Issue 173 / November 2014
AV INTEGRATION IN A NETWORKED WORLD www.installation-international.com
Hi, robot
Developments in virtual telepresence p20
Shining examples
Just what makes a projector ‘high end’? p38
Behind the wall
Understanding videowall controllers p42
NEW HEIGHTS
Where is immersive audio making itself heard? p32
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WELCOME 03
November 2014
Editor’s comment L
Paddy Baker, Editor pbaker@nbmedia.com
ast month, AV distributor CIE-Group invited the press to a lunch to celebrate its 50th anniversary. This convivial event was a great opportunity to meet the senior team and learn more about the company and its history. The Nottingham-based company started trading in 1964 as Canadian Instruments and Electronics. As the name suggests, it was then focused on the electronics market, selling test equipment and components. Not surprisingly, it changed direction (and name) over the years, driven by management buyouts in 1983 and 2009. The company was an early adopter of the internet, bringing out its first online catalogue in 1997 and launching one of the AV industry’s first e-commerce
‘There can’t be many companies in this industry where someone who joined in 2006 can be regarded as the new boy’ websites in 2011. Over the years it has added numerous brands to its distribution roster, including Amina, Clockaudio, CYP, Soundfield and 2N Technologies. One of the most remarkable things about the company is the longevity of its senior staff. There can’t be many companies in this industry where someone who joined in 2006 can be regarded as the new boy, but that’s the case here: group sales director Steve Collin’s eight years with the company are dwarfed by the length of service of business development director Ben Yeardley (who joined the company in 2000) and marketing director Chris Edwards (1995). But it doesn’t stop there: you have to go back another decade for the joining dates of commercial director Jon Doar (1985), field sales director Kevin Sherwood (1984) and managing/financial director Neil Mackay (1983). That’s over 130 years of experience – with one company, remember – among those six people. I can’t think of many companies in this industry that can point to a similar track record. (If you can, please let me know – I’d be interested to hear.) I can’t help thinking that a company like this must be doing something right. We frequently hear of firms hiring new blood to stir things up and start a new chapter in their history; by contrast, it’s pretty rare to come across instances of a consistent management team that has steered a course into new markets and new technologies over such a long period of time. So, three cheers for CIE-Group: here’s to the next 50 years.
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Subscriptions to Installation are free to qualified readers. Register online at www.installation-international.com/subscribe Installation is published 12 times a year by NewBay Media London, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London N1 8LR, England Editorial tel: +44 (0)20 7354 6002 Sales tel: +44 (0)20 7354 6000 Please send press material to ukpressreleases@nbmedia.com Circulation & subscription enquiries Tel: +44 (0)1580 883848 Email: installation.subscriptions@c-cms.com Editor: Paddy Baker pbaker@nbmedia.com
Production manager: Jason Dowie jdowie@nbmedia.com
Managing editor: Joanne Ruddock jruddock@nbmedia.com
Digital content manager: Tim Frost tfrost@nbmedia.com
Designer: Tom Carpenter tcarpenter@nbmedia.com
Publisher: Steve Connolly
Sales manager: Gurpreet Purewal gpurewal@nb.com
Contributors: David Davies, Rob Lane, Ian McMurray, Steve Montgomery, Marc Weber
Account manager: Peter McCarthy pmccarthy@nbmedia.com
Special thanks: Laura Finzi, Ginny Goudy, Keith Grant, Serkan Güner
US sales – Executive vice president: Adam Goldstein agoldstein@nbmedia.com © NewBay Media 2014. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owners. Printed by Pensord Press, Wales
Print ISSN: 2050-6104
Online ISSN: 2052-2401
Cover image: Ray Dolby Theatre, London, courtesy of Dolby
NewBay Media is a member of the Periodical Publishers Association
A sister title to SCN
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04 CONTENTS November 2014
32
News & Data 6 12 26 30
Update Appointments Industry Data Large display sales are soaring; Concerns over BYOD Regional Voices: Russia
Features
Show Review 14
InfoComm MEA: What caught our eye in Dubai
14
32 Immersive audio: In which markets is adoption likely to be most rapid? Projection: 38 ‘High end’ does not just mean ‘high brightness’ 42 Videowall controllers: As the market develops, what is the effect on multi-display videowalls?
Technology People 20 Opinion Rob Lane on the rise of robotic telepresence Marc Weber on what the OCA Alliance offers the install world 24 Interview Thomas Riedel on the industry’s past, present and future
24
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49 52 54
42
Solutions
New Products Demo of the Month Nexo GEO M6 Showcase Furniture and mounts
49
56 Tivoli Vredenburg, Utrecht: Equipping the Netherlands’ largest music venue 58 O2 World Arena, Hamburg Pre-match on-ice projection 60 Communal Cultural Center, Tarcyzn: Versatile audio for Polish cultural centre
58
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06 UPDATE November 2014
Sherlock’s new case finds its resolution A host of NEC kit, including LED and LCD screens, projectors and videowalls have been called into action at the new Sherlock Holmes exhibition currently running at the Museum of London. ‘Sherlock Holmes: The Man Who Never Lived and Will Never Die’ transports visitors back to Victorian London through an extensive collection of photographs from the museum’s own archive, paintings and video – including unseen footage from the streets of London conveyed via a PX750U projector. The grand finale of the exhibition is an immersive space dominated by 16 46in NEC X464UN LED backlit videowall displays, reflected in a mirror to increase the perceived size. While intriguing
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footage twists and turns its way across the screens, directional speakers relay Holmes’ voice in an eerie manner. Elsewhere throughout the exhibition, NEC EA224Wmi 21.5in monitors, V423 42in and X401S 40in displays (all LED-backlit LCD HD models) show scenes of modern-day London and clips of the great detective in various portrayals past and present. To read more about the Museum of London exhibition, visit www.installation-international.com/nec-sherlock www.nec-display-solutions.com
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08 UPDATE November 2014
New loops for dance venue Scan Audio recently upgraded the induction loop system at Islington’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre – a renowned venue for dance. The system features two Ampetronic multiloop drivers, one MLD7 and one MLD9, which are connected to low-loss loop arrays installed along the seating rows of the rear stalls and first circle. The feed cables are run in four 50m runs of Van Damme 2.5mm 4-core Touring Black cable supplied by VDC Trading, connected in star quad fashion to minimise inductance and DC resistance. Scan Audio’s Dee Couchman said: “At the Wells, the induction loop drivers are sited at high level
above the second circle seating, so to connect them to the floor loop arrays required a fairly long run of feed cable. In a theatre like this it is vitally important that we have a reliable and efficient signal to ensure the sound quality of the music is as good as it can be.” The copper tape carrying the induction loop signal in the auditorium is arranged in two loops, known as an array configuration. The design ensures very even coverage of the seating and compensates for the signal loss caused by the structural steelwork of the building. www.ampetronic.com www.vdctrading.com
New Partners Distributor Audio Visual Material can now offer a new range of projection screen solutions from AV Stumpfl. Mark Nisbet, MD at AVM, said the addition “strengthens the range we can offer and our ability to offer customers a ‘one-stop-shop’ for screens”. www.avmltd.co.uk www.avstumpfl.com
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DiGiCo has named Garrett SA Audiovisuais as its exclusive distributor for Portugal. Garrett, which was founded in 1978, has a portfolio that also includes Chauvet, Pulsar, NEC and Meyer Sound. The company will be hosting DiGiCo open days in Lisbon and Oporto. www.digico.biz www.garrett.pt
Projector manufacturer Vivitek, whose product range covers more than 40 different brightness and resolution categories, has announced Edumax as its new Norwegian distributor. In operation since 2010, Edumax has valuable experience in the education sector. www.edumax.no www.vivitek.eu
Cabletime has appointed FlexCabling as its new partner in Denmark. FlexCabling, which specialises in flexible multimedia network solutions for business and residential use, will distribute the MediaStar range of IPTV distribution solutions through its channel of Danish installers. www.cabletime.com www.flexcabling.com
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10 UPDATE November 2014
Romanian celebration breaks projection record More than 100 Panasonic projectors were used to celebrate the 555th anniversary of Bucharest in an event that broke the world record for the largest videomapping projection on an administrative building. The projection surface, the facade of the Palace of Parliament in the Romanian capital, measured 23,000sqm. Local rental and staging company 360 Revolution, which produced the show, called in mapping specialist Maxin10sity to create the videomapping and curate the content. “For a project of this scale, 8K resolution quickly became obvious. We wanted the audience to experience this wow factor while at the same time create some emotion,” commented András Sass, Maxin10sity’s art director. “Working with this resolution allowed us to dramatically improve the rendering and deliver very sharp images.” The 104 Panasonic PT-DZ21K 3-chip DLP projectors, with a total output of over 2 million lumens, were hired from Lang
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AG. The projectors were controlled by five Pandoras Box QUAD Server systems from Coolux. “We chose the DZ21K mostly because of its size, and being so robust we were able to make stacks with lots of projectors,” said Adrian Pochiscan, technical director of 360 Revolution. “We liked its resolution, its remote control capabilities from a distance, its stability and the fact that the projector is so energy efficient: if we had chosen another projector, we would have had to build a small hydropower plant to run the show.” “We really pushed the software to the
limit,” added Sass. “We think it is the first time that a projection mapping has ever been carried out in such detail. For example, we created a rendering with millions of particles that would agglomerate to shape the Parliament, before being blown by the wind the next second to create other forms.”
business.panasonic.eu www.360revolution.ro www.coolux.de www.lang-ag.com www.maxin10sity.com
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12 APPOINTMENTS November 2014
Crestron
X2O Media
New hire drives unified communications initiative
Darin Crosby has been named vice president of sales at X2O Media. He comes with more than 20 years of senior sales executive experience in technology-related industries, including time with Evertz Microsystems and Miranda. In his new role, Crosby will manage the company’s overall sales efforts, including collaborating closely with X2O Media’s channel partners and customers around the globe.
The company has appointed collaborative technology expert Patrick Stewart-Blacker as EMEA director of unified communications
W
ith over 15 years’ experience as a consultant, Patrick Stewart-Blacker will be heading up Crestron’s new EMEA unified communications initiative. The initial focus will be to reach out to major end users and make them aware of the different solutions in this area – in particular Crestron RL, which brings Microsoft Lync to the meeting room. The role will involve working closely with other key UC manufacturers and partners to develop working relationships, leading to growth across the EMEA region. “Patrick’s experience, drive and proven
CEDIA
track record in our industry will be a great asset to the company,” said Robin van Meeuwen, CEO of Crestron EMEA. Most recently, StewartBlacker was managing director of SB Project Solutions, working as a programme manager on a London-based refurb project for a major bank, as well as completing the final parts of a large AV rollout in Canary Wharf. He has also been a project director at IVC Media and Cordless Consultants, managing director of Project Perfection and operations manager at AVM.
www.x2Omedia.com
Clear-Com Damien Egan is now Clear-Com’s regional sales manager for the UK, Ireland and Israel. He will be responsible for defining and supporting the company’s sales strategy across these regions, working closely with reseller partners to grow the business.
www.clearcom-com
Interfacio Thelma McNeil has joined the Interfacio team as business development manager for the broadcast and video business. McNeil has more than 20 years of experience working in senior marketing, management and HR roles with a number of established broadcast technology manufacturers including Sony Broadcast, Snell and Wilcox and most recently AmberFin.
www.crestron.eu
YCD MULTIMEDIA
www.interfacio.com
New education director named Sam Losar is appointed CEO Simon Buddle succeeds Matt Dodd
Co-founder Noam Levavi steps down
CEDIA has appointed Simon Buddle as education director for the EMEA region. He will head up the development of CEDIA’s expanding education programme in the region, which is aimed at improving skills and growing expertise throughout the residential custom installation industry. He will also help support the globalisation of the industry by assisting with the production and dissemination of international content as well as developing new content and adapting existing materials to work on various platforms. Buddle has taught at expos and events across the world. He has also worked at Linn Products and SMC, where he has been technical director for the past 12 years.
Former YCD Multimedia president US Sam Losar has been named CEO of the company, assuming responsibility from company co-founder Noam Levavi. Losar joined YCD as president of its US operations during its acquisition of digital signage software provider C-nario in October 2011. Having redeveloped the entire business model, YCD Multimedia expanded its customer base and increased its overall profitability, while focusing on its core competency of developing digital signage software. Losar brings 20 years of experience in building and leading businesses. He will be charged with extending the growth he achieved in the Americas to YCD’s business operations in Europe and Asia.
www.cediaeducation.com
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Alcorn McBride Jesus Rodrigo (JR) Solis has taken up the new position of international sales engineer at Alcorn McBride. Reporting to the director of sales, Solis is responsible for supporting the company’s international distributors and dealers in Latin America and Canada with a view to growing Alcorn McBride’s business globally.
www.alcorn.com
VDC Jodie Verley has joined VDC Trading as sales manager. She has spent the past 16 years in electronics distribution as an account manager, field account manager and sales manager.
www.vdctrading.com
www.ycdmultimedia.com
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14 SHOW REVIEW: INFOCOMM MEA November 2014
Taking the Middle (East) ground In its fourth outing, there were plenty of indications that Dubai-based InfoComm MEA is developing well. Paddy Baker paid a visit
I
nfoComm MEA still isn’t an enormous show, but there were three key signs this year that it is growing in significance in the tradeshow calendar. There was a higher proportion of specially built stands, rather than shell scheme, than in previous years; there were more manufacturer reps on distributor stands; and there were a number of new product launches on the showfloor. The show attracted a steady stream of goodquality visitors with real projects to discuss. The view of Randall Lee, director of strategic and channel marketing at Revolabs, was echoed by many exhibitors we spoke to. He said: “It’s not as busy as some other shows but the ratio of good leads is higher – we don’t see any tyre-kickers. We’ll definitely be back here next year.” Lee also drew attention to the wide geographical draw of the show: “We’ve seen people from Pakistan and Lebanon and everywhere in between – and also people from Kenya and Nigeria.” This year, the show ran four days rather than five, opening on a Monday rather than a Sunday as previously – a change that was widely welcomed by exhibitors. Although Sunday is a working day in the Middle East, the festival of Eid finished the previous Saturday both this year and in 2013; it was believed that last year, many potential visitors had preferred to spend Sunday catching up in the office rather than coming to the show. Starting on Monday this year gave the show a more emphatic opening – and many exhibitors reported higher levels of traffic on Tuesday. “If the show had finished yesterday it would still have been fantastic for us,” we were told on the Wednesday by Alistair Duthie, regional manager – UK and Middle East for Mitsubishi Electric. While visitors could move freely between the InfoComm show and the adjoining government hall of GITEX, access to that show’s other halls still required separate registration. Opinion was divided among exhibitors as to of the value of the co-location of the shows: while it’s clearly important that companies on each side of the AV-IT fence get an appreciation of the work of their counterparts, IT is such a large discipline (and GITEX such a large show by comparison) that some InfoComm exhibitors felt it unlikely
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SiliconCore founder and CEO Eric Li in front of the newly launched 1.2mm Lavender LED display
that the ‘right’ GITEX visitors would come to their stands.
