|
|
|
| A Primedia Property | |
| June 27, 2004 | |
|
|
|
|
Table of Contents Corporate A/V Top Story Display wall is not just a bigger screen Installation News Allen & Heath installs iDR System at Lockheed Martin facility Verrex calls upon Biamp's AudiaFlex to meet KPMG design requirements Product News ClearOne introduces echo-canceling microphone for personal computers Tascam makes push into presentation market Sony debuts new videoconferencing system for large conference rooms ADVERTISEMENT For over 30 years, Comprehensive has been the professional's choice for premium interface and multimedia products. The new 2004 Comprehensive catalog is packed with thousands of new products including Comprehensive's world famous cables and the latest from Belden, Canare, Kramer, Neutrik much more. Click here for your free copy or shop online at our website www.comprehensiveinc.com Corporate A/V Top Story Display wall is not just a bigger screen James Durant, market manager - broadcast at Barco Projection Systems, recalls an organization that installed a curved wall of large-screen displays in its network operations center. This was intended to enhance the operators' sight lines. Then the client provided those operators with a similarly curved bank of workstations. Result? Each operator could easily see only the portion of the wall directly in front of him, and had to turn awkwardly to see the rest. Durant thinks such design mistakes are common when users don't realize that interacting with a display wall is fundamentally different from using a desktop PC. Systems integrators need to deliver this message, and provide the kind of designs that will support true interactivity via the large displays. Simply enlarging a PC screen to fill a bigger space probably is not a solution. The great majority of PCs display data at 1280x1024 resolution or less, and most PC applications have been developed with those numbers in mind. Enlarging this display actually reduces clarity and readability. But an eight-cube videowall array in which each cube displays 1600x1200 pixels means the user has a 6400x2400 screen at his or her command. With modern display wall control technology, this real estate can be subdivided in a multitude of ways -- and that's where the tough design decisions come in. "On a desktop display you have a very high dot pitch, typically 90 or more dots per inch," notes John Stark, director of marketing at Jupiter Systems, San Leandro, California. However, he says, "30 dots per inch is typical for a projector, so you end up needing much larger characters" to make text readable. Jupiter's president, Eric Wogsberg, adds that "the further away the operator is from the screen, the larger the type has to be, which means it has less resolution." Contrast can also be more critical for large screen displays than for small ones, Stark adds. And these factors will vary depending on whether it's computer graphics, text, or video being displayed. "When going from a single PC display to a display wall the designer needs to do a proper needs analysis with the client, as different use patterns will drive the overall design," says Sasha Jevtich, CTS, senior systems designer at AVWashington, Sterling, Virginia. The main advantage to all the new display area created by a wall array is the ability to display a number of different data sources at the same time, in windows of different sizes, all at their own native resolutions. The key questions, Durant says, are "how much information do you foresee putting up there, and what kinds of information?" Issues of ergonomics may even be more important than technology and connectivity concerns in today's display wall design. "There are many issues," says Wogsberg, "regarding distance from operator to the wall, pixel size, sight lines, brightness of the wall vs. room brightness, how to control the wall, who has privileges to control the wall, and so on." Durant also believes usability has come to the fore in control room design, and the so-called "wow factor" has become less important than it was a few years ago. Technology has come down in price and increased in user-friendliness, resulting in a lot of new customers in the market for display walls. That challenges the integrator to help clients think clearly about what they need. Installation News Allen & Heath installs iDR System at Lockheed Martin facility Reid Sound has installed a pair of Allen & Heath iDR series programmable DSP distributed audio systems at the Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems facility just north of Philadelphia. The two iDR-8 systems, each integrated with iDR-In eight-channel input expanders, have been installed in two conference rooms at the 420,000-square-foot facility, located in Newtown, Pennsylvania. The first installation, completed earlier this year, was in a product development review room that is about 100 feet by 30 or 40 feet wide, according to Darren R. Sussman, chief engineer and owner of New Jersey-based sound contractor Reid Sound. "They specifically wanted to have remote control of the sound system for the person at the front of the room," he says. Sussman researched what was available and found that the Allen & Heath iDR system, with its PL Series of remote controllers and wall plates, fit the budget. He was also able to evaluate the iDR Software Manager after downloading it from Allen & Heath's iDR Web site (www.idrseries.com). "I love the software," he enthuses. "I haven't found anything that compares to it. I did a lot of shopping around, because everybody makes their software available for download, but I didn't find anything that was as intuitive or had