SIA October - November 2015

Vol. 15 Issue 1 ~ October - November 2015

AUDIO • VISUAL • LIGHT • CONTROL SYSTEMS • UNIFIED COMMS MCI (P) 014/04/2015 PPS 1669/08/2013 (022992)

• CONTROL ROOM TRANSFORMATION

• THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF HOSPITALITY AV

• INTERVIEW WITH TONY ABOU JAWAD OF CYVIZ

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

Christie Boxer and Roadster Deliver Amazing Visuals to Celebrate Singapore’s Golden Jubilee

Photo courtesy of Hexogon Solution Pte Ltd 64 Christie Boxer 4K30s projectors create a stunning projection mapping show on the 100-meter by 70-meter performance y À >Ì Ì i *>`> } v À Ì i >Ì > >Þ *>À>`i Ì Vi iLÀ>Ìi - xä°

Christie’s rental staging partner Hexogon Solution Pte Ltd installed more than 120 Christie projectors comprising the Boxer 4K30 and Roadster HD20K-J 3DLP® projectors at the Padang (venue of the National Day Parade), the Sentosa Merlion and Fullerton Hotel to deliver spectacular lighting shows in celebration of Singapore’s 50th birthday. The projectors delivered rich and colorful multimedia content, including 3D ivviVÌÃ Ì >Ì i > Vi` Ì i ÃV> i > ` }À> `iÕÀ v Ì i viÃÌ Û Ì ið / Ã Ã Ì i wÀÃÌ Ì i À ÃÌ i ÝiÀ { Îä projectors are used in Singapore, and the largest number ever deployed for a major event here.

When you are the leader in visual projection, you have the solutions to meet the most challenging setting.

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JAPAN ph: +81 3 3599 7481 ask-japan@christiedigital.com

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CONTENTS

Vol. 15 Issue 1 ~ October - November 2015

90 46

78 04 FIRST WORDS 06 NEWS 28 SOLUTIONS UPDATE SOLUTION HIGHLIGHT 36 The Epson EB-1430Wi In A Corporate Environment SPECIAL FEATURES 39 Control Room Transformation 46 The Nuts And Bolts Of Hospitality AV EXHIBITION REVIEW 52 Integrate 2015 56 InfoComm India

TECH TALK 64 USB: Connecting The Evolutionary Steps Of AV 66 HD Video Conferencing – Myths Unravelled 68 Make Any Audio Device DanteEnabled With Dante Via 71 Top Ten Tips For Effective DSP CONSULTANT SPEAK 72 Dr Erich Wessner, CEO, CyberConsult INTERVIEW 74 Nalin Advani, VP (Corporate AV and Entertainment), Barco Asia Pacific 76 Tony Abou Jawad, Regional Manager, Middle East, Cyviz USER PERSPECTIVE 78 Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

INSTALLATIONS 81 Iraq: Iraqi Holy Shrine Auditorium Gets IC Live 82 Thailand: Shure DIS System At Bank Of Thailand HQ 83 Singapore: CATO Singapore Mixes Music, Food And Drinks Seamlessly 84 Abu Dhabi: Zayed Grand Hall: A Class Of Its Own 89 Singapore: Paragon Shopping Centre Upgrades Public Address System 90 India: Dandi Kutir – Part Two 96 India: Crestron Digital Media At The Centre Of The Home Automation 98 ON OUR WEB

04

FIRST WORDS Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

The Challenge Of Celebration

This issue is our 15th Anniversary issue. While orthodoxy tends to say we’re just 15 years young, modernity tells us we’re 15 years old! That’s a big take! That’s a celebration- given the kind of volatilities we lived through and situations we nerved. Our being 15 years young might not have shown us the world full but our being 15 years old has given us ample exposure to its revolutions. That’s a celebration!

PUBLISHER/ EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Thomas Richard Prakasam thomas@spinworkz.com

ASSISTANT EDITOR Shireen Ho shireen@spinworkz.com

ASSISTANT EDITOR Elissa Nadine elissa@spinworkz.com

DIGITAL PLATFORM EDITOR (Freelance) Rosalind Tan rosalind@spinworkz.com

ADMIN & CIRCULATION Julie Tan admin@spinworkz.com

DESIGN AND PRODUCTION Jimmy Chin jimmy@spinworkz.com

PRINTED BY PUBLISHED BY Stamford Press Pte Ltd Spinworkz Pte Ltd 51 Bukit Batok Crescent #06-10 Unity Centre, Singapore 658077 Tel: (65) 6316 2716 Fax: (65) 63162715 www.spinworkz.com Disclaimer Systems Integration Asia is published 6 times a year. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine is to be reproduced, whether mechanical or electronic without the prior written consent of the publisher. Views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or the publisher. Unsolicited contributions are welcome but the editor reserves the discretion to use them. Whilst every care is taken to ensure the accuracy and honesty in both editorial and advertising content at press time, the publisher will not be liable for any inaccuracies.

We pride the way we have persevered. That’s a celebration!

A coincidence has arrived. An occasion was wanting to be taken; had been waiting for us to rise up to. We did, perhaps, as Providence timed it. Coinciding with our 15th Anniversary, we announced launching Systems Integration India Awards, for 2016. That’s a big take again, and a celebration.

Indian AVSI industry had been growing from strength to strength for a few years now- unaffected by factors that had been commonly impacting regional markets. There have been some very incredible deployments of AV in the country, playing testament to the prowess, but remaining heavily protected, and thereby going unheard, let alone seen and appreciated.

We felt, it was time we did something, having been so close to it, yet unable to highlight those closeted works of genius.

The best way to get them speak out and appreciate the same was to honour the geniuses who created them. That’s the System Integration India Awards! What better occasion could it be, than our Anniversary time to announce this prestigious striding? That’s certainly a celebration.

So, we raised, perhaps, the most prestigious stake at our mid-teen (i.e. fifteen) age, which can be a genuinely motivated young blood, or an enthusiasm unmindful of probable pitfalls in pursuit of the celebrationthe successful hosting of SII Awards in 2016 September, in Mumbai. So, the stakes we raised now can also be a burden of expectations. We, being creative people, cannot afford to be any little lethargic about the celebration task. It’s a big take of responsibility. It can as well be the challenge of a celebration!

But again, this challenge of celebration relates to all the stakeholders too. For, it is the full ecosystem of the industry that makes it complete, and benefits from it as a whole; anyone missing would be a certain pain. So, Industry, rise to the occasion. Join us in celebration.

Ram Bhavanashi Editor, India and ME ram@spinworkz.com

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NEWS Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Zytronic Strengthens South-East Asian Presence With Touchmedia SEA: Zytronic, a developer and manufacturer of advanced touch screen solutions, has expanded its reach in South-East Asia with a new agreement signed with sales partner TouchMedia.

This agreement will see Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar become prime markets for Zytronic’s Projected Capacitive Technology (PCT™).

TouchMedia has 19 years’ worth of experience in bringing sensor and vision based technologies to market and integrating touch technology for

a multitude of innovative applications.

These include both outdoor and indoor way-finding applications, point of sale kiosks, digital signage and other audio visual (AV) applications such as interactive advertising, entertainment and presentation displays.

This new agreement will see TouchMedia’s customer base benefit from Zytonic’s award winning portfolio of projected capacitive technology.

With their advanced manufacturing techniques to improve the resistance, durability and operating flexibility of their touch sensors, Zytronic have

the capability to underpin their touch based products for a variety of different environments.

Ian Crosby, Zytronic sales and marketing director, commented: “We are pleased to be working with a partner who has such extensive knowledge of the SouthEast Asian technology market; and a strong understanding of advanced touch screen solutions. We look forward to a productive and successful future working with TouchMedia, bringing our Projected Capacitive Technology to new markets”. www.zytronic.co.uk

Turn The Raspberry Pi Into A Tablet With New 7” Touchscreen

INTERNATIONAL: element14 has launched the 7” Touchscreen Display for the Raspberry Pi, expanding the ecosystem of accessories, to enable users to create all-in-one integrated projects such as turning their Pi into a tablet, infotainment system or embedded project.

Compatible with Raspberry Pi 2, and Raspberry Pi 1 models B+ and A+*, the screen can be used to make ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) devices with a visual display.

Connect the Raspberry Pi, develop a Python script, and create home automation devices with touchscreen capability. A range of educational software and programs available on the Raspberry Pi will be touch enabled, making learning and programming easier.

Designed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, the 800 × 480 display connects to the Raspberry Pi’s DSI display connector via an adapter board that handles power and signal conversion. Touchscreen drivers with support for 10-finger touch and an on-screen keyboard will be integrated into the latest Raspbian OS for full functionality without the need for a physical keyboard or mouse.

The screen dimensions are 194mm x 110mm x 20mm (including standoffs), with a viewable screen size of 155mm x 86mm and screen resolution of 800 x 480 pixels The kit contains: • 7” Touchscreen Display • Adapter Board • DSI Ribbon cable • 4 x stand-offs and screws (used to mount the adapter board and Raspberry Pi board to the back of the display) • 4 x jumper wires (used to connect the power from the Adapter Board and the GPIO pins on the Pi so the 2Amp power is shared across both units)

Claire Doyle, Global Head of Raspberry Pi, element14, comments: “The Raspberry Pi has been a revolutionary board for engineers and electronics enthusiasts, and this latest addition to the ecosystem from Raspberry Pi Trading adds a truly interactive visual capability.

The potential applications are huge and will lead to the emergence of many new innovative projects including tablets, personalised infotainment systems and home automation projects.”

Get started by downloading and installing the latest version of Raspbian Operating System and typing ‘sudo aptget update’ and ‘sudo apt-get upgrade’ to install all of the latest drivers and software to support the touch screen display.

The Raspberry Pi 7” Touchscreen is priced at S$92.02 and is available from element14 in Asia Pacific. * Raspberry Pi 1 models B and A are also supported, but mounting fixture locations are optimized for the more recent board layout. http://sg.element14.com

08

NEWS Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

InfoComm And BECIL Sign On Training In AV Integration initiative further in the subsequent phases.

INDIA: InfoComm International broke new ground recently when it entered into an important agreement with the State-owned Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL) for imparting AV installation skills to aspiring AV professionals in the country.

The agreement envisages training and certifying BECIL trainers with InfoComm credentials in the first place, and the ‘trained BECIL trainers’ expanding the

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed and exchanged

by InfoComm International Executive Director and CEO David Labuskes and BECIL Director (O & M) George Kuruvilla during the recently organized InfoComm India 2015 exhibition in Mumbai. The signing programme took place on the show floor of the first day of the threeday event.

BECIL, being a Government of Indiaowned enterprise with a nation-wide presence, is hoped to bring a significant value to the initiative in that it has as many as 12 training centres across the country and can tap aspiring AV professionals most effectively.

The initiative involves a one-day hands-on training in basic audio-visual installation tasks like preparing and pulling cables for termination, acquiring new skills in circuit theory, calculating conduit capacity, signal separation, and loudspeaker installation. The course material for the programme will be developed by InfoComm.

According to Gaurab Majumdar, Country Manager, India for InfoComm, the training programme will begin sometime between October-November, and would be conducted in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Pune. From then onwards, the initiative would focus on spreading to tier-II cities in the country. www.infocomm.org www.becil.com

Audinate Opens Asia-Pacific Headquarters In Hong Kong HONG KONG: Audinate, creator of the industry-leading media networking solution Dante, has announced the opening of a new Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong. The office will provide business development, technical sales and customer support in the greater Asia Pacific region.

The decision to open an Asia-Pacific headquarters was fuelled by the overall growth of the AV industry in Asia and the widespread adoption of Audinate’s Dante™ media networking technology in the region. According to InfoComm, Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing market in the professional AV industry, and that holds true for Audinate as well. Audinate

now has 44 Dante licensees in Asia, and 47% of those manufacturers have signed in just the last 12 months.

“This expansion reflects Audinate’s success in this important market,” states David Myers, COO of Audinate.

“The new office will focus on business development and support activities for customers in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, as well as the ASEAN countries and Australasia.”

Ben Wong, Director of Sales for Asia Pacific, recently joined Audinate based out of the new Hong Kong office. “The fast adoption of Dante among AV manufacturers in Asia is truly exciting,

and is proof that Dante has become the de facto standard in audio networking,” says Wong. “These manufacturers are selecting Ben Wong, Director of Dante to ensure Sales for Asia Pacific, their products Audinate have guaranteed interoperability with the hundreds of other Danteenabled products available worldwide.” www.audinate.com

Gesture, Radar and No Physical Touch – Google's Project Soli Google’s Project Soli has invented a new interaction sensor using radar technology that can capture motions of your fingers at up to 10,000 frames per second. Check out the video – it's no longer sci-fi but a reality!

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NEWS Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Symetrix At The Beijing High Court systems integrator in charge of product purchase and system specification.

CHINA: With responsibilities that include the live transmission/recording of court proceedings and the management of case-related documents, it stands to reason that no chances can be taken when it comes to the AV infrastructure of the Beijing Higher People’s Court.

In this spirit, the Court – which is the most senior level of judiciary in the municipality of Beijing – recently pressed ahead with an audio system installation in which Symetrix DSPs play an integral role.

In delivering the best possible solution, the project entailed cooperation between two of China’s leading specialists in professional technology.

Whilst distribution heavyweight and long-running Symetrix distributor EZPro was primarily responsible for supply and system tuning, Beijing Jinqiao Times Culture Development Co served as

“EZPro has a very close relationship with Jinqiao Times,” reports Zhang Yangyang, the company’s sales manager for northern China. “When Jinqiao Times told us that they had a project that was in need of reliable and flexible DSP products, we recommended Symetrix – and it quickly became clear that their solutions could indeed meet the substantial requirements of the High Court’s Executive Command Center.”

With as many as 46 inputs and 14 outputs to manage, and frequent changes to the configuration, flexible routing and processing were critical.

Support for the specified Audinate Dante network and provision for redundant set-up were other factors that ultimately led Jinqiao Times to specify three Symetrix SymNet Radius AEC open architecture Dante-scalable DSPs. These are used in conjunction with two SymNet xIn 12 expanders to ensure there is sufficient capacity available at all times.

“In the audio system, the large number of inputs made for a rather complex requirement for signal routing and control,” confirms Beijing EZPro systems engineer Mr. Fan. “However, with the

choice of the Symetrix products, we have been able to group the input sources through the SymNet Composer software, simplifying the entire operation considerably.”

The selection of the Symetrix DSPs has also had another important benefit with regard to their inclusion of the AV industry’s lowest-latency acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) algorithm. This functionality is especially advantageous when video conferences are taking place between the Beijing Higher People’s Court and judicial bodies in other regions.

“The AEC function eradicates distracting echo and obtrusive noise while delivering pristine full-bandwidth audio to both near and far ends. It’s a really great feature for this kind of application,” says Zhang.

Staff are reportedly delighted by the performance of the audio installation at the High Court, which also features a number of other premium components, including an Allen & Heath mixer, Mission Pro power amplifiers and EAW column speakers. www.symetrix.co www.ezprointl.com

QSC Names Joey D’angelo Director Of Systems Solutions INTERNATIONAL: Joey D’Angelo has joined QSC Systems as Director of Systems Solutions.

In his new role, D’Angelo will contribute to QSC’s strategic direction within its systems business, across the areas of sales, marketing and training. He will also work to form and cultivate strong partnerships in QSC’s key market segments, serving as an informed advocate for QSC’s portfolio of systems solutions. Additionally, D’Angelo will be deeply engaged in product conceptualization and roadmap discussions for QSC Systems as QSC continues to add to its solutions portfolio

in the Corporate AV arena and other key market segments.

“We are excited to integrate Joey’s incredibly rich, 18-year systems consulting background into our existing Systems strategy,” said Joe Pham, President and CEO of QSC. Prior to joining QSC, D’Angelo held a Vice President position at Charles M. Salter Associates, Inc, a San Francisco based consulting firm focused on providing acoustic, audiovisual, telecommunications and security solutions and services. “His track record at C.M. Salter stands as a testament to his progressive insight into this market.”

D’Angelo remarks, “I'm looking forward to joining the newly-formed systems division at QSC and being able to work with an extremely talented and smart group of people.

We will work hard together to unleash the power, flexibility, and value of the next generation in AV technology." www.qsc.com

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NEWS Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Exterity Strengthens Position In Australasia With Midwich Partnership AUSTRALIA: Exterity, a leading provider of enterprise IP video technologies for the secure distribution of live, ondemand and recorded video over IP, has announced its partnership with the leading distributor of technology solutions Midwich ANZ. The partnership sees Midwich become the exclusive distributor of Exterity products in Australia and New Zealand.

“Increased demand for our solutions in Australia and New Zealand led us to increase our local presence and launch a new distribution partnership with Midwich,” said Colin Farquhar, CEO, Exterity. “We already work extensively with Midwich in other regions and they have consistently demonstrated an indepth knowledge of our markets and product portfolio, which fits with our ambition to become the primary IP video solutions company in Australasia.”

Exterity provides AV technology solutions that leverage the existing corporate network to securely distribute terrestrial, satellite or cable TV, as well

as internal channels over IP, allowing the seamless delivery of live TV, premium channels, Over The Top and Video on Demand services, enterprise TV and digital signage to fixed displays and mobile devices. Seamless integration with complementary technologies enables organizations to deliver a complete, feature-rich solution with the ability to design full or multi-zoned screens with live or prerecorded video content; display RSS news feeds and scrolling text; support image playlists and playout scheduling, as well as automatic playback of digital signage.

“Working with the renowned brand Exterity will enable us to strongly support the professional IP video marketplace in Australia and New Zealand,” said Midwich ANZ General Manager Mark Lowe. “Starting with Integrate Expo at the end of August, we already envision a busy second half of the year with a series of intensive training courses in Melbourne and Sydney. In addition, we will benefit from enhanced maintenance and support

Raguvaran Joins Lightware India INDIA: Raguvaran Patel has joined Lightware India in a newly created position, as a Business Manager and member of the SAARC executive team.

Raguvaran will have oversight of the strategic direction, expansion and operation of Lightware India in the Corporate and Government Business Opportunities.

“I am thrilled with Raguvaran Patel joining our team,” said Murugan Paramasivam, Director, India and SAARC Operations, Lightware. “He shares our values and our focus on innovation, and

he places the same strong emphasis as we do on the customer experience. He has shown himself to be an extraordinary leader throughout his career and has a proven track record.”

“I am profoundly honoured to join Lightware India in this newly created position and very much look forward to working with the global teams to further enrich the consumer experience,” said Raghu. “I have always admired the innovation and impact Lightware products and services have on the clients and hope in some small way I can help contribute to the company’s continued success and leadership in changing the world.” www.lightware.com

through the new AvediaCare platform that Exterity is making available to its regional partners. The icing on the cake for us is to be able to help sell Exterity’s innovative product portfolio, including its new ‘Beyond the LAN’ range of products. This enables us to be armed for the mobile video revolution that is already starting in the proAV world”.

Richard Phillips, Asia-Pacific Sales Director at Exterity, commented: “Midwich brings Exterity an intensity and day to day focus with their major dealers as a Value Added Distributor, combined with much more technical expertise throughout ANZ. They have fantastic new premises with training, showroom and demo facilities. Midwich truly understand IP and AV and carry a well defined mix of products to provide IP based solutions to many key vertical markets. We look forward to continuing to grow our business throughout Australasia in conjunction with them.” www.exterity.com

IoT Journey - "Why It Will Never Happen"

According to the whimsical (or cynical) Andy Marken, the world of IoT (Internet of Things) is 'so big, has so much potential' that 'it will never happen'.

Do you agree with him?

14

NEWS Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Gefen Becomes Part Of Core Brands INTERNATIONAL: In a move designed to strengthen the synergies that already exist between the two organizations, Gefen will join the Core Brands family of leading solutions offered to its growing network of residential and commercial integrators and installers.

The announcement was made by Core Brands President Joe Roberts and Gefen President Tony Dowzall.

“As a leader in digital connectivity and innovator of A/V signal processing solutions for commercial and residential applications, Gefen is a natural addition to the existing portfolio of Core Brands solutions,” Roberts said today.

“Backed by an incredible heritage of ground-breaking practical innovation, Gefen provides intuitive connectivity

Crowdmics App Avoids Need For Pass-themicrophone Ever been part of an audience and wanted to participate in a live event? No problemo.

Developed by an enterprising start-up, the Crowdmics app enables users to speak into their own mobile phone with the sound broadcast over wi-fi to speakers in the room.

products and solutions that bridge the gap between rapidly advancing technology and real-world applications.

All of us at Core Brands look forward to collaborating with the Gefen team to become even stronger, well-rounded industry leaders. The incorporation of Gefen into the Core Brands family is going to expand the range of options we offer our customers and make it easier for them to transact more of their business through a single solutions provider.”

Amplifying these points, Dowzall stressed that Core Brands and Gefen have long enjoyed a close relationship as part of the same organizational structure inside Nortek. “Our two companies know each other well and complement

one another in many important ways – both in terms of key industry verticals and common sales partners. This really is a perfect fit of philosophies, culture and values that are focused on a shared mission — delighting our customers with exceptional service and solutions.”

The integration of Gefen within Core Brands will also result in larger sales opportunities for many Gefen product lines, Dowzall emphasized. “In addition, because we will be part of a larger company with a greater amount of functional leverage, we will be better able to serve our customers at an even higher level.” www.gefen.com www.nortek.com

Orbis Wired Conference System Honoured With Red Dot Award products. In the communication category, which includes conference technology, Orbis was pronounced ‘Red Dot Award 2015’ winner.

Orbis Groupshot: flush mount microphone unit Orbis MU 43, loudspeaker module CA OL, vertical microphone array Classis RM 31 Q and control unit Orbis CU

INTERNATIONAL: Components of the new Orbis wired conference system have received the world-renowned ‘Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015.’

The product design competition has been happening since 1954; The ‘Red Dot’ Award is a world-renowned mark of quality and an international jury presents it only to those whose excellent design makes them stand out from comparable

The Orbis MU 43 flush-mount microphone units with separate CA OL loudspeaker module, the Classis RM 31 Q vertical microphone array and the Orbis CU control unit were submitted and received the award.

A clear aesthetic was followed for the design of the conference system: straight edges and tight radii characterise the overall appearance. All operating elements have been reduced to the essential and support the functionality of the system with their shape, position and size. Much importance was also placed upon the use of high-quality materials.

Elegance and consistent aesthetics were also prioritised when designing the desktop microphone units presented last year. www.beyerdynamic.de/conference

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NEWS Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

CresConnect – A New Initiative From Crestron Asia appreciate, and honour their work as well as to get to know from them what are their expectations- that is how we seek to better connect with them.”

An important aspect of the event – in line with its theme – was the panel debate by India's three leading consultants – Kelvin Ashby King, Mradul Sharma, and Vineet Singh – sharing their views and thoughts on some of the most important issues faced by the industry.

Kanny Leong, Crestron’s Executive Director (Asia Operations) giving his opening comments

INDIA: With a view to bettering its connect with the AV industry in India – Crestron Asia recently launched a new initiative of focused programming that is marked by a few firsts of sorts.

Called CresConnect, and themed on ‘Integrate, Connect, Associate,’ the one-day event is a value-add programme (complementing the company’s much familiar and popular CresMeet) that honours the systems integration community with awards for their outstanding work; focused interactive debate with consulting community, and aimed at the ‘decision-making’ segment of the integration/consultancy, and distribution industries.

Inaugurating the event, Kanny Leong, Crestron’s Executive Director (Asia Operations) said that Crestron was no longer a hardware or software enterprise but an ‘integrated solutions provider covering all aspects of life.’

“To make lives easier, comfortable and manageable, we make AV technologies for buildings, homes, offices, corporates, campuses, shopping malls, and museums, and more,” he said.

“Crestron’s pursuit has always been to

make life simple; we continue to strive to better ourselves every time.”

According to him, besides their continual R & D, the company’s commendable success in its endeavour was also largely due to its trusted partners with whom it prides sharing its success.

“The CresConnect event itself is first of its kind from Crestron,” said Nataraju Upputuri, Country Manager, Crestron India. “The previous format of Crestron – the CresMeet – was different in that it had the whole spectrum of the industry and product showcasing,” he explained, “this CresConnect is simply about connecting with our partners/distributors, and consultants/integrators.”

According to him, the regular CresMeet event is still there, which is open for the whole big eco-system of Crestron partners, engineers, technocrats, and their teams etc. The objective of devising the CresConnect event was to better connect with the decision makers of the industry. “This is essentially for those who make decision,” he added, “this platform is to bring them together,

The consultants, besides fielding diverse questions from the participants, drew the industry’s attention to some of the most concerning challenges such as dearth of skilled and certified professionals. Noting that Convergence is just inevitable, the panel unanimously underscored the need for imparting IT training for AV professionals and vice-versa.

The CresTalk was followed by presentation of awards for outstanding work in the field of AV integration work.

The awards winners were as follows: • Best Integration in Education: Actis Technologies • Best Integration in Healthcare: Solutions India Systems Pvt Ltd • Best Integration in Residential: V-Tec Technologies Pvt Ltd • Best Integration in Commercial: Sigma-Byte AV Solutions That apart, an award was also given to Sonetonix for its ‘amazing GUI’ work.

The event was attended by over 150 decision making industry professionals that included systems integrators, consultants and prominent distributors/ partners of Crestron. www.crestronasia.com

18

NEWS Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Bosch Launches New Range Surveillance Systems In India DIMION IP 7000, Panoramic IP7000 MP, and MIC IP 7000 HD.

Bosch Security Systems’ Head-South Asia, Sudhir Tiku inaugurating the programme

INDIA: Bosch Security Systems recently organized its Product Introduction Day in Bengaluru announcing its bringing of a vast range of high-end surveillance systems. The systems introduced comprised AUTODOME IP Cameras; Panoramic Cameras and Extegra Cameras, besides the MIC 7000 HD camera. The AUTODOME range was highlighted by NEZ 5000 IR PTZ; NEZ 5000 PTZ, and NEZ 4000 PTZ while the Extegra range had Extegra 9000, and Panoramic has the Panoramic 7000.

Inaugurating the programme, Bosch Security Systems’ Head-South Asia, Sudhir Tiku underscored what makes Bosch maintain its leadership in the security and surveillance industry worldwide. That quality has always remained the DNA of Bosch’s manufacturing credential, the company strives to deliver products that are worth the buyer’s money. “Two of the most important characteristics that stand Bosch apart from the rest are ethics and values,” he emphasized. “These two qualities reflect in every endeavour that Bosch takes up.”

Hsiang Nung Kuah, Head-Product Marketing, (BU Video Systems) BoschAsia Pacific, presented the range of systems under the AUTODOME and FLEXIDOME- the AUTODOME IP 4000/5000 and FLEXIDOME 4000/5000 camera systems- all coming at mid-price point. Still lower price point systems included the DIMION IP 4000/5000; Bullet IP Divar IP6000.

However, the high price point systems comprised DIMION IP Ultra6000;

The high-performance AUTODOME IP 5000 IR PTZ dome camera comes with in integrated IR illumination for scenes with low or no ambient lighting on the outdoors up to 180 meters, and a choice resolution of 720p25/30 or 1080p25/30.

Besides allowing easy detection of moving targets, the system’s variable illumination ensures that IR light is uniformly distributed in the field to avoid dark spots or over illuminated scene.

The AUTODOME IP 5000 PTZ, on the other hand, identifies people up to 190 meters without loss of any detail. That it comes with exceptional low bit rates in static scenes to save the storage cost by up to 50 per cent compared to any equivalent dome in the market.

The FLEXIDOME IP panoramic 7000 MP indoor camera offers a full 180-degree or 360-degree overview of a particular area with 12 megapixel sensor resolution at 30 fps combined with a fish-eye lens.

For indoor and outdoor applications the FLEXIDOME IP panoramic 5000 MP offers the smallest 360-degree dome design available on the market combining a 5 megapixel sensor resolution at 15 fps with a fish-eye lens.

Both camera models ensure a complete overview in a single image without blind spots and the easy capture of moving objects, significantly improving the performance of any video surveillance solution. Combined with the Video Security Client software the user can select up to six different viewing modes.

The FLEXIDOME IP panoramic 7000 MP camera features a full suite of on-board intelligent video analytics to ensure that operators are alerted when needed and relevant information is delivered most efficiently both live and in retrospect.

“The low price point systems are meant for residential and small retail outlets, while the mid-price point systems are for commercial and shopping mall type establishments,” Kuah explained.

“The high price point systems are for

large establishments such as airports, oil and gas, and power plants, and city surveillance projects.

Bosch India Product Marketing Manager (BU Video Systems) Ali Mohammad Akbar presented the new family of EXTEGRA IP 9000 FX explosion-proof IP cameras, developed for safe operation in hazardous environments such as those ranging between -50° and +60° Celsius. Specifically designed and ATEX and IECEX certified and tested to IEC standard EN50130-5 to operate in potentially volatile environments, these systems are assured not to cause an explosion. This makes them the camera of choice where gases, vapors, dust, or clouds escape during the production of flammable substances. EXTEGRA IP 9000 FX cameras are ideal for use in industries like oil and gas, chemical, petrochemical, fertilizer, and pharmaceutical.

Coming with 30x optical zoom with autofocus, enabling the operator to remotely configure the field of view to detect objects at distances from nine to 700 meters, the cameras can be powered over Ethernet (HiPoE) or 24 Volt, ensuring continuous availability in the event that one of these power supplies should fail.

Eric Ho, Product Marketing Manager (BU Video Systems) Bosch-Asia Pacific, presented DINION IP ultra 8000 MP camera featuring latest 4K ultra HD technology. This new camera simultaneously supports a wide-angle overview and multiple focus points on a single screen to focus on details without losing the bigger picture. Its 12 megapixel or 4K ultra HD resolution allows any given subject to be viewed in detail. As a result, the DINION IP ultra 8000 MP offers the decisive clarity needed for collecting relevant evidence for highly detailed and effective retrospective analysis. Now, it is easy to keep an eye on the crowd, for example in a stadium, and provide enough detail to identify individual people. www.in.bosch.com

20

NEWS Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

ERNET To Take ICT Propagation In India To Next Level web hosting, e-mail services, video conferencing, domain registration, and CUG services.

