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Volume 10, Issue 15 — August 8, 2012
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Family First: Buy/Sell Decisions
By Chuck Wilson
Executive Director, NSCA A truly heart wrenching part of my job is helping our members deal with the loss of a key employee, business owner and/or business partner(s). Particularly troubling is when I know the spouses and family left behind and they (their attorneys) reach out to us over estate settlement conflicts.
Here are some typical situations I run across…
Scenario 1: Two partners form a company and immediately protect themselves with a buy/sell (member or shareholder) agreement defining what happens if one dies, becomes disabled, gets divorced, or simply wants out. Because the company is worth very little at the time, not much thought went into the valuation of the business, or funding the stock sale agreement. At the time, insurance seemed too expensive and unnecessary. Then the business grew, a valuation was done, and now – insurance seems like the best choice to fund a stock redemption upon a death of one of the partners. On the day of taking out the policy, the fair market valuation (FMV) exactly matches the insurance death benefit. As time goes on, there can be a huge discrepancy – perhaps the company is not worth what it once was, or the insurance death benefit is way below FMV.
Scenario 2: The business grows and the two partners forget all about the buy/sell agreement. They purchase real estate – including the building where the company is located. The two partners offer stock to a third employee, then a fourth. An original partner now retires and the remaining partners buy him out. The new owners were issued stock certificates, but did not update the buy/sell agreement to match the insurance policy. Suddenly, one of the new partners dies, leaving behind a spouse and family. Because the original buy/sell agreement was never updated, the original document did not account for multiple partners. Some of our members believe they can fund a buy out or death settlement of minority partners without financial hardship by increasing their line of credit. But as we have recently learned, a recession can hit causing margins and profits to suffer, therefore limiting cash flow. In addition, banks have really cut back on the amount loaned without personal guarantees.
Scenario 3: An estate attorney can challenge the valuations when the buy/sell specifies the lesser amount of the insurance benefit or FMV value at time of death is to be paid. The problem is that all a spouse remembers is their wife or husband coming home one day saying that "my business partner and I each took out a million dollar life insurance policy in case something happens to one of us." They heard $1million and that’s all. They didn’t catch the part explaining that the actual payoff will be based on 4 times earnings averaged over a 3 year period and that the insurance (paid to the company) was only a means to fund that payout. It could be FMV but “not to exceed” the amount of the death benefit.
Scenario 4: Most companies use life insurance to fund their buy/sell but never find time to evaluate the under/over funding based on current market conditions. More often than not, the owner/partner who passes is a leader in the company and the person who is the primary revenue generator, thus quickly reducing sales and the overall company worth. I’ve also seen partners whose medical history or age prevents them from obtaining insurance or have very costly premiums for one of the partners, so they take the risk of getting to retirement before death.
Recommendations:
So how does your company buy/sell work and what valuation is used? - I recommend you fix the stock value to the insurance death benefit and have that adjusted periodically to FMV.
- I recommend you name the corporation as the beneficiary and require the exact death benefit value to be paid out to the estate of the partner.
- I also recommend the language is very clear that the partner’s estate must accept that settlement amount without further legal action.
Plan for the future:
The whole point of this blog is to make sure the family comes first and your business affairs are always current. It’s responsible to set this up, but it’s even more responsible to evaluate and adjust your insurance and buy/sell agreements on a regular basis.
These scenarios bring about common considerations when setting up and reviewing your shareholder agreements, life insurance policies, and business valuations.
Consider the following items: - Consistency with the terms and conditions of the buy/sell agreement and the death benefit of the insurance policy. If there are inconsistencies, the estate attorneys get involved and everyone suffers all over again. The settlement can drag on for months and at least one party will feel cheated on the actual settlement amount.
- The last thing you want is for your survivors to have to figure out what to do with an equity position in a business they’ve never worked in. You don’t want them to have to go through a valuation after you are gone. You don’t want them to have to hire another lawyer because of uncertain language on the fair market value vs. insurance benefit.
- Another harsh reality is the uncertainty over what happens with a partner going through a divorce, on disability, or when a partner simply chooses not to be active (abandons corporate duties) yet retains ownership. Specific language needs to be included in these shareholder agreements for these situations as well as an equitable dissolution statement and who can buy whom under what conditions.
Please make sure your business affairs are in order to keep have your family first if something should ever happen to you. Have your personal attorney help you and if they need a valuation have them contact me.
Chuck Wilson is the executive director of the National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA), a not-for-profit association representing the commercial electronic systems industry. At the helm of NSCA, much of Wilson’s time is spent assisting contractors with the challenges of today’s business environment. He often gives lectures and presentations at key industry events, and has been published in numerous leading trade journals. Reach him at cwilson@nsca.org Leave a Comment
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Inside The EcoChamber: Interview with Howard Nunes of PepperDash
By Scott Walker
President and CEO, Waveguide Consulting Are you getting a little bit worn out by me? Need a break? Me too.