Matthias Exner with Audio-Technica’s new Dante-enabled microphone desk stand, which plugs straight into the network
Control and signage While exhibitors were looking to target a broad range of vertical markets at InfoComm MEA, two sectors that kept recurring were control rooms and digital signage. For instance, Rob Moodey of Matrox Graphics singled out these two sectors as of interest to his company in the Middle East: for the process control market, he said, the company has products for individual user workstations as well as for collaboration. He showed us Matrox’s third generation C680PCIe x16 graphics card, which can drive up to six displays or projectors, each at up to 4K resolution. Unusually, this uses an AMD graphics processing unit rather than one of Matrox’s own, because the company’s own engineers were tied up developing a soon-to-be-revealed new product… Another exhibitor involved in these markets is Adder Technology. “Command and control and digital signage markets are important to us at this show, as people are starting to
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see AdderLink Infinity as a pro AV solution,” commented Lauren Mouffok, events marketing executive. Infinity is a KVM technology that can run either point-to-point or, with the addition of standard network switches, over IP networks. Among the recent products on show was the AdderLink XD150 – a DVI KVM extender that enables an HD screen to be placed 150m from computing hardware. It can also provide a transparent USB2.0 link for remote devices over a single CATx cable. Mouffok added that the company’s presence in the MEA market is being developed via its partnership with other manufacturers, such as furniture manufacturer Lund Halsey, which is strong in the command and control sector. Cayin was showcasing its SMP-NEO series digital signage players. Sporting a new user interface and integrating Cloud technology, a web-based Skin Editor, and intelligent scheduling, SMP-NEO aims to allow users to design and manage their own digital content easily. SMP-NEO can play back content including 1080p video, Flash animation and HTML5 web pages. Additionally, the software supports integration with web services such as Twitter, weather, news and streaming videos. ONELAN launched its new 4K multi-zone media players, which can support mixed screen
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MultiTouch’s new medium-sized MultiTaction iWall, which offers unlimited touch points and can detect objects before they touch the display
orientations (see New Products, page 52). Sales and marketing director Hugh Coghill-Smith described the new products as ‘players and entry-level videowall controllers’, adding: “We’re not really focusing on single-screen 4K here; our
main focus is videowalls.” Also on show were the company’s Androidbased players. “Android is maturing as on OS; two years ago it would have been unreliable,” commented Coghill-Smith.
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One AV company that was exhibiting at GITEX – although only a few steps away from the edge of the InfoComm MEA exhibition area – was MultiTouch, debuting its new mediumsize MultiTaction iWall. Following requests from customers for a more boardroom-sized solution, the company has scaled down its original 12-unit iWall to create the new product, which comprises nine 55in MultiTaction displays. Proprietary Computer Vision Through Screen technology – in which IR emitters and sensors are embedded within the display itself rather than mounted around the edge – provides ultra-fast responsiveness for any number of concurrent users. The full HD displays, which have a pixel-to-pixel gap of less than 6mm between adjacent screens, can detect the presence of objects just above, but not touching, the screen surface. InfoComm MEA saw Audio-Technica launch its second new Dante product in the space of a few weeks. Following on from the ATND971 network boundary microphone, the new ATND8677 microphone desk stand makes it extremely easy to add gooseneck microphones to a Dante audio network. Matthias Exner, business development director EMEA, commented: “This is an obvious product for the market segment, and I’m glad we’re the first to do it.” The ATND8677 connects directly to the audio network via a standard RJ-45 connector and structured cabling, allowing for flexibility in installation and quick re-locations. An added benefit is GPIO-over-Dante enabled control – a new network feature developed specifically with Audio-Technica – for simple, flexible operation without the need for analogue audio and control cabling. This feature is also supported by Symetrix and Biamp control software, so the desk stand will work natively with Symetrix Edge, Radius 12×8 and Radius AEC plus Biamp’s
Mitsubishi Electric’s new VS60HS12 is significantly slimmer than the Seventy Series cube alongside
Tesira DSP networking solutions. Exner also mentioned that Audio-Technica has just introduced a five-year warranty on all Engineered Sound installation microphones, covering defects in materials and workmanship. This puts Audio-Technica ahead of the competition, he said, who generally offer threeyear or even just one-year warranties. Mitsubishi Electric launched the VS-60HS12 slim-profile DLP rear-projection cube. Designed for 24/7 control room applications, the 60in display is just over half the depth of Mitsubishi’s Seventy Series cubes, making it highly suited to space-restricted applications. Based on Mitsubishi’s air-cooled LED projection engine, the new cube delivers up to a 60,000-hour lifespan with no maintenance. It is equipped with an Open Pluggable Specification (OPS) slot, which enables it to be used with a wide variety of specialist display hardware. Mitsubishi Electric was also displaying the
results of its newly announced partnership with videowall control specialist Bilfinger Mauell. On the stand was a control-room application, based on a 72in DLP cube display wall and Bilfinger Mauell’s X Omnium display controller. IP-based X Omnium is an extremely powerful visualisation system that provides a high level of security and reliability. It can manage any combination of video, camera feeds, graphics and processes, and because of its decentralised structure there is no possibility of a common mode failure disabling the display. Also on the videowall front, VTRON was debuting its latest black SMD LED P1.92mm series: a range of indoor LED videowalls targeted at auditoriums, high-end conference rooms, broadcasting studios, shopping centres and small-to-medium-sized control rooms. Features include a contrast ratio of more than 3,000:1, 16-bit colour processing and a centralised, redundant power supply. The walls can also be accessed remotely via tablet. Finally, SiliconCore used InfoComm MEA to launch its 1.2mm Lavender LED display. In common with the company’s other products, the new display uses common cathode technology, which reduces energy consumption and heat generation, as well as boosting LED lifetime. Lavender was displaying video at 1280 x 720; impressive as it was, it was rather overshadowed by SiliconCore’s neighbouring 1.5mm Magnolia display, which measured 260in (diagonally) and was showing stunning 4K video. Also on show were the company’s Sunflower 3.0mm modules, which can be built up into irregularly shaped displays.
www.infocomm-mea.com VTRON’s latest videowall product can be operated via tablet
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20 OPINION: ON THE HORIZON November 2014
Rob Lane
Call a meeting with Waldo Telepresence robots are set for an active future
T
elepresence – first mentioned as a term in a 1980 article by US cognitive scientist Marvin Minsky – has always been as much about science fiction as science fact. Indeed, Minsky himself attributed the development of the idea of telepresence to renowned sci-fi author Robert A Heinlein and his 1942 short story Waldo. Originally published in Astounding Science Fiction magazine in August 1942 under the pseudonym Anson MacDonald, Waldo tells the story of Waldo Farthingwaite-Jones, a weakling who channels his intellect and family fortune to patent a device which allows him to control a powerful mechanical hand by the use of gloves and a harness. The Waldo F Jones Synchronous Reduplicating Pantograph is popularised as a Waldo in the story – and was later the nickname attributed to remote manipulators, possibly as early as 1945 when Central Research Labs was tasked with developing a radioactive manipulator for the Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago. In fact, Heinlein claimed an even earlier influence for his Waldos: a 1918 article in Popular Mechanics about a man with an autoimmune neuromuscular condition who “devised complicated lever arrangements to enable him to use what little strength he had”. Where this innovative chap drew his influence from we can only guess, but the idea of using technology to redefine one’s condition is clearly not a new one. It is only relatively recently, of course, that telepresence has become increasingly associated with videoconferencing, with companies such as Double Robotics allowing us to remotely roam the corridors of our employer looking for the meeting room, while tucked up
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in bed with flu. At the same time we’ve seen a resurgence and popularisation of ‘gloved’ remote manipulation, partly as a result of science fiction novels and movies such as (you’ve guessed it!) Spielberg’s Minority Report. And while there’s clearly some overlap – it won’t be long before Oculus Rift and virtual glove users are shaking hands before a videoconference meeting kicks off! [NB: Ironically, a budget Oculus Telepresence Robot ‘laptop conversion kit’ – nothing to do with Oculus Rift – was developed in 2011.] According to Double Robotics, its Double telepresence robot provides ‘a physical presence at work or school when you can’t be there in person’. Quite how the manufacturer expects any child attending a school where virtual robots of their peers are rolling between lessons not to ‘accidentally’ trip the avatars flat on their LCD faces is anyone’s guess; perhaps they’re developing an appropriate self-defence program! But, joking aside, having witnessed Double in action, I was very impressed. It had featured extensively during the season premiere of the fifth season of The Good Wife, but the show’s writers used it as light relief, showing it annoying the employees of Lockhart/Gardner (the outtakes are hilarious). In reality, Double is a clever telepresence solution that works very well indeed. Comprising what looks like a dismantled motorised golf cart, with self-balancing tech, motorised-adjustable-height controls and a wide angled lens, the $2,500 Double requires you to also purchase an iPad (Air is recommended). Driver apps – allowing you to drive your virtual self anywhere in the world – are included, with travel case and charging dock extra.
OK, so perhaps Heinlein might have expected something more robotic than an iPad with a big wheel by now, but this move towards mobile telepresence videoconferencing is certainly a departure from the standard screen-in-theboardroom solution, and genuinely allows you to move, remotely, from one meeting to the next, while stopping by the water cooler for a chat. And with robotics technology continuing to progress at pace, it surely won’t be long before our avatars are attending meetings clutching iPads rather than wearing them as our faces. This brings us rather neatly to another fictional representation of telepresence – one that would make Heinlein and Spielberg proud. In 2005 Japanese movie-goers were treated to Hinokio (get it?), the story of a wheelchair-bound boy who communicates with the outside world via a robot. He attends school and – surprise – there is some human-on-robot bullying. Recently premiered at the 4th Annual Robot Film Festival in San Francisco, Hinokio illustrates some of the potential benefits and challenges of telepresence robotics. Interestingly, this year’s festival awarded Best Telepresence movie to Robots in Alaska: The Making of Sugar Mountain, a narrative ski film showcasing ‘world-first’ drone tech by 3D Robotics. Perhaps we shouldn’t be limiting our telepresence avatars to movement via wheel or mechanical legs, but consider flying from meeting to meeting via drone. Now that would make Heinlein really proud… Rob Lane is founder/director of PR/marketing agency Bigger Boat PR Ltd and wrote this month’s column at home while his robotic avatar attended a client meeting on his behalf.
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www.dbaudio.com
The challenges remain consistent, but seldom appear independently. The d&b columns, however, are new and corrective; a unique combination of waveguides and damped ports create a cardioid pattern with a constant horizontal directivity of 90째, whilst the tight vertical dispersion tilts downwards in the low to mid range and is adjustable in the high frequencies. Handy for those who like to comprehend word for word in long, large, high, reverberant spaces with impediments to intelligibility. The d&b xC-Series: positions text clearly.
Parallel wall mounting
Extremely reverberant spaces Visual unobtrusiveness Large and high ceilings
Highly reflective surfaces Huge room volumes
22 OPINION: ON THE AGENDA November 2014
Marc Weber
What is Open Control Architecture? And, more importantly, what does it offer the installation world?
T
he growth of media networking technologies has led to the development of many discrete program transport protocols for which there exists no common means of control. Until now, that is. The Open Control Architecture (OCA) Alliance – a non-profit organisation, comprising leading professional audio and AV manufacturers – formed in 2011 with the aim of developing just such a means of controlling and monitoring network installations comprising different manufacturers’ devices, supporting different program transports. Now that standard is freely available and is soon to be ratified as an Audio Engineering Society standard.
