Volume 7, Issue 20 — October 30, 2009

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Welcome to another issue of rAVe ProAV Edition!

We have some great editorials for you today. rAVe contributor Linda Seid Frembes talked directly to ProAV dealers to find out how their businesses are doing in the current economy. Read below to see what they had to say and how you're measuring up. We also have a technical article on stereo audio conferencing from Craig Richardson, the vice president and general manager of Polycom's Installed Voice Business. Finally, I wrote a column on the evolution of distribution in our industry.

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Enjoy the issue!

–Gary Kayye, CTS

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State of the Corporate AV Market

By Linda Seid Frembes
rAVe Columnist

What’s happening with Corporate AV?

A recent survey of economists showed that 80 percent of them think the recession is over. So after more than a year of cratering housing prices, layoffs, and waves of corporate meltdowns, we can stop worrying and take a breath, right?

That got me thinking about corporate AV and the integrators who service this market segment. They are on the front line when it comes to the whims, wills, and budget pitfalls of the corporate client. Stu Tierney, account manager for IMS AV in Garnet Valley, Pa., tells me, “Before the recession, long-standing clients were committed to working with you and there wasn’t much price shopping if you gave them quality services at a fair price. Now, shopping on price is a higher priority.”

IMS AV provides AV design and integration services to corporate and education clients. “The corporate spend is apprehensive. And to save resources, we’ve come across situations where clients are also pressing internal resources like IT people (instead of hiring an AV consultant) to construct the bid document,” says Tierney. “Overall, there’s been a pull back in corporate AV spending, especially on non-critical technology like digital signage.”

Tierney notes that clients are investing in tried and true technology, but cutting back on travel means more interest in videoconferencing. “Clients are really looking for ROI and we’ve had that discussion often,” he says.

Gary Harling, president of AV TechSource in Illinois, agrees that there’s been an uptick in interest when it comes to videoconferencing because “customers are embracing it more. The technology is easier to use and the quality is improving.” His company provides technology services and support to AV dealers and doesn’t handle selling to the end user.

Harling, who works primarily on corporate and education projects, says that his business has changed a bit this year. “We were doing programming for larger dealers’ overflow on high profile projects. Now there are less large projects but other smaller projects have picked up, such as smaller dealers who are getting more jobs and need us to provide excess capacity. The difference is that the projects are not high profile or new construction.”

Harling’s niche has allowed him to see growth every year since the company was founded in 2006. His company’s strength is that they can be the local support team for dealers, as well as provide the extra skill or expertise on challenging projects. But, he says, “Everyone’s still conscious of the budget nowadays.”

Budgets aren’t the only things that are shrinking. Ashley Mason of Unity Audio Visual in the UK tells me that “In the past year, I've seen the corporate market change in the respect of the overall size of equipment becoming smaller. I noticed that boardrooms and meeting spaces are becoming smaller, also, which may be driving that trend, but it seems that the economy shrinking has meant that more space for working and less space for meetings is required.”

As for her 2010 outlook for the corporate AV market, she says, “I am anticipating a further fall in the corporate AV market over the next year. As technology advances faster than budgets increase, the corporate AV market may well become exclusive to those that can afford it.”

For corporate AV integrator Federico Hugo Petrone in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he’s hoping that the worst of the downturn is behind him. “After an excellent end of year 2008, we had 3-4 months of complete shutdown of work of all types. Corporate-wise, all the proposed AV installations were halted indefinitely. What we saw was that the money was still there but the companies did not want to risk it. They held on to it until they realized that economically and politically things were stable (at least over here). Once they fully realized that, all the on-hold projects were reactivated almost at the same time.”

Now he’s busier than ever, but still says that it’s difficult to make predictions for 2010. “But every day I get new job proposals and budget requests; so far I have taken work for at least 6 months ahead. I don't see a slowing down,” he says.

Tierney agrees that the recession isn’t all bad and that it’s been a nice way for IMS to “up their game” by branching out into building automation, energy efficiency, and green AV. He says that the company has maintained its revenue and size, and they may see small growth in 2009. He says, “The good news is that clients who pulled back on service contracts or on replacing equipment in 2009 will have to eventually do something. That equipment is another year older. The market will have to rebound since the equipment will eventually break or need replacing.”

Linda Seid Frembes is a freelance journalist who covers AV technology, installs, market trends and industry news. Linda has worked with high profile AV manufacturers, trade organization, systems integrators, rep firms and dealer/distributors in the industry including John Lyons Systems, Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW), Northern Sound & Light (NSL), and InfoComm International, among others. Reach her at [email protected]

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The Distribution Wars

By Gary Kayye, CTS

I remember back when there were no “real” distributors in the ProAV market.
 
There were some high-end production video distributors in and around the industry – mostly sending Sony and Panasonic gear, illegally, to South America. Oh, and, back before Belgium-based projector company BARCO had US-based dealers, there was a very creative distributor here in the US who was “two-stepping” the product to bring it to the American market.

So there wasn’t much. B&H Photo, mostly a consumer video electronics discount retailer, offered some ProAV products, but that was pretty much it.

Then, back in the early 1990s, when our first real recession hit the ProAV market, some so-called distributors appeared — and the timing couldn’t have been better. Credit was slashed and these new distributors were sort of like banks in a way. They would buy and stock AV gear, popular stuff at the time like Sony CRT Projectors, InFocus LCD panels, JBL speakers, etc., and sell them to smaller dealers who couldn’t afford the minimum purchasing requirements of a company like Sony or, in some cases, just needed the 30- or 60-day terms they could get through a distributor.