With this month’s article I’m starting a new series called Inside the EcoChamber, wherein I will interview those brave folks out there in AV-Land who are transforming their companies to seize the opportunities offered by the smart sustainable building market. For this inaugural interview in the series I sat down (over WebEx) to speak with Howard Nunes, co-founder and president/CEO of PepperDash, a leading independent software programming company with offices across the U.S.
Scott Walker: Howard, give us a little background on PepperDash.
Howard Nunes: PepperDash is a 12-year-old company founded by David Hughes, Sumanth Rayancha — my two business partners — and me. We spun out of a large-scale Internet development company called Breakaway Solutions, which I also co-founded. In 2000 when the market collapsed, so did Breakaway. The three of us left to form PepperDash. Originally, Pepperdash was doing mostly application development on the Windows and Unix platforms. We began to dabble in Crestron and then eventually AMX programming to bring in some cash while we worked on product development. However, by 2004 AV control system programming had become our primary service line.
The AV industry at the time was talking about convergence with IT. Our success in providing control programming for large projects stems from the fact that we are IT people at our core, so the AV-IT convergence thing has been more of an opportunity than a barrier for us. Today, we are about 30 people strong, which is quite large for a company solely focused on control system programming.
SW: If where we’ve been as an industry over the past 10 years is along a path of AV-IT convergence, where do you see “traditional” AV control system programming going over the next 10 years?
HN: That’s a great question and one that comes up a lot around here and among our control programming peers in the industry. Some think there will always be a role for custom AV control programming for many years to come. I tend to look at it differently. The need for the function will go on, but the service will change dramatically. Mobile devices are beginning to have a big impact on how we deliver solutions for our customers and will disrupt traditional thinking radically.
I also think commoditization and standardization trends will continue to progress and will cut the heart out of the low end and middle tier of the market. If you look at CDW, Dell, Cisco and others, they are all offering packaged solutions to the market. That could be an opportunity for some and a challenge for others.
SW: As I talk to people who are engaging the smart sustainable building market, I am always interested in the perspective of those who come from different backgrounds and service offerings to understand how the opportunity looks to them. As a software company how to do view this opportunity?
HN: In any market where you have rapid change and diversification you will see some kind of consolidation. On the AV side, I imagine we’ll see more and more manufacturers as well as service providers getting bought and rolled into larger traditional IT companies. On the building side, I think we’ll see the same thing. There are hundreds of companies out there creating innovative solutions for the smart building market; I imagine these companies will be prime candidates for acquisition by the larger companies in this market like Siemens, Johnson Controls and Honeywell.
SW: This year the InfoComm show was held in conjunction with Realcomm and IBCon, events dedicated to the real estate industry and the intelligent building market. What did you see over there?
HN: It was notable to me that Crestron had one of the largest booths at Realcomm to showcase their Fusion EM software platform, but there were also many small providers along what was called the “Niagara Way.” Niagara is the Java-based software platform created by Tridium, a subsidiary of Honeywell, to work with their hardware. The Crestron Fusion platform is very similar in its goals to the Tridium Niagara platform. They both allow third-party software companies like PepperDash to create solutions around their platform.
SW: So let’s talk about the impediments to entering the smart building market. A big AV company is tiny compared to the big building automation companies. Is there room for small to mid-sized AV companies in this valley of the giants?
HN: If you think about Siemens, Johnson and Honeywell, they all have huge networks of dealer/installers the same way that a Cisco or Crestron does. However, most of the building automation dealers are not large companies. So I think there is a lot of opportunity for AV integrators to partner with building automation integrators to jointly pursue this work because the building automation folks have little knowledge outside of building management systems. Tying in to high-end AV systems, enterprise digital signage, building lighting controls and room reservation software is where the AV integrators can bring their value.
Actually, to my mind there’s an impediment for the building automation folks to get into our world because AV requires such a high degree of custom integration, but the AV industry is accustomed to that level of complexity and innovation and has a leg up when it comes to complex systems integration.
SW: You mention partnering among traditional building automation integrators and AV integrators. I haven’t seen much of that yet. Perhaps the problem is that there are too few building project specifications that are written holistically and in a coordinated manner such that these partnerships can emerge.
HN: True. Upstream of all of us AV providers are the building architects and engineers. There can be a level of risk aversion at play there where everyone wants to stay within the same contract framework in which they are most comfortable to mitigate their liability on a large project. USGBC was very successful in getting designers to try something new because they went to owners and made the case for sustainable design. Those owners in turn wrote RFPs that required the design team to meet a certain level of LEED certification. The same strategy of marketing to owners needs to be undertaken with respect to smart buildings.
SW: PepperDash has gone a little farther than simply peering into this market to learn more about it. You’ve created a software product called Sentegy to address this market. What is Sentegy, and why did you create it?
HN: One night I working in New York and wondering why the big shiny new LEED-Gold building across the street had all the lights on in the middle of the night. Well, it’s because there’s a human factor in setting and optimizing building systems for energy efficiency, and someone probably hadn’t bothered to configure the lighting automation settings in this building.