‘The vision is that devices from different manufacturers will be operable under a common control protocol’
In simple terms OCA is not unlike MIDI in electronic musical instruments: a common language for real-time remote control and monitoring of the functions of devices producing different signals. Critically, OCA is transportagnostic and – using commodity Ethernet networking hardware and standard 802.11 WiFi – can currently be used on the same cable as audio transport protocols such as Dante, AVB, AES67 or CobraNet, to provide real-time control and monitoring of a distributed DSP system. Just as importantly, OCA is scalable from the simplest single device and remote control
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application, to networks comprising up to 10,000 elements, making it applicable for complex multiple environment control solutions; where, for example, disparate conferencing, congress, entertainment and voice alarm audio networks can be controlled together, from numerous locations. With OCA, all these systems can ‘speak’ the same language and integrators can focus on the user requirement and optimum interface, rather than on the different proprietary remote and monitoring protocols. OCA enables multiple controllers to be applied and is suitable for lightweight implementations with simple low-power devices, and has been proven to run on low-cost microcontrollers. It is not in any way a replacement for existing manufacturer-specific control solutions like Crestron or AMX. OCA provides an additional mechanism which can be used by control solution providers for connecting to and controlling devices. This provides the means to support the control of ‘external’ devices, similar to the way in which RS-232 and Telnet commands are used today, but with much faster response time, greater reliability, and far more flexibility with an open standardised technology. Alliance members currently include Attero Tech, Audinate, Bittner Audio, Bosch Communications Systems, d&b audiotechnik, Focusrite, Harman Professional Group, LOUD Technologies, PreSonus, RCF, Salzbrenner Strategic Media Group, TC Group and Yamaha Commercial Audio. Take a minute to think about the market coverage these manufacturers and all of their subsidiary brands have in the AV market. As a public open standard, headed to become an AES standard in 2015 through the AES X210
project, the OCA specification is available free of charge; no licence fees are required and it is not necessary to be an OCA Alliance member. OCA offers new opportunities to manufacturers, system designers, integrators and end-users alike in installation, replacing the current world of closed ecosystems with a powerful new world of interoperability. The vision is that devices from different manufacturers will be operable under a common control protocol, enabling their use in many new applications and environments. This will mean that designers and integrators will be free to devise ‘mixed network’ solutions, integrating a far wider range of different devices than ever before. Marc Weber is head of the OCA marketing group and product manager at d&b audiotechnik. www.oca-alliance.com
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24 INTERVIEW: THOMAS RIEDEL, RIEDEL COMMUNICATIONS November 2014
Flexibility and magic Paddy Baker talks to the Riedel founder, owner and CEO about the past history of the company, the present state of the industry and the future changes that more networking will bring What was your background before setting up the company? What was your interest in technology? I could say there was no background. I was still at school at the time: in 1987 I founded the company and in 1989 I finished school. I think there were two things that made me interested in the industry. When I was around 12 years old I was interested in magic, and I started as a magician: I earned some money from that, and did shows until I was around 20. So that created a certain interest in entertainment. Also I was interested in lighting and sound equipment. This was more of a hobby: I was arranging parties and hiring equipment from rental companies – at a certain point I thought we might as well buy this equipment because we needed it all the time. No-one else around me wanted to invest in it, so I said, “Would you mind if I invest and you rent it from me?” So that’s how I started – but it wasn’t even a business, I was 16 or so at the time. When I turned 18, I got the proper paperwork and started as a proper business. I thought I could do it for a couple of years before I knew what I wanted to study… I still haven’t started studying. If you ask what kind of education I had on this, it was none really. My school was the road.
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Was it around the time that you founded the company officially that you started manufacturing?
service on one side, and manufacture on the other – when the company was still a one-man show.
Not exactly. We started as a lighting and sound rental company, but in around 1991 I bought some Mrola radios for a job. These were soon being rented out all over Germany while the other equipment was only being hired locally. So I took the decision to focus on communications in the entertainment and broadcast industry. That focus needed more specialised solutions that I couldn’t buy from companies like Motorola. I started building my own headsets out of bits and pieces I could buy, and it
When did the installation market start becoming important to Riedel? That was pretty early on. I was interested in the theatre market, which is very much about installation. Theatre guys have a need for complex stage management systems – even more complex in the Germanspeaking market than in other markets. In the past, these systems had been built by companies like Siemens, which used to make more or less everything in electrical
‘We believe in good people working together and making things work’
was the same with our first manufactured product – a radio interface to make radios connect with twowire and four-wire intercom. At that time I didn’t have a clue about comms systems – I didn’t even know what two-wire and four-wire meant – but I learned. That product, RiFace, still exists in our portfolio and we’ve sold thousands over the years. Basically both divisions of the company were there in the early days – hire and
installations and electronics, but had just stopped them when I started to become involved. Some theatre people knew me from my radios and radio interface, and asked if I could help with a new system. That was the driver for developing my first intercom – Riedel Compact, a 32 x 32 analogue audio matrix but with a PC module inside that gave digital control. The theatre market gave me the opportunity to do
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INTERVIEW: THOMAS RIEDEL, RIEDEL COMMUNICATIONS 25
November 2014
installations of comms and radio systems, and we did quite a number of theatres – not only in Germany but also in Vienna and even Moscow. At a certain point I started talking to broadcasters and learning about their needs. Then there were some exhibition centres, like Messe Dusseldorf for instance, that were among our early installations. So installation has been part of what we do since very early on.
What would you say have been the biggest changes in the installation market that the company has had to respond to? There were some things that were changing over time, and some things that never changed. There were changes in technology – going from analogue to digital systems, and then to networked installations – starting just with voice systems, but today a comms installation is not just about voice intercoms, it’s basically a universal control system that includes lots of features. These days I would even say that video is part of communications systems, as you can see in the consumer area with things like Skype.
What hasn’t changed – even as we went to different markets like install, or broadcast – is that all these clients want to talk to people who really understand the details, they want someone who is flexible and still strong, which is difficult. There are giant companies in the industry, but their strength is that they are big, and they have the background to do development; they’re not flexible at all. On the other hand, you find oneman shows – and these companies are extremely creative and flexible, but if they do one project it’s probably already too much. For a serious project you don’t want to bet on a oneman show. So a company is needed that is somewhere in between: strong enough to do big projects, but still keeping the flexibility. Also keeping the company independent – there is no venture capital involved – so we can keep our passion; this is really important. We’ve just had a strategic meeting with the key people in Riedel, making goals for the next five years: we want to stay independent, we are independent concerning the financing (I own the company 100%), and we want to keep it like that. We
will grow, but we don’t want to grow to a company doing $500 million. Today we’re doing about $100 million, which is a pretty nice size, but we’re flexible enough to do small projects and to suit this artistic world.
Regarding networking: Riedel currently has two proprietary protocols, RockNet and MediorNet. Do you feel that there will always be a place for proprietary rather than open protocols? I wouldn’t say always. The future is certainly networked – there’s no doubt about that. However, all these standards – AVB, AES67 and so on – are not really there yet: they’re lacking a number of things when it comes to ease of use, plug and play, and interoperability. There are lots of companies who say ‘We have this standard’, but if you want to connect two devices that both claim to support AES67 and you ask, ‘Will this work?’, you don’t get a clear ‘yes’ – typically you get a ‘yes, but…’. I think there’s a place for our solutions – however, we are integrating standards and we bet on standards. But it’s not black and white – and so, talking audio, we
Riedel Communications – a brief history The company was founded in Wuppertal, Germany by Thomas Riedel in 1987 while he was still at school Early prestigious contracts included Formula 1, and the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. These were followed by further Olympics, the FIFA World Cup, the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest, the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the Red Bull Air Race and Red Bull Stratos, when Felix Baumgartner jumped to earth from the stratosphere Key products include the Artist decentralised digital matrix intercom system (launched 2000) and MediorNet (2009), the world‘s first fibre-based video network for integrated signal transport Today, the company employs more than 350 members of staff – including 50 hardware and software engineers, and 70 rental engineers and project managers – in the Wuppertal headquarters and in other locations around the world
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The early days Thomas Riedel explains how a couple of the company’s early breaks came about. “While I was developing the Riedel Compact – I think it was the end of 1993 – I got a call from someone regarding the Lillehammer Winter Olympics. I couldn’t believe that someone from the Olympics would call me about a solution, but they had an issue: they had forgotten that they needed an intercom solution for the opening and closing ceremonies. They were calling everybody, but because it was towards the end of the year most people said, ‘We can’t do that’. But I was crazy enough to say, ‘Oh, I can do that’ – even though my product wasn’t completely developed by then. “They weren’t sure about Riedel – we only had about 10 people at this stage – so they sent an engineer over. I felt I needed to do something to show them we were the right guys for the Winter Olympics – so I bought a giant fridge and put some equipment into it to show that it worked in winter. I don’t know why I did that, because most of the units are not outside anyway, but the guy came in and – it was a bit like doing a magic show – I gave him a presentation of the equipment in the fridge and he said, OK, this company is very practical, so I got the job. “During the Olympics I did an interview with the local radio station in Wuppertal. While that was being broadcast, someone involved in Formula 1 was listening to the radio station, and said, ‘Who the hell is Thomas Riedel?’ That’s how I ended up in Formula 1. There’s some luck involved in this, I should say.” will have all three solutions: Layer 1, our own proprietary solutions; Layer 2, AVB; Layer 3, AES67 or anything else that could be accepted as a standard. Having this combination, we’re providing the solution that makes the investment safe. People who invest in our gear know that whatever becomes the real standard in the end, it’s already in because it’s the same hardware in our solutions that supports Layers 1, 2 and 3.
Do you have any messages for the Installation readership? The products we launched recently – the Smartpanel and the Tango platform – we thought a lot about the fixed installation market for these, so it’s definitely worth looking at that. And
we are open to building features into these projects that are not only developed by ourselves, but by clients or other partners – because I believe that these future solutions need to be networked not just in the sense of IT networking, but also in networking engineers from different companies. We believe in good people working together and making things work. I’ve seen lots of good brands in this industry go down after they’ve been acquired by a bigger company. I much prefer small and mediumsized companies working together and building great things rather than putting things under a large umbrella.
www.riedel.net
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4K
26 INDUSTRY DATA November 2014
Display of strength
5%
Sales of professional large displays are soaring, with further increases anticipated as 4K gains a foothold, writes Steve Montgomery Shipments of professional large-format displays rose by 15% over the past year, with a record 610,000 shipped in the last quarter. The major markets of the US, Brazil, Argentina and China showed the greatest increases; all in excess of 17%. Local projects have affected volumes: the FATIH (Movement to Increase Opportunities and Technology) project in Turkey accounted for 187,000 65in displays and there was particularly strong demand for interactive whiteboards and videowalls in China. Throughout the world, mid-range and entry-level product volumes are soaring, achieving 60% of sales in EMEA and the Americas at the expense of high-end solutions, which have lost
Quarter-on-quarter growth in worldwide shipments of professional flatpanel displays in the second quarter of 2014
considerable market share. Videowall displays rose by 32% in 2013. The imminent arrival of 4K screens is expected to drive growth in large screens of 60in and above. In the longer term, substantial price erosion is expected in the segment as manufacturers transition large-screen ranges exclusively to 4K resolutions.
www.futuresource-consulting.com
Global large-format display market size (units) Q2 2013 vs Q2 2014
EMEA quarterly volumes by market segment 120,000
300,000
100,000
250,000
80,000
200,000
60,000
150,000
100,000
40,000
50,000 20,000 0 0
Q1 2012
Q2 2012
Q3 2012
Q4 2012
Q1 2013
Q2 2013
Q3 2013
Q4 2013
Q1 2014
Entry level/prosumer
High end
Mid range
Videowall
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Q2 2014
Asia Pacific
Americas
Q2 2013
EMEA Q2 2014
Source: Futuresource Consulting
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28 INDUSTRY DATA November 2014
BYOD doubts Employees lack trust in employers’ ability to provide privacy and security to their personal devices at work, writes Steve Montgomery The major concern for employees asked to use their own devices at work is privacy from employers, according to AdaptiveMobile. Coupled with security worries, there is a clear lack of trust in the ability of their employer to manage BYOD strategies in-house. Bill shock, mobile data usage and inadvertent access to malicious websites and apps are all factors inhibiting the wider adoption of corporate mobility services. “Employee concerns over security and privacy are consistent across all operating systems. BYOD schemes present IT departments with a multitude of platforms to manage, so the opportunity arises for operators to provide a mobile networklevel security solution that gives the IT department the control they need,” says Ciaran Bradley, chief product officer, AdaptiveMobile. Despite these concerns, BYOD usage is increasing and having an impact in every organisation. Businesses everywhere need to find ways of balancing corporate security demands with employees’ privacy concerns when using personal devices for work.
Primary concern of employees connecting own devices to employer networks (%)
4%
3%
6% 53% 8% 13% 13%
www.adaptivemobile.com Lack of privacy
Barriers to employee acceptance of BYOD (non-connected users %)
Avoidance of malicious websites Availability of wide range of apps
Avoidance of malicious apps Bill shock Losing device Security of data
Other 4%
Mistrust of employer controlling their device 24%
BYOD service not offered by employer 28%
Desire for separate work and personal life 44%
BYOD Is up from 56.8% in 2013 to 69.2% in 2014 globally
Source: AdaptiveMobile
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30 DATA: REGIONAL VOICES November 2014
RUSSIA
The Russian economy has been hit recently by sanctions from the EU over Ukraine and by falling oil prices. But what’s the picture for the country’s installation sector? How do you think your company’s revenue will change over the next 12 months?
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0.6%
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), 2014
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deficitrce: economist.com Budget Sou
What advice would you give to a manufacturer looking to enter the AV installation market in your country? ‘Offering the best reliability and support is the key.’ ‘Have a comfortable dealer trade policy and timely deliveries.’ It would be useful to have representation in Russia, technical experts and a warehouse for guaranteeing maintenance.’ The manufacturer should find the right local person to promote products. Promotional actions should include educational seminars involving young students.’ ‘We need open hardware – cheap and functional.’
