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Volume 4, Issue 12 — December 9, 2010
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The AV Chamber of Commerce
By Joel Rollins, CTS-R Lately, we talk about a lot of shows – CEDIA, the computer shows, even the upcoming InfoComm is already sending out flyers and email as if we should already be on our way to the airport.
But the one that concerns me, and interests me most, is American politics – the greatest show on earth. I'm angry at most of the people I've helped send to Washington, both for not addressing our deficit in a way any sane person would (only in government do you seem to borrow money to get out of debt) and for not specifically doing enough for US – the rental and staging industry.
OK, we're a small interest group – within a much larger one. But politicians should be made to remember that we can make their P.A. systems feed back if we want to. And it's time we showed them. I'm suggesting that we form yet another organization… call it the US Audio Visual Chamber of Commerce. We need to vet the candidates better to make sure they support OUR issues – and here's a suggested set of criteria: - The candidate should spend the bulk of their time in their home district holding large public meetings. Very large public meetings that require LED walls.
- Review the tapes of all their public appearances. The candidate should NEVER have spoken without well-prepared visuals. Cards on easels don't count. Without a laptop on the podium and a display system, they're just not our guy (or gal).
- The candidate should support the immigrant community by making sure they always rent multi-language interpretation systems for all events. Therefore, we should avoid endorsing candidates who actually speak the languages of their constituency.
- If they refuse to wear a headset mic, and if they've EVER tapped a microphone and shouted "is this thing on?" – they're not qualified.
- The candidate should NEVER have made ANY statements about meetings or business travel being wasteful. In fact, for the USAVCC to endorse them, they must hold the announcement of their candidacy at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
- They should be heavily supported by major comedians who insist on iMag, other politicians who draw arena-sized crowds and have good taste in sound system components, and rock acts with long technical riders.
- They should be required to sign a pledge never to use their brother-in-law who owns a stereo store to produce their AV.
- In order to keep them to their promises, they should be required to have every public appearance taped with professional, multiple-camera setup, reinforced with iMag, and bounced to the networks using marked-up satellite time.
- In order to make sure they listen to their constituency, all events should be multi-day.
- When they are IN Washington, they need to keep their message out there in the home district by agreeing to employ RENTED digital signage systems.
Seriously: Infocomm does a good job of lobbying for our overall industry, as does MPI and a number of other organizations. Check a candidate's record of statements on the use of meetings by government and business, business travel and events, and their promotion of the use of modern communication and educational methods. And if they don't support them, let's give them the message. Just turn the console over to their brother-in-law.
rAVe Rental [and Staging] contributor Joel R. Rollins, CTS-R, is General Manager of Everett Hall Associates, Inc. and is well known throughout the professional AV industry for his contributions to industry training and his extensive background in AV rental, staging and installation. Joel can be reached at Joel can be reached at joelrollins@mac.com
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Lighthouse Wows with DuoLED Aimed at Rental Market At last month’s InfoComm Asia, Lighthouse debuted the all-new DuoLED LED rental display panel series that they say “sets the standard in creative product design,” featuring the ability to instantly switch from normal panel mode to transparent Mesh mode by a simple shutter at the back, making them ideal for any number of creative rental applications.
Using a comparably lightweight design, an IP65 front/back rating for perfect all-weather performance, and claiming 5000 nits brightness, the DuoLED comes in both 12mm and 18mm panels.
If you want to see all the specs, go here: http://www.lighthouse-tech.com/ProductDetail.aspx?id=50d59909-10d9-47e1-86ee-36c4831aca96&c=0c04382c-6230-4388-bb7e-159a2e7bb2d5&p=c6b9c603-1425-4123-94ef-ec962aa4a282
OK, that one got me. Occasionally in this market, you see a simple, brilliant idea become a product. And, as I often say, in the rental market anything that adds flexibility to a product lets me rent it in more situations and vastly improves the performance of my investment in inventory. Way to go, Lighthouse.
–JRR Back to Top Christie Dominates 3D With Six New ProAV Models Last month Christie announced that its Mirage Series 3D DLP projector line has expanded with the addition of six models to bring high performance 3D solutions to new markets. The new Christie Mirage M Series 3-chip DLP projectors offer complete compatibility with all 3D standards. They’re not only aiming these towards the high-end home entertainment and video gaming markets, but also positioning them for the museum, education and rental/staging markets too.
The Christie Mirage M Series lineup includes the DS+6K-M; DS+10K-M; HD6K-M; HD10K-M; WU7K-M and the WU12K-M projectors. The models come in SXGA+ (4:3), HD (16:9) and WUXGA (16:10) aspect ratios and resolutions range from 1400×1050 to 1920×1080 with brightness specs from 6000 to 11,000 lumens!