So we began to think about how to create a learning management system for buildings. At PepperDash, we think buildings should think for themselves based on learned usage patterns with respect to their specific occupants’ needs and the measured hysteresis curves on the heating and cooling of spaces. You can’t treat every floor the same. A trading floor may be very different from a marketing floor or executive floor. The building needs to construct its own set of rules based on algorithms that factor in these various usage patterns and continually adapt them over time. In our first pilot projects, we found energy savings of between 23 percent and 26 percent using this predictive approach. And that’s just on the energy side. Imagine how a tool like this could help the owner’s facilities people determine what their space needs truly are when planning and designing new facilities. Perhaps they can design and build a more usable and therefore more efficient building based on this empirical data, so Sentegy becomes a very useful facilities planning tool as well. This could apply to all sorts of buildings: schools, banks, office buildings, etc.
SW: So is Sentegy a shrink-wrapped product or a custom service only to be deployed by PepperDash?
HN: Our business plan is to make Sentegy 100 percent a product to be sold as a SaaS (software as a service) much like SalesForce or other web-based software offerings. Sentegy is entirely web-based, uses HTML5 and can be run on an iPad. It will be purchased as a monthly or annual subscription with additional modules that can be added depending on the particular systems being controlled and monitored in the building.
There is a services element to it, so, much like other complex software offerings, it needs to be integrated into the overall environment, and this is where AV providers can add their value. We will be developing networks of resellers and identifying architects and consultants who could be partners in specifying Sentegy. We expect there will be a number of detailed integration services that our partners can provide to tailor the product for each owner’s needs. We have deployed a few trial sites and are about six months to a year from version one in the marketplace. We are actively looking for beta partners who are open-minded and interested in this kind of advanced technology for their buildings.
Scott Walker, CTS-D, LEED® AP, is president and CEO of Waveguide Consulting, a leading AV, IT and acoustical consulting firm. He is also a past president of InfoComm International. Scott is recognized as being one of the primary forces behind the founding of the Sustainable Technology Environments Program (STEP) rating system and currently is a member of the STEP Foundation board, which is responsible for managing the STEP program. Scott can be reached at swalker@waveguide.com
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This Week from rAVe's BlogSquad Back to Top Recently from the AVNation Podcasts Back to Top Gary Kayye to Speak in San Francisco About Creating Creative Environments With Projection On Sept. 6, rAVe founder Gary Kayye will speak in San Francisco at an NEC Showcase event. Kayye will give a new keynote called "Creating Creative Environments — The Future of Projection." He will explain how projection technology isn’t just for classrooms, boardrooms and meeting rooms any more and how he thinks it's all about creating immersive environments, setting a mood, accessing an emotion and taking you away to wherever the presenter wants you to go.
The showcase will be held 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Westin San Francisco Market Street and feature other classes including "10 Steps to a Successful Video Wall Project" and "Video Wall Setup and Color Calibration Training."
To see the complete schedule of events or register, click here: http://sanfranshowcase.necdisplay.com/ Leave a Comment
Share Article Back to Top PMA Says Epson, Sony and Optoma Top Selling High-end and New Era Projectors For more than a dozen years, Pacific Media Associates (PMA) has collected monthly sell-through data from leading North American projector dealers, retailers, web resellers and distributors. The company's Tracking Service family of monthly reports offers timely sell-through data and analysis on unit sales, true volume-weighted street prices, and inventories of front projectors for these channels.
Each month, Pacific Media Associates posts the top-five Lists for the following categories:
High-End (4000+ lumens) Projectors – This top-five list is compiled from data collected from PMA’s monthly Pro A/V Projector Tracking Service sample, which is made up of North American dealers and integrators. The June 2012 results show that Epson had four of the top five selling models, by unit volume, in the June sample. The Epson PL Pro G5450WU, Epson PL Pro G5750WU, Epson PowerLite 1945W and Epson PL Pro G5650W took the first, third, fourth and fifth spots, respectively. Hitachi rounded out the top five with the CP-WX4021N filling the number two spot.
Mainstream (1000 to 3999 lumens) Projectors – This top-five list is compiled from data collected from PMA’s monthly Distributor Projector Tracking Service sample, which is made up of North American distributors. The June results show that InFocus clinched three of the top-five selling projectors spots, by unit volume, with the InFocus IN114, InFocus IN112 and InFocus IN1112 filling the number two, three and four positions, respectively. The Epson PowerLite 93+ took the number one spot and the NEC NP-V260X rounded out the top five.
New Era/Pico and Personal (sub-1000 lumens) Projectors – This top-five list is compiled from data collected from PMA’s monthly Retail Projector Tracking Service sample, which is made up of North American retailers and web resellers. The June results showed Optoma taking three of the top-five selling projectors spots, by unit volume, with the Optoma PK-320, Optoma PK-201 and Optoma ML500 coming in second, third and fifth, respectively. The top selling model for this category in June was the Acer K11. The AAXA M2 Micro rounded out the top five in the fourth position.
For more information, go to http://www.pacificmediaassociates.com
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GovComm Registration Opens InfoComm says that registration has opened for GovComm 2012, a ProAV and information communications technology expo and conference to be held Nov. 28-29, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Now in its second year, this two-day event is designed to serve Washington, D.C.-area technology managers, end users and procurement officers in the government and military sectors. The event will feature exhibits, networking opportunities and training.