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To what extent do these challenges apply to your business? Cost pressures Ensuring existing staff keep up-to-date with new technologies Getting paid on time Managing complex projects Recruiting/retaining employees with the right level of skills Maintaining a good project pipeline without under- or over-committing people The need to expand into new vertical market sectors 0% n Not at all
n Slightly
n Significantly
20% n Greatly
40%
60%
80%
100%
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32 BUSINESS FEATURE: IMMERSIVE AUDIO November 2014
A fresh dimension
With Dolby embarking upon a major promotional push for Atmos, and Barco acquiring 3D sound pioneer Iosono, there is no doubting the present momentum behind ‘immersive’ sound technologies. David Davies explores the various approaches being taken and identifies the install markets in which adoption is likely to be most rapid
I
f there had been any doubt, industry headlines over the past few months have confirmed the current buzz around all things immersive audio. Visualisation giant Barco announced the acquisition of 3D sound pioneer Iosono in late September – a move that is set to further strengthen its track record in immersive audio for cinema, which already numbers 500 screens committed or installed. Meanwhile, in a development that confirms the trend is also affecting
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the residential space, Dolby has announced that Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros movies featuring Dolby Atmos soundtracks will soon be made available for home theatre enthusiasts with Dolby Atmos-enabled AV receivers and speakers, via Blu-ray and streaming service VUDU. With picture quality steadily improving through the introduction of HD and now Ultra-HD/4K technologies, it was surely only a matter of time before more emphasis was placed on delivering an
equally compelling audio experience. Of course, ‘conventional’ surround sound is already a default for many cinemas and exhibitions; but immersive audio promises to quite literally add another dimension – height – as the advent of enhanced channel-based and objectoriented technologies relieve public audio of its traditional restrictions. Motivations for the trend are multiple, but John Monitto, director of technical support worldwide at Meyer Sound – whose SpaceMap
multichannel panning software tool (embedded in the D-Mitri digital audio platform) allows sound designers to use a dynamic graphic interface to fly sounds through space using any loudspeaker layout – neatly summarises some of the main strands. “As the home theatre experience gets better and online entertainment options continue to grow, there is increasing competition for the entertainment industry to motivate audiences to leave the comfort of their couch to see a show,” he says. “As a result, many
Key Points n A new generation of ‘immersive’ audio technologies variously adopt channel or objectoriented approaches, or a hybrid of the two n Barco’s acquisition of Iosono may herald a period of consolidation in the market n Cinemas have led the way for immersive audio applications, but there are now increasing signs of adoption in theatres, museums and the residential sector
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FEATURE: IMMERSIVE AUDIO 33
November 2014
residential” from cinema for many immersive audio technologies. But its potential certainly isn’t limited to movie-related applications, with art installations and theme parks among the other likely beneficiaries. Over the last year, the call for open standards for immersive audio has started to grow louder, and when these are finally introduced they may shake up the market significantly. In the meantime, Installation
Auro-3D is a three-layer system offering enhanced vertical spread and vertical resolution of sound
offers this breakdown of some (if not all) of the main immersive/3D solutions and their differences – and considers where the greatest growth opportunities might reside…
Key technologies… and their differences
of them are looking to provide patrons with an experience that they cannot have at home and this includes museums, live theatre, cinema and other performing arts organisations. Immersive audio is just a great way to engage the audience beyond stereo.” The longevity of several of the companies leading this particular field, including Iosono and Auro Technologies, confirms that this trend has actually been approaching the mainstream for some time. As Out Board director Dave Haydon points out, it is clear that there is now a mandate “for a crossover into consumer/
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Arguably leading the field at the moment in terms of media attention alone, Dolby Atmos adopts an object-oriented approach to audio as opposed to a channel-centric one. For filmmakers, this means that “any sound heard in a film scene is an audio object, for example a helicopter taking off or a child crying”, explains Jonathan Jowitt, evangelist content and e-media solutions, Dolby Laboratories. For public and home cinema owners, there is the opportunity to deploy far more speakers than would be possible with a standard 5.1 or 7.1 channelbased system; for cinemas, up to 64 independent speaker outputs can be achieved, while in the home 7 to 34 speakers may be brought into an Atmos system. “With Dolby Atmos, you have amazing flexibility: the format provides even richer, more detailed sound by rendering to overhead
or height speakers and/ or to more than seven speakers at the listener level,” says Jowitt. The number of partner products incorporating Dolby Atmos is growing, and as Jowitt notes, “an object audio renderer can be found in every Dolby Atmos-enabled receiver or pre-processor. The Dolby Atmos renderer decides exactly which speakers to use to create multidimensional sound and faithfully recreate what the original sound designer or filmmaker intended.” Also making waves in the immersive audio world is Auro Technologies’ Auro3D format. Founded upon award-winning Belgiumbased Galaxy Studios, Auro Technologies claims to deliver ‘surround sound with height’ with the Auro-3D format, which embodies a hybrid approach. “Auro-3D is using both the channel- and object-based approach,” says Auro Technologies’ CEO, Wilfried Van Baelen, “but in a different way than our competitors, in order to first create the most natural immersive sound experience in a channelbased solution and then use object-based technology for interactivity and to further define more spot point sources in the hemisphere.” Van Baelen goes on to highlight what he regards as several notable points of difference, including the definition of a “vertical stereo field” in all Auro-3D speaker layouts (“the good news is that the Auro3D speaker layouts can playback all competitive formats but not the other way around”) and the inclusion of Auro-Codec, enabling the creation of multiple mix masters in one single PCM stream without the need for extra bandwidth.
‘We are using all existing delivery formats without the need for extra bandwidth to bring this totally new immersive experience with high-res audio in each channel to all markets’ Wilfried van Baelen, Auro Technologies
“This means that, for example, the PCM carrier is not only the 5.1 mix, but contains all information for all the Auro-3D masters,” he says. “Consumers who don’t have an Auro-3D device hear the normal 5.1 mix exactly as intended by its creators in high-resolution audio, but consumers who do have the Auro-3D system with the Auro-3D decoder – which is part of the Auro-3D engine in each Auro-3D processor – will hear the same Auro-3D mix as created in the studio with high-resolution audio in each channel of the Auro-3D system.” Established in 2004, Germany-based Iosono Sound has undoubtedly proven to be one of the most influential forces in immersive audio – and its aforementioned recent acquisition by Barco certainly won’t harm its global profile. The current Iosono offer incorporates a ‘toolchain’ for production (Spatial Audio Workstation), distribution (Iosono Container + Master Files) and reproduction (the Iosono Core hardware processor, which is described as the ‘heart’ of Iosono’s 3D sound systems). Iosono, explains Barco senior director strategic
business development entertainment Brian Claypool, is “designed for object-based audio [but will] support channel-based audio as well. Speaker layouts can be designed flexibly for a specific purpose and venue, [and] a full 360º system is possible.” One of the longestestablished players in the immersive sound field, Datasat Digital Entertainment was formed in 1991 and began to attract widespread attention after its digital audio system was used during production of Steven Spielberg’s box-office smash, Jurassic Park. Originally engineered for 5.1 surround sound, Datasat Digital Sound technology has developed to improve the quality of surround sound to 7.1 and 11.1. Datasat recently announced a link-up with Dolby that will see the Datasat RS20i home cinema processor made available with Dolby Atmos. Indeed, cross-company collaboration has proven to be unusually common in this area of endeavour; for example, Barco holds an exclusive licence to the Auro 11.1 technology, while Datasat worked closely with Barco and
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other organisations involved in the Auro-3D project to develop the AP24-3D 24-channel audio processor. Barco’s purchase of Iosono will surely affect the sector in ways that have yet to become fully clear. Focused firmly towards the museum, theatre and installed space in general, Out Board UK’s TiMax SoundHub is another animal again, providing source/ speaker matrixing and spatialisation scaleable from 16 x 16 up to 64 x 64 sizes (inputs/ outputs). Explaining TiMax SoundHub’s distinctive
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niche, Haydon explains: “Its unique delay-matrix function and object-based virtual pan objects allow it to enhance both existing conventional surround formats, such as 5.1/7.1, as it does for the NASA Atlanta Space Shuttle exhibit at Kennedy Space Centre [see Case Study, page 38], and also create dynamic spatialisation soundscapes entirely, as it does for Disney’s Aladdin musical on Broadway, which has around 200 loudspeakers.” The system, he notes, combines playback, 3D spatialisation,
show control, sound system distribution and management in one box.
Viewpoint: Tom Back, Alcons Audio
Target applications In general, developers of immersive audio technologies are at pains to stress the versatility of their solutions, with target applications ranging from large cinemas to cars. This broadly based approach is perhaps unsurprising when the not-exactlyspectacular adoption rates of conventional 5.1 in the residential sphere are taken into account. So for example, Iosono is
The Netherlands-based ribbon loudspeaker specialist Alcons Audio has seen its products deployed in a number of highprofile immersive audio environments, most recently including as part of a Dolby Atmos-based installation at JT Cinemas’ facility in Kerkrade. Here, Alcons co-founder and MD Tom Back outlines the non-cinema opportunities for immersive audio and considers the extent to which progress in this segment requires multi-company collaboration. “More applications can be achieved using immersive audio, with performing arts theatres being the most prominent. There are already many ‘hybrid’ installs in terms of mixing performing arts and cinema performances. Multiple surround channels can bring special directionality/ambient effects to theatrical performances, too. Basically, any AV environment can benefit from this technology as it supports the visual experience in a more ‘natural’ way with higher-resolution surround. “In order to bring out the best of any new processing technology, we as a speaker/ amplifier manufacturer need to enter into discussions with the technology provider and co-operate on developments. Directivity patterns, power requirements and frequency response are crucial, as are signal connectivity, communication and control. Speaker/amplifiers are always at the end of the line and need to reproduce the processed signal in as neutral a way as possible – without adding any unwanted colouring or distortion. “With regard to how demand will develop, it is clear that the pro market is typically ‘priming the pump’ for consumer market applications. To hit the price-sensitive market volumes, the technology needs to be downgraded – at the expense of quality. But that’s not a problem as it means the pro-market/cinema still has the competitive edge over the consumer/home cinema market. Rather, the downgraded version functions as the trigger to see and hear it on ‘the big screen’.”
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Alcons Audio kit was installed as part of a Dolby Atmos-based installation at JT Cinemas’ facility in Kerkrade
designed to be “versatile and efficient in set-up and use in many different applications, such as themed entertainment, planetarium/domes, live sound, studios, VR, showrooms and more”, says Claypool, adding that “the specifics of the type of install and application are taken into account during system design and configuration. We are strong at consulting and supporting our clients during [conception] and planning.” Public cinemas and broadcast (particularly for sports) are among the markets cited for Auro-3D, although Van Baelen also makes a point
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of highlighting several emerging applications: automotive and gaming. “Next year we will have the first Auro-3D integrated cars coming to the market, delivering a complete new and relaxing driving experience because the Auro-3D audio quality and its natural spread of sound all around make it easier for our brain to analyse the soundfield. And can you imagine how much more fun playing games is using the Auro-3D system and feeling the enemy all around and
above you? We are using all existing delivery formats without the need for extra bandwidth to bring this totally new immersive experience with high-res audio in each channel to all markets.” For Dolby Atmos, an initial focus on public cinemas appears now to be expanding to encompass home set-ups. In the public space, notes Jowitt, more than 700 Dolby Atmos
screens have been installed or committed to in more than 40 countries since April 2012, while in the same time more than 180 films from 12 different countries have been or are scheduled to be released with Dolby Atmos sound. In the consumer space, Dolby is able to cite a long list of partner products that incorporate Atmos with a view to delivering “captivating,
multi-dimensional sound” into the living room, says Jowitt. Manufacturers that have announced Dolby Atmos AV receivers or preprocessors include Denon, Integra, Marantz, Onkyo, Pioneer, Steinway Lyngdorf, Trinnov Audio and Yamaha. Companies in the process of developing Dolby Atmosenabled speakers and addon modules include Atlantic Technology, Definitive Technology, KEF, Pioneer
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USA, Teufel, Triad Speakers and Onkyo, which has also announced a Dolby Atmosequipped HTIB (home theatre in a box) system. Over at Out Board, there seems to be a perception that TiMax SoundHub is now well positioned to provide a more costeffective solution for locations including museums, exhibitor experiences, theatres, corporate events and nightclubs. Noting the current “big buzz” around immersive, Haydon notes that many of the emerging formats “tend to rely on new dedicated film postproduction paradigms to be most effective, largely involving pan objects and a greater number of speakers often including overheads”. This might be acceptable “where budgets allow and genuine ROI incentives exist such as mainstream cinema needing to attract popcorn and soda consumers, but there are large swathes of the presentation, exhibit and entertainment sectors where being locked into a specific system and mix format is less practical,” he argues. “With audio show control systems such as TiMax, which also includes a built-in 64-track audio server, the mixes and spatialisation can be tailored very much more to the site and content, often being actually postproduced on site, and its delay-based pan objects can deliver equivalent results over large audience areas using [fewer] speakers in less rigorously dictated locations.”
Are you experienced? As the various technologies vary in their approach, so too does their philosophy with regard to the ‘sweetspot’ and the extent
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to which those present in the room have broadly the same experience, no matter where they are situated. In the case of TiMax SoundHub, the delayimaging capability provides the primary benefit of “the broadening or actual elimination of any sweetspot. At the Atlanta Shuttle pre-show, a 7.1 music/FX/dialogue mix is mapped by TiMax onto about 21 speakers where it provides, even to the postproduction mixer’s ears, a more faithful but intimate soundcape over most of the audience area, with much less awareness of the physical loudspeakers themselves.” In the case of museum, art installation and other exhibit spaces, TiMax is often used to create “continuously variable soundscapes for both static and mobile audiences. These can be automated by internal show control schedulers, or externally controlled by things like MIDI, Timecode or IP,” says Haydon. On the other hand, Auro3D is said to yield an “even larger” sweetspot than 5.1 or 7.1 surround formats thanks to the use of zoning. “The aim of cinema exhibitors has always been to give the same audio experience as intended by its creators to each seat,” notes Van Baelen. “This is much more difficult with full object-based systems since they create a much smaller sweetspot due to different technical reasons, the SPL drop (when sitting further from the speaker), and the directivity of all the surround and ceiling speakers in order to give a consistent spectrum of the object-based moving sounds. For that reason, the Auro-3D format is using ‘zones’ (more speakers
Case Study
TiMax heads into orbit at the Atlantis Shuttle Experience
As part of a groundbreaking attraction at the Kennedy Space Visitor Centre, Space Shuttle Atlantis, Out Board TiMax SoundHub audio show control matrix systems add immersive 3D spatialisation to a highend multimedia history charting 33 missions of Atlantis, including maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope and the building of the International Space Station. A pair of TiMax SoundHubs are used as part of the exhibit, which was designed by PGAV Destinations and installed by Electrosonic. In the pre-show theatre, the first 16-channel TiMax SoundHub applies delay-matrixed image definitions to the static 7.1 Pro Tools mix created by sound designer Jon Baker to spatially enhance his immersive soundscape via the 18 speakers, including four subwoofers distributed around the theatre. Triggered by a timecode link from the video servers, a number of special spot effects are also played directly from the TiMax hard drive and dynamically delay-panned across the space for added impact. Elsewhere in the attraction, a screen showing images of the Hubble Space Telescope is augmented by a second TiMax SoundHub, which provides enhanced audio spatalisation across eight speakers distributed around the screen.
together creating a zone), which very much enlarges the sweetspot, even when using object-based technology.” With Iosono, Barco’s Claypool emphasises the technology’s ability to satisfy the requirements of each given application: “Whether the experience presents itself as being similar for all listeners with only little impact of the listening position, or with considerable changes that come with change of the listening position, depends on the intended use of the venue and content [as well as] on sound and system design.” Accordingly, “venues that are expected to give broadly the same experience to all listeners, such as cinemas and planetariums, are optimised to do exactly that. Systems for moving
audiences such as themed entertainment are designed to follow that idea.”
