Sound & Video Contractor - August 2021

AUGUST 2021 // VOLUME 39 // ISSUE 8

svconline.com

SOUND&VIDEO

CONTRACTOR

R E V I E W S | T E C H N O LO GY | A P P L I C AT I O N S PRODUCT-AT-WORK SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION

THE AV NIGHTCLUB BAR ILLUMINARIUM REDEFINES IMMERSION TECH SHOWCASES

* SIGNAL EXTENDERS * FURNITURE AND MOUNTS

contents

AUGUST 2021 // VOLUME 39 // ISSUE 8

30

FEATURES

4 | O n the Circuit

26 The AV Nightclub

12 | Signal Extenders

Bar Illuminarium redefines the immersion experience with emerging AV technology for an interactive, responsive, and ever-changing environment.

By Cynthia Wisehart

By Chief Editor Cynthia Wisehart

Tech Showcases

12

By Jeremy Caldera, CTS-D, CTS-I

20 | Furniture and Mounts

By Bennett Liles

Supplement

30 | Signal Distribution

20

Practical examples of IP-based signal distribution and a Dante control refresher with Bennett Liles and Brad Price.

Review

47 | Kramer VP-440X

By Jeremy Caldera, CTS-D, CTS-I

Sound & Video Contractor, Volume 39, Issue 8, (ISSN 0741-1715) is published monthly by Future US, Inc., 11 West 42nd Street, 15th floor, New York, NY 10036.

Periodical Postage Paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Sound & Video Contractor, PO Box 1051, Lowell, MA 01853. Canada Post International Publications Mail (Canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement No. 40612608. Canada return address: Pitney Bowes International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. ©2021 Future US, Inc.

SV C ON L I N E.C OM | AU GU S T 20 21 | S VC 3

on the circuit

Volume 39 Issue 8

August 2021

WWW.SVCONLINE.COM

T

By Cynthia Wisehart

Find me online cynthia.wisehart@ futurenet.com www.svconline.com/proavtoday and www.rebelmouse.com/ SVC_Online

4

SVC | AU G U S T 2 0 21 | SVCONLINE . CO M

he National Retail Federation is reporting that consumers want to go back to physical stores (although with the added convenience of permanent curbside pickup). Workers do kinda want to go back to the physical office but with the added convenience of flexible days and hours and hybrid work.

The pandemic asked people—customers, employees, employers, artists, retailers, restaurateurs, teachers, parents, trainers and yoga teachers—to be flexible beyond their wildest imaginations. And people blew it away. I did. I bet you did. Everyone I know did.

So now flexibility may turn out to be a permanent capability—and expectation. For better and worse for sure. Maybe that sucking sound of 2019 will pull us back into what used to pass for comfort, or at least inertia. Some things we miss greatly—Live. Music. Some things were just the devil we knew, and some things we don’t care if we ever see again. However, no matter how our whims and tastes settle, whatever power structures slip back into place, I do think at a minimum, generally speaking, we are permanently more flexible and more open to change than we ever were before. For some that flexibility came at a spectacular cost, so I’m pausing a moment in my train of thought to acknowledge them.

In the world away from life and death, many things that used to seem like life and death are just not that anymore. Which means they can change, even need to change.

What does this ramble have to do with AV? Well, specifically, in this issue I spent a chunk of space on the new Illuminarium in Atlanta. With its 19th century carnival name, it is a big, modern, ambitious plan that is deeply dependent on AV tech both for its current iteration and for where it hopes to go.

How this all ties together is that people are looking for different.

Indeed they already were or the Meow Wolf interactive museum-like thing wouldn’t have raised $138 million in VC. But what different will it be? I was attracted to Illuminarium because in my time as a theme park and museum designer we used to talk all the time about building white-walled rooms that could be reimagined over and over without ever uninstalling a single animatronic puppet.

I don’t know if Illuminarium will reach it’s total world domination goals of thirty “Illuminariums” and their companion nightclubs worldwide. Honestly I saw a lot of great big ideas come and go in that other career. But that was then, in the before times. Whatever the fate of a particular brainstorm, we sit at a crossroads of technical capability and willingness to use it in new ways. Candidly our systems were not entirely ready for shooting the moon even just five years ago.

Now they are, and more so every day. And so the same old challenges come with a brand new challenge from people with imagination. I know those people. We are ready for them. Bring change orders.

FOLLOW US @SVC_Online https://www.facebook.com/svconline CONTENT VP/Content Creation Anthony Savona Content Director Cynthia Wisehart, cynthia.wisehart@futurenet.com Contributors Bennett Liles Managing Design Director Nicole Cobban Art Editor Rob Crossland Production Managers Nicole Schilling, Heather Tatrow ADVERTISING SALES VP/Market Expert, AV/Consumer Electronics & Pro Audio Adam Goldstein, adam.goldstein@futurenet.com, 212-378-0465 Sales Janis Crowley, janis.crowley@futurenet.com, 845-414-6791 Debbie Rosenthal, debbie.rosenthal@futurenet.com, 212-378-0465 Zahra Majma, zahra.majma@futurenet.com, 845-678-3752 SUBSCRIBER CUSTOMER SERVICE To subscribe, change your address, or check on your current account status, go to www.mysvcmag. com and click on About Us, email futureplc@ computerfulfillment.com, call 888-266-5828, or write P.O. Box 8608, Lowell, MA 01853.

LICENSING/REPRINTS/PERMISSIONS Sound & Video Contractor is available for licensing.

Contact the Licensing team to discuss partnership opportunities.

Head of Print Licensing Rachel Shaw, licensing@futurenet.com MANAGEMENT Senior Vice President, B2B Rick Stamberger Vice President, Sales & Publishing, B2B Aaron Kern Vice President, B2B Tech Group Carmel King Vice President, Sales, B2B Tech Group Adam Goldstein Head of Production US & UK Mark Constance Head of Design Rodney Dive FUTURE PLC 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10036

All contents © 2021 Future US, Inc. or published under licence. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher. Future Publishing Limited (company number 2008885) is registered in England and Wales. Registered office: Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All information contained in this publication is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. Future cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. You are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price of products/services referred to in this publication. Apps and websites mentioned in this publication are not under our control. We are not responsible for their contents or any other changes or updates to them. This magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.

If you submit material to us, you warrant that you own the material and/or have the necessary rights/permissions to supply the material and you automatically grant Future and its licensees a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in any/all issues and/or editions of publications, in any format published worldwide and on associated websites, social media channels and associated products. Any material you submit is sent at your own risk and, although every care is taken, neither Future nor its employees, agents, subcontractors or licensees shall be liable for loss or damage. We assume all unsolicited material is for publication unless otherwise stated, and reserve the right to edit, amend, adapt all submissions.

Please Recycle. We are committed to only using magazine paper which is derived from responsibly managed, certified forestry and chlorine-free manufacture. The paper in this magazine was sourced and produced from sustainable managed forests, conforming to strict environmental and socioeconomic standards. The manufacturing paper mill and printer hold full FSC and PEFC certification and accreditation.

the buzz CASE STUDY / LIVE EVENT

BACK TOGETHER Staged by event promoter Disco Donnie Presents (DDP) in April at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Ubbi Dubbi attracted more than 30,000 fans each day as top EDM artists joyously celebrated the communal experience of live music. Dallas-based L-Acoustics Certified Provider Onstage Systems was the exclusive audio supplier for Ubbi Dubbi, which was billed as the first large-scale North American festival to make its official post-pandemic comeback.

For the primary “Ubbi’s Stage,” Onstage flew six L-Acoustics K1 over eight K2 per side as the mains, with eight KS28 subs groundstacked below each array, plus 16 SB28 double-stacked in groups of four across the face of the stage with a single Kudo enclosure atop each sub-cluster for frontfill, all driven by LA8 amplified controllers.

“I am really loving this rig size; six K1 over eight K2 is a perfect match from the wire for many of our shows,” enthuses For more case studies, visit Onstage Audio Department Manager svconline.com/the-wire.

6

SVC | AU G U S T 2 0 21 | SVCO NLINE . COM

Jeremy Helt. “It’s compact, not too heavy, a perfect combination of K1 and K2, and friendly in the truck pack as well. Given the size of the main hangs and the audience area, no delays were necessary. The width of coverage from K2 meant we didn’t need an outfill covering the VIP area either.”

“L-Acoustics’ Soundvision has become an extremely reliable tool for predicting audience coverage, tuning details, and even timing effects,” Helt continues. “Autosolver, in particular, has taken so much time and trialand-error out of the process that everything is now very streamlined. In most real-world situations, there is little tuning to be done if the Soundvision process has been correctly completed beforehand.”

The festival’s secondary “Dubbi’s Stage” featured ten K2 per side as the mains with a massive double-stacked wall of 24 SB28 subs spread out across the stage face, all driven by LA8. The “Zoom Room” stage utilized arrays of four K2 per side plus SB28 subs, while the

“Ubbi Dubbi World” circular shade structure featured a four-stack surround design using Kudo with K1-SB subs to support trance acts.

Both stages were also equipped with “Texas headphones” for stage monitoring. These comprised three Kara over one SB18 sub per side for DJ sidefills and were similarly LA8powered. According to Johnston, “Texas headphones were the requirement on every rider this year because they look cool and sound amazing,” Helt says.

For Onstage Systems CEO/President Hyacinth Belcher, Ubbi Dubbi was a tremendously welcome return. “Seeing all the smiles—people glowing with happiness to finally be able to attend festivals again—to listen to our favorite artists, and be outside under the sun and the stars—it was incredible,” she adds. “Witnessing the faces of artists, crew, and attendees when the rig powered up and music traveled across the landscape was priceless. Music heals, and we were all there soaking in the beautiful elixir!”

the buzz CASE STUDY / RESTAURANT

AUTOPILOT San Diego’s Portside Pier opened in June of this year, offering residents four distinct waterfront restaurant concepts in a unique architectural setting that encompasses 1100 seats including 600 outdoor.

According to AV-ators President Jared Magoon, who designed and integrated the Control4 automation system, most of the building runs automatically every day, including the lights, climate controls, outdoor firepits, audio system, video displays, and even the security system and surveillance cameras.

At the start of each day, a cleaning crew disarms the building’s alarm system, initiating a bright “clean-up” lighting scene that foreshadows the day’s scheduled automations. Before the kitchen crew arrives, the climate control systems set the entire space to a comfortable working temperature. Half an hour before opening, the Control4 system sets the lighting scene in each restaurant, all from the wire four venues begin playing music speFor more case studies, visit cific to their style and clientele, and svconline.com/the-wire.

8

SVC | AUG U S T 2 0 21 | SVCONLINE . CO M

all the TVs turn on and set to various sports channels. All of this occurs automatically without any human interaction, as does the shut-down routine at close of business.

As the day progresses, 17 ambient light sensors keep track of sunlight and allow Control4 to intelligently adjust lighting levels on more than 140 lighting loads. Later, a “twilight hour” lighting scene slowly dims to nighttime levels. Other considerations, such as TV programming for the building’s 20 TVs and five digital signage menu boards, are left to staff with easy and intuitive programming.

Throughout the 40,000-square-foot building’s indoor and outdoor spaces, 130 inceiling and surface mount speakers provide audio; two Shure SM58 microphones and a single body/lavalier mic are also integrated into the sound system with the ability to be used in any or all audio zones.

Distribution of audio and video signals is through a Binary MoIP system^ over Cat6.

The AV network, combined with climate

sensors, security panels, and an enterprisegrade Araknis networking solution, required installation of more than 20 miles of low voltage cabling.

The hardest part Magoon says, was complying with new CA Title 24 Energy Compliance requirements, which include nation-leading regulations for daylight harvesting, demand response energy reduction, and more. “We actually exceeded the requirements through careful planning, with the help of automations and the energy monitoring capabilities of Control4.”

For security, 71 integrated surveillance cameras record to three 12TB 32-channel NVRs and can be viewed remotely through the Control4 app. While most system control is operated through local iPads in each restaurant, 10 Control4 configurable keypads offer hardwired lighting control.

For system maintenance and remotee support, AV-ators installed Wattbox power strips and OvrC-capable power conditioners.

the buzz CASE STUDY / RESTAURANT

AL FRESCO With cuisine by renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten as the prime attraction, The Rooftop by JG at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills complements the experience with vistas of the Los Angeles skyline and distant mountains. To assure comfortable open-air dining in all four seasons a new trellis structure with retractable rain coverings and radiant heaters combines with a complete renovation of the Meyer Sound foreground music system, says John Swan of Las Vegas-based Technology West Group, who was design engineer and project manager for the upgrade.

