles to meet the biomechanic requirements. Says Li Yun: "the demand from our own market is so huge that we do not find adequate me to service them; so we actually do not need to go out."

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What's more- the company manufactures monitors with a mini-monitor on the dorsal surface. This mini-monitor displays the name and other details of the person si ng in front of the monitor. "This provision is par cularly useful in small-to-medium conferencing environments," informs the Rep. Then there are monitors ﬁ ed to execu ve seats. The monitors are fullfeature displays that the user si ng on the back seat can operate like a regular tablet screen. "The wirelessly web-enabled tablets facilitate browsing and all regular ac vi es for the user, even as he/she par cipates in the proceedings of the designate environment," explains the rep. "Innova on is just an integral part of our product development," says Tong Wei, Vice-President of Desk Media. "We con nue to do more." "While manufacturers like these con nue to churn out innova ons like that, people who experience them con nue to be amazed," summed up Agnes Au, the BaobabTree exec, who played SIA's translater on the booth. (SIA highly appreciates and thanks Agnes for her excellent support, and elici ng the insigh ul inputs from Desk Media)

www.siindiaawards.com

EXHIBITION REVIEW

Yearning for Learning Ticking IFC That InfoComm China has been growing from strength to strength is evident from the ﬁgures that are churned out year on year. Considering the generic oddi es that people feel about the market and industry, it may be a ma er of wonderment- what makes IFC cking! SIA spoke to InfoCommAsia Execu ve Director Richard Tan to understand. Excerpts:

SIA: What makes IFC ck? RICHARD TAN: The show is buoyant, largely due to the Chinese market which con nues to expand at a fast pace. I have been hearing people telling me that China is growing so fast that they feel late in catching with it, or that they have missed the boat; but I feel the boat has just started sailing; it has just le the port. China might be a huge, gigan c market, but it has s ll a long way to go, and grow. It will con nue to grow- not years, but decades to come. It is s ll a long way off to being saturated. The fact that the show is happening in Beijing, it is largely catering to the Tier-1 ci es. A bulk of visitors seems to be coming from the more developed regions like Beijing and Shenzhen. The second largest mix of visitors come from Shanghai, Guangdong, and the southern regions. We do not get many visitors from, say, Western China. One main reason for this is the vast geographical spread of the country, while technology adop on is just not the same; spread of technology adop on to these regions will take decades. This has created a huge opportunity for events like this, and IFC plays a key role in this development. Another major factor is the product mix of the event, as also the enthusiasm from the Chinese people to learn. Ours is the first AV show possibly in the world to take the ini a ve to look at how we need to evolve to address the disrup ve forces changing the landscape of our industry. You would have no ced at the show that some of the exhibitors have not brought any pure AV technology solu ons. They rather brought AI, robo cs and IoT technologies. Why are they here? They are here because three to four years ago, we realized that our show needed to evolve, to stay ahead of the industry development curve. That the Chinese are always hungry for new technology applica ons, and technology adop on in China is probably the fastest in the world, the best strategy was to bring those new technology exploits to the show pla orm. There is an interes ng facet too to this situa on. The Chinese are coming from behind. For a long me, they watched the Western world rule and prosper, become important in world economy and poli cs. They largely remained excluded from that phase of growth. All that made them grow hungry, and they are in a hurry to grow now. They are in hurry to become technologically advanced, besides being economically strong. Looking from that perspec ve, they are more proac ve than anyone in the region, and the world, to harness technology as an effec ve tool for growth. Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

So today, InfoComm China is not just an AV Show. It is a show that is about AV and every other technology that endorse technology adop on, its ability to translate from technology to solu on, and for this to progress to smart solu ons for the future. SIA: Can it be construed as a nice integra on of all allied technologies? RICHARD TAN: No, it is beyond integra on. Integra on simply means we have pieces or components coming together, and able to connect and work together. But the moment an enabling technology like AI and IoT comes into play, the AI comes into play and says 'well, you integrated; now you start learning.' And it becomes smarter and smarter as a system. That is exactly when, not just an incremental value, but significant value serves to be accrued. And, that to us, in a market like China, is cri cal. SIA: Has there been any effort to take the ini a ve to countryside where the advantages haven't gone yet? RICHARD TAN: Of course, yes. That is one of the key reasons why we launched the second InfoComm China show in Chengdu that will take place in September this year. We got fantas c response from the exhibitors, as over 75 per cent of the floor space has already been sold. But the Western China market is one area of a en on. We did a research on the region, and were surprised to know only five per cent of the visitors to this show come from Western China. Reason is very simple- it is far away. It is difficult to get people from that far to the show in Beijing. But we realise that market is very important for us. It is important for another big reason of its playing a cri cal role in the development of trade links between Asia and Europe that is fundamental to the Belt & Road Ini a ve (BRI) that was launched by President Xi in 2013 and that is now supported by many countries around the world. The BRI program will bring about expoten al growth in Western China in the next 10 years and more. We also realise that it is very difficult for us to serve that farther region from Beijing. We want to be seen in front of the curve providing all our members the first professionally organized pla orm to see and seize the opportuni es in Western China. SIA: What do you think is the takeaways from the Show? RICHARD TAN: It's new learning every me. This me, our feedback showed that AI was the most talked-about domain. People want us to

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do more in that area to disseminate more knowledge and solu on showcasing. Our conference on AI got over subscribed so much so that we had to provide extra sea ng to accommodate those extra visitors. They appear to be keen on learning how they can make AV technologies more meaningful, or Smart AV technologies, using AI exper se.

SIA: It appears an ambi ous statement that you want to set up a pla orm for people to invest in Western China. How do you intend to do that?

What the world feels amazing about, would not impress them immediately, but they want to look at those amazing things on how to improvise them further, and drive home the advantages thereof.

SIA: Given the barriers like language, communica on, and poli cal diﬀerences, how have the Chinese mastered the art of technology brilliance to the extent of challenging the West? RICHARD TAN: One of the important things that I no ce is their willingness for deep learning. They like data; they are not scared of loads of informa on. They like to solve complex/challenging situa ons; they want to embrace technology with minutest possible detail. They display an insa ated desire to master the ﬁner detail that makes them grasp technology faster than most. That helps them understand how things are made outside world, and how they can make those things be er. SIA: What ideas would you carry from here to the other shows from here? RICHARD TAN: Of course yes. We certainly take an idea or two to other events, such as InfoComm India. We take ideas from every show we are involved in, and try tes ng them at other places if they work good. Next year we will have the InfoComm SEA 2019 in Bangkok, and we will certainly see if the brighter ideas from here will work there.

RICHARD TAN: That's the first and last priority for us for the Chengdu show. It's about learning. It's about providing an opportunity for companies and businesses in Western China to learn. The exhibi on will showcase technologies and ask people to come and look how they work. But the most important thing is the opportunity for us to go there and do what we are doing in Beijing- where our Summit programme over three days last year addressed over 5000 students. This year, we had around 5500 delegates. That is a 9 per cent increase. To me, that is first priority. We want to create an opportunity for people to come and learn, while they discover the world of AV. That's what we are doing in Beijing. We ran conferences on AI; AR & VR; digital signage and more. Many of these are what the future holds for the industry. It's not just AV anymore; it's about smart AV; how to create and mul ply value out of tradi onal AV that we see on the market today. SIA: AV shows in the Western parts have been conspicuous by drones and related technologies…they are not seen at IFC? RICHARD TAN: We have a different perspec ve about drones. However, irrespec ve of that, had we had more space to work with, we would have allowed them to come in, but we are fully sold of the place, which was why you found booths even outside the halls. More, we feel drones are mechanical. There is not much depth, or value for an end user, or their consultant can con nuously learn. Having said that, we reckon that an AI component added to the drone opera on takes the whole experience to the next level. Our focus is that. How do we create experiences and be ering opportuni es for people rather than mere showcasing the products on stage.

S I A

IFC Chengdu 2018 Opens Doors

Exploring New AV Opportunities in China Capitalizing on rapid technological developments as also the vast poten al for AV in Western China, InfoCommAsia Pte Ltd – the organizer of InfoComm events in Asia – has decided to organize an exclusive AV event for the Western China region this year. The inaugural edi on of the show will be organized at Chengdu from 5-7 September 2018. Western China is on a path of remarkable growth, and the show has already drawn a growing list of big-name exhibitors including Epson, Extron, Intel, Bose, Yamaha, Leyard, AOTO and HongHe. It is also well-supported by the Sichuan and Chengdu governments as well as local industry associa ons such as Sichuan Provincial Economic & Informa on Commission, the Sichuan Bureau of Expo Aﬀairs and the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Exposi on. Suppor ng Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

associa ons include the Sichuan FPD Industry Associa on, Digital Signage Mul media Alliance Taiwan and China Hotel Associa on Wisdom. Considered to be a technology hotspot by Beijing, the Western China region is es mated to contribute 25 pc of China's total ICT output by 2025. The Chongqing Jinfeng Electronic Informa on Industrial Park, the Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone and the Guiyang Hi-Tech Industrial Development Area, and the Tianfu New Area are some of the major player in the Chinese ICT market. “The Western China market by itself is amongst the most dynamic and fast-growing in the world today and can drive business growth for years to come,” commented Richard Tan, Execu ve Director of InfoCommAsia. “A footprint in Western China could mark the start of a future path of stellar business growth. Chengdu InfoComm China 2018 is a show for market leaders to take the lead in a newlydeveloping and rapidly-expanding marketplace.” www.infocomm-china.com www.chengdu.infocomm-china.com S I A

SPECIAL FEATURE

AV in Government Sector

A Perfect Spec of SWOT A Sector of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats in Equal Dose Audio-visual and systems integration today is omnipresent. In that there is hardly any "area" of man or machine manoeuvring that is not permeated by AV- the only variation being the degree of adoption. Occupying an important place in the global AV spectrum is the Government Segment, contributing signiď&#x20AC; cantly to the industry fortunes quite audio-visually. SIA seeks to present a perspective:

by Ram Bhavanashi

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SPECIAL FEATURE

The InfoComm/Avixa Industry Outlook and Trends Analysis (IOTA) for the year 2017 – among its es mates and predic ons on the global AV – made an interes ng spec for the Government Segment. The sector is said to be approximately US$ 10 billion which is about 14 per cent of the global market size, with about five per cent growth year-onyear. Another equally important dynamic from the IOTA's findings was that the Asia Pacific accoun ng for as much as US$63.9 billion while the Middle East and Africa region accoun ng for US$8.69 billion. Interes ngly, together, they make a bigger market than the Americas that stand at $67.13 billion. China alone – the dominant and most aggressive market in Asia – is said to be accoun ng for as much as $37 billion currently, and billed to cross $39 billion by 2022. The overall global AV market in 2017 was clocked at US$183 billion which is es mated to touch $231 billion in 2022. The findings do present an interes ng proposi on or two: Ÿ

That the governments' spending on AV, from a global perspec ve, is just about 14 per cent and, the growth rate is just about ﬁve per cent annually, provides for huge opportunity for exploring growth areas and means

That the Asia Paciﬁc as well as Middle East regions are emerging on to the global reckoning with so much aggression as to surpass the advanced leaders is a pointer for the pursuits in the direc on

That both these regions have just began their journey into a technology-aided 'smart living' with the missions of Smart Ci es – which happens with the governments as sole patrons and par cipants – the growth opportuni es are supposed to come calling; they just need the right direc on

Government AV - Oceanic Domain "Government segment is like an ocean," observed an AV consultant who operates pan Asia. "It appears huge from outside, but never know how big or easy to get in," he commented. "It is big; the deeper you go the extensive you will find it- and some mes difficult to get away. You might enjoy an exci ng surf, or sail ashore to safety, a er a smooth journey, or you might as well swing in turbulent waters.” The observa on appears veritable considering the very size and nature of the segment. While the segment is not among the aggressive adopters of AV compared to Corporate, Enterprise, or Hospitality, it is as vast as can be likened to an ocean, and the capability to turn in things on massive scale. The prominent areas that offer huge poten al for AV under the Government Segment are: Ÿ

Seats of Administra on – State/Provincial Legislatures, and Central Governing Councils

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SPECIAL FEATURE

Ministerial bodies for generic conferencing, administra on networking requirements

Speciality establishments such as Internal and Border/Coastal Security, Defence, Space, Science and Technology, and Research and Development, and Oil & Natural Gas explora on, and Judiciary

Modern transport des na ons such as Metro Rail, and Airports

Seats of State-owned higher educa on such as Technology Universi es (including public libraries)

Stock exchanges and State-owned ﬁnancial ins tu ons

Security and surveillance networks

Tourism and cultural promo on ini a ves

Spor ng Venues- stadiums, arenas, racing tracks

Chinese market is es mated to be around $37 billion currently, and to

Smart Ci es and Smart Living Ini a ves by State and Central Government Ins tu ons

cross $39 billon by 2022 – accoun ng for over 50 per cent of the total APAC market – while India's stake is es mated to rise from $6 billion

With that being the expanse of the Government Segment spectrum

in 2016 to $8.6 billion in 2022. While this is almost equal to the en re

for AV deployment there comes a mul tude of AV/ICT solu ons

market size of the Middle East and Africa – even as it reportedly set

a en on as top market slots are obviously China and India. The

customized as per the requirement of the ins tu on concerned.

to overtake Japan this year – the gap between the top two countries

From conven onal audio/video-conferencing set-up to sophis cated

(China and India) explains a spec or two about the pace with which

Command Control Centres involving large and high-end video walls

the Chinese industry is racing ahead.

with 3D-modelling; from simple huddle-rooms to highly secure

The fact that the Chinese industry is largely driven by the

conference halls; from regular mee ng or training rooms to full

Government – where as much as 90 per cent of the AV projects are

feature auditorium/conven on centres; from normal class rooms to

commissioned, monitored and managed by the Government that

high-technology intra- and inter-campus-wide cloud-based

appears extremely mo vated to embrace 'next-level AV/ICT' –

communica on networks; from interac ve digital signages to

explains the reason for their speeding.