INDIA: Education & Research Network (ERNET), an Indian technology infrastructure facilitator to academic and research institutions in India and outside, is on a massive initiative of propagating ICT-powered education and entrepreneurship in the country. The institution intends to connect as many as 3500 schools across seven Indian States with Smart Classrooms and train teachers and students in Smart Learning methodologies. While this programme is intended to be completed in about four months’ time beginning this year end, the institution also intends to set up as many as five Centres of Excellence (CoE) across the country to create, promote and foster start-ups.

Neena Pahuja, Director General of ERNET, an autonomous scientific society under the aegis of Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications & IT-Government of India, told an executive gathering recently in New Delhi that the institution was also planning setting up of ‘Demo Centres’ for Internet of Things (IoT)in the country. The initiative envisages setting up of Test-beds for three Centres of Excellence for working on standards for IoT.

Delivering a special address on ‘‘Internet of Things - Propelling Digital India” as part of the the Roundtable on ‘Fostering Global Partnership for Digital India’ – jointly organized by InfoComm International and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) – Mrs Pahuja said ERNET was also exploring the possibilities for transforming schools in villages into vocational training centres for villagers so that the people in the rural areas learn diverse means of livelihood by means of technical / professional skills.

“Given the potential of technological means and the possibilities they open up, we can even imagine incorporating telemedicine processes too for faster reach of medical help to rural areas,” she opined at the meet.

Having one of the largest nationwide terrestrial and satellite networks with as many as 15 points of presence located at premier academic and research institutions in the country, ERNET’s objective is to meet technology infrastructure needs of academic and research institutions with consultancy, project management, training and other value added services such as

Currently, ERNET serves over 1300 institutions in various sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, higher education, schools and science & technology.

Addressing the topic of ‘role of M2M (machine-to-machine), and other new technologies in Digital India,’ Reena Malhotra, Director (NT), Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications & IT, suggested that all constructions have fiber connectivity to begin with to ensure reliable and scalable connectivity throughout. The Director indicated that the government was planning a comprehensive policy to ensure that investments into the industry happens in a planned manner.

An important aspect of the InfoCommFICCI Roundtable was a detailed presentation by InfoComm Executive Director and CEO David Labuskes on how the apex body of global AVSI industry has been promoting the increased adoption of AV technologies worldwide. Citing examples from some of the best instances of AV deployments in India, he detailed how InfoComm has been trying to contribute to India’s journey through the digital age.

The Roundtable that was anchored by FICCI’s Communications and Digital Economy Committee Chairman Virat Bhatia, was significant in that it had some of the peers of telecommunications industry in the country. They included Rajan Mathews, Director General of Cellular Operators Association of India; Pankaj Mahindroo, National President of Indian Cellular Association; and Manoj Dawane, Vice-President (Technology, Government, Industry Relations and Sustainability), Ericsson India. www.infocomm.org www.ficci.com

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22

NEWS Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Milestone Showcase In Hong Kong * Da-Lite Parallax Screen which is an ambient light-rejecting technology that features a micro-layered optical lens system that rejects light. This new technology mimics the look of a television when it is on and when it is off, but without the glare from windows or lighting fixtures.

HONG KONG: On 10th September, Milestone invited system integrators and end-users to a Milestone Showcase in Hong Kong. Held at the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers, this was the first product showcase event for Milestone Asia Pacific in Hong Kong. The key objective of the event was to introduce the new solutions from Chief and Da-Lite and to highlight their advantages in an AV installation. The event was also an opportune time for the industry to network.

Milestone showcased the following key solutions: * Chief ConnexSys Video Wall Mounting system solves the common video wall challenges of speed, alignment, serviceability and rigidity. The ConnexSys Video Wall Mounting System provides the ability to level each row once by using strut channel to connect multiple mounts together with a simple-to-install system that can handle the largest requirements.

* Da-Lite IDEA Screen that features an erasable suface that is hotspot-free under projection, is magnetic and has a thin frame. It is an ideal screen with an ultra short throw projector as an interactive screen or as a whiteboard with dry-erase markers. A tray for markers make the IDEA Screen a great upgrade to any classroom. www.milestone.com

ZeeVee Expands Into IT Space With Video Over IP Solutions INTERNATIONAL: ZeeVee, a global manufacturer of video and signal distribution technology, announced its expansion into the IT space with its new Video over IP solutions, the ZvPro iSeries, and ZyPer4K™. The newly enhanced version of ZvPro, the ZvPro iSeries, now offers dual capability support for RF/Coax and/or CATx infrastructures and ZyPer4K, is the only solution today that switches and distributes uncompressed Ultra-HD (4K) video, audio and RS232/IR control signals leveraging off-the-shelf 10Gb Ethernet switching products.

Working closely with technology partners over the past few years, ZeeVee is at the forefront of the AV and IP convergence, bringing to market innovative, cost effective, and easy to install IP based distribution platforms. "True to our corporate vision, engineering best

practices, and in close collaboration with our customers and partners, we embarked on an aggressive path to broadening our range of solutions and services to include distribution capabilities across all wired media," said Bob Michaels, CEO at ZeeVee. "We are now able to offer solutions across the widest range of infrastructures, existing or new, that provides our customers with the ability to specify solutions with the best fit for the facility(s) without compromise now or well into the future," continued Michaels.

ZeeVee's IP based multi-source to multi-screen solutions fully eliminate the need for expensive and complicated proprietary switching equipment, instead utilizing off the shelf, standard industry 10Gb Ethernet switching products. "ZeeVee is transforming the video and signal distribution industry

with its IP solutions," said Danny Barr, Vice President New Product Business Development at ZeeVee. "We are offering installers a better choice when it comes to deploying HD-UHD/4K video.

ZyPer4K delivers virtually unlimited scalability by avoiding the input/output restrictions and fixed matrix architecture of conventional switching solutions.

ZeeVee solutions are far more versatile and cost effective than the competition," stated Barr.

Along with the video over IP solutions, ZeeVee's RF/Coax encoders and modulators revenue continues to grow at a rapid pace further validating ZeeVee as a dominant solutions provider in the video distribution industry. www.zeevee.com

24

NEWS Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

SynAudCon Conducts Successful Seminars In Asia the seminar, I've learned how to troubleshoot and resolve setup problems. Overall, the seminar has been helpful.”

- Ashley De Ocampo, Audible Illusions Enterprise “Having joined the industry recently, the seminar has been very informative for me. The part on speaker placement is something I find very interesting.”

- Ellen, Electro-Acoustics Systems Pte Ltd SINGAPORE: Partnering with Spinworkz Pte Ltd, the publisher of Systems Integration Asia and Entertainment Technology Asia, SynAudCon came to Singapore in August to present the “Principles of Sound System Design” seminar.

“It's been really helpful. There are a lot of basic things to know in order to design a good sound system and the seminar has taught us how to apply those theories.”

- Tan Wei Boon, Mercoms Systems Sdn Bhd

Held at Holiday Inn Orchard City Centre, the 2-day seminar was presented by industry veteran Pat Brown. The seminar covered topics such as room acoustics analysis, sound fields in enclosed spaces, loudspeaker ratings and software tools for system designers. Through the seminar, delegates learned how to select and place loudspeakers to achieve speech intelligibility and music clarity.

“I find the seminar stimulating and it has taught me new ways to do sound mapping, grab RIR etc,.”

- Diky Tanaya, Goshen Electronics Indonesia

Co-sponsored by Harman and Biamp, the event saw close to 90 delegates from over 9 countries in Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Philippines, India and China, comprising of consultants, system integrators and end-users.

With a high learning spirit and an enthusiastic crowd, the seminar saw lots of interactions between the trainer and delegates as well as networking opportunities between the delegates themselves too.

Here are what some of the delegates had to say about the seminar:

“(Spinworkz) did a great job with the email marketing and bringing in SynAudCon to Southeast Asia. Pat Brown is a good trainer who is able to break down complicated theories into simpler terms for easy understanding.

Training seminars as such are good for the region and it helps to improve the overall skills of the AV professionals.

It will be great to see more of these seminars in the region moving forward.”

- Leo Tanzil Johadi, PT Kairos Multi Jaya “(The seminar) is very well-organized.

The trainer has a good knowledge on the subject matter and has covered the basics well. I would love to see these kind of trainings in India too.”

- M.V. Sesha Reddy, Vector Systems Private Limited “I am very happy to be here. Most of the stuff I've learned are things that we need to know in order to design a proper sound system. Through

“The key take-away for me at this seminar was the compensation measurement tool. The free software Pat showed us taught us how to effectively measure wavelength without using expensive equipment.

Plus, the food served is good!”

- Steven Yeoh, Hope Church Singapore “I have attended several SynAudCon seminars before, and each time, I am able to get a different viewpoint on things. Attending such seminars reinforces our knowledge as sound technology is always evolving. The seminar is a great learning experience and helps to cultivate good audio practice in the region.”

- Joselito N. (Mike) Pedero, TRACKSacoustics/TRACKSCorp Moving out from Singapore, SynAudCon also presented a similar session in Bangkok with Fuzion Far East and a OptEQ seminar in Shenzhen with EZ Pro International. Spinworkz Pte Ltd is proud to be the official organizer and media for this training event in Singapore.

Want to see more? Check out pictures of the training seminar here:

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26

NEWS Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Turkish Parliament Installs d&b For Clearer Debating

TURKEY: It is a matter of fact that the human ear brain mechanism is a highly sophisticated system capable of identifying where sound comes from with amazing accuracy. Using this information, with even the slightest difference in loudness, the brain can clearly identify the change and thus locate direction.

“This in essence was the challenge presented by the requirements for a new sound system in the Turkish Parliament building Ankara,” explained Tayfun Konuralp of Atempo, Turkey’s leading provider of professional audio. “With a requirement for a major improvement in intelligibility over the previous installation made in 1996 as a given, the desire was added for any member of the Parliament to be able to easily identify who was speaking and from where, even during the most heated of debates.”

Konuralp heads up Atempo’s Ankara office: “We first became involved at the start of 2013; Dr Wolfgang Ahnert had already been engaged by the Parliamentary authorities to find a solution; Dr Wolfgang Ahnert is something of legend in acoustical consulting and design. As the inventor of EASE software, we anticipated our skill set would be taken to a new level by his proposals and we were not disappointed.”

Put to open tender, Atempo presented a system using a mix of d&b audiotechnik loudspeaker systems. “The debating chamber is a fan shaped auditorium seating five hundred Parliamentarians with a central main platform from where the speaker of the house manages the

sessions. In essence this is a two system solution: there is a front facing system of left/right d&b Ti10Ls so that the platform can address the whole house.

The second system is distributed, a set of ceiling clusters, using individually amplified d&b 10S loudspeakers arranged to face downward and in a cross formation to give 360 degree propagation. The key to this system is the Salzbrenner Stagetec Nexus matrix system management that, through programmed time settings, can localise sound to the region of any Parliament member who is talking, relative to the rest of the chamber."

"Naturally that’s quite a complex and variable timing structure for such a broad coverage area, so selection of the correct loudspeakers and their consistency of performance, particularly in terms of pattern definition, was crucial. As the d&b distributor in Turkey we have learned over the years that their product range conforms very precisely to what their published data states, so for me I would not attempt such a sensitive installation with any other product. You need to know the system can deliver exactly what it says it can on paper.”

Yakup Bayraktar is Technical Manager of the Audio Department at the Parliament.

A former Tonmeister, he has been at the Grand Assembly seventeen years: “The old system had been falling short of modern standards for some time; intelligibility was so poor it could become uncomfortable and tiresome for our members. The implementation

by Atempo of Dr Wolfgang Ahnert’s recommendation was a very efficient job in terms of execution, especially considering the severe restrictions imposed on time.”

Parliament normally goes into recess for three months across the summer but

the year of installation coincided with the presidential elections, “Which cut install time in half to just six weeks,” said Konuralp. “We worked almost around the clock, assembling three teams working six to seven hour shifts.

Fortunately we have strength and depth in our audio teams so all three were in house staff. Even so that’s a big commitment of resources and we needed every minute of those six weeks.

“The Ti10L line array systems were commissioned immediately so the inauguration of the President could take place. The more complex testing and commissioning of the 10S based localisation system took place immediately afterwards, in the two week gap before the official opening of Parliament. At the same time as the localisation system was in test we initiated training sessions for the Parliament’s own technical team under Yakup Bayraktar. He has a very good team with a deep understanding of the physics of sound reinforcement and they recognized the operational concept of localisation easily. This is the first and only such audio installation in a debating chamber with localisation in Turkey; in fact such systems are pretty unique as far as we understand, there is one in the Berlin Parliament we know, and maybe one or two others elsewhere. Bayraktar’s team engaged with the process very quickly and soon took control. We have been impressed by their ability to operate what is a complex system, professionally and effectively.”

“All the problems of the old audio system have been solved,” concluded Yakup Bayraktar. “I would like to congratulate Atempo once more for the very professional job conducted in this project. Despite the busy schedule of the Parliament, they completed the installation of the whole system without interrupting the daily activities of the Parliament.” www.dbaudio.com www.atempo.com.tr

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

LIGHTWARE: MMX6x2-HT series Lightware’s new MMX6x2-HT matrix switcher family was created in response to the need for practical matrix switchers designed for smaller meeting room and classroom environments. The compact MMX6x2-HT220 has 6 video inputs and 2 video outputs - 4 HDMI 1.4 and 2 TPS (HDBaseT) inputs and 2 independent HDMI outputs which both have mirrored TPS (HDBaseT) outputs.

4K@30Hz, 3D capabilities and HDCP are fully supported. The device also has 4 audio connectors for audio insertion and 2 audio outputs for de-embedding purposes. PoE 48V remote powering

is available on all TPS ports (both input and output) for simple, cost effective installations. The MMX6x2-HT220 standalone matrix switch has two variants, one with a single mirrored TPS

output (HT210) and one with just HDMI outputs (HT200). www.lightware.eu

ANALOG WAY: New LiveCore Firmware Upgrade source synchronized with the Fill or a still picture.

In addition, several other features that expand display capabilities have been implemented. Operators can now create custom output formats. These can be stored in the Custom Output Format section which offers up to 10 memories.

This feature is particularly useful for LED wall applications and non standard industrial display applications.

The new v03.01.60 firmware for all the LiveCore Presentation Mixers, offers major improvements in terms of show creation and management. Analog Way’s LiveCore series of AV Mixers offers versatile connectivity and state-ofthe-art processing through six models: Ascender 48, Ascender 32, Ascender 16, SmartMatriX Ultra, NeXtage 16, and NeXtage 08.

The new firmware offers major improvements including the new Cut & Fill feature. This functionality allows the content of a layer to be keyed using an input or a still picture (frame or logo).

Pairing two layers with the Web RCS one containing a grey level source (Cut), the other one a live source (Fill) – the unit can display perfectly keyed content to achieve non-rectangular, smooth-edged key layers. The Cut can be either a live

Thanks to the new version firmware upgrade, the LiveCoreTM systems now enable to import or capture 4K frames, and the Dual-Link DVI output plugs support the output formats 3840x1080 and 4096x1080 (up to 60 Hz). For devices with four outputs, these formats can be used to create 4K screens with Top-Bottom output configuration. In addition, the new version gives access to Heterogeneous Link support. Using the Web RCS, two Ascender units of any kind can be linked through the Link cable, offering wider output capabilities and better management of the fleet. www.analogway.com

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30

SOLUTIONS UPDATE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

ATEN: HDBaseT-Lite Video Extender Series complementing ATEN’s existing Class A line (up to 100m).

ATEN’s new HDBaseT-Lite Series consists of three models designed to suit a range of applications and budgets: • VE802: HDMI HDBaseT-Lite Extender with POH • VE801: HDMI HDBaseT-Lite Extender • VE601: DVI HDBaseT-Lite Extender ATEN’s new HDBaseT-Lite Series are HDBaseT Class B solutions with a transmission distance of up to 70 meters. The HDBaseT Lite series boasts a comprehensive set of features teamed with an affordable price, perfectly

Of the HDBaseT-Lite Series, the VE802 HDMI HDBaseT-Lite Extender with POH offers the most extensive set of features.

The POH (Power over HDBaseT) function allows power to be transmitted from transmitter to receiver via the Cat 5e/6a

cable, simplifying cable deployments and reducing installation costs as the receiver requires no additional power source. The VE802 also has a bi-directional RS-232 serial port and a bi-directional IR Channel port for control and configuration. For more basic A/V extension applications, the VE801 provides similar functionality to the VE802 but without the added features of POH, IR, and RS-232 support.

Alternatively, the VE601 is a perfect fit for applications which require a DVIcompliant extender. All models include interference-resistant technology and support resolutions up to 4K. www.aten.com

EPSON: Value-priced WUXGA Projectors Epson is redefining the market for business projectors with its first valuepriced WUXGA projectors that deliver superb high-resolution images beyond Full HD video and other graphicsintensive content.

Supporting a Widescreen Ultra Extended Array (WUXGA) resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels that goes beyond Full HD, the EB-U04 promises eye-popping images, distortion-free video, plus enhanced colour and white brightness of over 3,000 lumens.

Epson business projectors have been built with seamless connectivity and usability in mind. And with multiple connectivity options, including HDMI, VGA and LAN, businesses can connect up a plethora of content sources with ease. The EB-U04 even comes with two HDMI ports, one of which supports MHL (Mobile High Definition Link) that can be used to hook up a compatible smart device to mirror HD content on the big screen. Once connected, the device can be operated and charged using the projector’s remote control.

Setting up projectors is also a cinch, thanks to Epson’s iProjection app, which

EB-U04

lets users connect their smart devices to an Epson projector by scanning a QR code on the projected screen. The EB-U04 enables users to easily share and transmit images, text and files from smart devices using the iProjection app.

In addition, the projectors feature an in-built horizontal keystone adjuster, a physical slider that can be used to correct keystone distortions caused when the projector is placed at an angle to the projection surface. Furthermore, with automatic vertical keystone detection and adjustment, there is no longer a need for manual image adjustments that interrupt the smooth flow of presentations. This handy feature automatically detects the projector’s vertical keystone distortion and corrects it instantly.

The new projectors also feature a new home screen that displays source information, and puts frequently used functions at your fingertips. They are also capable of detecting input sources automatically, making it easy for executives to kick off their presentations right after a content source is connected.

The new projectors now come with projection lamps that last for 10,000 hours in eco-mode and filter maintance cycle increases to 10,000 hours. Epson has also made easy to replace the lamp without having to remove the projector from its ceiling mount. That is because the lamp cover is located on the upper side of the projector. http://global.epson.com

SOLUTIONS UPDATE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

31

EXTRON: SM 28T Two-Way Surface Mount Speaker The SM 28T SpeedMount Surface Mount Speaker, is a two-way speaker with superior sound quality and a patent pending, concealed wall mounting system. It features an 8" (20.3 cm) woofer with dual tuned ports that extends low frequency response down to 59 Hz, and a 1.1" (2.8 cm) silk dome tweeter that reaches up to 22 kHz without the brittle sound associated with metallic domes. This powerful speaker has an 8 ohm direct power rating of 90 watts continuous pink noise, and 180 watts continuous program capacity.

It includes a six-position power tap selector, accessible through the grille, for 70 volt and 100 volt modes up to 64 watts. The SM 28T delivers accurate voice and detailed music reproduction on and off-axis through a unique baffle placement and crossover design that ensures smooth and even power response.

To meet a variety of installation needs, the extremely flexible mounting system includes a 0° mounting plate and a 10° mounting adapter. The 0° mounting plate provides the electrical connections and allows the SM 28T to be oriented vertically or horizontally, flush with the wall. When the versatile 10° mounting adapter is added to the mounting plate, the SM 28T can be positioned with a 10° tilt downward, upward, left, or right.

The SM 28T saves time and installation costs for AV system contractors working with low-voltage contractors in a division-of-labor installation. During rough-in, a low-voltage contractor installs the mounting system on the wall and terminates the speaker cable to the mount's integrated wiring contacts. Later, the AV system contractor completes the installation by sliding the SM 28T onto the mount.

The SM 28T is sold in pairs and carries a 5 year parts and labour warranty. It is available in a black or white finish and includes a 0° mounting plate and a 10° mounting adapter. Also available is an optional yoke mount kit for the SM 28T. It allows for vertical or horizontal speaker mounting on a wall, or on a ceiling, and provides 180° of pivot in 10° detented steps.

To watch a product introduction video, visit: www.extron.com/sm28tnsvideo For more information on the SM 28T, visit: www.extron.com/sm28tnspr

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Email : sales@analogwayasia.com

www.analogway.com

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SOLUTIONS UPDATE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

IHSE: 576 Port Non-Blocking KVM Matrix Switch for larger non-blocking, hybrid (Cat X and fiber) KVM infrastructures with no performance limitations. The K480-576 is the first 576 port, non-blocking, KVM matrix in a single frame. It offers Mix & Match functionality to allow switching freely between UTP (Cat 5e/6) extenders and fiber optic extenders.

With a relatively compact frame size of 25 RU each of its 576 ports can serve as an input or output. It is a true, nonblocking matrix which overcomes the potential blocking effects of grid lines in a matrix of several smaller KVM switches and the adverse performance effects experienced when connecting multiple KVM-over-IP switches by a backbone link of limited bandwidth.

IHSE announced the release of the first 576 port non-blocking KVM matrix switch in one frame. The Draco tera enterprise K480-576 switch provides a high performance, modular and flexible KVM switching system for 24/7 distribution of high resolution Keyboard, Video, Mouse (KVM) signals.

Broadcast studios, as well as enterprisesized command and control rooms, are experiencing a growing demand

The Draco tera enterprise series provides high performance modular matrix systems for bidirectional signal distribution of high definition video, audio and data over Cat X, multi-mode and single-mode fiber. High definition video signals including DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, VGA, HD-SDI and 3G-SDI are supported as well as analog and digital audio formats and USB 2.0/3.0 data signals. Using XV fiber cards, the Draco tera enterprise KVM matrix switch offers tremendous scalability with cost-effective features supporting Ultra

High Definition up to 4K at 4096 x 2160 resolutions.

IHSE offers the most comprehensive range of redundant KVM systems. The K480-576 supports the exceptional fully-redundant system architecture including fully-redundant power and hot swappable modules for full service and field upgrades without interrupting signal flow. The entire redundancy concept features redundant interconnections from the CPU (source end) to the matrix switch to the redundant CON Unit (workstation end). In the case of an interconnection failure the redundant link ensures continuous and uninterrupted communication between the CON Unit and CPU Unit: transmission faults are automatically detected and indicated.

Data flow is instantly switched to the secondary transmission link.

With the advanced control interface for Draco tera enterprise matrices, operators have the option to manage switching through an OSD (on-screen display), the JAVA-based Draco tera tool or an RS232 serial interface. The frame can also be controlled via any third party external control system with the available API protocol design package. www.ihse.com

HALL RESEARCH: UH-1D Uncompressed HDMI / DVI Video Extender Hall Research has announced the availability of the Model UH-1D for extending uncompressed HDMI or DVI video economically using a single twisted pair (UTP) cable. The easy to install kit is comprised of a compact and sturdy Sender and a corresponding Receiver. The extender supports PC resolutions from VGA to UXGA and HDTV resolutions from 480p to 1080p.

UXGA and 1080p signals can be extended to over 130 ft (40m).

The feature rich UH-1D provides a loop HDMI output on the Sender for connection to a local display as well as a single RJ45 output for connection to the remote Receiver. EDID management is provided with the ability to learn and emulate EDID from any display using a "Learn" button on the Sender. The Receiver provides separate digital audio (SPDIF) and analog stereo (L/R) outputs in addition to the HDMI signal to the display. The UH-1D allows connection of

an IR detector and an IR emitter cable to each end. This provides the ability to extend IR signals in either direction.

The extenders include provisions for easy surface mounting and also feature locking HDMI connectors to secure compatible HDMI locking cables. www.HallRsearch.com

SOLUTIONS UPDATE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

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AV STUMPFL: Wings Engine Raw Wings Engine Raw is capable of processing and delivering video content at the full 4:4:4 colour sampling ensuring picture perfect quality and colour accuracy for the most demanding of installation environments.

Using a single custom engineered RAID 10 system, Wings Engine Raw is capable of delivering constant data stream of 3-channels of true 4K (4,096 x 2,304 pixels) uncompressed video content at 60fps plus up to 16 text and picture layers, and up to 24 uncompressed audio streams. The server removes the need to convert content into any intermediate codec format. Content can include native picture sequences such as TGA or TIFF and even instant PNG image format processing.

This data system not only features a massive data throughput but also features redundancy. For example, should one of the SSDs fail, the data rate and the system’s functionality in general will not be impaired.

Wings Engine Raw hosts the new WingsRX™ render core engine which has been developed and optimized especially for premium picture quality applications. Its 64bit program architecture and clever usage of SSE CPU instructions ensures unequaled decentralized processing power. The software has been designed for a wide range of applications such as themed

attractions, digital signage, trade shows, live events and full dome systems.

Wings Engine Raw is complemented

by AV Stumpfl’s proven embedded operating system, Backup-Manager, features a dedicated EDID management as well the award-winning automatic camera based calibration system for soft-edge blending, warp and geometry mapping, all operable by time line control.

Wings Engine Raw is based on professional server technology derived from IT data center equipment. Inside the rack mount system is a Xeon CPU, redundant high performance power supply, 2x10 GBit LAN, server chipset, up to 8 3G-SDI live inputs and Displayport 1.2 and DVI-D output connectors. avstumpfl.com

SOLUTIONS UPDATE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

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BOSCH: Presents PAVIRO Best In Class PAVE System system solution for small-to mediumsized installations, including office buildings, regional airports, hotels, factories, schools, department stores and more. As a sound reinforcement solution, it offers best-in-class audio quality; as an evacuation system, it offers exceptional reliability; and as a public address system it offers a level of clarity and intelligibility in line with the highest standards.

Bosch Security Systems' PAVIRO public address and voice evacuation system offers outstanding audio quality. Easily and quickly specified and configured with optimized system costs, and extremely efficient in its power consumption, PAVIRO is claimed to set a new standard in the field of combined public address and voice evacuation systems. A highly flexible, modular system architecture makes PAVIRO an attractive, complete

PAVIRO offers extreme flexibility usually found in significantly more expensive systems thanks to system-wide fourchannel matrix architecture. Up to four audio signals can be distributed to different loudspeaker zones such as announcements or playback music can simultaneously be distributed to different loudspeaker zones. At the same time, individual announcements in any zone do not interrupt music in the other zones.

The combination of source routing and amplifier input switching reduces the total number of required amplifiers, thus lowering the total system cost as well as associated operating costs.

“Basic” and “Expert” configuration modes ensure ease of use and allow a convenient and fast building of the complete system architecture. The basic mode wizard provides a stepby-step configuration guide, which makes it possible to program a basic system within 30 minutes. The Expert mode provides almost unlimited system design flexibility – perfect for optimizing configurations in more complex and challenging applications. www.boschsecurity.asia

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SOLUTION HIGHLIGHT Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

The EPSON EB-1430Wi In A Corporate Environment

T

he term â&#x20AC;&#x153;Collaborationâ&#x20AC;? has become the buzz word over the last couple of years. This is understandable as technologies have changed the way meetings and presentations are conducted from one dimensional to a more synergistic approach. Collaboration has been touted as a competitive edge as it allows for more inputs from participants that can be instantly showcased and even enables remote participation which in turn promotes better productivity.

The projector comes with wall-mounting bracket, interactive pens, finger touch unit and control pad to ensure a seamless experience. The projector itself has a number of interfaces that correspond with conventional analogue sources and it is compatible with two types of HDMI sources as well for digital connections.

So how does the Epson EB-1430Wi interactive projector fit into this collaboration scenario in a corporate environment?

Connectivity and Interactivity

Before we get into that let us delve a little into the projector's details. In brief the Epson EB-1430Wi is an ultra-short throw interactive projector that is able to turn any flat surface; be it a wall or a table, into an interactive space.

It is able to do this within a limited space because of its ultra-short throw characteristic. In addition users can be assured of sharp, vibrant images and bright colour and white output of 3,300 lumens. At that level of lumens the projected images can be viewed from anywhere in the room, without the need to dim the lights. This itself is a great advantage as it enables participants to write notes and communicate with each other comfortably under normal lighting conditions.

Now let us look at how the Epson EB1430Wi can help in a typical corporate environment.

modifying charts and highlighting key information.

Connecting a PC via a USB cable makes it possible to control the PC via the interactive pen which will act as the computer mouse, thus making it convenient to control the PC from the presentation space. As most corporate environment still use Microsoft Office software, the projector offers users the advantage of bringing up the documents onto the projected area, handwrite comments and draw diagrams directly on the document then saving it in the original file format. This is applicable for Windows Vista or later software.

PC Free Whiteboard Functions

Using the interfaces on the projector, users can connect video players, document camera, computer and even a USB to bring the images onto the projected area. That in itself is nothing special. However what is interesting is that the user can annotate on the projected images regardless of what content is projected, with his or her finger or the included interactive pen. This can be used for document revision, adding handwritten signatures,

The whiteboard is synonymous with meetings. Of course, it has now grown from a traditional whiteboard to an interactivity tool that helps make meetings and presentations more productive.

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHT Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Using the included EasyMP® Network Projection version 2.81 application allows users to project a presentation via a maximum of 4 network connected projectors and enables individual mouse control from each location. This presents the ultimate interactive collaboration via the network from remote locations.

The Epson EB-1430Wi projector has a whiteboard function that can be activated through the provided Control Pad. With the Whiteboard function, users can start a meeting “instantly” without the need for a PC. Users can simply walk into the meeting room and switch to Whiteboard mode and start writing notes or annotating images. It's as simple as that!

The Whiteboard allows users to resize and move whatever is on the screen.

So if the user needs space to write, it can be created by shrinking down the contents occupying the space. This can be done by using fingers and not just with the provided interactive pen – just as easy as you would with a touchscreen smartphone or tablet. Opening and closing files, scrolling, moving and expanding objects, and annotation are just some of the possibilities available at the touch of a finger.

What If You Need To Bring Content From A Different Source?

In the olden days this would be a hassle but now especially with the Epson EB-1430Wi projector it is easy to view contents from different sources. A variety of content including data from USB memory, pictures off a smartphone or tablet and even web site data can be easily displayed on the whiteboard. This multifunction machine also has a scan feature so you can incorporate paper based resources into your discussions.

How Much Space Does The User Have?