as much functionality." The conference room is zoned into three areas, says Sussman, and includes microphones in the ceiling not only for the presenter at the front but also talkback from participants throughout the room. The iDR system provides switching and level control of the microphones in the ceiling speakers in each zone with remote-control capabilities for the presenter and setup technician. "That way, the presenter doesn't have to keep walking to the wall to hit the button to switch the mics," he explains. "We're using the PL-5 handheld remote in combination with a PL-4 wall controller at the front of the room." He continues, "We put a PL-3 wall plate at the back of the room for whoever comes in to set up and configure the system. Since the PL-3 has four buttons, it allows them a few more options than the person at the front, who only needs basic volume control and to be able to switch between the front and back microphones." With the initial installation successfully completed, it was a simple matter to convince the company to replace the unnecessarily complicated audio system in the facility's largest meeting area, which incorporates the cafeteria and two additional rooms. The previous system included three separate mixers and a combining system and lacked any EQ or feedback filters, he says. "Now there's only one unit, and you can route it how you want. Each room now has its own PL-4 controller. I programmed the control buttons for them, so they have some limited control. It's the easiest thing in the world to go back and reprogram it." One button chooses among three options: combining room B and C, combining all three, and separating all three rooms. "We set the other button to switch between music and microphones. Then they have separate volume control in each room. "Overall, it's a much more cohesive system. Everything is unified, and there's a good signal flow and a good system flow. They've been overwhelmingly happy with the systems." Just because the building is full of rocket scientists doesn't mean that the audio system has to be complex. "That's one place where I can go in and say, what we do isn't rocket science! If I sit down with them for an hour and run through everything, they get it," says Sussman. For further information on the entire range of Allen & Heath mixing products, visit the company's Web site at www.allen-heath.com. Comprehensive details of the iDR Series of DSP audio mixing products are available at www.idrseries.com. Verrex calls upon Biamp's AudiaFlex to meet KPMG design requirements Biamp Systems has supplied five AudiaFlex DSP-based, configurable Digital Audio Platform systems to Verrex, a high-level integration firm. These systems are designed to meet the specific challenges presented by its client, KPMG, a leading provider of assurance, tax and legal, and financial advisory services. Also part of the system are 30 two-channel Acoustic Echo Cancelling cards to expand the system's powerful, advanced telephone-conferencing capabilities. The goal of KPMG was to bring in-house all of the training and meeting space that the company had been outsourcing. The new training/conference center needed to perform many functions, including training, conferences, and board meetings. There were architectural challenges, with high ceilings, ambient noise from the street, and video projector soffits to take into account. This all resulted in a unique set of electronic design requirements for Verrex: provide audio conferencing functionality for three large, divisible conference rooms, each with multiple furniture configurations. The matrix mixing requirements for this design were 64x64, with tremendous flexibility required for the various applications and for on-the-fly reconfiguring. In turn, this necessitated a bus structure that needed to be more dynamic than anything the firm had done before. After researching a number of competing products, the Verrex designers realized that Biamp's AudiaFlex was the only product that had all of the necessary processing power, hardware, expansion capacity, and software reconfigurability to get the job done properly. "We were quite happy with the level of flexibility that the AudiaFlex provided," stated Dan Worth, Verrex project engineer on the KPMG project. "The level of performance has been exceptional." AudiaFlex is a drag-and-drop, DSP-based system which can be configured to perform a wide range of mixing, signal processing, and routing functions. A single AudiaFlex includes up to 24 I/O channels in flexible combinations (807 total) of inputs, outputs, and acoustic echo canceling (AEC) cards. The configuration of each system can be custom-specified by the customer, as was the case with KPMG. AudiaFlex is a leading product for large, complex, networked installations. Biamp Systems, headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, delivers high-quality and innovative audio electronic products, including the Audia Digital Audio Platform, to meet the audio requirements of corporate boardrooms, conference centers, theater complexes, courtrooms, houses of worship, educational centers, public venues, and other installed audio applications. Verrex Corporation is a privately owned company serving the northeastern U.S., with offices in Boston and Mountainside, New Jersey. Verrex has extensive design and integration experience in audiovisual, videoconferencing, and sound system technologies. The company specializes in new construction environments requiring extensive coordination with architects, furniture designers, general contractors, and union installers. Product News ClearOne introduces echo-canceling microphone