Comprising 17 UP4slim full-range loudspeakers and six MM10XP miniature subwoofers, the new rooftop system augments the total of 92 additional Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeakers that already were installed in five other public areas when the hotel opened in 2017.

“The UP-4slim was a perfect fit from the wire for the rooftop because the owners For more case studies, visit insisted on discreet loudspeakers that svconline.com/the-wire.

10

SVC | AU G U S T 2 0 21 | SVCONLINE . CO M

would blend into trellis beams,” continues Swan.

“Not only did the UP-4slim have the slender profile needed, but Meyer also offers a custom color option. In this case, the company making the trellis had their own paint formula, which they sent to Meyer Sound where it was matched perfectly.

In addition, using Meyer Sound’s XP series loudspeakers allowed us to retain the advantages of self-powered systems without running even more AC conduit around the trellis.”

All the new loudspeakers are fully weather-protected, and the signal routing via the MPS488HP power supply units has channels strategically linked so that separate zones in the restaurant can change levels independently using a Crestron control system.

“With the quantity and placement of the loudspeakers we have uniform and seamless coverage for all the tables, so it’s never too loud at one table or barely audible at others. That’s great for daytime use, but we also have enough horsepower in the system so they can raise the energy level as high as needed for a late eve-

ning party.”

The new rooftop system shares six Galileo GALAXY Network Platforms and 11 MPS488HP power supplies with the extended pool deck systems.

Existing Meyer Sound systems in service at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills are for the rooftop public promenade (20 MM4XP miniature self-powered loudspeakers and six MM10XP subwoofers); pool lounge (six UP-4XP loudspeakers and two MM-10XP subwoofers); pool deck (two UPA-1P and two UPJ1XP loudspeakers with two 500-HP subwoofers); lobby check-in (12 UP-4XP and two MM-10XP), and outdoor seating at the Jean-Georges Beverly Hills restaurant on the ground floor (30 MM4XP and six MM-10XP).

“The owners here made audio quality a high priority from the beginning, which is not always the case even at upscale hotels,” says Swan. “They realize that, over the long run, it’s a smart investment in customer satisfaction and loyalty.”

TECH SHOWCASE

SIGNAL EXTENDERS

By Jeremy Caldera, CTS-D, CTS-I

Adder ALIF4000

While extension capability has been built into matrix switchers, converters and monitoring systems, there are still plenty of applications that make use of individual extension units and modules.

The technology has also allowed different signals to be combined, extended and separated.

The Adder Technology ADDERLink XDIP IP KVM got a series of upgrades last year. The receiver can now access 16 sources and the transmitter can broadcast to 256 receivers. Improved remote control, either via a RESTful API or HTTPS web browser, is designed to give users additional choice and flexibility with how they control their XDIP solution. Managing all endpoints through an API will reportedly help customers simplify configuration and maintenance. According to Adder, this level of interoperability, combined with new multicasting functionality, means the XDIP is the ideal solution to bridge the gap between KVM and video-over-IP. Customers can now take advantage of KVM functionality while delivering video and AV content around a large-scale installation, over an existing 1GbE network. Power over Ethernet support has also been made available in the US. At the same time, company also debuted an addition to the ADDERLink INFINIITY 4000 Series, the ALIF4000. Multigigabit Ethernet support has been added to provide customers with the ability to balance their video quality and bandwidth usage requirements by delivering 4K over varying network capabilities, from 1Gb/s to 10Gb/s. Integrated 1GbE ports reportedly enable easy delivery of 4K60 video over 1Gb/s copper links using 100m of standard Cat-5e or Cat-6 cable.

12

SVC | AU G U S T 2 0 21 | SVCO NLINE . COM

Dual multigigabit or 1GbE ports can be teamed together for enhanced resiliency or improved video capability. Compatibility with the existing ADDERLink INFINITY AJA range means the ALIF4000 can be phased FiDO-4T-ST into an existing network. are perfect for sending AJA Video Systems FiDO-4T-ST can provide cable runs of up to 32,808ft. for four HDMI and control signals independent channels of 3G/HD/SD-SDI over long distances to a remote DXLink 4K60 input. 4K/UltraHD-SDI is output over 4 fiber Receiver Module or other compatible AMX links while the tiny unit uses only 5-20VDC Receivers such as the DGX DXLink 4K60 power on its included DWP-U-R1 univer- Twisted Pair Input Board. The transmitter’s sal power supply. It is one in the family of built-in control ports can be used to control a FiDO single, dual and quad channel SDI/ source device and the ICSLan port provides an Fiber converters with a choice of LC, ST or IP network access port when used in conjunction with the Enova DGX 100 Series.

SC connectors.

The A-Neuvideo ANI-0104POE splits an The AMX DX-TX-4K60 DXLink 4K60 HDMI Transmitter Module is a 4K60 4:4:4 HDMI 1080p@60Hz video signal into a local capable distance transport solution with sup- display plus four additional feeds for remote port for HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2. It transmits displays up to 150ft. away on CAT5e/6 cable. audio, video, control, Ethernet, and USB 2.0 The receivers are powered by the base unit on the same twisted pair. It also supports over one shielded Cat6, Cat6A or Cat7 stereo audio and 7.1 channel surround standard twisted pair cable. DXLink 4K60 HDMI Transmitter Modules AMX DX-TX- sound. The extender includes surface 4K60

A-Neuvideo ANI-0104POE

TECH SHOWCASE Audio Authority HBT200KIT

of HDBaseT extenders for 4K/UHD trol, and receiver power at resolutions up to mounting hardware. There are sevAtlona Avance AV signals. To provide increased 4K/UHD. eral versions available providing Series The Audio Authority HBT200KIT repreperformance and reliability, the from 2 to 8 outputs supporting both Avance Series includes key features sents a very simple solution for HDMI exten1080p and 4K. and technologies to ensure video trans- sion up to 330ft. on one Cat 5 network cable.

The ATEN VE8950/VE8900 Control App is an iOS and Android compatible mobile mission integrity and quality. The series Handling up to 7.1 channel uncompressed app that enables mobile control of ATEN’s includes models with a variety of powering audio, the unit also conveys bi-directional VE8950 and VE8900 series 4K HDMI over IP and extension distance options plus inte- IR and RS-232. The video transmission is extenders. The app was designed to help users gration-friendly features. The Avance 4K/ uncompressed and the operation is Crestinstantly switch sources/displays and apply UHD HDMI Extender Kit with Control and ron, AMX, and Control4 compatible. The kit and reschedule profiles for their over IP video Remote Power supports control pass-through includes one HBT200T Transmitter and one extenders. ATEN’s Control App provides and remote power capability. The kit trans- HBT200R Receiver.

The Aurora HTE-TX2 HDBaseT 2.0 direct access to VE Manager, which enables mits 4K/UHD 60 Hz 4:2:0 video up to 130 preview, real time monitor and control of a feet (40 meters) or 1080p 60 Hz video up to transmitter is part of the company’s HT user’s video sources from anywhere. Users can 230 feet (70 meters). In addition to video with Series with optional Dante/AES67 up to 8 track the latest display schedule and system embedded multi-channel audio, RS-232 and channels for surround sound; it can extend IR control signals, and remote power from the 4K60 4:4:4 & HDR (18Gbps) to 330ft. with updates and do calendar-based scheduling. transmitter to the receiver are supported on unshielded cable. It is also capable of direcThe Atlona Avance Series of HDMI the single Category 6/6A cable. EDID tional USB to provide a choice as to which extender kits are the latest generation filtering and clock stretching ensure end of the line will be the sender. Third party ATEN video transmission integrity and sta- control is enabled through the built-in IP port Control App ble connections. Integrated HDBa- expansion.

In March, Black Box PoE Emerald PE seT link test allows quick verification of cable, termination, and link quality. transmitters and receivers for HD applicaThe AT-AVA-EX70C-KIT includes both tions debuted, extending the Emerald KVM transmitter and receiver endpoints. Compact platform. Emerald PE transmitters and receivenclosures and included brackets allow the ers enable extension and matrix switching of devices to be surface mounted in furniture or pixel-perfect HD DVI video (up to 1920x1200 at 60Hz), transparent USB 2.0, and bidibehind a display. The AT-AVA-EX70Crectional analog audio — over a dediKIT delivers a cost-effective solution cated or existing IP network, or even for extension of video, audio, conAurora HTE-TX2

SV C ON L I N E.C OM | AU GU S T 20 21 | S VC 13

TECH SHOWCASE Black Box Emerald PE PoE

Blackmagic Fiber Converter

CE labs HX40M

the internet — between any number of users with HDMI connectors and supports DVI and computers, servers, or virtual machines. equipment by allowing use of an HDMI to With the new PoE option, Emerald PE devices DVI adapter.

In May, DVIGear HyperLight Mini Discan be powered over CATx cable via a PoEcapable network switch — and can even serve playPort 1.4 Cables were added to the comas a redundant power supply in the event that pany’s family of Active Optical Cables. These cables enable the extension of DisplayPort 1.4 the power adapter goes down.

The Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter signals with aggregate data rates up to 32.4 and Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter allow Gbps. (HBR3) and are HDCP 1.4 / 2.2 compliant. They support resolutions of up video, audio, camera power, talkback to 8K / 30Hz (4:4:4) for cable lengths and tally to be extended up to 2km on of up to 50 meters (164 ft.) and 4K / a single SMPTE 311M hybrid elecDVIGear HyperLight trical and fiber optic cable. The cable includes a 2 way fiber pair, data pair and power pair, along with a central strength member. The Camera Fiber Converter attaches to the back of URSA Mini and URSA Broadcast cameras and it adds standard studio camera controls.

Blackmagic also offers a line of mini converters to transmit SDI over fiber that is both economical and reliable.

The CE labs HX40M is designed to take HDMI and HDCP compliant 1080i/720p video up to 230ft. and 1080p@60Hz 24bit signals up to 132ft. on CAT5e/6 cable. Built-in features include auto equalization and an EDID auto backup function. It is equipped

14

SVC | AUG U S T 2 0 21 | SVCONLINE . CO M

60Hz (4:4:4) for cables of up to 100 meters (328 ft.).These new cables equipped with Mini DisplayPort connectors at both ends of the cable, providing direct connection to both Mini-DP sources and displays without the need for any intermediary adaptors or dongles. Each cable also includes a set of detachable docking plugs that enable direct connection to full-size DisplayPort devices at either side of the cable. A locking pin is included to prevent inadvertent disconnection of the docking plugs from the cable. The high-speed DisplayPort signals are transmitted over four optical fibers, which make them immune to interference from environmental noise. The optical transmission path provides a very low RFI / EMI profile, which allows the cables to be installed in sensitive applications with strict security requirements. The cables draw power from the connected DisplayPort source, eliminating the need for an external power supply. Constructed using a hybrid design of 4x POF (Polyfluorinated Optical Fiber) and 6x copper wires, HyperLight cables are plenum rated with a minimum bend radius of just two millimeters. To minimize cable diameter during installation, the full-size DisplayPort docking plugs may be detached, revealing the cable’s crosssectional area that measures just 8x13 millimeters.

In June, Guntermann & Drunck (G&D) VisionXS was announced--a new line of high-performance KVM extenders with a bandwidth of 10Gb and video transmission for resolutions up to 4K. Initially, the German manufacturer will provide extender modules

G&D VisionXS

TECH SHOWCASE

Hall Technologies VERSA-4K

for KVM over IP, followed by solutions for classic KVM systems for direct transmission. VisionXS extenders can be combined with G&D’s matrix systems and are fully compatible with existing models. Initially, a high-end system for DisplayPort UHR with a transmission bandwidth of 10G will be launched, followed by devices for HDMI and DVI. The VisionXS series relies on G&D’s High Dynamic Image Processing; the dualhead modules allow the transmission of two video signals via one transmission cable.

Secure and reliable operation is ensured by AES-128 encryption and the regular exchange of security keys. VisionXS KVMs is designed

EASY TO INSTALL

to extend fast videos and frequently changing image content with significantly less compression than previous models, and its compact size makes it well suited for applications where space is a critical factor.