immersive 3D- holography and projec on systems- it does appear to be of oceanic expanse- which is probably why there are not many

Japan, though never aggressive but built its industry on strong

solu ons providers – either for design/deployment or for equipment

fundamentals, is said to be just maintaining. (South) Korea is taken to

manufacture and supply – who will do everything.

be a saturated market – largely owing to their Corporate dynamism,

Like the AV manufacturing segment where the market today has

ac vism for Government spending in adop ng AV in their machinery.

while Phillippines, and Vietnam are taken with some degree of specialised product/solu on developers focused on a par cular ac vity of the domain, the design/deployment community too is represented by specialist professionals for each of the areas. Markets and Dominant Members

Trends & Tenets By and large, audio and video-conferencing set-ups are the most common modes of AV deployment across all sub-segments of Government- with degree of varia on depending on the set of

When it comes to con nental economies and, more in par cular AV industry strengths, two geographical names that grab the instant

func onali es and solu ons visualized by the respec ve government body. Digital Signage (including interac ve) and video wall set-up appear to be the next most common thing in seats administra on though web/mul media streaming and broadcast quality HD content streaming set-up is again a preferred conﬁgura on at most Satemachinery installa ons. Higher educa on campuses have made popular Smart Classrooms and training/lecture halls with Collabora on and even cloud networks across distant loca ons while security, defence, science and technology, and space research centres have more or less commonized the set-up of a Command Control Centres with 3-D modelling and visualiza on, besides the latest biometrics, even as

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

SPECIAL FEATURE

Enter Smart City: for Smarter AV Opportunities The emergence of Smart City concept across the con nent has actually opened a new domain of debate as also explora on of opportuni es. The concept has indeed given a new dynamic to developing smarter ways of living, thereby opening truly smarter opportuni es for AV technology deployment. Ci es like Dubai, Singapore, Sydney, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul have evolved their own models of Smart Ci es. India, widely hailed as the second largest and most rapidly developing AV market in the con nent, is compara vely late entrant to the Smart City domain but has drawn up truly ambi ous plan that seeks to develop as many as 100 Smart Ci es in the country over a ﬁve-year period from 2017-2022, with a whopping outlay of $15 billion. Considering the fact that the best AV deployment begins with the AV solu ons providers ge ng onboard the project development right front the concept stage itself, the AV industry players in the country have apparently ac vated themselves to grab a pie of the massive opportunity it looks like.

projec on, and interac ve digital signage as an important element of crea ng immersive experience to the visitors. India and China today boast making this as a compelling a rac on at several museums. A Quick SWOT Like any other domain, the Government segment oﬀers tremendous opportuni es as also challenges for the solu on providers, which is understandably why not many solu ons providers turn exclusively Government AV players. The very few who are very deep into the domain focus on developing a trusted rela onship with the ranks in government machinery to con nue ge ng business opportunity. Ÿ

Selling an idea or a solu on to a Government ranks is both easy and challenging. Easy because they are very unlikely to be techsavvy, so they do not probe too deep with the solu on provider. Challenging because, the government ranks do not yield easily to the propose

The segment is stable except for poli cal uncertainty and not really economic crises. However, any change in government or the

they also seek regular mee ng and conferencing set-ups for

oﬃcial machinery concerned with the project may bring the

complimentary func onali es.

solu on providers back to square one

An interes ng development in recent mes has been the State-

Payment of costs of deployment and support services is guaranteed. No budget concerns nor risks of external crisis

promoted ini a ves of cultural tourism and what is these days

holding back payments. However, change in government and

referred to as infotainment. High-end museums, and memorials being

oﬃcial machinery concerned will easily result in holding back the

ini ated by local governments have popularised 3-D holographic

costs of services Ÿ

Decision-making process can be quite long and frustra ng due to staggered decision process. Very o en, the approved technology solu on may be obsolete by the me the deployment begins, or not available at all. Any change in the specs will again have to go through a long process of approval

However, all said and done, the sector holds its charm for most who are tuned to it.

S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

SPECIAL FEATURE

The Middle East Audio-Visual Fundamentals

Between Corporate Hospitality and Government

The Middle East – called so for a sheer convenience of calling by the Western world – for long has been living with the misnomer, due to the heavily Westernized-addressing of geographies. Being part of Asia geographically, and on the Western part of the Asian con nent, it is, technically speaking, West Asia. Nevertheless, since the region began embracing AV/ICT technologies, essen ally, to eﬀec vely handle their explosive growth from oil and natural gas industry, has been seeing its lows and peaks in consonance with the rising and falling of petro-fortunes, as also with their na onal economies that have been dependent to a good extent on the Real Estate industry. As an inspiring model of governance, the regimes of almost all the Arab na ons had begun inves ng a good part of their oil-riches into building the areas they lacked competencies- Educa on, Healthcare, Transport, and to some extent, Tourism. That explains why a majority of the region's AV/ICT deployment happens by Government ini a ves. An exercise that began a few decades ago, con nues to this day, and only expanding, and with the emergence of Smart Ci es concept, some of the Arab na ons like Dubai have been embracing it to the extent of building models for the global industry. Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

Though no comparison with China in aggression, the region is certainly a match, if not be er, in terms of size and scale of the projects it churns out me to me. Interes ngly, the regional administra ons, as a generic a ribute, tend to make big in whatever they do- which is simply why the market witnesses massive projectswhich is also reason they get held up in mes of crises due to the large investments ge ng struck.

SPECIAL FEATURE

In a way, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)'s stake in the Middle East

are o en charactersized by latest digital models for broadcas ng daily

can be likened to that of China in Asia Major, as the Kingdom is said

prayers. The region is also said to be do ed by as many as 35,000

to constantly said to account for as much as 70 per cent of the

approx. seats of educa on (including research and higher educa on)

region's AV spending. According to an es mate late 2017, the overall

that have always been big takers of high-end AV, being funded by

worth of audio-visual market in the KSA was to the tune of over $4.5

their local governments.

billion, followed by Qatar pegged at over $1.5 billion, and the UAE coming next with a market size of $707 million. That most governments have drawn up special 'Vision' plans for 2030,

Healthcare and Airports are other big domains of Governmentini ated poten al AV. Dubai Interna onal Airport, Hamad Interna onal Airport in Doha, Amiri Terminal in Kuwait, and Istanbul

and have ini ated special programmes of town planning and urban

Interna onal Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, have all been some good

infrastructure, AV industry is set having some impressive growth

case study material for grand AV deployment.

numbers.

Some of the iconic symbols of high quality AV/ICT solu ons

Though some of the recent developments in the region â&#x20AC;&#x201C; both

deployment in the region in the recent past include the Saudi Aramco

poli cal and economic â&#x20AC;&#x201C; have seemingly hampered the growth plans

establishment, King Fahd Medical City, King Fahd University of

to a perceivable extent, the tough mes are taken as part of cyclical

Petroleum and Minerals in KSA; Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies,

rou ne, and not last for long. That the big events are round the

Qatar Na onal Library, Qatar University, and North Western

corner, the industry is hoped to get back to its booming mode soon. It is es mated that the Gulf region is home to over 99,000 mosques,

Abu Dhabi; UAE University in Dubai.

University in Federal Na onal Council (FNC), and Zayed University in

which carry regular upgrades of public address and AV systems, that S I A

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

TECH TALK

New Realities for F1 Fans and Teams AR and VR Could Change the Way Formula One Racing is Experienced By Mehul Kapadia

The Swimming Pool

Formula One! The 'one' auto racing that gets the racing enthusiasts across the globe to their feet even in front of their television sets, if not in the viewers' galleries of the racing tracks. The highest class of single-seater auto racing is as high stakes game for technology buﬀs as it is on the tracks for the car makers and their racers. Here is a take on how latest technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality can make the experience be er, and truly immersive. Despite F1’s inextricable rela onship with technology, tradi onal television broadcasts of the Grand Prix s ll hold a special, albeit sen mental, place in fans’ hearts. Now, however, the sport is looking to a ract a new genera on of fans that have come of age on smartphones, tablets and ubiquitous connec vity. Immersive technologies have the poten al to a ract a new genera on of fans and transform the viewing experience in the same way that television has proved to be the perfect pla orm from the 1950s up to the present day. New viewing technologies could put fans in control of how they experience F1 and could go far beyond a linear TV viewing experience. As shown by our proof of concept 360-degree live video trial at the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix, new technologies could help fans tailor their experience and feel as though they are in the heart of the ac on. Switching between race ac on, their favourite driver’s point-of-view, their team’s pit lane and mingling with celebri es in the paddock will create a rich and deep entertainment experience for die-hard and novice fans alike. Imagine too how Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) could bring all-new experiences to fans at home and at the racetrack. Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

Equipped with their mobile device or smart glasses, fans could be served informa on like lap or technical informa on about cars as they pass round the track. Something similar was done by Mercedes AMG Motorsport and Epson during 2016 Melbourne Grand Prix. Guests were given smart glasses that served informa on such as driver sta s cs or detail about the roles of various crew members in the pit as they walked around. In a sport where all of the par cipants are so obsessed with technology, the possibili es for transforming and experimen ng with the fan experience are endless. Augmented performance: there and not there VR and AR could also provide huge beneﬁt to F1 teams at trackside and back at HQ. Drivers could be equipped with informa on via smart visors in their helmets. They could be shown visualisa ons of upcoming sec ons of the track or provided with microclimate data which they can respond to as the race progresses. In future the use of augmented and virtual reality could also be extended to the support crew. There is a limit to the number of staﬀ each team can have in the pit. Therefore, most teams have large

TECH TALK

numbers of staff working back at their headquarters where they crunch data and advise on race strategy. Equipping these staff with VR headsets showing the pit, or even the driver’s view, would allow them to get deeper into the ac on and add more value than they are able back at HQ - where they view everything from computers or TV screens. For example, engineers could assess damage to cars or suggest changes to car parts during race weekends from wherever they happen to be in the world – even from their own homes. Ex-drivers on the staff could advise on driving strategy or tac cs mid-race as they watch the ac on from the driver’s perspec ve. VR could also be used by the drivers to prepare for the season ahead. Generally speaking, drivers only get to drive around a track for one weekend a year. Added to that, new circuits are o en added to the calendar or old tracks come back into the fold – as we saw with Mexico City in 2015. Giving the drivers the opportunity to experience a track via VR will enable them to learn every turn and straight of the circuit, preparing them long before they arrive on site and poten ally making for a higher quality race. Similarly, VR could help to breed the next genera on of F1 drivers by democra sing access to the sport for fans at an early age. Transforma on: a journey not a des na on Like life, Formula 1 is a journey and not a des na on. Drivers come and go as the greats re re and new young guns come on the scene. New genera ons of fans take up the sport and consume it in new ways from social media to virtual reality, while their grandparents swap the stands for their armchairs and TV screens. The livery and sponsors on the cars change and circuits in new markets are added to the calendar while others fall away. Transforma on is the only constant within F1. Everything else changes. Limits are ignored, scoffed at even and progress is a given. The desire to change, improve and innovate is loud and clear from the likes of Brawn – who says that F1 can be the greatest showcase of engineering in the world but it doesn’t ma er if people aren’t tuning in, engaging and hungry for more. Therefore, the same ‘always in beta’ culture which has bred feats of engineering previously thought to be unthinkable is what will drive the sport forward commercially. The digital transforma on will see Formula 1 reach new and greater heights on and off the track. (The author is Managing Director of F1 business, at Tata Communica ons. SI Asia thanks the author for his insigh ul inputs on the subject.) S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

TECH TALK

How to Master the AV-IT Convergence Like a Pro By Martin M.Bonsoir

I believe it to be impossible to not have heard about AV-IT

Great, But What Exactly Do I Have to Do?

convergence if one works in the AV industry. The industry media has dedicated ample space to it for years now, and many observers have

Tradi onal AV skills are not becoming irrelevant. Whilst technological

commented on it. However, if one works in the IT industry, it's quite

developments are making it simpler and faster to design, install and

possible to have never heard about AV-IT convergence. And that

commission AV systems, we are s ll some ways oﬀ from successfully

pre y much sums up the situa on.

comple ng an AV project without understanding the fundamental principles behind sound and video, and the tools available to capture,

The word “convergence” can be used in diﬀerent contexts, but the

process and reproduce them. In this respect, competent AV people

most prevalent deﬁni on people use when referring to AV-IT

enjoy some considerable job security. Yet the day is coming when

convergence is “moving towards union or uniformity”. If you have had

those skills will no longer be enough.

the (mis)fortune of listening to me discuss this topic in the past, you'll know I have reserva ons about the use of the term in the

Any AV technician, designer or manager wan ng to remain relevant

professional AV industry.

needs to be proﬁcient in core networking skills like IP addressing, know about commonly used appliances and network topologies, and

This is not because I do not believe that technologies from the IT

understand concepts like the OSI Layer model, LAN, WLAN and VLAN.

industry are increasingly employed in AV systems – au contraire, I not

This doesn't mean every AV person needs to hold a CCNA or ENS

only agree this is the case, but I celebrate and encourage the trend. Networks are becoming a common infrastructure to support modern,

(although it certainly would not hurt), but eﬀort should be made to

ﬂexible AV experiences. Technologies developed by the IT industry

the scope of their daily tasks.

ensure personnel are capable enough in technologies that fall within

are enabling smarter solu ons, not only in AV but in many diﬀerent industries, and if anything, this trend is expected to accelerate.

This can be diﬃcult to accomplish: tradi onal IT training is designed for IT workers, and includes items that may not be immediately

But the idea of convergence between IT networks and AV networks is

relevant to AV people, while missing key topics. For example, it is not

o en confused or misrepresented. Too o en, it is understood as

uncommon for an AV technician to grapple with clocking or

having a single, uniﬁed network that does everything for both AV and

bandwidth issues when dealing with an incorrectly implemented

IT (and CCTV, HVAC, room scheduling, etc.). This is neither always

network, or to get dirty with Wireshark® analysing SIP traﬃc when a

accurate, nor desirable.

VoIP interface fails to register.