No matter how well you plan it, it is possible for meetings to run long but with the EB-1430Wi there is no need to worry about running out of space when writing notes or importing information as users can generate up to 50 pages without any hassle. Being interactive, users can of course use their fingers or the interactive pen to open and close files, scroll, move and expand projects and annotate with ease.

Sharing Made As Easy As ABC

One key consideration is how does one share all the notes, comments and annotations after the meeting. This is a

37

critical aspect of ensuring that all that discussion does have follow-up action.

And that is only possible if all those in attendance and even those who need to be in the know are given those meeting notes. This is made easy with the projector. Whiteboard mode allows users to output the meeting results onsite in the user's preferred format. Time to perform tasks such as saving meeting data to PDF (on USB memory, Network), sending email, printing, and making meeting minutes has been shortened considerably. Users can also reuse and edit data again from a previous whiteboard session that was saved to a USB memory or server. How is that for productivity!

The split screen function allows images from 2 inputs to be projected at the same time. So if the user is also in video conference mode, one image can showcase the participants like in a typical video conference and the other screen can be used to project the content that is being discussed.

Other than four different locations, with the Whiteboard Share function, up to 15 participants can join the meeting using their own device and play an active role in proceedings. After the meeting participants can download the whiteboard contents directly to their device.

Meeting The Needs Of A Corporate Environment

Getting Remote Participants Involved

It is not just about video conferencing any more when it comes to discussions with fellow company personnel from different local or overseas offices.

Realtime collaboration including sharing of notes, images, videos and realtime annotation and comments is what makes interactive collaboration a true productive tool.

Users can connect the projector on their LAN via a wired or wireless connection.

Enabling productivity, ease-ofuse, working with different inputs, interactivity, getting remote personnel involved and sharing of all the documents in an effective manner is what sets the Epson EB-1430Wi apart from its competition. This well thought out projector with its many features and functions makes it a valuable resource in a corporate environment.

For more details about the Epson interactive projectors and request for a free product demonstration, visit http://www.epson.com.sg/ masterofinnovation

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SPECIAL FEATURE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

39

Control Room Transformation

The traditional control room set-up is undergoing a transformation with newer user requirements as well as newer technologies. Some things of course do not change – sight of line, ability to view input from different sources and so forth. SI Asia requested input from some of the leading control room solution manufacturers to find out what are the latest demands and influences within the control room segment. all of the information that the Internet provides. Why should our professional endeavours be any different? That is what is driving the adoption of new technologies like ours. They are to provide access to most accurate, up-todate information available and to share that information with others on any device at any location.”

Montreal Police Control Room (Photo courtesy of Christie Digital)

COLLABORATION

Brady O. Bruce, Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Alliances, Jupiter Systems highlights that the control room is now part of a network of information.

“Traditionally, the flow of information has been one way.

Information was gathered from remote cameras, sensors, and applications and was routed to the display wall in the control room where a team could monitor and collaborate in real time. But something was missing. What about the participation and expertise of managers, experts, consultants and operators who were not in the control room?”

“Today the single most important trend we are seeing is the requirement to provide access to all of the information that was once bound to the videowall in the control room, to make it available in a fully collaborative environment for remote colleagues on a variety of devices. Teams want to share live video and data, no matter where they are and no matter what devices they have with them—laptops, tablets, smartphones,

and videowalls. The control room must be everywhere. And they want to have the same level of collaboration as they would in the same room in order to get meaningful work done.”

According to Brady, the requirement is by both public and private enterprise to visualize more of their organizations’ information in real time in order to address complex operations. With farflung operations, complex supply chains, extraordinary distribution networks, and a 24/7 schedule to maintain, the global enterprise needs to see what it must manage and to understand what is happening at any place and time. This is no less true for a traffic management agency, a public utility, a police department, or a national defence force.

“The amount of visual information that most organizations rely on for effective management is astonishing. They need to access it, manage it, share it, and interact with it. We have all been conditioned to expect access and collaboration in our private lives. Think of what we do with our smartphones and tablets. We connect with real time traffic and weather updates, we communicate instantaneously with family and friends around the world, we tap easily into the

Getting all that information to display wall is just part of the answer. The priority now is for all of that visual information—video, data, application screens—to be available for sharing and collaboration for teams that may be separated by continents, with a full set of tools that allow them to work together as though they were all in the same room.

Hans Dekeyser, Vice President Strategic Marketing, Barco Industrial & Government division reiterates Brady's point that the biggest impact to the operations of the control room is indeed the growing collaboration capabilities. “We want that, but we also want simplicity to stay focused to the job at hand! And, collaboration over IP networks is fine, but network security and information assurance are key (regulatory) requirements for critical infrastructure.”

“A very good way to share visual content (to collaboratively make decisions) but not data (to not allow connection to databases) is to share “pixels”. This can be done by using encoders as oneway data diodes, along with access control measures, from the control room operational network to the outside world, be that rooms in other building or be that mobile devices.

40

SPECIAL FEATURE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Multi-site collaboration is more and more a requirement for control rooms as well – so the visual collaboration platforms need to feature federation models and provide gateway functionality, as well as interoperability with a host of systems and sensors (sources).”

“BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE” (BYOD) Brady also highlights the increasing demand for support of “bring your own device” (BYOD). “The customers we deal with want to access info and system on their devices, tablets, laptops, and smart phones.”

“And, remember, these mobile devices are not just an information resource, but they can create content as well.

For example, I am a company based in Houston with plants around the world.

My manufacturing facility in Singapore reports a problem with one of the manufacturing lines. I want to see the affected line, discuss it with my manager on the factory floor in Singapore, and with my consulting expert in Hamburg, Germany. I ask the Singapore plant manager to point his phone’s camera at the troublesome section. Now we can all see what he sees. From the videowall in Houston, I am able to draw a circle over the mechanism that seems broken so that everyone is looking at the same thing. The consultant in Germany, working on his laptop, can bring up a white board for us all to see his recommended repair. We’re working together, looking at a live video and working jointly to solve a problem.”

Brady adds, “Mobility and real time collaboration are key.”

Timothy Tay, Senior Business Development Manager (ASEAN) of VTRON concurs that the game changer in the control room (CR) environment nowadays is the seamless collaboration among control rooms and other rooms or sites. With devices getting smaller and mobility a given, users want to display any sources

at any time and any where onto larger video walls. As video walls still play an important role in pushing up the sources to be displayed, the ease of use and how to push up the data is the key factor.

control room environment but highlights that it is important that “rear projection cubes must fulfill the need for high brightness and good contrast ratio to display crystal clear image.”

Hans agrees about the ease of use, “All this is to be done with simplicity in mind. The less an operator can click, the better. The interface in the war room, incident room or decision making room in general needs to be very user intuitive to stay focused during the team work to manage an escalation.”

Karl Johnson, Senior Product Manager, Christie comments on the growing influence of LED displays, “LED displays are becoming more attractive to customers as the pixel density improves and cost of ownership decreases. LEDs offer a very small footprint, high brightness and low operating costs. 4K displays are also getting attention, but video and computer sources that support original 4K resolution need to become more widely available before this becomes more popular.”

DISPLAYS

With regards to displays in the control room, Michelle Cheng, Marketing Manager - Overseas Operations, VTRON highlights that often there is limited space in control rooms, not surprising in some countries where real estate is a premium and thus end users are looking for slimmer display solutions.

Hans adds, “There are more display technology options than before that are perceived as applicable for control rooms: next to rear-projection, also LCD and direct-view LED. Rear-projection clearly remains the technology of choice for the prime large scale control rooms, thanks to its design choices geared for control rooms (including but not limited to long lifetime proven support). Thanks to LCD, the large video wall, and more importantly, the sharing of the common operational picture, to other groups of people in the enterprise, at other less critical places in the enterprise, has become more prevalent. LED is starting to be looked at by a few customers for control rooms, depending on the willingness to pioneer with higher cost-points and a technology with a history mainly in short-term advertising contracting vs. a conservative reliable long-term control room support demand.”

Michelle agrees that Rear-projection is still the most commonly used display in a

RESOLUTIONS

According to Timothy, “Ultra High resolution input (4K) will be more popular as compared with the 1080p which is the standard resolution at this moment. 4K input will have faster growth once the display contents and hardware are fully supported, especially for broadcasters and control room users who wish to see 4K GIS.” Dr Janos Czupy, M.Sc.E.Eng., MBA, Business Development Manager, DEXON Systems Ltd, agrees, “We see definite tendency to increase input resolutions of the signals handled and displayed. Tendency for 4K can be clearly seen. The output resolution do not increase partly for the lack of industrial 24/7 monitors and partly because operators sit in a distance from the large video walls.”

OTHER ASPECTS

Dr Czupy also points out that there is a strong need in the control room environment for traceability and

SPECIAL FEATURE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

recording needs. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The stakeholders in our projects want to be able to record and check activities.â&#x20AC;? Thus ensuring reliable solutions in this aspect is also an important element.

managing users from existing Active Directory/LDAP servers and distance collaboration tools, thereby extending information to other control rooms or locations.â&#x20AC;?

Karl also highlights that there are other aspects that are beginning to influence the control room, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Control rooms continue to see increases in the quantity and variety of source formats that must be integrated into systems.

Requirements always exist for traditional DVI and HDMI signals from PCs and video products, but we see growth in the use of IP cameras and the need to present data and graphics produced from network servers and workstations.

System designers are always looking to integrate USB keyboard and mouse signals with sources, but as the number of USB signals grow, few elegant solutions exist that are practical to use. We also see customers looking to leverage their existing network by

Hans completes this article the best: â&#x20AC;&#x153;In short, the needs are to be more user centric in and outside the walls of the control room!â&#x20AC;?

Georgia Systems Operation Centre (Photo courtesy of Barco)

41

Cyviz

Seeking to make ambitious ways into the rapidly growing Asian market geography by promising to bring much more than just userfriendly control room environment is Cyviz- the Norwegian provider of high performance visualization, collaboration and command and control environments. According to the company, their groundbreaking technology represents a paradigm shift in the way organizations deploy, use and support large numbers of feature-rich collaboration environments. Having established its presence through regional offices in Dubai, Houston, Washington DC and Beijing, the Stavangerheadquartered transnational is set to expand its APAC presence by opening its latest Cyviz Technology Centre in Singapore. SIA would present more details on this in the subsequent edition(s).

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SPECIAL FEATURE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Control Room Solutions Round-Up BARCO

control rooms across a LAN, campus, or enterprise network making distance collaboration applications practical to implement and manage.

Display Walls

Christie Phoenix is one product in a range of image processing and display products that are available from Christie for use in control room applications.

Christie's technical and sales teams offer expert advice in selecting LCD flat panels, DLP projection cubes, direct view LED displays or projection systems paired with image processing to provide a complete control room solution. This comprehensive selection of products is supported by Christie highly qualified integration partners and Christie field engineers that are available to ensure every project includes successful installation and ongoing access to local service and support.

Barco focuses on high reliability longterm support visual collaboration systems in control rooms, including:

For any of the applicable technologies Barco differentiates by control room centric value-add vs. generic product for general markets Rear-projection video wall:

OL-721

• OL for HD requirements and narrowdepth requirements and NoGap screen option!

Transform N output node

• Transform N: input node (encoding) and output node (decoding/rendering) based distributed visual collaboration portfolio including the full-featured CMS Control Room Management Software, including: MGS - Media Gateway Services and WSG-100 – Web Streaming Gateway • CMS: operational collaboration platform including operatorsupervisor perspective (=common operational picture) sharing, video wall management, multi-source and multi-display management in general, including typical control room audio and secure mobile streaming needs.

• MVL for classic 4:3 requirements

www.christiedigital.com

DEXON

www.barco.com LCD video wall: • OVD lines with standard included Sense X automated color and brightness management (Unique!)

CHRISTIE

• KVD line with optional Sense X Both KVD and OVD have optional redundant remote power supplies for central power hosting LED: • X-Series small pitch LED with brightness control to maintain contrast (unique!) and redundant processing system called Infinipix.

Operational Collaboration Systems: • Transform ECU: classic controllers with baseband inputs but also streaming input options • Transform NSD: packaged controller for a mix of baseband and streaming inputs, with full-featured CMS Control Room Management Software

Christie Phoenix offers features and capabilities that fulfill nearly all control room applications. The Phoenix control room processor accepts signals from a wide range of sources including DVI and HDMI, audio, USB keyboard and mouse, as well as VNC and RDC sources from PCs, workstations and servers. This past year Christie included the ability to manage user access by integrating with network Active Directory services using secure LDAPS protocol. The Phoenix processor operates from a network platform and natively accepts and distributes source content as H.264 video. It is easy to pull in video streaming from IP cameras and other RTSP sources, as Phoenix can extend over a network, allowing content to be shared between

DXN5232 video wall controller

DEXON Systems have the new DXN5000 video wall controller family in the development and production pipeline.

The architecture of the device uses CPI Express bus for the system control and graphics visualization. Additionally DEXON Systems offer a second digital crossbar for the visualization of the input sources in real time. This crossbar eliminates the load from the PCI Express bus of visualization while it makes possible real time handling of high resolution inputs. www.dexonsystems.com

SPECIAL FEATURE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

New features of the updated Canvas 3.0 software include:

JUPITER SYSTEMS

Jupiter Systems Canvas enables one to see and engage every corner of the enterprise, from anywhere, on any device. It provides the ability to share a common operating picture that is so essential to effective management.

Canvas enables video, data, applications, and more to be shared with colleagues anywhere, on any device, delivering endto-end collaboration. Live H.264 video streams, VNC viewer windows, active web browser windows, and desktop presentation screens.

Users can share streams and collaborate from anywhere in the network: at the main display wall, on PCs, and on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.

Canvas brings a rich set of familiar tools for collaboration and allows them to be used in ways that no other system can. And, unique in the industry, Canvas allows users to annotate directly on live video streams. Create shared whiteboards for brainstorming.

With Canvas, smartphones and tablets can also be sources. Point the mobile device camera at anything and share live video with remote colleagues. View the scene in front of you as well as an overlay of information from experts at other sites.

No matter what needs attention or who sees it first, any situation captured in a stream can be shared quickly and easily with team members, regardless of their location.

Jupiter’s Canvas 3.0, released at InfoComm delivers new, advanced communications and presentation features, as well as integrations with major unified communication and collaboration platforms, to make this edition of Canvas the most powerful solution of its kind.

Shared voice chat - All Canvas participants are automatically enrolled in a shared voice chat room to facilitate collaboration and teamwork.

Microsoft Lync integration – Integration with the leading UCC platform means that users can escalate to Canvas from the Lync client or start a Lync conversation from Canvas.

Connect with remote non-Canvas users – Remote colleagues who do not have Canvas at their location can participate in collaborative sessions with Canvas users. With this new version, Canvas users can dial out to users of SIP-based conferencing systems, and allows users of SIP-based conferencing systems to dial into a canvas.

Supports Canvas CRS-4K – Jupiter’s new conference room system for Canvas, the Canvas CRS-4K, turns any conference room or huddle room into a Canvas workspace for teams. The new SimpleShare feature employs WebRTC technology to allow anyone with a laptop, even one without Canvas installed, to easily and instantly present content to local and remote Canvas users without downloading software, connecting cables, or attaching a dongle.

Instant connection and access Canvas transforms your computer, tablet or smartphone into a portable video wall to provide instant connection and access to essential visual information from anywhere.

Share camera feeds, web pages, application screens and real time data for rapid, well-informed decision making.

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Collaboration, evolved Canvas enables managers to annotate directly on live video shared with remote colleagues across a broad array of devices. www.jupiter.com

MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC

Display Cubes Mitsubishi Electric offers a variety of rear and front access projection display video wall cubes perfect for continuous operation, 24/7 large scale visualization and collaboration work.

Ideal for installations in control rooms and network operations center, Mitsubishi display cubes range from 50” to 80” in screen sizes boasting resolutions ranging from XGA to WUXGA in standard 4:3 or wide-screen formats. With over 1,500 installed sites worldwide, Mitsubishi is proud of the reliability and durability their customers have come to depend upon on the over 45,000 screens configured with various resolutions in these installations.

Engines Mitsubishi Electric’s line of rearprojection cube video walls are built to be modular where customers can choose their cube access methods (front or rear), screen types and sizes.

End-to-end collaboration Canvas elevates teamwork to a level previously unimagined by enabling remote users to be both sources and destinations for visual information.

Colleagues can annotate directly on live video streams as events unfold, empowering true end-to-end collaboration.

Of these components, the most important choice is the type of engine to power these data walls. With three powerful projection engine choices available to support various resolutions, screen sizes and formats, Mitsubishi can work with various control room application offering the exact solution needed in terms of brightness, display details and input-output configurations.

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SPECIAL FEATURE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Super Narrow Bezel LCD Monitors Whether it is for control rooms where space is a premium, or for visualization applications whose contents are more of moving video images or whose operations do not require continuous operations, Mitsubishi Electric offers 46” – 55” full HD commercial-use LCD video wall panels with super-narrow bezels featuring gaps as small as 5.3mm when tiled together in a matrix display wall.

Video Wall Controllers Mitsubishi Electric offers a line of video wall controllers that are high-performance, industrial-grade Windows®-based computers built with high-end, off-the-shelf computer components designed for 24/7 continuous operation.

Pre-installed with Mitsubishi Electric’s own D-Wall® software, the Mitsubishi video wall controller helps manage input and output to the display wall, determining the display layout, route images and contents from various sources to the desired areas of the display wall. Available configurations and models can control from as little as 4-screen display walls all the way to 56-screen visualization displays.

cabinet. It provides excellent heat dissipation, and hence improving LED lifetime. Apart from the state-of-theart design, VTRON’s VLED is designed for control room critical operations with redundancy of signal looping and centralised power supply.

Visionpro EF Series slim profile DLP cube

depth of existing 60” Visionpro® C Series video wall cube. It has incredible space-saving design for small control rooms, monitoring rooms and meeting rooms by allowing full access of installation and maintenance work from the front.

Another option of slim display solutions is LED video walls. One of the reasons users may consider LED video walls because of its slimness. From the beginning of 2014, VTRON has launched VLED series offering P1.48mm, P1.86mm, P1.92mm, P2.48mm narrow pixel pitch LED video walls. The series offers slim design with aluminium

4K Processing

VTRON’s processors including real-time Digicom® ARK3000 and Digicom® HC3000 can be equipped with 4K inputs and output boards. VTRON’s display including Visionpro® C Series can support 4K display. www.vtron.com

www.mitsubishielectric.com.sg

VTRON Collaboration

VTRON’s Visualisation Interactive System (VIS) could be the right tool for the users to share and collaborate on the sources without much difficulties. As VIS is designed based on cloud based computing with the sources and signals stored in the cloud, they can easily be distributed and shared in real time among different displays, users in one common platform.

Displays

VTRON's brand new n 60” full HD slim profile is a DLP cube with front access, coming under the Visionpro EF Series category. The slim cube only takes 2/3

VTRON has debuted new n 70” superbright LED-lit DLPTM video wall display cube (Visionpro C-1500 series). The cube is engineered with LED light source providing high brightness up to 1,500 ANSI lumens to delivery high brightness uniformity. Meanwhile, LED video walls may be too bright for long-time viewing for control room applications.

And VTRON’s VLED series is designed with adjustable brightness from 350 to 1,000cd/m2, high consistency in brightness and colour uniformity.

Visionpro C-1500 series super bright LED-lit DLP

SPECIAL FEATURE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

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Control Room - “Whole Room” Methodology for 21 Control Rooms for a major power utility in California. Nineteen of these rooms utilized 540 Mitsubishi 55” LCD Flat panels configured in various arrays depending on the number of operators in each of the 19 facilities.

First Energy Control Room featuring rear projection screens (Photo courtesy of RPV)

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ontrol room display technology trends are morphing at a challenging pace and one manufacturer understands this very well.

Today RPV is a leader in Architecturally Integrated Display Solutions spanning from front and rear projection screens, to rear projection cubes, to matrix mounts for flat panels, and most recently to UHD (Ultra High Resolution Displays) Direct View LED. In 2005 RPV had the pleasure of working with HB Communications on a multisite Network Operation Control (NOC) project for First Energy. True to the RPV business plan, this project was Rear Projection based and comprised of (56) 100” diagonal, 4:3 format rear projection screens. Each control pod had 6 screens arranged in a 2 high x 3 wide configuration equaling 10’ tall by 20’ wide images. This impressive 882,000 pixel display was 540 Nits with a 2mm separation between screens. The clients were happy as the optimum viewing distance was 16’ which paralleled the primary operator’s viewpoint. This “happiness” did not just occur by chance. It took strategic planning and a strong knowledge of human factors relative to display technology for that first row of operators to be able to effectively monitor critical assets from a distance.

To create this “happiness” Randy Pagnan, CTS, ISF-C, President of RPV, used a “whole room” methodology taking into consideration sight lines,

ergonomics, lighting, technology, and types of information being monitored to create a complete solution. Equally important elements of this methodology are field-of-view, resolution, brightness, contrast, and digital display element sizing relative to key positions within the Control Room. Who needs to view what information from where is also key when designing the visual system. The display system must compliment, not conflict with the operator’s primary function of remotely monitoring assets from a distance via the visual display system.

Their strength and knowledge of rear projection catapulted RPV into a leader in Control Room Design where their forte is in the customization of the product to ensure good ergonomics and viewing. Security and surveillance based operations continue to push the envelope in needing increased quantity of pixels. Shen Milsom and Wilke (SMW) specified Christie Microtiles (540 pixels x 720 pixels over a 12” x 16” area) for New York City’s counter terrorism control room. In conjunction with SMW, RPV evaluated front projection, matrix array LCD panels and cube technology before ultimately choosing this high pixel pitch technology. AVISPL combined with RPV to install the 1,190 Microtiles with the largest single wall being 8 high x 45 wide tilted down at a 15 degree angle. For your pixel counters – that is over 140 Million pixels on this array alone!

Most recently RPV worked with Bilfinger Mauell to provide the mounting solutions

Two of the facilities responsible for Generation Control (GCCs) chose a 1.5mm Magnolia Direct View LED product. This GCC to our knowledge, is the largest Direct View LED Control Room in the world; 10 ½’ tall by 102’ long and over 48 Million Pixels. UHD LED (sub 4mm) has the resolution to deliver the legibility required for most control room operators’ viewpoints.

As the resolution of this technology continues to increase, it will open up further control room markets for this technology. As the operators continue to get closer to the display walls, the demand for smaller pixel pitch and increased quantity of pixels continues.

Bilfinger Mauell evaluated a host of direct view LED solutions (1.5mm, 1.9mm and 2.5mm) and suppliers, and ultimately chose Silicon Core Technology (SCT).

“We see an increasing movement towards direct-view LED panels in Control Rooms. Regardless of what technology you chose, one of the main ingredients of an integrated Control Room design is that of service. At some point, your display will need maintenance and service. We engineer with that in mind. Our mounts offer front service, and adjustability for easy maintenance to deliver the tightest physical seam in compliance with the manufacturers stated aperture spacing. As the bezel between display technologies continues to become tighter, the requirement of a good mounting solution is essential in delivering a seamless overall image.

That precision today has evolved from the need to digitally align pixels to mechanically align. That’s where RPV delivers.” says Pagnan. www.rpvisuals.com

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SPECIAL FEATURE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

The Nuts And Bolts Of Hospitality AV A Review by Ian D. Harris, C.Eng, Bsc. Eng (Hons), MIET, CTS-D, ihD Principal Consultant, Managing Director

their own technical fields – Architecture, Interior Design, Lighting Design, Mechanical & Electrical Systems, Acoustics, Signage, Audio-Visual – but also expert and proven-experienced in designing Hotels for that Hotel Group.

The Owner/Investor must employ these, who will design, tender, oversee the Installation, and finally carry out Testing and Commissioning of their Designed Systems.

Ian Harris

Hospitality encompasses many things, since it means basically looking after people, but this article focusses on FiveStar Hotels since these encompass much that the Hospitality Industry has to offer.

The content is Internationally-applicable since the practices described are carried out in most countries, albeit with local flavours of some products, but even in the frozen corners of North-Eastern China, American AV equipment is to be found, and in the depths of New Jersey, English equipment.

The Challenges

Design of AV for an environment where the users (guests) change almost daily, where the next chance to upgrade will be in 7-10 years, where the systems must operate pretty much 24/7 and where the Operator is focussed on Hospitality and not on AV (ie the systems need to

101 Storeys of Hotel (Four Seasons Guangzhou in China)

be very very automated and intuitive) presents some challenges technically. But there are unseen challenges too, making it even more interesting and satisfying to run these projects.

Most Hotels are constructed and funded not by the Operators (Hyatt, ShangriLa, Hilton and so on), but by Property Investors, and various other Business Entities. The Operators operate the resulting Hotels under a profit-sharing arrangement with the Owner. But the Owner signs a Contract with the Operator at the outset, agreeing to a set of detailed Design Specifications which will create uniform Hotels of the particular brand around the world.

Most Hotel Groups mandate a Design Team comprising expert Designers in

Coordination is needed from a very early stage of Construction

The major challenge in this process is not the technical, nor even the huge and complex task of co-ordination between all of these designers for a smooth installation, but designing to budget.

The Owner necessarily is investing into a great and prestigious project, but needs ROI. Imagine the multiplication of costs or saving of costs where a US$100 price difference on just one piece of equipment is applied to 500 guest rooms. Then consider the furniture, beds, linen, pictures, telephones, TV, loudspeakers, air-conditioning, lighting, decoration, and so on. There is huge and continuous pressure to minimise costs while at the same time meeting the Hotel Group Standards. Even the construction of walls needs negotiation – as Acoustic Consultant, we will be offering wall designs meeting the STC (Sound-Transmission) requirements using gypsum, but also hollow-block and so on, until the best local priced materials are settled upon, and as AV Consultant, every additional 25mm of loudspeaker diameter will be argued and justified.

Difficult Spots to cover with Music...

SPECIAL FEATURE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

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Primary Audio-Visual Systems

The typical five-star hotel will have the following AV Systems firmly and permanently installed:

• Background Music System • Meeting Room System • Ballroom – Grown-up but more manual version of the Meeting Room!

• Digital Signage System • Guestroom Control System – very different to classical Meeting Room Control

BGM Zones all shown

The Volume Icons show the relative volume per Zone…

…once done, the areas deselect after the timeout period

Emergency Paging will mute all areas automatically

and amplifiers are located within those venues.

of UTP cable. The projects which do use at least a DSP, can benefit from using wireless tablets (see pictures above) for controlling the areas (or Zones – many restaurants are large, and even having the same music source, are divided into several Zones (loudspeaker circuits) allowing quieter and more energetic areas to be created.

BGM System

The BGM – Background Music – system is at the heart of almost all hotels. Once commissioned, it should run untouched for the next 10 years, literally not switched off or even looked at, until the Hotel upgrades/refurbishes. The Music itself IS updated typically monthly, by the contracted Music Provider, who selects music relevant to the Hotel ethos and Outlets (Chinese music for the Chinese Restaurant…), but who also screens the music for profane and political content, and handles the Music Industry royalties.

Typically, there will be around 16 channels of Music from the BGM system, around 6 of which are for local-selection within the Massage Treatment Rooms, and the rest for the Public areas of the Hotel, including corridors and washrooms, and often, the elevators, but almost never for the guest rooms nor guest floor corridors.

Each channel of music might be routed to just one loudspeaker (a massage room for example), or perhaps 20 circuits (e.g. Lobby, Lobby lounge, elevators, public corridors and washrooms) of loudspeakers. There are finally 100’s of loudspeakers and perhaps 30 to 40 amplifier channels, all of which can operate at high-voltage, allowing the amplifiers to be completely centralised if wished.

Areas of the Hotel with high SPLrequirements, such as Ballroom and Live Music venues, and those with wider frequency-response needs, such as the Massage treatment rooms and Spa need low-impedance or self-powered loudspeakers, and the audio processing

It’s obvious that AVB or Dante would be used for this distribution, and DSP as the routing and signal-processing means. But it’s not true. There are many hotels designed even now with no DSP (so no equalisation, easy routing, nor Ethernet-borne commands for volume and source etc), but with simple Zoning mixers, analogue volume controls/source selectors, and 70/100V-distribution.

Why? Because it costs a lot less and the result is the “same” and easy to use.

We can’t always use the technicallybest or “modern” methods, since we have a duty to look after the Investors money. Even local input from say, simple lounge band, or an MP3 player, can be handled using a pair of Baluns and a run

Figure 1: Xian bar from an Audio Consultants perspective (it serves drinks too!)

The BGM for more critical areas such as bars and also complex Ballrooms needs audio-modelling; we use EASE which is a popular 3D-modelling software.

Below (Figure 1) we see the simulation for Swire’s EAST hotel in Beijing, Xian bar, a particularly complex multi-space Bar with Live band, needing different delay, equalisation, and staff-controlled volume-control per room.

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SPECIAL FEATURE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

3 example uses of a Meeting Room; no furniture for cocktail functions would be another

Meeting Room Systems

Meeting Rooms, also called Function Rooms, are exceptionally flexible spaces in a Hotel. A classroom in the morning, dining venue at lunchtime, boardroom in the afternoon, cocktail function in the evening really wouldn’t be unusual.

Inexperienced users, spilled wine, permanent marker pen used on the projection screen, need to connect VGA laptops, wireless Miracast & Airplay, suddenly a composite video Source, the Rooms must cope with all of these.

Technically, the rooms vary from a BGM zone with a few ceiling loudspeakers plus portable projection screen & projector, to fully-integrated systems with nicelyprogrammed window blinds, room lighting, motorised projector & screen controlled by the room touchpanel and personal WiFi-connected devices.

HD-BaseT has been the technology of choice until recently, but is seeing TCP/ IP streaming becoming more popular, and we expect as the interfaces become smaller and can mount in-wall, that the technology will fit very well, enabling room-sharing of AV naturally via the AVLAN. Simple or advanced, Hotel meeting rooms rely on something very non-AV – the AV Technician or the Banqueting Team, depending upon which Hotel Group it is. This is the glue which in truth holds things together. In the end, hospitality is what the hotels are focussed on, and are good at, and here the luckless guest waving his Macbook and the Room VGA connector in the air in desperation, or the iPhone user who just can’t seem to connect to the “Spinworkz_MR1” WiFi VLAN 5 minutes before the presentation starts, gets enabled.