Hall Technologies CUSB3V1-AP is a newer addition to the company’s Javelin active optical cable range for extending USB 3.0. A light-weight plenum-rated hybrid of optical fiber plus copper, and available in lengths of 15, 30, and 50 meters, the CUSBV1- AP cables support transparent extension of USB 3.0 (USB 3.1 Gen1) signals at data rates of up to 5 Gbps. The cables are downward compatible with USB 2.0 and 1.1 devices when

EASY TO ADAPT

used with a PC host. CUSBV1-AP cables are compatible with virtually all USB 3.0 and 3.1 Gen1 devices, and are designed to be an ideal solution for extending 4K video conferencing cameras, video capture, docking stations, and other high-speed data communications.

They also work with USB 2.0 or 1.1 devices, although this feature is only available for PCs running Windows. The small cable ends can be easily pulled through most conduits, and no additional power is required.

The Hall Technologies VERSA-4K extends and switches multiple HDMI video and USB data to virtually unlimited receivers on a simple Gigabit network. Bidirectional

EASY TO USE www.contemporaryresearch.com/venuevizion SV C ON L I N E.C OM | AU GU S T 20 21 | S VC 15

TECH SHOWCASE

IHSE Draco ultra HDMI 49

Matrox Extio 3

Lightware HDMI20

IR, RS-232, and auxiliary stereo audio can also be extended. Advanced features include, low latency video and audio, CEC and Serial over IP for control, video wall processor to expand and split 4K video on to multiple screens, video rotation and flipping (horizontal and vertical), USB Device class filtering for excluding specific USB device types such as USB flash drives, automatic KVM switching, Telnet and webGUI control, Dynamic Virtual Matrix (DVM) operation, PoE (power over Ethernet) support, and more.

The IHSE Draco ultra HDMI 495 Series allows a CPU, including DisplayPort monitor, keyboard, and pointing device, to be operated via fiber connection from a remotely located workstation. The 495 Series supports digital video in 4K resolutions up to 4096 x 2160 and 3840 x 2160 at 60Hz along with audio transmission via the HDMI interface.

The KanexPro EXT-4KFIBERPRO HDMI 2.0 extender is designed to extend 4Kx2K@60Hz video and HDR up to 984ft. with zero latency on two single mode or two OM3/ OM4

multi-mode fiber cables. It can also be controlled over fiber via bi-directional IR and RS323C. The front panel DIP switch allows SPDIF ports on both the sender and receiver to function as ARC (Audio Return Channel) mode or normal audio support for downstream devices. KannexPro also offers a variety of HDBaseT and wireless extenders.

KanexPro EXT-4KFIBERPRO

16

SVC | AUG U S T 2 0 21 | SVCONLINE . CO M

The Kramer TP-752T and TP752R form an ultrareach extender pair that allows 1080p (HD) HDMI and RS232 control to reach up to 2000ft. on any 2-wire cable. Connector options include terminal block, RJ-45 and VGA. The transmitter has an active, reclocking HDMI output loop port for cascaded signal extenders or distributors, or local signal monitoring while the receiver features audio deembedding. This product is part of a vast selection of Kramer extenders in 1080p and 4K via fiber, Kramer HDBaseT and more.

TP-752 Lightware HDMI20-OPTJTX90 and HDMI20-OPTJ-RX90 are full 4K HDMI 2.0 compatible fiber optical extenders. They carry HDMI 2.0 class 4K signals with embedded audio to up to nearly 3000ft. and a full HD signal over 8000ft. over one multi-mode fiber cable. The hardware features a solid machined aluminum body and firmware can be updated through USB.M Matrox Extio 3 Series KVM extenders securely carry a single 4Kp60 4:4:4

TECH SHOWCASE

Opticis DPFX300-TR

MuxLab 500763-TX

video signal—or four 1080p60 4:4:4 signals—along with keyboard, mouse, stereo audio, and USB 2.0 over standard gigabit Ethernet at low bit rates over a standard Gigabit Ethernet network. They allow users to instantly switch to any system on the KVM network. Extio 3 provides a secondary H.264 proxy video stream, compatible with H.264 software and hardware decoders, enabling users to view a selected desktop on mobile devices, record it to a network attached storage or to display it on a video wall. In May, Matrox announced private wide-area network

(WAN) support. This new mode of operation enables organizations to introduce new remote work and collaborative workflow infrastructures by allowing users to access, share, and control any centralized workstation located in another building or city.

The MuxLab 500763-TX extends HDMI signals up to 330ft. at up to 4K @ 30Hz resolution on Cat5e/6 and along with the Muxlab 500762-RX Receiver supports point-to-point, point-to-multipoint and multipoint-to-multipoint configurations, video wall and multiview capabilities. Also carried are RS232 and

directional IR control as well as two-channel embedded audio.

The Opticis DPFX-300-TR extends DisplayPort 1.2 signal up to 200m (656feet) and transmits 4K UHD (4096x2160) at 60Hz over one(1) LC multi-mode fiber(OM3).

Leading-edge technology of Opticis allows long distance transmission of 4K signal without any video/audio degradation. DPFX300-TR is designed compact enough to be fitted into various installation environments. It gives slim, light, easy installation with perfect electrical isolation, but with-

Space-saving thanks to small, compact housing.

SMALL HOUSING, GREAT PERFORMANCE. The new VisionXS KVM series.

Discover unlimited possibilities with VisionXS – G&D‘s new high-performance KVM extender with 10 Gbit/s transmission and full matrix compatibility. G&D‘s lossless and pixel-perfect compression guarantees you a video experience like never before.

Now in a compact housing and with new efficient mounting solutions – space-saving and without much need for screws in a rack. Feels right.

German engineering at its best!

10Gbit bandwidth for perfect video performance.

Versatile signals and resolutions up to 4K using KVM-over-IP™.

VISIT US! GDSYS.COM

SV C ON L I N E.C OM | AU GU S T 20 21 | S VC 17

TECH SHOWCASE SmartAVI HDX-Ultimate

TEKVOX Camera Extender Set

out electrical hazard and interference.

Between Transmitter (DPFX-300-Tx) and receiver (DPFX-300-Rx), pure fiber connection by single LC fiber connector gives clean, secure and easy installation.

DPFX-300-TR can be operated by USB power without external DC power adapter with plugging micro USB(DPFX-300 module side) – USB (source/display devices side) cable which is supplied in the shipping group.

The Purelink HOF 2.0 Tx/Rx provides long-distance distribution of 4K/60 video, audio, and control signals over fiber. Ultra HD/4K, HDMI 2.0 (18G), embedded audio, RS-232, and bi-directional IR are all supported over distances up to 3,300 ft. using PureLink’s TOTALWIRE LC-terminated fiber optic cables. Features include real-time auto-EDID management and support for Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio and LPCM 2/5.1/7.1.

The ultra-thin RTI VXT-LR is a long reach HDBT video extender set which contains a VXT-LRT transmitter and a VXT-LRR receiver. Compliant with Purelink HDMI1.4 and HDCP2.2, it is capable HOF 2.0 Tx/Rx

SVSi 4K series

of transmitting highdefinition video signals up to 4K@60Hz. Designed with support for HDBT2.0 it enables 100m (max) 4K transmission and 150m 1080p transmission as well as RS-232 and IR control signals via single Cat5e/Cat6 cable. Four Ethernet ports enable network switch capability. The pair supports CEC and ARC. The SmartAVI HDX-Ultimate extends ultra-HD 4K resolution video up to 450ft. on a single CAT5e cable and it has PoE capability. Either unit can be powered from the other. The HDX Ultimate works with SmartAVI matrixes to offer a range of extended routing solutions. There are LED status indicators and bi-directional IR and RS-232 control. SnapAV’s Binary 560 Series 4K HDR HDBaseT Long Range Extender carries up to 18Gbps of virtually lossless (4K@60 4:4:4) video along with bidirectional IR and RS-232 for long distances. It also supports 2-channel PCM, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Atmos, DTS, DTS-HD

Master Audio and DTS-X. A front panel DIP switch provides control for different modes of operation.

The SVSi 4K series from AMX by Harman provides four times the resolution of 1080p full HD for breathtaking detail and image quality. The N2400 4K60 4:4:4 encoders and decoders support streaming video resolutions up to 4096x2160 and support HDCP 2.2; all with latency so low it supports extremely sensitive applications like live action events and interactive presentations using a keyboard and mouse. Features like AES67 digital audio support, Power-overEthernet, KVM support, the ability to easily adjust bandwidth and resolution to precisely meet the needs of the application, LocalPlay content, a networked-attached windowing processor, networked video recorder, 802.1x authentication, Active Directory support, SSL/TLS encryption, and more makes it clear that our products are designed with the enterprise network in mind.

RTI VXT-LR

18

SVC | AU G U S T 2 0 21 | SVCONLINE . CO M

Zigen ZIG-POEPRO100A

TECH SHOWCASE

ZeeVee ZyPer4K-XS

In March, the TEKVOX Cam- RS232 and 10/100/1000 Ethernet. era Extender Set debuted to improve the The TLX system can transmit capabilities of HDMI cameras in class- embedded audio and de-embed rooms, auditoriums, lecture halls, and it at the receiver. There is a local conference centers facilitating distance monitor output and an Etherengagement. The Camera Extender Set net port for configuration and allows integrators to mount an HDMI cam- updates. The extenders can be era anywhere, without needing an AC outlet used with the TLX non-blocking at the camera. Using a single CAT cable, the matrix switchers with capacities of 79086S transports 4K video, bi-directional 12 to 640 ports.

The tvOne Magenta HDMI 2.0 LAN and RS232, and 2.5A of 12V power to drive a camera at the far-end. A single Active Optical Cable (MG-AOC-66x) outlet at the receiver-end can power the supports up to 4K60 4:4:4 with no comtransmitter, receiver, and camera, elimi- pression or latency up to 328ft. without the nating the need for a far-end outlet. The need for external power and is available in 79086S Camera Extender Set streamlines UL rated Plenum (CMP). It allows HDCP 2.0 the installation of HDMI cameras by offer- support of bi-directional EDID and HDCP ing greater freedom of placement, resulting communication using its 4 channel 850nm in an enhanced user experience without sac- VCSEL array source. The cable is a hybrid rificing the advanced functionality of a 4K type with OM3 fiber and copper wire.

In July, the ZeeVee ZyPer4K-XS joined HDBaseT extender pair.

Among the wide variety of signal extension the uncompressed, SDVoE ZyPer family. products, is the Thinklogical TLX video The smaller footprint encoder and decoder models bring the performance and reliabilextension system. Through its HDMI 1.4 ity of SDVoE and AVoIP signal distriand DisplayPort 1.2 connectors, it probution solutions to space constrained vides support for up to 4K@60Hz Thinklogical and noise sensitive environments video and full duplex stereo audio, TLX

tvOne Magenta HDMI 2.0

for corporate, higher education, performing arts, yacht and government applications, among others. The ZyPer4K-XS platform allows for the distribution and switching of uncompressed 720p, 1080p HD, Ultra HD and 4K resolution content, audio and control via off-the-shelf 10Gb Ethernet switches. Its IP-based architecture enables the switching from one source to another without any frame loss – even at 4K resolutions. It also offer a 1GB utility port and USB human interface device class (USB HID) support for devices such as keyboards, mice, game controllers and alphanumeric displays.

The Zigen ZIG-POEPRO-100A longdistance 4K/60Hz 4:4:4 HDMI extender conveys HDMI over a single UTP/STP with bidirectional RS-232 and IR. The transmitter will safely detect, classify, and provide 48V up to 25W power to the receiver connected to the HDBaseT port. The link is continuously monitored for any fault or overloading conditions and the current is limited to avoid hazardous conditions.

SV C ON L I N E.C OM | AU GU S T 20 21 | S VC 19

TECH SHOWCASE

FURNITURE AND MOUNTS

By Bennett Liles

ACE Backstage 154SLBK

The full potential available in modern AV gear can only be reached when the tools are best interfaced with their human operators and this is where tech furniture and mounting devices bring it home. Proper arrangement of displays, speakers, and rack equipment can save a few seconds hundreds of times per day and those saved seconds really add up. At the same time, well arranged and secured items run cooler and are faster to maintain and upgrade. The tech furniture and mounting hardware shown here illustrates practical solutions and creates an expert level environment.

A fiber connection right in the floor is now available with the ACE Backstage 154SLBK Stage Pocket. ACE teamed up with Neutrik to design this item that supports the ANSI recommended bend radius for opticalCon cable and allows it to exit through a hinged flap and lie flat on the floor. The load-tested solid steel lid can hold up to 750lbs. without damage to the fiber and an isolated duplex compartment separates high voltage connectivity. A zinc dipped 14 gauge steel back box is sealed in a thick layer of polyurethane to protect the body from corrosion and moisture.