Another fallacy some people in AV are guilty of is thinking “the

Those would righ ully be considered rather advanced topics in the IT

networking part will be taken care of by the networking people”.

academic ladder, but are rou ne tasks for many AV technicians that

Again, there are many reasons why this may not be the case.

may never use a switch's CLI. This is where manufacturer training

The AV-IT convergence process is not an “all or nothing” proposi on,

comes onto its own. For commercial, altruis c, or commercially

but rather a spectrum, where each enterprise has a varying degree of

altruis c reasons, manufacturers oﬀer an increasingly varied array of

integra on between the network components used for AV and IT

dedicated training, o en 'bypassing' tradi onal curriculums to get to

systems, driven by speciﬁc needs. It is to be expected that

the informa on relevant to people designing, installing or managing

convergence will evolve over me along with business and technical

their products. There's also ample printed and online literature

needs.

available of excellent quality.

Thus, anyone involved with AV will be smarter by becoming more

Where Does It End?

comfortable with some basic networking concepts. Having IT chops is

An inherent property of a ﬂuid situa on such as this, is the diﬃculty

no longer a luxury for AV people, it's a necessity.

in se ng boundaries. AV projects today may deploy a totally independent, physically separate network, repurpose or share some

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

TECH TALK

of the exis ng IT infrastructure, or interface with some aspects of it. It

hiccups. These eﬀorts will ensure everybody is back home in me for

is therefore diﬃcult to establish what level of knowledge one should

supper.

have, and on which topics. The best strategy here is to understand the various scenarios, comprehend the technical reasons why things are done in a certain way, and even if interdependence will be kept to a minimum, establish a ﬂuent communica on channel with the IT team. The importance of this last item grows the more common “network” ground there is within the project. A common scenario is o en corporate infrastructure is used to support the AV workload. Whilst the management and monitoring tools used by the IT manager when working with the AV data, will be the same that is used for the rest of the network. In this sense, the network is converged and the common prac ce is for the IT manager

Why Does It Always Have to be Me? There is no denying that using new technologies comes with the need to learn new things. But the argument is strongly in favour of acquiring knowledge of a common, sustainable technology, rather than con nue to educate the workforce in single-use, industryspecific technologies that promptly become obsolete. The changes experienced by the AV industry aren't unique, nor new. Other industries, like telecommunica ons and cable-TV have already transformed themselves and benefit from the economy of scale, flexibility and agility afforded by IT technologies. They survived – and thrived – and I have li le doubt so will we.

to build a dedicated subnetwork to provide the services required for the AV equipment, for security, performance and eﬃciency reasons.

Mar n M. Bonsoir, MInstSCE, is the

In these situa ons, being able to provide the IT manager with the AV

Interna onal Applica ons

system's network requirements will go a long way in achieving a

Engineering Manager at Biamp

successful project. Especially if that can be provided BEFORE the work

Systems, overseeing technical

is done.

opera ons globally outside of the

Another common scenario is when installing an AV unit with a VoIP interface. Have an informa on-sharing conversa on with the team in charge of the VoIP system, and establish everyone's needs beforehand and, if necessary, be able to use a network tap or a monitoring port on a network switch to assist in troubleshoo ng – even the best planned and installed projects occasionally encounter

Americas. With more than 23 years of industry experience, Mar n's passion for people and all things audiovisual con nues to add richness and insight to his work every day. S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

TECH TALK

Audio Networks and Audinate's Dante Platform By Brad Price

Fundamentally, audio networking is the use of standard IP network technology to transport audio streams and data between devices. This differs from non-real- me audio, such as streaming music over the internet, which is heavily compressed, buffered and delayed. Audio networking solu ons demand highly accurate ming and clocking and when set properly, can transport hundreds of channels of uncompressed digital content with near zero latency from device to device. Perhaps the biggest change for users is that older methods of connec vity were always “point-to-point,” where a cable would connect one device to another, which defined the signal chain. In networked systems, all devices are now connected to a common network and content pathways are defined through so ware. This means that networked systems can be reconfigured in countless ways without having to move a single cable.

Dante Explained Transpor ng audio or video on a network requires a consistent solu on comprised of underlying protocols, tools for integra on and complete system opera on and control. Dante by Audinate provides this solu on and is built into audio products by hundreds of OEMs. There are over 1,500 Dante-enabled products available from over 400 manufacturers. All of these products freely connect to one another using the Dante Controller so ware on any connected PC or Mac computer. Dante is built to be easy to use and features automa c discovery of all devices, one-click rou ng of signals and robust monitoring of device parameters.

The Importance of Networking IP networks have become central to much of modern life, powering businesses, entertainment and, of course, the internet. Its inherent flexibility makes it a useful and cost-effec ve pla orm upon which users can build many types of services, including AV distribu on and control. These networks also are a cost-effec ve solu on for audio as network-enabled AV installa ons cost less to install than analog and use readily available commodity cables and switches. In many cases, a client may already have a viable IP network in place that can be used without running addi onal cabling, as AV can run in tandem with other common networking tasks like email, file sharing, communica ons, etc. Networks allow AV systems to scale past the limita ons of analog products. A modern audio network installa on can easily and reliably handle hundreds of devices and carry thousands of channels of content, bringing unprecedented flexibility for users and content providers alike. And, networking brings end-to-end digital transport to every audio device, meaning no noise, hum or signal loss arises even with large distances between devices. IP networks are inherently computer-driven. As more and more AV func onality is handled by PCs and CPU-based audio products, networking becomes the obvious solu on for connec vity and control, paving the way for future enhancements and products on this common infrastructure. Addi onally, a computer-driven approach brings IT-level management to AV, ensuring that only authorized people can make changes.

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

Dante offers stellar audio performance, transpor ng up to 512 channels of uncompressed, 48kHz audio per device. While early audio networks suffered from issues with high latency, Dante delivers bit-perfect, sample-aligned audio to hundreds of endpoints with determinis c latencies typically under 2 milliseconds. Because Dante is a standards-based networking solu on, no addi onal hardware is required to connect audio to PCs and Macs for recording and playout. Dante Virtual Soundcard so ware allows any computer to become a 64 x 64 channel audio worksta on, using any DAW. Dante Domain Manager Dashboard Dante is also a good ci zen of the IT environment and security policies and works seamlessly with the new network management so ware Dante Domain Manager. Dante Domain Manager provides role-based security, user authen ca on and segmenta on of AV networks, integra ng with authen ca on systems such as Ac ve Directory or LDAP in managed environments. Building a system with Dante audio networking benefits both integrators and customers in many ways. Integrator Benefits: Ÿ Over 1500 available products support Dante. Ÿ All Dante-enabled devices are compa ble with each other, guaranteed. Ÿ Networked systems are easy to install, using lightweight, inexpensive CAT5E cables for all device connec ons.

TECH TALK Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Dante is easy to adjust for day-to-day changes with intui ve so ware. Robust security prevents unwanted changes when using Dante Domain Manager. Easily integrates with media from computer sources. Record audio directly to PCs and Macs using only so ware.

The obvious beneﬁts with regard to cost savings, improved performance, centralized control and user security are driving integrators and manufacturers alike to adopt audio networking based on IT standards, tools, and best prac ces. This applies not only as a way to transport content, but also as a way to oﬀer a whole new level of func onality.

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

All system conﬁgura on is done in so ware, making changes fast and easy with no need to re-route cables. Using an IP network means that customers will have a robust communica ons founda on for many years into the future. Networked AV provides ongoing revenue opportuni es with upgrades, monitoring and security op ons.

Steering customers toward networking prepares them and their facili es for a world of new possibili es years to come. Audinate and Dante will con nue to be driving forces in this growing industry and help make audio networking more secure, scalable and controllable than ever before. About the Author: Brad Price is the Senior Product Manager at Audinate and has an extensive background in audio engineering, music performance, and so ware product development. He works with the development team to create so ware for Dante Audio Networking that brings value to audio professionals across a wide range of industry categories.

User Beneﬁts: Ÿ Noise-free, pris ne audio throughout the system. Ÿ Reliable, self-reconnec ng opera on. Ÿ Dante can be installed on top of exis ng network infrastructure, saving costs.

www.audinate.com S I A

Audinate Announces Over 400 Products Now Dante Domain Manager Ready Audinate, developer of the leading audio networking technology Dante, announced over 400 Dante-enabled products from top AV manufacturers now feature upgraded firmware that supports Dante Domain Manager. Dante Domain Manager is the award-winning network control technology that brings valuable new func onality to Dante networks, including user authen ca on, role-based security and audit capabili es, while also delivering unprecedented scalability and organiza on of Dante systems over any network topology. Both system integrators and leading AV manufacturers have recognized the value of providing these features for their customers, and have priori zed upda ng their offerings as a result. “The number of Dante licensees that have upgraded their products to support Dante Domain Manager is truly exci ng, and speaks to the value they see in it for their customers,” states Joshua Rush, Sr. Vice President of Marke ng for Audinate. “We expect to see another large wave of products announcing support for Dante Domain Manager at InfoComm in June.” The list of “Dante Domain Manager Ready” products includes products from every major audio category, including amplifiers, audio

monitors, commentary systems, conference systems, digital recorders and players, digital signal processors, encoders and decoders, external clocks, I/O interfaces, intercoms, matrix switchers, mic preamps, microphones, mixing consoles, personal monitors, soundcards, speaker management processors, and stage boxes. “The need to bring IT-level management and security to audio systems is a cri cal requirement for the majority of our customers,” said Trent Wagner, Sr. Product Manager at Symetrix. “We worked hard to make sure we could be the ﬁrst DSP manufacturer suppor ng Dante Domain Manager, which we now do across our Edge, Radius and Prism lines using Composer version 7.0 or later.” Dante Domain Manager is a virtualized applica on that runs on Windows and Linux desktop and server pla orms, with an intui ve and highly responsive web interface. For more informa on about Dante Domain Manager and to see a full list of “Dante Domain Manager Ready” products, visit h p://audinate.com/ddm

S I A

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

INTERVIEW

Upping the Ante for Philips Commercial Displays Philips Commercial Displays has been slowly but surely gaining ground in the compe ve display segment in Asia. One reason for this has been due to more R&D eﬀort that have resulted in more crea ve solu ons. The other reason has been the appointment of Rob Fowler as Sales Director Asia Paciﬁc in 2010. Rob and his team have been building the momentum for Philips the past eight years. We take the opportunity to know Rob a li le and his ambi ons for Philips Commercial Displays in the region.

SI Asia: Rob can you let us know a li le bit about yourself. ROB: I have been in the IT industry for 20 years now, working in various sales, marke ng and business development roles. In the early 00's I was given the opportunity to take Linksys into the European and African markets, and a er that I was taken on by QNAP to handle their interna onal launch. I have also worked with several other small IT manufacturers, generally in the storage, networking and digital signage industries to launch them into the interna onal sphere. For me, simply knowing that the markets are different is not enough. You have to know how they differ, and as such tweak your sales and marke ng strategy around all those various local traits in order to maximize the benefits and rewards. SI Asia: When were you appointed to handle Philips regionally? ROB: Ironically when I joined the Philips Professional Display team in 2010, I started in a marke ng role. The reason for this was that I had had enough travel in my life, and as I was about to get married and start a family I wanted to spend more me with them at home. At that me Philips Pro Displays were only available in Europe, the US and China. In 2011 my then boss asked me to handle our expansion into the Asia Pacific market, and so now I am travelling more than ever before. SI Asia: What is your job por olio? ROB: We are a small team in the Asia Pacific market, so I manage a broader range of areas than simply sales. But because I have such a lot of end user contacts, I am able to take all that informa on, share it with the en re team and make sure that we grow sales with the help of that knowledge. I get involved in product management and talk with our partners inside the territory to find out what their product requirements are for the future, and then discuss internally with our product management team in Taiwan (where I am based so that makes it easier to have instant answers) and China to get those

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

models developed. I also manage our on-site technical guru who handles Support and Service to make sure that clients for Philips Commercial Displays get the absolute best service in the event that something should go wrong. SI Asia: Are you able to share what was the situa on for Philips in the region when you came on board - market share and challenges? ROB: As I men oned earlier, it was not un l the final quarter of 2011 that the decision was made internally to go for greater interna onal expansion, so I have been truly blessed with the unique opportunity to take this fantas c brand name in to a brand new market. Star ng from nothing also allowed us to seek out the ideal partners for us, partners who would be dedicated to the Philips brand and it was obvious from early on that we needed to be different to our compe tors in the way we do business. Not only do we have limited resources, but we also see that the market is evolving inside APAC. Being a smaller team gives us a lot more flexibility in the market, and we made sure to work with just a limited amount of partners inside the region instead of being over-distributed. That adds value to the brand name, and also allows us to be er protect projects, gain trust within the industry, both in terms of our direct partners and in terms of project owners, resellers and system integrators. The challenges of course were taking on the Korean and Japanese brands which had a stronghold on the market and if you look at where we are today in overall market share terms, we know that the strategy we have employed is working. In this business, trust is key, and we make sure that we keep all the promises we make to our partners. That is without doubt one of many reasons why we have never lost a client. SI Asia: What did you want to achieve when you came on board? ROB: I am ambi ous and aggressive so I always want to be the best, I always want to be number one. But I look long term – I would not sacrifice long term growth just for one short term project if it had the poten al to harm us in the long run. I certainly want Philips to be the