Then came Stampede, Visual Solutions and Electrograph. In less than a decade, these three companies brought legitimate distributing to the ProAV market. As an industry, we’d grown from maybe 200 manufacturers to more than 2000 — each with hundreds of SKUs and all vying for the attention of the less than 1500 ProAV dealers in North America. They each stocked products, offered them for sale, overnight, and even offered late payment options to help finance a large system project.

Only Stampede and Visual Solutions are left standing today, but their model has been noticed and now is being emulated by some of the largest technology distributors in the world.

Back in the early days of the commercial AV market, distributors just simply weren’t needed. In fact, many would argue it was a good ol’ boys network. The market was literally small enough in 1980 that everyone knew everyone else. In fact, my first InfoComm, then called COMTEX, was an eye-opening experience as I had always thought of trade shows as people sitting behind booths selling stuff. But, standing there in Extron’s 20×10 booth in Atlanta, they didn’t take any orders – all three days. But, the people working the booth (at least the ones other than me – I had just started with the company weeks earlier) all had endless conversations about life, the market, their kids, the weather, the dining plans, the new technology and, oh yeah, the new products. Everyone seemed to know everyone else. And, in fact, they did.

So, when Kevin Collins of HB Communications needed a product, he didn’t need to go through a distributor, he’d just call the president of Extron and order it. If he needed a projector, he’d call the director of U.S. Sales (someone who he’d known for years already) and order it. It was that small of a market.

Don’t get me wrong — the ProAV market wasn’t some mom-and-pop operation; it was probably a $2 billion market back in 1986. It was on the verge of explosive growth, but no one really knew it at the time. Fast forward to today and by some estimates, we’re a $50 billion market worldwide, depending on which products you lump into the category known as ProAV.

Electrograph collapsed under the weight of their own bank’s impatience and Stampede and Visual Solutions are grabbing the lion’s share of the fallout.

But, enter the big guns. The first shot was fired at InfoComm when 60-year old Almo Corporation hired former Electrograph president, Sam Taylor, to start a commercial AV division – dubbed Almo Pro A/V. Soon afterwards, Tech Data announced that they, too, would enter the ProAV market and add that to their distribution arsenal – in fact, nabbing Sony in the process. But, the biggie, so far, is Synnex – the largest IT distributor in the world, at $8 billion, has entered the ProAV – completely validating the ProAV market as no longer a good ol’ boy network.

But, truth be told, the good ol’ boys are still in the market too. Kevin’s still at HB and although some of his buddies have retired and started wineries, or are seeing the world, most of them are still AV geeks – like me.

I think this is all good. I think we NEED distributors to help us grow to the next level, help educate us to the ways of the IT world, leverage their financial power and advise us in new technology convergence (especially as we find ourselves using more IT-enabled AV gear). But, I see why some major manufacturers will hold off on using distributors, forever. Our market has matured and we’re now, officially, part of the mainstream economy. I see exponential growth in our near future as IT and AV finally merge and converge. I’ll be watching.

Gary Kayye is the founder of rAVe [Publications] and has more than 20 years experience in the ProAV and HomeAV industries. Contact him at [email protected]

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Applications of Stereo Conferencing

By Craig H. Richardson
VP, GM Polycom Installed Voice Business

Stereo audio conferencing is enabling new applications and creating a more life-like experience in both voice and video conferencing deployments.  In this article we’ll review several ways to take advantage of stereo conferencing technology with a goal of thinking beyond just traditional left/right stereo audio applications, but also leveraging two fully-independent echo canceller references.

Many audio and video conferencing systems in use today still use only mono conferencing.  In other words, they use a single set of loudspeakers, with all loudspeakers driving the same audio into the room.  Small rooms may have a single loudspeaker in the ceiling, larger rooms may have more loudspeakers fed by the same source, video conferencing rooms may have a set of front mono loudspeakers with some ceiling loudspeaker fill as the room gets larger, and the largest rooms may have sound reinforcement where different zoned audio is played into the room and each loudspeaker has same audio feed with the addition or absence of local reinforcement of some microphones.  All these mono conferencing applications mix all the remote audio from video and audio participants together and render the audio from the same set of loudspeakers.

Mono conferencing is analogous to black and white TV – if it’s all you have it is acceptable, but once you see your first color TV, black and white TV doesn’t seem that special any more.  In this article, I’m going to introduce you to some ‘color TV’ conferencing applications. The ‘color TV’ technology in this article is the technology that enables stereo conferencing – stereo echo cancellation – which allows for two independent loudspeaker systems driving different audio sources into a room while at the same time having open microphones that are used for conferencing back to the remote sites.  Stereo echo cancellation allows the designer to create two fully independent acoustic echo canceller references so that, regardless of which loudspeaker system generates the audio, there are no acoustic echoes sent back to remote sites.

Positional Video Conferencing

Some video codecs are unique in that they can transmit and receive two channels of local room audio.  Having two transmit paths allows the room designer to create some unique conferencing applications.  In a stereo video conferencing application the typical setup includes left/right audio with a loudspeaker on either side of a display device at the front of the room.  This application is shown in the following figure where the audio from the remote site is rendered via the stereo loudspeakers in the front of the room.