for personal computers ClearOne Communications, a comprehensive provider of conferencing products and services, today introduced AccuMic PC, an echo-canceling microphone for use with a personal computer in desktop videoconferencing and webconferencing applications. AccuMic PC uses audio technology from ClearOne's XAP conferencing systems to deliver high-quality sound and create a hands-free alternative to headset microphones. It has three microphone elements to provide 360-degree audio pickup for small-group conferencing, and it can be linked with a second AccuMic PC for use in larger rooms with more participants. AccuMic PC includes several modifications to ClearOne's AccuMic VC (formerly named AccuMic II), including the use of standard stereo (3.5mm) connectors for simple connection to a PC or Apple computer and adjustments to microphone output levels to make it compatible with sound cards. Volume can be easily adjusted from the computer control panel. AccuMic VC, which is designed to enhance the audio in set-top videoconferencing systems, will remain in the company's product line. "With the growing adoption of Internet-based communication, we are seeing increasing customer and market demand for enhanced, full duplex audio in desktop and group VoIP and webconferencing applications. AccuMic PC meets that demand," said Zee Hakimoglu, vice president of product development for ClearOne Communications. "ClearOne's AccuMic PC definitely fills a void in the desktop conferencing space," said Yasuhiro Matsuoka, president of MTC, a ClearOne distributor in Japan. "We have specified the AccuMic VC in many videoconferencing applications - always with excellent results - and we are pleased to now be able to offer the same high-quality audio for PC-based conferencing with the AccuMic PC." ClearOne showed AccuMic PC at InfoComm 2004. AccuMic PC has a North American retail price of $649. International pricing may vary. Initial shipments will begin this week. ClearOne is a communications solutions company that provides audio, video, and webconferencing products and services for organizations of all sizes. It is the only company that combines precision-engineered conferencing equipment and a comprehensive suite of conferencing services. The reliability, flexibility, and performance of ClearOne's comprehensive solutions create a natural communications environment, which saves time and money by enabling more effective and efficient communications. On the Web: www.clearone.com. Tascam makes push into presentation market Tascam has introduced a trio of products designed to fit the professional presentation market. The AV-452 presentation mixer/amplifier, DV-D6500 DVD player and 322 dual-well cassette deck all share features that installers demand -- like rock-solid reliability and the ability to be controlled via RS-232. "Tascam has long been a trusted standard for installations where reliability, audio quality, and flexibility are demanded by contractors and installers," states Jim Mack, division manager for Tascam. "With these three products, we have responded to the growing trend of remote-control-using system controllers like Crestron and AMX. Even in installations where RS-232 is not required at the time of the bid, these Tascam products offer features like multi-room amplification, power-on play, and adjustable pitch control to suit nearly any application. The Tascam AV-452 is a new audiovisual presentation mixer and amplifier for the presentation market. Its features include: * Four phantom-powered microphone inputs on XLRs and barrier strip * Three-band EQ, level, gain, and mute controls for each of the four microphone inputs and the AV buss. * Selectable 100Hz rolloff on microphone inputs * Audio I/O for cassette, CD-RW, DVD, VCR, and aux * Composite and S-video I/O for DVD, VCR, and aux * RGB In/Thru port for connection convenience * Switchable Cascade input allows multiple rooms to be linked together * Stereo digital amplifier delivers 100W/side at 8 ohms * Learning IR blaster with universal remote sends infrared commands to projectors and other devices when inputs are selected * Record monitor selection allows dubbing between AV devices * Motorized master volume control Tascam's DV-D6500 is an RS-232 controllable DVD player. Its main features include: * RS-232 bi-directional serial control port * Reads CD-R, CD-RW and DVD-R media * True progressive scan for improved image quality * Composite, S-Video and Component Video Outputs * Defeatable on-screen icons * Update available for all-black background * Format adjustments for 4:3 and 16:9 monitors * FVPP image processing (gamma, sharpness, etc.) * 24-bit, 96kHz D/A converters (106dB dynamic range) * Unbalanced RCA analog outputs (stereo) * Coax and optical digital outputs (stereo/surround) * Optional IF-P6500 power-on play control box The 322 from Tascam is an advanced dual-well cassette deck. Its features include the following: * Optical leader sensing for quick auto-reverse * RS-232 serial control port * ±10% pitch control independent for each deck * Independent unbalanced RCA analog I/O for each deck * RTZ (return to zero) function on each Ddeck * RC-322A wired remote included * Headphone output with level control * Optional LA-322 balancing kit * Optional WR-7000 cascade cables * 3 RU rack-mountable dual bi-directional cassette deck * Both cassette wells record-capable for simultaneous masters * Normal (1X) and high (2X) speed dubbing capability * Dolby B and C with HX Pro headroom extension * Electronic tape counter * Record mute function (on RC-322A only) Tascam is the professional audio division of TEAC Corporation and produces a