INTERVIEW number one brand inside the Asia Pacific market, and every year we nibble a li le more into the market share of our compe tors. SI Asia: What is the current status for Philips Commercial Displays in the region? ROB: There are several markets where we are doing excep onally well, and there are some where we are under-performing. There were some markets which took us a lot of me to find the right partner in, and there are always areas where we need to improve. But we have done excep onally well with Q1 growth compared to 2017 in places like Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand for example, and we are always there to support our partners. If they under-perform then instead of being aggressive, we sit down with our partners and ask ques ons like what can we as a manufacturer do to support you and help improve sales. We know a lot of our compe tors would simply go out and look for an addi onal partner, but that merely papers over the cracks. We need to analyse what the reasons are for poor sales, and find a solu on that helps everyone. But in the territory managed by the APAC team, we have made it into the top three brands for professional displays, and we con nue to grow faster than the market itself, which tells me our strategy is the right one. SI Asia: Can you share with us some of the things that you are most proud of? ROB: I am very proud of the fact that we have managed to go from absolutely zero sales to where we are today. However we don't have me to sit back and reflect on how astronomical our growth has been as we know there is so much s ll to be done. We have managed to win projects in so many markets, from Australia to Pakistan, from Philippines to Singapore, from Hong Kong to Fiji and New Caledonia, where perhaps we were the underdogs. We've gone from a posi on where our compe tors were looking behind them and smiling, thinking Philips is an “also-ran” brand to them looking over their shoulders and seeing us with a very compe ve product range, a sales strategy that is unique and support condi ons that are the best in the market, and we know they are very scared of us right now. SI Asia: What are the current challenges and how do you plan to overcome them? ROB: As we as a brand become more dangerous to our compe tors, the more protec ve the compe tors become. I was recently in Thailand where my partner there told me that one of our compe tors are saying Philips is pulling out of the market soon. This is an amazing honour to know that they are that worried about us as a brand. But it also brings along more challenges, because we need to spend me refu ng this “informa on” and explaining that this is no way going to happen. Another challenge of course is sustaining the growth – many markets we deal with are very price sensi ve, which is where no name brands have an advantage. The thing is though, once the client works out that the levels of support just aren't there, and it ends up being more expensive for them than choosing a top er brand display, they change their decisions. So we spend a lot of our me

trying to educate the market, make them aware of the poten al pi alls, and give them the informa on to ensure they don't just look at the bo om line, but instead see the en re picture. SI Asia: What are some of the Philips solu ons that you consider are contribu ng to the success of the brand? Why? ROB: Without doubt the introduc on of an Android based media player has played a major part in the growth of our sales because this eliminates mul ple poten al failure points. And in the event of a failure, this makes sure that the solu on can be found faster. We have seen a lot of our compe tors start finger poin ng, and not take responsibility for their products. However, the client and end users know that in the event that a Philips display should go wrong, then there are mul ple levels of people that they can contact both at local and regional levels where a solu on can be found. We get that done quickly, making the en re process as painless as possible. On top of that, the very fact that we don't allow ourselves to be overdistributed, the fact that we offer project protec on, the fact that we don't sell direct – and we never will – have all contributed to our success. Resellers and system integrators are sick of introducing a project to a manufacturer who then turn around and sell direct to that project, cu ng out the very reseller/SI that fed them. These same resellers and SI's know that Philips will not do that, and that we will work closely together with them in order to win the project. If that partner who has registered the project does not win then Philips also does not win. Very simple. I think of this as old school business principles – and clients across the APAC region know that they can trust Philips as a supplier. SI Asia: What do you want to achieve within 2018-2019? ROB: We have a very aggressive sales target for 2018, and I know 2019 will be no different. We just want to keep nibbling away at our compe tor's market share, keep growing, keep doing the things we are doing, improve in the markets where we are under-performing, and sustain our posi on in the markets where we are strong. I want to close in on 2nd place, li le by li le. SI Asia: Which countries within the region offers opportuni es for Philips? ROB: Every single country offers great opportuni es for us. I get as excited by receiving a small order for 20 pieces from Fiji or New Caledonia as I do from ge ng container loads from our major markets. This is because I love sales, and every unit we sell means one of our compe tors don't so it's a 2 unit swing. There is not one country in our territory that needs more focus than the other – we take each country extremely seriously, and the APAC team is constantly travelling in order to support all of them. This is why our partners are not just business partners, but friends. And when you have good friends that you can support, ensuring growth becomes just a li le bit less difficult. www.philips.com/signagesolu ons S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

INTERVIEW

ZeeVee: Transforming the Digital Video Industry ZeeVee, celebrated its 10th anniversary last year. The company has entrenched itself in the AV over IP segment. In fact ZeeVee has long been in that space even before the term AV over IP took trac on. SI Asia interviews Bob Michaels, CEO, ZeeVee, about the company and its future.

SI Asia: How did ZeeVee get into the AV over IP space? BOB: ZeeVee has been working for over a decade to help lead the industry and develop new distribu on pla orms that leverage standards-based technology. We have been crea ng IP-based solu ons for years before other manufacturers even thought about

As the only manufacturer today that can deliver mul media

and sports venues of all kinds have long oﬀered screens showing broadcast video from Sky and Free-view channels – now they want to be able to add camera feeds from local games and other informa on to engage visitors and create a sense of par cipa on. The AV industry is increasingly recognizing that AV over IP is no

it. It just made sense

longer 'the future,' it's 'the now.' They realize that this requires

to us, and we foresaw

skills and mindset change, but brings vast opportuni es, allowing

the change that was

them to oﬀer solu ons with greater ﬂexibility over a standard

needed to develop

infrastructure, elimina ng stranded investment.

content over coax, ﬁber, and

solu ons that would

CATx, ZeeVee has transformed

address the hunger for

the digital video industry with

best quality video with

its award-winning, HD to

the lowest possible

uncompressed 4K solu ons.

latency.

SI Asia: What are the advantages of ZeeVee's AVoIP solu ons?

ZeeVee is a global manufacturer of video and signal distribu on technology for the ProAV and IT marketplace. As the only manufacturer today that can deliver mul media content over coax, fiber, and CATx, ZeeVee has transformed the digital video industry with its award-winning, HD to uncompressed 4K solu ons. The company offers a variety of innova ve, cost-effec ve and easy to deploy distribu on pla orms. Installed in thousands of facili es worldwide, delivering HD and 4K/UHD content from mul ple sources to mul ple displays over long distances. ZeeVee is delivering content to over 2,000,000 displays in nearly every ver cal market on five con nents. SI Asia: Which ver cals have seen the most demand for ZeeVee

ZeeVee powered screens at NTNU, Trondheim, Norway

solu ons? BOB: We see par cularly strong demand from the entertainment and hospitality industry as well as universi es. Pubs, be ng shops Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

BOB: The challenges AV teams have are ease of installa on, reliability, and ﬂexibility to expand. ZeeVee can combat these concerns with AVoIP solu ons that are incredibly easy to install and

INTERVIEW also use once in place. IP is a familiar pla orm for most clients AV

of AV over IP

or IT teams, who are most likely to use or brief an installa on.

networks that deliver

Therefore, there is more familiarity and no new complicated

the highest possible

systems to be learned. Plus AVoIP is incredibly scalable and

image quality and

concerns with AVoIP

latency-free switching

solu ons that are

For example at Norwegian University of Science and Technology,

as well as oﬀering

incredibly easy to install

the AVoIP network allows for students in three diﬀerent campuses

unique control

and also use once in

to take part in a lecture. We also have a manufacturing client that

possibili es. For

created an AVoIP solu on that allows staﬀ to par cipate in Town

example, the system

provides the ﬂexibility to add addi onal endpoints as needed.

Hall mee ngs delivered real- me to its many loca ons. You can see

can track users'

in this example it enables delivery of low latency, high quality

indoor physical

streaming media in real me to various loca ons. In fact, we've

ZeeVee can combat these

place.

loca on, and content can follow them from room to room.

created Europe's largest AVoIP network, and it con nues to grow with over 300 endpoints currently installed.

SI Asia: What's the future for AV over IP solu ons?

We see growth par cularly in educa on and medical with our AV

BOB: AV over IP and the merging of AV and IT technologies oﬀer

over IP products replacing proprietary matrices in more and more

opportuni es to be innova ve. From our perspec ve, it's not so

applica ons; we con nue to grow in sports venues, corporate and retail. In every case, compe

ve pressures are driving demand –

whether that be universi es having to compete by having be er AV in learning rooms or retailers needing to ﬁnd ways to engage visitors.

much a country thing, more to do with the culture at organiza ons, whether that be end users, integrators or consultants. IT integrators are readily adop ng AV over IP. However, the more open-minded and progressive AV integrators who are willing to invest will have an advantage. The bandwidth capability of network switches will con nue to expand, while at the same me the per-port cost will con nue to drop. Control systems will be another exci ng place to watch as control programmers embrace the ﬂexibility and scale that AVoIP provides. Another area that will con nue to rapidly evolve will be the con nued expansion of AV in the corporate world. As the quality, infrastructure, and price con nue to converge for AV over IP, it will bring an en rely new wave of innova on to the industry and development will happen very rapidly. It will not be controlled by a few companies, but rather by an en re industry. SI Asia: What are you most pleased with in rela on to what

ZeeVee also created what it belisves to be the biggest “ﬂoa ng”

ZeeVee oﬀers?

AvoIP network on a super yacht BOB: ZeeVee has spent the last year making sure we understand But AVoIP isn't limited to sta c buildings, ZeeVee has also created

our customer's applica ons and the end-user requirements to

what we believe to be the biggest "ﬂoa ng" AVoIP network on a

ensure our products meet these performance demands. Most

super yacht. The owner wanted the highest possible quality images and instant switching from source to source. The vessel needed two separate networks, one for entertainment and one for the oﬃce system. The oﬃce system had to be capable of accessing content on the entertainment network while remaining en rely secure. ZeeVee ZyPer4K HDMI2.0 encoders and decoders combined with the installer's, Plejds, unique automa on technology created a pair

importantly, the core focus of the company has been to reduce integra on burden of installa on and support while providing a more accessible end-user experience. I think we've proved this with our AV over IP products – it's the ability for the customer to come and automa cally see how simple they are to use and set up. www.zeevee.com S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

INTERVIEW

Secure and Closer Connections with Customers Control and automa on leader Crestron, since its reorienta on two years ago, has been marking its ini a ves in its own inimitable style. With a new focus on people, products and places, the company has been focusing on communica ng to the market their next steps. SIA caught up with Crestron at the recently held InfoComm China 2018 with Stuart Craig, CEO of Crestron Asia Paciﬁc CEO, and Stevie Ng, General Manager of Crestron China to know what the company is up to. Crestron China General Manager Stevie Ng (le ), Crestron AsiaPac CEO Stuart Craig (middle), and Marke ng Manager Sarah Beggs (right)

SIA: It's been almost two years now since Crestron China had begun opera ons in its new format. How would you describe the journey? STUART: The journey has been good. We've grown by 60 per cent from where we were last year. One of the reasons for our success is that we've been able to provide our customers with the same high level of experience across all of the markets where we are present. We've been able to achieve this by ensuring that our approach to market – from Bengaluru to New York – is standard across different geographies, from product strategies and advance replacement (of stocks), down to our training programmes. This benefits the company and our consumers. To support our growth, we have been strengthening our workforce to be er address the needs of our customers. We've hired over 300 personnel in the last two years; in India alone, we added as many as 100 people at our expanded establishment which was launched recently. China is a key market for us as part of our business strategy and we've been accelera ng the pace of our expansion in the market. We opened our Experience Centre in Shanghai in May last year, our second in North Asia, and since then, we've gone on to set up as many as 15 branches across the country. We intend to further expand our footprint with more Experience Centres and offices to drive our business in the government, enterprise, educa on, and smart home and ligh ng ver cals. If you look at where we are, what's happening out there in the AV market, and how we are expanding, I don't think there's been a be er me to do what we are doing right now. SIA: How about any measurable success experiences, and challenging situa ons during this journey? STUART: Effec ve communica on is key to success of any ini a ve. It was a big challenge straight from the start, which was why we organised conferences, roadshows and demonstra ons in Bengaluru, Hong Kong, and in major Chinese ci es like Beijing and Wuhan. We Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

Excerpts:

have also been proac vely working with various trade associa ons and business organiza ons in China, with the objec ve of building a strong Crestron Alliance. We've learnt things along the way – you can't effect change in that many countries without learning what works and what doesn't. For instance, keeping advance replacement stocks in India was tricky and it took us a couple of months to achieve some balance. Now, if a customer is in need of a system, or a par cular unit, we can complete the delivery in a single day by shipping it from within the region. This is a truly great benefit for both our customers and the company. We are very sa sfied with the outcome of our changes. SIA: Could you recall any par cular success situa on from any of these Asia Pac markets, and reason the success? STUART: If I can use India as an example, we have achieved 100 per cent growth, which is quite commendable. This is largely due to the quality of the people we have brought onboard, searching high and low for the right leaders, and the right personnel for the various ver cals and at different levels. We also invested a lot of effort towards making sure that our channels are sound and that we have the right partners in place, and to ensure that our end users are happy. All this has been a massive endeavour in the short span of a year. SIA: How about the Chinese mindset vis-a-vis other Asian markets? STUART/STEVIE: Honestly speaking, every market has its own unique characteris cs, which presents both challenges and opportuni es. Markets like Japan, Korea and Singapore are already in an advanced state, while others like India, are s ll in the developmental mode. That said, India is a tech-savvy na on that is absorbing every possible technology, and more importantly, heading in the right direc on. In China, the current challenge is misinforma on. There is a huge demand for technology but no proper channels for the dissemina on of informa on. As such, one of the biggest challenges we are trying to address is in the area of knowledge dissemina on. SIA: How are you doing that?