 
To take advantage of the two microphone transmit streams, local room microphones may be mixed differently to the two transmit streams to allow the positional information to be rendered at the remote site.  Transmitting positional audio information means that the relative microphone / camera positions are used to determine left/right positioning within the local room, and that info is transmitted to the remote site by mapping the mono microphones onto the stereo transmit path with arbitrary mono to stereo panning.

Consider the relative position of the Talker 1 in Site 1 in the figure below.  The position of Talker 1 can be determined by looking at the position of the Talker 1 relative to the camera and then mapping Talker 1’s microphone audio to the two channel codec transmit signal based on the location of the talker’s position relative to the camera center line.  Microphones farther to the right of the camera (from the camera’s perspective) will be mapped more to the right transmit path and microphones farther to the left of the camera will be mapped more to the left transmit path.  In this example, Talker 1’s audio would be rendered more from the right side of the Site 2 room.  The amount of panning is customized per microphone based on the microphone positioning relative to the camera in the local room.  This way the transmit positional audio can be set for all microphones in the room, allowing all the local participants around the table to be rendered from different spatial locations at the remote site. 

The result is a much more immersive experience for the participants.  During in-person meetings we hear the other participants in stereo, and losing this effect during video conferencing makes the experience seem less realistic.  Adding stereo audio makes video meetings seem more life-like, which enhances the meeting’s productivity and effectiveness.

If the remote site only supports mono conferencing, then all the local microphone audio will be mixed together and rendered through the single set of loudspeakers at the remote site without any loss of quality except for the loss of positional information.

Virtual Positional Conferencing

Even when there is not a stereo transmit path, there are opportunities to leverage the stereo conferencing technology.  Consider a different application where we can use different loudspeaker systems for the video participants and the telephone participants.  Here there is no particular spatial encoding of the talker locations, just a spatial separation on the received audio.  For example, the audio from the video participants may come from the front of the room – associated with the direction of the display – while the audio conferencing participants may be rendered from a set of loudspeakers in the ceiling.  The benefit of this application is that it makes it much easier to understand which remote site is talking – the spatial cues help to improve the overall experience.  From a stereo echo cancellation application perspective, the two independent loudspeakers become the two references for the system.  The stereo echo canceller ensures that there are no residual echoes back to either remote site regardless of which site is speaking.  In traditional mono conferencing systems, this application would generate consistent residual echoes or substantial suppression of the audio.

An example of this application is shown in the following figure.  Remember, the audio from the different call types (video and audio) is on different loudspeakers – it doesn’t matter if one set of speakers are in the ceiling and one on the front of the room – they could both be in the front of the room or both from different zones in the ceiling.

A different version of the positional receive application can also add value when there is no video component, just multiple telephone lines.  Remote talkers from one location/phone line may be rendered from one set of loudspeakers while talkers from a second site can come from a different set of loudspeakers as shown in the following figure.  The application can be configured such that if the first phone line only is being used that audio comes out of both sets of loudspeakers.  If the second phone line is used, then the routing in the room can be easily changed to support routing the different phone lines to different loudspeakers. 

Stereo conferencing technology – and the underlying acoustic echo canceller innovations – gives the system designer the ability to create not only an outstanding audio experience in the room, but also one that adds spatial cues to either or both of the transmit and receive audio.  Stereo conferencing does not mean only left/right audio. You should think of it as any two independent audio streams that are to be played into the room. This technology enables many other applications as well, such as two simultaneous languages played back in a room and rendered via two different sets of loudspeakers.

The result of using stereo conferencing technologies is a conferencing experience that greatly exceeds the expectations of your customers and makes their meetings more productive and interesting.  Within the systems integration market, the integrator that creates unique and value-added solutions has an advantage over their competitors.  Stereo conferencing applications give you an opportunity to take your next audio conferencing system to a higher level.

Craig H. Richardson is the vice president and general manager of Polycom's Installed Voice Business. He can be reached at [email protected]

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Green AV and the Green Display Expo

By Sara Abrons

Green everything is all the rage these days, including Green AV. Some of it is marketing hype, since everyone’s jumping on the bandwagon, but a lot of it is legitimate business practice that isn’t just good for the environment and corporate sustainability, but is also about money, in the form of energy savings, reduced materials and shipping costs, and of course, tax credits from the government.

I myself have been a bit skeptical of all the Green marketing stuff, so when I went to the Green Display Expo put on by Insight Media and InfoComm this week in Washington, D.C., I wasn’t sure if I would find a bunch of self-congratulatory environmentalist-types feeling all warm fuzzy and patting each other on the back regarding their tree-hugging efforts. Though there was a bit of warm-fuzzies, and if it hadn’t been raining, maybe even some tree-hugging, there was mostly businesspeople with serious commitments to engineering Greener products and systems, as well as keeping up in a competitive marketplace where Green has indeed become the “It” marketing strategy.

In the AV industry, Green products and discussions are mostly about energy consumption. Energy Star reports show that, just in the U.S., there are 275 million TVs consuming more than 50 billion kWh of energy, which accounts for 4 percent of all household electricity use. Compellingly, Scott Walker of Waveguide Consulting demonstrated how in a typical 1500-sq. ft. university classroom, over 24 hours with 8 hours of classroom use, the lighting system would consume about half the electricity the AV system did. He said that if 50 percent or more of a building were classrooms, AV would consume more than lighting.

One reason for this is a lack of standardization, especially on the commercial side of the AV market. We’re behind everyone else! “Green” doesn’t actually mean anything. A manufacturer of mounts could, for example, design a cheaper mount using less materials and call it a “Green” mount, even though it’s really just a cheaper product – now with a marketing angle! InfoComm has formed a Green AV Task Force, headed up by aforementioned AV consultant Scott Walker, to work on this issue.