Contractor presenting their finished installation for handover…Plenty of chance to think-through what’s wrong with the projector alignment!

Decorative Ceiling Closer panel under each of the 5 Projectors in this ballroom-retrofit VGA Source-selection touchscreen in a major city in China with 2 inputs and just a projector, but depicts the Matrix used, with 8x Inputs and 4x Outputs!! Lucky the user who ever achieves displaying their PC!

Programming of Integrated control systems is critically-dependant on an easy-to-use and VERY intuitive logic and screen layout. This is because many users will walk in and use the system for the first time, and maybe not again for many months or the next year when their company books the room again.

Ballroom

The Ballroom is the battleground, 60metres x 40metres x10metres high not untypical, with a couple of operable walls to divide it into 3 sections as needed.

Battleground because especially in Asia, the Ballroom is profoundly beautiful with no drop-tile ceilings ever, and

even though we as engineers know that the loudspeakers are beautiful too, the architect doesn’t. Everything is super-sized..350”projection & larger LED screens, motorised 20,000 lumen projectors which must lower 9 metres for maintenance, 100+dB 40Hz-20KHz audio performance, ability to suspend a car from the ceiling now and again…on and on, and all to be ideally not seen (except the displayed images).

Even the hanging systems come under the remit of the AV Consultant to design – half of all Ballroom events are run by outside AV/Lighting/Rigging Contractors who will re-colour the Ballroom using drapes all round, fly trusses, and only require the hanging-supports and 3-Phase power.

SPECIAL FEATURE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Disaster in Design coordination, where chandeliers block the view of the screen

T&C work here in Grand Hyatt Dalian ends up being at the same time as the other trades finishing works

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With inevitable results

as the capability for these systems, as they must not only provide for speech, but stand-in for the missing FOH loudspeakers for Hotel-run Events where powerful sound is required.

Bare finishes – no backdrop Makati Shangri-La

AV Connectivity is via typically “Tieline Panels” at the skirtings and floorboxes, classically with many XLR’s for Microphone-level signals, BNC’s for video, RJ45’s for Analogue and Digital signal-extension, and DMX-512 for stage lighting control. Ethernet-connectivity is reducing the number of connectors and cables, as well as use of proprietary switching boxes at the AV Control Room.

Digital Signage System

Watch Launch event with same Ballroom, but in White

Charity Gala, again same Ballroom, but in black

80% of Ballrooms will not have the budget for permanent Front-of-House Loudspeakers, nor for wall-mounted beam-steered arrays, and so ceiling loudspeakers systems are the mainstay, with powerful and effective capability, once properly-equalised to the room. We target 105dB continuous SPL at ear-level

The Signage system has simplified considerably in recent years with the evolution of multimedia units small enough to fit behind the flat panel display, and sit on the Digital Signage VLAN. Addressable singly, or in groups, these systems nicely replace the older concept of racks full of PC’s using twisted-pair VGA extenders, and before that, printed paper pinned to the wall.

Waldorf Astoria Beijing and St. Regis Hotel Digital Signage

Guest Room Control System

Located outside the Meeting Rooms, Ballroom Sections, and in Lobbies to these areas as well as to the Hotel itself, various monitors are selected from 8”to 55” typically, according to the Interior designer’s needs, as well as the practical application.

Whilst the Ballroom is the Mega-area needing designing with all its difficult coordination, the Guestroom is actually extremely challenging too. Any mistake is replicated 100, 500, even 1,000 times according to how many rooms. For this reason, an early part of all of our work for each Hotel is the MUR – Mock-Up Room, a full-sized actual room, often in the construction site, built years ahead of the final rooms.

The difficult part is the coordination of these displays to be actually flushed to the wall, have no cables nor brackets showing at all, and no brand name sideways-on nor user-controls for passers-by to play with.

The TV is a Hospitality TV and never a domestic one, because this class of TV has wired remote control for positive on/off commands, as well as volumelimiting, bathroom loudspeaker amplifier, digital up/down volume control and

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SPECIAL FEATURE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

from the AV Consultant through her/his own design details, through to writing the Tender and on to the Testing & Commissioning period.

Conclusion

W-Hotel in China. Entrance to the Mock-Up Room, from the Construction Site; hard boots removed outside

Just metres from the cranes and diggers, operational TV, bottles of wine, and behind, the made-up bed

much else. Signal delivery varies from classical SMATV Analogue Coax, to Digital Coax, to IPTV. In China, for complex reasons, many Hotels have to be built with both IPTV and Coax.

An AV Connection Panel used to be provided in each room of most hotel Brands, but today very few are having this designed. Instead we are enabling the Guests to connect their handheld and many laptop devices to the TV wirelessly, via Miracast which is built-in to the TV’s, and Airplay for Apple systems.

Airplay is easily provided via an Apple TV box along with VLAN per guestroom, or via the IPTV for some IPTV System Providers.

A Set-Top box in-between the Signal feed and the TV has been necessary for many years, since messaging is addressed to the guest personally from the Hotel Property Management System (PMS), but newer models of Hospitality TV now come with inbuilt browsers capable of decoding the TV signal internally, providing the IPTV system supports the Protocol.

These days, the Guestroom Control Systems are being designed more by the Audio-Visual Consultant, where they used to be handled by the MEP – Mechanical & Electrical – Consultant, a natural change as this is the natural domain of the Audio-Visual discipline.

Keeping it Working

We are already putting 4K TV into some Hotel Group Guest rooms, and equipping Ballrooms with 4K Ethernet connectivity, and are working with the Hotel Groups to agree the way forward, as well as with the Owners and Developers to accept the changes to what was often contracted not months but years ago.

In short, the Hospitality Industry is a demanding but exciting one, much faster-moving than the actual outward construction process suggests, and needs our vigilance and adaptability as engineers!!

iPad Mini for wireless room control Equipment labelling

Window blackout, TV channels, Movies and more

We have briefly reviewed herein the Nuts and Bolts of Audio-Visual in the Hotel Industry, since the hotel encompasses a wide range of hospitality functions.

The process never stands still, evolving with every new project due to the combination of technology advances, the constant desire of the Hotel Groups to improve their service, and the need to offer better than our daily home experience. This needs also flexibility as typical hotel projects last 3-5 years, with the design completed 1-2 years before completion; imagine the present impact on issued and tendered design, of Bluetooth-enabled doorlocks suddenly having appeared, or of the Apple Lightning connector earlier suddenly replacing the 30-pin dock connector.

Another important process is the System documentation which includes full copies of the software, GUI files, Firmware Revision data, URL’s of the manufacturers Support pages, as well as the as-built documentation and Operation & Maintenance manuals, and labelling of the rack equipment and all rack- and site-cables, also reflected in the System Schematics.

This does not happen naturally, nor easily, and needs constant pressure

ihD Ltd is a Hong Kong-registered Private Limited Company, specialising in Technology Consultancy (ELV, Audio-Visual, Acoustic, IT and Security) Design and Consultancy, and related periodic project monitoring during construction phases. Our offices in China, India, Malaysia, and the Philippines focus on these and nearby countries, whilst the Hong Kong head office directs the group, develops policies and standards, and executes projects Asia-wide. www.ihd-hk.com

SPECIAL FEATURE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

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HOSPITALITY CASE STUDY IN FOCUS

IPTV Delights Guests At Best Western Olive Hotel The Exterity IPTV System Provides Comprehensive Video Experience to Best Western Olive Hotel Guests in Bahrain

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ocated in the thriving Juffair Bay area, the Best Western Olive Hotel is a mere 10km from Bahrain International Airport. It offers 151 rooms, including 18 suites, alongside world class fine dining and spa facilities in the 4 Star Best Western Plus hotel. As its clientele combines business and leisure travellers, its video catalogue needs to offer international entertainment and news catering to a wide range of interests.

The Challenge

In order to establish itself as one of Bahrain’s most popular resorts, the Best Western Olive Hotel needed to provide a video infrastructure that offered a premium experience to its guests. To ensure that its video services to guests and staff was of the highest quality, the hotel deployed an Exterity professional IPTV system which sits on top of the corporate IP network alongside CCTV and Public Address (PA) services.

As guests expect the highest level for all hotel services, the Best Western Olive Hotel had to ensure that its IPTV system was of the highest quality. The Best Western Olive Hotel is also home to both local and international visitors, meaning that the IPTV User Interface (UI) needs to support both English and Arabic.

The Solution

In order to enable its guests to access content in the language of their choice, the hotel worked with leading systems integrator Paragon Systems & Projects Bahrain, who specified and

deployed an upgraded Exterity IPTV system comprising 250 AvediaPlayer receivers and the latest version of the Artio middleware. The latest version of AvediaServer has been upgraded with Artio to provide all the latest hospitality services, such as concierge services and the integration of 24-hour access to premium Pay-TV channels, as well as support for Arabic.

Artio middleware has been tailored for the hospitality market in order to provide a single platform for all IP-based communications and video consumption.

Based on the latest best practices for user interfaces, Artio now displays a new overlay menu on top of content, so guests do not have to navigate away from their entertainment to interact with some of the other new features.

On-screen services include mailbox messaging, room service, food and beverage ordering, taxi booking, laundry services and baggage pick up. These features improve the hospitality vendors’ ability to communicate with guests, generate revenue from Pay-TV and in-room sales of hotel services. It also helps IPTV system administrators have a clear view of all network activity, as well as increase the responsiveness of the services provisioned through the system.

The Result

The Best Western Olive Hotel can now deliver services that are integrated with a high-performance channel list and an extremely responsive Electronic Program Guide, ensuring that usability is seamless for guests. The Exterity IPTV system

enables the Best Western Olive Hotel to offer blockbusters as well as regional content, live news and international TV channels. The new update also supports Arabic, a critical feature for hotels in the region.

“The installation at the Best Western Olive Hotel has close to zero downtime, demonstrating the robustness of the Exterity IPTV system,” said Colin Farquhar, CEO, Exterity. “Being able to rely on an efficient and flexible IPTV system is crucial in ensuring customer loyalty, a key feature for prime hotels in a competitive market such as the Middle East. The Artio middleware update for AvediaServer ensured that the hotel continues to offer premium video services that entertain guests and ensures that they return.”

“We pride ourselves in our ability to offer a world class hotel to visitors from across the globe and deploying an Exterity IPTV system was part of our strategy to offer the latest entertainment to our guests.

This upgraded deployment allows our customers to unwind, relax and immerse themselves in the resort, so they can enjoy the experience to the fullest,” said Dr. Varghese Kurian, the Group MD of Al Namal Group of Companies, who owns Best Western Olive Hotel in Bahrain, and Mr. P.R. Venugopal, Project Manager of Paragon Systems and projects in Bahrain, the hospitality specialists in the Kingdom. www.exterity.com

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EXHIBITION REVIEW Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Integrate 2015 Concludes On High Note Held over three days from 25-27 August, Integrate was attended by more than 5,000 key industry professionals. SI Asia's Shireen Ho reports.

Integrate 2015 was the most successful show in the event's seven-year history, reinforced by two thirds of this year’s exhibitors already committed to returning in 2016.

U

ltra high definition screens, holographic displays and the latest in unified communications, control systems and advanced building automation, Pro AV, Audio and lighting were just some of the technologies on show at Integrate 2015 last August as Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre became a hub of the latest AV technology.

More than 100 products were launched to the Australian market at this year’s Integrate, generating strong interest from visitors in several new products, including holographic displays, compressed signal distribution, touch screen interactive solutions and digital content creation.

“Integrate 2015 attracted a high calibre of brands that used this event as an opportunity to launch new products and network, in addition to lead generation,” said Integrate event manager, Soren Norgaard. “Our vision for Integrate has

been to create a one-stop-shop for key industry professionals where they can stay on top of the latest products and solutions across a broad range of areas while also enabling them to upskill and stay ahead of industry trends, network with industry colleagues and customers.”

In fact, no sooner did Integrate 2015 begin, organizer of the show, Diversified Communications, and InfoComm International®, announced that the existing partnership between the two will continue for five more years.

“Developing these international relationships helps Integrate to provide the local industry with up-to-date training and knowledge, in addition to the latest AV products,” said Diversified Communications Australia Managing Director Matt Pearce. “In just seven years, Integrate has grown to become the most established commercial event dedicated to the Australian AV and systems integration marketplace,

and extending our partnership with InfoComm cements its position as the must-attend industry event.”

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS

2015 has been an exciting year for Exterity (www.exterity.com) in the Australasia region. After announcing the appointment of Travis Anderson as Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand in June, the company has also announced a new partnership with Midwich in August. During the show, Exterity brought along with them a range of AvediaStream encoders and SDIs as well as wireless streaming solutions that support robust content protection

Colin Farquhar, CEO of Exterity

EXHIBITION REVIEW Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

and end-to-end secure delivery of high quality video content.

“We feel that this is a great opportunity to meet people. We have plans for the region and find that Australia is easy to invest in. For us, we see lots of opportunities for IPTV here.” said Colin Farquhar, CEO, Exterity, on participating in the Australia show.

Over at Hills (www.hills.com.au), one of Australia’s leading distributors, busy crowds were seen lingering at the booth all day. Staff were kept busy and it’s no surprise as they represent more than 20 established brands in the proAV industry in Australia. This includes Biamp, AKG, Crown, MIPRO, Revolabs, Tannoy, Lab. Gruppen and many more. Present at the show were Hall Research’s 1x4 HDMI Video Splitter; L-Acoustics' X Series; beyerdynamic's ORBIS -Digital Wireless System and the latest BYOD audio technology, Hearing Hotspot™, by Williams Sound (www.williamssound. com).

A trending listening technology that allows any venue to stream audio via Wi-Fi from TVs, music sources or live programs directly to an individual’s smartphone or tablet, Hearing Hotspot™ enables individuals to connect to the local Wi-Fi, downloads the free Hearing Hotspot™ app, and select the audio channel they want to hear. Featuring high audio quality, the in-app links also offer each venue the option of customizable advertising (i.e., venue coupons), customer surveys etc., the customised system can also be remotely monitored, saving time and effort required for regular on-site maintenance.

Kramer: K-Touch v.3.0

Up next at Kramer (www. kramerelectronics.com), visitors saw a variety of solutions revolving around huddle space and education. Showcased

at the show were several of Kramer's latest releases, including the K-Touch v.

3.0, colourful PICO HDMI cables as well as the VIA PAD, Kramer's new external USB touch device for Mac and PC. Released in June, the VIA PAD allows VIA Collage and VIA Connect PRO users to present on the main display with just a touch of a finger. At the same time, users can also present content by “Step-in” inside the VIA app.

Concurrently at Kramer's booth, visitors also saw Christie's (www.christiedigital. com) presence as the renowned visual specialist partnered with Kramer to showcase some of their display solutions.

One of the products exhibited was the Christie QuadHD84, a stunning 60Hz, 84" LCD panel featuring QuadHD resolution (3840 x 2160). Easily installed as a wall-mountable or free-standing display, the QuadHD84 comes with three additional HDMI 1.4a inputs to provide compatibility with a wide variety of sources from scaled HD to true 3840 x 2160 at 30Hz. Together with their Australia distributor, KVM Australia, we saw Guntermann & Drunck (www.gdsys.de/en/) from Germany exhibiting some of their key solutions. An OEM manufacturer, G&D is known for their digital KVM matrix solutions for control rooms. One of the key product showcased was DLVision, a KVM extender system for 4K/ UHD @30Hz. DL-Vision(M/S) that uses optical fibres (two fibres) to transmit uncompressed and lossless signals up to 400 or 10,000 m. The devices are available as variants displaying one, two or four video channels. With its network port, the web interface and monitoring functions, the DL-Vision(M/S) system offers important features for missioncritical applications.

Also present at KVM Australia booth was Adder (www.adder.com), another OEM manufacturer of KVM switches, extenders and IP solutions. Key products shown include the Adderlink Infinity Manager (A.I.M.) V4.0; the Adder CCS-PRO4; and the Adderview DDX30, Adder's latest innovation in high performance KVM.

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Adder: AdderView DDX Matrix

The AdderView DDX matrix is compact, has a choice of DVI and DisplayPort transmitters, and provides up to 1920x1200 resolutions at 60FPS without loss. With extension distances of up to 50 meters, over a single standard CATx cable, it also features transparent EDID management, full-speed USB, and an intuitive GUI with Multi-view thumbnail display. Additionally, this unique KVM matrix also provides 30 ports which can be shared and flexibly scaled between users and computers, allowing users to simply program pre-set configurations at the touch of a button. The end result being that multiple users can use presets to easily switch between multiple computer sources.

Not a stranger to the Australia market, TriplePlay Services (www.tripleplayservices.com) participated in this year's show with confidence. With successful case studies such as Chinova Resources, Sydney Theatre Company and Lizard Island resort, TriplePlay continued their efforts by introducing new apps to enhance user experience. Riding on BYOD, the latest apps: TripleSport Engage fan app and TripleSport Player Lifestyle app, were developed specially for Sports & Arena applications.

To make fans feel actively as part of a club or game, the TripleSport Engage fan app brings up fan engagement levels by incorporating live video streaming with traditional app features such as match stats, results, social media, league tables and standings. It can be linked to stadium advertising or be used to order food and beverage. On the other hand, the TripleSport Player Lifestyle app is an induction and information app that provides every player within a club access to full club rules, teammate contact details, local information and club calendar. Fully customisable,

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EXHIBITION REVIEW Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

both apps can be integrated into TriplePlay Digital Signage, enabling club management to communicate with players and fans by using the screens around the venue or their mobile devices.

(L-R) Glenn Bailey, Vice President, APAC Sales and President & CEO, Eric Li.

Exhibiting for the first time at Integrate, SiliconCore's (www.silicon-core.com) President & CEO, Eric Li and Vice President for APAC Sales, Glenn Bailey, were seen busy with sales queries from visitors. Located near the entrance, visitors who passed by the booth were treated a visual delight of SiliconCore's impressive Lavender 1.2mm LED display.

Ideal for close proximity applications within corporate, command and control, simulation and retail, the Lavender 1.2mm achieves full HD at 110" and has a viewing distance of less than one metre. Using Common Cathode technology (which our readers are probably familiar with it by now), the LED display has a nominal LED work life of 100,000 hours at 50% brightness. The display also comes with the additional benefit of being scalable for any size or shape application with no seams.

Leyard: 8K Ultra HD TV 1.6

Also showcasing their latest LED display technologies was Leyard (www.leyard. com/en). During Integrate, Leyard booth shone with the Australia debut of its 8K Ultra HD TV 1.6 LED display wall and TW 1.25, a 108" LED TV. Demonstrating a splendid visual feast of seamless LED with small pixel pitch, Leyard wooed a steady stream of visitors to its booth.

Featuring ultra high contrast, high refresh rate, low light and high grey image, Leyard's 8K Ultra HD TV 1.6 LED display wall gave an impressive glimpse of how realistic 8K images can be. The depth of the visuals, the stereoscopic view, the accuracy of life – it is no wonder Norman Lao, VP International of Leyard, is confident that 8K will be the next big thing. “In sports especially, I think we will see a shift to 8K since they are usually the early adopters.” And we couldn't agree more, with this made evident when NHK announced 8K broadcasting for Tokyo Olympics 2020 earlier this year.

their partners, visitors to Midwich's stand saw Haivision, Jupiter, BrightSign, Vaddio and many more. Some key products highlighted include; Zyer 4K by ZeeVee; Solstice Pod by Mersive; Parralex by Da-Lite and; the latest Fusion microadjustable tilt wall display mount (Model: MTM1U) by Chief.

Moving on, Barco (www.barcom. com) was spotted exhibiting with their local distributor, AV Distributors. After announcing their expanded partnership in August, visitors to the booth saw a range of Barco corporate projectors on display in addition to Barco Clickshare.

FrontRow: Conductor Client software

Present at the show was the NRC-200, which was first introduced at the ISE 2015 and then at InfoComm 2015. The beating heart of Barco’s networked collaboration solutions, the new NRC200 networked room compositor can process up to 8 input sources and drive 2 screens of up to 4K resolution. As such, it provides an answer to the specific needs of large conference rooms in preparation of the Bring Your Own Device era.

Reach (http://en.szreach.com), too, showcased some of their latest technology for the Australia market.

Amongst it was a sneak preview of the soon-to-be-launched Bee 9, the upgraded version of the widely popular lecture recorder Bee 8. In the latest version, Reach has enhanced the product with features such as auto-tracking and live streaming recording. Ideal for education and corporate applications, the said product is scheduled to ship by end of Q3 2015.

Previously known as IDT, the Australian distributor, Midwich Australia (www. midwich.com.au), now trades under a new name. With sights set high to become one of the region's premier AV distributors, Midwich recently added Exterity to its portfolio. Together with

Also present was FrontRow (http:// gofrontrow.com), a technology specialist for education communication. During the show, the company showcased their Conductor client software, where office managers and administrators are able to make announcements, intercom calls, trigger emergency alerts, set bell schedules, stream music, create zones, and more using the platform. In the latest version, there is even a mapping feature which enables user to locate different spaces in the campus easily.

Exhibiting at the same booth, Atlona (www.atlona.com) also wooed visitors their latest innovations. Now shipping, the UHD-PRO3-88 is a 4K/UHD DualDistance 8x8 HDMI to HDBaseT matrix switcher with PoE. Transmitting video signals at 60Hz with PoE, the matrix provides flexible HDBaseT routing with extended distance: 100m and 70m, over CAT cable with bidirectional extension of both RS-232 and IR Control.

Designed for multi-zone residential or commercial distribution applications, the AT-UHD-PRO3-88M features a 2U, rack-mountable enclosure with internal, international power supply.

Over at AMX Australia (www.amx.com/ aunz), the veteran exhibitor showcased a range of new and upgraded solutions that is the backbone of the company's offerings. As a sneak preview, Peter Swanson, Sales Director (Australia/ New Zealand), gave a heads-up that an upgraded Enzo is in the works. Targetted to ship at the end of Q4 2015, the new

EXHIBITION REVIEW Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Graham Barrett, AMX's Technical Director, with HydraPort Touch in foreground.

Enzo is said to have features like IPTV, Microsoft Lync®, wireless presenting, smoother web browsing etc., amongst many other features. At the same time, AMX also showcased their new HydraPort Touch, a combination of AMX HydraPort with AMX Modero S Series Touch Panel.

“AV collaboration has become central to so many individuals. In the last 2-3 years, we saw a significant shift (to Unified Comms). There are more AV projects in the region and there has been an increase in project revenue as well,” said Peter.

For the audiophiles, many were seen checking out the Technical Audio Group (TAG) (www.tag.com.au) booth. With brands like Allen & Heath, AudioTechnica, QSC, Martin Audio under its roof, much buzz was generated at the stand. Key brands exhibited with the Australian distributor include; QSC, who showcased their latest Q-SYS™ Core 110f DSP; Allen & Heath, who exhibited their dLive sound mixer; and Martin Audio, who continued their efforts in promoting the CDD series following the big launch at P+S Frankfurt 2015.

Audio-Technica: ATND971

Together with TAG, Audio-Technica (http://audio-technica.com.au) exhibited their ATND971 Cardioid Condenser Boundary Microphone and ATND8677, a microphone desk stand.

Equipped with Dante™ Network output and simple, inexpensive Ethernet connectivity, these solutions have gained an edge in Australia since the Australia Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced new frequency range regulations for wireless microphones. As Dante can support up to 512 bidirectional audio channels, AudioTechnica's Network Microphones offer an easily scalable solution.

Extron: CCI Pro 700

Located close to the entrance of the show floor, visitors could hardly pass by the Extron (www.extron.com) booth without checking out their latest solutions. Amidst a dozen new products, Extron highlighted the CCI Pro 700, Extron’s first control system user interface optimized for conferencing, collaboration, and AV control. Targeted to ship between October – November, the product supports many of the critical functions needed in a conferencing environment, while providing a powerful

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and intuitive user interface for room control.

On the other hand, Extron XTP II CrossPoint 6400 Matrix Switcher is a 50 Gbps digital switching backplane that enables the deployment of an AV system infrastructure with a switching bandwidth that exceeds the data rate required to distribute 4K/60 video with 4:4:4 chroma sampling at 16 bits per colour.

It is the only AV technology platform that supports uncompressed 4K video while providing additional bandwidth to accommodate anticipated future video resolutions and formats. Representing a monumental leap in engineering and product design, XTP II gives one of the highest level of performance in the Pro AV industry. http://integrate-expo.com/ Integrate would return to the Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park in 2016 from 23 to 25 August.

Want to see more of Integrate 2015?

Check out our Facebook album for more event photos! Scan QR code here:

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EXHIBITION REVIEW Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

InfoComm India 2015 Raises The Bar Further Up Harnessing The Power of Digital Interconnect

Facts & Figures • • • • • •

•

•

201 Exhibitors from 21 countries 33% more exhibitors 22% increase in show floor space Over 80 new product launches for the Indian market 6,525 local and international trade and end-user visitors 16% increase in visitor attendance in comparison to 2014 1152 Technical Summit Attendances – up by 35% from 2014 55% increase in average attendance per session

InfoComm India 2015 – the third edition annual ensemble of audio-visual and systems integration industry in India – held in Mumbai from 1-3 September, while being pretty much like its preceding event last year, has raised the bar further up. The event’s punch line – the Power of Digital Interconnect – appeared veritable with the three-day congregation seeking to bring together the stakeholders and also connect them towards exploring the possibilities for realizing the country’s ambitious dreams, if not strides, into digital transition. While getting bigger and wider on the show floor, the event did bring to the fore some big promises for the industry to pursue for the common good. An SIA Exclusive: India is always a land of surprises. While being a progressive member of global community, it has always maintained its unique image of staying unaffected with global concerns- albeit with minor aberrations. While nations across the globe are trying to come to grips with crashes of economies, stock markets and oil prices – not to mention political volatility – India has been buoyant with its Smart initiatives and Digital ambitions.

With focused Roadshows in the run-up to the event generating the momentum, the third outing of the annual ensemble – as it happened from 1-3 September at the expanded Hall-1 of the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai – bringing together 201 exhibitors from over 21 countries, with 40 of them being newcomers, and over 80 products making their debut into the Indian market conveys the figurative side of the event. The formative side of the event reflected in some very decisive ways:

• Broadcast Engineering and Consultants India Limited (BECIL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with InfoComm International on the tradeshow floor for imparting AV installation skills to aspiring AV professionals in the country. The agreement envisages training and certifying BECIL trainers with InfoComm credentials in the first place, and those ‘trained BECIL trainers’ expanding the initiative further into the countryside in the subsequent phases • Top, decision making functionaries from four Government of India concerns visited the event with a particular intent of exploring how they could leverage AV technologies to connect their mega digital initiatives for a national benefit • Systems Integration Asia – Asia’s trusted and premier publication on AVSI industry and long standing Media Partner to InfoComm shows worldwide – has announced launching its longplanned ‘Systems Integration India Awards’ in 2016

While there are more pointers, these three pointers appear to be carrying enough momentum to propel India’s journey into the digital future.

The MoU signed by InfoComm International Executive Director and CEO David Labuskes and BECIL Director (O & M) George Kuruvilla on the Show Floor on day one is taken to auger well for grooming skilled and certified professionals in substantial numbers that is so much in dearth in the country.

Availability of adequate number of qualified and trained AV professionals is contributing to more quality installs and rising the confidence levels among prospective AV deployers.

Being a State-owned enterprise with a nation-wide presence, BECIL is hoped to bring significant value to the initiative in that it has as many as 12 training centres across the country and can tap aspiring AV professionals most effectively. (Read the news column) Arun Srivastava, Deputy Director General/Regional Director (North India), Ministry of Tourism, Government of India

EXHIBITION REVIEW Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

had this to say: “We realised harnessing AV technologies can contribute in a huge way to the cause of Indian Tourism, as it has place for everything that the domain of AV offers. We wanted to explore this possibility. We see InfoComm exhibition as a platform bringing the whole eco-system AV solutions to a common platform which is why we are here.”

According to him, tourism industry in the country – with close to 8 million visitors every year – is third largest forex earner after IT and gems exports for the country. Still, that constitutes just 0.68 per cent of international travellers, giving an indication of how much potential it has. The think tank at Government had been contemplating incorporating digital floors and walls, chat rooms, touchscreens, kiosks, mobile info apps etc. towards promoting the cause of tourism in the country. “Imagine a traveller wanting to visit a particular tourist place, being able access a whole lot of info – on his/her mobile gadget through an app – about the history/importance of the place; travel and accommodation facilities; interaction with local authorities etc.” says the DyDG/RD. “An interactive digital floor or wall at a site can dramatically improve the experience of the visitor, and excite more visitors,” he elaborates, “Indian tourism has everythingrich history, culture, places, but not enough means to make them popular. Harnessing AV can change that.”

While a sizeable delegation from Ahmedabad University had come to explore the exhibition for figuring out solutions towards realizing their Smart Classroom ideations, giving enough testament to the big buzz of SmartCities initiative of the Modi-led government was V K Sharma, CEO, Special Area Development Authority, Gwalior.

“In modern day living, AV technologies have a significant role in public life for diverse requirements- from security to sophisticated utilities,” says Sharma, “that we are building Smart City as part of our urban planning, we wanted to see what is available on the market, and I realize InfoComm is the best place to explore this.”

All this, and more, had apparently provided enough steam to the exhibition and its stakeholders.

“The show is incredible, very very positive,” says Karl Kahalu, Executive Director-India at the Italian audio solutions leader Powersoft. Coming to the exhibition for the first time, Karl seemed excited at the positive vibes he had from the show floor.

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Coming with some very ambitious plans for the country, Powersoft had recently appointed distributors for western (IES); northern (Acoustic Arts); and southern (Cinetekk); the company is exploring possibilities for its eastern India presence. “I think the show is really good; we are excited,” he said, “we hope this will turn good for our business too.”

Perhaps, a very important ‘first-time catch’ for the event was Bosch Security Systems (BSS) India, as the security-surveillance, and conferencing major made an entry to the IFI event with its award-winning conferencing system and new-to-the-country voice evacuation system solution. “We have been contemplating participating in this show for sometime now; it just happened that this year we had some very interesting product line-up whose target audience are majorly from the AV domain” says Santosh Kumar. V, Deputy General Manager-Marketing at Bosch India.

According to him, the Paviro and Dicentis systems displayed at the show generated lots of interest from the visitors, including some prospective AV gear buyers.