GovComm 2012 will feature leading manufacturers of digital signage, collaborative conferencing, projection, display, audio and AV networking technologies. The exhibit floor will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on November 28 and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on November 29.
Ninety-minute education classes held concurrently with the exhibits will be taught by experts from the world-renowned InfoComm University™. Classes include Determining Streaming Bandwidth; Cyber Security: How to Protect Your Assets; Space, Time and Technology: The Future of AV; AV Project Management; Control System Solutions for Energy Management; Is Your Cloud Ready for Mobility?; Assessing Network Readiness for AV Systems; Intro to VLANs; Future Trends; Build Infrastructure to Support Collaboration; Information Security and Hardware Hardening for AV; Virginia Tech Emergency Notification System; Basic Room Acoustics for Technology Managers; and Secure Remote Monitoring and Management.
On November 28 at 9:00 a.m., Richard Spires, CIO, U.S. Homeland Security, will offer a keynote address explaining his vision for the future of government communications. Gary Hall, CTS-D, CTS-I, MS – Technology Management, MBA, Cisco, will lead an industry panel addressing future trends on November 29, at 9:00 a.m. This panel will explain how work is being transformed into a secure, borderless, video-centric, social environment. The panel will also explore the role of secure AV by sharing insights into the top-secret, classified world of government communications.
In order to deliver maximum value to attendees, this year GovComm will co-locate with Government Video Expo, the Enterprise Architecture Conference and the Government Information Analytics Summit.
Those interested in attending can register at http://www.govcommshow.org. Admission is free for those registering in advance. Companies interested in exhibiting at GovComm 2012 should contact InfoComm Expositions Sales at +1.703.273.7200 orexhibitsales@infocomm.org
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Share Article Back to Top Videoconferencing in EMEA to Grow 18.5 Percent, Says IDC According to IDC Research, the EMEA enterprise videoconferencing equipment market will grow 14.6 percent CAGR, spurred by the increasing need of the enterprise market for the application of video and telepresence for unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) purposes as well as diminishing cultural barriers to video acceptance within organizations.
Melissa Fremeijer, senior research analyst, EMEA Unified Communications and Collaboration said, "While the key driver for investing in videoconferencing has initially been the need to reduce travel costs, we find that increasingly companies are interested in the benefits of enhanced team collaboration and effectiveness of meetings."
For the growing sophisticated customer base, video is no longer seen as a “silo-ed” technology used merely for face to face internal meetings, but increasingly adopted as part of a UC&C infrastructure and integrated into daily business processes via built-in and customizable applications.
Moving beyond the conference room meeting, video use has become a mainstay application in many vertical markets.
For the forecast period, IDC expects the lower tier of videoconferencing solutions in particular (e.g., small workgroups, desktop, and mobile) to attract greater interest from business end users. In addition, IDC expects video-as-a-service (VaaS) cloud offerings to start to gain visibility in 2012 and throughout the forecast period, further adding to companies' interest in video.
The videoconferencing equipment forecast study also reveals that: - In 2011, EMEA videoconferencing revenue grew 20.5 percent (over 2010) to $809.5 million, making it another strong year for the enterprise videoconferencing market.
- EMEA immersive telepresence revenue, which IDC derives as a percentage of overall videoconferencing revenue, came in at $96.7 million in 2011, a 16.5 percent decrease in growth over 2010. IDC sees this as further evidence of the trend of videoconferencing pushing down market in the enterprise to a growing segment of desktop workgroup and mobile users.
- Video infrastructure equipment (MCUs, gateways, video network servers, appliances, etc.) grew to $210.7 million in 2011, up 26.3 percent over 2010. The bulk (62 percent) of videoconferencing endpoint revenue, which comprises single codec and executive desktop systems, grew 31.8 percent over 2010 to reach $ 502.2 million in 2011.
- Total EMEA videoconferencing revenue in 2011 was divided among the subregions as follows: Western Europe (88.9 percent), Central Eastern Europe (7.2 percent), Middle East and Africa (4 percent).
You can read the entire forecast here: http://www.idc.com/home.jsp Leave a Comment
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Pacific Media’s Q2 Census Shows Mainstream Projector Market Grew Seven Percent Y/Y Pacific Media Associates (PMA) just released its latest research report on the worldwide projector market. The worldwide projector market totaled 2.3 million units in calendar Q2.
The second quarter is typically a seasonally slow one for sales of home entertainment projectors. That was not the case this year as Euro Football and the lead-up to the Olympics led to a buoyant quarter for 1080p projector sales throughout Europe. In the mainstream professional market, robust growth slowed in China but education tenders drove 20 percent+ year/year gains in the ASEAN countries.
High-end projector sales also registered solid gains during the quarter. The U.S. market, the leading country in the world for high-end projectors, hit a record-setting high in volume for the quarter. While already-high digitization rates are impacting the U.S. digital cinema market, high-end growth this quarter turned to traditional conference room and large venue projectors as this segment jumped 20 percent vs. the year-earlier quarter.
