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Barco: Networked for Visualization and Control Room Operations

In a continuous search for interesting industry AV/IT solutions, I happened upon a certain solution recently that was of great interest to me. I’ve been looking at numerous networked solutions and it just so happened that Barco has a solution set for just this purpose.

Barco, a global leader in professional visualization systems, designs and develops visualization products for a variety of selected professional markets: entertainment and corporate, healthcare, industrial and government and defense and aerospace. TransForm N, Barco’s family of networked video wall controllers, makes worldwide collaboration and information distribution easy, safe and reliable.

The TransForm N Management Server is the service node running CMS, Barco’s control room management suite, delivering the core functionality of the networked visualization system. This software manages all hardware, and orchestrates the collaboration and visualization of the information shared between the different displays and operator workstations in a networked visualization solution.

Barco control rooms visualization, enabling a smarter tomorrow

The continuous growth and expansion of cities poses a lot of great challenges on the infrastructure. One way to cope with this, is by building smarter systems, making optimal use of all available information. Barco’s networked visualization system takes care of the real-time distribution of information. Networked visualization is the simplest and most flexible way of distributing and displaying information on different screens. Connect a source (e.g., a sensor or computer) to the suited TransForm N encoder (below) to get the video, images or data into the secure IP-based system.

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The standard internet infrastructure will transport this information wherever you want, all over the world. At the destination side, a decoder makes sure the information is ready for use on any display. Any amount of data can be transferred from any location, over any distance, to be displayed on any screen.

The system’s enormous flexibility even allows sharing of information over separate private networks, so that for example the police and the hospitals can share the information they want in a safe way. This encourages collaboration of different departments and public services, and adds to total system intelligence.

Case Study #1: Räddningstjänsten Syd (February 11, 2014)

In emergency service management, close cooperation between different services/authorities and prompt decision-making can make the difference between life and death. Räddningstjänsten Syd, the emergency services cooperative that runs the Hyllie fire station, near the Swedish city of Malmö, has understood that well. In 2012, they decided to equip their control rooms with a smart control system developed by Atea, including a Barco NSL video wall, TransForm N controller and CMS system, amongst other products. Barco helps give the operators a real-time view of the incidents — for better decision-making. The system is currently being adopted by a growing number of Swedish emergency services.

See related  Barco Promotes Jan van Houtte to Executive Vice President of Barco’s Meeting Experience Business Unit

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Case study #2: PPL Electric Utilities (October 21, 2014)

When PPL moved its transmission control center to a brand new building, a new visualization platform was at the top of the list. Jeffrey Daniels, senior engineer — transmission & distribution for PPL says, “I knew that we’d experience not only improved image quality, but much lower operating costs with an LED wall… It saves us both time and money since we’ve eliminated consumables and greatly reduced maintenance time. Plus, it’s much more reliable. The image quality is also excellent thanks to increased brightness.”

As a result, PPL operators have a vast wealth of information and graphing capabilities at their fingertips, greatly enhancing situational awareness. And, with CMS software, they can control and manipulate images on screen from any operator console. Data and graphics can be shared back and forth between the main wall and individual displays to enhance collaboration among operators.

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As these case studies show, Barco’s networked display and hardware solutions, including their control room management suite, can enhance operations in a number of areas — real-time incident viewing, situational awareness, decision making process, reduced operating costs and reliability.

For full information on these case studies:

Räddningstjänsten Syd

PPL Electric Utilities

In the networked world of AV/IT there are numerous solutions on the market, however Barco, along with their high end projector and video wall solutions, brings a solution where only few can compare. In emergency services, utilities operations and more, Barco’s solutions allow you to expand without limits, control and collaborate and distribute anywhere making for a well-rounded market visualization solution — all wrapped up in a strategic networked package.

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