IT has several Green labels that have a bit of overlap with the AV market, and are trickling over into the rest, most notably EPEAT, another government standard like Energy Star, and TCO. The government is required to buy mostly EPEAT-qualified products, so if you sell to anyone receiving government money, you’ll want to know what this standard it. Not that many AV products are qualified yet, but they’re working on it.

Speaking of Energy Star, the Energy Star AV Spec 2.0 is coming out in three to four weeks. This spec only addresses products that have an amplifier or a disc reader, though another one for projectors is tentatively scheduled to come out in the spring of 2010. You can look at the latest draft here: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=revisions.audio_video_spec

One issue that Scott Walker pointed out to the Energy Star people at the Expo is that the spec calls for all products to consume less than 1 watt of power in standby mode, which Walker says isn’t enough for RS232, which systems designers and integrators still heavily rely on in the ProAV world, to keep working and turn a system back on. Stephen Pantano, a Manager at ICF International who has been working on the Energy Star AV Spec, says they have requested data on products utilizing RS232 from manufacturers and industry experts because of this issue, but haven’t received any. As more RFPs demand Energy Star products, this may end up being an issue that pushes ProAV to using IP-based products more often.

Walker also showed us some actual direct quotes from RFPs he’s received lately, including requests for LEED-certified (LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) team members, experience with LEED-certified projects, Energy Star equipment, and cradle-to-cradle products. Not everyone loves LEED, but the fact remains for now that clients are going to request it, especially when tax credits are involved. Speaking of which, be careful, because the lawyers are circling, and the first LEED-related lawsuit was settled just last year.

A less-discussed aspect of Green products in our industry is recycling and product disposal. Do you ever think about what happens to all the little black boxes you install when the customer is done with them? Soon, managing the complete lifecycle of products (from install to disposal) may become a service that AV integrators will incorporate into service contracts. Although laws for the most part seem to be making it the burden of the manufacturers, this will definitely be an issue affecting your business in the future.

In the meantime, there are a couple programs integrators should know about. Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba are the founders of MRM, the first and largest recycling service group that’s owned by manufacturers. Dedicated to reducing costs, driving efficiency, and cutting through bureaucracy, they take displays from multiple manufacturers. Check them out here: www.mrmrecycling.com. Another organization is the National Center for Electronics Recycling, a 501c3 non-profit that does research and runs collection programs at a state and federal level. Not all states have laws regarding recycling electronics products, but enough do or are in the process that you should know for sure. Go to www.electronicsrecycling.org and www.ecyclingresource.org for more information.

If you’re interested in knowing more about Green displays, know that Insight Media’s “Green Display Report – The Business Threats and Opportunities of Green Displays” will be available for purchase soon. They also plan on making the Green Display Expo an annual thing, and I would highly recommend you come check it out next year.

Sara Abrons is the editor of rAVe [Publications]. Contact her at [email protected]

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InfoComm's Economic Snapshot Released

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ClearOne Reports Lower Sales and Profits

ClearOne says that revenue for fiscal 2009 was $35.7 million compared with $38.8 million in fiscal 2008. Gross profit, which included a $2.3 million inventory write-off, was $20.4 million, or 57 percent of revenue, compared with gross profit for fiscal 2008, which included a $136,000 inventory write-off, of $22.6 million, or 58 percent of revenue. Excluding the inventory write-offs, gross profit was $22.7 million, or 64 percent of revenue, compared with fiscal 2008 gross profit of $22.7 million, or 59 percent of revenue. Operating income increased to $2.8 million from $1.1 million last year. Operating income was $2.8 million compared with $1.1 million in the same period of fiscal 2008. Net income was $2.2 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, compared with fiscal 2008 net income of $5.3 million, or $0.49 per diluted share, which included a gain on the disposal of discontinued operations, net of tax, of $16,000.

For their full annual filing, go to:  http://www.b2i.us/profiles/investor/NeedLoginProfileMenu.asp?BzID=509&sm_quote_field=&hook=ea&to=ea

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Barco Reports Positive Cash Flow

With sales of 148 million euro and EBITDA at 9.7 million euro (or 6.6 percent) for the quarter, Barco's results materialized roughly in line with expectations. Eric Van Zele, Barco's president and CEO, referred to some rather mixed market conditions to comment on the company's third quarter performance. On the one hand, results were favorably impacted by continued strong performance in the medical imaging division and unprecedented demand for digital cinema projectors, while on the other hand, Barco continued to suffer from severe softness in the events and out-of-home media markets, particularly in Europe and North America. Other Barco divisions performed more or less in line with expectations.

Barco's third quarter order intake of 153 million euro was 15.3 percent lower than in the prior year but nevertheless up 9 percent from the previous quarter. Incoming orders for digital cinema projectors nearly tripled in the quarter, not counting the effect of any longer term frame agreements. Also the Medical Imaging division booked a very good order intake (+23 percent quarter-on-quarter). On the other hand, orders declined sharply (by more than 40 percent) in the events segment of the Media & Entertainment division and were also somewhat weaker than expected in the traffic & surveillance segment (-20 percent quarter-on-quarter) of the Security & Monitoring division. Year-on-year Barco's order book remained level and stood at 342.4 million euro at the end of 3Q 2009.