Deeper immersion? Not surprisingly, most vendors stress the extent of the support they are able to offer to end-users and integrators seeking to deploy these newgeneration systems. Some issues, though, are timeless. “The difficult part is always hiding cables,” notes Van Baelen, although he says this is “not difficult in a dedicated home cinema theatre where mostly all speakers and cables are hidden behind the acoustical fabrics. But we are working on ‘wireless powered’ speakers, which means that no cable is needed to provide the speaker from power.” The greater availability
(and, more to the point, affordability) of wireless audio will surely be a vital factor in determining how widespread immersive sound environments ultimately become. But with the Barco/ Iosono announcement indicating the beginning of convergence and consolidation in the marketplace, expect the commercial push for commercial and residential applications to become increasingly acute.
www.alconsaudio.com www.auro-3d.com www.barco.com www.datasatdigital.com www.dolby.com www.iosono-sound.com www.outboard.co.uk www.alconsaudio.com www.meyersound.com
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38 BUSINESS FEATURE: PROJECTION November 2014
The 10-storey, 17,000sqm ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum in Denmark is one of the largest art museums in Europe, and features Sony high-end projectors
What exactly is ‘high end’? Is a Rolls Royce a high-end car because of its price? Is the Hennessey Venom GT high end because it’s very fast? Or is the much less expensive and less fast Toyota Prius high end because of its advanced technology and response to customer careabouts in lower cost of ownership and eco-friendliness? Ian McMurray tries to unravel what ‘high end’ means in the projector market
I
n May 1996, Electrohome – subsequently acquired by Christie – announced the Vista Pro. It was the first projector to feature TI’s 3-chip DLP technology and delivered an astonishing (for the time) 1,000+ lumens of brightness, albeit at a paltry SVGA resolution. Almost 20 years have passed since then, and 1,000+ lumens is commonplace. But if 1,000+ lumens pretty much defined ‘high
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end’ back then – how is the category defined today? Is it based on brightness? Price? Functionality? It seems that if you asked 10 different people in the industry for their definition of the high end, you’d get 10 different responses involving some brightness threshold, some combination of features or perhaps some price threshold: if it’s above €/£/$x, it’s high end. That probably applies to any industry. Looked at another way: there are projectors
with sophisticated functionality being used in simulation applications delivering around 2,000 lumens: that may make them high end – but not high brightness.
Confusion Greg Jeffreys, managing director of projection solutions specialist Paradigm AV, warms to the theme. “There is confusion between ‘high end’ and ‘high brightness’ in the
market,” he says. “Many of the applications that we use high-specification projectors for do not have a need for massive brightness. For us, high end is mostly about resolution and bandwidth.” “But,” he continues, “many of our applications are heavy use, so the cost of ownership overall is critical. If that’s top of the customer’s wish list, there’s a case to be made for low-maintenance or zeromaintenance projectors
being ‘high end’.” For the most part, however, there is indeed an association in the market between high brightness and high end – an association supported by the fact that, typically, the highest-brightness projectors are also the most expensive and offer the most complete set of functionality. It’s perhaps no coincidence that Guinness World Records has an entry for the brightest digital cinema projector – an
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FEATURE: PROJECTION 39
November 2014
The future’s bright – the future’s lasers
Key Points n ‘High end’ is still typically associated with ‘high brightness’, although lower brightness projectors are widely used in high-end applications such as simulation n The state of the art in high-end projector brightness is still typically around 40,000 lumens – but laser illumination could see that double n With ‘enough’ brightness, customers are increasingly focusing on projector functionality and connectivity, and especially low cost of ownership n Inevitably, higher resolution – 4K – is beginning to be a key differentiator for high-end projectors, with manufacturers already talking about 8K
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honour awarded to Barco in 2010 for its 43,000+ lumen DP2K-32B. Barco has since demonstrated a prototype said to be capable of 55,000 lumens, while Christie has announced that it has been chosen by the Seattle Cinerama Theatre to supply a laser projector capable of 60,000 lumens. But, in broad commercial terms, brightness seems to have remained at a peak of around 40,000 lumens for some time – following several years of constant improvements as manufacturers sought to establish bragging rights. Why is that? “It’s not so much a technology barrier as an affordability issue,” according to David Close, products and applications manager, EMEA at Digital Projection. “Generally, higher brightness means more powerful light sources, which means more
energy is consumed. In projectors, this means heat, which in turn means larger packages and more cooling. That in turn generally means higher cost and therefore lower volumes. So: it is more a practical and economic matter,
While laser technology is widely touted as the future of projector illumination in terms of its ability to deliver very high-brightness images without the power consumption, heat dissipation or high cost of ownership of today’s high-end lamp-based systems, it is less widely understood that it can make a significant difference to image quality, both in contrast and colour gamut/depth. That’s good news for Greg Jeffreys. “We still yearn for the black levels that CRT projectors offered,” he laughs. demand for brighter,” adds Richard Marples, strategic marketing director, venues and attractions at Barco. “There are two major
‘There’s a case to be made for low-maintenance or zero-maintenance projectors being “high end”’ Greg Jeffreys, Paradigm AV
rather than a technology limitation. For example: high-intensity discharge – UHP-style – lamps are more efficient and give you more light for your dollar.”
Brightness in demand “The problem is not demand – there is always
obstacles. The first is that higher-wattage lamps have shorter lifetimes, making the projectors uneconomical. Quad-lamp UHP systems exist, but these are limited to 20,000 lumens currently, and adding more lamps is not feasible. The second is
that going beyond 40,000 lumens with a lampbased projector will push temperatures too high and mean early failures. Laser light sources can be pushed further because the projector runs cooler, and they have long lifetimes, but they are also expensive currently.” “Brightness levels are already pretty high at 30-40,000 lumens, but going beyond that with today’s technologies is challenging because of heat limitations in projector light engines,” says Gerd Kaiser, product line manager – large-venue projectors at NEC Display Solutions. “New laser technology will change this situation, however, because laser efficiency is much higher than the standard
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xenon lamp. Higher brightness – 70,000 lumens and perhaps more – then becomes possible due to lower thermal emissions.” He notes, however, that the cost of such projectors would likely run to hundreds of thousands of euros. Robert Meakin, who is senior product manager at Sony Europe, sees an alternative reality. “Sony no longer regards brightness as a ‘stateof-the-art’ feature,” he notes, “although of course we’re constantly trying to improve it. “There has been a shift in recent years towards manufacturers focusing on other areas of technological development, as opposed to merely striving for the ‘brightest’ projector,” he claims. “Evidentially, brightness is still essential for users; however, they now expect far more
from their projectors than brightness alone, with increased emphasis placed on features such as low maintenance and better picture quality, and eco-friendly features for lower cost of ownership. Brightness has come to be expected as standard.” Jeffreys is frustrated by what he sees as undue emphasis on brightness. “I think the projector manufacturers are missing a trick,” he says, “in that they believe that high brightness is an essential element. We know there are manufacturers out there with laser 4K projectors that we could use now – but they won’t release those projectors until they achieve higher brightness.” But there will always be a demand for the highest possible brightness. As Close notes, more opportunities emerge as brightness increases
My History. The Romanovs at Moscow’s Manege featured three Barco HDQ-2K40 40,000-lumen projectors
– opportunities for companies like Australia’s Technical Direction Company, which specialises in video equipment solutions. “Higher-brightness projectors have allowed us to do things not achieved before like projecting on to [Sydney] opera house and harbour bridge and pylons from across the bay,” enthuses managing director Michael Hassett.
Case Study
Maritime training simulator upgrades with Digital Projection Digital Projection, automatic edge blending software company Scalable Display Technologies and integrator Electric Picture collaborated on a significant system upgrade to STAR Center’s maritime training simulator in Dania Beach, Florida. The upgrade resulted in increased image resolution and vertical coverage and improved colour management, and made overall system maintenance more efficient. The existing projectors were replaced by nine of Digital Projection’s higher-resolution HIGHlite WUXGA 660 projectors with built-in warp and blend capability. The HIGHLite uses dual 330W high-intensity discharge lamps to deliver 8,000 lumens.
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“Higher-brightness projection has also been valuable in interactivity projection exhibits such as those at Vivid Sydney.”
Connectivity is key Brightness, then, is only one area of focus for projector manufacturers. Unsurprisingly, affordability is another. The Electrohome Vista Pro – with its 1,000+ lumens – launched at a price close to $50,000 (which, back in 1996, was even more money than it is today). Digital Projection’s Close picks up the story. “Fifteen years ago, a projector costing, say, $80,000 would have been around 7,000 lumens,” he notes. “Today, you can easily expect the same money to get you 20,000 lumens. In terms of features, more and more models across the range have built-in geometry correction, edge blending and 3D as well as the new connectivity such as HDBaseT and DisplayPort, in both 3-chip and singlechip DLP projectors. Around the corner is the ability to deliver 4K images at a 60Hz
frame rate over a single cable using DisplayPort.” Marples paints a similar picture. “On the inputs side, we now see HDMI, DisplayPort and HDBaseT,” he says. “This has made things easier from an installation point of view compared to the old analogue RGB cables. Blending and warping have got more sophisticated as the requirement to achieve 3D building mapping has emerged and taken off. Control of projectors over a network has also become very important.” “While brightness is still essential to a good projection solution, picture quality and other practical features such as maintenancefree operation, instant on/off and ultra-short throw capability are now incredibly important,” adds Meakin. “Laser technology will bring many benefits beyond just high brightness,” notes Kaiser, “including no lamp replacement requirement, long-term brightness stability, less decrease in brightness,
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‘Sony no longer regards brightness as a “state-of-the-art” feature’ Robert Meakin, Sony Europe
nearly maintenance free, lower thermal emission, lower power consumption and a lower total cost of ownership.” “Bright 4K projectors will be a great innovation for many applications,” he continues, “meaning there is no need for edge blending in order to achieve a higher-resolution image. It will be much easier to use a single compact 4K high-light output projector instead.” According to Kaiser, NEC will ship the PH1201QL in December, which is, he claims, the world’s first compact 4K laser projector.
Eliminating feature bloat? Is it the right thing, though, to keep adding functionality and capability at the high end? Close isn’t so sure. “For sure, there will be more brightness in smaller packages with potentially more features,” he believes. “However, there is a mood that asks, why should we load every model with features that the majority of users don’t actually need? Should we not package these features in different ways, which in turn may make the core benefit of projection – namely bright, high-resolution images, – from a neat and compact package that can create images on a vast number of surfaces that is
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simply not possible with other displays? Projection is here to stay, regardless of how many features we cram into the box.” Regardless of the direction that manufacturers elect to follow, their customers will continue to demand more and different. “Creativity will push the boundaries of what can be done with projection,” avers TDC’s Hassett. “Its future is encouraging.” It used to be said that you can never have too much brightness from a projector – and that may well still hold true. However, what’s emerging at the high end is a more balanced view that says that you can’t have too many pixels, or too many connectivity options, or too full a suite of image manipulation features, or too low a cost of ownership. Brightness is likely to continue to be the headline grabber – but for the majority of customers, it seems that developments in other areas will be at least as important.
www.barco-com www.digitalprojection.com www.nec-display-solutions.com www.paradigmav.com www.pro.sony.com www.tdc.com.au
20/10/2014 10:58
42 TECHNOLOGY FEATURE: VIDEOWALL CONTROLLERS November 2014
A 25-megapixel display wall at Dresden University is used to find perception-oriented techniques that can handle big data on a large interactive wall
Key Points n Image quality is dependent upon the ability and quality of image processing in videowall control devices n There are three quality levels:
In process T
l
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Steve Montgomery investigates the development of videowall controllers and the effect this has on applications of large screen, multi-display videowalls
he video processing technology used to create and process video content for large-screen displays has existed in commercial form since the 1990s, and as research and specialist technology for some time before that. It has been developed over the decades since then; adapted and re-used for application with new display technologies and for new uses, such as multi-screen videowalls, and produced in many different formats and quality levels, allowing it to be applied and integrated in low-cost, and hence widely used, equipment.
application in the broadcast and high-end display industries to convert material between different worldwide TV standards and to create highresolution images from lowresolution sources. Powerful hardware-based processors were able to turn standarddefinition TV into highdefinition TV, usually by ‘estimating’ the picture information that should be present on TV lines that weren’t actually there. For much of its life video was primarily analogue – PAL, NTSC, VGA, and the like – but the processing was generally performed in the digital domain with
‘Videowalls are set to become more common as OLED, flexible displays and 4K become cheaper’ Tad Moy, Pixel Projects
Video scaling, up-conversion or more accurately ‘interpolation’, was developed initially for
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converters at either side to interface to the analogue equipment. The same processing concept forms
the basis of the scaling and image manipulation used today in equipment that retains the fundamental technical procedures of the original designs. This process is still complex and is becoming more so, requiring greater processing power as signal and display resolutions increase through HD to 4K UHD and beyond. “The processing of images is a complicated process that requires breaking down incoming digital signals into individual components, manipulating them, scaling the image to the required size to match the display, and then reassembling the signal,” explains Orrin Charm, Gefen’s product manager. “This is done with an array of large-scale digital signal processor ICs, along with a master control. As image resolution, frame rates and colour processing depth get higher, the magnitude of data and required bandwidth grow exponentially. We try to make it look simple on the outside, but there’s a lot going on under the hood.” All large-screen LCD
l
display manufacturers now include integral scaling in each display to simplify the creation of multi-display videowalls. However in a hugely price-competitive market, scaling quality is bound by low-cost, lowquality processing. “Integral processing is useful in small-scale walls of 2 x 2 or 3 x 3 panels or so, in locations where effect is more important than quality, but for serious business and commercial applications external videowall controllers are essential,” says Andrew Yeo, managing director of AV and IT consultancy CCOMM.