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Hungarian video wall controller solutions provider Dexon Systems, who was another prominent first timer at the show, was extremely positive with the show that they had. “The show was very very encouraging; we had unexpected number of visitors, we had some very important enquiries too,” said the company's Business Development Manager, Dr. Janos Czupy.

For Soeren Kraemmergaard dnp’s VP Global Sales & Marketing, it couldn’t have been more forthright. “It was a huge success, presentation wise. We have already taken the first order for the dnp LaserPanel,” he confirmed. “Overall, we picked up an enormous number of leads.”

The silver-lining touch from Bharat of Kramer: “It depends upon how you look at it. We’re not selling boxes; we are showing solutions live, and there is a great excitement among the visitors. We did network with our old contacts, and we also had some new, whom we didn’t know earlier. That is very encouraging.

This show adds a great value in that respect.”

It was heartening to see companies like Cisco taking to show floor, and quite understandable given their interests in Smart City solutions- an AV domain per se.

Not only were the visitors impressed with the range of exhibitors, the quality of the exhibits and the live demonstrations; they were also enthralled by the rich diversity of seminars at the concurrent 3-day Summit which covered the entire spectrum of pro-AV and ICT solutions.

The Summit’s 1,152 total attendance is a 35 per cent increase from previous year.

Average attendance per session also went up by 55 per cent. In particular, the entertainment industry-focused and enterprise IT-focused sessions each drew more than 100 delegates.

“We are thrilled to be able to produce another record-setting InfoComm India,” said Richard Tan, Executive Director of InfoCommAsia Pte Ltd. “Although this is only the 3rd edition, all the show’s

performance metrics, including number of visitors, summit attendance and exhibitors, has surpassed our most optimistic expectations, pointing to a bright future for the development of the pro-AV and ICT industries in India.”

From The Show Floor…

The IFI 2015 had all the components of the AV manufacturing spectrum- audio, video, display, screens, conferencing, AVB, control systems, switchers and networking:

Serious discussions at the Biamp booth

AUDIO

The audio system/solutions on the show floor is marked by as many as 18 manufacturers coming in direct, while almost double the number coming, or having their solutions through their distributors. The prominent among them included beyerdynamic, Biamp, Bosch, Bose, Clearone, Harman, Powersoft, Renkuz Heinz, Sennheiser, Televic, Toa and Yamaha.

status. The integrated 4-port AVB network switch allows connecting several units or other AVB capable devices without having to acquire external AVB switches. External interfaces such as RS232, TCP/IP and 8 GPIO each allow the connection to media control systems and remote control elements.

Bosch Security Systems – coming to the IFI – for the first time – brought two of their latest product line-up aimed at voice evacuation and conferencing markets- Paviro public address and voice evacuation system, and DICENTIS Wireless Conference System respectively.

PAVIRO is claimed to set a new standard in combined public address and voice evacuation systems. A highly flexible, modular system architecture makes PAVIRO an attractive, complete system solution for small-to medium-sized installations, including office buildings, regional airports, hotels, factories, schools, department stores and more.

As a sound reinforcement solution, it offers best-in-class audio quality; as an evacuation system, it offers exceptional reliability; and as a public address system it offers a level of clarity and intelligibility in line with the highest standards.

beyerdynamic highlighted their solutions with Coretis Digital Signal Processora flexible, digital interface for audio signals. As many as 12 analogue inputs and 8 analogue outputs make Coretis flexible for almost any application in professional installations. The system comes with an additional 8 digital input and output channels made available via the AVB network. The fixed DSP structure and the simple but very extensive user interface enable a fast and sophisticated configuration. The audio matrix of 20 x 16 allows versatile audio routing.

The new DICENTIS wireless conference system defines a whole new standard in conference technology. The system’s smart wireless management assures interference-free communication with excellent intelligibility, even in critical environments, by automatically finding the best channel. Built-in state-of-the-art digital acoustic feedback suppression (DAFS) technology by Bosch also enhances the overall audio experience the system offers.

Among other things, the Coretis brings to the table the provision of auto mixer, leveller, ducker and equalizer configuration with clearly displayed

“It was a successful participation for Bosch Security Systems in InfoComm India 2015,” declares Sudhir Tiku, Head-South Asia, BSS. “We utilized this

EXHIBITION REVIEW Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

opportunity to showcase latest offerings from our Communications portfolio,” he reveals, adding, “it was our first time participation and we noticed that our newly launched products generated lot of interest amongst the visitors to the tradeshow.”

Bose Professional highlighted their presence at the IFI – for the second time – with their latest expanded range of Dante enabled ControlSpace Designer 4.2 offering with several new Dante endpoints and a new fixed-I/O DSP, providing integrators more options for creating cost-effective installed audio solutions using Dante. The new ControlSpace products – ESP-1600 engineered sound processor; EP22-D and EP40-D endpoints; and WP22B-D and WP22BU-D wall plates – were designed for a wide range of installations that benefit from Dante connectivity, including worship facilities, education, conference centers, hotel meeting and ballrooms, sporting and live performance venues and others.

HARMAN booth featured a new range of end-to-end solutions for use in corporate offices, hospitality, mass transits, educational establishments, houses of worship, and amusement parks, from the audio major’s group concerns.

JBL showcased for the first time in India, the Control HST and Control 31 loudspeakers. The Control HST is a wall-mounted speaker that utilizes JBL’s patent-pending Hemispherical Soundfield Technology to achieve extremely wide coverage of the listening space eliminating the primary wall reflection. The Control 31 is the latest new model in JBL’s Control Contractor lineup of surface-mount loudspeakers.

It is a step-up model to the venerable Control 29AV, one that provides greater output levels and more bass capability, but without a significant price jump.

Soundcraft had the Si Impact 1 and the Signature 22 MTK mixers. The Si Impact, demonstrated for the first time in India, delivers an incredible level of power and processing in an affordable package, making it the perfect tool for the stage and the recording studio. Harman also highlighted dbx loudspeaker

management tool DriveRack VENU360, and AKG reference digital wireless microphone system DMS 800 Vocal Set D5 that were launched recently.

Italian manufacturer of high-quality professional power amplifiers Powersoft coming for the first time highlighted their show with their new Ottocanali Series line-up. The new Ottocanali Series DSP+D, just taking up 2RU space, offers a total of up to 12,000 W output power at 4 ohm over 8 channels for lo-Z or distributed line systems. The Ottocanali 4K4 DSP+D, Ottocanali 8K4 DSP+D and Ottocanali 12K4 DSP+D models provide system control and monitoring functions as well as sound shaping options. Key features of the DSP+D series include switchable main and aux signal inputs per channel, adequate GPIO, alarms, Lo-Z and Hi-Z output connections as well as mono-bridgeable channel pairs.

“The decision to exhibit at InfoComm India emphasizes our long-term strategy to develop expertise across all markets and support the numerous current users already present in the region,” explains Executive Director- India, Karl Kahlau.

Distribution major ProVisual Audio highlighted their show with the newly added DSP Core 110F from QSC Audio.

This apart, the company also showed Q-Sys’ touchscreen controller 7 in both table and wall-mount formats, and power amplifiers SPA 2-60 and 4-60 versions.

The company also showed their popular TouchMix digital mixers with both 8 and 16 channel versions.

Yamaha highlighted by their VXC-3F and 5F ceiling speakers as well as their recently announced ProVisionaire App for iPad available via download on iTunes. The App provides a premium, fully customizable, control interface for the MTX and new MRX Processor to meet the needs of individual commercial spaces such as conference rooms, retail stores, restaurants, banquet halls, and more. The processors are part of the highly successful Yamaha Commercial Installation Solutions (CIS) Series.

VIDEO/DISPLAY

The video and display segments as usual appeared taking larger attention on

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the show floor with huge booths, and expansive product line-ups. Prominent, of course, were BenQ, Christie, Epson, Hitachi, Panasonic from the projection segment; Delta, dnp, Chief/Milestone, Gradview, Lifesize and WolfVision from the display front. There were of course exhibitors like Huawei and Samsung too, adding value to the event.

With a central theme of ‘lasting perfection’ and ‘color perfection,’ BenQ came with a stunning range of solutions highlighted by what it claimed to be the world’s first full HD ultra-shortthrow projector as a perfect solution to smaller classrooms in India. This apart, the Taiwanese visual solutions provider showed up its new home entertainment projector W3000 with 6X RGBRGB Color Wheel that delivers Rec. 709 HDTV Standard for Cinematic Color; and large size display Interactive flat panel with 84” size and up to 4k Ultra HD resolution for stunning image clarity along with a 65” interactive 10 point multi touch interactivity.

BenQ also showcased an interchangeable lens projector with ‘iImage warping’ using six projectors giving a mammoth projection through high brightness large installation projectors. BenQ also demoed signage solutions café and supermarket scenario with 55” ultra high brightness panel and 28” narrow bar type panels. The new BenQ ST550K smart signage boasts of an ultra-high definition resolution of 4K2K (3840x2160), the highest standard for visual display today.

Christie’s multi-zone display resembled a boxing arena, exuding energy and sportiness with the new Christie Boxer 4K30 projector and Christie Captiva Series DUW350S ultra short throw projector leading the product showcase.

Divided into four key areas, each zone featured state-of-the-art products.

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EXHIBITION REVIEW Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Zone 1 showed debutant Boxer 4K30 3DLP projector, with two units displaying UHD contents managed by Christie Pandoras Box media servers. Designed from the inside out to punch above its weight class, delivering 30,000 lumens, 4K (4096 by 2160) native resolution and weighing in at less than 150 pounds (68 kilograms), the Christie Boxer 4K30 seeks to set a new industry benchmark for rental staging and large venue events. It has six 450W mercury lamps housed in two 3-lamp cartridges, as well as built-in Christie TruLife image processing.

Zone 2 showed Christie’s range of 1DLP high-brightness projectors with new Christie Captiva Series DUW350S UST projector that can create canvases up to 140-inches diagonal in landscape or portrait mode with optional interactivity capabilities. Also on display was Christie Q Series, which offers versatile, affordable and superior image processing capabilities and Christie GS Series featuring laser phosphor illumination with 20,000 hours of lowcost operation.

Zone 3 showcased Christie Phoenix control room solution which enables seamless access and control of audiovisual data regardless of the user’s location. Christie FHD552-X LCD panel arranged in a 2-by-2 array highlighted how Christie control room solutions are ideal for mission critical environments.

Zone 4 showed the award-winning Christie MicroTiles delivering vibrant, true-to-life colors. Arranged in skyscraper format, the MicroTiles display demonstrated their versatility.

Besides these themed zones, Christie also brought to show its 3DLP, 1DLP and 3LCD projectors.

Delta launched what it called the world’s first Full HD laser-based DLP video wall (cube)s featuring a brightness of up to 2,100 lumens, and offering energy savings of up to 20 per cent. Compared to its predecessors, Delta’s laser HD version boasts an array of benefits, including better performance and a high contrast ratio of up to 2100:1.

The company also showcased its 1.8mm fine pitch LED display featuring bright, high-impact display and 4K (98”, 84”) / Full HD (70”) LCD monitors capable of bringing visual excitement to indoor environments. In addition, Delta also offered a glimpse of its ultra-narrow bezel LED-LCD video walls, featuring the slimmest bezel in the market. Delta gave visitors a complete new LCD experience. These video walls create a powerful, high-impact visual experience for viewers.

Danish optical screen major, dnp previewed its new Supernova Technology for Edge Blending — a revolutionary short-throw solution which is still at prototype stage — and a version of dnp Supernova XL, billed as the world’s largest optical front projection screen solution (available up to 240 inches in size). For the first time, dnp made their new product available as part of a bundled package, with interactive camera and IR pens for interactive presentation, as well as screen, projector and wall mounts.

LCD projection solutions major Epson highlighted the show with a new format of image projection. Two EP-Z10005 projectors were stacked up to vertically project the image with a combined brightness of 20000 lumens. While that presented a stunning spectacle, the projection major also showed its recently launched Z11000W projector on the booth.

Mumbai-based Audio/Video valueadded distribution major Green Sources, demonstrated cutting-edge solutions from its principals. Highlights of its display included Da-Lite’s ViewShare screen that integrates a HD camera into the screen, and is compatible with any free peer-to-peer video conferencing

software. It features a USB connection to ensure ease of use for your customer.

Also on show were the fancied Parallax ambient light rejecting screen, coming in different sizes, and mounting solutions major Chief’s ConnexSys video wall mounting system, along with the RapidDraw display release cord systemsaid to be ideal for any ProAV set-up requiring a screen display.

Another Japanese major Hitachi previewed its first-ever Laser projector LP-WU9750 positioning its laser platform as the core solution provider of SSL to achieve a brightness of 7500 lumens, with WUXGA resolution. More importantly, 20,000 hours of lifetime without any lamp exchange yet with improved image quality, and low TCO. Hitachi also introduced two new Ultra High Resolution DLP Projectors- CPWU9100B (WUXGA /10000 lumens) and CP-HD9950B (Full HD/9500 Lumens).

Hitachi has expanded their interchangeable lens for the UHR DLP projectors with the addition of UST FL-900. As the eighth member of the family, the new lens reduces the throw distance and projects at a throw ratio of 0.38:1, opening up a wide variety of new application options in a demanding installation environment.

The highlight, however, was the LP9750 that was set-up into a cinematic set-up, demonstrating the system’s capability to perform in a cinema projection as well.

Panasonic India demonstrated a stunning range of new solutions that included their new 4K laser projectors PT RQ13K and the RZ 12 K Series weaved into an Edge Blending application.

This is the first time that Panasonic is introducing these projectors to

EXHIBITION REVIEW Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Indian market. Also on the show for the first time was Panasonic’s 4K fish eye IP camera meant for surveillance applications. Joining the league is the introduction of new wireless video intercom systems aimed at homeland security applications.

The company also showcased their new 4K display panel 98LQ 70 aimed at digital signage market. The other important products on show included Panasonic’s new High Definition Visual Communication Systems KX VC 1600 and the KX VC 1300 with enhanced features; new HD Remote camera systems AW HEA 10K and the AW HEA 10W aimed at boardroom applications.

CONTROL SYSTEMS/ SWITCHERS

Apart from the industry majors Crestron, Extron, Kramer, and Lightware, the IFI 2015 had some very novel product shows and debuts from global manufacturersthe prominent being debutants Dexon and KXWELL, apart from second coming of iHSE USA. Crestron brought on their Digital Media 3.0 solution, as well as their new Pyng app for iPAD application to offer elevated automation experience. The DM3.0 offers uncompressed bit-for-bit 4K/60 distribution and scaling, streaming AV to deliver content anywhere on the network, centralized enterpriseclass monitoring and management, and end-to-end scalable solutions on a single, validated platform. The Crestron Pyng is a new home automation app tailored to elevate lifestyles, making it more comfortable, convenient, and entertaining.

Hungarian video wall controller solutions provider, another first-timer at IFI, Dexon Systems brought to the show their new generation video wall controller family, the DXN5000. These units not only control video wall, but also handle multiple analogue or digital, SD or HD video inputs, IP cameras and display workstations monitor images. The DXN5000 controllers apply multiple Express Crossbars for the full digital display of digital and analogue input sources in real time. The easy-to-use

DEXON controllers are characterized by superior design, excellent price/ performance balance and high reliability.

Extron showcased what it called the industry’s first 50-Gbps digital backplane for any AV infrastructure taking it to 4K and beyond. The new XTP II CrossPoint matrix switchers are said to have a 50-Gbps digital switching backplane that delivers the highest level of performance in the Pro AV industry. The system enables a switching bandwidth that exceeds the data rate required to distribute 4K/60 video with 4:4:4 chroma sampling at 16 bits per color.

It is the only AV technology platform that supports uncompromised 4K video while providing additional bandwidth to accommodate anticipated future video resolutions and formats. Also, XTP II CrossPoint matrix switchers are engineered to exceed the bandwidth required by HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.3 signals.

Kramer Electronics demonstrated its revolutionary Cloud-based K-Touch version 3.0 platform for easily designing state-of-the-art, user-friendly BYOD room-control and automation ecosystems. With K−Touch 3.0, integrators can design advanced control and automation for room elements such as lights, screens, sound, HVAC, thermostats, and any existing A/V system. Designers can scale to over 100 devices in the Cloud, all controllable from any tablet or mobile touch screen.

K−Touch 3.0 can be operated from any iOS or Android touch screen and is designed for a wide variety of AV environments, such as Corporate, Education, Entertainment, and Houses of Worship. K−Touch 3.0 includes pre− programmed, drag−and−drop modules for easy control system design. K−Touch

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modules represent a wide variety of media programs and devices commonly used in control and automation environments.

More, Kramer also demonstrated its VIA collaboration solution with four new upgrades. First, getting 4k with 60 fps, said to be industry first; two- the iOS mirroring, again the industry first; threerear site management; and four- the VIA trackpad.

Lightware highlighted its HDBaseT transmitter product family featuring the new TPS 200 series. The devices are all-round video, audio and control transmitters using a single CAT cable up to 170 meter distance for ever-hanging environments such as small board rooms and classrooms. The extender family was designed to handle 4K and UHD digital video signals (DVI, HDMI or DisplayPort depending on the model). They also transmit analog stereo audio from local inputs or HDMI embedded audio up to 8 Channel PCM or HBR audio. All devices have a local video output which is useful for preview or to distribute the video on the transmitter side as well.

Coming for the second time to IFI, ihseUSA is seeking to break an ambitious growth ground in India. With a view to strengthening its presence in the country, the company took onboard two employees and has also appointed six distributors- one each for Odisha in the east; Chennai and Kerala for south; Mumbai and Gujarat for west; and Delhi for north region of India.

“We did as many as seven shows in the past six months,” Manny Patel, the company President/CEO told SI Asia on the sidelines of IFI 2015. “Our efforts of product demos and projects have gone up manifold,” he said, adding the hard work done for the past few months have dramatically increased the company’s prospects.

“This is our first year after having our own staff onboard,” Patel said, elaborating, “we have already started shipping products for broadcast, defense, ProAV and medical segments.”

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EXHIBITION REVIEW Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

With a view to complementing the exciting opportunities, ihseUSA intends to set up demo centres where it would take the inputs from the clients, and develop solutions as per the client requirement.

“We are growing good,” Patel said, “we are looking into exciting future.”

KXWELL, another first timer, showcased their high-performance indoor and outdoor pan-tilt heads that are compatible with a range of cameras.

The PTZ heads offer great flexibility for a variety of installations including

PTZ head can successfully be integrated into indoor and outdoor application for education, operating theatre, high-end CCTV for military, satellite launching site, high-end conference set-ups like parliaments, video / live production, studios, theatres etc. conference spaces, classrooms, stadiums, courts, surgery rooms, security environments, broadcast stations and more. They can be controlled remotely with superb silent operation.

Anthony Goh, responsible for business development for KXWELL, says their

Overall, the third edition of IFI has largely been successful in raising the bar further up for the future editions to take off from.

InfoComm India will return to Mumbai from 12th to 15th September 2016.

DEXON Systems’ Aggressive Pitch for India DEXON is not new to Indian market in that it had a good working association with Delta for years, followed by the existing association with Mitsubishi.

However, with growing potential that India had been offering to global solutions providers for some time now the Budaörs, Hungary-headquartered transnational company intends to tap into the exciting opportunity.

With a view to making more effective pitch into the potentially growing Indian market, Hungarian video wall controller and multi-screen video display systems solutions provider DEXON Systems has partnered with AV/Interactive solutions and services provider Wavex Touch. The company intends to make more focused and aggressive sales in the country by working with Wavex who will act as its sales and support partner to begin with. It also intends to set-up sales team and office to pursue its interests in Indian market.

As its first pitch in this direction, DEXON participated in the justconcluded InfoComm India 2015 exhibition displaying its latest and some of the popular system solutions.

Revealing this to SI Asia, on the show floor, Dr. Janos Czupy, DEXON’s business development manager said that DEXON intends to ramp up its existing business prospects in the country with more focused approach through Wavex.

“India is a wonderful country, and a big market; it’s an attractive opportunity for us to make bigger sales pitch,” Czupy said, “Wavex will represent DEXON in India with sales and support.” Wavex Director Sanjay Pareek will steer the initiative in Indian market, while his colleague for Middle East operations Suraj Pottekkat would pursue from his Dubai office, DEXON’s association in the ME region.

“While we come from the heart of Europe, our traditional markets have always been in the Far East,” Czupy revealed, “while we have grown over the past 15-20 years on our strengths in video wall controller solutions, our strong markets traditionally have been from Japan, South Korea, Middle East, South East Asia.”

According to him, while those markets have already developed to a certain extent, it is India showing the signs of that growth, which is why DEXON intends to make more focused approach.

“We do intend to have some focused programming here,” he said, “we invited several people with good presence in the country; we spoke to some big consultants and SIs here, and have their feedback,” he explained. “So, our focused approach has already started.”

While the verticals such as Government, defense/military, corporate, transport, logistics all comprise DEXON’s target markets, Czupy maintains they would want to do one by one. “Government and Corporate segments are what we see as the most promising for us to begin with,” he says, “we will go one by one.”

As for their sales pitch, the DEXON exec maintains their solutions while being feature-rich would come at midrange price points. “We have a good background of 25 years of industry existence; about 20 years in Asia, and about 10 years of indirect presence in India,” Czupy explains, “we have great technology, and a good market to seek out here.”

On the show floor of Infocomm 2015, DEXON highlighted their latest DXN5000 family video wall controller solution, besides their DEXON Intelligent Matrix Switcher (DIMAX) and DEXON Intelligent Video Processor(DIVIP). www.dexonsystems.com www.wavextouch.com

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TECH TALK Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

USB: Connecting The Evolutionary Steps Of AV Based out of Germany, Marco Hendel is an application engineer on Biamp Systems’ global application engineering support team. He is interested in everything audio-related and enjoys spending time working on his HiFi electronics and speakers.

Fortunately, the answer is literally right in front of us. More than likely, while reading this article, you are surrounded by at least two or three devices that supports it: USB – or Universal Serial Bus. USB is a common standard that defines cables, connectors, and communications protocols between computers and electronic devices.

This standard not only covers communication between the devices, but it often includes power supply. It is arguably one of the better known and most used connections in our digital life, found in a variety of peripherals from memory sticks to digital cameras to mobile phones.

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he manner in which we communicate is continuing to evolve with each passing year.

It’s not uncommon for our business and personal relationships to span across multiple time zones and countries. As this evolution continues, technology progresses to keep up with our expectations and our “wouldn’t it be cool if...” list of features and capabilities.

We need ease-of-connection and plug-and-play capabilities in our communication technology. But are we there yet? A good answer to this question can be found inside the drawer of a frequently used meeting room. If we take a peek, what we see is: Adaptors. Display port to HDMI, Thunderbolt to VGA, and miniHDMI to HDMI, to name a few. In reality, the one needed immediately is always the one missing. Wouldn’t it be great to leverage an existing technology, to which every hardware is compatible with, as a universal gateway between any communication software, like Skype and a professional audiovisual system?

USB’s popularity began with release 1.1, undoubtedly with a nudge from the iMac which was a departure from the norm as it only featured USB ports. Nowadays you would be hard-pressed to find a modern computer without at least one USB port.

Since its inception, the original capacity of USB has increased with each release.

Whilst USB 1.0 was capable of a rather modest maximum signaling rate (1.5 Mbit/s in Low Speed Mode; 12 Mbit/s in Full Speed), USB 2.0 increased the signal rate significantly (480 Mbit/s or High Speed) when it was released in 2000. USB 3.0 is capable of 5 Gbit/s (SuperSpeed); and the most recent 3.1 release can deliver an impressive 10 Gbit/s (SuperSpeed+).

One important factor in USB success is its backwards compatibility. A PC capable of USB 2.0 connections will happily communicate with a USB 1.1 peripheral device (at 1.1 specifications, of course), with USB 3.0 being compatible with USB 2.0 devices and cables, and USB 3.1 happily lowering its requirements to cater for USB 3.0 and 2.0 connections.

USB Audio

Looking a little closer on its audio streaming capabilities, we will learn how well USB integrates into professional environments. The majority of professional USB Audio applications use ‘isochronous’ data transfers. Isochronous transfers are used for sending data packets in real-time, providing low transmission delay (250μs with HiSpeed USB) and therefore helps to keep unwanted audio latency down to a minimum.

When using low latency transfer methods, special attention should be given to the compatibility with additional forwarding devices, such as USB hubs, range extenders, or media converters.

If range extension is necessary, as USB cables should be no longer than 5m (15ft), the extender must support isochronous data transfer.

USB is categorized in classes like “USB Mass Storage” or “USB Audio Class” to provide clear identification and interoperability between different platforms. However, USB audio evolved over time and is therefore further divided in two classes. “USB Audio Class 1” uses generic audio drivers, pre-installed on all common O/S platforms. It supports 24Bit multichannel audio, with sample rates up to 96KHz. The limiting factor to sample rate and channel count of USB Audio Class 1 is the bandwidth of the USB 1.1 interface, for what it was designed. “USB Audio Class 2” is often used in studio environments, thanks to its higher channel count and sample rates up to 384KHz. It is based on the much faster USB 2.0 standard and might need additional drivers on some operating systems. Thanks to downwards compatibility, the widely adopted USB Audio Class 1 also runs on newergeneration interfaces.

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Wouldn’t it be great to leverage an existing technology, to which every hardware is compatible with, as a universal gateway between any communication software, like Skype and a professional audiovisual system?

One of the biggest assets of USB Audio devices was the new way of handling device drivers. Instead of requesting the user to separately install specific drivers, the devices now provided their own, self-installing drivers. To make it even simpler, standard USB Audio Class 1 devices still utilize generic, pre-installed sound drivers of the host operating system.

Either way both methods allow for true plug & play functionality.

Bottom line is that these key parameters verify that USB integrates neatly in professional audio environments. That it is fast enough and that it carries multiple channels with decent sampling rates and bitdepths. Yet, by using Class 1 Audio, no additional drivers are required.

USB in the AV World

The trend for collaboration areas in modern businesses is clearly moving away from a few large (and difficult to schedule) conference rooms, to many decentralized meeting rooms and huddle spaces. Hence the need for an extensive, centralized AV system is complimented with smaller multiuse spaces and huddle rooms. These spaces are important and should contain high-quality audio equipment, displays, and projectors. The typical user of such a space needs the ability to connect a laptop, as a means of extending the desktop and share screen contents while speaking with local and remote meeting participants.

This need to share laptop contents sparked the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend and conference rooms were expected to adjust to accommodate this need. Suddenly the manufacturers of professional AV equipment were faced with a new challenge: interfacing with multiple devices whilst providing a consistent, high-quality user experience.

With all these needs in mind, a powerful Digital Signal Processor (DSP) combined with the versatility of USB provides huge potential for creating an intuitive and easy-to-use BYOD collaboration environment.

Regardless of how complex the technology behind the scenes needs to be, the user connects via a single USB connector. Once plugged into a Windows, Mac OS or Linux machine, users should gain access to an AV solution that provides professional, fixed-installed microphones, speakers, and screens, exchanging digital audio natively between the audio DSP and the collaboration software of choice.

Now, any local soft-codec like Skype for Business or Web-Ex can benefit from audio enhancements like stateof-the-art acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) or automatic gain control (AGC).

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This also works in the other direction: a USB-enabled audio DSP will be capable of sending digital, multichannel audio directly to recording software, with no digitalto-analog conversion losses (a great asset for some applications such as courtroom audio systems).

We’ve all experienced this situation: it is five minutes before a videoconference call and we have no clue how to get the presentation to show on the screen? Today’s users want minimum set-up time, ease of use and no-compromising performance.

Wouldn’t it be great if all spaces provided a conferencing solution that was easy to use and enabled users to plug in easily leveraging a USB connector? Yes, that would be cool. www.biamp.com

Or Visit www.systemsintegrationasia.com

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HD Video Conferencing – Myths Unravelled Stephanie Lu, Regional Marketing Manager of Panasonic System Solutions Asia Pacific weighs in

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s new technology hits the market at ever-increasing rates, organisations are inundated with options. In making decisions to adopt or abandon types of technology, organisations take into account several factors, but reliably still opt for some variation of the traditional costbenefit analysis. Noting this, myths surrounding the cost and effectiveness of new technology often prove to be the greatest barriers preventing organisations from reaching the new frontier of technology.

HD video conferencing (HDVC), one of the newest developments in teleconference and telepresence technologies, faces this same problem in the process of sizing up. While many tout it to be the communication tool of the future, some are still hesitant to take the plunge. Myths that circulate regarding the true cost and value of HDVC are aplenty, but here, some of the more prominent ones are debunked.

Myth 1: Installing the technology requires a significant price investment.

Organisations are often deterred from embracing the benefits of HDVC by their belief in the supposed high price point of the technology itself, or

the associative costs of installing an entirely new system of technological communication. With the wider adoption of HD cameras and displays on the market, the cost of manufacturing HD products for VC has conversely been lower than before. With providers who already produce HDVC compatible cameras and other communication equipment for broadcast, security surveillance or home usage, the costs of adopting HDVC systems are reduced yet again.

Clearly, the technology itself is not as costly as organisations would believe, and may even grow increasingly more affordable as the industry continues to innovate and improve. This affordability, especially when contrasted with the alternative - accumulated international air travel and accommodation expenses – is, some would say, vastly more attractive.

Yet, even with this price myth debunked, hesitant organisations may still point towards other associative costs – the hassle of switching over to an entirely new system of technological communication perhaps – as one that would impede their operations. Few fail to consider that certain HDVC solutions, like the one from Panasonic, are actually compatible with legacy equipment.

Organisations with users who are unfamiliar with virtual meetings may find them not as effective as face-to-face interactions as their previous experiences with such technology might have been marred by poor sound quality and image resolution, time lags when large numbers of users are involved and therefore overall difficulty in hosting discussions.

These concerns? Once again, now unfounded with HDVC. Perhaps such mechanical issues might have been relevant at videoconferencing technologies’ inception, but with HDVC technology, implementation and usage has developed a much higher degree of sophistication. Image and audio resolution rarely face the same issues and difficulties that once made virtual meetings more of a hindrance than help when compared to face-to-face meetings. The audiovisual quality which HDVC is able to deliver has ensured that communication via this form of digital conferencing is effective and clear. The food manufacturing company ACTA Co. Inc, for example, was able to examine detailed product information such as colour, texture, and realistic appearance through the use of Panasonic HDVC technology.