From a regional perspective, orders in the APAC region grew by 21.3 percent quarter-on-quarter while incoming orders in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa) declined by 19.6 percent quarter-on-quarter. In the Americas order intake declined by 28.9 percent.

To read the entire Barco Financial Statement, go to:  http://www.barco.com/corporate/pressrelease/2414/

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Screen Research Faces Financial Re-Structure

Following an extensive investment program during 2007 and 2008 (new manufacturing facility in France, recruitment of senior staff etc), the Screen Research group (with sales of $ 5.5 million) strengthened many aspects of business while looking at a healthy market showing high growth potential.

But the knock-on effect of this global economic downturn ended up knocking down a couple of successive business quarters for Screen Research. Instead of their growth rate of 30 percent year-on-year, Screen Research saw a fast drop to only 2 percent growth in its systems integration business.

Confronting those economic realities, now Screen Research’s strategy is to re-organize the company. Under French regulations, under the protection of the government during this period, the company will be able to focus on cash-flow and on market and product development issues.

Their restructuring targets the production facility and to a much lesser extent to the HQ operational services based in Nantes. The US subsidiary (in Atlanta) and the Asia/Pacific office (in Bangkok) are not affected by this procedure in either financial or legal terms.

For more information about the restructuring, see rAVe Europe’s article on this at:  http://ftp-sgpartners.net/proAV/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

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Cisco May Drop Tandberg Bid

Reports surfaced Friday that Cisco could possibly walk away from their bid to buy videoconferencing company Tandberg for $3 billion.

Cisco originally offered to buy Tandberg for 17.2 billion-krone ($3.04 billion) at the beginning of October. Tandberg's board approved the bid, but it still had to be approved by shareholders. 90 percent shareholder approval is required for the purchase to be completed. But earlier this month a group of 21 Tandberg shareholders holding 24 percent of Tandberg's stock rejected the bid as not good enough.

Amund Lunde, a chief executive of life insurance group Oslo Pensjonsforsikring and a shareholder with 1 percent of Tandberg's stock, was one of the shareholders rejecting Cisco's bid. He said, "We think the price is too low."

Cisco has stated publicly that they believe the offer for Tandberg is fair. Though considering how much cash they have on hand, the walk-away rumors may just be posturing on their part to pressure shareholders into accepting the bid.

Just in October, in addition to the Tandberg bid, Cisco has offered to buy Starent Networks, provider of technology that enables mobile operators to deliver mobile broadband to their subscribers, also for about $3 billion, and ScanSafe, an Internet security company, for $183 million.

Read the story on Bloomberg here: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBXCnX5ZqaFw

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rAVe's Founder to Speak at E4 Show in NYC; rAVe NOW to Cover Show Live

Almo Professional A/V, a value-added distributor of professional audiovisual integrators, dealers and consultants, announced that its upcoming E4 AV Tour, which kicks off on December 8 in New York City, will be accessible to partners nationwide both live and on-demand. By registering, partners will have remote access to the traveling reseller training and networking event via rAVe NOW’s Twitter, video and blog updates. Session materials and product information will also be housed online after the event.

rAVe reporters will be on the show floor interviewing representatives from each exhibiting manufacturer and streaming those interviews and product demos on the rAVe NOW website, while providing instant coverage of the program with Twitter updates. In addition, E4 keynote speaker Gary Kayye will wrap up the show on the rAVe NOW blog. Information from the training sessions will also be posted on rAVe NOW after the event.

To sign up to attend Gary’s Keynote Address, go to: http://www.almoproav.com/events/e4/registration.aspx

If you can’t attend the show and want to follow it on rAVe NOW, go to:  https://www.ravepubs.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1631&Itemid=221

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Polycom SoundStructure Training Tools Available

There’s no question that Polycom’s SoundStructure is dominating the ProAV market in installed voice conferencing and sound reinforcement installs.  Polycom has launched two things that will help ProAV dealers understand how to integrate it better and faster.  The first is a series of training videos that can be found here:  http://www.polycom.com/support/voice/soundstructure/soundstructure_training.html

The second is a white paper that a great educational piece for salespeople to understand both sound reinforcement as well as voice conferencing issues in installs. Click here to get it.
 

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Extron's GlobalViewer Grant Program

Remote Management of AV systems is going to be one of the fastest growing segments of the ProAV market.  The Extron GlobalViewer Enterprise Grant Program provides qualified customers with their server-based, A/V system monitoring and resource management software. Applying for a GVE Grant is easy, and can be done online in just a few minutes.

GlobalViewer Enterprise provides powerful room control, scheduling, monitoring, data collection, and comprehensive reporting capabilities. Built on Microsoft .NET technology, GlobalViewer Enterprise integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Exchange Server and other popular facility scheduling programs for viewing room availability and managing meeting schedules.

GlobalViewer Enterprise works side-by-side with Extron's Free GlobalViewer Web application, and no programming skills are required to set it up or use it. The easy-to-use interface offers a view of the entire campus or district in a single window and access to detailed room data with just a click of a mouse. GlobalViewer Enterprise provides the capabilities to remotely manage A/V installations that span not only buildings, but cities, states, and countries.

If you're interested, check it out at:  http://www.extron.com/company/gvegrant.aspx

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NSCA's Business & Leadership Conference Registration Open

Business practices have changed over the past year to reflect the changing economy; have you changed your tactics? NSCA’s 2010 Business & Leadership Conference will show you how to transform your business to improve your bottom line, increase office morale and adapt to the new reality that will remain even after the recession.