INTERVIEW STEVIE: Training, training, and more training. It is as simple that. Some mes, people reverse engineer the process and learn how to do things that way. However, this is not only ineffec ve, but also compromises the quality of learning and makes the process even more challenging. We try to adopt and employ mul ple approaches to address this issue, such as going to market and mee ng customers directly, organising focused programmes, providing on-site training, and leveraging social media to get informa on across. Our objec ve in doing all of that is simple – to improve customer engagement and the customer experience. Unless you see, touch and feel the product, and see it in use in the right environment, you will not have a good idea of what it is, and how it can aid you. And so, having the right informa on about the product is cri cal for technology to be used in the way it should be. This is what we have been pushing for aggressively. STUART: As I've shared earlier, we have invested heavily in our people, offices and product availability, to ensure that the customer experience in any of the loca ons we operate in is consistent. That forms an important aspect of our communica on process. SIA: Of late, manufacturers have begun the concept of selling solu ons, rather than products… What reason you see for this? STUART: I think this is in line with the changing needs of the customer. The AV equipment manufacturers make the products but the end users and their IT managers would want to know what solu ons the products support; how can they use the products in sync with their systems etc. As such, neither the end user, nor the system administrators, are looking for individual products as much as they are looking for a solu on. Therefore, manufacturers have to let their customers know that they are able to provide solu ons, and not specific products, that can address their needs. SIA: What is the most consistent demand from customerstechnology, price, experience? STUART: Consistency in experience. Customers want every room within their facility and offices to look and feel exactly the same in terms of how technology is experienced. No ma er where their offices are located – in Sydney, San Francisco, or Singapore, they want the same look and feel. So instead of going to every room and trying

to customize it, the preference is to deploy a uniform solu on that is easily operable. STEVIE: Customers today want devices that do not require training; technology is expected to work upfront as an applica on, without the IT managers having to undergo the rigours. No ceably, this is a tendency with the new genera on of end users who do not seem to believe in training; they do not want to wait for things to happen; they expect devices to work seamlessly. STUART: This is exactly where the Crestron Mercury is born from. The idea was to make devices work upfront, as a solu on in itself. SIA: SmartCity is a fancy AV domain today. Crestron's take? STUART: Let me address this in two parts. Firstly, Smart Homes, which is essen ally the residen al segment with a high degree of automa on sophis ca on. Crestron is a leader in this space – you have seen the Crestron Pyng hub and Amazon-Alexa and how Crestron makes it all the more enjoyable. All these hold tremendous opportuni es. Secondly, for Smart Ci es, there are a million deﬁni ons for this; every government or administra ve council has their own interpreta on. So, it largely depends on how one looks at it. At Crestron, we have been weaving our Smart Home solu ons with myCrestron for some me now. What we can do to for Smart Ci es is that we can use our Smart Home exper se along with our data analy cs competency to help develop and deploy Smart City solu ons – subject to the legali es involved. SIA: What's the biggest thing that is driving Crestron in Asia today? STUART: We have added in the last few months a large number of amazing people who are doing tremendous things for us. We have also invested signiﬁcant amounts of money to create the necessary infrastructure so that our ini a ves are executed smoothly. As you may have no ced, we have not acquired any companies or technologies. Everything is researched and developed in-house – which is why we have as many as 600 engineers working on various solu ons that we bring to market. That is one of our biggest strengths as well. We are ge ng closer to our customers and doing whatever is necessary to get there. www.crestron.com

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

INSTALLATION

CHINA

Christie, Wincomn Technology Share Honours to Create China's First Tomb Projection

Ancient Chinese History Projected Life-Like

The Hunan Provincial Museum, located in the historic city of Changsha, is taken to be one of the largest and most unique museums in the world. For, it is home to not just many interes ng things, but the relics of the ancient China's second great imperialis c Han dynasty too (C. 206-220 BC) – which is o en a ributed with the country's golden age in history – including those collected from the world famous Mawangdui Han Tomb.

in the museum. The main highlight is China's ﬁrst tomb projec on at the famous Mawangdui (or King Ma's Mound) archaeological site that

Ge ng into such illustrious se ng Chris e and its Chinese Partner Wincomn Technology brought all that to life, once again in their latest coming together for the rare honour. An SIA snapshot:

houses the tomb of Lady Dai (wife of the Marquis of Dai) da ng back to more than 2,000 years ago. The impressive visuals have been made possible using 14 projectors comprising HS Series and GS Series models strategically installed around the 17-meter-deep trapezoidal-

The Hunan Provincial Museum – located in Kaifu District of Changsha, adjacent to the beau ful Revolu onary Martyrs' Park – boasts a rich collec on, featuring the world-renowned cultural relics excavated from the Han Tombs at Mawangdui, bronze wares of the Shang and Zhou dynas es, pain ngs and calligraphy, and modern cultural relics. An ambi ous ﬁve-year renova on from 2012-2017 saw the museum expand in size and scale, as also in strengths of technological embellishment towards making its artefacts and other exhibits contribute to highligh ng the Chines pride and importance in world history. In a recent project of projec on mapping, Visual solu ons leader Chris e, and its longstanding Chinese partner Wincomn Technology brought all that ancient glory to life with spectacular projec ons using Chris e visual solu ons at the newly renovated Hunan Museum.

shaped pit grave. Another mesmerizing showcase is the highly immersive dome theater projec on based on ancient astrological works unearthed from the Mawangdui archaeological site. Known as the 'Divina on of the Five Planets, the silk-wri en manuscripts contained highly accurate astrological records based on the observa on of the ﬁve planets (Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Saturn). The full dome facility is illuminated by 12 Chris e DWU850-GS projectors equipped with BoldColor Technology for the most life-like images and natural color reproduc on, and provides 20,000 hours of low-cost opera on. Visitors at the exhibi on zone tled 'People of Hunan Province' can also check out stunning imagery using Chris e projec on on a curved screen/sand table and three-sided wall, known as “Homeland” and “Dare to Call a New Day” respec vely. Elaborately set up with overhead deployments of Chris e DWU599-GS and Chris e DWU700-

Over 40 Chris e 1DLP laser phosphor projectors have been installed

GS laser phosphor projectors, the exhibits illustrate the rich history,

to deliver bright and dynamic projec ons at various exhibi on zones

as well as social and cultural developments within the province.

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

CHINA

INSTALLATION

Insigh ul Infotainment with blend of past and present: Where history meets technology to weave around experien al infotainment

“Hunan Museum is home to some of the most precious cultural and historical relics in China, including ar facts from Mawangdui that dates back to the western Han Dynasty,” said Tony Chen, general manager, Wincomn Technology. “We are grateful to be involved in the design, installa on and commissioning of digital projec ons for some of the most outstanding exhibits in this museum. Chris e's outstanding and reliable laser phosphor projectors are best suited for these exhibi on areas. The projec ons serve as a bridge that

Domed Theater Projec on The visuals of this highly-immersive dome theater are driven by 12 Chris e DWU850-GS laser phosphor projectors deployed around the venue. With its small footprint, quiet opera on, and 20,000 hours of opera on, the Chris e DWU850-GS is best suited for such environments. People of Hunan Province – “Homeland” Exhibit

connects visitors with ancient culture and history, enabling them to This amazing exhibit features immersive visuals projected on a

create a deeper emo onal resonance.”

curved screen using ﬁve Chris e DWU700-GS laser phosphor Lin Yu, Vice President, Chris e Asia Paciﬁc, added, “in modern society

projectors. Another two DWU700-GS projectors are deployed

where technology is constantly evolving, the display of cultural assets

overhead for projec ons on a circular-shaped sand table posi oned

has become more diversiﬁed. The use of digital projec ons can

in the center of the exhibi on area.

certainly augment the showcase of China's history and cultural heritage. I'm therefore pleased that

People of Hunan Province – “Dare

Chris e laser phosphor visual

to Call a New Day” Exhibit

solu ons are playing an important

This exhibi on area showcases the

role at Hunan Museum in enabling

history and development of Hunan

visitors to remember the past and

Province using a three-sided wall

look forward to the future through

projec on accomplished with eight

these mesmerizing visuals.”

ceiling-mounted Chris e DWU599-

The ancient tomb of Lady Dai is

GS laser phosphor projectors that

unequivocally the most popular

ﬁlled the en re space with vibrant

exhibit in the museum, as well as the

visuals. The Chris e GS Series eliminates

most challenging installa on from a technical standpoint. According to

Journeying from past into present, by means of technology

Chen, ligh ng up the en re tomb measuring 19.5 meters long, 17.8 meters wide and 17 meters deep was a tremendous engineering feat. A total of 14 laser phosphor projectors, comprising 12 Chris e D13WU-HS and two Chris e DWU700-GS, were installed to deliver outstanding visuals at this site.

the need for lamp and ﬁlter

replacements, providing 20,000 hours of low-cost opera on. Wireless connec vity, a small footprint, low-weight, quiet opera on and a full suite of lenses make them ideal for boardrooms, conference rooms, educa on, houses of worship and other small and medium venues. On the other hand, the Chris e® HS Series is the world's brightest 1DLP® laser phosphor projector boas ng up to

Engineers from Wincomn Technology used 3D modeling and UV

13,500 lumens in WUXGA and HD resolu ons, with Chris e

mapping to determine the exact loca on of each image, since all 14

BoldColor Technology for a premium viewing experience, taking color

projectors had to be installed in a “concealed” manner at diﬀerent

accuracy and image quality to the next level.

angles as requested by the museum. In this way, the visuals can be projected accurately on all surfaces. At the same me, Wincomn's

www.chris edigital.com

engineers had to overcome the challenges of irregular blending, as well as ensuring the synchronized playback of visual contents.

S I A

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

INSTALLATION

SOUTH KOREA

Techdata Co. Takes the Honours for the Prestigious Install at Goyang Motorstudio

HARMAN Helps Hyundai Deliver Immersive Guest Experience

South Korean automobile giant Hyundai Motor Company, one of the grandest symbols of Korean economic surge on the global stage has many a thing to move the world with. Based in Ulsan, the car maker operates the world's largest integrated automobile manufacturing facility, selling its vehicles in as many as 193 countries and over 175,000 employees running its opera ons worldwide. As part of the company's vision of providing customers with a life me of enriched driving experiences, the automaker opened the first Hyundai Motorstudio in Seoul in 2014, followed by loca ons in Moscow in Russia, and Hanam, South Korea. As part of the same ini a ve, Hyundai in 2017 opened its latest, and country's largest automobile brand experience centre in Goyang city, in the Gyeonggi-do region in the northern part of South Korea. Designed by Austria's world-renowned architecture firm DMAA, Motorstudio Goyang features cu ng-edge architecture and unique exhibi ons that showcase Hyundai's latest technology and unique company culture. The facility's exhibi on spaces were designed by Atelier Bruckner, and are at the center of the Motorstudio Goyang experience. To ensure an immersive media experience for visitors, Hyundai hired Klangerfinder & Idee und Klang to create a unique sound design for the exhibi on space, complemented by media hardware designed by Medienprojekt P2. Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

Audio integrator TechData Co. was entrusted with the task of bringing the audio design to life, and ensure the system delivered excellent sound quality and properly balanced coverage. In order to meet these requirements, TechData selected a complete HARMAN audio system made up of JBL Professional and BSS solu ons. “The Hyundai Motorstudio experience center is our way of communica ng with our customers, enabling us to engage with them through the various experiences within the facility,” said Yeonhee Lee, Director, Hyundai Motorstudio Goyang. “It is impera ve that visitors have a seamless experience that targets all their senses. We

INSTALLATION

are delighted that the HARMAN system has enabled us to achieve our goals, and we are especially pleased with the dedica on and strong support of TechData.” “The challenge was crea ng a balance between the look and feel of the space, and the technologies that create the experience,” said SJ Rhee, TechData Co. “We collaborated with local architectural sound experts to provide consulta on regarding system design. We had to show proof of concept and demonstrate proper playback of Klangerﬁnder & Idee und Klang's audio designs to ensure the intended audio experience was achieved. The process started in 2014 and we were awarded the job in October 2015, with the commissioning and installa on of the system in April 2017.” In order to ensure op mum audio coverage and clarity in the facility's main exhibi on space, TechData installed a range of JBL speakers. JBL PD6000, PD500, CBT, AE and AE Compact Series speakers are installed throughout the space to deliver consistent level and high output, with low frequency support provided by ASB6112 and ASB6128V subwoofers. TechData also installed CBT Series column loudspeakers, which u lize analog delay beam-forming and amplitude tapering to accomplish consistent ver cal coverage, without the narrow ver cal beaming and out-of-coverage lobing that is typical of straight formfactor passive column speakers. “On our part, the challenge was implemen ng proper audio coverage at the correct levels, taking into considera on the interior layout and design as well as the overall environment and materials used,” con nued SJ Rhee. “The diﬀerent JBL speaker models in the exhibi on space helped us to ensure consistent coverage with the right levels for a pleasing experience. Having a range of speakers

with different configura ons and coverage pa erns helped us achieve Hyundai's objec ves. We are pleased to say that we managed to successfully design and install the HARMAN system without any compromise in quality.” In addi on to the exhibi on space, TechData installed speakers in other areas throughout the facility, including Control 26CT speakers in the restaurant and weather-resistant Control 88M landscape speakers in the fourth floor terrace. The diverse array of solu ons in the JBL Control Contractor Series enabled TechData to provide aesthe cally matching in-ceiling and surface-mount speakers in the cafeteria, elevator lobby, driving registra on and restroom areas. EON600 Series speakers extend the audio experience outside the building and into the parking lot. TechData also installed a BSS Soundweb Contrio EC4BV for advanced volume control and source selec on. “One of the highlights is the 4D room, where visitors can experience

off-road racing in a rally car that makes them feel like they are in an amusement park, with HARMAN audio providing the soundtrack,” said Kyoo Hong Min, Account Manager, TechData. “It is a great privilege to be associated with one of South Korea's iconic companies at Hyundai Motorstudio in Goyang,” said Ramesh Jayaraman, Vice-President and General Manager, HARMAN Professional Solu ons, APAC. “HARMAN's JBL and BSS brands elevate the audio experiences of visitors by bringing out the finer sounds from the factory floor to the exhibi on floor. We thank TechData for being involved in every step of crea ng the experience center, showing commitment and dedica on to ensure that only the best solu on and result was achieved.” www.harman.com www.techdata.co.kr S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

INSTALLATION

MIDDLE EAST/DUBAI

DigiComm Installs Expansive Signage Network for the Mega Retail Mart

BrightSign Powers Robinson's Signage in Dubai Store happiness. “We are now in talks with Robinsons about providing a similar installa on for a new store they will be opening in Malaysia.” Custom built 55-inch LED screens powered by BrightSign XD233 players welcome shoppers at entrances on each of the three levels. Shoppers are presented with Robinsons' branding and informa on about current promo ons in store such as January sales. A further LED screen which overlooks a promenade area with a creek replicates these messages. The John Lewis home ware areas is introduced to the shoppers by means of a 3x3 screen video wall featuring 47-inch LEDs, and is driven by BrightSign XD233 players.