In the sub-1000 lumen brightness range, the worldwide total fell again compared with the year-earlier quarter. That decline was mainly due to lower shipments of modules embedded in mobile devices, though that trend is expected to reverse course sharply in the second half of 2012. Standalone projectors, including pico projectors and personal projectors, managed to eke out a small gain over the year-earlier quarter. This segment too is expected to pick up strongly in the second half of this year.
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Share Article Back to Top SnapAV Enters ProAV Market Following the continued downturn of the HomeAV market, SnapAV has launched a ProAV-only product line and dedicated commercial AV website.
SnapAV is a manufacturer of speakers, power conditioning products, cabling, screens and rack products and its new commercial website is here: http://www.snapav.com/t-commercialLaunch.aspx
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Share Article Back to Top Global Projector Market Up Thanks to EMEA After a reasonable start to calendar year 2012, the projectors market (excluding pico) had another solid quarter in Q2 2012, bolstered by strong demand in the corporate and home markets of Western Europe as Poland and Ukraine played host to the European Football Championships. The worldwide projector market grew 3.5 percent from the same quarter in 2011, with year-on-year results showing reasonable growth of 11.4 percent, according to a new global projectors market report from Futuresource Consulting.
In the EMEA region, good ‘sales in’ were reported prior to the start of the European Championships, however, sales out are understood to be lower than expected and there are concerns regarding channel stock levels affecting Q3 sales volumes. Russia continues to return good volumes in Q2 2012, up 65.5 percent year-on-year with significant education business expected later in the year. The Turkish market shows further signs of contraction reaching only 15.2K units a year-on-year retraction of 19 percent as phase one of the FATIH tender for flat panel solutions in Turkish schools is implemented.
After a weak quarter in Q1 2012 the United States posted a solid return with a total volume of 599.7 K units, up 3.8 percent on Q2 2011. While restrictions on district budgets continue to hold back the education market, good run rate business and increasing demand in the sub-1000-lumen pocket segment helped ensure a good quarter. The markets of Latin America continue to experience problems with further contraction seen in Argentina as importation regulations restrict the transfer of products into the country. As in Q1 2012, tenders in Brazil and Mexico continued to experience delays while customs strikes at Brazilian ports during June and July look set to negatively impact Q3 volumes.
The Asia Pacific region continues to show strong growth with the region claiming 789K units. China remains the key driver reaching sales of 430.5K units in Q2 2012, up 6.3 percent year-on-year. After two consecutive quarters of large tender activity in Indonesia the market re-stabilized during Q2 2012 with a total volume of 43.8K units, achieving growth of 25 percent year-on-year. Futuresource expects a strong return for the education tender business later in the year.
See the report here: http://www.futuresource-consulting.com/
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AFMG and Renkus-Heinz Restructure Relationship Renkus-Heinz and Ahnert Feistel Media Group (AFMG Technologies GmbH) have announced the restructuring of their long-standing strategic relationship, with AFMG stepping into a more prominent role.
AFMG will provide direct sales, technical support and training worldwide for its acoustical measurement and simulation software products including EASE, EASERA and SysTune. Renkus-Heinz will continue to offer support to customers during the transition beginning on Oct. 1, 2012. Both companies will keep working together in educational seminars, marketing of technology solutions as well as software development and other projects.
AFMG's Berlin offices, which already provide support for Europe, including Russia, the Middle East, Africa and India, will take on this role globally. On hand to cover the Americas will be Bruce Olson and Charlie Hughes from the U.S. branch of AFMG. Additionally, AFMG representatives and distribution partners will provide local assistance as well.
The transition beginning Oct. 1, 2012 should be seamless to all AFMG customers, with Renkus-Heinz continuing to provide assistance as needed, and AFMG taking on all functions effective Jan. 1, 2013.
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Share Article Back to Top Chief's New Rewards Site Gifts Certified Partners Chief has added a brand-new rewards site to its Certification Program.
Participants in the Chief Certified Partner Program earn Chief points when completing courses. Once they hit 600- and 1,200-point levels, they pick out rewards from among dozens of items including tools, travel accessories, fashion accessories, gift cards and more. Chief Certified Partners can see the full list after logging into their online accounts.
With more than 2,400 active users (more than 1,000 Certified Partners), the Chief Certification Program is designed to help dealers and installers improve business results, differentiate their businesses and enhance their overall mount and rack product knowledge. Course completion also earns industry renewal credits at no cost; the program is accredited for 11.5 CTS RUs from InfoComm, 8 CEDIA CEUs, 2 Digital Signage Experts Group Credits and 1 American Institute of Architects credit.
There are 21 courses available through Chief’s online program, with specialized training modules for a variety of needs and vertical markets such as corporate, residential and education. Chief continues to add to this list; recent additions include Automated Classroom, Elite Home Theater, Control Room and Training Room courses.