TECH TALK Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Concerns about the equipment needed for HDVC are similarly unfounded.

Now, HDVC technology hardly requires the same drastic hardware overhaul that most organisations believe. Far from involving the bulky conference room-constrained equipment of the past, today’s HDVC technologies are compatible with devices that span desktop computers, laptops, and even handheld devices. This means that users do not require extensive additional training or familiarisation to be able to use HDVC technology effectively and immediately.

Myth 2: Virtual meetings are not as effective or productive as face-to-face meetings.

Having invalidated these cost-specific myths, some organisations may still have their doubts. Specifically, they may question the effectiveness of HDVC technologies in accounting for the subtleties that face-to-face meetings may be able to.

The “human touch” is something many fear cannot be replicated over digital

communications, and that can be crucial in business dealings, meetings, and negotiations. Yet, this is precisely the gap that the ‘HD’ aspect of HDVC technology was targeted to close.

Providers like Panasonic now boast video capabilities to the tune of 1080p at 60 frames per second, delivering crystalline visual-audio quality that span global networks.

Modern HDVC technology has attempted to approximate, as closely as possible, these interpersonal meetings, and with the industry hinting at developments of Virtual Reality (VR) technologies on the horizon, who knows where this technology can bring us in terms of international communication?

Besides simply modeling the components of face-to-face meetings however, HDVC also presents itself as its own unique experience. It offers, therefore, its own unique brand of effectiveness – real-time flexibility.

With organisations that question the effectiveness of HDVC technology, they fail to consider that in situations

"...myths surrounding the cost and effectiveness of new technology often prove to be the greatest barriers preventing organisations from reaching the new frontier of technology"

Stephanie Lu, Regional Marketing Manager of Panasonic System Solutions Asia Pacific

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that require immediate attention, communication and decision, HDVC provides a more immediate solution to connect parties and bridge communications. For organisations that have global presence, high-quality, cross-continental meetings at short notice are an impossibility that can only be addressed with peak digital communications – in this era, HDVC. The flexibility of time and location that HDVC offers, especially with individuals’ ability to communicate through personal mobile devices and on the go, is unparalleled.

Ultimately, organisations may still choose to refrain from adopting HD videoconferencing techniques due to other unresolvable concerns. Yet, it remains clear that the real benefits that HD videoconferencing can provide are a strong incentive for organisations that want to continue to be relevant, global and effective. For organisations that aspire to expand in the coming technology-reliant world, HDVC is a key business tool for continued success. www.panasonic.com/sg

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Make Any Audio Device Dante-Enabled with Dante Via Dante Via, a powerful and user-friendly new piece of software from Audinate, will convince even more people to enter the networking fold with confidence, writes the media networking provider’s CTO, Aidan Williams.

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he recent report issued by RH Consulting entitled ‘The Death of Analogue and The Rise of Audio Networking’ underlined the fact that Audinate’s® Dante™ media networking technology is now the AV industry’s leading transport protocol. Dante is already available in over 500 products and is set to be built into several hundred more over the next few years.

Despite the popularity and widespread adoption of our technology, Audinate has never been a company to rest on its laurels — and so work is very much ongoing to make Dante even more accessible and cost-effective than ever.

One facet of this development is the launch of our new Dante Via software, making it easier for integrators and endusers to take advantage of Dante’s lowlatency, multi-channel digital audio

networking. Gone is the obligation for dedicated Dante-enabled hardware – audio networks can now be set up simply using existing USB, FireWire®, Thunderbolt™ and analogue interfaces – with the result that audio can be routed around as quickly as you can say ‘drag and drop’ as any audio device you choose to connect to a computer running Dante Via will now be Danteenabled.

I certainly know that this is going to come in useful in my own ‘other life’ as an amateur musician. I love to be able to use all kinds of equipment during the recording process – something that my studio visitors will know all too well.

Now I can be as creative as I want and link all of my different boxes up on the same Dante network, regardless of connectors! But that is far from being the

only possible application, with Audinate having already received strong interest in the software from sectors ranging from conference centres and colleges to houses of worship.

Save on hardware

The list of ways in which one can make use of Dante Via is very extensive. For example, the software also allows the construction of a Dante network without standalone Dante hardware. In such a way, one can route audio over long distances between PCs or Macs. And, as mentioned above, it is now possible to network any USB microphone, existing mixing console or I/O box that doesn’t have a native Dante port by plugging them into a computer running Dante Via. Commonly-used software applications can also be brought onto a reliable

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network, paving the way for all kinds of simple but effective routing. Just think, for example, of a hotel that wishes to play out background music to a lobby, halls and other shared areas. With Dante Via, it need only grab audio from a specific application like iTunes on the receptionist’s computer and run this signal across the installed network – in the process avoiding the problems that can occur when a computer’s audio-out jack is used.

Or consider a house of worship that wishes to deliver audio to overflow rooms as simply and cheaply as possible.

With Via, they could set up an existing computer with powered speakers and route the audio from the main room to the other spaces. Along similar lines, a corporation that wishes to route audio from a board meeting to other areas of its building over the installed Ethernet backbone might also establish a hasslefree network using Dante Via. We’ve also heard from several customers in schools and colleges who expect to route audio between a main teaching space and other classrooms using the software on existing PCs – another possibility that highlights the software’s scope for saving money.

Via-ble networking

Dante Via can be used on PCs running Windows® 7, 8.1 or 10, or on Macs® using OS X10.9 or higher. Once installed,

“With Dante Via, audio can be routed around as quickly as you can say ‘drag and drop’!” you need only enable the plugged-in audio device or software application and you are ready to have it connect to an entire network. Dante Via can transmit and receive up to 32 x 32 Channels from

connected audio devices, while security settings can be adjusted easily to match individual requirements.

It is clear to us that Dante Via opens up another dimension in the Dante universe – and we are convinced that it will prove popular with customers throughout the Asia-Pacific region, where Dante’s renown is spreading rapidly rising with 245 OEM licensees with approximately 20% headquartered in APAC at the time of writing. We recently opened a major new office in Hong Kong and are racking up some impressive installation credits – for example, Electronics & Engineering’s vast installation at the $1bn Sports Hub development in Singapore, which made industry headlines worldwide, is the planet’s largest Dante network.

Looking ahead, we are planning a range of training events to help spread the word about quite how easy it is to set-up a network with this new software. The phrase ‘everything’s connected’ is one that is often heard these days, but with Dante Via that ideal now seems very close at hand.

You can experience Dante Via for yourself by visiting www.audinate.com/ DanteVia.

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TECH TALK Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

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Top Ten Tips For Effective DSP

By Dane Butcher, Founder & CEO of Symetrix

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Use the right interfaces — wall panels are guaranteed points of control, so think of them as light switches. If a user absolutely has to be guaranteed to always have control over a certain aspect of the system from a certain physical place, that’s the best place for a dedicated wall panel.

Desktop computers can handle more sophisticated system control aspects and are, typically, guaranteed to be in one place. Smartphones and laptops are more BYOD (bring your own device) points of control and should be considered more casual: they are not guaranteed to always be available for multiple users unless permanently installed somehow. They are good for ad-hoc and on-the-go control.

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Using copper, you can get 100m of audio distribution per switch hop.

You can go longer distances (with fewer switches) by converting to fibre.

For both fixed installation and live performance sound, clarity (loudspeaker optimization, alignment and delay) is paramount. For a live performance, one may want to be especially mindful of speaker protection – overall dynamics, limiting – and ear protection. A decent DSP system will have all the tools necessary for either deployment.

The secret of really good sound quality is to keep it simple – and don’t fight physics. There is no substitute for proper acoustic design, followed by system design.

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Go with the network protocol that is easiest to implement, offers the best support, meets technical requirements and works across the whole system. Many system designers may value third party participation and support. This is one area of technology where there is definitely strength in numbers.

Minimizing the number of tools required to perform a task is the best way of improving workflow for the integrator. And you can simplify those tasks by reducing the number of steps required to perform them, without locking out power features that may be required in fringe cases that can really save the day.

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To make a complex design feel simpler, only expose the optimized subset of control necessary for the intended user to operate the system.

Also label controls clearly, and arrange them in a familiar manner.

Remember the difference between Ethernet and IP: Ethernet is a collection of network technologies; IP encompasses a suite of protocols that travel over Ethernet networks.

Any system capable of greater than 64 channels should be designed using components that can adequately handle such capacity and maintain the level of performance required by the application or user.

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You can create a software app for every situation, but it may not be optimal. Software can be tailored for specific tasks or general use cases. When software is tailored for a specific task, it is generally quicker and easier to use for that task but may not be capable of handling other tasks outside of its intended scope. Conversely, when a piece of software is designed to handle anything, it may be able to do so but it can be cumbersome to use, difficult to learn and slow to accomplish certain tasks.

Dane Butcher founded DSP manufacturer Symetrix in 1976, and has guided the company through generational changes in signal processing technology for recording, broadcast and fixed installation. www.symetrix.co

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CONSULTANT SPEAK Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

The development of audio-visual and systems integration industry in any geography not only needs a conducive environment but also proactive thought leaders to initiate progressive thinking and development in the direction. For the Middle East, the earliest such instance was the coming of Cyber-Consult – a European company, founded in 1984 in Vienna, Austria – to UAE- almost two decades ago. It was the first company to receive Trade License for Dubai Internet City in 2000, from H.E. Mohammed Al Gergawi.

Dr. Erich Wessner, CEO of Cyber-Consult

Coming in with professional expertise and dedicated focus on providing IT and AV infrastructure design and consultancy services, Cyber-Consult has literally been part of a majority of prestigious and ambitiously large AV projects in the region.

SI Asia talked to Dr. Erich Wessner, CEO of Cyber-Consult on his vision on the industry stakes in the region. Excerpts: SI Asia: What is your view of the current state of the AVSI industry in the Middle East in terms of dynamism; ability to harness cuttingedge technology; willingness to invest in quality solutions, and availability of skilled human talent?

ERICH: The driving force for the AVSI industry in the region is ambitious development programmes from different governments and large developers requesting latest and sophisticated technology and functionalities in their AV deployments. This is seemingly contributing to a very dynamic business environment which in turn appears to attract the best talent around.

Large developments are planned looking a few years ahead to assure that the Infrastructure can accommodate the latest IT, communication and AV technologies that are likely to come in near future.

Besides some prestigious projects, educational institutions in the UAE, and other geographies in the region

have been providing their students with sophisticated technology-driven learning environment which is a sort of catalysing technology adoption.

So, it can be said to be dynamic and willing to invest in technology, and thereby expertise.

SI Asia: What technologies are driving the industry today?

ERICH: There is a broad stream of upcoming technologies which are influencing all developments from Governmental and Office Buildings to Universities, Hospitality to Healthcare and so on…The keywords driving this dynamism are: • Smart Cities • Internet of Things • BYOD (bring/use your own device)

SI Asia: What is the biggest challenge facing the industry today?

ERICH: To find together with the client the best compromise between available and future technologies and requirements is a major challenge.

CONSULTANT SPEAK Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

On the other hand, besides the required budget to deploy latest technology, availability of required telecommunication channels is also major factor. Having said that, it is also true that Telecom operators in the region are very active in providing people with high speed connectivity with fiber to home (FTH) as well with latest wireless solutions such as 4G and LTE.

SI Asia: Has the emergence of MNC establishments been a contributing factor to the growth of AVSI industry in the region?

ERICH: Definitely, MNC establishments have been generating a fair amount of interest among the clients about latest available technology. Interestingly, Social Media tools have also been creating a demand for easy to access multimedia content. These companies have also been playing a major role in educational institutions by raising the standards.

SI Asia: There is hardly any AVSI equipment manufacturing activity/base in the region- what reasons you see for this, other than the proximity with Europe?

ERICH: Having AVSI equipment manufacturing is not an essential factor for a country to be successful with new technologies. Education, awareness about the requirement and efficient deployment are the key factors; manufacturing for specific requirements or on a larger scale might come in the second phase. I feel the region benefits from its understanding of technologies, and willingness to invest.

intelligent devices including AV to allow the citizens access to those services in a convenient way.

SI Asia: How about the Convergence or ICT turning up in its totality in the region?

ERICH: That is almost everywhere.

We experience this convergence in nearly every aspect of IT & AV systems.

There are no Data Centres anymore which could operate without extensive communication and AV infrastructure.

Most smartphones today on market provide better communication and multimedia features than a professional specialized system we used to see 15 years ago.

SI Asia: How has CyberConsult contributed to the cause of the AVSI industry in the region? What specific initiatives? Would you please elaborate?

ERICH: Cyber-Consult has been involved with the region from the beginning in developing multimedia distribution.

From the early beginnings of the Oracle Media Server, we have been involved with ETISALAT and DU in the first interactive TV distribution systems

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and their deployment in prestigious developments in the UAE. It’s no stopping from then on, and have grown in size and scale to address diverse technology requirements of the industry.

Some of the most prestigious and expansive technology deployments in the region today have Cyber-Consult as part of their design teams.

SI Asia: What is the way forward for the industry?

ERICH: The availability of ‘smart’ services with high bandwidth, in each aspect of our daily life, will drive the market. It will in turn create demand for more intelligent devices in our daily life. From primary health care in your wrist watch, to your government and banking terminal in your smartphone, or the intelligent spectacles which notify you on important issues around you- all comprise a ‘smart’ way of living in times to come.

The key factor, however, will be to use all these services in a secured environment to ensure that they are protected against any fraud; the industry needs to work in this direction, all technology developers have a stake in this. www.cyber-consult.com

SI Asia: Smart Governance and Smart Cities have been the two big things in the region for the last few years.

What role/stake do you see for AV in this activity?

ERICH: As mentioned before, smart governance and smart cities play a key role in catalysing the activities in this direction and to create awareness in the business community and public. The programmes of implementing Smart Cities and other Smart Organizations have been creating a huge market for

Cyber Consult was the project management consultant of The Zayed Grand Hall – centrepiece seat of the Federal National Council, one of the five Federal Authorities of the UAE Government

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INTERVIEW Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Customizing Market Strategy, Pushing The Envelope Networked Visualization Solutions major Barco taking root and growing in Asia Pacific is quite a story. Hearing it and more from Nalin Advani, the company’s Vice-President (Corporate AV & Entertainment) for Asia Pacific, is all the more revealing. Astute Executive that he is, Nalin explains what makes the Belgian multinational brand a success story in a diverse geography like APAC. Having interacted with the Singapore-based Nalin recently to understand all that, SI Asia brings some excerpts: differently than a Japanese. Perspective and requirement differs from one country to the other. Having said that, there are certain commonalities among these nations - their value systems are quite similar; their appreciation of technology is the same. We have learnt how to address this diversity, we have turned this diversity into an asset; what was seen as a challenge was also taken as an opportunity. We were fortunate to organize ourselves like this, and that’s been the key to our success.

SI Asia: Besides that, what reasons would you ascribe this success to?

SI Asia: Tell us something about Barco APAC, how it has grown and fared over the years…

NALIN: Asia Pacific is a high-growth area for Barco. It accounts for as much as 27 per cent of our global business, and it is growing year on year. When I joined Barco, it was around 17-18 per cent.

So, it has grown by over 10 per cent and counting. What is important here is that while the market is very demanding with competent Japanese and Chinese solution providers, we have essentially been playing on their home ground, and winning. This actually signifies we have been able to understand Asian customers better; we put in a lot of focus and effort on working with the systems integrators and consultants, as also our partners to understand how best we can serve the customer.

APAC, though taken as one single administrative domain, is a combination of diverse markets; a Korean customer thinks very differently compared to an Indian, and an Australian thinks

NALIN: One, Asia has been growing more quickly than other parts of the world. Two, we have been very focused on Asian customers, their requirements and trying to address that. There is a segment of customers that is very price-conscious. At the same time, there is another segment of customers for whom price may be an issue, but not the primary one; its priority is quality - it simply wants the best. We have been able to tap into this space all along; in fact, we started off in this space, and captured a lot of it. Having been successful there with a lot of quality credibility, we are now looking at the price-conscious segment where people want a quality product but at a competitive price.

Had we not kept pace with this Asian activity, we would be losing our share.

SI Asia: Barco is known for customizing its solutions dynamically. How do you roll out such vast ranges?

NALIN: I wouldn’t say we customize a specific product for certain markets; rather, we customize our market strategy.

We go to the market, try and understand the diversity, and try to fit into it.

Thanks to the innovation and R&D thrust we have, as also the trust that customers the world over have reposed in us– the brand is on top of the global league.

But we do recognize the need for doing multiple price points. We originally were doing the 3-chip DLP projectors. But we realize single-chip is also important for the market, and we released many single-chip products. A point to note being single-chip doesn’t mean they are inferior, they are very good and serve a particular purpose.

SI Asia: Taken from that perspective, what characterizes Barco’s business philosophy today? How does it percolate from Global to Regional to Local?

NALIN: We see ourselves as a professional – not a consumer – company, and our stated ambition is to dominate the markets we serve. In this pursuit, what we are doing right now is to bring together the primary technologies we have - which are projection and display. What we have done with them is blend connectivity and collaboration and image processing to mean networked visualization.

This means Cloud, and Cloud-based solutions. We are one of the very few companies doing it today. There are companies doing just projection, there are some doing just LEDs, and there are some doing just panels. Again, there are companies doing image processing and some doing just cloud. We’re doing it all as a networked visualization solution.

So, we have brought along the display, image, visualization from a starting point,

INTERVIEW Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

and we are bringing together multiple formats such as LCD, LED projection, connectivity and collaboration.

SI Asia: Having a blueprint of strategy is one thing; implementing it on the ground is another...

NALIN: That we are not a consumer but a professional company gives us a certain amount of resilience. More, a significant portion of our revenues go into our R&D. We have set up R&D centres in India, China, Japan, and North America, besides our HQ, of course. We also acquired some key companies who have knowledge and understanding of the technology and markets. That helps us create products that different markets want - that’s the first part. The second part is our focus on customization. We invest time and effort to understand what we really want to do, and if it is accepted in the market. For example, ClickShare - which is an entirely new space; we got to define what happens with it. As a case in a point, we are trying to discover together with hotel operators what we can provide to their customers through the ClickShare platform. If you look at the upgrades in ClickShare, it is the result of the feedback that we took from the operators and rolled suitable offerings in.

SI Asia: While the market is going gaga over laser projection, Barco has come out with single-chip projection. What is Barco's standpoint on this?

NALIN: Interestingly, Barco has been a leader in laser technology, and we are approaching the space from multiple angles. In cinema, we already have 20+ laser installations. But here we are talking about direct laser which is 6P laser, which means 6 layers of laser light sources - two each for red, green and blue - to make the RGB spectrum.

They are talking about 56000 lumens, which is extremely bright. In corporate environment, people wouldn’t need so many lumens of energy; the game is different here. It is the factor of TCO how does one use the projector without having to change the lamp. It is here

that the laser phosphor projection makes sense. That’s what we sought to voice with the Partners’ Meet in Goa. A case in point is the 62PL model that comes with a good, Barco-quality image and makes its TCO very sensible. Rather than changing the lamp every two-three months, you put it in once and just forget it. This is just the first one, and there are more and more laser-phosphors coming from Barco. For cinema projection, one would need a direct laser of high brightness but for corporate AV, the laser phosphor units make a tremendous amount of sense and compelling TCO.

SI Asia: Is your statement about ‘pushing the envelope’ part of the same strategy and philosophy?

NALIN: Oh yes. Exactly. It is pushing the envelope in multiple directions to encompass variable offerings to diverse requirements. We are already leading in DLP; now we are talking about laser projection. Two major benefits of both direct laser and laser phosphor products are quality of the image and TCO. For the simple reason that they are bright and uniform. In the case of direct laser, there isn’t even a flicker. The other advantage is the colour precision. You know Barco’s logo is a brilliant red. It looks as good as it is seen naturally; and not just Barco red, it’s for every colour.

It’s not easy to do that but we have done it. That’s the beauty of laser.

When it comes to TCO, it’s about the operational ease and elimination of incremental costs. The initial capex may appear to be higher but the fact that it totally eliminates the risks of changing bulbs often makes for substantial savings; moreover, the operational ease is manifold better than a lamp projector.

Capex is a priority for the consumer segment, but for the professional segment, it is this TCO that matters most.

SI Asia: On one side you have the Barco brand ClickShare, and on the other is the 4K excitement that also speaks

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about content delivery.

How do you see these two impacting the APAC market?

NALIN: That is a very good and complex question. With ClickShare, Barco has entered a space where our volumes are very high. We have already shipped several hundred thousands of ClickShare buttons and over 60,000 ClickShare base units worldwide. It’s totally a Barco brand, and people who would otherwise see it once or twice in their lifetime are seeing it almost every day now. 4K, on the other hand, is a generic standard which is not owned by anyone but everyone is notionally obliged to contribute. It is something that relates to relevance - for cinema, yes, but for homes, may be not - for the simple reason that 4K TV may look good but what about 4K content? So, 4K display on a consumer front may not be relevant yet but on the professional front, yes.

SI Asia: If you were to prioritize the agenda for Barco for the next few years, what would it be like?

NALIN: Delighting the customer, leading by innovation, and understanding our markets and customers. We are focused on developing and keeping in place teams that are trained on fielding queries, simplifying complex things, helping customers know what they really want, and figuring out a saleable solution. It can also be understanding technology, a role in logistics, marketing etc. Leading by Innovation is selfexplanatory. Besides the well-spread R&D network, we have 56000 direct laser which no one has; ClickShare, which no one else has brought out. The rental & staging projectors are designed to be modular, highly reliable by means of very innovative technology.

We are always happy to listen to our customers, especially on platforms like the Partners’ Meet in Goa and to try to understand what the market wants from us. That’s an important part of our initiatives and strategy for the market. www.barco.com

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INTERVIEW Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Being More Productive With Little Stress – With Cyviz

Tony Abou Jawad, a seasoned regional AV/ICT SI professional, and erstwhile top executive of Genesis Integration ICT, is on a new journey for a few months now. Having taken a pivotal call to opt out of the leading SI enterprise, in January of 2015 Tony joined Cyviz, a global provider of high performance visualization, collaboration and command & control environments.

Based out of Dubai as its Regional Manager-Middle East, Tony is heralding the technology experience cause of the Stavanger, Norway-headquartered Cyviz. SI Asia interacted with Tony recently to know more about his role, and what Cyviz seeks to bring to place. Excerpts: It was the time for a new challenge for Genesis, with new leadership team, and an opportunity for the employees and partners to take up the reigns. That was why I bid adieu, and set forth to exploring new horizons of new genre technology deployment. A few months later the leadership at Cyviz presented me with an offer to join them and participate in their global expansion challenge. So, after a few months of homework, and investigating Cyviz roots as a product innovator, technology developer, and company, I accepted the challenge. The transition from Genesis Integration to Cyviz took several months and involved a few new AV industry veterans joining Genesis.

SI Asia: It's been roughly nine months now since your coming onboard Cyviz. How has the journey been?

TONY: Simply put, it’s been very enlightening. Working with a manufacturer of collaborative technology tools is surprisingly different from being an ICT/AV contractor (system integration). Working with the vision and roadmap of the technology of Cyviz gave me an opportunity to glimpse into the way people meet, collaborate, create, and solve problems in the future. The bland meeting spaces and instructional spaces of today are uninspiring and complicated. Working with Cyviz has shown me it doesn't have to be this way. So, with a quiet mind, and much better understanding of how we can make our clients’ and end users’ lives more productive and less stressful, I find myself building up momentum for Cyviz in the Middle East and North Africa.

SI Asia: You were a leading system integrator and entrepreneur in your previous stint. What made you change stance?

TONY: It is true that I have made a drastic change. I started with Genesis in 2007 as the first Managing Director, and together with my partners, I set some goals for Genesis to be one of the top three AV SI enterprises in the Middle East, and expand further with regional offices. Over the following tough seven years with a lot of help and hard work, we largely achieved this goal. In 2014 Genesis had achieved an order book of (in work in progress) over US$30 million, with 140 staff and notable iconic reference projects in higher education, hospitality and government projects.

Our challenge, and my challenge of steering the company into the top three, profitable, AV/ICT SI enterprises was achieved.

SI Asia: What exactly describes your role in the new profile?

TONY: My role in Cyviz is simple. I manage the Cyviz Technology Centre (CTC) in Dubai Internet City. This is the place where Cyviz showcases their technology in action. We have several different Cyviz experiences based on different technologies and room configurations. I like to think of it as a place where people come to experience effective collaboration tools as they should be. The CTC houses our technical support team, logistics, and project management teams for MENA and APAC. As with all general management positions my role entails continuing the spotless reputation of this industry specialist organization, growing and retaining an effective team of professionals.

INTERVIEW Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

SI Asia: To what extent do you believe you have been able to make it? How would you describe your major achievements during these few months?

TONY: I have to thank the Cyviz team for their support and patience; without their support I wouldn’t have been able to achieve such early successes. The major achievements over the last two quarters have been strengthening our position in the Oil & Gas segment by promoting the latest technology we have for collaborative work environments as well as breaking into the military and security crisis room market by changing the way people and end users perceive those spaces. Here is a hint: Control room spaces have not changed much over the last 20 years, now is the time for a change in the way we use these spaces.

The driving factors for an operations room are not all the same, content is not viewed in the same way and we rarely have all the information we need within the four walls of the control room.

SI Asia: Middle East is a mix of too many diverse market geographies. What has been the most promising, and challenging? And why?

TONY: As I look at them, the UAE, and Qatar are the most promising, and, at the same time, challenging.

The economic stress of $40-a barrel oil price, coupled with these countries’ participation in regional security efforts presents them with a Damocles sword situation with less money for capital and operational expenditure they must secure their base. But these countries still need to achieve their overarching goals, and I find for those who have time to listen, Cyviz does offer an attractive ROI (return on investment). One example

of an overarching goal is to minimize the response time during a crisis or an emergency situation. So a platform like Cyviz, whose display technology gives the situational awareness to people involved in less than 30 seconds, while having effective access to experts at the push of a button is a crucial tool.

SI Asia: What sets apart Cyviz solutions from the similar offerings in the market?

TONY: That's an interesting question… to get the productivity rewards our clients get from a Cyviz solution would require the following: • A five-year study by experts into human-machine interaction • 18-years of experience with multidisciplinary collaboration users, which started at the University of Oslo in 1998 • An industry leading pixel management system • Low-level, native integration with technology provided by the likes of Cisco, and Microsoft • An IT company that lives in the information technology world and looks at a space in the same way we look at a software application, and what it can do for us Believe it or not, no one else in the industry has this combination, and therefore, I don't believe if there is a competitor with similar technology offering.

SI Asia: Getting a bit generic, and away from Cyviz, how have the ME AV markets behaved in the last one year?

TONY: Honestly, one only has to watch or read the news in the media on how the Middle East has been impacted on various fronts. I read of national security

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concerns and regional political changes, as well as a re-thinking on how to handle the dwindling oil prices. That said, I am happy to report that the Middle East Market has behaved reasonably well given the circumstances.

SI Asia: What technology you believe has impressed/ impacted the market the most?

TONY: Thankfully, new technologies are abundant today, and I find technology for the sake of technology is not impacting the market by any measurable scale. Our End Users are clever enough to know that they want from a display, or a video conferencing product/company; they will have already made their choices on manufacturers for infrastructure before they seek proposals from solution providers.

However, I have to say that these choices do not affect an open standard-based company like Cyviz.

What today's market needs is clear direction on organizational best practices involved with using technology to achieve their own goals. That's where an academic-roots company like Cyviz shines. Cyviz has studied the way we use their technology for many years, and thus built their technology around the key objective of our clients no matter who they are. Every quarter Cyviz releases new functions and solutions; there are decades of ideas in the pipeline, being tested by our R&D teams.

SI Asia: What is the immediate future for Cyviz in the region?

TONY: I'm happy to say that the Dubai CTC has shown good results over the last few years. The results have encouraged the opening of similar centres – larger and smaller – in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Asia Pacific. These centres will not only demonstrate the benefits of Cyviz solutions but also strengthen the support and dedication of Cyviz to our client bases geographically. www.cyviz.com

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USER PERSPECTIVE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur Keeps Up With Modern Times Click Grafix provided an all-rounded Digital Signage solution

With the advent of audiovisual technology, we see professional AV integration in almost every aspect of our daily lives. Aside from corporate, professional AV solutions are also being rapidly applied in verticals such as retail, education, hospitality, houses of worship etc., hence, it's no surprise that even the healthcare industry are catching on the use of AV technology with digital signage being the most common solution.

To demonstrate how digital signage solutions are applied in the hospitals, SI Asia approached Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur to discuss the AV trend.

About Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur

Established in 1974, Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur is a premier healthcare facility under the Parkway Pantai Limited (PPL) group of hospitals. Located in the bustling district of Bangsar, the hospital started off with only 68 beds and 20 medical specialists. Today, the hospital boasts over 300 beds and more than 200 doctors.

For the 41-year old hospital, major upgrades were deemed due and essential. To better accommodate the surge in patients and doctors, Pantai Hospital recently underwent a major renovation on Block A, the original hospital block which was first built in 1974. The old block was demolished then rebuilt and refurbished into a new 12-storey building. With the renovation project just completed earlier this year, the new block gave patients, doctors and visitors additional parking spaces and retail options as well.

The new building has no wards, but it is the beating heart of the hospital as it houses the specialist centres, offices and out-patient clinics. Organized and welllaid, the new hospital wing is easy for patients and visitors to navigate around.

Motivation Behind The Digital Signage Implementation

So what motivated Pantai Hospital to install digital signage in its premises?

We spoke to Puan Norhaslina Othman,

By Shireen Ho

Senior Manager – Business Development for Pantai Hospital to find out more.

“As a healthcare institution, we have many things that we need to communicate to the public, be it our patients, visitors or even internal staff.

There are public notices we need to put in, there are advertisements, there are internal promotions and at times we are also required to issue health alerts. Hence with this vast amount of information, the Management decided that the hospital will need something that is easy to update, interactive and modern,” explained Puan Norhaslina.

“Looking at the layout of the hospital building, you can see that it is actually quite futuristic and modern so we wanted to keep to the theme. That's why we decided to install Digital Signage,” she continued.

USER PERSPECTIVE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

When asked what was used previously to broadcast public messages, Puan Norhaslina replied that bulletin boards with aluminium frames were their main publicity tool. When they need to put up new information, the Marcom team will have to print out A3 or A4 posters and slot it into the frames.