Dubai's newest and largest retail entertainment des na on the Robinson & Co. – amidst all its gli ering speciali es – has one very unique feature of technology deployment. Created as the flagship store at Dubai Fes val Central Mall as one of the Emirates' most pres gious retail des na ons with a whole big cluster of mul na onal brands, the 200,000-square feet mega departmental store is equipped with an expansive network of digital signage deployment based en rely on BrightSign media players. Locally-based digital media programming specialist Digital Communica ons, LLC. (DigiComm) had the prideful privilege of deploying the en re signage network comprising mul ple LED sreens, brand columns, commercial screens and way finders, besides a massive video wall- all spread over the three storeyed structure. The mega store is not only Dubai's largest retail store, but also first Middle East loca on for the Singapore-headquartered retail group. Amongst the most popular brands at the mega store is the 15,000square feet concession from the Bri sh store John Lewis focused on homeware as well as an IKEA concession. The store promises customers access to over 500 fashion, beauty and homeware brands including over 100 that are exclusive to the store. Signage screens driven by as many as 47 networked BrightSign players are central to the marke ng of these brands in-store. Commen ng on the pres gious install work, DigiComm Director Ibrahim Bakhrani said “we chose BrightSign players to power this installa on because they were the best product available offering all of the func onality we needed.” According to him, BrightSign is reliable and incredibly easy to use and install. The players are also compact and sit neatly behind each screen, emi ng very li le heat. “We have been using BrightSign players for many years and they really are fit and forget units – they need no management or upda ng and failures are almost unheard of,” Bakhrani expressed Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

Within each department, DigiComm has located brand columns with portrait 49-inch screens a ached on either side. These promote specific brands with video content provided by those brands. Each floor also has a VIP check out area where landscape 55-inch screens are used to display Robinsons' messaging and adver se in-store promo ons to the store's most wealthy customers. All these displays are powered by BrightSign LS423 players. On each floor, DigiComm has provided two or three 49-inch touchscreen way finders, driven by BrightSign XD1033 players. These way finders direct customers not only to departments but also to specific brands, and provide informa on about the brands and products. The interac vity and all of the content are en rely managed by the BrightSign players running BrightAuthor so ware. DigiComm created a cabled and wireless LAN network to deliver content to the players. Many of the players are Wi-Fi-enabled to simplify connec vity. Content is managed in an in-store media room which uses BrightAuthor on a central PC to control content on all screens across the three floors. “Ini ally, the DigiComm team managed the content by itself, but we were able to hand this func on over to the store staff very quickly,” recalls Ibrahim Bakhrani. “We provided training and support to help them get up to speed, and the drag and drop interface within BrightAuthor proved to be very intui ve and straigh orward so that non-technical staff were quickly comfortable with it.” Robinson & Co. Limited has department stores in Singapore and Malaysia. The company owns the Robinsons department store, John Li le in Singapore and has franchise outlets of Marks and Spencer in both countries. The company has grown into one of the country's most renowned department stores. Robinsons celebrated its 150th Anniversary in 2008. www.brightsign.biz www.digicomm.ae

VIETNAM

INSTALLATION

DesignLive Technologies Does Honours at the Popular Vietnamese Leisure Destination

Symetrix Prism Enhances Nam Nghi Resort Experience In tandem with delivering as much processing power from as li le rack-space as possible, the DesignLive team was also asked to guarantee flexible control for hotel opera ons to allow easy adjustment of volume and other se ngs. Symetrix ARC-2e wall interfaces have been provided for 'physical' control at each zone, while SymVue provides the hotel's technical personnel with an integrated master control panel via laptop, enabling them to make tweaks on the fly via the ARC-Web interface for iPad and smartphone. "Yet again, the Symetrix processors have proven to be a match for the many and varied requirements of a modern luxury resort," says Phu, adding that a single Symetrix Jupiter 4 has also been supplied for a mobile PA system that is used in various spaces around the complex. "In par cular in the spa/gym area, they have given Nam Nghi Resort a degree of future-proofing so they can add more func onality as their requirements evolve." Nestled on the shores of the exquisite Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc, the secluded resort of Nam Nghi is among Southeast Asia's most exclusive holiday des na ons. But while guests enjoy the breathtaking natural landscapes and luxuriate besides Vung Bau Bay, behind the scenes a wealth of technology works seamlessly with processing across mul ple zones courtesy of just three Symetrix Prism DSPs. The audio system designed by HCMC-based professional audio-visual solu ons specialist DesignLive Technologies u lizes just a single Prism apiece to easily accommodate the current and future needs of three primary zones: the Rock Bar, the Tree House Restaurant, and the main hotel complex with all-day dining and spa/gym facili es. For Phu Tran Pham, DesignLive's founder, there was never any doubt that the Prism processors would be a perfect match for Nam Nghi Resort. "They offer a great blend of processing power, func onality, and a rac ve price points," he says, adding that DesignLive "implements Symetrix DSPs for all our hotel projects, and indeed for all of our audio projects of any kind over the last seven years."

Most importantly, Nam Nghi's Entertainment & Events Manager, Wassili Quist, is delighted with the result. "The Symetrix DSP system is probably the best network audio system processor we have worked with so far. It's a strong and efficient DSP that's surprisingly easy to work with. The Dante digital audio network and the ARC controls work perfectly for our resort. We have created mul ple zones throughout the space, and having smartphone control of volume, source, and zone selec on makes this installa on very efficient and easy to work with." Quist concludes, "the DesignLive team did a fantas c job recommending, installing, and explaining the unlimited op ons and possibili es. It's definitely an industry standard that I will recommend for any future project."

In all three zones at Nam Nghi, the Prism processors are integrated into a Dante network for maximum flexibility. In the Rock Bar, varying background music and DJ requirements are catered for with a single Prism 8x8 DSP used in conjunc on with A ero Tech Dante interface wall-plates. A similarly streamlined configura on is found in the Tree House Restaurant, where a Prism 4x4 processes Ashly amplifiers. The setup in the all-day dining area is more complex as it also caters to the adjacent spa/gym area. In the dining area a Prism 4x4 manages the BGM system, including Ashly amplifiers. A single Symetrix xIO 4x4 expander extends the system to the spa/gym amplifier rack via the hotel LAN, where local analog inputs are available for instructors to connect their preferred music sources. Fiber and network drops also run from the all-day rack to the pool area, allowing for future expansion via Symetrix I/O expanders.

www.symetrix.co

S I A

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

INSTALLATION SOUTH KOREA

Sonic Challenges Addressed by APG Uniline Compact Modular Line Array Systems

Experiential 'Sound Placement' at Gimpo Art Hall

Located on the Southern bank of the Han River, the city of Gimpo (South Korea) has been home to a state-of-the-art cultural centre since 2014. Designed by Seoul architects G.Lab, the Gimpo Art Hall boasts a wonderful architecture that symbolizes the city's emergence as a contemporary hub and the agricultural history of the region. Located on the first floor is a 509-seat theatre hos ng a variety of performances including concerts, plays and recitals. However, from the very first performances, it became clear that the sound didn't match the greatness and beauty of the venue, with members of the audience and ar sts alike complaining about the audio. To solve this major issue, the Gimpo City Hall called in AV distributor and integrator Sound Place, which was tasked with rethinking the en re theatre sound system and solving the complex sonic challenges. Sound Place quickly opted for a full APG solu on to equip the Gimpo Art Hall with the sound it deserves. Sangwoo Do, director of Sound Place, comments: “The Gimpo Art Hall hosts a wide range of eclec c performances. We needed a versa le audio solu on that could sa sfy any type of performance, from lectures to concerts, and the answer came from APG and its new Uniline Compact range.” Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

In order to get an accurate 3D rendering of the sound system required, Sound Place used the EASE Focus simula on so ware. The results quickly led them to the Uniline compact range from the French manufacturer. Based on the “Modular Line Array” concept invented by APG, the Uniline Compact oﬀers maximum versa lity and scalability, making it able to cover an impressive range of applica ons with a single system of line arrays from small to high

INSTALLATION

power, and from short to long throw. A total of 16x APG UC206N speakers were laid out in the venue, coupled with eight APG UC 115B bass speakers and four infra bass speakers. For the front-fill, Sound Place once again turned to the Uniline Compact, op ng this me for two UC206W speakers which offer a wide spread to solve the architectural challenges of the venue. The installa on is completed with 21x APG DX8, an ultra-compact loudspeaker which provides a wide and coherent sound field thanks to its coaxial technology, as well as four DMS48 digital processors offering four inputs and eight outputs. Sound Place praised the quality of its electronic design and its input / output converters (4/8), which give a high level of audio performance. “The major drawback of the previous system was a lack of performance in the ultra-low frequencies,

which was par cularly problema c during rock performances. There was also a lack of sound pressure due to the low number of speakers and their inadequate posi on in the hall” explains Sangwoo Do. He concludes: “The Uniline Compact has brilliantly solved all these issues thanks to its great versa lity, providing a high sound pressure regardless of the type of performance. The director of Gimpo Art Hall is par cularly happy with the new sound system and emphasized the perfect balance and the very high sound quality of the Uniline Compact.” www.apg.audio S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

INSTALLATION SOUTH KOREA

Pm10 System Signicantly Expands the Options and Possibilities for the Church

South Korean Church Sounds Good with RIVAGE PM10

One of South Korea's most popular churches, the Good Shepherd Church in Seongnam, has recently invested in a Yamaha RIVAGE PM10 digital mixing system to further enhance the experience of its thousands of worshippers. With it's popula on of around one million, Seongnam City is the 10th largest city in South Korea and is one of the growing number of satellite ci es that border the capital city of Seoul. Located in the heart of the densely-populated urban area, the church acts as a focal point to the large popula on of Methodist Chris ans who live and work in the area. The church and its followers dedicate themselves to a number of community and humanitarian ac vi es throughout the year. These include an extensive homeless care programme, food sharing for people with lower incomes, a library for children and students, as well as movie screening for local residents, who might not otherwise be able to aﬀord such entertainment.

Pastor Yoo Ki-sung, whose sermons draw followers from across South Korea

Leading the church's 20 pastors is the na onally revered Pastor Yoo Ki-sung, whose sermons draw followers from throughout the country.

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

At the heart of the church building is a 2500-seat worship hall, with a further 15 mee ng rooms located around the building. These addi onal rooms are all equipped with audio and video feeds from the main hall so they can be used for individual ac vi es and, also, as addi onal sea ng at peak periods such as Christmas, when the main hall is filled to capacity. Every Friday evening the church holds a full service and there are a total of five services throughout each Sunday. Sound for the services is lead by a dedicated team of audio engineers, supported by a number of volunteers. “As well as the sermons, we have a range of performances from our worship bands and choirs,” explains audio team leader Kim Hyun-suk. “Instrumenta on ranges from rock drums, bass, guitars and keyboards through to grand piano and acous c strings. There's even a gong on stage. Musicians sit either side of stage, leaving the main stage area for the pastor and singers. “For the past 15 years, we've been using an older analogue console to perform mixing du es but, in recent years, we've been struggling to keep it maintained and delivering the kind of performances that we and the musicians have experienced on more modern systems.” A special task force was set up at the church made up of pastors, elders and in-house audio engineers, tasked with specifying a new digital mixing system with the best balance of specifica ons, usability and price.

INSTALLATION

that we liked but, at the end of the day, it was just one sound. The possibili es with RIVAGE PM10 are endless”. “We think it is very important to understand the possibili es of the combina on of the preamps, the Rupert Neve Designs SILK se ngs and plug-ins so it is a big focus for us at the moment,” adds Kim. “We are also currently training our volunteers to use the system. A very useful feature of the control surface is being able to split the fader banks into two, which allows one of our in-house engineers to operate front of house on one fader bank, while we babysit one of the volunteers who mixes monitors on the other. And that brings me to looks - it's a great looking desk to stand behind during a service!” Cho Chi-hyuong (front) and Kim Hyun-suk (rear) “We researched and trialled systems by all the main manufacturers and chose Yamaha,” says engineer Cho Chi-hyuong. “Apart from sa sfying our sonic and ergonomic needs, one of the main criteria was that the system had to be extremely reliable. Our experience with Yamaha consoles while working at rental companies, and of three years using them at a Hillsong Church in Australia, gave us the extra reassurance that the Yamaha console would serve us well for many years to come.” “Eventually we se led on an 80 input by 30 output RIVAGE PM10 system, which was installed by Seoul-based Sound Korea ENG. Once we'd had training from the Yamaha Korea product specialist, we were able to start building our sound. The analogue console had a sound

“Now that we have the luxury of a RIVAGE PM10 system in our church, it has also meant that the quality of our sound recordings and broadcasts is much improved. Such is the fame of Pastor Yoo Ki-sung that every single service is broadcast live on the internet and simultaneously recorded. We record from the Dante network straight into Nuendo or ProTools for the larger worship band recordings. For the simpler voice recordings of the sermons we go via AES/EBU into Adobe Audi on”. “The whole PM10 system has signiﬁcantly expanded the op ons and possibili es that we have here in the church. We are really looking forward to exploring them throughout 2018.” www.yamahaproaudio.com S I A

“Apart from sa sfying our sonic and ergonomic needs, one of the main criteria was that the system had to be extremely reliable. Our experience with Yamaha consoles while working at rental companies, and of three years using them at a Hillsong Church in Australia, gave us the extra reassurance that the Yamaha console would serve us well for many years to come.” - Cho Chi-hyuong, Engineeer, The Good Shepherd Church.