Added extras One of the advantages of external video processors is that the devices will include additional functionality, such as switching, picturein-picture and multi-image processing, that is often needed in a complete AV system. A switchingscaling unit designed as an integrated device will generally perform better than several cascaded devices with the multiple,
Internal scaling and videowall functions integrated within LCD displays
External scaling of a lower-resolution source to meet the higher resolution of the display Dedicated, synchronised, playback of separate full-screen images to each display segment
n Videowall controllers incorporate a wide range of functions along with image processing, including warping, switching and signal extension n Bezel compensation has now evolved into content manipulation to server irregular designs, mixed display formats and orientation often repeated, conversion stages that entails. Tad Moy, technical director of Pixel Projects, explains why the company has standardised on the Crestron DigitalMedia system in its videowall installations: “In addition to superior scaling for the individual displays in a videowall, the Crestron DM switchers allow signal extension, decoding and switching of all the different sources encountered in sizeable installations, as well as the ability to add additional screens fed by the same sources on desks or other
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rooms. Videowalls are becoming more common, largely at the expense of projection, and are set to become more so as OLED, flexible displays and 4K become cheaper and more common. So the requirement to process more video, at greater quality and with greater control, will expand.” Even though bezels around LCD displays have reduced in thickness to just a few millimetres, there is still a requirement to manipulate the individual screen images slightly so that the image flows over the whole screen, rather than having disjoints between the sections; an effect that is more pronounced with moving content. “Bezel compensation in videowall controllers is considered standard technology,” says Paul Corsbie-Smith, image processing specialist at True Colours Distribution. “Some manufacturers, such as TV One and Datapath, offer solutions that handle a mixture of screens of any size and in portrait or landscape orientation, with large gaps between, and can warp and manipulate the image for even more
special effects. Software platforms are evolving with user-friendly graphical interfaces and most videowall controllers now incorporate drag-and-drop functionality with the ability to create, save and recall presets at the touch of a button.” CORIOgrapher control software from TV One is designed to manage videowalls constructed from displays of diverse size, resolution and orientation to submillimetre accuracy. Andy Fliss, marketing director for at the company, says: “It handles mixing of projectors and displays in a single system and can create content for walls on a PC without a connection to the CORIOmaster controller, so can be used to edit the entire videowall design before it goes live and then transmit it over a network to the CORIOmaster processor.” The close relationship between signal processing devices and the screens they control has led to co-operation between display manufacturers and third-party device vendors, albeit at a low level. “There is always a desire for device and display manufacturers
The Bloomberg hub provides news and information at London City Airport using 55 Christie Ultra HD screens
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Case Study
Collaborative environment for the Nigerian government An oval-shaped chamber hosts weekly meetings of the Nigerian government, attended by the president and 51 member state leaders with the primary role of facilitating collaboration and conferencing within the government. A 3 x 3 multi-screen videowall was built from Sharp V601 professional LCD displays for group observation of video data and videoconferencing sessions by means of a Braehler conferencing and interpretation system. Individual motorised monitors were also placed on the desk in front of members. A Crestron DigitalMedia system manages the audio and video feeds throughout as well as the microphones and cameras. Its image scaling and switching makes it ideal to control and manage the videowall in conjunction with the other services, including time-coded AV recording, local PC connection and signal extension to monitors in the press room. The installation was carried out by Pixel Projects. to communicate on key technological developments, although individual product design seems to move ahead at its own speed,” says Charm. “Gefen works closely with several large display manufacturers that rely on external controllers to provide features they cannot economically build into their basic displays.”
New entrants It is possible that screen manufacturers will attempt to enter this market. Jason Dean, production director at Engage Production, predicts: “The technologies used by DSP and controller manufacturers will eventually become so widespread that the bigger players will start to move into this area. Samsung and LG will one day offer a more holistic solution with own-brand DSP kit to plug and play with their screens. At the moment, the video signal
processing market is a relatively small and tightknit community with only a handful of companies able to offer the professional user the solutions we need.” The wide variety of applications for videowalls means that there are several well-established methods of delivering content. Digital media players that were originally developed for single standalone digital signage screens are now a common choice and these are also being developed to include a range of features that increases their versatility. An effective solution is to provide an individual player for each screen and synchronise its fullscreen HD playback with its partner players to single-frame accuracy. Content is created on a full-size canvas and then partitioned and stored as separate sections, each corresponding to an individual display; resulting in greater overall quality, absent of scaling. Jeff Hastings, CEO of BrightSign, explains:
“Videowalls are becoming increasingly popular, and BrightSign is focused on making the creation, publishing and management of presentations as simple as possible. The latest BrightAuthor tool, BrightWall, uses a dragand-drop approach to build videowalls in any size and layout. BrightWall supports the use of a separate video stream for each display or stretches a single video across all the displays.” Ease of use in controlling the wall is important, regardless of sector, as Rob Moodey of Matrox Graphics points out: “The daily test of usability is how easily the wall is controlled, often with presets that allow operators to switch layouts at the click of a button. For cost-sensitive markets such as digital signage and small meeting rooms, a simple mobile app that sends commands directly to the videowall is sufficient. For professional AV presentation environments and smaller control rooms, dedicated control systems are often
20/10/2014 10:27
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46 FEATURE: VIDEOWALL CONTROLLERS November 2014
used in conjunction with a single interface that enables operators to manage the wall in addition to other equipment in the room. “In more complex multioperator control rooms, videowall control points are often secured and wall control is frequently integrated directly within the operator console. Depending on specific requirements, budget and the tools that are available with the chosen videowall controller, integrators may choose to provide readybuilt software, integrate videowall control within existing control systems, or develop custom, standalone software. With restricted storage capability, small, low-cost media players rely on low-volume hard disks or
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memory cards to store content, which in turn means that the content for each section needs to be compressed prior to storage. In the majority of cases this does not limit their use. However there is some reduction in quality brought about by the compression process. The ultimate solution is to play uncompressed material; however, this requires much greater storage capability. “Uncompressed video is devoid of visual artefacts and has greater bit depth, so gives superior results,” points out Matt Burton, director of 7thSense. “The Delta can deliver up to 12 synchronised streams, each an uncompressed, fullbandwidth video stream capable of producing a single image over 12 displays. Delta units can
be daisychained together if more displays are needed. Uncompressed video is easier to edit – an advantage when last-minute changes are required – and is visibly superior, particularly in close viewing of very large displays.” An added attraction to large videowall control is that of interactivity, as Jonathan Priestley, marketing director of MultiTouch, points out: “Interactivity moves a user past the display technology directly into the information, creating more of an experience. Business is getting personal and MultiTaction technology enables that requirement to be realised. Equally in noncommercial environments the ability to interact
with information in a more intuitive and faster way gives additional benefits. At this point interaction becomes valuable and adds significantly to the appeal of a large videowall in many situations from retail right through to military uses.” 4K is starting to have an impact on the market. “For some applications, 4K displays can allow fewer splits and more seamless images. Displays are getting larger and costs are coming down, so this is further driving the demand for 4K,” claims Charm. “This is definitely where things are headed and it’s going to become adopted very quickly once integrators see how seamless 4K UHD solutions can be and prices continue to develop competitively.” “1080 full HD will
continue to play a part in scalable screen solutions while content providers get up to speed with the new capabilities,” agrees Dean. “The intricacies of boosting, signal processing and decoding will continue to dominate any professional installation. However, DSP technology is not developing as fast as the screens. In future there will inevitably be a shift in native resolution to full 4K on each screen in an array.”
www.7thsensedesign.com www.brightsign.biz www.ccomm.co.uk www.crestron.eu www.engageproduction.com www.gefen.com www.matrox.com www.multitaction.com www.pixelprojectsav.com www.true-colours.net www.tvone.com
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TECHNOLOGY Kit you need to know about
This Month
Barco
New Products p50
Demo of the Month:
Present-C
It’s… Ten new projectors for the corporate AV sector. What’s different? The units combine low noise levels with high resolutions and image quality in a compact form factor – designed to increase presentation, meeting and collaboration efficiency. Details: The Present-C projectors’ high-quality optics are said to provide uniform and high-contrast images with vivid, natural colours that are easy on the eyes. Moreover, their low noise level will enable attendees to concentrate better. Thanks to the projectors’ large pixel space – ranging from 2.1 to 4.1 megapixels – meeting participants can see all important details at once, and presentations in large auditoriums are clearly visible from the first to the last row. “In today’s interconnected work environment there is a continuing shift towards collaboration – both locally and
Nexo GEO M6 p52
remotely. As people spend more time working in groups than ever before, this puts meeting room technology to the test and we’ve designed our brand-new Present-C projectors to meet these challenges,” explains Romeo Baertsoen, VP strategic marketing corporate AV at Barco. Providing high resolutions and an aspect ratio of 21:9, the Present-C WQXGA and Panorama projectors are the flagship models of the new range. They are intended to make the visualisation and sharing of large data sets in multi-window configurations during conference calls easy, leading to better collaboration and faster decisionmaking. The family includes compact and lightweight projectors that are easy to install, they also feature a filter-free design and DLP technology for picture accuracy and low total cost of ownership. Available: Now
Showcase:
Furniture and Mounts p54
f o t c u Prod nth o the m
www.barco.com
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20/10/2014 10:28
50 TECHNOLOGY: NEW PRODUCTS November 2014
Onelan 4K players
It’s… A new range of Linux-based 4K media players. What’s different? The players are described as ‘true multi-zone players’ that can support mixed screen orientations, making them highly suited to feature videowalls and retail applications. The players support IP streaming of 4K Ultra HD video, MPEG and audio streams and can also serve video streams from local storage. Other additional features include WiFi and touch options and zone transparency. Details: Onelan’s new 4K players can support the increasingly popular ultra-high definition displays. They are powered by fourth-generation Intel Core processors and HD 5000 graphics, enabling them to bring 4K content to life at UHD resolution (3840 × 2160). Native 4K content can be played in H.264 at 30/60 fps and the players can support up to 16 HD video zones. Fanless solid-state options are also available. The units are suitable for 24/7 applications where reliability is of paramount importance. Available: Now www.onelan.com
Apart Audio
Microphone Discussion System It’s… A highly flexible small to medium-sized tabletop discussion system. What’s different? The MDS system has a circuit loop design with an easy set-up using standard Cat5 cables for linking up to 20 units in a daisy chain (every microphone and switching adaptor can be located anywhere in the loop). When the chairman presses the mute button, only the chairman unit is active and all delegates are muted and deactivated. Delegates can press a button to talk into the flexible gooseneck microphone (no mute function). Details: Designed for meeting rooms, boardrooms and medium-sized conference rooms, the system consists of a chairman unit (MDS.CHAIR) and up to 19 delegate units (MDS.DEL). The connection interface (MDS.INT) is located at the start of the microphone chain. The MDS.INT easily connects to any Apart preamplifiers, matrixes, integrated or mixing amplifiers, allowing users to control the volume and/or use the record output for recording the meeting. Combining the system with one of the preamplifiers, REVAMP power amp series and with the Apart CMX20T or MASK4 loudspeakers will create voice clarity for boardrooms, meeting rooms or conference rooms. Available: Now www.apart-audio.com
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Lab.gruppen PLM+ The new PLM+ amplifier is designed primarily for touring, but will also appeal to the install market. It offers all the performance characteristics and flexibility of the 20000Q, but with twice the processing power, twice the throughput and a whole host of additional features designed to deliver real-world benefits. Launched in London in October, the PLM+ range offers two models –PLM20k44 and the PLM12k44 – each combining a true 4-in/4-out configuration for audio I/O as well as four modules of Lake Processing. www.labgruppen.com
Crestron Fusion 10 Crestron Fusion 10 enterprise building management software provides new room utilisation statistics and energy reports, including peak energy consumed in the space and energy category level. It can even gather historical reporting for meetings that were set up before Fusion 10 was installed, if these were created using Microsoft Exchange, Google Calendar or other standard calendars. From a centralised dashboard, Fusion 10 simplifies how organisations control and manage building technology, orchestrate building and AV automation, and control energy usage. Available now. www.crestron.eu
Van Damme White Line LSZH Developed following customer input and demand for a white option, the Van Damme White Line range of LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen) install cables comprises two options: the 1pr White Line Ecoflex cable, which can carry AES/EBU and/or analogue balanced audio as well as paired data signals such as RS485, RS422 and DMX512; and the Ecoflex White Line Install Grade Speaker Cable LSZH, which features ultra-pure oxygen-free copper stranding for sonic integrity. It is fully tested and compliant with IEC fire standards. Available now. www.vdctrading.com
Pioneer XY Series Four new models have been added to Pioneer’s XY Series of loudspeakers. The XY-101 and XY-152 are (respectively) 10in and 15in two-way full-range PA speakers; the XY-115S is a discreet, 15in bass reflex subwoofer for smaller spaces; and the XY-218S is a powerful bass reflex subwoofer with twin 18in drivers designed for large rooms and temporary outdoor installations. The system is supported by Powersoft K-Series DSP amplifiers. Available now. www.pioneerproaudio.com
20/10/2014 10:59
TECHNOLOGY: TECHNOLOGY: NEW NEW PRODUCTS PRODUCTS xx 51
November xxx 2014
xxxx PreSonus
Peerless-AV
It’s… Two new cabinet versions and companion It’s… accessories of the StudioLive 328AIActive xxxxx range designed specifically for Integration installation. Details: xxxxx different? Available in white and What’s
It’s… The world’s slimmest videowall mount for 40in to 65in displays, according to Peerless.
xxx StudioLive 328i
DS-VW755S
black, StudioLive 328i cabinets are built for flown And also: without handles and pole mounts. An installations xxxxx internal grille cloth masks the drivers so that they blend into their environment. A companion yoke mount is also Available: available, as is an update to PreSonus’ SL Room Control speaker xxxxx management software that allows the user to turn off the front panel blue power-status LED.