comprehensive line of audio recorders, mixers, and related equipment. Tascam has offices in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, Japan, Mexico, and Latin America. For additional information, visit www.tascam.com. Sony debuts new videoconferencing system for large conference rooms Sony is launching the next step in its progression of videoconferencing endpoint solutions with the PCS-G70 series, a system that offers improved audio and video on multi-point calls. It also introduces new capture, output, and display features designed to complement presentations in larger conference rooms. "The PCS-G70 builds from the foundation of high picture quality, data collaboration capabilities, scalability and ease of connectivity that comprise the key benefits of Sony conferencing endpoints," said Hiroshi Okamoto, vice-president of conferencing solutions for Sony Electronics' Broadband Communications Products Division. "By adding new multi-point capabilities and feature upgrades, the PCS-G70 offers these benefits in an even more viable solution for larger-scale videoconferencing needs." Built on the same platform as Sony's existing PCS-1 videoconferencing series, the PCS-G70 increases the IP connection speed from 2Mbps maximum bandwidth to 4Mbps, and upgrades the video from CIF to 4CIF for sharper resolution. Audio has been improved, as well, to achieve 14kHz Wideband Quality through MPEG-4 Advanced Audio Coding (AAC). Additionally, the PCS-G70 extends the support of the recently ratified ITU-T industry standard H.264 video capability from point-to-point calls to multi-point calls, so that superb picture quality can be achieved at all call sites on half the bandwidth. The picture quality is enhanced through interlaced video coding, which enables 60 fields per second rather than 30 frames per second, resulting in sharper images and smoother, more life-like movement. The Sony PCS-G70 offers new capture, output, and display options to offer a more scalable, customized conference experience. To accommodate larger conference rooms, the new system can accommodate output to five separate monitors, enabling full-screen viewing of up to five far-side call participants. For smaller rooms, the participants can still be viewed on one screen in split-screen format. In addition, each participant can be labeled on-screen. A new dual video option allows two cameras to capture live video and transmit it simultaneously. For instance, if the call originates in a large conference room, one camera can focus on the speaker, with the other on the audience, and each image can be viewed on separate monitors or on split display. And to accommodate the newest plasma and LCD display screens, Sony is offering a new camera option (BRC-300), which captures images in a 16:9 aspect ratio using three CCD imaging chips. Data collaboration capabilities featured in the current PCS-1 system will also be compatible with the PCS-G70. The "plug-in" data solutions box (PCS-DSB1) makes it easy to share PC files, while hand-written data can be transmitted and displayed via a dedicated interface for Virtual Ink's mimio Xi whiteboard recorder. The PCS-G70 system utilizes a new high-speed (PRI) ISDN box to facilitate faster call connections. A two-speed connection support can facilitate both IP and ISDN calls, and as with the PCS-1, multi-point conference bridge software facilitates the connection of both ISDN and IP connections on a conference call. The PCS-G70 is compatible with Memory Stick flash media. Video phone numbers can be saved to a Memory Stick card, and when one of the numbers is registered as auto-transmission, it is instantly dialed when the media card is inserted into the unit. The new system offers AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) as a standard feature to protect the security of private information discussed on a conference call, including data transmitted through the PCS-DSB1 data solutions box. Sony's QoS (Quality of Service) technology, including proprietary Adaptive Rate Control (ARC) and real-time Auto Repeat reQuest (ARQ), are also standard features on the PCS-G70. QoS technology will quickly "shrink" the bandwidth of the call to adjust for Internet congestion and implement automatic repeat of lost packets. The result is fewer interruptions and better performance while conferencing on the public Internet or on LAN/WAN networks. The PCS-G70 videoconferencing series is planned to be available this fall through Sony dealers at suggested list prices ranging from less than $10,000 for the base model to less than $15,000 for a full configuration with IP and ISDN MCU function. For additional information, call (800) 883-6817 or visit www.sony.com/professional. |
|
About This Newsletter To unsubscribe click here: Unsubscribe To subscribe to this newsletter, click here: Subscribe For information on advertising in this newsletter, please contact: Erika Lopez |
|
|
|
You are subscribed to this newsletter as <*email*> To get this newsletter in a different format (Text, AOL or HTML), or to change your e-mail address, please visit your profile page to change your delivery preferences.
For questions concerning delivery of this newsletter, please contact our Customer Service Department at:
Primedia Business Magazines & Media Copyright 2004, PRIMEDIA. All rights reserved. This article is protected by United States copyright and other intellectual property laws and may not be reproduced, rewritten, distributed, re-disseminated, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast, directly or indirectly, in any medium without the prior written permission of Primedia Business Magazines & Media Inc. |