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

INSTALLATION

INDIA

Madame Tussauds Makes a Grand Debut in India with 'Hi-Tech Audio' n Video Ambience

Statues, Signature Style, Sound and Sight to Behold

FACTFILE Project Name: Madame Tussauds New Delhi Project Loca on: Connaught Place, New Delhi Project Segment: Entertainment Project Owner: Merlin Entertainment Project Management Consultant: Currie & Brown

Madame Tussauds…The name spells magic, of a rarest kind; connotes a fascina ng tradi on, a unique exper se, and a waxy wonderment! The grand brand entertainment recently debuted in India, with its 24th address having been carved in the heritage structure of Regal Cinema building in country's na onal capital New Delhi. While the coming of the Tussauds to the city itself was big thing, the way it was created – with a very dis nct audio-visual ambience – has made it doubly special. An SIA report:

Architect (s): Thöne & Partner GmbH & Co.KG Design Consultant (s): Thöne & Partner GmbH & Co.KG Systems Integrator: Hi-Tech Audio Systems Main Contractor: Merlin Entertainment( Direct ) AV Project Commencement: December 2016 AV Project Commissioned: July 2017 AV Project Cost: Approx ₹ 3 crore

The Se ng: No urban ci zen these days needs to be told what's Madame Tussauds is all about. Best described as one of the most popular tourist a rac ons across the globe, Madame Tussauds is a grand 250year-old legend of crea ng illustrious museums with exquisitely carved wax ﬁgures of famous personali es from diverse ﬁelds of human endeavor- from poli cs to business, theatre to music, sports to movies, and more! Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

Founded in London in the early 1800s by the famed wax sculptor Marie Tussaud (for all the historical reasons), the Madame Tussauds museum today has branches in 23 ci es across the world. The Indian Na onal Capital of New Delhi joined the 24 member of elite list on 1 December 2017 when the pres gious infotainment ins tu on opened its first newest waxing address at the historic Regal Cinema complex in the grand heritage loca on of Connaught Place. A mul -cultural and mul -ethnical metropolis that it is, New Delhi is a rich blend of past, present and future- displaying a very dynamically futuris c outlook while being grounded to its rich historic repertoire that is characterized by grand forts, historical monuments, heritage sites, iconic museums and more, a rac ng millions of visitors from across the world every year. Now, the coming of the legendary Madame Tussauds museum to a befi ng loca on has arguably elevated the city's infotainment profile. In a very modern and young parlance, clicking a selfie with one's favourite star or celebrity has now become a reality- albeit in a different entertainment mode.

INSTALLATION

The Tussauds India Experience: A wonderment amalgama on of Western ar stry with the essence of Indian vibes

“The entry of Madame Tussauds to India and se ng afoot in Delhi is big news for the country,” declares Mohit Anand, Head of Opera ons, Merlin Entertainments (India), the brand owner opera ng the Tussauds museums worldwide. “The a rac on is an amalgama on of Western ar stry while keeping the essence of Indian vibe; 60 percent of the wax ﬁgures are Indian celebri es.”

mix of Indian and interna onal personali es from diverse ﬁelds of ac vity. More, the promoters wanted to further dis nguish the infotainment fare with addi onal a rac ons, but with a good mix of audio-visual fare so that it compliments the essen al Tussauds' genre. All that required a very competent AV solu on developer-deployer with relevant domain exper se, and proven creden al. That brought onboard the locally-based AV solu ons provider Hi-Tech

The Making:

Audio Systems that was tasked to conceptualizing and designing the

Having decided and zeroed in on the heritage Regal Cinema building

AV deployment at the project. The essence of the brief for the

as its loca on cra ing the museum, Merlin Entertainment took

designer was to create a visual iden ty that will highlight the

onboard the Bri sh asset management and construc on consultancy

interac ve fundamentals of the museum. The company was very

ﬁrm Currie & Brown as its Project Management Consultant for the

speciﬁc that the brand guidelines and installa ons had to be on par, if

ambi ous project. While Jersey-headquartered PMC did have its

not be er than the other interna onal museums.

Indian personnel connect too with the project, it brought the German design consultancy ﬁrm Thöne & Partner GmbH & Co.KG for the design of the museum.

“Everyone is aware of Madame Tussauds as a global brand; for Delhi we had to carry forward those tenets with everything we oﬀer,” says

The designer ﬁrm laid the full design framework based on the user

Ankit Gupta, Director, Finance & Marke ng, Hi-

opera onal requirements and system func onali es. Going by the

Tech Audio Systems. “The historical, ethical and

tradi on of the brand, the composi on of the museum had to be a

educa onal tours had to be as much in sync with the Tussaud's iden ty and impact for the

The Genesis The se ng-up of the museum in New Delhi is actually part of a very ambi ous ini a ve by the London-headquartered family entertainment business enterprise- Merlin Entertainment PLC. Making public its grand plans as long ago as November 2015, the company announced it intends to invest to the tune of £50 million in India over a 10-year-period. The first venture of the ini a ve is the Madame Tussauds, the success of which would be followed by rolling out of its other iconic 'Midway' entertainment offerings such as SEA LIFE and LEGOLAND Discovery Centres in key ci es across India. The company's vast profile of entertainment projects includes theme parks, resorts, marine world, adventure world and more.

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

INSTALLATION

Celebs entertaining as if doing it in real. Experience of a diﬀerent kind.

visitors,” he explains. “Once you step into the place, it had to give you

ﬂoors with diﬀerent theme-based zones- such as Film & TV, Sports,

the same experience and grand vibe like any other Madame Tussauds

Music, Bollywood & Hollywood, History & Leaders and Authen c

across the world.”

History. Each zone had to have its own audiovisual characteris cs that

According to him, the company's creden als from some of its prideful installs in the country has given them the edge to bag this pres gious project. “It was indeed a privilege to have worked on the project,” he

needed to be treated individually. Music, videos and light eﬀects were at the core while designing the project. A special emphasis was placed on interac ve displays and mul media installa ons in the a rac on.

recalls, “it was as pres gious as it was challenging too, given the tags of its global

The Process:

Key Highlights

iden ty, impact and expecta ons from us.”

A er an in-depth R&D process, team Hi-Tech One of the challenges was to devise the AV in such a manner that the visitors have an entertaining, accessible and experien al

Virtual Ice hockey

Ba ack system

went into the ﬁrst stage of designing the audiovideo interfaces. Since the a rac on is divided into several zones, the audio is centralized to the

involvement throughout the visit. The product

Outdoor LED screens

excellence division of Merlin Entertainment

Sound Zoning for speciﬁc areas

measures and analyses the experience of all

LED video walls

their guests with a view to improvising their

Interac ve mirror etc..

single master control hub. The system designer chose speakers that would create the perfect ambience for each zone.

oﬀerings across its brands further to the best

“The inventory for Madame Tussauds mainly

experience of visitors.

comprises top AV brands in the world; we chose Bose, Panasonic and Delta,” informs Gurpreet Singh, Project

Says Ni n Gupta, Director, Hi-Tech Audio Systems: “A lot of inputs have

Manager, Hi-Tech Audio Systems. “Our prime concern was to

come from the client side as they are well aware of the a rac ons' AV

oﬀer world-class quality audio and video to the visitors. Since there

integra on at an interna onal level. We were entrusted with the task

are diﬀerent zones within the venue, we designed the speaker

of crea ng a historical, as well as a contemporary ambience with

placement in such a way that the spillover between the zones is zero,”

audio and visuals. The visitors should relate with the aura prevailing at the a rac on. According to him, Merlin Entertainments wanted blend the brand Madam Tussauds genre with Indian tradi onal and heritage feel so that the holis c oﬀering connects with the Indian visitors even as it reinforces the brand's unique iden ty. The SI, therefore, had to incorporate a music zone that plays Punjabi music, an exclusive party area with rocking Bollywood music, and other such entertainment zones. “We had to create diﬀerent experiences of a fairy tale world for the visitors to cherish each me they visit the a rac on,” recalls Ni n. It was thus ideated to create the museum in two Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

Emotional past and exciting present... all coming together

INSTALLATION

A waxy artistry 'framed', themed, and zoned as per genres of kind.

he explains. “Each zone is theme-based and the throw of audio is

Modi; iconic sport stars - Sachin Tendulkar, Mary Kom, David

controlled accordingly to compliment the ambience of the areas.”

Beckham and Milkha Singh; Bollywood singers and superstars like

The SI, accordingly roped in Bose Free Space speakers, PowerMatch ampliﬁers with mul -channel audio player from Alcorn McBride to weave around a very involving audio ambience. The audio playback is prescheduled or operated by external contact or user, based on the

Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Asha Bhosle, Ranbir Kapoor and Hollywood stars like Kim Kardashian, Leonardo DiCaprio, Scarle Johansson, Angelina Jolie, and Tom Cruise- to name just a few.

The Experience:

theme requirement. Currie & Brown, the PMC of the project is apparently happy The museum has a total of 14 zones where

with the design evolved and executed. “Hi-Tech team made a

diﬀerent music is played simultaneously.

tremendous contribu on in implemen ng

Key AV Gear

Similarly for video, displays and projectors

the concept of Madame Tussauds in Delhi,”

from Panasonic have been installed with

commended Faheem Beg, Senior

BrightSign media players for precise and

Bose FreeSpace Speakers

clear view. The en re system is si ng on a

Bose PowerMatch Amps

“Team Hi-Tech's proac ve approach, in-

Programme Manager, Currie & Brown.

network through which centralized control

Alcorn McBride Audio Processors

depth subject knowledge and experience all

and media change is done easily.

BrightSign Media Players

added up to make the systems fully

For outdoor LED signage and video wall, Hi-

Panasonic Projectors

func onal as desired by the Madame

Tech used Delta outdoor 6-mm and 8-mm

Panasonic Displays

Tussauds top management.”

pitch LED les at the entrance and side wall

Virtual Hockey (Ver go Systems)

Says Mohit Anand: “for an immersive

displays. Further, the indoor area is

7-pod Boxing (Rugged Interac ve UK)

showcase, proper AV is an essen al

installed with a 46-inch LCD video wall done in 2x2 conﬁgura on.

component. We wanted state-of-the-art AV set-up that enhances visitors' experience;

That the Tussauds management is always

being a Pro AV company with a legacy of two decades,

keen to include new surprises for the visitors, the AV systems

Hi-Tech Audio was our natural choice for us.

integrator installed a unique game in the a rac on - Virtual Hockey

They have the exper se and extensive knowhow to integrate world-

with virtual ball and 7 Pod Boxing Game which are specially imported

class systems professionally. The a er sales support is remarkable,”

from Ver go Systems Germany and Rugged Interac ve UK,

commends the Merlin Entertainment India Exec.

respec vely. Beside, Hi-Tech Audio Systems also customized and installed interac ve displays like Mirror Interac ve Photo Booth, KBC

According to him, the en re installa on is an insignia of engineering

theme interac ve display that lets visitors to par cipate in the quiz

marvel that compliments the ambience of Madame Tussauds, Delhi.

show and innova ve interac ve book display.

“Surely, the place will bring out the kid in you once you enter the premises,” he exudes conﬁdence.

While all these are done to compliment the main a rac on, the core of Madame Tussauds Delhi is a combina on of Indian and Interna onal iconic semblance, with over 50 wax ﬁgures. These wax mould sculptures include that of India's Prime Minister Narendra

www.hitechaudiosystems.com www.curriebrown.com www.thoeneundpartner.de S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

INSTALLATION

THAILAND

HARMAN Solutions Help Meet Objectives Effectively

Mahajak Keeps Busy with Hospitality Projects

In 2017 Thailand a racted 35.38 million tourists. Not surprisingly Thailand's tourism industry contributes a big chunk to the country's GDP. Its friendly people, natural landscape and cuisine are some of the reasons tourist flock to the country. Catering not only to tourist needs but also business professionals are a range of hotels including renowned global brands. Hotel chains con nue to develop new proper es as well as refurbish current proper es to keep in tandem with demands. Opened last year was the Park Hya Bangkok, a Five Star luxury hotel that accommodates 222 rooms with full facili es together with a premium service. The AV demands for the hotel was met by Mahajak Development Co. Ltd. Working with the project consultant Project Asia Co., Ltd and system designer Atkrist Co., Ltd, the full AV system was commissioned in November 2017. Mahajak was responsible to supply and integrate the en re AV system that included the Ground Floor public areas, the ballroom and two mee ng rooms in basement 1, the mee ng room and bridal rooms at the LG 1 level, the public areas and mee ng rooms on floor 9, the public areas on floor 10 including the Spa, the Fitness space at floor 11 and the Sky Restaurant that occupies floors 34 to 36. “The customer expected to get modern solu on for the audio and Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

Ballroom

visual systems in public areas of the hotel following the consultants design. Vocals and music had to be clear and pleasing. Moreover, they needed the equipment to be harmonious with the appearance of the hotel structure, be reliable and from our end they expected excellent a er sales service,” said Rungrote Kerdpimon, Sales Project Engineer, Mahajak Development.

INSTALLATION

Mahajak depended for most of the integra on on HARMAN solu ons. Being a HARMAN distributor they are of course very familiar with the brand and its products and have completed many successful projects with HARMAN solu ons. For the Park Hya Bangkok, most of the speakers installed featured the JBL Control ceiling speakers ranging between the 14C/T and 16C/T models. This kept in line with the clean look that the hotel had wanted. Crown ampliﬁers drive the speakers and audio processing is handled by BSS BLU processors. For the main ballroom, the sound reinforcement is provided by 15 units of JBL Control328C. These 8" Coaxial Ceiling Loudspeaker with HF Compression Driver oﬀer consistent 120 degrees broadband pa ern control that covers an extremely large area. Of course the

The Sky Restaurant

Rungroate Kerdpimom comments, “This is the first me we are working with the Park Hya . Success for this project did not come easily. We faced many difficul es during the installa on since this project was quite large and involved so many other contractors but we solved all problems and moved quickly to comple on. Lastly, I would say we tried our best to respond to all requirements which impressed and sa sfied the customer. We are very proud of it all.”

speakers oﬀer extraordinary clarity for speech and vocals with extended frequency response for music. Mixing du es is handled by one unit each of Soundcra LX7ii-32 and Soundcra LX7ii-16. Mahajak also integrated a mix of Shure microphones for the mee ng rooms and ballroom as well as Panasonic projectors and Draper screens.