The only conference designed specifically for commercial electronic systems executives, managers and business will be held February 25-27, 2010, in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, at the world-renowned PGA National Resort and Spa. 

Conference attendees can also customize their learning experience to focus on their specific needs, interests and issues. Sessions address topics such as:

• Finding the Upside (In a Downsized Market): A Review of Market Conditions and Trends
• Operational Excellence
• Fierce Leadership
• Everyone is Looking at You – So, What’s the Next Step? How to Take   the Fear and Loathing out of Strategic Planning
• Brand Building: A Workshop for Companies Wanting To Grow
• Good to Great Book Review 

Register now for the NSCA Business & Leadership Conference and pay only $799. After December 31, rates will increase to $899. For more information or to register, visit www.nsca.org/blc or call 800.446.6722.

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THE Digital Signage Show Pre-Registration Opens

There’s a lot of talk among the ProAV integrators out there that they’re interested in, or planning to enter the digital signage (DS) market.  Well, let’s see if you are serious!  In fact if you are, don’t just send ONE body to the annual DSE show (details below), send 25 percent of the number of people you’d normally send to InfoComm.  So, if you send 10 people to InfoComm, send two or three to DSE.  Seriously!  Take this market SERIOUSLY!

Digital Signage Expo (DSE), Interactive Technology Expo (ITE), and Out-of-Home Network Show (OOHNS), the world’s largest International Trade Show and Conference and the only place where digital signage and interactive technologies are exclusively showcased all in one place has opened registration for all three co-located shows at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

This year Digital Signage Expo’s Seventh International Conference has been expanded to present the world’s largest educational conference ever, staged to help encourage and support the industry’s growth. The conference consists of 40 industry peer-led seminars (expanded from 30 in 2009), 37 Lunch & Learn Roundtable industry-specific discussions and 20 on-floor workshops, with more than 160 speakers to run Wednesday and Thursday, February 24-25, 2010.

Register at:  http://www.digitalsignageexpo.net

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Crestron Opens Experience Center

Last week Crestron officially opened the Crestron Experience Center, a beautiful new 8000-square foot demo center that features a board room, presentation room, Theo Kalomirakis Home Theater (Amusing side note: All the chairs in the home theater were replaced the day before the opening after Kaolmirakis decided he didn't like the originals.), and a design studio that features nearly all of Crestron's products in a tradeshow-like display. The center is located on Crestron's campus in Rockleigh, NJ.

The center is meant as a destination for dealers and clients to help sell systems featuring Crestron products. In addition to the Experience Center, tours will also be available in the 100,000 square foot Research Center, where more than 350 engineers are working on the next generation of Crestron products, the manufacturing plant, the pre-production facility, and worldwide distribution center. Crestron says these appointment-only tours will provide a compelling, in-depth look into the world of Crestron, to fully understand and appreciate the level of commitment, investment and expertise of Crestron, and why it's the global leader in digital HD technology and control solutions.

To learn more about the new Crestron Experience Center, go to http://www.crestron.com/experience_center

Check out a tour of the Crestron Experience Center on rAVe NOW, along with some product videos we shot while there: https://www.ravepubs.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1660&Itemid=224

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rAVe Announces Digital Signage 101 and 201 Classes to Debut in 2010

Dubbed DS [Digital Signage] 101 and 201, the two courses are designed for two different audiences.  The DS 101 course is specifically designed for end users like facility managers, AV directors at corporations or colleges, or even potential retail digital signage clients.  But, what’s unique about the one-hour course is that although it’s taught by rAVe founder Gary Kayye, it’s intended to be a course that integrators put on themselves in cooperation with rAVe to draw potential DS clients into their offices.  So, delivered as either a seminar, or keynote address at a dealer’s or integrator’s show, the DS 101 course will kick start and excite any attendee to take a serious look at Digital Signage.  rAVe recommends that the course be followed up with an overview of the host integrator’s capabilities in Digital Signage and maybe a few examples of their own DS installs.

DS [Digital Signage] 201 is designed to educate the integrators themselves.  This is the perfect course for any integrator that wants to enter the DS market but doesn’t know where to start or how that segment of the market operates.  Led, again, by rAVe founder Gary Kayye, DS 201 is a 1.5-hour course that will teach a ProAV integrator everything they need to know to enter the DS market and start a DS division that’s profitable from Job 1.

For more information about each course, go to:  https://www.ravepubs.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=757&Itemid=149

If you’re interested in hosting DS 101 or DS 201 at your open house, regional show or your national sales meeting, please contact Gary Kayye directly at:  [email protected]

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Christie Digital Releases Industry's Top Digital Cinema Line

At Showeast, Christie this week debuted the Solaria Series 2K and 4K-Ready Solutions, its next-generation digital cinema solution, with the launch of the Christie CP2220 digital cinema projector. Recognized as "the future of digital cinema," the projector features Texas Instruments' next generation DLP Cinema technology and an optional integrated 2K/4K media block. Christie's next-generation 4K digital cinema projectors will display 4096×2160 pixels of resolution. While maintaining support for 2K external servers, these new models allow exhibitors to easily project 2K or 4K content, giving them the widest choice in digital cinema options.

The Christie CP2220 is the first in the new series of digital cinema projectors that also includes the Christie CP2210 and the Christie CP2230. The Christie CP4220 and the Christie CP4230, introduced in June, are the Company's premium 4K projectors and among the brightest in the world. Like the 2230, the 4230 is capable of delivering over 30,000 lumens on the largest screens and delivers breathtaking 3D images. All next-generation Christie digital cinema projectors continue to utilize Christie Brilliant3D™ technology providing the ultimate 3D experience with the lowest cost of operation.