“It was nice, but it doesn't have the impact of digital signage where you can have all the images and whatnots. So that's why we decided that we need to move a step up. With Digital Signage, there are so many things we can do, so many types of content we can push.”

pharmacy at level 4; the children's area, lift lobbies, and waiting areas in specialist clinics which are all spread throughout the building.

Doctor's Directory: 6-Screen Video Wall When a visitor first visits the hospital, he or she will be greeted by a 6-screen video wall which is also the doctor's directory. Using 6 units of 55” Display (Model: HP LD7355), the video wall is visually pleasing and does create an impact.

Getting The Idea Around It

Once the management decided that they wanted to do install a Digital Signage solution, they tendered out their project stating specifications and requirements. Click Grafix then came into the picture with the key contractor who was commissioned by the hospital project team.

At the beginning, although the hospital management team had a rough idea of what they wanted to do, the actual details were still fuzzy. Upon meeting and discussing with Click Grafix and the vendors/parties involved, the team then formulated a more concrete proposal to meet their needs.

As this was Pantai Hospital's first experience with Digital Signage, a teething period was inevitable. Especially for the Marcom staff, who worked closely with Click Grafix to get the help and guidance they needed to make it happen.

“We are learning a lot in terms of what content we want to put in. We need to think of the layout, position, design, content etc. This is very different from just printing information on paper and putting it up,” remarked Puan Norhaslina.

A Visitor's (Potential) Experience

There are a total of six key areas where Digital Signage solutions can be seen.

These are: the reception area and doctor's directory in the main lobby; the

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But it was not all smooth-sailing and positive at first. “We received complaints from doctors initially because they don't see their names on it. Then we realised that because it is a digital signage, it needs to go on a few loops before it will repeat and appear. To address that, we have now shorten the loop to two. As it is new, there are still some changes we need to do, but overall, everyone's really excited about it,” said Puan Norhaslina.

At the same time, the video wall is also daisy-chained and content can be spread across all 6 screens to give a full landscape image. Hence the video wall also acts as VIP placard for Pantai Hospital to welcome special guests.

Once, it was used to put up a 'Welcome To Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur To The Team of XXX' message to a group of delegates, much to the delight of the guests. More than a doctor's directory, the video wall can be a 'digital signage for something else' and gives a 'feelgood factor'.

Now, after checking the doctor's directory, the visitor knows which clinic to go to... but how to go there?

Reception Desk: Interactive Wayfinding Directory In order to find their way around, the visitor can approach the reception counter or check out the Interactive

Directory which is displayed on two units of 42” HP LD4245tm Touch Screens, each positioned on one end of the Reception Counter, for directions.

For the more tech-savvy visitors, the interactive directory has proved to be a novel way-finding tool. “It was a challenge at first as we had to rectify a few location errors here and there, but overall it has been an interesting and informative experience albeit the steep learning curve,” said Puan Norhaslina.

And does the hospital find that the interactive wayfinding directory has helped to lighten the burden of front desk staff?

“Yes, I think it does. As you can see with the video wall, quite a few visitors now will just want to stand there and look for information on their own. Likewise for interactive directory, some visitors are quite curious and prefer to do things on their own, this is especially true for the younger generation.”

This was exemplified by what we saw earlier at the reception area. Already quite a few visitors were seen using the interactive directory to find their way.

In particular, there was a male visitor who was looking at it and while the staff offered her help, he politely declined, saying, “It’s okay, I can find it on my own”.

But of course, as the hospital serves a wide range of patients, there are visitors and older patients who prefer to speak with a front desk staff, hence having staff on duty at all times is still necessary.

Lift Lobbies, Waiting Areas & Children's Area: Information Displays To keep visitors and patients entertained while at the hospital, dynamic displays can be seen almost everywhere. Most of it were prominently installed at lift lobbies, waiting areas at clinics and children's corners located in the building.

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USER PERSPECTIVE Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

The Pharmacy: Integrating Queue System with Digital Signage Over at the pharmacy, Click Grafix has done a customised integration with the queue system to display queue numbers on a side frame with content playing on the main frame.

Whether it is waiting for the lift to arrive or for a doctor's appointment at the clinic, visitors and patients are kept entertained and informed at all times, be it general health information, public service announcements, health alerts, messages from the hospital team or advertisements etc,.

In total, 11 units of 42” Display (Model: HP4210) were installed vertically at all lift lobbies and 26 units of the same display were installed horizontally at strategic locations within the waiting areas of specialist clinics including: the Health Screening Centre, Heart Centre, Endoscopy Centre, Spine & Joint Centre, Hand & Upper Limb Centre. The same displays can also be found at the main lobby area as well as the satellite pharmacy.

Using Scala digital signage solution, Pantai Hospital is able to remotely distribute content to any designated network screen from a centralized location, curate customised multimedia content and play content according to a user-defined schedule. For example, for patients at the Heart Centre, the hospital can customise the content they are sending to the screens located in the Heart Centre. Likewise, specific content for Endoscopy or Health Screening Centre can also be distributed only to particular clinics and be seen by the relevant audience. This improves relevancy and help the team to better distinguish the content they have.

On top of it, the Scala player can also schedule different content for different times of the day for different locations – giving users total flexibility. “In terms of accessibility, users can remotely control the content, make changes and distribute it from anywhere as long as they have internet access,” said Patricia Lip, Senior Manager – Marcom, for Click Grafix.

On the queue system, Puan Norhaslina explained that the screens in the pharmacy area are mainly there for the purpose of displaying queue numbers, some general health content and advertisement. But moving forward, the hospital has a bigger plan for their queue system.

“To make it more comprehensive and efficient, we are hoping to integrate the queue system into our entire digital signage ecosystem. Ultimately, our idea is to allow patients to be able to check for their turn wherever they are in the hospital. So that means that they don't necessarily have to be at level 4 in order to check out the queue system display, but can also do it while they are taking a break at the coffee shop, buying a book at the bookstore or just passing by some common areas in the hospital. This frees the patient of having to be at one place, especially if the queue is long, and bring with it a kind of convenience which I think will be very interesting and efficient for the hospital,” said Puan Norhaslina.

At the same time, the digital signage has also become a platform for advertisement.

“We have been speaking to some pharmaceutical companies and they are just waiting for our ad rates. So we are hoping to see more types of content coming up,” she commented.

Key Challenges

When asked what is the key challenge for this project, Puan Norhaslina

replied 'Content', without a moment of hesitation.

“You can have all the hardware and whatnot, but you also need to know what content is good and can attract people. Lucky for us, we have Click to help us out to re-purpose our print content into digital materials. But we knew that the content must not be static and has to be changed frequently. But unfortunately for hospitals, we have too much information and to condense it into something that is very visual is not easy.”

Currently, Click Grafix is helping Pantai Hospital to manage the content until they are trained and comfortable to manage on their own. As Scala's authorized distributor and certified partner in Malaysia, the training session is conducted by Click Grafix as well.

“For now, we have appointed Click to manage the content for us. I think we will take at least a year to be familiar with it.

To get the content right, we still need their support now,” Puan Norhaslina asserted.

Advise For Someone Who Wants To Implement Digital Signage?

Having completed phase 1 of the project, the hospital now looks forward to phase 2, where the centralised queue system would be the key focus.

So what advise would Puan Norhaslina give to someone who is looking at digital signage solutions for hospitals?

“To first establish the purpose of having a digital signage which will allow one to plan on the type of screen / display required as well as types of content. Be involve from the beginning as there are many facets of things that require further coordination with other departments.

It will be helpful to work with an established company to leverage on their experience and ensure sufficient support and timely turnaround time.” www.pantai.com.my www.clickgrafix.com

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IRAQ

Iraqi Holy Shrine Auditorium Gets IC Live Qurtuba Broadcasting and Communications Servi es (QBCS) provides full AV solution Disturbances, conflicts, uncertainties, and such other apprehensive atmosphere notwithstanding, AV install activity sometimes appears as usual in otherwise volatile geographies. Here is one very heartening case(study) in point.

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he Shrine of Hussein Ibn Ali is one of the oldest holy shrines in Iraq, marking the burial site of Husayn Ibn Ali, third Imam of Shia Islam, with hundreds of thousands of faithful making the pilgrimage to visit the shrine each year.

The site also hosts a number of conferences, meetings, and lectures, primarily held in the shrine's Sayed Al-Awssiya'a Auditorium. As part of an extensive expansion of the holy site, the 318-seat Auditorium recently received a substantial audio and video upgrade, including a new sound system centered on Renkus-Heinz Iconyx IC Live steerable array loudspeakers.

Baghdad-based Qurtuba Broadcasting and Communications Services (QBCS) provided full audio, video, and control systems for the auditorium, working together with Ardh Al-Quds, the main contractors on the project.

As Abdulrazzak Hummadi, CEO of QBCS explains, the site's protected historical status proved a challenge in designing the audio system. "The architects placed severe constraints on the locations of the

speakers, and the methods of installing them," says Hummadi. "This led us to seek an alternative to traditional loudspeakers."

The audio system is comprised of left and right arrays of two IC Live ICL-FR arrays each. A pair of PN61-R compact two-way loudspeakers provides front fill.

After reviewing a wide range of alternatives, audio engineer Ricardo Castro suggested the Renkus-Heinz IC Live digitally steered array loudspeaker for the venue. IC Live beam steering is designed to create tightly focused beams of sound that can be accurately steered directly toward the audience, and away from walls, ceilings, and other reflective surfaces, dramatically improving intelligibility.

Hummadi adds that logistical constraints also added to the challenge. "The site is fully occupied with people, 24 hours a day," he explains. "Needless to say, this required both patience and careful planning."

The slim, low profile IC Live design also made it an ideal choice for minimal visual impact. Nonetheless, says Hummadi, the system was an unknown to the customer, and had to pass the critical listening test. "Due to the fact that this was our first time working with Renkus-Heinz and Iconyx technology, we approached the decision making process very slowly and thoroughly. The support provided by the company was outstanding, and that helped make the decision that much easier."

That patience and planning paid off, says Hummadi. "The first test was simply amazing! The Sound Transmission Level testing showed excellent results, with very consistent coverage throughout the entire venue."

Hummadi concludes, "It was truly an amazing opportunity to work with these Renkus-Heinz products. Despite the many constraints we had with it being a holy site, I think we have built an effective and attractive solution." www.qbcs.net www.renkus-heinz.com

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THAILAND

Bank Of Thailand Upgrades HeadQuarters With Shure DIS Systems Shure Discussion & Conference Systems Support Thailand's Central Bank

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he Bank of Thailand (BOT), formerly set up as the Thai National Banking Bureau, was officially established in 1942 with the responsibility over all central banking functions and the mission to provide a stable financial environment for sustainable economic growth in the country. Situated on the bank of the Chao Phraya River, the central bank is located on the grounds of the Bangkhunprom and Devavesm Palaces, which had been converted to the original Bank of Thailand headquarters several decades ago. After having moved their operations to a newly built building in 2007, the BOT subsequently decided to fully renovate and modernize its former head office, making it ready to support the institutions growing tasks and operational needs.

Vichai Trading, system integrator and authorized distributor for Shure DIS products in Thailand, had already provided A/V solutions for the newly constructed headquarter building in 2007, including a customized DCS 6000 Conference System for the main conferencing facilities. As trusted long-term supplier, Vichai was brought in again for the system upgrade in the recently renovated building, handling the installation of discussion and conferencing systems in 26 rooms across 8 floors.

90% of these conference rooms are frequently used for internal operational and departmental meetings. To facilitate structured discussions in these setups, Vichai opted for the DDS 5900 Digital Discussion System. Over 290 discussion units were installed across 23 meeting

rooms. Easily and quickly configurable as either chairman or delegate units, the DC 5980 P Discussion Units feature exchangeable button overlays to match the desired functionality, and the builtin, high quality loudspeakers provide clear, individual sound reinforcement for each meeting participant. The units are controlled by a CU 5905 Central Unit in each room, which can also connect the system to external AV systems or recording equipment.

Further to the internal meeting rooms, the modernized building also comprises a large conferencing chamber featuring a 32-seat round table in the center of the room, and an additional 20 seats in a surrounding semi-circle table. The venue is frequently used by the Bank of Thailand Governor to host meetings with economic leaders at both local and international levels. For these purposes, the BOT required an advanced conferencing solution with the capability to add software-enabled functionalities like speech flow control, electronic document sharing, voting, etc. Offering a comprehensive, all-in-one solution, Vichai installed the DCS 6000 Digital Conference System.

Connected in a daisy-chain via CAT5e cabling, each seat is now furnished with a DC 6990 P Conference Unit with builtin loudspeaker and integrated 3.5-inch LCD graphical color touch screen for user interaction. Delegates, secretarial staff or the chairman can use any of the digital units by simply logging in with a code or by inserting a personal chip card. Once signed in, the user is greeted with a tailored welcome screen. Marking a quantum leap in conferencing, the

DCS 6000 system combines established conferencing capabilities with latest PC technology.

With add-on SW 6000 Conference Management Software and customizable functionality, the system offers great flexibility for the meeting organizer to tailor each and every meeting. Users can be given the ability to see the active speaker list, request list, and speech time, or view agenda, messages, and other conference information on the screen of their conference unit. The units can also be used for voting, offering either 3 or 5 voting buttons, and later display of the voting results.

To cater for international meetings where simultaneous interpretation is required, Vichai further provided IS 6132 P Portable Interpreter Units. Delegates are able to select the audio channel with their preferred language using the touch screen on their conference unit, and listen to the interpreted audio through the comfortable and light-weight DH 6021 stereo headphone connected to the unit.

Working closely with the BOTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s internal engineering department, mechanical and electrical consultant together with the architect and interior designer ensured Vichai Trading could perfectly execute their plans within the allocated timeframe. With a full suite of modern AV resources, the Bank of Thailand has now been future-proofed and is fully equipped to support crucial decision making within the financial institution. www.shure.com/asia

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SINGAPORE

CATO Singapore Mixes Music, Food And Drinks Seamlessly

A fixed-architecture standalone processor underpins a subtle but effective audio installation at the recently-opened CATO Singapore price point, the Symetrix DSP is easy to use and provides the appropriate amount of I/Os while offering the ability to configure ‘on the fly’ because it’s plug-and-play.”

In the final design, a single Symetrix Jupiter 8 app-based DSP handles audio processing and routing across both floors. Inputs include a Mac Mini computer and CD player, while two Symetrix ARC-2e wall panels facilitate quick and easy system adjustment.

The completed installation also reveals a strong commitment to top-quality loudspeakers, with ten EAW speakers and a sub in the bar on the second level, and six JBL ceiling speakers in the restaurant on the ground floor.

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nyone who has had the good fortune to visit Singapore will be aware that it possesses an extraordinarily dynamic bar and restaurant culture. Delivering a wide range of modern Asian cuisine, CATO Singapore is one of the latest additions to this lively scene – and a robust Symetrix DSP is at the core of its highend audio infrastructure.

For the project and installer, locallybased Electronics & Engineering Pte Ltd (E&E), the initial starting point was actually an off-duty conversation between E&E sales engineer Louis Ling and the venue’s music director, Arjun Singh. They have been friends for a long time and were chatting one evening when Arjun told Louis that he was involved in opening a bar with a group of friends.

As the venue took shape, it became evident that there needed to be processing scope for the upstairs bar and downstairs restaurant areas to be managed both separately and

collectively. The eventual system also had to cope with the demands of background music and live DJ sets.

“There was a requirement to split up and consolidate the spaces via effective routing, while being able to tune both areas uniquely in accordance with the speakers that were installed,” explains Menon. “In addition to its attractive

Singh and his colleagues are “extremely satisfied with the sound quality” of the system, adding that E&E is currently working on an expansion initiative: “We are looking at a design to route the audio back via a Dante Virtual Soundcard so that we can record DJ sets and also stream them over the internet.” www.symetrix.co www.enepl.com.sg

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ABU DHABI

Zayed Grand Hall: A Class Of Its Own Cyber Consult, Business Link Electronics & SiliconCore come together for a master install at FNC, Abu Dhabi

The Zayed Grand Hall – centrepiece seat of the Federal National Council, one of the five Federal Authorities of the UAE Government – is a fittingly grand statement of superlative technology play. Envisaged to embody the best breed and blend of technologies to serve diverse high-end purposes, the facility brought together some of the best brains in the AV industry from the region, and beyond, to present what is arguably a class-of-its-own AV fare. SI Asia presents an exclusive of what went into its making.

The Prelude The Federal National Council (FNC) fourth in terms of order in the hierarchy among the five federal authorities established by the UAE Constitution – is one of the most important Constitutional seats of government. Created essentially to provide for public debate of legislations made by the government, it discuss proposals and plans for various federal ministries, entities, and public institutions.

The 40-Member body – with proportionate representation from the seven Emirates of the country – convenes regular sessions for a period of not less than seven months from the third week of October every year.

While its deliberations are open to

public, it also holds closed sessions in some demanding situations. Apart from the congressional activities with voting system, that the deliberations are intended to be broadcast and streamed live both for the Abu Dhabi TV (Media), and also FNC’s own streaming website, the technology implemented needed to be of highest quality, and yet simple to use.

The FNC, accordingly, decided to revamp its existing facility with the latest solutions available on market.

“The Project was planned to replace the existing out-dated systems (with the latest) to provide complete audio visual solution to the Hall’s Government Conferences,” says the IT Manager at

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seven suppliers or companies bidding on this. We designed it as flexible as it can get.”

the FNC’s General Secretariat. “The vision was to have a professional and versatile solution that meets the requirement with ease, and also costeffectively.”

“Given the scale of the events that the facility conducts, having a highend professional AV system was an absolute need,” explains the Systems and Network Consultant at the FNC’s IT Department. “Having been 15 years into the business, we knew what we neededa high quality, and multi-functional AV set-up,” he said, “we have worked out our plan accordingly.”

The Project Team

Driven by the vision and mission, the FNC administration, in association with its IT department then scouted for able solution providers who could fulfil their requirement- even as it deployed its full team of in-house engineers and design planners. Thus came onboard two of FNC’s long-trusted professional firms: locally-based AV systems integrator Business Link Electronics and Dubaibased project management consultant Cyber Consult.

“Owing to the high-profile activities, and delegates involved, the FNC administration wanted the best governmental services and smartest solutions that reflected its vision,” explains Dr. Erich Wessner, CTO of the Cyber Consult. That the consulting firm had the trust of FNC based on its track record of successful consultancy on Abu Dhabi government projects like Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR), FNC’s choice for prestigious task was a sort of ease.

According to Dr. Erich, the task for the firm was to: • Prepare tender documents • Support the client in the bidders’ evaluation • Supervise systems implementation • Prepare and certify the handover procedures • Suggest future amendments For the systems integrator Business Link Electronics, the task was to install a fully

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Eng. Mohammed Sabah Jasim, General Manager at BLE

automated, integrated AV system with high-end broadcasting. “The system had to comprise audio, video, networking, broadcasting, and live-streaming,” explains Eng. Mohammed Sabah Jasim, General Manager at BLE, who was involved with the project from day one.

“That the content captured there would go to the Abu Dhabi TV on one side and to the FNC website on the other the quality had to be very high,” he explains further. “It required something different from the routine; yet it had to be innovative, easy-to-use, and costeffective too.”

The Project Plan

Tuning themselves into the vision and expectations of the client, the project team designed an aggressive solution. “I call it aggressive because the design we evolved had to provide for multi-input to multi output, quick recording, playback and storage,” explains Jasim. “We built up the specifications along with the client, and worked along with as many as

The AV design essentially comprised a huge 7 x 4 meter high resolution LED video wall created at the centre of the facing wall of the Grand Hall; a Congressional system with voting, and monitors at each delegate seat; and Full HD broadcast set-up for live streaming.

Central to the whole big mission was understandably the LED video wall, coming in, as it did, as a refreshingly new design element, making it first of its kind in the region.

While the broadcast camera systems are from the Abu Dhabi TV-preferred grass valley, the video wall solution is from the SI-suggested SiliconCore – the Silicon Valley-headquartered solution provider who has been pioneering the new breed of LED video walls globally.

The rest of the systems are based on the best available on market, and those suggested by the project team.

“I had seen the SiliconCore solution at InfoComm 2012, and was pretty much convinced of its quality; they assured us the best services, and we decided to work together,” explained Jasim.

“The requirement at FNC, on the other hand, was to show crystal clear images on the large display, probably with high intensity of ambient light.”

According to the integrator, there was indeed a serious thought process on

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whether to use this solution purely because it wasn’t going to show just people’s images, but also the presentation data, documents often coming in small and diverse fonts in Arabic. A person sitting 20 meters away from the display wall should be able to read the data and fonts clearly. “All this was achieved successfully with Silicon Core display wall. So, the solution was found to be working fine with the requirement.”

“A 7.0m x 4.0m Silicon Core Peony 2.6 wall was chosen as providing the ideal compromise between pixel pitch (i.e. closest viewing distance), resolution, viewing angle, brightness, power consumption, expected lifetime and cost,” explains Steve Scores, Silicon Core’s vice-president-EMEA. “The main considerations were to define the pixel pitch/resolution, front end processing, and service access while optimising the display for low power consumption and the ability to provide a short MTTR (mean time to repair).”

(Read the separate interview)

The Project CentreStage

While this large LED video wall takes the centre stage in terms of sheer appeal, the technology play that has been weaved around it, and the streaming tasks, is what makes the install truly incredible. It allows streaming of 1080p HD signal very fast from anywhere in the hall to the Control Room and to the storage.

“We have achieved a speed of 17 GB per second of data transfer from the Mac PC server to the storage. We do not think anyone in the UAE has achieved this,” says the BLE Exec. “It is one of the prideful accomplishments from our install here.” The Full HD 1080p broadcast

cameras stream the feed to the Mac PC, which then sends it to the storage that has a whopping 100 TB space to begin with.

Moving this full 1080p HD image – they call it the Master Image – from the broadcast set-up, from the mixer, and throughout the network by means of Aavara – procured from Taiwan – is claimed to be yet another unique feature. “We are now able to broadcast live full HD 1080p video feed across the network,” explains Jasim, “officials in the FNC administration ranks can see live full HD video from the Grand Hall.”

Another important aspect of the system here is the combination of the DIS conferencing system, and the data required to be shown along with the speaker/presenter on the big screen.

Once a delegate presses the microphone button in front of him/her, the camera will move in that speaker’s direction, capture his/her image and show it on the

display screen. Next to the image area on the screen will be the voting, or data presentation display area. If the chairman is speaking, the display screen by means of the camera will show the chairman, and / or the voting or presentation data depending upon the occasion. This means that, it can show two or three images and /or voting or presentation data.

“This is a special app custom-developed for the FNC administration,” explains the BLE General Manager. “This activity was not there before; we incorporated this as per the client’s spec,” he elaborates.

According to him, a high-level of customization has been weaved into the application part of the integration to be in tune with the requirement and expectations of the client.

Endorses the IT Consultant of FNC: “we have as many as 23 Parliamentary applications to support our operations on diverse aspects of administration;

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and we are not yet done fully; we are constantly working on adding newer apps to fully cover our entire structure of operations.”

There are as many as ten presentation points distributed in the hall where delegates can connect their laptops and show presentations, explains the SI. Simultaneously, they can also show the delegate concerned on the display screen. Audio is of course an integral part of the solution.

The capability of transferring data at an incredible speed has reportedly enabled the facility users to stream A/V or data feeds instantly and with crystal clear clarity which has won the accolades from both FNC administration as well as the participants. More, all this data can also be transferred online, but it needs to be downgraded in video feed resolution to comply with the web parameters.

The Control Room that does all the backend support is powered by an AMX Controller with a combination of Blackmagic, and TVOne and Extron devices, besides Samsung monitors and electronics. “The design is future proof,” explains Azhaurddin, the BLE’s site engineer who got deeply involved with the project execution. “It’s been designed to cater to the needs arising in future times as well.”

The Project Challenges

An install of this scale couldn’t have come without challenges. The project team does admit that, and the foremost challenge has been the time. “We were given a total of 70 days to design, install, integrate and commission the system,” explains the IT Manager. “However, we got just around 50 days for the entire process to complete, as a good time was taken to prepare and receive the order before going into install process.”

According to Cyber Consult, the challenge actually assumed bigger proportions due to the fact that the team had to coordinate with the suppliers, some of them getting the systems shipped from overseas.

Adding to their challenges from the other side was the redoing of interiors part. The central area holding the LED

display video wall was actually a strong concrete wall; the project team had to demolish the full wall; build the LED wall holding truss first; build staircases on either side to walk up; and then fix in the LED wall.

While they were not to tamper with the interior décor, they had to remove and redo certain areas of interiors to fix electronics and cabling. There was, of course, the HVAC ducting which had to be totally invisible. All this meant a fair degree of carpentry, HVAC, civil and electrical work that had to go hand in hand even as the install worked out their installation proceedings.

Recalls Jasim: “One example here was the outer frame for the LED display which has completely been changed.

Even the Control Room had to be changed a lot, as there was again a thick wall and other structures; we had to demolish them and create the Control Room out of that.”

While redoing the structure was one thing, procuring the equipment was the other. For the simple fact that even manufacturers have got their own limitations of making the required number of units and shipping them to the site before time.

Fulfilling the time stipulation despite this set of challenges was high on the project team’s mind and success fare too- for, a failure to meet the deadline would have invited significant penalties.

The Project Accomplishment

The FNC administration has largely been satisfied and happy with the integration work rendered by their long-trusted SI. “It is good, as it is,” says the FNC IT Consultant, “however, we have implemented only half the plan we made; we hope it would be far more cutting edge once we have the complete plan in operation.” www.businesslinkelctronics.com www.cyber-consult.com www.siliconcore.com

PROJECT FACT FILE

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• Project Name: Federal National Council, Zayed Grand Hall (Video Wall, Broadcast, Congress and Automation System) • Project Segment: Government • Project Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE • Project Owners: Government of Abu Dhabi • Project Nature: (Congressional AV, Automation, Video Wall, Broadcast, Live Streaming …........................................

• Project Management Consultant: Cyber-Consult, Dubai • AV Design Consultant: Business Link Electronics, Abu Dhabi • AV system integrator: Business Link Electronics, Abu Dhabi • HVAC consultant (in-house): Federal National Council • Lighting consultant (in-house): Federal National Council ..............................................

• AV Installation type: Audio Conferencing; Broadcast, Live Streaming, LED Video Wall and Automation • AV Project commencement Date: -1 August 2014 • AV Project Commissioned Date: 30 September 2014 • AV Project Cost: Confidential • Highlight of the Project: Precision LED Video Wall (7x4m) ……………..…………………………

• Defining Device Systems - Silicon-Core LED Video Wall System - Grass valley Broadcast System - Blackmagic Monitoring System - SSD Recording System - Wireless Presentation System - AMX Automation System - Extron & TVOne Distribution System - DIS Conference System

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Making A High Profile Pitch For A High Profile Office

SI Asia talks to SiliconCore about their involvement in the FNC project

us with a much shorter production and delivery window than normal. Also our installation team needed to fit into the building schedule. We were fortunate that our integration partner, BusinessLink was able to install and align the support frame in a very fast time allowing SiliconCore engineers to focus on installation and commissionioning the LED display cabinets.

SI Asia: What exactly was SiliconCore's involvement with the FNC project?

STEVE: SiliconCore was asked to design a high resolution LED display which would provide the necessary resolution for closest viewing and angles under high ambient conditions. Also to validate the design for the required wall-mounted support frame for installation, alignment and maintenance

SI Asia: How would you describe SiliconCore's role in shaping FNC install?

STEVE: SiliconCore provided installation services and support to BusinessLink Electronics for alignment and commissioning of the LED display; also on-site training for on-going maintenance to both BusinessLink and the End Users’ AV team. SiliconCore also proposed the third party front-end processing system for the display.

SI Asia: What exactly was the (client) brief before SiliconCore?

STEVE: The size was already defined by the consultant so the main considerations were to define the pixel pitch/resolution, front-end processing, and the method of mounting the wall and service access. Particularly, access to the front of the display from the floor was not possible due to built-in furniture around the area. Consideration also was to be given to optimising the display for low power consumption and ability to provide a short MTTR.

SI Asia: What was the solution proposed?

STEVE: 7.0m x 4.0m SiliconCore Peony 2.6 wall was chosen as providing an ideal compromise between pixel pitch, resolution, viewing angle, brightness, power consumption, expected lifetime and cost. The support frame was built inside the wall with special locators into the frame to accept custom platforms for front access maintenance if needed. The rear of the wall is also easily accessible, providing for fast rectification of any potential issues. The send processors are located in the AV Control Room together with the front-end system allowing the signal to be routed >100m to wall via cat5 cables. That the system does not require any cooling fans, it is acoustically silent too.

SI Asia: How has the solution benefited the End User?

STEVE: The End User has a display which meets all of the initial requirements, with excellent visual characteristics, zero noise, great viewing angles, high contrast, high brightness, perfect uniformity and the lowest power consumption. The display has also been extremely reliable over the past year.

SI Asia: What were the challenges SiliconCore had to address?

STEVE: Besides meeting the client’s display specs, time was a major challenge, as the contract award took several months to complete, leaving

SI Asia: What was the most potential challenge- how was it addressed?

STEVE: Time to manufacture was very fast but we took risk and started manufacturing the displays before the contract was awarded. The decision was based on trust with our integration partner.

SI Asia: In what way, the FNC install is unique from the many SiliconCore might have done in the region, or elsewhere?

STEVE: This is a very high profile building, and an even higher profile auditorium, as the seat of Government for the UAE. So, as you can imagine the display is expected to be perfect with very high reliability but if there are any failures, immediate resolution is required.

The client has been extremely happy with the solution delivered, and we feel that we have met all of the conditions.

SI Asia: How would you describe the AV expertise and experience weaved into the install at FNC?

STEVE: Working with the client and BusinessLink was excellent. We worked together as an integrated team to optimise the solution and I think we achieved all that was asked. This can only be achieved when all partners in the team have extensive experience and technical knowledge, the willingness and ability to get things done. This was certainly the situation with the FNC project. www.siliconcore.com

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SINGAPORE

Paragon Shopping Centre Upgrades Public Address System Bosch Prasesideo PA Solution Takes The Centre Stage

PROJECT FACT FILE Client: SPH Retail Property Management Service Pte Ltd Location: Orchard Road, Singapore Segment: Retail Systems Integrator: Infinite Communications (S) Pte Ltd Task: To upgrade the Public Address System that would offer quality background music and audio clarity when announcements are being made.