The Altinex PNP417C customizable Pop ‘N Plug Tower is made for wood covered confer-

ence tables and it can fit a round, rectangular, or square cutout. A choice of eight different connector plates can be installed so that they can be easily used from either side. Simply pressing on the top activates the gas spring lift mechanism and the unit rises out of the table to expose the connectors. For quick installation, this device ships with pre-terminated cables and there is a downloadable cutout template available. The PNP417C cuts the cable clutter and presents a professional conference appearance.

The right operator console and mounting rack combination makes all the difference and the Argosy Console HALO Ultimate wastes no speck of space. Designed for video

production, sound editing and other screenbased work, the console includes IsoAcoustics Aperta 160 loaded speaker mounts for near-field monitors, a central display mounting arm, dual 8-space rack bays, steel leg assemblies with floor levelers, utility shelves, a pull-out drawer, CPU mount, and an ergonomic padded armrest. It can be ordered with an optional mahogany veneer or fingerprint resistant black finish.

Allowing more efficient use of room space, the AtlasIED 324-15 19in. standalone wall cabinet and other models in the 300 Series are equipped with adjustable mounting rails, 2in. deep solid steel door, 12 or 15in. center

AtlasIED 300 Series 324-15

Altinex PNP417C

20

SVC | AUG U S T 2 0 21 | SVCO NLINE . COM

Argosy HALO Ultimate

TECH SHOWCASE

AVFI CR2024 Tech Station

AVTEQ RPS-500

Crimson AV VW4600G3

section and a 4.5in. deep rear door. There are also corner braces, internal open raceways for cable and 20 cable knockouts on the back.

Each unit also features perforated vents on both sides. Front and rear sections have frame flanges on bottom, top, and sides for superior structural support. Each unit is finished in #962 black epoxy.

The Audio Visual Furniture International CR2024 Tech Station is a mobile unit that can house a 12RU drop-in rack. It is also designed with an interior removable shelf, two pull-out side shelves for projectors and laptops, two perforated front doors, and one vented removable rear door. These doors are all securely lockable. Capable of supporting up to a 90in. video monitor, the station rides on 4in. heavy duty locking casters and the Thermowrap top surface is highly scratch resistant. There are also grommets located on the rear and sides to let cables pass through.

This model is available in a wide selection of standard and optional finishes.

A mobile monitor solution for touch panel displays is ready to go with the AVTEQ DynamiQ RPS-500 height adjustable AV cart.

It is quite easy to slide the display mount up and down by 15.75in. using its spring weighted mechanism. Perfect for classrooms and conference centers, the whole unit glides on 5in. casters, two of which are lockable. Cable management features are built into its solid steel construction and there is an adjustable 10RU rack shelf. A 6-port surge protector electrically safeguards all the mounted AV gear.

The Chief Manufacturing On-Wall Portrait Kiosk can fit a variety of display makes and models through its depth-adjustable exterior frame and when installed with a thin flat

Chief Manufacturing Impact On-Wall Kiosk

Crestron UC-FCM-U

panel display it can slim down to a mere 4in. wall protrusion. This one keeps cool and handles uneven walls with integrated wall reveal.

Servicing is facilitated with reversible hinges to avoid obstructions while tamper-proof hardware secures the engagement latch. The Middle Atlantic Lever Lock mounting system attaches small companion units such as media players and power supplies.

For flexible conferencing and classroom facilities the Crestron Flex R-Series Plus mobile UC system comes with a pre-installed Crestron unified communications engine assembly. The metal frame cart rolls on four caster wheels and includes a VESA compliant display mounting bracket. The structure supports a single display from 50 to 90in. and it

has an intelligent collaboration camera with a 150-degree field of view. The quad microphone array has a 20ft. pickup range and control is done through the Crestron Mercury X console. Products in the Flex R-Series can be selected for specific needs and configurations.

Keeping the features from previous models and adding more, the Crimson AV VW4600G3 video wall mount has numerous points of adjustment and allows nearly 3in. of depth micro-adjustment. There is up to 11in. of pullout extension and a quick release mechanism for display servicing. Security is assured with the integrated lock and key system. Among multiple displays, one can be easily removed for maintenance using the proprietary Pushin, Pop-out Technology. Features include ver-

SV C ON L I N E.C OM | AU GU S T 20 21 | S VC 21

TECH SHOWCASE

Lowell Manufacturing LDSR-1218-H

tical adjustment and leveling, lateral shift and plumb adjustment.

The Da-Lite Multi-Media Lectern is a stable and well-designed platform for conducting presentations using a range of AV tools. Its monitor shelf can fit a 15in. diagonal display for easy use by the presenter and the keyboard shelf incorporates a flip-up door to completely hide the keyboard when it’s not in use. The hinged reading surface can be opened for access to cabling. The existing shelves can be adjusted to fit user Da-Lite installed equipment and a rack can Multi-Media be added to allow organization for Lectern standard 19in. AV rack units.

For events and installations requiring large video walls, the Draper Foundation Mount System features fine Z-axis wall adjustment, a plumb alignment pin, and vertical rail adjusters. LED panel mounting slots minimize the amount of contact between LED modules and a spring-loaded mounting stud pushes them into final z-axis position. The system is available for many dvLED brands and models for mounting on flat interior walls but this mounting system can also work on uneven surfaces. Laser level notches on the sides of each upright assist with rapid and easy leveling.

The new Extron AVEdge 100 is perfect for new installations, temporary setups, and retrofit projects. It clamps to the edge of a table

and accepts two double-space Extron AAP AV Connectivity Modules. The UL/c-UL listed enclosure has cable pass-through brackets for up to eight AV cables, or three Retractor cable retraction modules. An optional CCB 30 three-button remote provides control for remotely mounted Extron switchers and control products with contact closure control ports. Available in black powder coat finish, the device can use optional clips to secure an Extron PS Series power supply.

Operators at a desktop position have to be able to reach controls easily, especially those used quite frequently and the Lowell Manufacturing LDSR-1218 desktop sloped front rack puts it all within reach. Made of 16 gauge welded steel, the unit has a 12-degree front slope with rails and an open back and base. The 12RU rack has plenty of room for equipment and ventilation. It’s black wrinkle epoxy finish blends anywhere for a professional appearance and the rubber feet keep it solidly in place. The rear side can be enclosed with the optional LDTR-RAC12 rear access cover.

How do you take everything you may need for a presentation and make it all easily mobile? The Marshall Furniture SCM280DC Workstation has the answer with its black laminate top, heavy duty drop leaf shelf, pullout keyboard shelf, locking document camera drawer, and 12RU fixed rack.

Extron AVEdge 100

Draper Foundation

22

SVC | AUG U S T 2 0 21 | SVCONLINE . CO M

TECH SHOWCASE

Marshall Furniture SCM-280DC

This one can be ordered in left or right configuration and the floor access opening allows the unit to be parked directly over a floor pocket for interfacing with the room or stage AV lines. There are also locking rear access doors and locking multi-surface casters to make the whole thing glide easily into place and stay there.

The Middle Atlantic Products SRSR Series slide out rotating rack solves the problem

of equipment rear access where there is no easy way to get behind the racks.

Available with a 19in. or 23in. useable depth, the rack slides out, rotates in either direction and locks at 0, 60 and 90 degrees for simple maintenance or equipment replacement.

The self-centering mounting base assures a good fit for the unit to slide back into a cabinet. The builtin cable support lets the rack move easily with no snags.

Providing unlimited mobility for 37-70in. plasma, LCD or LED displays in portrait or landscape orientation, the Mustang AV MPM-L75U Adjustable Height Mobile Cart includes easy gliding rubber casters. The stand fits monitors with VESA patterns up

Middle Atlantic SRSR Series

SV C ON L I N E.C OM | AU GU S T 20 21 | S VC 23

TECH SHOWCASE

Snap One SM-CB-ART1-M

to 723x501mm and there is a pin locking incremental tilt adjustment from +15 to -5 degrees. The Spectrum device is constructed of aluminum Industries 160lbs. Consisting of the PSDand high-grade cold rolled steel with CORE Lectern EB60C elliptical floor stand 150lb. weight capacity. The finish is with two 60in. chrome poles and scratch resistant epoxy powder coat and the CTM-MS2 tilting flat-panel adjustable shelves can be added.

Ease of installation is paramount with the mount, the unit allows the monitor to tilt 12 Peerless-AV SmartMount Articulating Wall degrees. Minimum mounting pattern is 200 x Arm series. One person can mount a display 200mm and maximum is 800 x 505mm. The using the Hook-and-Hang system and the weight of the stand itself is 103lbs. AccessoI-shaped adaptor plate blocks very little of ries include the PSD-EXT extension collars the display’s rear side. The post installation that fit over the ends of the chrome poles and leveling capability rounds out a simple setup. the PSD-CAM shelf for videoconferencing The SA771PU model allows a 46in. to 90in. cameras.

Unless it’s mounted to a movable wall, a display to be extended up to 26.8in. from the wall and retracted to protrude just 3.1in. It wall mount is rooted in place so the ability can be tilted +15 to -5 degrees while built-in to point and swivel the mounted display is a cable management maintains a clean, unclut- prime factor in functionality. The Snap One Strong Carbon Series Single Arm Articulattered appearance.

The Premier Mounts EBC60-MS2 ing Mount can swing a 100lb. display as far Video mobile cart makes it easy to move and as 19in. from the wall and swivel it up to 180 Mount aim a video display weighing up to degrees. The mount comes with adapter brackProducts ER-VR4U

Peerless-AV SmartMount Articulating Wall Arm

24

SVC | AU G U S T 2 0 21 | SVCONLINE . CO M

Premier Mounts EBC60-MS2

Tripp Lite DWM2655M

ets that go up to 400 x 400mm and H-pattern brackets can be purchased separately to allow up to a 600 x 400mm VESA pattern. During installation conical washers on the back help to guide the plate into place and the arm assembly base plate has a tilt angle of +12 to -5 degrees. There is integrated cable management and a mounting template is included.

Take your entire presentation toolbox with you anywhere in the room with the Spectrum Industries CORE lectern. Its outer side panel assembly and removable, locking audienceside panel allow easy access to top surface equipment and interior installed gear as well.

Each one can be specified with one or two of the outside folding shelves. The powder coated steel chassis houses a high-pressure laminate work surface, ventilation slots, and 12RU front rack rails. Equipment is secured with locking front doors and cabling can be run through pre-drilled work surface monitor mounting holes.

The Tripp Lite DWM2655M Swivel/Tilt Wall Mount can accept flat panel displays from 26 to 55in. diagonal and allow them to swivel 120 degrees, tilt -15 to +15 degrees, and level adjust from -5 to +5 degrees. Its metal frame has a scratch resistant powdercoated finish and the built-in bubble level gets installation right the first time. The wide variety of VESA-compliant mounting holes fit just about any display type. This model can support up to 110lbs. while the weight of the mount itself is only 18.45lbs.

Racks and very tight wall spaces don’t typically mix but the Video Mount Products ERVR4U rack and others in the ERVR series can turn a minimal wall space into a well-placed home for AV gear. Available in 1RU, 2RU, and 4RU versions, the ERVR units are made of sturdy steel with two rear surface cable

TECH SHOWCASE

of the way. These cameras, along pass-through holes. These units can house with the Polycom EagleEye and equipment of any depth and they have a TANDBERG Precision HD, load capacity up to 150lbs. They are can be held securely great for mounting gear vertically to Vaddio Drop 2ft. below the confera wall or horizontally under a desk.

Down Mount for ence room ceiling. The The rail channels are tapped with Large PTZ black mount is unob10-32 holes in the universal E.I.A. Cameras - Long trusive and it is made spacing and the rack is painted extremely tough with with a durable static resistant black Winsted heavy gauge steel construction. powder coat finish. The ER-VR4U Paramount This model is one of a series of Vaddimensions are 5in. high x 19.2in. wide x Technology there are Endurdio units that allow a wide range of 7.5in. deep.

Credenza ance Plus and Comfort conference camera mounting options For WallVIEW PRO HD1, WallVIEW Edge options, the unit has welded EIA and styles.