To learn more about the new Solaria line, go to:  http://www.christiedigital.com/AMEN/Products/ChristieSolariaSeries.htm

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Sanyo Debuts LCD Projectors Aimed at Digital Signage, Large Venue

In a first for Sanyo, they’ve specifically targeted the DS market in the release of two new high-brightness projectors — the PLC-XM150 and the PLC-XM100.  Specified at 6000 and 5000 ANSI lumens, respectively, the PLC-XM150 and the PLC-XM100 are designed with what Sanyo calls an Active Maintenance Filter which contains 10 filter rolls that change themselves automatically when needed, making for a 10,000-hour filter system in each projector.  Also designed for large-venue applications (auditoriums and lecture halls), these projectors could find their way into small arenas and student unions where video projection is required and could be justified with a digital signage advertising network that pays for the system.

To learn more about each projector, go here.

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Barco Launches LED-Based Rear Projection Video Wall

Calling it a 24/7/365 application rear-screen projection wall, Barco launched the new LED-lit OL Series. The series has what Barco calls Sense6 — a sensor technology which co-ordinates across multiple rear-projection modules to provide brightness and color stability over time and across the entire video wall screen.  According to Barco, an integrated spectrometer continuously measures brightness and color characteristics of the full visual spectrum. Sense6's algorithms monitor the outputs of these spectrometers in real time and then dynamically and automatically adjust all the projectors of the video wall to generate an image that is most suited for viewing by the human eye. Unlike factory-calibrated systems, the OL continuously measures and adjusts color and brightness in real time and therefore requires no maintenance or manual adjustments.

To learn more about the product, go to:  http://www.barco.com/en/broadcasting/product/2167
 

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Sanyo Launches 12K Lumen Projector

Sanyo is using a two-lamp system in a projector, the PLC-XF1000, to get what they say is 12,000 lumens brightness and a 4000:1 contrast ratio.  Equipped with Sanyo’s Active Maintenance Filter (AMF), which automatically changes the projector’s filter when needed, PLC-XF1000 projector is the second Sanyo model to be equipped with their proprietary QuaDrive optical engine which, on addition to three individual RGB panels, adds an additional color control device that allows the PLC-XF1000 to automatically control the amount of yellow light in the image, producing what we saw at InfoComm as higher luminosity with improved color accuracy and clarity- over traditional 3-color LCD.  The PLC-XF1000 uses two high-output 330-watt lamps.

To learn more about the $25,000 WUXGA projector, go here.

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Grass Valley Launches 2nd Generation of Turbo

If you liked the Turbo, you’ll love T2.  The T2 Intelligent Digital Disk Recorder (iDDR) brings full high-definition capture and playback to the video professional. Additionally, the T2 iDDR has been designed to work efficiently and smoothly with Grass Valley EDIUS nonlinear editing software and the Indigo AV mixer.
The T2 iDDR is a complete and self-contained SD and HD audio/ video play-out center. Here are some key features:

• Full HD support, 1080p24, 1080i50/60, 720p50/60
• HD/SD SDI inputs and outputs
• PC screen output
• File import (Canopus HQ, MPEG-2, QuickTime, and WMV)
• High bit-rate video with Canopus HQ

This is like an old-timey traditional VTR on steroids with two output channels supporting standard (SD) or high-definition (HD) content. The user-interface an LCD front panel that also displays HD images and is complemented by a software application suite for managing and selecting media clips, clip editing and trimming, and play-out — including playlist creation.  The ultimate for live staging applications!

Want to know more? Go to: http://professional.grassvalley.com/products/t2/

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PLUS Launches Revolutionary Product Targeted at SMART

Using Wireless Bluetooth technology, PLUS launched one of the most creative products we’ve seen in a while.  Called the UPIC Wireless Interactive Panel, it’s a 64” or 72” diagonal (so far) portable (it rolls up) electronic whiteboard.  Made of a thin and lightweight material, the UPIC is easy to transport. The panel rolls up and can be quickly packed away in its carrying case.  Its magnet backing allows one person to easily set up the UPIC on any surface to which a magnet can be adhered: a blackboard, a whiteboard, or a steel wall.  

What’s unique is that the panel does not require any power and it does not need a cord to communicate with a computer, therefore there is no power cord to connect… or to trip over. The unique digital pen transmits information via Bluetooth. Simply pair the pen with a Bluetooth-enabled computer (or use the included Bluetooth USB dongle) and the UPIC panel becomes an interactive board.

You need to go check this out as it’s worth becoming a PLUS dealer just to have access to this product. There’s no question this product WILL have an impact on SMART:  http://www.plus-america.com/upic.html

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Polycom, BroadSoft Expand Unified Communications Portfolio with New Video Solutions

Polycom and BroadSoft, have partnered to enhance unified communications (UC) solutions featuring IP telephony with Polycom HD Voice, video conferencing and telepresence capabilities. Delivered as a hosted service through BroadSoft service provider customers, this expanded voice and video combination provides a complete and cost-effective communications solution for small and medium sized businesses.