To sign up for Chief’s Certified Partner Program and start the free interactive training, or to simply find out more about the courses and their specific industry credit value, go to http://www.certification.chiefmfg.com
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Share Article Back to Top DPI Announces New 6000-Lumen Projector For $3,995 Digital Projection International announced today the new E-Vision WXGA 6000, the newest member of DPI's aggressively-priced E-Vision projector series. The WXGA (1280×800) projector offers up to 6,000 lumens in brightness and a specified contrast ratio of 2400:1, plus an array of lens options, a dual lamp set-up and advanced color controls.
Distinct to the new E-Vision WXGA 6000 is a new, lightweight and streamlined cabinet. It also offers two swappable color wheels, which allows integrators to install the color wheel that provides the best balance of lumens and color depth to complement their application. Additionally, a variety of fixed and zoom lens options give the E-Vision WXGA 6000 a flexible throw ratio range of .76:1 – 8.26:1. It also has six user-selectable inputs, including HDCP-compliant DVI.
The E-Vision WXGA 6000 will ship in October and has a list price of $3,995 (not including the lens).
For more information on this new projector, click here. Leave a Comment
Share Article Back to Top Lencore Drops Crossways and CrossNet Speakers, Plans New Speakers for Q4 2012 Lencore says it's decided to drop its Crossways and CrossNet brand from the company's product line. The company told rAVe it will introduce new speaker options that "better meets the critical elements for comfort with regard to sound quality and speaker capabilities."
But, the new speakers won't make their debut until Q4 2012. Part of the new Tangent product line, Lencore says they'll be smaller and have a greater frequency response.
Lencore can be found at: http://www.lencore.com/
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Share Article Back to Top Extron Launches 12×8 Audio Mixer With DSP and Acoustic Echo Cancellation Extron's new DMP 128 Digital Matrix Processor is a 12×8 audio mixer featuring Extron ProDSP, automixing, I/O expansion capabilities and available AEC (acoustic echo cancellation). AEC prevents audio at the near end from being returned to the far end as echo, ensuring clear, natural conversations for far end participants. The DMP 128 offers a configuration approach to DSP that simplifies mixing, routing, conferencing and room optimization. An intuitive configuration system using the DSP Configurator Software allows the DMP 128 to be programmed quickly with adjustments that can be heard in real-time. A digital audio expansion port allows two DMP 128 units to be linked together to expand input and output signal management and routing capabilities.
The DMP 128 C and DMP 128 C P models include Extron AEC for conferencing applications. These models include eight independent channels of AEC, as well as selectable noise cancellation. Extron says its AEC features advanced algorithms that deliver fast echo canceler convergence for optimal intelligibility, even when multiple people are talking at the same time. The DMP 128 C P model includes analog phone interfacing with POTS line and phone connections.
Extron's ProDSP is engineered from the ground up using a powerful 32/64-bit floating point DSP engine and studio grade 24-bit audio converters with 48 kHz sampling. It is managed by the DSP Configurator Software, a PC-based application featuring a GUI that allows for complete audio system visualization within a single window. Designers can quickly get a snapshot view of the entire audio system, including processing blocks and routing assignments, all at once.
For more specs, go here: http://www.extron.com/company/article.aspx?id=dmp128ad
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Share Article Back to Top Earthworks Ships Wireless Mic Capsule Earthworks' long-awaited (introduced in October 2011) WL40V Wireless Vocal Microphone Capsule is now shipping. The WL40V is a wireless microphone capsule "head" designed for live sound applications. The capsule head has a three ring bulls-eye connector and is interchangeable with any of the screw-on-type handheld transmitters that receive a 31.3 mm / pitch 1.0 mm.
Earthworks claims that the WL40V requires "little to no EQ" and also says it has a "textbook perfect" hypercardioid polar pattern and extended flat frequency response translate to a natural on- and off-axis performance. It lists for $899.
Full specs on the WL40V are here: http://www.earthworksaudio.com/
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Share Article Back to Top Extron Intros Tiny DVI to Fiber Extender Extron's new DDX 102 Dual Link DVI Fiber Optic Extender is a tiny (only 1.5" x 2.8" x 0.6") transmitter and receiver set for long haul delivery of DVI signals over fiber optic cabling. Extron says it uses all-digital technology to deliver pixel-for-pixel transmission of video images up to 2560×1600 resolutions, including HDTV 1080p/60. The extender delivers dual link DVI-D signals up to 500 meters (1,640 feet) over two multimode cables or single link DVI signals over one fiber optic cable.
The DDX 102 transmitter and receiver feature industry standard LC-type connectors, and can be used for point-to-point fiber optic applications with dual link DVI requirements. The units connect directly to the DVI source and display devices, eliminating the need for additional mounting hardware. EDID Minder automatically manages EDID by maintaining continuous communication with the source, ensuring that it powers up properly and reliably outputs content for display. The transmitter also provides an EDID capture mode to store display EDID.
More specs are here: http://www.extron.com/product/product.aspx?id=ddx102&s=0
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Share Article Back to Top RGB Spectrum Debuts Secure KVM According to RGB Spectrum, secure KVM is now attainable through the use of its External Desktop Agent (EDA) in SinglePoint KvM and Multipoint Control Room Management System (MCMS) installations.