PRO EagleEye and CCU HD1 camera sysThe Winsted Paramount Technology Cre- 19in. 14RU rack compartments with front and tems, the Vaddio Drop Down denza solves the problem of unobtrusively rear rails. There is also a vented base panel Mount for Large PTZ housing technical AV gear in a that can be fitted with optional fans. Front and Cameras - Long eliminates furniture item that is really rear doors allow complete access for mountthe problem of locating made for it. Topped with ing and wiring equipment and the back of the camera shelves to allow a laminated Safeguard top surface can be fitted with data/power ports a good view while Edge top panel for which and adjustable mounts for video displays. keeping them out

FREE SUBSCRIPTION Sound & Video Contractor has been the leading technical

resource for integrators, contractors, dealers, and individuals involved in systems contractintg for commercial sound, security, home theater, automation, control systems, and video presentation.

SOUND&VI SEPTEM

VIDEO SOUND& CTOR 20 RY 20

LU // VO

UE // ISS ME 38

1

CONTRA

S TION LICA | APP OGY HNOL T-WORK | TEC ODUCT-A S PR W E DANTE REVI

ICATION COMMEVUENRYTHING IS

E 37 // ISSUE 9

svconline.co

DEO

m

CONTRACT OR

m

.co svconline

JANUA

BER 20 19 // VOLUM

REVIE WS | T ECHNO LOGY | APPL I C AT I O NS

CORPORATE GLASS

WHEN AV EMBRAC ES GLAS S

IP WORSH RE FOR TRUCTU AS FR IN OM INTERC S WCASE

PRODUCTS-

AT-WORK

PROJECTORS DANTE

TECH SHO

WCASES * SIGNAL DISTR * BOUNDARY IBUTION AUTOMIXER MICROPHONES AND S

CHERS TECH SHO AND SWIT * ROUTERS

Claim your FREE subscription today at www.mysvcmag.com SV C ON L I N E.C OM | AU GU S T 20 21 | S VC

25

AV NIGHTCLUB Bar Illuminarium redefines the immersion experience

By Cynthia Wisehart

26

SVC | AUG U S T 2 0 21 | SVCONLINE . CO M

magine a bar where the immersive décor could change on demand. That’s the ground-breaking aesthetic at Bar Illuminarium, where an everchanging and immersive setting transports patrons to a Japanese night market, an interstellar nebula, lush gardens, and a glowing reef below the ocean’s surface.

I

Bar Illuminarium is the nighttime embodiment of a brand new, $30 million AV spectacular on Atlanta’s BeltLine. During the day, the space hosts a spectacular immersive safari called WILD. It’s the first of a series of placeinvoking “illuminariums” driven by projection, Lidar, sound, and special effects.

The walls are 350 feet wide and 22 feet tall; the floor is also a screen. WILD is a safari across Africa, taking visitors into the bush and savanna to see wildlife up close.

A second experience, now in production, will put visitors on the surface of the moon, where their footsteps across the venue will appear to kick up moon dust.

At night, the same technology defines the ambience at Bar Illuminarium, a unique AVdriven nightspot. Together, the attraction and bar comprise the latest ambitious project in the immersive, explorable art trend popularized by latter-day museums such as Meow Wolf in Santa Fe (and now Las Vegas on the back of a $158 million investment). The “experience economy” has new entrepreneurs, new creatives, and thousands, even millions of guests worldwide And it’s driven by AV. Illuminarium was created by private school entrepreneur Alan Greenberg, who is also the former publisher of Esquire magazine;

Product at Work: Panasonic PT-RQ50K Claimed as the world’s smallest 50,000 lumens laser projector featuring Native 4K Resolution, it’s designed for the most-demanding large venue applications. The laser engine combines one red laser and two blue lasers operating at different wavelengths. Light output is doubled from the same footprint as the 26,000 lumen PT-RQ32K 4K projector; the all-new laser engine expands color-gamut to 114%. Panasonic’s Gradation Smoother reduces banding, and a new flexible Black-level Adjustment, supports edge-blend uniformity on curved screens. PT-RQ50K gains new black-level calibration that allows black borders to be reshaped to suit screen curvature using up to 17 control points. Compact size and additional features and software simplify installation.

SV C ON L I N E.C OM | AU GU S T 20 21 | S VC 27

filmmaker Jon Kamen, who founded Radical Media; and David Rockwell, the architect, theater designer, and founder of Rockwell Group. Fast Company described Illuminarium as “attempting to be a space that is something of a cross between a museum, a movie theater, and virtual reality—with an emphasis on experiencing it together with other people.”

“We are in many ways VR without the glasses,” Greenberg has said. “VR’s a singular experience, hard to share, hard to talk to people, hard to have a ‘wow’ moment with somebody. We’re not strapping a computer on your back and fitting goggles on your face.”

The main attraction of the 26,000-square foot Illuminarium complex is an 8000-square-foot room filled with a projected African safari. The 50-minute immersive 16K film is non-linear; visitors can enter and leave at any time, and move at their own pace through the space, feeling the experience through the haptic effects at their feet (see sidebar).

A smaller projection room becomes the bar at night with a series of different interactive worlds. A gaming engine drives the AV in response to visitors’ movements and actions.

“The Bar at Illuminarium is the first-

3D Audio One of Illuminarium’s key technology partners is HOLOPLOT, an Berlin-based innovator and manufacturer of 3D audio hardware and software founded in 2011. The company’s technology allows users to control sound similar to light, steering to the desired target area with lifelike object localization, while creating a homogeneous soundfield with consistent level and quality over distance. The X1 Modul 96 is a full-range two-way matrix loudspeaker, and the X1 Modul 80-S is a full-range three-way matrix loudspeaker. X1 offers the maximum directivity control for performing arts venues, arenas, stadiums, immersive spaces, and theme parks. HOLOPLOT’s Wave Field Synthesis technology enables sound designers to recreate audio objects exactly like in reality. The sound object is no longer bound to the position of the loudspeaker, but comes alive, moving through the 3D space. The two-room Illuminarium Atlanta venue is configured with a 360° immersive HOLOPLOT X1 system, consisting of 52 Modul 96 and 7 Modul 80-S.

28

SVC | AUG U S T 2 0 21 | SVCO NLINE . COM

“We took our team to experience firsthand the HOLOPLOT X1 Matrix Array and were completely sold on it by its incredible performance, flexibility, and unique beamforming capabilities,” says Brian Allen, Executive VP of Technology & Content for Illuminarium. “The result sounds just magnificent and allows us to achieve experiences which conventional technologies couldn’t support. Guests who experience the power of Illuminarium’s audio system will truly feel and be surrounded by our content.”

ever immersive nightlife environment,” says David Rockwell founder and president.

“We designed the space to complement the truly unprecedented entertainment experience that is Illuminarium. Stunning and ever-changing digital worlds will transport guests to far-flung, surreal destinations through sight, sound, and scale.”

The Bar at Illuminarium features seven global landscape projections: Living Mural, inspired by the tropical artwork of Henri Rousseau; Shibuya Night Market; Jardin De Fleurs, a lush Mediterranean garden in which vegetation will shift before the eyes; Nebulas, with its cosmic cloud of stars and interstellar dust; Crystal Excavation, a crystal cave; Luminous Reefs; and Sunset in the Stratosphere.

Adjacent to its venue, Illuminarium is building a state-of-the art R&D and postproduction center called The Illuminarium Lab, an ongoing center of research and development in immersive and interactive,

It’s something of a cross between a museum, a movie theater, and virtual reality

in collaboration with key Illuminarium technical partners, including Panasonic, HOLOPLOT, and disguise. The space is shared with Orlando-based Evolve Technology—Illuminarium’s technology leasing partner. The Evolve CX serves as their customer experience center. It is outfitted with a 50 x 12-foot curved 1.9mm LED videowall backdrop utilizing Evolve’s new StudioLED product, Brompton video processing, Mo-Sys camera tracking, and Pixera media servers with

Unreal Engine. A separate xR studio for immersive production features right-angled 12 x 12-foot 1.9mm LED videowalls and a ROE LED floor. “Creative teams can come in and learn about the technology, test and develop content, do customer demos, then rent the space to produce their movie, TV and corporate projects with Evolve providing technical support,” says Brian Macauto, Director of Facilities and Business Development at Evolve CX.

Digital Audio Reimagined

A new family of DSPs and accessories that make ease-of-installation, intuitive programming and user experience simply…Out Of This World!

SOME UNIQUE FEATURES INCLUDE: • Ease and flexibility of programming • Simple and intuitive design reduces user training time • Touchless app-less mobile control • Embedded bell scheduler • Supports both stereo and mono requirements • Ambient noise compensation with built in learning

www.atlasied.com

SV C ON L I N E.C OM | AU GU S T 20 21 In Stock and Shipping Today!

| S VC 29

Rumble in the Jungle

Following Atlanta, Illuminarium will open in Las Vegas at AREA 15 in January 2022 and Miami at Mana in the Wynwood Arts District, in fall 2022. Illuminarium expects to have 25 to 30 Illuminarium venues open in the world’s great megacities and mega tourism locations within the next five years.

At CES 2021, Panasonic announced that they would the Official Technology Partner of Illuminarium and tthe exclusive visual solution provider of native 4K projectors, 4K professional displays, and 4K professional camera solutions for Illuminarium’s 360-degree immersive experiential entertainment centers. The inaugural location in Atlanta uses Panasonic’s large venue native 4K laser projection technology, the Panasonic PT-RQ50k with 50,000LM brightness, and 4K resolution.

The Panasonic partnership also included the manufacturing of a unique lens that allows Illuminarium to produce an enhanced immersive experience. Panasonic’s engineers collaborated to create an ultra-short throw lens with minimal offset and loss of light for Illuminarium.

“We’re excited to partner with Illuminarium whose mission to expand communal access to amazing, but typically out-of-reach places and experiences is truly awe-inspiring,” said Joe Conover, Manager of Panasonic Live Events Group. “Following what has been a challenging year for the entertainment industry, we believe there will soon be extraordinary opportunities for innovators in experiential entertainment, like Illuminarium, to transport and inspire audiences through compelling storytelling.”

Complementing the exotic sights of Illuminarium’s safari, visitors will also be immersed in its authentic sounds and scents. The feel of the jungle was driven by Powersoft’s linear transducer, Mover, which was used to design a haptic Infrasound floor, creating realistic sensations such as the ground-shaking feel of an elephant‘s stomp or the low-end rumble of a lion’s roar.

At Illuminarium, 162 Mover were deployed throughout the 8,000-square-ft room, making it the largest installation of the linear transducer to date. This Powersoft system has been matched with 12 Quattrocanali 4804D amplifiers.

Mover is a compact yet powerful linear transducer designed to deliver sound through haptic perception – by vibrating the surrounding environment, which the human body picks up and, through bone conduction, translates the into perceivable frequencies.

At Illuminarium, this linear motor / shaker has been used in its Inertial Drive version, which can be mounted directly on surfaces, including underneath floors. The ultra-low frequency reproduction and efficiency of Mover excites the surface and extends the low frequency experience.

Mover is based on Powersoft’s patented moving magnet linear motor technology introduced in 2013. Extended power handling, electromagnetic conversion, reliability, and maximum SPL are a few of the features and improvements with respect to conventional moving coil arrangement.

“We are incredibly proud to be providing our patented haptic infrasound technology to help reproduce realistic sensations for visitors in what is set to be the next generation of entertainment venues,” says Powersoft US general manager Tom Knesel.

SV C ON L I N E.C OM | AU GU S T 20 21 | S VC 30

SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION FROM IP TO IMMERSIVE

* INCLUDING AURORA MULTIMEDIA • DVIGEAR • HALL TECHNOLOGIES • SOUND PRODUCTIONS • TEKVOX

SV C ON L I N E.C OM | AU GU S T 20 21 | S VC 31

SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION

HEAVY LIFTING lluminarium Experiences, a breakthrough global experiential entertainment company, is creating the next generation in immersive experiences, enabling visitors to experience recreated worlds. Actual filmed content is used to showcase real-world, authentic sights and scenes, presented in custom-designed venues called “Illuminariums.”

Illuminariums are reprogrammable, immersive theaters that surround visitors in a sensory space of sight, sound, and scale. Illuminariums are brought to life by 4K laser projectors, audio beams, in-floor haptics, and realistic aromas. Illuminarium Experiences was created by Alan Greenberg, RadicalMedia, and Rockwell Group, and operated by Legends; the project brings together best-in-class partners in content creation, theatrical design, interactive technologies and venue operations The first Illuminarium opened in July in Atlanta, Georgia, with its debut spectacle, WILD: A Safari Experience. Through a convergence of cutting-edge technologies, the immersive 8,000 square-foot entertainment complex showcases the beauty and splendor of Africa’s most exotic animals in their natural habitats “Delivering this sort of immersive experience requires us to have the highest-quality audio and video,” said Brian Allen, executive vice president of technology and content for Illuminarium Experiences. “Every layer of our technology contributes to the experience that we are trying to create. Our content is incredibly realistic…we have to look closely at the little details — like color spaces and the light output — to create an immersive experience.”