Polycom announced that its Polycom HDX personal and room telepresence solutions and Polycom RMX 2000TM and RMX 4000TM real-time media conferencing platforms are now interoperable with the BroadSoft BroadWorks VoIP application platform. Customers now have a range of choices of high definition (HD) video solutions to meet their specific application and space requirements. The Polycom HDX systems feature dual-stack H.323/SIP capabilities, enabling customers to migrate to telepresence on the BroadSoft SIP compliant platform, while continuing to leverage existing video conferencing investments and connect with the large installed base of H.323 video conferencing systems in use today. The Polycom RMX 2000 and 4000 systems offer voice, video and unified conferencing capabilities and can connect people using different types of voice and video devices on different networks within the same meeting.

For more information on this partnership, go to:  http://www.polycom.com/company/news_room/press_releases/2009/20091026.html

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Chief Adds WhiteBoard Mount

Chief’s has designed a new wall bracket that’s specially designed to mount an interactive whiteboard over an existing chalkboard. This allows installers to use the wall space while avoiding costly removal of the chalkboard. The mount offers flexible positioning with vertical, lateral and depth adjustments. Plus, it mounts to the wall without damaging existing boards and is universally compatible with most boards. When paired with a Chief short throw mounting system, you have a complete, unique whiteboard solution.

And, the new short throw wall mounts include several installer-inspired features to ensure fast, trouble-free installation. Achieve precise image alignment using the built-in telescoping extension of up to 54" and innovative lateral shift capabilities when spanning multiple studs. Includes exclusive micro-adjust leveling and height adjustment of the extension arm for a perfect installation. The new mounts feature built-in cable management for a clean installation and are designed for safety in any environment.

For more information on the entire system, go to:  http://www.chiefmfg.com/productdetail.aspx?AccessoryID=1138

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Da-Lite Adds More Frame Options to JKP Affinity Screen

Da-Lite is now offering the JKP Affinity Screen series with additional fixed frame choices that include both the Da-Snap and Imager designer frames. Da-Lite says that the Da-Snap and Imager frames are available in a variety of formats to fit home theater or post production applications.

JKP models are standard with Pro-Trim, a fabric frame covering that aesthetically enhances the appearance of an installation and absorbs light that surrounds the viewing area of the screen.  Installers can select the JKP Affinity Screen fabric of their choice and combine it with a Da-Snap or Imager fixed frame in a variety of formats that include HDTV and Cinemascope sizes.

For more information, go to:  http://www.da-lite.com/dalitehometheater/products/view_category.php?category_id=11

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News from Pacific Media Associates, HaiVision, Da-Lite

Pacific Media Associates has hired Lynn Ritter as a Senior Research Associate. Previously, Ritter spent 27 years at Gartner Dataquest… Audio Video Systems, an AV design and integration firm, will begin sponsoring a job shadowing program in conjunction with the Chantilly, VA campus of ITT Technical Institute… HaiVision has named Scott Katzenoff as vice president of U.S. commercial sales… HaiVision also named three new U.S. regional sales directors: Allan Leon, for the southeast, Todd Mappes, for the southwest, and Dan Wabiszewski, for the midwest… HaiVision also launched their Middle East operations by opening a new office in Dubai, U.A.E., appointing Mohammed Ghafari as vice president of Middle East operations. Da-Lite Screen Company has announced a new author of their Angles of Reflection articles, Adam Teevan. Teevan, Da-Lite's director of international sales, has been with Da-Lite since 2005.

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For all you REGULAR readers of rAVe ProAV Edition out there, hopefully you enjoyed another opinion-packed issue!

For those of you NEW to rAVe, you just read how we are — we are 100% opinionated. We not only report the news and new product stories of the ProAV industry, but we stuff the articles full of our opinions. That may include (but is not limited to) whether or not the product is even worth looking at, challenging the manufacturers on their specifications, calling a marketing-spec bluff and suggesting ways integrators market their products better. But, one thing is for sure, we are NOT a trade publication that gets paid for running editorial or product stories. Traditional trade publications get paid to run product stories — that's why you see what you see in most of the pubs out there. We are different: we run what we want to run and NO ONE is going to pay us to write anything good (or bad).

Don't like us, then go away — unsubscribe! Just use the link below.

To send me feedback, don't reply to this newsletter – instead, write directly to me at [email protected] or for editorial ideas: Editor-in-Chief Sara Abrons at [email protected]

A little about me: I graduated from Journalism School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (where I am adjunct faculty). I've been in the AV-industry since 1987 where I started with Extron and eventually moved to AMX. So, I guess I am an industry veteran (although I don't think I am that old). I have been an opinionated columnist for a number of industry publications and in the late 1990s I started the widely read KNews eNewsletter (the first in the AV market) and also created the model for and was co-founder of AV Avenue – which is now known as InfoComm IQ. rAVe Publications has been around since 2003, when we launched our original newsletter, rAVe ProAV Edition.

Everything we publish is Opt-in — we spam NO ONE! rAVe ProAV Edition is our flagship publication with what we believe is a reach of virtually everyone in the ProAV market.rAVe HomeAV Edition, co-published with CEDIA, launched in February, 2004 and is, by far, the largest ePub in the HomeAV market.rAVe Rental [and Staging] launched in November 2007.rAVe ED [Education] launched in May 2008.

To read more about my background, our team, and what we do, go to https://www.ravepubs.com

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Copyright 2009 – rAVe [Publications] – All rights reserved – All rights reserved. For reprint policies, contact rAVe [Publications], 510 Meadowmont Village Circle, Suite 376 – Chapel Hill, NC 27517 – (919) 969-7501. Email:[email protected]

rAVe contains the opinions of the author only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other persons or companies or its sponsors.