What’s different? With a fully retracted side profile depth of only 48mm, the DS-VW755S is designed to support the latest ultra-thin displays and create a discreet videowall array that is as close to the wall as possible.
Details: In all other respects the new StudioLive 328i-W (white) and 328i-B (black) are identical to the StudioLive 328AI. The compact, powered, three-way loudspeakers rely on a custom-designed 8in coaxial speaker with a 1.75in titanium compression driver to reproduce the mid and high frequencies, and dual 8in ferrite speakers for low-frequency reproduction. Triamplified Class D power amplifiers deliver a combined 2,000W of power. Each speaker includes a USB WiFi LAN adapter as well as the SLControl-SPK option card to connect to SL Room Control software over a wireless network.
Details: Features of the DS-VW755S include quick-release functionality – users have the ability to articulate the display from the wall by gently pressing on the front of the display, making this mount highly suitable for recessed applications – and tool-less micro adjustment at eight points, ensuring mounts can overcome uneven walls to ensure a seamless videowall display without the need to remove the displays. To aid in both set-up and service, the mount extends the display from the wall into a negative tilt position, thereby providing access to the bottom of the display. In addition, reusable custom wallplate spacers eliminate the guesswork, or on-site installation calculations and measurement, to correctly position each mount, effectively reducing installation time and therefore saving cost. The modular design enables unlimited videowall configurations to be created, with displays supported in both landscape and portrait orientations.
Available: Now
Available: Now
www.xxx
www.presonus.com
www.peerless-av.com
Bose RMU206, RMU108 and RMU105 Bose has added three new small-format loudspeakers to its RoomMatch Utility series. The RMU206 features two 6in woofers to provide good LF response, while the 120° x 60° high-frequency waveguide provides wide coverage and may be rotated to increase coverage options. The RMU108 has a single 8in woofer and the 90° x 60° highfrequency waveguide provides high-output level, controlled coverage and may also be rotated. It is described as ‘the most versatile RoomMatch Utility model’. The compact RMU105 is intended for use in high-quality background music and zone-fill applications. A single 5in woofer provides vocalrange output and a 100° x 100° high-frequency horn provides consistent coverage with either vertical or horizontal mounting. Available now. pro.bose.com
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Vision Audio Extractor
Gonsin DCS-2021 The DCS-2021 distributed congress system not only offers basic conference functions, such as registration, discussion and interpretation, but it can also offer more paperless multimedia functions via an app. Features include video display, file sharing, data queries, the ability to browse webpages and more. If function upgrades are needed in the future, all users need to do is upgrade the app. Available now. www.gonsin.com
Vision’s new HDMI repeater has a professional audio extractor built in. The repeater comes with a power supply and a new chipset allows up to three units to be daisychained. Vision says installers can join four of its 15m HDMI cables to create a 60m cable run. To extract audio this product modifies the EDID handshake. For example the display tells the source device, ‘Send me a 1080p video signal with 5.1 surround audio signal’, but the extractor changes the message to ‘Send me a 1080p video signal with 2.0 stereo audio’. It can then extract – or de-embed – the stereo analogue audio signal. The HDMI audio extractor’s built in EDID library can also be used to solve HDCP and EDID compatibility issues. Available now. www.visionaudiovisual.com
20/10/2014 10:59
52 TECHNOLOGY: DEMO OF THE MONTH November 2014
Compact yet
“We want to come to the installation market with a narrow but powerful unit that will integrate well” – Nexo’s Mathieu Pobeda with the GEO M6
powerful A recent event saw Nexo demo two new line array cabinets, one of which is an unobtrusive but highly versatile unit. Paddy Baker went along to see – and to listen
N
exo invited press and customers to a demo and launch event at the Dallas Burston Polo Club in Warwickshire on 30 September. The event was a double demo, featuring two different line array cabinets: the compact GEO M6, and the M28, which augments the manufacturer’s STM (Scale Through Modularity) series. Although it was shown in the spring at Prolight + Sound, the GEO M6 had not been given a public demo before. It is a versatile unit, designed for theatres, conference halls, corporate AV, live events and public spaces. “The GEO M6 answers the market need for more compact, yet still powerful, units with a reduced visual impact,” said Mathieu Pobeda, who works in the company’s R&D department and served as project leader on the M6. “I took onboard a lot of the comments from people that will specify the room and the staging, rather than the sound guys – [the former] people didn’t want the M6 to be too intrusive in their environment. That’s what we had to achieve and yet still give good performance, soundwise,” he continued. “The design brief said that it should be elegant and powerful, with all the Nexo science ‘squeezed’ into a small package. And it should integrate nicely with all environments.” The M6 is an important move for Nexo in the installation direction, he added: “We want to come to that market with a narrow but powerful unit that will integrate well.” The main G6 module is the M620; measuring 191mm (H) x 373mm (W) x 260mm (D) and weighing 9.7kg. It can be complemented by the M6B bass extender, which is the same size and can be flown in the same array. ”You can get a bit more headroom on the M620 by using this module,” commented Pobeda.
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A range of accessories is available for wall-mounting, flying, pole-mounting or clamping to trussing. The NEXOSkeleton rigging system has been designed to bear the structural forces of an M6 cluster and reduce the mechanical load on the cabinets. A number of patented technologies underpin the M6’s performance. The cabinet features the Hyperbolic Reflective Wavesource, whose design has been optimised using finite element analysis. “This is the core technology of the GEO range, and what has allowed us to achieve the coverage and to allow really nice coupling without interference from the boxes,” said Pobeda. It also means that the M6’s measured response curve is close to an ideal theoretical response. Adding waveguide flanges to the HF exit enables the horizontal coverage to be increased from the standard 80º to 120º. The M6 has been optimised to match Nexo’s own amplifiers. A single NXAMP4X1 four-channel amplifier can power up to 12 M6 cabinets. Nexo demonstrated the system in three configurations. The first was with two polemounted stacks, each consisting of three M620 cabinets, augmented by an LS18 sub-bass cabinet on the floor – suitable for corporate events, live music or portable PA applications. This gave good even coverage across the width and length of the venue, with strong bass.
The second demo was of two hangs of six M620s, with no additional bass units – a configuration that would suit large speech events, a delay system, or music playback. Finally, four LS18s on the floor were added for the third demo. This arrangement would be right for large corporate events, live music concerts or houses of worship. The remainder of the event was devoted to the new M28 cabinet. As Nexo concert sound representative Stuart Kerrison pointed out, these are so flexible that they had recently been used in a 200-capacity club in Brighton and also in front of 200,000 concertgoers at a festival in Mexico.
www.nexo-sa.com
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54 TECHNOLOGY: SHOWCASE
November 2014
Furniture and mounts Specialist furniture continues to aid AV installers as both functionality and aesthetics improve, writes Joanne Ruddock
Erard Pro creates a storm Erard Pro has created a new outdoor enclosure, Stormer, aimed at the large-venue projector market. The IP56-rated unit protects against dust, climate and vandalism, is heated and ventilated, and has a thermostat. A large fan, combined with the heating system, ensures projectors will operate in all seasons, even in extreme weather conditions. Stormer is available in two sizes, L and XL, which cover almost all high-power projectors
up to 20,000 lumens (5,400W). The projector is placed on a sliding shelf which opens entirely for ease of projector installation or maintenance. There are filters on both sides of the enclosure that are easily removable. Other features include two IP65 locks to prevent theft, space to install a player inside the enclosure and lifting rings for easy installation. www.erardpro.fr
Dynamic3 Talk combines display and mic housings Arthur Holm has combined the functionality of Dynamic3, which houses a computer screen, and Dynamic Talk, which houses a gooseneck microphone, into the new Dynamic3 Talk multimedia conference solution. This creates a flexible working environment: the user can keep their work surface totally clear of any obtrusive elements, and then have access to cuttingedge technology when desired at the touch of a button. Additionally, users can work with the screen in different positions: it can rotate 180º, can be positioned at a 20º tilt or flush on the table, and can be recessed into the desk oriented upwards or downwards. Lifting the screen activates the elevation of a tray where a keyboard and mouse can be placed. Dynamic3 Talk contains two Dynamic Talk microphone units: this means that one display can be shared by two conference attendees. The mics can be raised and
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lowered independently. As well as providing a lift system for gooseneck microphones, it also includes a LED ring at the base of each microphone which changes colour to indicate the audio status. The unit is compact and is described as being very easy to install. It is locally or remotely controllable, and fully compatible with third-party control systems. RS-422 I/O with individual addressing enables the control of up to 30 daisychained units connected with Cat5 cable on a single bus. Remote diagnosis of the units is also possible. www.albiral.com www.arthurholm.com
Modular cable access enclosures from Extron Building on more than a decade of experience, the Cable Cubby Series/2 enclosures from Extron offer enhanced aesthetics, faster installation and improved serviceability. The modular design features an integrated hidden clamp system, which secures the enclosure to the furniture surface without tools or additional parts. The lowprofile lid is damped for smooth, quiet operation and provides a full-width cable pass-through when closed. To further reduce assembly time and improve serviceability, the enclosures are equipped with a new Cable Pass-Through Plate that features a split-ring design to facilitate cable installation or replacement from the top of the enclosure, after it’s installed within the furniture surface. The enclosures also accommodate Extron’s updated Retractor Series/2 cable retraction modules, which now have variablespeed control with more than 50 steps of adjustment for cable retraction speeds between 1.5 and 4 seconds. www.extron.com
21/10/2014 10:10
TECHNOLOGY: SHOWCASE 55
November 2014
Flatscreen floor stands from B-Tech To meet the increasing demand for ‘stylish yet robust’ floor stands, B-Tech AV Mounts has launched a range of flatscreen stands that includes options for mounting screens in a back-to-back format. The stands can display screens in landscape or portrait. They feature black powder-coated bases that provide a solid foundation for two poles, to which the screens are mounted. Each stand comes with B-Tech’s Torsion Tilt mechanism for easy adjustment, and cable management facilities for a tidy installation. Each stand has three height options – 1m, 1.5m and 2m – and a choice of either black or chrome for the poles. The BT8551 is made for medium/large screens up to 50in and weighing 35kg. The BT8552 is designed to mount two medium/large screens in a back-to-back format and supports screens up to 50in and weighing 35kg. The BT8553 is built for large screens up to 65in and weighing up to 35kg. Finally the BT8554, the largest of the range, is designed to mount two large screens in a back-to-back format, supporting screens up to 65in and weighing up to 35kg.
www.btechavmounts.com
Chief makes Connexions In response to calls for ever easier and quicker installation, Chief has introduced the ConnexSys videowall mounting system. Developed after working with dealers and installers who provided feedback on available videowall options, the new system offers quick install, ease of alignment, easy access and the rigidity to maintain adjustments. The mount has 80mm of depth adjustment to accommodate crooked walls without transferring damaging stress from the wall to the display. Strut channel installation quickly aligns an entire row. Six points of alignment in the PowerZone area reduce the time needed to find
adjustment knobs by moving around the display. The RapidDraw display release system gently and remotely pops any screen out for easy access and can be extended 340mm for service. Rigidity prevents accidental screen shift from occurring and keeps the mount from sagging when extended. ConnexSys is available in landscape (LVS1U) and portrait (LVS1UP) versions with rails, and can be ordered without strut channel (LVSXU and LVSXUP) so installers can take advantage of longer lengths from local sources. www.chiefmfg.com
Full-service wall mount for top-end displays from Peerless
Vogel’s supports projectors up to 25kg The new range of projector mounts from Vogel’s is designed for the latest generation of projectors weighing up to 25kg. The family includes basic projector ceiling mounts and height adjustable kits with telescopic poles. All mounts come with a universal projector interface. This features fine-tune adjustability for precise alignment to the projection surface. Once aligned, the projector stays in position. Turning the friction ring will eliminate all play from the connections, making the mount fully stable. The height-adjustable projector ceiling mount kits can be used when the height of the ceiling is not known or when flexibility is wanted. These mounts come in three lengths, offering variable height adjustment from 400mm to 1,350mm, and are suitable for mounting on flat and inclined ceilings up to 90°. www.vogels.com
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According to Peerless-AV, the DS-VW795QR fulfils a requirement for a full-service mount to support displays at the top end of the size range. Designed for displays up to 95in, it enables installers to offer clients a complete package with these panels mounted either on a wall or recessed into it, in both single-screen and videowall configurations. The quick-release function enables the display to be articulated away from the wall with a simple push release, for quick and easy servicing. The carriage extension force can be adjusted to compensate for the weight of the display and can be locked to prevent unintentional access.