I

32

SVC | AU G U S T 2 0 21 | SVCONLINE . CO M

For signal distribution, Illuminarium relies on Lightware, whose UBEX (Ultra Bandwidth Extender) is being used to deliver uncompressed video and audio content with zero perceived latency. “We integrated UBEX because of the actual lossless quality, incredible flexibility, and reliable video routing,” Allen says. “We also pulled more fiber for each location as we anticipate signals will have a higher bitdepth, more color information, and higher resolution in the future. An AV-over-IP system provided us with the flexibility for expansion.”

UBEX is an uncompressed AV-over-IP solution. It can operate as a virtual matrix using a standard Ethernet switch as a crosspoint, or work as a conventional point-to-point extender. The unit allows for uncompressed, high-fidelity signal extension at 4K UHD at 60Hz (4:4:4) using packet-based transmission. UBEX can simultaneously transmit and receive content with deep-color streams and multi-channel audio.

Illuminarium’s debut attraction, WILD, transports visitors to Africa through cinematic content captured from across South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania. WILD will be followed by SPACEWALK, a journey through our Solar System where audiences will experience what it’s like to walk on the surface of the moon and Mars.

“We create different rendering pipelines for each show,” Allen continued. “It was important that we integrated a flexible solution, like UBEX, that enables us to utilize existing technology as we create new shows. UBEX allows direct connectivity to different inputs and components; that provides us with unparalleled flexibility across the massive facility.”

SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION

KVM OVER IP

or mobile broadcast provider and production company, Lyon Video, connecting staff and serving customers across North America required switching to an IP KVM. The company’s portfolio spans from premier North American soccer confederation matches to distinguished festivals and events. Lyon Video was able to affordably upgrade their existing infrastructure, and connect remote users and mobile unit operators.

The company needed a KVM solution that would allow users to connect to and switch between multiple hardware platforms—locally or in a separate OB van—in the event of a system failure. The company needed engineers in the production studio to remotely access these broadcast systems in order to offer real-time technical support during events.

Furthermore, Lyon Video wanted to use its current one Gigabit Ethernet infrastructure. Many KVM systems on the market required dedicated connection links that were not IP-based, or utilized a central controller or a matrix, requiring users to purchase block licenses and choose a matrix size upfront. However, when Lyon Video came across the Matrox Extio 3 IP KVM, the company was able to leverage its existing IT networking equipment and infrastructure, as well as expand without costly upgrades.

Lyon Video is currently standardizing two installations that include

F

34

SVC | AUG U S T 2 0 21 | SVCO NLINE . COM

Extio 3 transmitters and one receiver using installed IP switches. Various computers on the network are extended to different locations within a mobile unit, another mobile unit, or to a remote user over WAN and Internet. With an Extio 3 IP KVM setup able to support one-to-many and many-to-many configurations, operators can rapidly access and switch among systems from one desk while maintaining broadcast continuity.

Engineers can remotely access the broadcast systems in OB vans from their workstations at the production studio, and mobile unit operators can receive tech support. With the included Aggregator Mode multisystem control, operators can simultaneously view and operate multiple source systems from their remote displays and control them with a ­single keyboard and mouse set.

“This upgrade has been quintessential in allowing us to save on travel costs, maximize our resources while maintaining superior production quality, and keep our staff safe and distant from one another during COVID,” said Kevin Norris, engineering operations at Lyon Video.

According to Norris, the company anticipates integrating all PCs at Lyon Video headquarters to the KVM setup in order to allow engineering staff to easily access remote workspaces in the mobile units.

SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION

LARGE SCALE AVOIP hen Thompson Rivers University (TRU) determined that they needed more space for their expanding nursing program, they made plans to build and equip a new facility with state of the art teaching tools. They have recently finished the Chappell Family Building for Nursing and Population Health (NPH) at their campus in Kamloops, British Columbia. This health sciences facility was designed to accommodate the needs of the current nursing program and support expansion of the outside post graduate paramedic and firefighter training programs.

In addition to an AV presentation system and wireless functionality in each instructional and meeting space, TRU required a comprehensive transport system that was capable of distributing HDMI and audio signals throughout the 49,000-square foot multi-disciplinary building. A top priority was integration and seamless compatibility with current and future teaching modalities, equipment, and systems. The design would be tested over a year-long validation process.

TRU worked with McSquared System Design Group, Inc. to create a

W

36

SVC | AU G U S T 2 0 21 | SVCO NLINE . COM

fully functional proof of concept installation. The pilot installation, and the deployed systems, included an Extron NAV Pro AV over IP system for signal distribution and a Pro Series control system programmed using Global Scripter, Extron’s Python-based development environment.

The POC design spanned multiple rooms and floors. It consisted of a dual-station simulation training lab, an adjacent dual-station control room, two overflow classrooms, and two debriefing rooms. Each room included between one and six professional displays, depending on room function.

The lab’s two stations were fully functional and provided all of the specialized equipment used in modality-based medical training scenarios.

Each station included a CAE human patient simulator. One station was a high-fidelity unit, with multiple PTZ cameras, content inputs, professional displays, Shure array microphones, a ceiling speaker, a learning management system, an in-ear monitoring system, and an augmented/ mixed reality system. Sessions were archived using a dedicated medical lecture capture system, which was capable of recording and playing back content from up to five discrete channels. The station also provided

Software-Defined AV Distribution

The Future of AV Distribution DisplayNet® delivers the performance of traditional matrix switchers, with the future readiness of AV over IP. By leveraging cutting edge SDVoE technology, DisplayNet offers 4K/60 (4:4:4) video distribution with limitless scalability, zero-frame latency and zero image artifacts.

DisplayNet provides unique features such as Software-Defined MultiViewer and Advanced Video Wall that enable a wide range of applications without the expense of ancillary products. Silent operation, powerful Network Security features, versatile KVM Routing and support for Dante® digital audio provide system designers with exceptional versatility. A highly intuitive web-based UI and API greatly simplifies setup and installation, as well as integration into third-party control systems.

Contact us today to learn how DisplayNet can make your next AV system future ready.

ZERO COMPROMISE – INFINITE POSSIBILITIES Powered by sales@dvigear.com | (888) 463-9927 | www.displaynet.com Dante® is a registered trademark of Audinate Pty Ltd.

© 2021 DVIGear, Inc.

SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION audio capabilities needed for both standardized patient and confederate training functionalities. The second station was a medium skills unit with similar but scaled-back functionality, such as a two-channel lecture capture system.

To prove the concept and various systems, training scenarios were designed to stress test the installation for performance competency. Scenarios employed each piece of medical and AV equipment to validate function, operation, and compatibility. As with all AVoIP solutions, appropriate network topology and professional active hardware were essential for system efficacy.

Each station was equipped with a NAV Pro AVoIP system, a ShareLink Pro 500 wireless presentation gateway, and multiple HDMI inputs at the headboard and at the station’s headwall. One of the wall-mount inputs was reserved for the instructor’s laptop. The other inputs provided connectivity for the simulator, augmented/mixed reality headsets, computers for the patient’s vital signs, anesthetics, and health records retrieval, and portable medical equipment such as a crash cart with a defibrillator. Content was presented on one or more of the wall-mounted

Link Pro Control Processor in the rack. The same touchpanel model was positioned at each control room station.

For testing purposes, the touchpanel and tablet at each station provided the same GUI and functionality as the touchpanel located in the control room. The operator or instructor was able to start a recording and select the patient case and training scenario from the AV control panel.

When the scenario did not include a control room operator, recordings could be created and managed and the systems operated from one control panel within the room or using a tablet The custom interface also offered signal routing with independent audio breakaway and level adjustment of master and program audio, as well as management of the wired and wireless microphones. The deployed control system facilitated management of the full system from the control room, including content presentation within the remote rooms.

The Pro Series control system was programmed using Extron Global Scripter (GS). The programmer found that using this Python-based development environment made the project dynamic and easy to modify

Integrators programmed the Pro Series control system using Global Scripter, Extron’s Python-based development environment. displays. It was also captured and/or routed to the remote locations, including to an Extron DTP CrossPoint 4K Series presentation matrix switcher in each debriefing room. The majority of the AV components were rack-mounted within the lab.

AV signal distribution within and between rooms was achieved with the Extron NAV Pro AVoIP system. The encoders and decoders facilitated extension of live content from the stations to any combination of rooms for overflow and analysis. NAV E 101 encoders streamed video and audio to the decoders over TRU’s 1 Gbps Ethernet network. NAV SD 101 decoders scaled the video to the display’s native resolution.

Both NAV models include the integrated PURE3 codec, a wavelet-based compression technology that delivered the required HDMI 2.0-compatible video at resolutions up to 4K and ultra low latency at an 18 Gbps video data rate. For audio, the encoder supports the AES67 standard that ensures interoperability of audio over IP. The NAV devices were powered using PoE+, which eliminated the need for a local power supply or injector at the lab station or display. This freed outlets for use by the medical equipment and AV sources. Additionally, the bandwidth management capability within the NAV system was advantageous for controlling the network infrastructure costs.

The AV control system played a key role during testing and validation of the overall usability, reliability, and operational sustainability of TRU’s POC installation. Dedicated to each lab station were an Extron TLP Pro 1025T 10” Tabletop TouchLink Pro Touchpanel, a wireless tablet loaded with the Extron Control app, and an Extron IPCP Pro 360 IP

38

SVC | AU G U S T 2 0 21 | SVCO NLINE . COM

as features were added and requirements changed. An example is the Overflow capability. High-quality source images had to be maintained on the touch screen when being repeatedly shown and hidden during distribution to remote locations. GS allowed the programmer to create a “Box to Box communication” that facilitated the Overflow feature. The programming environment also made it easier to re-route or break the tie when the previous source was accepted.

Programming with GS resulted in a powerful and reliable, yet easy to use, control system that seamlessly integrated both medical equipment and AV sources from a wide variety of manufacturers into one cohesive and manageable system, meeting TRU’s mandate for integration compatibility now and in the future.

The NAV Pro AVoIP-based AV routing system in conjunction with the Pro Series control system provided the required flexibility and durability to route content from any combination of inputs for source capture and distribution within the POC installation. Once validation was completed, AVI SPL then deployed the proven design throughout the NPH building.

The commissioned installation includes multiple control modes of operation based on the user’s credentials and location. These modes take into consideration user experience and the level of accessibility/ automation for each type of operator. The NAV and control systems along with the additional Extron products successfully support the many labs and classrooms, as well as seminar, research, and collaborative study spaces, throughout TRU’s state-of-the-art NPH health sciences building.

SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION

PRODUCTS RF VENUE RF EXPLORER PRO AUDIO EDITION

DVIGEAR DN-200 SERIES The flagship of the DisplayNet AV-over-IP product line, the DN-200 Series leverages the latest SDVoE technology to distribute uncompressed AV signals with resolutions of up to 4K/60p over a 10GbE network. The DN-200 Series adds support for HDMI 2.0 with up to 12-bit color, HDCP 2.2, DisplayPort 1.2, and High-Speed USB 2.0 with virtual hub support.

A high-performance scaler in both the Transmitter (Tx) and Receiver (Rx) units enables very Fast Switching, Advanced Multi­Viewer, and Advanced Video Wall processing. Each Tx unit accepts multiple source signals including HDMI (with embedded audio and HDCP), DisplayPort, analog stereo audio, bidirectional IR, RS-232, and 1GbE Ethernet.

These input signals are packetized into a single 10GbE link and are distributed to destinations via an off-the-shelf 10GbE network switch. The DN-200 Series supports twisted-pair (CAT6a or CAT7) media up to 328 ft. (100 meters) or Fiber Optic media using an industry standard SFP+ module supporting extension distances up to 18 miles (30 km).

AURORA MULTIMEDIA IPX-TC3A This new endpoint product series is based on Semtech’s BlueRiver AVP2000 which consumes as little as 6-watts. Aurora has chosen to integrate Semtech’s BlueRiver AVP2000 AV Processor into its Software Defined Video over Ethernet (SDVoE)-based Aurora IPX-TC3A Series to offer low power AV over IP (AVoIP) in a small box solution.