S I A

Hua Hin. Lawrence Siow from Asia Tech Associates Consul ng Co., Ltd. was the system designer for the project. AV systems were integrated within the Ballroom, Mee ng rooms, Board room, Lobby and Pool areas. Once again HARMAN solu ons were at the forefront of the solu ons provided. For the ballroom, “The objec ve was a system that could be used for a variety of events such as wedding ceremony, seminars, banquets and exhibi ons,” said Anchalee Sienoun, Project Sales Engineer at Mahajak Development. 24 units of JBL Control26C ceiling speakers were installed at the ballroom. They are driven by Crown amplifiers with sound processing handled by BSS BLU. A Soundcra U16 console handles mixing du es. At a slightly different scale is the Holiday Inn Resort Vana Nava Hua Hin. Hua Hin is closely associated with the Thai royal family and is a quiet and relaxing seaside resort ideal for family vaca ons, which is a reasonable 2.5 hours drive down from Bangkok. Mere steps from the hotel is the Vana Nava Hua Hin water jungle theme park. Both the water jungle theme park and the hotel belong to the same developer - Proud Real Estate Co., Ltd. The developer has been expanding the real estate in the area con nuously to include entertainment, residen al, retail venues including hospitality. The hotel opened its doors late last year with 300 rooms and suites offering contemporary designs and a panoramic view of the ocean. Mahajak Development who had been involved with AV integra on at the water jungle theme park was once again called upon to supply and integrate the AV solu ons for the Holiday Inn Resort Vana Nava

AMX SP-08-AX-US wall panel control Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

INSTALLATION

Samsung panels with Brightsign players are used for signage purposes

An AMX NX3200 Netlinx NX Integrated Controller has been installed to control the various equipment within the ballroom. AMX SP-08-AXUS wall panel one touch controls have also been installed for quick ac on by service staff. Vocal reinforcement du es are taken care of with a variety of Shure microphones. The ballroom also features 12 units of Mar n Mac Aura ligh ng fixtures for effect ligh ng. The mee ng rooms located at the Mezzanine floor feature JBL Control 14C/T ceiling speakers. These are complemented by JBL8124 and JBL CSA2120Z speakers. Each room features a Panasonic projector. Barco ClickShare CS-100 wireless presenta on systems have also been integrated at the mee ng rooms for easier presenta on. An AMX NX1200 Netlinx NX Integrated Controller helps control and automate a variety of devices at the mee ng rooms. Shure microphones are once again in the mix. An almost similar setup has also been integrated within the Board Room.

Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

The All Day room and the lobby also feature a variety of JBL Control ceiling speakers. An addi onal Samsung display with a BrightSign player has been integrated in both spaces for digital signage purposes. The swimming pool features the JBL Control85M weather resistant outdoor speakers. These are complemented by the JBL Control28-1 two-way 8” speakers that offer rich sonic character with wide and consistent coverage. “This was the second project that we worked on with Proud Real Estate. The first project was to install the audio system within Vana Nava Hua Hin which was Asia's first water jungle theme park, so we were proud of ourselves. The requirement for the hotel was for easy to use and easy to maintain solu ons sui ng various events. We believe we have delivered accordingly,” said Ms. Anchalee. www.mahajak.com

AUSTRALIA

INSTALLATION

The Chalice LED 150w Downlights Offer Versatility and Easy Integration

Altman Lighting Brightens the Concert Hall of Abbotsleigh

Located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and originally established in1885, Abbotsleigh is an independent boarding school which provides a quality and well-balanced educa on. Focused on empowering their students to be courageous, construc ve and compassionate, the school has been working behind the scenes on an upgrade to their concert and assembly hall ligh ng systems. Led by the systems integra on team at Barbizon Australia, the renova on project most recently undertook the upgrading of the house ligh ng systems in the concert hall using Chalice LED 150W downlights from Altman Ligh ng. “We first came to this project while conduc ng a review of all the ligh ng fixtures and systems for the various venues within the school, and then preparing a schedule for renova ons over a 2 to 3-year period,” began Paul Lewis, Systems Sales Director for Barbizon Australia. “The overall scope involved upgrading the fixtures to LED and upda ng the associated control systems as well. Stage one was previously comprised of installing Altman PHX 250W LED profiles in a few difficult to service front-of-house posi ons, along with Spectra Cyc 100 LED fixtures installed in the main assembly hall and the concert hall. Stage two was now being able to replace the exis ng house and work ligh ng fixtures in the concert hall with the new Chalice LED.” The Chalice LED Series is the most diverse range of downlights available with moun ng op ons that include pendant, recessed, aircra cable, wall and yoke mount; and dimming choices ranging from Mains Dimming to DMX. Also available with a wide variety of LED colour or white light op ons, plus numerous lens or reflector choices, the Chalice LED Series is the most versa le and easy to integrate downlight solu on available today. Lewis con nued, “For the replacement of the house lights in the concert hall, the main challenges were needing to u lize both the exis ng house light posi ons and the exis ng power infrastructure, including dimmers and moun ng methods. Addi onally, we had the challenge of accessing the overhead concrete slab that would prevent

the installa on of any new DMX infrastructure. The fi ngs needed to dim smoothly on mains power, plus be able to be suspended from the exis ng penetra ons in the slab. The Chalice LED downlights were ideal for this type of job, and since we are the Altman distributors for Australia, it was a natural choice.” With the design solu on now in place, Lewis and his team got to work on the installa on of the new house ligh ng system. Needing the system to operate efficiently within the control protocols already in place, the Chalice LED down lights offered a powerful yet simple, retrofi ed ligh ng solu on. “There are now 24 Chalice 150W Mains Dim 2700K luminaires suspended on aircra cable in a one-for-one replacement of the tungsten fixtures from the original build,” added Lewis. “They are all being dimmed via the exis ng dimming system, and they are easily controlled by either the architectural, A/V, or stage ligh ng control system.” Now complete, the new house ligh ng system inside the concert hall at Abbotsleigh is providing both the performance capabili es and the design aesthe cs desired. Highlighted by its ability to work with both mains dimming and DMX protocols, Lewis is confident they found the ideal ligh ng solu on with the Chalice LED series from Altman Ligh ng. “The Altman Chalice 150 is a beau ful fixture from both a light output and industrial design perspec ve,” concluded Lewis. “With its single source and reflector op c, plus its clean and simple lines, the Chalice downlight allows a venue to upgrade to LED ligh ng using their exis ng infrastructure and conven onal dimming, or allows a venue to control via DMX, or a combina on of both. Also, the op onal dimming curves available on the DMX model allow for a very smooth dimming that replicates very closely the smoothness of a fade on a tungsten lamp, minus the colour shi of course.” www.altmanligh ng.com S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

INSTALLATION

INDIA

SISPL, Aurora Multimedia Come Together to Dene an Experience

Deploying Portable AV over IP at ICTS

The Interna onal Centre for Theore cal Sciences (ICTS) – one of the premiere research ins tu ons in Bengaluru – is a very dis nct ensemble of highly elevated research studies, perhaps just one of its kind! A concern of the illustrious Tata Ins tute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) – the ins tu on is actually a congrega on of highly qualified researchers from diverse fields wan ng to further develop their exper se even as they contribute to society. Befi ngly, the ins tu on wanted revamp its old technology backbone with a superla ve format of technology that is both easy to work with and facilitate the desired func onali es. Mumbai-headquartered Solu ons India Systems Pvt Ltd had the privilege of facilita ng the technology flow, while Aurora Mul media had a cri cal technology provider role. An SIA Snappy Report:

The ICTS is a mul and interdisciplinary ins tu on working with essen ally three goals- bring together the wide global diaspora of scien sts, promote in-house research in theore cal sciences by high quality faculty, and s mulate young, spirited minds from India- to work together to solve the most challenging ques ons posed by nature. An extension of the objec ve is, in the process of doing so, the community in congrega on is to discover the underlying structures across the sciences and to strive for the unity of knowledge. With that exalted vision driving its mission, the famed TIFR established the ICTS in 2007, on the green outskirts of Bengaluru. Spread over a sprawling 78,000-square metre campus at Shivakote, Hesaragha a Hobli, in North Bangalore, this world-class residen al campus has been designed to provide oﬃce space and on-site accommoda on for over 150 academic members, including 75 visitors. Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

Apart from al the modern research-friendly infrastructural and connec vity provision, the campus has a dedicated Auditorium Complex named a er the renowned scien st Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, that also comprises the Srinivasa Ramanujan hall, and the Madhava hall with a capacity of 300, 100, and 50 people respec vely. Conference and lecture halls are equipped with high-end audio-video equipment for recording and broadcas ng events. However, that the client’s exis ng system was a tradi onal matrix system that did not allow them to send the content from one input to mul ple rooms, they wanted to revamp it with something that facilitates one-to-many transmission ac vity. They scouted for solu on provider who understood the problem and their requirement.

INSTALLATION

FACTFILE Project Name: ICTS Auditorium Project Loca on: Bengaluru Project Segment: Educa on Project Owner: TIFR (Tata Ins tute of Fundamental Research) AV Design Consultant: Solu ons India Systems Pvt. Ltd. ICTS - A congrega onal point for global intelligentsia and scien ﬁc diaspora

That’s how the Mumbai-headquartered systems integrator Solu ons India Systems Pvt Ltd (SISPL) got onboard ICTS to troubleshoot the situa on. Having examined the situa on, the SISPL knew what could solve the problem; they decided to rope in Aurora Mutlimedia’s Transceiver system which runs on the advanced IPBaseT, and allows the one-to-many transmission of content. “They had a conven onal HDMI switcher which doesn’t have the capability to route one input to mul ple outputs,” Balaji M, Senior Manager-Projects of SISPL. “While the client’s essen al requirement was to overcome this limita on, they actually wanted a portable AV solu on,” Balaji explains. “We knew the Transceiver systems is capable of overcoming this limita on.” That the Transceiver runs very smoothly over exis ng CAT6, CAT 6a cable coming in each of the loca on made it doubly easy for the integrator. We just designed AV over IP programme in associa on with Aurora design team,” explains the SISPL exec. “Using correct solu on in the right spec, we replaced the old HDMI matrix switcher Aurora AV over IP unit – the VLX-TC1-C in their exis ng LAN Network.” According to him, there were no technical challenges whatsoever on site, or with the units installed. It all began working very ﬁne from the word go. Moreover, they did not have to change any other system components like video or display devises. Except replacing the HDMI Matrix Switcher with the IPBaseT Transceiver for an AV Over IP

Systems Integrator: Solu ons India Systems Pvt. Ltd. AV project commencement: November 2017 AV Project commissioning: February 2018 Project highlights: Easy switching between inputs and outputs, minimizing distance, saving costs of mul ple numbers of switchers and rack space- all with VLX-TC1-C Transceiver.

network configura on, everything was just the same. “It was simply a plug and play; nothing more.” Says Puneet Rastogi, Managing Director of SISPL: “The unique thing about this project is that the install is not fixed at one loca on; it is rather portable. The client can carry to any designated place as and when they want.” That they were able to design the plug and play configura on through the IPBaseT Manager so ware, it all worked very well. He commended the support extended by Aurora Mul media India team. Complemen ng the work done by the SISPL team, Amit C Pillai, Technical Manager at Aurora Mul media said. “Since it was the first AV over IP installa on for our partner SISPL, we closely worked with them and helped them in the system configura on ll installa on. We were able provide a solu on posi oning to complete the project much efficiently than expected.” The client requirement was to have an easy switch between inputs and outputs, and ability to overcome the distance limita on. That was provided with minimum effort and op mum impact, at significantly lesser cost. h p://www.aurora-in.com/ www.sispl.co.in S I A Systems Integration Asia Vol. 17 Issue 4 ~ June - July 2018

ON OUR WEB

WWW.SYSTEMSINTEGRATIONASIA.COM Here are articles you might have missed from our web and eNewsletter coverage

Crestron has expanded its solu on por olio with Microso to include Microso Teams integra on to equip mee ng spaces of every size with innova ve Intelligent Communica ons (IC) technology.

Sony recently unveiled Sonic Surf VR, a unique suite of spa al audio technology combined with new mul channel speakers and specially developed so ware designed to simulate popping, moving, and par oning sounds in one space using an intui ve so ware applica on. The result is an interac ve space where sounds move freely around within a space to create immersive experiences.

Vega Global has appointed Ricky Lee as the new Country Manager for South Korea. Ricky Lee succeeds Tero Aide who was the Country's Head since 2015.

In a very interes ng development, four wellknown brands from Milestone AV Technology – namely the Chief, Da-Lite, Projecta, Sanus and Vaddio – have become part of Legrand. A communica on from Milestone noted that the four brands will now join Middle Atlan c to become the AV brands of Legrand.

The Belle Salle Roppongi Conference Center opened its doors as a for-hire conference venue in August 2016. Situated in the Roppongi area, a prime loca on in central Tokyo the Center oﬀers luxurious facili es and highest spec equipment for seminars, lectures, exhibi ons, and conferences. The venue has adopted Shure Microﬂex Wireless for its microphone needs.

Underscoring its commitment to increase its reach to a worldwide audience of commercial AV resellers, Key Digital Systems has announced the appointment of Evre & Stan to serve as a Indonesia distribu on partner for the company's awardwinning Compass Control Professional control system, Enterprise AV over IP pla orm, and related lines of solu ons

Clair Brothers team scored another distribu on victory recently at the ISE 2018 show, a er mee ng the team from Provision AVL located in Dubai. Adding the United Arab Emirates and the Middle Eastern market to their por olio, Clair Brothers' global reach is gaining impressive momentum.

May 8 saw LG Electronics (LG) present LG Connect 2018 Asia. With the theme of “Driving Digital Transforma on For Smart Na ons”, the event held at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore a racted regional delegates from Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia and Singapore. Distributors, system integrators, end-users and LG Regional oﬃce representa ves were treated to an interes ng conference programme followed by a walkthrough showcasing the latest LG solu ons implemented in diﬀerent scenarios.

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