SinglePoint KvM enables a unified display space where users control the layout of the visual presentation as well as the operation of the computers displayed, all with a single mouse and keyboard.
MCMS expands on this functionality in multi-user environments, such as control rooms, through a simplified system of preferences and priorities. This mechanism determines which operators have access to data and provides a hierarchy among operators for controlling resources. RGB says the EDA functions as a remote keyboard and mouse emulator on any computer, obviating the need to install special software.
An EDA receives keyboard and mouse commands from the operator via its own IP address and relays them to a target computer over a PS/2 port. A PS/2 to USB adapter is provided, with the PS/2 connection remaining in-line. Since PS/2 is uni-directional, either arrangement ensures that keyboard/mouse commands are passed to the computer without allowing external access to computer files.
Get all the details here: http://www.rgb.com/
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Share Article Back to Top Extron Introduces Wall Plate Fiber Optic Transmitter Extron Electronics announced today the FOX T UWP 302, a two-input fiber optic transmitter for long haul transmission of HDCP-compliant HDMI, RGBHV or HD component video and stereo audio signals over fiber optic cabling. Extron says this Decora-style wall plate transmitter uses all digital technology to provide perfect pixel-for-pixel transmission of images up to 1920×1200, including HDTV 1080p/60. Analog signals are digitized to ensure high quality transmission. The transmitter also provides a host of integrator-friendly features, such as EDID Minder, Key Minder, audio embedding with gain and attenuation control, auto-input switching and real-time system monitoring.
The FOX T UWP 302 occupies a three-gang space, and is available in multimode and singlemode models.
As part of the line of FOX Series fiber optic products, this transmitter is compatible with FOX Series HDMI, DVI Plus, DVI and VGA receivers. The FOX T UWP 302 can also be used in combination with FOX Series matrix switchers for HDCP-compliant signal distribution systems up to 1000×1000 and larger.
For more information, click here: http://www.extron.com/product/product.aspx?id=foxtuwp302&s=5
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Share Article Back to Top Premier Mounts Redesigns, Lowers Price of LMV Mount Premier Mounts announced radical changes to the LMV video wall mount design and manufacturing process that has resulted in a 30 percent list price reduction. The new LMV includes a spring-loaded locking mechanism for quick release, compact mounting arms with scissor design and top-adjustable mounting brackets.
The new version shares components across all the Premier video wall product lines, thus sharing a reduction of costs. The new design of the LMV includes an updated latch and smaller base frame size for quick and easy installation. Premier says precision laser cut spacers also reveal an upgraded design that ensure a 100 percent fit and secure the spacer(s) flush with the mounts for seamless alignment without need for time consuming adjustments. Spacers are included at no cost with each purchase of the LMV. Customers purchasing two to four LMVs will receive a free spacer, while five or more LMVs purchased will receive two free spacers.
Here are all the specs and details: http://www.mounts.com/product?product=LMV
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Share Article Back to Top Extron Debuts Less Expensive HDMI Twisted Pair Extenders Extron has launched the DTP HDMI 230 twisted pair extender for transmission of HDMI, audio and bidirectional RS-232 and IR control signals up to 230 feet (70 meters) over a single Cat5-type cable. It's priced at about 15 percent less than the company's other longer-distance models. The HDCP-compliant extender provides an economical means for extending HDMI with embedded multi-channel audio from HDMI-equipped devices. In addition, the DTP HDMI 230 accepts analog stereo audio signals and digitizes them for simultaneous transmission over the same single twisted pair cable.
The DTP HDMI 230 allows a direct connection from devices with an analog stereo audio output, such as desktop computers or laptops, and provides balanced and unbalanced audio output from the receiver. In addition, the DTP HDMI 230 continuously maintains DDC communication of EDID and HDCP between a source and display thus ensuring direct compatibility between devices.
The DTP HDMI 230 is compatible with Cat5, Cat6, and Cat7 twisted pair cable and can be used as a point-to-point solution or integrated with an HDMI matrix switcher to extend inputs or outputs to remote locations. It is compatible with signal resolutions up to 1080p/60 or 1920×1200 and supports HDMI specification features including data rates up to 6.75 Gbps, Deep Color up to 12-bit, 3D, HD lossless audio formats and CEC. For added flexibility, either the transmitter or receiver can be powered over the original twisted pair cable, allowing both devices to share one external power supply.
Details on the DTP HDMI 230 are here: http://www.extron.com/product/product.aspx?id=dtphdmi230&s=0
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Share Article Back to Top Independent Technical Service Providers Council Emerges at InfoComm 2012 The Independent Technical Service Providers Council (ITSP), announced in Nov. of last year, emerged officially at InfoComm 2012. This Council is comprised of companies that focus predominantly on delivering services to the AV Industry, rather than product sales. The members focus on providing installers, staging techs, engineering, programming, calibration, repair/maintenance services, documentation/CAD, project management and other services.
InfoComm sponsored a Booth for the Council, along with Cisco and Immediate Connections. Duffy Wilbert, senior vice president of member services at InfoComm International, hosted a ceremony and welcomed the group officially on Wednesday afternoon.