Enabled by the ASIC (versus a field-programmable gate array), the product series features a fanless operation and renders high-resolution video with no frame latency.

Semtech’s BlueRiver AVP2000 complements the Aurora IPX series due to its low power consumption and small size, enabling Aurora’s IPX TC3A Series to claim up to one-fifth of the usual industry power consumption, one-fourth of the size, and one-half of the weight of competing 1G AVoIP solutions. The AVP2000 includes an in-line AV processing engine for broadcast quality scaling, allowing for near-zero latency switching and extension, plus image format conversion, up to 4K60 4:4:4 with uncompressed image quality.

40

SVC | AU G U S T 2 0 21 | SVCONLINE . CO M

This nifty handheld RF spectrum analyzer, available from Sound Productions, offers customizable, user-friendly functionality for managing and monitoring wireless audio devices such as receivers, transmitters, wireless mics, and IEMs. Frequency coordination and interference detection is easy and within budget for venues large and small, live and installed. The backlit LCD shows frequency and power visualizations of the RF environment to simplify identification of thirdparty RF sources that can wreak havoc on an event. With a wide 15 to 2700 MHz scanning range and a one-click 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi analyzer, the RF Explorer Pro Audio Edition is ideal for troubleshooting a variety of wireless signals. Users can efficiently optimize input levels with the configurable input stage, which offers three paths including a 25 dB low-noise amplifier, a 30 dB input attenuator, and a direct route. Presets can be saved and loaded for fast configuration in different venues. Includes carrying case.

HALL TECHNOLOGIES VERSA-4K The VERSA-4K extends and switches multiple HDMI video and USB data to virtually unlimited receivers on a simple Gigabit network. Bidirectional IR, RS-232, and auxiliary stereo audio can also be extended.

Advanced features include, low latency video and audio, CEC and Serial over IP for control, video wall processor to expand and split 4K video to multiple screens, video rotation and flipping (horizontal and vertical), USB Device class filtering for excluding specific USB device types such as USB flash drives, automatic KVM switching, Telnet and webGUI control, Dynamic Virtual Matrix (DVM) operation, PoE (power over Ethernet) support, and more.

SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION

PRODUCTS TEKVOX 1201 MV TEKVOX seeks to raise the bar for distance engagement in both the educational and corporate markets with its 1201-MV Universal Switcher designed to deliver true Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) video conferencing by eliminating the need for a conventional inroom PC to drive the conference’s technical components. The 1201MV features a two-way USB hub at the far end, which allows any connected laptop to host meetings from the conference room using the installed technology. This groundbreaking capability does away with the need for a dedicated conferencing PC, and removes the security risks and overall annoyance associated with the old use model.

The 1201-MV utilizes 6-Play HDBase-T to transport 4K video, digital audio, PoC, RS232, LAN, and USB over a single cable. It also includes a native USB-C input with up to 60W of power charging for a tablet or laptop. It features 12 flexible multiview modes for viewing up to four sources at once without additional hardware, something that was not possible with previous 1201 switchers. The 1201-MV features auto-switching—a useful function for collaboration and conferencing—and a breakaway HDMI output. The 1201MV is available now with an MSRP of $2,998. The switcher is shipped fully functional, pre-programmed, and rigorously tested.

THE DYNAMIC TRIO Extension products designed to allow a single HDMI 2.0 source to display remotely at up to eight different locations, using HDBaseTTM technology.

SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION

SVC INTERVIEW

CONTROLLING DANTE With Bennett Liles

S

ound systems everywhere have been moving into audio over IP. The versatility of Dante networks and hardware has spurred that trend. Brad Price of Audinate is here with the basics on controlling a Dante network and where to find out more.

SVC: Brad, good to have you joining us. We’re all still re-emerging from our foxholes on the pandemic, so what’s been happening at Audinate?

Brad Price: Yeah. The pandemic certainly changed a lot of our plans like it did for just about every business on the planet. Our markets shifted over a bit, as would be predictable, from the effects of the pandemic.

The live sound markets definitely took a hit, but other markets picked up. Like most people we had been worried in April, but by the end of last year we were pleased to find ourselves in a good position. During this time, we’ve been working on a lot of new things. We’ve been advancing things that we’ve been talking about for a while. We’ve got, of course, the continuing evolving platform of Dante audio. Dante Domain Manager, which is our management platform—that’s something we’ve been really focusing on. And then of course we’ve been talking a lot about Dante AV and now we’ve seen the first products come out from Patton Electronics and the camera maker Bolin Technology.

42

SVC | AU G U S T 2 0 21 | SVCONLINE . CO M

Let’s get into some of the software that’s at the heart of managing Dante networks. The simplest one is Dante Virtual Soundcard, which runs on Mac and Windows. Windows users can select a WDM interface or an ASIO interface. When would you select which one?

Well, it’s a situation unique to Windows. The Mac has just one audio system; it’s pretty flexible, so we use it along with everybody else. On the Windows side, it really is kind of split. WDM is Microsoft’s consumer audio interface. It sees the world in stereo pairs. If you’re running iTunes or Media Player or Spotify or something like that, it’s going to look for a WDM driver. Because of that particular limitation and the latency issues involved with WDM since it does resampling, ASIO was developed as a third-party solution by Steinberg back in the, gosh, the late ‘90s. That’s an alternate driver model where an application connects directly to the hardware and is able to achieve high channel count and low latency performance on Windows, but it does so bypassing the Windows audio system entirely. We offer both. If you’ve got an application that doesn’t understand ASIO then you’re going to need WDM. And if you’re using a high-performance recording software like Pro Tools, then you’re probably going to want to use ASIO. Most of the high-performance audio software products do support ASIO for those very reasons. That’s why we offer both, is to give everybody the chance to use whatever is appropriate for the applications that they’re exposing to the Dante network.

SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION You don’t have to be using a complex network. It can be as simple as using one of the little AVIO adapters for running sound out of a single laptop.

It can be really simple. The earliest Dante systems were just two things.

They were basically a Dante device and a computer with Dante Virtual Soundcard. That was the first stuff that many people saw and it was being used for recording setups initially. It was extremely effective. You didn’t need a fancy soundcard, you could just put this inexpensive software on your machine and away you went—64 x 64 channels. So a lot of people got started on Dante because of that and then, of course, they started expanding.

A user can select a latency value. Normally you might think, why not just have the lowest latency and just select the lowest one possible?

Well, that’s because it depends on what you’re doing. Latency is only an issue in a situation where you’re hearing your original sound and the delayed sound at the same time. If you have too much latency it sounds like an echo. It’s confusing. If you can’t hear it then it doesn’t really matter. When I’m listening to music on, say, Spotify, who knows how long the latency is? It doesn’t matter because it’s just me sitting in one spot. The reason we put those different values in there is because lower latency requires greater computational power and we wanted to make sure the Dante Virtual Soundcard would be able to run on most any machine that people had. By allowing greater latency you allow slower machines to still keep up and to do a good job of recording. And if all you’re doing is recording, which is the majority application for Dante Virtual Soundcard, then the latency value really doesn’t matter. So we allow people to have some variation. You would want the low latency if you’re doing things like direct overdubs. When you want to hear an original sound coming from an instrument or a voice and you’re comparing that against something through a monitor, that’s when you really need the low latency.

And there’s a 30-day license to try it out?

The Virtual Soundcard? Yeah. It’s also a pretty inexpensive product, frankly. It’s still only $29.95. At that rate that’s a heck of a value. I’ve got to say that myself. It installs on any standard Mac or Windows machine.

We provide a per-machine license for it so that strictly speaking you get a copy of it for each machine you’re going to use. Then to set up Dante you’re going to need Dante Controller and that is free. That is just the configuration software that we provide for all Dante systems. That’s available from Audinate.com anytime at no charge.

Now, if you’re going to be running a substantial network, Dante Domain Manager is the primary management tool. What are the main features?

That’s right. It really is an application dependence thing. Dante, by its little lonesome, is a system that can transport your audio all over the place. You can use just Dante Controller and get a lot done that way.

There are a lot of people that use it just that way. But if you’re in an environment where you’re going to have multiple people using the system, you’re going to have people concerned that things continue to work right. Maybe you’re in a broadcast situation. Maybe you’re in a recording studio. Maybe you’re running a church and you’ve got volunteers twiddling knobs all day. Dante Domain Manager steps in and provide IT-level control over your Dante system. It doesn’t do the day-to-day management chores of Dante Controller, like routing signals between one thing and another. It provides a layer of user authentication and encryption so that you know who’s operating Dante Controller—they’re only allowed to see the things you want them to see and only allowed to take the actions you permit them to take. It allows a manager to really lock down their AV system and permit their staff to work on just the stuff they need to. That way they can be assured that their systems aren’t getting disturbed. Like somebody making a change in Studio A isn’t upsetting the apple cart in Studio B. It does a lot of other things that are related to IT management, too. In addition to user authentication and the assignment of roles, it has other features like a complete audit trail so that every change made to a Dante system, every device glitch is recorded. You can tell when it happened and on what device. Very, very granular for troubleshooting purposes. Then we also allow Dante Domain Manager to enable subnet crossing. This is a more subtle issue that people may or may not be aware of.

That’s a very interesting part of this. Can you give us the details?

In networking there’s, broadly speaking, two flavors of networks. There are local area networks like the one in my house here. Very, very typical.

I’ve got one router. It’s checking out IP addresses in a certain range on all the gizmos in my house. That’s a single LAN, a local area network.

That’s what Dante was originally intended to work on and that’s because the protocols that we use are defined to work in a LAN. That’s how they were designed. So you can run Dante in a single LAN all day long and

SV C ON L I N E.C OM | AU GU S T 20 21 | S VC 43

SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION that’s just fine. But in larger networks in corporate settings and larger campuses and more involved places you’ll have multiple local area networks that are connected together by the router. The router translates the addresses among those separate networks and allows traffic to pass through. But that’s something no audio over IP solution deals with out of the box because the common protocols aren’t designed to work for that situation. What we’ve done with Dante Domain Manager is provide a way to do that that doesn’t violate the standards at all. It simply recreates conditions in each LAN so they can be routed and connect to each other.

This has the effect of making Dante transparent to the architecture of the network. You could have multiple subnets and simply deploy your Dante devices wherever they need to go and it figures out how to cross over those subnets and work like one big coherent system. That’s a real advantage in Dante Domain Manager that you’ll primarily see in use in large settings, big businesses that have separate subnets on every floor of a building or something like that. Even in smaller places like broadcast they often use subnets to just protect certain bits of gear. So they’ll have a subnet for certain audio pieces and a subnet for certain video pieces—things like that. Dante Domain Manager enables stuff to cross over those boundaries that way.

You’re using multicast and unicast signals and you talk about flows and subscriptions. Can you elaborate on that?

Yeah. Those are details that a user doesn’t really see, for the most part.

First of all, to talk about unicast and multicast. Very simply, unicast is a message that goes between one device and another device and no one else hears it. It’s like a private phone call. Multicast is where you want to send the same message out to a bunch of devices at once, but the thing about multicast is that it’s controllable. If I want to send a message to, say, five things at once, like the same signal to five amplifiers, in multicast I would have a list of those amplifiers. I’d send out the data once and then a switch in the network will look at it and say, “Uh-huh. I see you’re trying to send this data to these five devices. I’ll create a little group and I will send it to those and I won’t bug all the other devices on the network.” That part of things is called IGMP. It’s a way of delivering data to many places at once and only have them descend once. That spares you a whole lot of traffic. Otherwise you’d have to send the data individually to each device over and over and over again and it would

44

SVC | AUG U S T 2 0 21 | SVCO NLINE . COM

be a lot of redundant traffic. So we use multicast for signals when it’s a one-to-many situation, but we also use multicast for those things that all devices need to know at once. The most common case is clocking. All devices need to hear the clock, right? They need to know where they are so they stay in exact sync. So the clock messages are always sent out with multicast because it’s a one-to-many kind of message.

Now a “subscription” is a Dante thing and that’s something that the user sees. It’s quite simply just a connection between two channels. If I say I want channel one of this mixer to be connected to this Dante-enabled mic then that is a subscription between one device and another. Devices, of course, can have many subscriptions depending on how many channels they have. A “flow” is an underlying piece of our mechanics that usually people don’t have to think about. It’s something we do under the hood with Dante to make the transmission of audio more efficient. So we don’t send out one channel at a time, we, in fact, send little bundles of multiple channels because that fits the common use cases and we’re able to make the network work more efficiently.