Whether the mount is used as a single, standalone screen, in either portrait or landscape orientation, or as part of a larger videowall array, the eight-point microadjustment ensures that any display can be quickly aligned to its surroundings or to the screens alongside it. Due to the size of these displays any misalignment will be exaggerated, so the ability to easily adjust the pitch and roll is a vital feature to overcome uneven walls and other common installation challenges. www.peerless-av.com
21/10/2014 10:10
56 SOLUTIONS: TIVOLI VREDENBURG, UTRECHT November 2014
of the Month
Cloud Nine, a jazz venue also used for VIP concerts and club nights, has a DiGiCo SD9 at front of house
Installed Audio n DiGiCo SD5, SD8, SD8-24, SD9 and SD11i consoles n DiGiCo SD 192, D-Rack and D2 Rack n ASL DS 4002 master and slave matrix units n ASL DS 85 booster/data repeater units n ASL DS 88 intercom hubs n ASL DS 290 beltpacks n ASL DS gooseneck microphones n ASL tabletop speaker stations n ASL DS130 paging speakers n ASL interface units
NETHERLANDS
Five into one will go Two established Utrecht performance venues have been combined into a five-space entertainment complex. This posed specific challenges for the audio provision, both within the performance spaces and in the cross-facility communications. Tom Bradbury reports
T
ivoli Vredenburg is a new and architecturally impressive venue in the heart of Utrecht. The city’s Tivoli and Vredenburg venues, which have been major centres of music for over 30 years, have been brought together under one roof by incorporating the existing Vredenburg symphony hall into a brand new €150m venue. This space, now known as the Grote Zaal or Great Hall, remains in its original form. Four other performance rooms have been added around it – Ronda, Pandora, Hertz and Cloud Nine – each hosting different styles of music, and each designed by a different architect. A cleverly thought-out, cathedral-like foyer brings these disparate designs neatly together. To deliver a complete audio package for this premier facility, Tivoli Vredenburg turned to TM Audio Holland and Audiopro
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Nederland, which joined forces to provide a solution that provided consistent sound quality, reliability and ease of use in each room.
Console experience “The engineers at both Vredenburg and Tivoli venues had worked with DiGiCo consoles for a while before the merger,” says Allert Aalders, who was a Tivoli sound engineer since 1998 and continues the role at the new venue. “The flexibility of the platform and the fact that most of our crew were already familiar with them played a big part in the decision.” “The former Vredenburg Theatre engineers were already used to working with DiGiCo’s SD9 and SD11 consoles,” adds TM Audio’s Jaap Pronk. “As the Tivoli engineers also had experience with using an SD8 for monitoring, it made sense to continue with familiar consoles that we knew would fulfil the
venue’s criteria.” Consequently Ronda, which is situated on the second floor and n TM Audio is well established in the theatre, club and hosts mostly pop general AV installation markets. It has strong relationships with DiGiCo, Allen & Heath, Powersoft and Analog Way concerts, features an SD5 with SD n Audiopro Nederland serves the theatre & live sound and 192 rack at front studio & broadcast markets. It is a dealer for, among others, of house, and d&b audiotechnik, Clear-Com, JoeCo and Yamaha an SD8 with D2 Rack at monitors; n Switch Concepts specialises in live event production. Pandora, a multiOne of its notable recent projects was the opening event for the Elicium building at the Amsterdam RAI format ‘crossover’ room used for dance parties, fashion shows, Finally, an SD11i with D-Rack is concerts and the like has an SD8mixing small live acts in the Cloud 24 at monitors; Hertz, which is a Nine foyer, and can also be used as more intimate space for chamber a mobile music system. music, stand-up comedy, theatre “The consoles can be moved and so on, has SD9s at front of around the venues to provide house; as does Cloud Nine, a jazz maximum flexibility,” says Pronk. venue also used for VIP concerts “Additionally, all the rooms work and club nights, with the option with formats that have been placed for the Hertz SD9 to also be used in the consoles’ ‘Template’ menus as a monitor desk for Cloud Nine. for inexperienced guest engineers,
About the installers
20/10/2014 17:16
ASL 130L paging loudspeakers can be quickly reassigned to any auditorium’s comms in the system’s ConfigurIT software
and all trained engineers can help the guest engineers out, which is working very well.” All DiGiCo SD systems are now working at 24bit/96kHz, the old style MADI racks having recently been updated to new D-Racks. All outputs on the racks are now equipped with AES/EBU output cards, connected to the digital inputs of the amps, which results in a full digital audio flow. The 32-channel D-Racks, 48-channel D2 Racks and the SD-Racks now all perform at 96kHz. Aalders and the team at Tivoli Vredenburg are delighted with the choice of DiGiCo. “You can make DiGiCo desks exactly the desks you want them to be,” he says. “And the workflow is super fast.”
Comprehensive comms In addition to the venue’s five auditoriums, there are 22 dressing rooms, 11 circulation spaces and 24 bars/restaurants, all of which needed to be connected with a comprehensive communications system. A specific challenge for Utrecht-based Switch Concepts, which was tasked with designing the system, was that the dressing rooms are not allocated to particular auditoriums. The company presented Tivoli Vredenburg’s technical team with a choice of three systems, and an ASL digital system was chosen. “In a building with nine floors and five different stages, a highly flexible intercom system is required,” says Switch Concepts’ Frank Verbeek. “The ability to have both daisychain and star-wiring topologies was a big advantage. ASL’s configuration software was also a key reason why we chose the system, because it is very fast
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and straightforward to use and it provides all the power you need for this type of environment.” The main components of the ASL system include DS 4002 master and slave matrix units, 15 DS 85 booster/data repeater units, 24 DS 290 beltpacks, 16 DS gooseneck microphones, 25 tabletop speaker stations (ranging from 32 to two channels), 24 DS130 paging speakers and 18 interface units. Wherever they’re located, all of the systems’ speaker stations and beltpacks are powered via the Cat6 intercom lines, so don’t need a separate power connection. Key to the installation is a DS 130L paging loudspeaker in every dressing room, all with override function. Each speaker can be quickly reassigned to any auditorium’s comms in the system’s ConfigurIT software. Also, even if the volume of the stage relay has been turned down, intercom announcements come to the speaker at a preset level. “Tivoli Vredenburg is the Netherlands’ biggest live music venue,” says ASL sales and marketing director Susan McLohon. “Tivoli Vredenburg’s core value is that it is ‘for everyone’ and the ASL system will help to ensure that shows run as smoothly as possible for artists ranging from the highest-profile star to the most amateur group.”
www.asl-inter.com www.audiopro.nl www.digico.biz www.switch-concepts.com www.tivolivredenburg.nl www.tmaudio.nl
20/10/2014 17:17
58 SOLUTIONS: O2 WORLD ARENA, HAMBURG November 2014
Installed Video
GERMANY
An ice projection In a first for arena installations, Hamburg Freezers ice hockey games start with pre-match video projected directly onto the ice. James Christopher reports
I
n the world of ice hockey, the relationship between the team and its fans in the stadium is critical. Even before the first face-off, the atmosphere in the arena needs to be at fever pitch, with spectators ready to cheer their team to victory. The pre-match warmup plays a crucial role in getting fans excited. System integrator elchmedia has done exactly this for Germany’s Hamburg Freezers, with a first in arena installations: on-ice video projection with Blackmagic Design equipment, using the rink at Hamburg’s O2 World Arena as a giant screen. As well introducing each of the players to the arena, the pre-match video content also shows player statistics and footage of them training at different locations around Hamburg, as well as a countdown to the match itself.
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“Although there are many screens around the stadium, it made perfect sense to us to take advantage of this huge blank white space, which all 13,000 spectators can see,” explains Jens Kelch, founder, elchmedia. “When the stadium’s lights dim, we’re able to build the excitement and create an electric atmosphere with pre-recorded video and audio as the teams take to the ice. Suddenly the thousands of pairs of eyes become one, all watching the action unfold.” While this sounds like a simple idea, in practice, achieving a perfectly synchronised HD projection over the ice using multiple projectors is a challenging task. In order to use the ice to its fullest potential, Kelch developed an HD video playout and projection system withan SDI-based video router from Blackmagic Design at its core.
Keeping in sync Signals are played from two PC systems equipped with DeckLink Quad capture cards; one in SD to feed the central videocube; the other in HD (1920x1080) to feed four ice projectors. Split into four, the HD signals are fed into a software playout solution and synchronised with blackburst, where a blank video signal is generated. The signals are converted to SDI and then fed to the Compact Videohub. Synchronisation is essential for a successful workflow. “As well as the blackburst synchronisation, we use a Blackmagic Design UltraScope to keep the feeds monitored constantly. Just a fraction of a second in delay on one of the signals and the whole effect is destroyed,” explains Kelch. The router feeds each signal over optical fibre and Blackmagic Mini Converters
SDI to Optical Fibre and Optical Fibre to SDI to the four projectors, resulting in a giant ice projection. “When the ice projection, the central videocube and stadium monitors are all showing the same content, no matter where fans are seated, the feeling is very immersive. Everywhere you look, you can’t help but be swept along with the match build-up.” The O2 Arena has also upgraded its match recording, monitoring and playback facilities to HD. “Match footage has to be available to every club in the league to facilitate match analysis and strategy. We chose to implement a HyperDeck Studio Pro broadcast deck, because it allows the input of synchronised timecode, which is essential for playback and offers support for SD, HD and Ultra HD,” explains Kelch. Three isolated camera feeds are captured separately on three HyperDeck Studio Pro
All Blackmagic Design: n Compact Videohub n DeckLink Quad capture cards n UltraScope waveform monitor n Blackmagic Mini Converters SDI to Optical Fibre, Optical Fibre to SDI n HyperDeck Studio Pro broadcast deck n SmartView monitors n Audio Monitor n H.264 Pro Recorder
It made perfect sense to take advantage of a huge blank white space that all 13,000 spectators can see – the ice itself
recorders, with a fourth recording the main programme mix. At the end of each quarter the SSDs are exchanged and are directly accessible for preparing the highlights cut. The rack also includes SmartView monitors and an Audio Monitor to provide a comprehensive visual monitoring system. The signals from Camera 1 and Camera 2 are not only recorded on the HyperDeck Studio Pro units, but are also recorded on a laptop using a H.264 Pro Recorder and Blackmagic Media Express, recording in 720p. These files are then uploaded to the portal for the league. “Whether we are providing content before, during or after the match, Blackmagic Design products ensure that our video production is not only accurate down to a split second but also of extremely high quality,” concludes Kelch.
www.blackmagicdesign.com www.elchmedia.de
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60 SOLUTIONS: COMMUNAL CULTURAL CENTER, TARCYZN November 2014
The centre relies on a Dynacord VariLine system in its auditorium
Installed Audio All Dynacord: n Variline VL 62, VL 212, VL 122 and VL262 two-way, fullrange speakers n Variline Sub 28 subwoofers n CXM 15 two-way floor monitors n WL 90 wall-mount speakers n PowerH 2500 amplifiers with RCM-26 controller modules
POLAND
Communal living The main auditorium of this new cultural centre places varied demands on its audio, requiring a reliable and versatile system, writes James Christopher
I
n May of this year, the Polish city of Tarczyn inaugurated its new flagship building: the Communal Cultural Center. The facility includes a library and multimedia reading room, as well as departments of the city administration. The cultural hub of the centre is the multifunctional auditorium, which seats up to 200 people.
Given the prestige of the building, the expectations placed on its sound reinforcement system were high. To meet these, general contracting company P.W. EBUD brought in Dynacord’s Polish distributor Tommex Zebrowscy. “As the auditorium is used for concerts, recitals, shows and public authority meetings, the stipulations
Supporting the speakers in the low-frequency range: Dynacord Sub 28s
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for the sound system were therefore manifold,” recalls Piotr Wosiek, the head of Tommex’s office in Olsztyn. “It should be reliable and versatile while delivering the highest audio quality possible.” The decision came down in favour of Dynacord VariLine loudspeakers for the main sound reinforcement system of the auditorium, the stage monitor system and the dressing rooms. The installed solution features two VL 212 and two VL 122 (downfill) speakers flown on the left and right of the stage, as well as two VL 262 as frontfills. To support the main sound system in the low-frequency range, Tommex added two Dynacord Sub 28 subwoofers. On the stage, the Tommex team relied on eight Dynacord CXM 15 floor monitors and two VL 62 speakers, which can be used as sidefills.
About the integrator n Established in 1991, Tommex Zebrowscy is based in Warsaw n The distributor offers PA systems, loudspeakers, and concert and cinema sound systems from manufacturers including Inter-M, Community Pro and Audica n Recent projects include a new sound system for the Municipal Stadium in Bialystok and Municipal Stadium WSK
Off-stage, it is again Dynacord equipment that sets the tone. To keep the actors informed about the current action on the stage as well as for security reasons, each dressing room is installed with a WL 90 wall-mount speaker. The entire system is powered by eight Dynacord PowerH 2500 amps equipped with RCM-26 modules for remote control and supervision. The VL 212 and VL 122 loudspeakers are driven in active biamp mode while the VL 262 models are operated in passive mode. “The system sounds very linear and natural,” says Wosiek. “The audience area is tilted at a pretty steep
angle, but thanks to the downfills we achieved an even coverage in the whole auditorium.” The highlight for Wosiek is the installed amplifiers: “Thanks to the PowerH amps fitted with RCM-26 modules, we could use the full processing power and were able to use the speakers’ FIR filter presets. The supervision and control of the system is operated by IRIS-Net software. This is a huge advantage for the customer, as they are able to control the sound system from an individual user interface on a computer easily and intuitively.”
www.dynacord.com www.tommex.pl
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MONTH AHEAD
Our pick of what to see, do and discover in the weeks ahead, including PLASA’s focus on Glasgow and How Robots Change Architecture
The Robotic Touch: How Robots Change Architecture
Visit
By Fabio Gramazio The Robotic Touch examines the theory and practice behind robot-based building processes and the specific implications of using robots within architectural design, looking to the future of this innovative and cutting-edge technology.
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3D: Printing the Future
Celebrate
Until 19 April 2015 This exhibition at MOSI – the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester – explores how 3D printing has democratised design, unleashing a wave of innovation across the globe. It brings together hundreds of 3D printed objects and celebrates the creativity and the potential of this groundbreaking technology.
PLASA Focus: Glasgow On 2-3 December PLASA takes its regional events model to Glasgow’s SECC for the first time. Product demonstrations, free-to-attend seminars and networking opportunities will be the order of the day, with exhibitors including Polar Audio, Robe, Bosch and Chauvet.
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New Year’s Eve
Look out for some impressive projection mapping at New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world. Australia will kick things off with pylon projections from 20:30 on Sydney Harbour Bridge. The bridge will remain centre stage all night – displaying everchanging images that evoke the annual theme, which this year is ‘Inspire’.
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