Key Solutions Installed: Bosch Prasesideo Public Address Solution

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he Paragon Shopping Centre is a prominent and up-scale mall located at the heart of Orchard road. It comprises six levels of designer fashion and luxury boutiques, sports, lifestyle shops, restaurants, and cafés.

It also houses Paragon Medical, a medical tower that hosts more than 60 specialised clinics.

In order to complete the shopping experience for tourists and locals, the management of Paragon – SPH Retail Property Management Service Pte Ltd required an upgrade of their Public Address System. The replacement had to be one that can provide quality background music and audio clarity when announcements are being made.

After going through the requirements, a complete public address solution was proposed and this included the installation of the Bosch Prasesideo public address solution that comprised, 6W Ceiling Speakers, 10W Horn Speakers, a Network Controller, 4 x 125 power Amplifiers, Call Stations Kits, Call Station Keypad Kits and Fibre Interfaces.

The entire public address system is used across all 23 levels of the building with products installed at the medical block, retail and car-park area. The Prasesideo public address solution allowed the building management to control the system from a single location.

This seamless integration of products has brought about the ease of operation and flexibility in future upgrades.

The solution from Bosch provides the management with peace of mind in ensuring the security and safety of its tenants and shoppers.

Bosch Praesideo is a fully digital, networked, public address and emergency sound system. The system’s unique optical network offers total freedom in system design, interference-free audio and a high level of redundancy that traditional systems cannot offer. It is fully programmable, and interfaces with other security systems. Praesideo redefines the boundaries of quality, flexibility and reliability. www.boschsecurity.asia

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Part 2

INDIA

Showcasing Indian A/V Prowess Like Never Before Celebrating Life & Ideology of Father of Nation Audio-Visually

By Ram Bhavanashi

The Dandi Kutir project – unique for reasons more than one – states two things from a generic perspective- showcasing Indian A/V prowess like never before, even as it stands a testament to celebrate the ideological life and message of Father of the Nation. From a technical perspective, it’s a fruition of a great vision and mission, and passionate minds that assiduously worked, virtually racing against time. That the timelines were fixed even before the contracts were awarded apparently meant what it takes to field such a massive call, what made it all more fulfilling was the way the teams channelized the expertise to bring the exalted vision to life.

SI Asia presents the remaining account of all that in this second and concluding part of the exclusive.

Challenge of a new scale

For one, it’s difficult to imagine what it takes to complete and commission a project of the size and scale of Dandi Kutir (the monumental details were discussed in the last issue) in a span of mere seven months. There were challenges galore – the extremely short timeline being the biggest – both structural and textural.

Structural challenges comprised architectural and acoustic, besides some interiors while textural challenges constituted a whole big range of aspects such as expanding the stated vision into

workable model; creating the exhibits in diverse formats; scripting the same in a manner that communicates/relates with people of every walk; choosing the right combination of technology that appeals to even the uninitiated; and to top it all- making it all possible within what appeared an impossible timeline.

The grand vision of creating a permanent ensemble of Gandhian principles in the most technologically sophisticated fashion got off the ground with the Roads & Buildings Department, Government of Gujarat, awarding the project contract to Mumbai-based

construction conglomerate Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Private Limited (SPCPL).

It was awarded on Design and Build basis on EPC model. “The project brief was to design and build a world-class museum on Mahatma Gandhi covering his entire life, including his philosophy and role in the Freedom Struggle, and more,” states Barun Pal Chowdhury, Director (Design Build), SPCPL. “The museum was to be like a Centre for Research on Mahatma,” he elaborates.

“The RFP (request for proposal) for the

INSTALLATIONS Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

"There were challenges on multiple levels, particularly about two aspects. One - content research and development, and procurement of authentic data; Two - the timelines.

Since the museum was based on the Father of Nation and one of the most known leaders in world history, correct portrayal of him and the authenticity of what is put in the museum was very critical."

- Wasim Khan, Director-Lemon Design

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Flowing hand-in-hand with architectural challenges were the acoustics. That the space was huge and also had hard surfaces all over, reverberation was a big concern. In an empty state, the building measured an RT of >7.5 seconds while the final goal was to bring it down to 3.5 seconds. This was done using vertical wood slats with mineral fibre infill.

The ConCEPT of All project defined various parameters of the project.”

A concept note on the project at that stage noted: • The experience will showcase the transformation of an ordinary individual, with doubts and inner conflicts much like our own, into a Mahatma who not only led India to Independence but also impacted people the world over.

• Bringing us into contact with a great soul and his practical down-to-earth spirit, the museum will nurture ideas of self-hood and the need to look hard at oneself even as one engages with others and the world.

The theme of the design envisioned was to move beyond merely displaying the exhibits as artifacts and telling conventional hagiographies, and explore modern technological innovations to cultivate new dialogues around the towering global figure that Mahatma was (and is). The narrative was intended to place visitor in the centre of Gandhiji’s experiences in life, his thoughts in his own words, alongside the many people, who inspired and strengthened the ideals he embodied.

SPCPL, having brainstormed on the massive requirement, brought onboard a big team of consultants and solution providers (detailed in last issue). One of the important contributors on the content front was taking onboard noted script writer Atul Tiwari who made reputation with his work for Shyam Benegal’s famed television flick Bharat Ek Khoj (Discovery of India).

Understandably, they had to race against time. “It was almost impossible

timeline,” recalls Barun. “We, however, have accomplished the task through a robust project management,” he says, adding, “commendable efforts put in by the teams; all members were very focussed and dedicated to deliver the project.” (Read Interview) Admits architect Nitin Gupta of Arcop Associates who worked on the project architecture. “It was seemingly timeline impossible; it required very intelligent planning.” Their on-field challenge was to design the museum within an existing mega cone structure with openings at the bottom to enter and opening at the top allowing natural light. “It was like designing a museum in a huge cave,” recalls Nitin.

“The challenge was converted into an opportunity by making the skylight on top like the locus of the entire museum.

The museum is designed to contrast and contradict with the old in shape and in finish, yet there is a continuous engagement of dialogue between the two, thus creating unique architectural and interior spaces.”

According to him, the intent was to give maximum flexibility to the exhibit designer by creating large exhibition areas on each level. The overall movement and spaces of transition are designed as sublime, yet neutral, to let the visitor focus on the exhibits, and allow continuity of thought between various levels of exhibits.

To meet the exigency situation, and expedite processes, the teams employed drywalls, and fabricated exhibits off site and installed on site.

A very important aspect of Dandi Kutir – which is part of Phase-2B of the much larger and ambitious, fourphase Mahatma Mandir – is that its entire execution, including structure and texture, was monitored and valueadded by the Ahmedabad-based Centre for Environmental and Planning Technology (CEPT) University which was appointed by R&B Department as its Prime Consultant. Having successfully seen through Phase-1, 1A and 2A which included the gigantic Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre, the Dandi Kutir was a natural extension of CEPT’s task for the award-winning, gigantic project.

“CEPT was Professional Advisor to the R&B Dept.,” explains Prof. Reshma Shah, Head of Program/-SBST at CEPT, and Project Coordinator for the Mahatma Mandir( and the Dandi Kutir). “CEPT assisted in preparing the bid document, overall design and concept development which include development of themes around Mahatma Gandhi, review and approval of detailed drawings,” she elaborated. “In short, CEPT assisted the R&B Dept. in pre-construction, during and post-construction stages.” (Read Interview) Being the project’s Prime Consultant, and Professional Advisor, CEPT did have its own team of consultants to advise, verify and approve the project proceedings. (See the consultants’ list of CEPT) It may be noted that the Dandi Kutir project was given a change of guard from R&B Dept. to Sports, Youth, and Cultural Activities Dept. which was steered by Bhagyesh V Jha, who is highly regarded a prime motivating force behind making the project on time.

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AV/Multimedia – the Heart of It All

SPCPL which had earlier took onboard T2 Consulting as Acoustic Consultant, later added them as Multimedia Consultant as well. The task for T2 was, therefore, to provide complete multimedia design as well as on-site supervision of AVSI and exhibits during construction. The consulting firm worked with SPCPL, Lemon Design, and Live Pixel to develop multimedia solutions into the exhibit designs towards creating a coherent and seamless experience.

The technologies implemented into the exhibits included: • • • • • • • • • • •

Digital Signage Curved and Blended Projection 3D Projection Mapping 3D Holographic Projection 360° Projection Laser Animation and Water Fog Screens Transparent LCD Screens Interactive screens LED & Tiled LCD Video Walls Geometric Distorted Video Walls Audio Guide Systems

The complete museum was to be centrally controlled and automated, and more, all content digitally delivered.

Medialon Show Control was used in the project and integrated with Dataton Watchout for delivery of video and audio content and Medialon’s new Audio Servers were deployed to provide multilingual audio.

Says Wasim Khan, Director at Lemon Design: “It’s a seamless journey through use of physical and virtual techniques of storytelling where the visitor would move from a tactile, physical exhibit to a virtual one, set in an interpretative and sometimes realistic environment with complete ease. It’s about the visitor becoming part of the story being told rather than merely looking at it from outside.”

“The museum narrative shifts between Gandhi’s self-exploration, self-critique and his public life of struggle, closely linking his individual thoughts to universal values,” the exhibit designer elaborates. “Without self-eulogy or false modesty, he acknowledged his weaknesses, and shared the hard-won steps to overcoming them. Gandhi thereby created a public sphere in which every human could participate in a larger national dialogue.”

While the client required as many as 10 languages, three languages currently being implemented are English, Hindi and Gujurati. The audio, minimal and lucid, as it is, is delivered by Audio Guide System by Sennheiser.

Sense & Sensibility: Story Vs Technology That it involved AV technologies to a great extent, the project ran a risk of

"This is definitely one of the largest projects that have used Biamp solutions – in terms of total input and output counts. Dandi Kutir Museum is one of the few installations in India that uses multiple protocols in a single installation.

Tesira’s unique ability to enable a network to use multiple media protocols at the same time, and within a single box illustrates Biamp’s commitment to providing solutions that the customer needs regardless of the protocol."

- Robin Ghose, Reional Manager- SAARC, Biamp

technologies grabbing the attention from the story being told. To avoid this, and keep the story in the centre (of the visitor’s mind), AV has been seamlessly blended into the physicality of space and narrative. It was used to make the experience dynamic, immersive, interactive and transporting. The audio guides takes care of language or literacy barrier; the visitor is transported to Gandhi’s childhood and his experiences through 3D mapping; (s)he takes a journey through India like Gandhi in an actual train bogey with multiple screens; and then (s)he becomes a part of the sabha at Sabarmati Ashram through holography, and so on and so forth.

“The AV is woven into the install so seamlessly and effectively that as a designer I cannot imagine delivering such an immersive experience without the use of the same,” says Wasim.

All content is supplied as H.264 and Wav files by Live Pixel and uploaded for playback through the digital delivery systems. Kramer Switchers, CAT6 transmitters and receivers were networked to transmit content from Control Rooms to end devices as all Watchout servers were centrally located on each floor. Three Rack Rooms were created, one on each floor, while the ground and first floor were combined on the first floor for space reasons.

According to Kelvin Ashby-King, T2’s Principal Consultant, that a number of shows were provided in dedicated spaces, the concept for them was to provide voice only from the Audio Guide and have the experience in surround audio in the actual space so that one can experience it in a spatial and then use the audio guides to lay the language over this experience.

The project had been an immense challenge due to the timelines, he says, they were able to accomplish it on

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"Mahatma Mandir is a visual feast; which has so many unique projection exhibits- 4D theaters , 360° projection, holographic projection or projection mapping. Dandi Kutir has it all so it was our objective to ensure that there is uniformity in the solutions proposed for all the exhibits and ensure no downtime."

- Rajesh Patkar, Christie Digital Systems time- largely due to the complete and commendable way SPCPL handled the design and project management, as well as a well-connected and concerted effort by one and all.

“This has been one of the most challenging projects of my career,” says Kelvin, “and one of the best team work experiences I have had on any project anywhere in the world.”

Systems Integration:

Mumbai-based, ISO-9000 Certified Innovative Systems and Solutions (P) Limited (ISSPL) was entrusted with the task of integrating the AV systems. “This was the first museum for us, and this was the toughest project we ever handled in the given timeline,” says Ratnesh Jhaveri Managing Director of ISSPL. While everything looked pretty much tailor-made with no specific solution per se suggested, Ratnesh and team did have a pitch or two to make.

According to him, there were some small modifications and design changes in the specs which were handled proactively by his team. “We helped the lens changes for the 3D mapping exhibit which was the most important and critical one,” recalls Ratnesh. “We could support the installation of projectors in the tight-fit ceiling space without the projectors interacting with each other and obstructing each other’s image.”

Manufacturers’ ‘Best’ Take On the AV gear manufacturing side, Dandi Kutir had a major stake from Biamp Systems and Christie, besides others.

According to Robin Ghose, Biamp’s Regional Manager for SAARC, the Tesira formed the core audio processing throughout the different experience spaces within the museum, including the audio guide system. In addition to analogue I/Os, both AVB and CobraNet interfaces were required to integrate the variety of equipment used in the museum.

“This project required an in-depth understanding of networked media protocols and networking,” says Robin.

“Specifically, how to best use these protocols to deliver the solution needed throughout the museum,” he says and adds, “Tesira played a key role in creating the audio experience necessary to best represent the Dandi Kutir.”

The project is not new for Christie which has been involved with it for almost three years now. It had already showcased their award-winning Microtiles during Phase-I of the project. According to Rajesh Patkar, Deputy General Manager at Christie Digital Systems India, their role now was to ensure that the exhibits with distinct screen sizes looked immaculate. “It was very important that all the exhibits had appropriate output; we could not afford a bright orientation theater and the image on the holographic projection look dull,” Rajesh, says, adding, “we had to ensure the constant and uniform

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images across all the technologies used in Dandi Kutir.’

They all raced against time; cohesive and united they stood; together they won (the accolades). www.shapoorji.in www.cept.ac.in www.arcop.co.in www.t2consulting.co.in www.lemondesign.com www.isspl.in www.biamp.com www.christiedigitalsystems.com www.sennheiser-india.com

The CEPT Team

• Prof. Reshma Shah - Overall Project Coordination & Monitoring • Prof. K B Jain - Concept & themes development CIVIL Consultants: • PACE Consultants & Engineers – Bid Management, Estimates, BOQs & Claims and Project Coordination • Techocrat Consultants - Project Planning & Monitoring, Quality Reviews MEP Consultants: • Antech Consultants & Engineers – Review & approvals of electric requirements of project • Atelier Dada Private Ltd - Review and approval of Lighting designs • Mihirbhai N Patel Consulting Engineer - Review and approval of HVAC designs • Prachtvol Engineers Pvt. Ltd Review & approval of FPS/ELV/Lifts designs • Rhino Engineers Pvt. Ltd.- Review and approval of Multimedia technologies • Shreelal N Jha- MEP Consultants – Review of Wind Mill designs • Synergy Techno Solutions Pvt. Ltd - Review & approval of FPS/ELV/ Lifts designs • VMS Engineering & Desings Pvt. Ltd. - Architectural, structural, interior design, plumbing & landscape reviews and approvals

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Living Up To A Salt Mound Challenge Shapoorji Pallonji And Company Private Limited (SPCPL), one of the three primary stakeholders for the Dandi Kutir Project, had a key role to play in ensuring that the Mahatma Museum came to life as it was envisioned.

Being a Design-Build Contractor, it had to anchor all that was required to make the unique structure. SI Asia interacted with Barun Pal Chowdhury, Director (Design Build) at the SPCPL to gain a deeper insight. Excerpts:

SI Asia: What exactly was the client brief for the project?

BARUN: It was to design and build a world-class museum on Mahatma Gandhi covering his entire life, including his philosophy and role in Freedom Struggle and more. The museum was to be like a centre for research on Mahatma. The RFP (request for proposal) for the project defined various parameters of the project.

SI Asia: What exactly was the perspective leading to the project of such a scale?

BARUN: It had to be systematic and proactive approach for design, project management, procurement, execution and commissioning. The key approach for the success was in close and seamless coordination amongst the teams working on interiors, exhibits and multimedia displays.

SI Asia: What exactly was the role accorded to/played by SPCPL?

BARUN: The project was awarded to SPCPL on Design and Build basis on EPC model.

SI Asia: What best describes your role in the whole realization of the project?

BARUN: As Design Build head of SPCPL, I was acting as an anchor for all the coordination amongst various consultants, subject experts and clients for all the designs, theme, multimedia etc.

SI Asia: What were the challenges you had to address? How did you address them?

BARUN: Almost impossible timeline was the biggest challenge. However, the task was completed in a very short time line including design and construction.

This was done through a robust project management and monitoring system and commendable efforts put in by all consultants involved in the project. All members of the team were very focussed and dedicated to deliver the project.

Second big challenge, so to say, was to design and construct the museum inside a huge existing conical concrete structure

‘I Felt Mahatma Vibrating In Me’ While the whole lot of contingents of teams were seemingly getting apprehensive about what they felt extremely annoying timelines, the Dandi Kutir project had one man who showed a perseverance needed on the occasion, displayed a steely resolve, and virtually moved the ‘mound’ to shape.

Bhagyesh V Jha – former Secretary of Sports, Youth, and Cultural Activities Department, and current Chairman of Swarnim Gujuarat Sports University – is credited with playing the biggest motivating force behind the project.

which was depicting the salt mound from outside. It was made the central theme of the design by taking the light inside right up to the ground floor from the skylight.

Other challenges included shooting at various locations with over 400 hundred junior artistes, and integration of a vast set of multimedia technologies. More, integrating the audio guides in sync with the visuals as one proceeds was again a big one.

SI Asia: In what way is the project unique from those several ones you have done earlier?

BARUN: Using such a vast variety of multimedia technologies to communicate the message of the Mahatma, and depicting the times he lived, really makes the museum the most unique experience. www.shapoorji.in

Says the former Sec-SYC Dept.:“The teams involved with the project were getting skeptical owing to slow movement; I took charge and threw myself into it; haven’t allowed an iota of lethargy to creep in, till we achieved our target.”

According to him, watching the creatives being made was so enriching that he felt reinventing Gandhi every time. “I spent my Diwali day in the studio making creatives,” Jha remembers. “We all lived the passion to bring the vision to reality.”

Jha took over the department reigns in May 2014, and things apparently began taking wings. “I remember climbing up and down four floors of the mound at least 7-8 times during every visit,” he recalls. “While watching the work all around, and moving with workmen up and down, I felt the Mahatma moving through me. I experienced the vibration so much that made me stronger by the moment to steer the cause.”

One of the most fascinating moments for him were during making of the train compartment exhibit. “It was so inspiring that I travelled to Varanasi and moved around to experience all that,” he recalls.

“All that helped me to understand Gandhiji better.”

“It was a great learning experience; I will continue to reinvent Gandhiji the rest of my years,” asserts Jha.

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Coordinating An Exalted Effort And Vision The Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) University, one of the three primary stakeholders for the Dandi Kutir Project, had a very key role to play in making the Mahatma Museum come to life as it has been envisaged. Being a professional advisor to the client, R&B Dept, it had to ensure that the project had the right specs and realized in time, as it was envisioned. SI Asia interacted with Prof. Reshma Shah, Head of Program/SBST at CEPT, and project coordinator for the Mahatma Museum (Dandi Kutir) to gain their perspective. Excerpts:

SI Asia: What exactly was the Vision and/or perspective leading to the project of such a scale?

RESHMA: The main perspective was to create a permanent structure that attracts and communicates with people of all ages and walks in the most appealing manner - with a central theme of spreading the Mahatma's principles through a journey of his life. The purpose was to present how Gandhiji responded to challenges of his time, and how his efforts invite us to think about challenges we face in today's world.

SI Asia: Pre or Post-evolution of Vision, what kind of research went into evolving the basic and final concept for the project?

RESHMA: In simple terms, it was just a two-page brief concept note in the very beginning of it all. While it spoke about what needed to be created, the important aspect was making it as a contemporary interpretation of Gandhijiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life and ideals. However, it got developed and expanded as we moved through the detail, designing the storyline and script for the same. The vast array of technologies to be used, and how they were to be employed, all got into a dimension and direction.

Sl Asia: What exactly was the role accorded to/played

by CEPT University, and / or you, in particular?

RESHMA: CEPT was Professional Advisor to R&B Dept. CEPT assisted in preparing the bid document, overall design & concept development

which include development of themes around Mahatma Gandhi, review and approval of detailed drawings. In short, CEPT assisted the R&B Dept. in pre-construction, during and postconstruction stages.

SI Asia: What best describes the CEPT/Your role in the whole realization of the project?

RESHMA: Llike I said, as professional Advisor to the client, we had a key role in every stage of the project- design, concept, technology choices etc. CEPT is involved with said project since 2009.

SI Asia: Was there a particular theme for the AV system design? What exactly was that?

RESHMA: There were few technologies recommended in tender guideline like 2D and/ or 3D projection system, 3D video mapping, 4D virtual reality, and 3D holography system. Some of them have been taken and incorporated. lt was essentially envisioned to create immersive experiences but in diverse technology formats so that the visitors are taken through a lively and involving journey, and finally carry forward an exalted experience and message.

Sl Asia: Were there any modifications from the initial specs, and the final, on-site specs? Has any such change majorly impacted the project experience...

RESHMA: Yes, there have been some changes in the technology formats chosen and used. The reason being

development of themes and write-ups in detail with inputs from Sports, Youth & Culture Department, GoG. However, the changes made were all with a positive intent and they evidently helped the project teams to execute the project in line with the vision.

SI Asia: What were the generic challenges CEPT had to address?

RESHMA: The very short timeline given to complete the project was the most potential challenge. The time deadline for completion of work was fixed before the award of work. So, the due diligence and subsequent stages of getting consultants onboard, design and technology choices, and actual execution were all under a huge timeline challenge.

CEPT had to share all that. Museum was completed on time due to complete involvement of SPCPL, R&B, and SYC Departments along with CEPT. It is a strong display of entire team efforts.

SI Asia: In what way is the project unique or different from the other similar projects we normally come across?

RESHMA: The Mahatma Museum is the first museum with such kind of hightech system set-up under single roof in India. lt is also the largest permanent museum of its kind, based on the life and message of an exalted personality. www.cept.ac.in

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INDIA

Bring Home (Ashiana) Technology Crestron Digital Media at the centre of the home automation mechanism. The client wanted the living spaces to have an enhanced appeal even as the system had to be maintenancefree and easy to use.

Calicut-based design plus architects’ Chief Consultant Jose Mon Mathew – who designed the Ashiana – put his expertise in to bring optimum natural light inside the amazingly crafted house, and that posed a sort of challenge to the AV automation designer. An important spec of the brief was to do an ‘elegant’ integration so that the design appeal of the building is accentuated, and not look like it has been compromised.

The basic purpose of any technology – at its simplest best – is to make things easy. Expanding a little, it may be making things comfortable, pleasant, costsaving, and, saying further it may be a status or style statement! Institutions and individuals – informed or otherwise – implement technology for any of these factors. Summing up all this, however, is something like this: Automation of Ashiana, the home!

SI Asia had a rarest of the rare privileges to see, nay, cover about an exquisite technology automation at a Calicut, Kerala home. Read on:

D

r. Rafeeq Moideen, an eminent dermato-cosmetologist from the Malabar coastal town of Calicut, is a busy skin specialist with hectic work schedules. With his name and fame making his day out apparently exhaustive, with all the good reasons and purpose, he wanted his home to be a place where he could unwind hassle free. Precisely, that meant creating an ambience which he could fully control any time from anywhere.

The appointed architect proposed a solution where imagination ran high on automating various utilities to the utmost and having access to it on the mobile platform. That is where locally-based audio-visual systems integration firm Kalite came in to fulfill the imagination of the architect and his client.

ASHIANA (meaning ‘home’ in Urdu) – as Dr. Moideen had named his home, was thus set to become literally one for the automation technology that the architectural and AV design consultants have proposed.

The Need & Spec

The doctor’s four-member family wanted a comfortable, energy-efficient Smart Home that has a flexible, automated lighting system, and centralized audio visual system with safe surveillance

Kalite proposed a complete Smart Home solution that brings to place all that the client wanted plus remotely controlled motorized drapes, automated gate system and a network-based video door phone system.

“We wanted to ensure that the client’s specs are met without compromising anything,” says Juvaid K V, Technology Innovator at Kalite. “We chose Crestron as a front-end solution,” he explains, “the best part of Crestron is third party dependency is very minimal; Crestron’s solutions are ideal for a sophisticated Smart Home integration like this.”

Kalite cautiously built the specs considering the design, aesthetics, functionality, ergonomics and budget.

The project team including the architect, HVAC teams, and lighting engineers worked as one single unit to realize the specs to perfection.

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kitchen or elsewhere. A TCS’ IP Video Door Phone capture the image of the person knocking the door, and alerts the touchpanel as well as the mobile phone or tablet with a flashing imageirrespective of the distance.

The Design: Zonal Elegance

The AV designer chose Crestron touch panels TSW-750 with graphic displays to blend with the interiors. These elegant black touch panels allow the client to manually control the entire lighting, AC, Audio Video, front gates, drapes from each room and corridors. The TSWs are further augmented by an iPad Air2 to carry out their controls to various areas inside the house. Lighting was done with ENDO LED fittings to create different lighting ambiences so as to allow the client the ability to adjust the same to suit the function of the room or their mood. Multiple sensors automate the lighting depending on the time of day, occupancy and ambient light levels for extra efficiency.

As one of the first major design aspects, the designer evolved an 8-zone audiovideo system. Audio part is designed with Crestron EXCITE-IC5-W-T whitetextured, 2-way ceiling speakers that are powered by SWAMPI-24x8 Sonnex multi-room audio system, while the video component is done with TATA Sky TV distributed to each room in HD quality.

A total of five Samsung UHD televisions of varying sizes from 32” to 60” adorn walls of different spaces. Further, the house also has a dedicated home theatre featuring a 100” inch Samsung UHD, and a premium 9.1 surround sound system.

A centralized AV system helps the residents choose movies, or listen to choice muse from anywhere in the house. A Madbox X1 Media Server, a Belkin N600 dual band, wireless networking router-modem, and a few Apple Airport Express combine to help stream HD movies from iTunes, or from Netflix, and even share photos from the iPhone directly to each TV. All the TVs

are rendered controllable from either an elegant touch panel or a dedicated iPad. A Crestron DM-MD8x8 Digital Media Switcher – in alignment with SM-RMCSCALER-C receiver-video scaler-control interface, and Crestron CP3 3-Series Control System – stays at the centre of the system while a combination of Crestron DIN-PWS50 DIN Rail 50-watt Cresnet power supply; DIN HUB Rail Cresnet distribution hub; DIN BLOCK distribution block; DIN-4DIMFLV4 DIN Rail fluorescent dimmer; DIN8SW DIN Rail high-voltage switch; DIN-IO8 DIN Rail Versiport Module; a DIN DALI2 Interface; and a GLS-ODT-C-CN dualtechnology occupancy sensor perform various functions of lighting and media streaming.

“Zoned control of the AV systems, AC and lighting, and interoperability of devices is central to the whole automation,” explains Juvaid. “This particular aspect ties diverse electronic devices together to perform as components of one unified system,” he elaborates, “the user can remotely communicate with any component from any part of the world.”

Surveillance Automated

That for an automation of such a scale, integrating security is just as indispensable, the design team chose matching surveillance spec and systems. Handling the job in unison is a combination of Honeywell, Western Digital, TCS, and Seimens, in addition to the Crestron touchpanels.

A Honeywell FG1625T glass break detector, and a Seimens C2212GP gas detector continuously monitor any hazardous strike at the glass doors and windows, and emissions from

An 8-channel Honeywell Digital Video Recorder CADVR-08D with H.264 codec and full D1 resolution recording gives the user the ability to live view, record, search and transmit up to 8 channels of analog video sources and alarm input.

Augmenting this is again a Honeywell CCADC850PIV36 Colour 850 TVL IR fixed dome camera with Sony HAD II CCD3.6mm lens and configured to capture movements from a radius of 10-15 meters. The videos captured and recorded thus are fed to a 1TB Western Digital WDCWD10EURX surveillance SATA HDD so that they can be reviewed as when required.

“Any disturbance in terms of people’s movement, gas emission, or glass break is immediately buzzed on all the touchpanels in the house,” explains Juvaid, “anyone responding to the alert is also shown on the panels, so people watching it are assured of the issue being attended.”

According to the consultant, with so many utilities being automated, and security of all ensured, life is smooth, comfortable and enjoyable for all practical reasons.

Dr. Moideen, the demanding client and a prideful owner of a fully-automated ASHIANA, is apparently glad about what had been accomplished for him. He is all praises for Juvaid and the Kalite team. “‘ASHIANA’ wouldn’t have been that ‘Smart’ without their dedicated work and innovative ideas,” says the dermatocosmetologist. “Me, and my family feel at ease, safe and relaxed with all the solutions made easily available at our fingertips by Team Kalite,” he says. “I appreciate their hard work, and stand first to say Kalite have done a great job.” www.kalite.co.in

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ON OUR WEB Systems Integration Asia October - November 2015

WWW.SYSTEMSINTEGRATIONASIA.COM

Here's what you might have missed from our web and eNewsletter coverage.

M O V E RS & S H A K E RS

Leading IT companies including Microsoft, Google, Intel, Netflix and Amazon, have formed the Alliance for Open Media to develop nextgeneration video codec.

HARMAN Professional Solutions Division has introduced a new leadership team for its Enterprise Customer Solutions Units.

D-Tools, leading provider of system integration software, has appointed Industry Veteran Randy Stearns as CEO.

beyerdynamic has named Nefan Ticaret ve Sanayi Ltd. Sti as their new distributor for professional audio products and conference technology in Turkey.

Integration with Microsoft Office 365 Takes ONELAN's Reserva to Cloud Nine

Sony 4K Security Camera Now Available in Asia Pacific

F RO M T H E T EC H O V E N

Polycom Advances Voice, Video and Content Collaboration Experiences

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CommBox Introduces New Control & Interactive Ranges

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