More than 17 companies showed up to find out how to join the group, and showed much enthusiasm that such a council existed to represent them. This will bring the count to over 40 members or more. There were a record 22 member companies in attendance at the inaugural yearly Council meeting. Mark DelGuidice, CTS and council chair, (Wire Wizards Integration), Patty McGoldrick, (Immediate Connections), Carl Craver (Viper Cabling), Thomas Knauss, (KMK Technologies) and Scott Welsh (AV InSource) also attended most of the other Council meetings.
The group also handed out a new ITSP Member Directory, which gives dealers, VARs, consultants and others a direct reference guide to qualified service providers across the U.S. and Canada.
For more information on the ITSP, click here: http://www.infocomm.org/cps/rde/xchg/infocomm/hs.xsl/18519.htm
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Share Article Back to Top ISE Launches ‘SeeHearTouch’ Charitable Program Integrated Systems Europe launched a charitable program (called SeeHearTouch) to equip children’s hospitals with the latest in home-cinema and media technology and enhance the lives of terminally ill children.
Obviously ISE can’t tackle all of Europe simultaneously, but integrators (and vendors) who can identify children’s hospitals and offer to join in the outreach can possibly put their countries higher on list for consideration in the next phase.
“The inspiration for SeeHearTouch comes from the work that our sales manager, Ian Morrish, has done in the UK, bringing together manufacturers, distributors and custom installers to deliver home-theatre systems to children’s hospices that would otherwise not be able to afford them,” said Mike Blackman, managing director of Integrated Systems Events. “At our last meeting, ISE’s Board of Directors approved a proposal to develop this idea and take it a stage further, enabling us to allocate part of our revenue each year to subsidizing the work of industry stakeholders who undertake to design and install home theaters and media rooms in children’s hospices across the continent.”
Under the auspices of SeeHearTouch, Integrated Systems Events will reach out to umbrella groups representing children’s hospices in a number of European countries. ISE will also seek the support of manufacturers and distributors willing to donate equipment to each project, and that of integrators willing to undertake design and installation work. Part of the cost of that installation work will be met by SeeHearTouch.
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Share Article Back to Top Herman Partners with West Penn Wire Herman has announced a new distribution partnership with West Penn Wire. West Penn Wire manufactures a full line of superior low-voltage electronic wire and cable for almost any application.
To read the complete press release online, click here. Back to Top PreSonus Announces Second Annual User's Conference PreSonus has announced the PreSonuSphere 2012 Second Annual User's Conference will be held Sept. 28-29 in Baton Rouge, La. Focusing on tips, techniques, and applications for PreSonus' Studio One 2 DAW software and StudioLive-series digital mixers, PreSonuSphere 2012 will include guest lectures and demos by such luminaries as EM/Harmony Central editorial director Craig Anderton, front-of-house engineering legend Ace Baker, renowned worship-team trainer Doug Gould, Grammy-nominated producer and bassist Brent Milligan, studio-design guru John Storyk, FOH lead engineer (Kenny Chesney tour) and audio consultant John Mills, live-sound wizard and forum favorite Jon Taylor, microphone expert Steve Savanyu, and veteran journalist and engineer Mike Rivers.
To read the complete press release online, click here.
Back to Top BTX Adds Sales Staff in Middle Atlantic and Southeast Regions BTX Technologies, a value-added distributor and manufacturer of interface, integration, and system products this month announced that the company is expanding its sales force coverage throughout the United States. The expansion will be led in the Southeast by Regional Sales Manager Chris Mehalso, CTS, and in the Middle Atlantic area by Regional Sales Manager George Hahalis.
To read the complete press release online, click here. Back to Top Vaddio Adds Distribution Partners Vaddio’s EasyUSB video and audio conferencing products will now be available to the IT industry. Because the recently launched EasyUSB tools can also be used as a computer peripheral, Vaddio has selected three IT distributors to provide distribution to the IT community: Visitec Distribution, HD Distributing and Stampede.
To read the complete press release online, click here. Back to Top 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 percent 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 gary@ravepubs.com or for editorial ideas, Editor-in-Chief Sara Abrons at sara@ravepubs.com 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 ePublication with what we believe is a reach of virtually everyone in the ProAV market. rAVe HomeAV Edition, co-published with CEDIA and launched in February 2004, is, by far, the largest ePub in the HomeAV market. We added rAVe Rental [and Staging] in November 2007, rAVe ED [Education] in May 2008 and then rAVe DS [Digital Signage] in January 2009. We added rAVe GreenAV in August 2010 and rAVe HOW [House of Worship] in July 2012. You can subscribe to any of those publication or see ALL our archives by going to: https://www.ravepubs.com To read more about my background, our team and what we do, go to https://www.ravepubs.com Back to Top Copyright 2012 – rAVe [Publications] – All rights reserved – All rights reserved. For reprint policies, contact rAVe [Publications], 210 Old Barn Ln. – Chapel Hill, NC 27517 – (919) 969-7501. Email: sara@ravepubs.com
rAVe contains the opinions of the author only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other persons or companies or its sponsors. |
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