Check out the M Series 3D projectors here: http://www.christiedigital.com/AMEN/VisualEnvironments/?pageId=1' You know, it's the "middle" of the market that produces the most rentals – and adding to our choices in the 6-15k range (which is now the "middle" where an average rental projector lives), combined with these specs really adds to our choices – and fortunately for us, makes all the manufacturers compete hard here to add features and reduce cost. These look great, and are adding to a real "buyer's market" in staple projection systems.
–JRR Back to Top
Click here for more information Barco's OVL Videowall Features "Cool" LED Engine Barco is offering its new OVL video wall range, which the company claims is “the most efficient LED video wall available today,” in 4:3 ratio, with screen sizes up to 80 inches.
The new OVL series has an advanced heat management system based on liquid cooling technology to bring the LED temperature down to the optimal level. This results in what they claim is a significantly longer lifetime of the projection system, amounting to 80,000 hours of continuous operation in eco-mode or, as Barco says, "a 35 percent improvement over competing video walls.”
Want specs? Go here: http://www.barco.com/en/controlrooms/product/2325
I've been saying that "green" would become an important factor in client decisions on gear – but I've been astonished by both how quickly it became important – and how important it has become.
–JRR Back to Top EPSON Debuts $450 SVGA Disposable Projector Want to make back the cost of buying a projector in two rentals? Consider EPSON’s latest, dubbed the VS200, the newest cheap 3LCD from Epson. It provides only SVGA resolution (800×600), but the company says it has a 2,300-lumen brightness spec at a price point of $429 – that’s practically disposable! The Epson VS200 includes the Instant On/Off feature, A/V Mute and Epson’s E-TORL lamp technology, which claims to last 5,000 hours in economy mode.
Want more information? Go here: http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&sku=V11H391020
That IS practically disposable. But I want people to realize that's why it's a BAD rental investment, not a good one. Something that "pays for itself quickly" is usually a bad investment, underpowered and under spec'ed. I want something that pays for itself over and over, for as long as possible. There's an old saying a friend in Montreal taught me: "I'm too poor to buy cheap stuff."
–JRR Back to Top New Euro-Style Lecterns from ERGO Tired of those crappy-looking dark-wooded lecterns that everyone offers? Consider the European styling of ERGO’s new stuff. Designed in the Netherlands, its new EXPO line of lecterns come in black, red and white and includes a mic and power connectivity. These lecterns will command a higher rental price and are portable.
The website is all in Dutch, but here’s a link: http://www.ergovisie.eu/a-13980107/spreekgestoelten-lectern-rednerpult/spreekgestoelte-lectern-rednerpult-royal
Today's modernistic sets demand new looks, and these do look different. We wind up "skinning" lecterns on stage with LOTS of different materials – now somebody needs to design a skinnable lectern and call it "The Chameleon". Royalty checks can be sent to the address below.
–JRR Back to Top Planar Claims First ADA-Compliant Video Wall Planar Systems last week claimed to have the first LCD video wall specifically able to meet all the ADA requirements of high-traffic public venues. Using the Clarity Brand, the new Matrix LCD Video Wall System measures only 3.6 inches in total depth, thus complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirement for protruding objects of less than 4 inches. The Clarity Matrix with ERO (Extended Ruggedness and Optics) will ship this month and they’re aiming it at the rental as they tell rAVe they’re using a new production method to allow it to market as it can withstand the rigors of high-traffic environments and accommodate touch screen usage in interactive applications.
For all the specs, go here: http://www.planardigitalsignage.com/lcd-displays/clarity-matrix/
Sorry, but this doesn't look like a complete rental system for me, yet – I may be wrong, but I saw wall mounts with adjustment cams, but no way for an off the shelf system to be free-standing. ADA means a lot less to products for temporary (rental) use, and while high-traffic is good, and so is touchscreen, nobody allows us to drill into their walls to put up a rental system.
–JRR Back to Top |
For all you REGULAR readers of rAVe Rental [and Staging] 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 rental and staging industry, but we stuff the articles full of our opinions — in this case, it’s industry-veteran Joel Rollins' 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
rAVe [Publications] has been around since 2003, when we launched our original newsletter, rAVe ProAV Edition. rAVe HomeAV Edition, co-published with CEDIA, launched in February, 2004. rAVe Rental [and Staging] launched in November 2007. rAVe Ed [Education] launched in May 2008. rAVe DS [Digital Signage] was launched in January of 2009.
To read more about my background, our team, and what we do, go to https://www.ravepubs.com Back to Top Copyright 2010 – 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 Rental [and Staging] 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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