One channel of audio actually occupies the space of four channels. If I sent four channels to the same device I haven’t used any more network bandwidth. So we have the ability, then, to scale up gracefully this way.

Every time I connect one device to a different device that’s a flow. If I have one device going to four other hardware devices, technically that’s four flows. Now on really small Dante devices it might not have enough flows. That doesn’t happen that often except for the little AVIO adaptors from time to time. But the solution is simple. You simply make any of those one-to-many connections that consume your flows into multicast.

Multicast collapses the number of flows required down so that you can connect a single device to many other devices simultaneously without consuming a ton of network bandwidth.

There are Dante intercom networks, correct?

Oh, sure. Anything that’s an audio connection Dante can be used with.

There are certain intercom and emergency evacuation systems around the world that use Dante because it meets all the requirements of a highreliability system if it’s installed properly with the right hardware and to meet local code. There are systems that facilitate for that application by providing an intercom-like interface that makes more sense to an intercom user; Dante itself is just kind of a neutral transport. People rephrase

SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION Dante in all kinds of ways with different devices and products to make it do what they need a system or a given application.

Yes, I’ve seen Dante-ready PoE belt packs.

Sure. Yeah, a belt pack with a cable. Dante does not support wireless protocols for the transmission of media data at all—largely because of the timing issues. Dante uses wired network connections because the protocols we use really depend upon that kind of reliability to get that performance. Wireless connections are simply orders of magnitude less reliable and less consistent than wired connections. In fact they have kind of colossally-high error rates so they’re not suitable for what we’re trying to do with Dante, which is trying to be so low latency and so fast.

Is it better to use shielded or unshielded twisted pair?

It only matters if you’re in an environment that has a lot of noise. If there’s a lot of ultra-magnetic noise, the shielded cable would help any network so it’s not specific to Dante. Dante just looks like standard network traffic, so any problem in cables that would be an issue for Dante would also be an issue for anything else on the network.

You have one device setup to provide the master clock. Is it usual to have that be the front of house mixing console or does that matter?

From a performance standpoint it doesn’t matter. If you leave a Dante system alone it will just decide its own clock master through a little algorithm that determines the best candidate for the job that’s available on the network right now. Usually it’s just a question of practical application. You want to choose a device that is going to be consistent. It will always be there. It’s not a device that someone is going to unplug in the middle of a show and take home with them. Even if that happened though, I will say you wouldn’t notice it because in a Dante system, if the clock is removed it doesn’t stop. It freewheels for a few milliseconds and then just elects another clock and continues going. Usually there’s no way to tell that that happened. However, people who are running a system like that want it to be consistent, so we recommend that you choose a device that will always be there and a front of house mixer is a perfectly fine choice for that.

that do AES3, and that are direct USB connections so you can just plug one right into a laptop or something like that and get an instant audio interface out to the network with no software needed on your machine at all. So we do make those, but the main business of Dante is selling this technology in the form of chipsets and modules that we manufacture to various sizes and capabilities. We do little tiny ones that will do 2x2 channels—those are what’s in the AVIO products. And then we make great big ones that are 512 channels apiece. Those are used by manufacturers making enormous consoles for broadcast use and things like that. We even have one company that’s making a product with two, two, 512-channel Dante units in it. So they’re going to be supporting over a thousand channels of audio.

Yes, nobody’s going to be carting that off anywhere.

Or if they are, they deserve a little more attention.

And on those manufacturers’ products you’ll see primary and secondary network ports. Does the secondary have to be a Danteonly network?

Yes. The purpose of the primary and secondary is to provide redundancy for Dante networks. The idea is that you would have your main network running on the primary port and then if you wish to you could hook up a set of additional switches and cables on the secondary ports. You’ve got two separate networks; one on the primary ports, one on the secondary ports, and the two do not touch. They do not join each other. The Dante audio is simultaneously sent through both and if the primary fails – somebody trips over a cable, somebody spills a pitcher of beer into something, whatever it is –

So among the hardware devices, you have those that we’ve talked about that interface directly with the analog like the AVIO adapters.

You’ve got others that install into other manufacturers’ equipment such as the Yamaha cards. There’s a wide selection of those.

We make a lot of stuff. The little adapters you’re talking about, the Dante AVIO adapters, are a line of products we make which are really so far the only user-facing hardware that we make; we sell them directly through resellers to customers. They’re small Dante units that will convert analog into Dante. They’ll go the other way around so you have on-ramps and off-ramps to the network. We also have AVIOs that do Bluetooth,

And of course that never happens.

(Laughs) No, no, that’s never happened. I’ve never, ever seen a piece of gear even with a piece of masking tape on it. It just never happens. But if it ever did, the secondary audio will just simply kick right in without a click or a pop. The data is already there so it just simply uses it as soon as there’s an error detected. That’s the purpose of redundancy, to provide a means of instantaneous recovery from hardware failure on the network level. Not everybody has to use it. If you have the port, great. If you don’t, you don’t. A lot of the smaller devices don’t support the secondary port. It’s a cost decision for manufacturers whether they want to include

SV C ON L I N E.C OM | AU GU S T 20 21 | S VC 45

SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION it on the Dante modules to support it. They base that decision on the kind of device it is. But in general, the redundant network is intended to be only Dante. It runs its own special range of IP addresses that we set up and it’s all automatic. The user doesn’t have to do a thing about it. But you can’t run a secondary over somebody’s general purpose network.

That would be a bad idea.

Dante configures itself for Quality of Service, correct?

Yes. Quality of Service is much less of an issue than people usually think it is on networks mainly because the amount of traffic involved in audio is surprisingly light for a gigabit network. It can really handle quite a bit of traffic. QoS, Quality of Service, really only comes into play when a switch is dealing with quite a bit of traffic on the ports where it really needs to make a call about who gets priority. Most of the time it doesn’t need to make that judgment call because there’s ample bandwidth to handle everything coming in as fast as it wants to go.

How is Dante affected by Energy Efficient Ethernet on managed switches?

Yes. We don’t like that. We like being energy efficient. That’s not the problem. The problem is that the scheme that’s used there is that they’ll see that a port doesn’t have a lot of activity on it and the energy-efficient algorithm will shut off power to the port to conserve energy. That’s has the effect of scrambling the Dante clock. A Dante system depends on the ports all being on and running at the same speed all the time and most everything fulfills that wish with the notable exception of energyefficient switches. However, in a lot of those switches the feature can be turned off. This is a little secret I’ll tell your listeners right here. It’s only a problem if you’re using more than one switch.

It’s the connections between switches that are the problem. If you run Dante on an energy-efficient switch and it’s the only one you’re using, it’ll probably work. However, as a rule of thumb don’t bother.

If people have any question on that, you can go to the Audinate website where you have suggestions and lists of specific switch makes and models.

We do. We try not to recommend anything too prescriptive because frankly, Dante works with a ton of different switches. The main reason for choosing some switches is just their flexibility. We have our few favorites.

Our support people are happy to tell you what they are. But really, Dante can run in its basic form on almost any switch, even unmanaged switches, without

46

SVC | AU G U S T 2 0 21 | SVCO NLINE . COM

any trouble at all. I’ve set up many, many a demo where I would run large Dante systems on a bunch of really inexpensive switches I would pick up at Best Buy just to show you could do it, because you can do it.

But if you’re doing professional work, yeah, you shouldn’t get the $29.95 switch, really, if you can help it.

And as always, especially with Dante, it’s a good idea to check frequently for the latest firmware updates.

We do add new features and such to Dante on a fairly regular basis.

Those come out in the form of changes to the Dante Controller software and changes to the firmware on Dante devices. We now have built in to Dante Controller a new Dante Updater. The Dante Updater will scan your Dante Network and give you a list of what devices might be eligible for updates. Then you can go ahead with that and get some of those new features and some of those bug fixes. With software, as of course you know, there’s never a shortage of bug fixes to work on.

So if you want to learn more about this and get to be an expert on it, how do you get started with the Dante Certification Program?

You can just go right to our website. We have a whole section there devoted to the Dante Certification Program. That’s a really great thing we’ve set up. I’m very proud to see that working so well. It’s a system where we’ve got presently three levels of training. It takes you through a whole course and an exam from which you can be certified at Level 1, 2, or 3. Level 1 is really our very basic one. It’s suitable for people who don’t have a lot of technical knowledge but just want to be able to use it. Just like you don’t have to understand how an engine works to drive a car, you don’t have to understand how a network works to plug in some Dante devices and build a sound system. Then we go up to Level 2, we take you through more detail, through more things you can do if you understand more networking. And then finally Level 3, which really goes deep for people who want to bend the rules a little bit and really understand what’s going on in larger more complex systems. The whole training program is completely free of charge. I think it’s on Audinate. com/training and you can sign up.

We have courses online. Of course most in-person courses took a hit last year as would not be surprising. We will start doing that again as well, but the online courses have been extremely successful and we recommend them highly. We’re pleased to find out that so many places now really want their people to be Dante-certified.

We continue to evolve that program. It’s very, very important to us.

REVIEW

SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION

KRAMER VP-440X REVIEW

by Jeremy Caldera, CTS-D, CTS-I t first glance after unboxing the Kramer VP-440X, it appeared like any other standard switcher, but I very quickly realized it is so much more than that. Size, versatility, features, and ease of use—all in a half rack product at a reasonable cost—set this product apart from most others.

The size of the Kramer VP-440X makes it easy to install in condensed, small racks, under tables, behind displays, and more. The rack mount kit is not included, which is unfortunate. I wish all equipment like this, not only this unit, included a rack mount kit; if this type of equipment included the kit, installers wouldn’t have to remember two part numbers and pay additional costs.

Its size does not limit its number of ports. I had four digital HDMI

A

inputs and one HDMI output capable of 4K 60 4:4:4. I am always skeptical of this statistic, but it proves to be true when testing with the Quantum Data. On top of the digital inputs, it has one VGA input for versatility—and for those that have not updated their laptop in a decade. That is not all, as it also includes an HDBaseT output. This is not a matrixed output and mirrors the HDMI, but that worked for my situation.

The Kramer VP-440X is more than a switcher, it is a scaler, too.

Scalers are far too often not used in basic designs, and, as we all know, are an important tool in signal distribution. This scaler is versatile and allows for up-scaling, cross-scaling, down-scaling, or native passing of the displays.

One of my favorite features of this unit is the audio. Many small HDMI switchers and scalers only work in the digital world, but this

SV C ON L I N E.C OM | AU GU S T 20 21 | S VC 47

SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION one allows for audio embedding and de-embedding. There is a digital signal processor that will do equalization, mixing, source audio selection, and even microphone mixing. Applications I would use this for would most likely not utilize the microphone feature, but others could find this feature very useful. The ability to digitally process the audio and microphone is a handy tool.

The only downfall I found with this product relates to this physical input as I am not a fan of the input being on the front of the unit; to be fair, there is not much room left on the rear of the unit without making it a full rack unit. The appeal of the Kramer VP-440X is its size and since the microphone is most likely not the most common used feature, putting it on the front makes sense.

This unit has all the typical features you would expect including HDCP, HDR, and EDID pass thru. Third party control is no problem via RS-232, IP, or even contact closure. Control of the display is even possible via CEC, which can also be triggered via the control commands.

48

SVC | AU G U S T 2 0 21 | SVCONLINE . CO M

REVIEW In conclusion, the VP440x offers much more than the standard switcher/scaler and at a reasonable cost. It is rich with features, has versatile installation options, and is easy to use and setup. Smooth constant sync switching brings a more naturally acceptable switching to any application in the classroom, boardroom, church, or any type of facility.

Jeremy Caldera, CTS-D, CTS-I is an expert in the professional audiovisual industry with over 25 years of experience. Currently senior vice president at Pearl Technology, a leader in AV and IT services based in Peoria, IL, Caldera specializes in the planning and design of audiovisual systems, organizational management, employee motivation, and the development of corporate standards and business growth strategies. Caldera sits on the academic advisory board for the Audio Arts & Acoustics Department of Columbia College Chicago, is the former AVIXA CTS certification program chair, and is a recent inductee to the SCN Hall of Fame. Caldera is also a partner at BNCO Consulting and Top Shelf Digital Media. Connect with him on LinkedIn: www.linkedin. com/in/jwcaldera