rAVe ProAV Edition Volume 4, Issue 6 (03/27/2006)

Editorial

Way Too Hard = Way Too Bad
By Gary Kayye, CTS

A recent study by a major university on the Netherlands found that product complexity actually caused over 50 percent of product returns.

Graduate student Elke den Ouden of the Technical University of Eindhoven in the south of Holland studied people who purchased consumer electronics products and how they tried (and in many cases failed) to use them, successfully.  What she discovered was a surprise to her, but probably not to too many rAVe readers – in virtually all cases where a consumer tried and failed to figure out how to use a product and then gave up, the product itself was actually in good working order.  There was no product failure.

The true cause was that the consumers simply couldn’t figure out how to use them.  In fact, in studying US consumers, Ouden and her team discovered that the average time from start to giving-up was less than 20 minutes.  And, in most cases, the product was then returned to the store or to the manufacturer.

Sound familiar? 

Well, it does if you’re a user of videoconferencing, or if you load software on your own PC, or your company just got a new phone system.  I am still trying to find out how to conference calls properly on our fancy digital phone system as the actual user’s manual on how to do it is wrong, and when I find the time to call the manufacturer, they keep referring me back to the dealer because I don’t have a direct account with them.  Interestingly enough, the dealer no longer sells the system we have, citing too many customer complaints.  Ah ha.

There’s a story I was once told by someone at Lutron, who told me the founder of their company went over to Japan on vacation back in the early 1980s.  He came back with six bread makers. He removed them all from their boxes, took out the user’s manuals and all markings that led anyone to know what the product was.  He then took them to his engineering department and told them to stop everything they were doing and tell him how to use this new-fangled product – without telling them what it was.

Well, a while later, they were making bread.   No manual.  No cheat-sheet of instructions and no Internet to Google it. 

He called the company together and told them, “This is how I want our products to work – I want them this easy to figure out.” 

Well, I’m not sure how totally accurate this story is, but the message is loud and clear to me. 

And, I think Apple’s iPod division, the inventor of the $300 digital camera, the visionary who created the Blackberry, and Sharp’s Aquos team must have heard this story – or one like it.  Those are EASY products to use.

But, ever tried to program a universal remote?  Or, program a Scientific Atlanta DVR (digital cable box with a DVR)? 

Think about this the next time you have layers and layers of touch screen pages for that fancy system you’re programming…

Displays

65-Inch HD LCD From Sharp – Impressive!

We saw Sharp’s new 65-inch commercial HD LCD at NSCA and it really looks great. The PN-655 is specified at 1920 x 1080 resolution and 700:1 contrast ratio, and Sharp says the company added technologies to enhance the colors. A four-wavelength spectrum, cold-cathode fluorescent backlight, for example, is used for better reds and other technologies help clarify darker content.

The PN-655 ships in June and pricing is TBA.

It’s not yet on the website, but for more on the consumer 65-inch, go to to http://www.sharpusa.com/SharpHome/1,1959,,00.html

Sony Introduces Digital Signage Plasma

Sony introduced a 42-inch plasma display for signage, boardroom and other business uses AND, it’s priced at just $2,400. AND it can be networked with a network media card ($700).

The FWD-42PX2 42-inch plasma is specified at 450cd/m2 brightness and 10,000:1 (in a dark room), and offers DVI-HDCP and RS232 connectivity, as well as dual option accessory and input slots. It also has picture-in-picture and video wall connectivity.

The FWD-42PX2 ships in April.

For more information, go to http://news.sel.sony.com/pressrelease/6554

NextWindow Unveils Touch Overlay for LCDs, Plasmas

NextWindow showed the new 2400 series touch panel overlay at NSCA. This new product for LCDs or plasmas 23- to 65 inches gives users touch screen capabilities with mouse functionality, too.

The NextWindow 2400 attaches to the front of the screen, is made of clear glass, accommodates a light touch (pressure not required) and can be touched with a finger, gloved hand or pointer. It can be hung in landscape or portrait, and has serial interface and USB port.

The company says it can be installed quickly.

For more information, go to http://www.nextwindow.com/products/2400/2400_overview.html

Barco Introduces Latest Outdoor LED Display

Barco has a new outdoor LED display, the SLite 10 XP, with 5,500 Nit specification and IP65 rating. The company says a new shader design delivers better black and contrast levels for full sunlight, and it has an advanced 14 bit processing and new LED level (XP) calibration for better color depth and uniformity. It is also specified at 2000hz refresh (!) and uses large, rugged pre-positioning cones as well as locking and safety mechanisms for quicker setup and teardowns.

For more information, go to http://www.barco.com/corporate/en/pressreleases/show.asp?index=1735

Integrator Solutions

Kramer Introduces VP-100A Computer Graphics Video Interface, Two New Scalers

Kramer Electronics introduced a new computer graphics video interface, the VP-100A. The company says the VP-100A accepts a computer graphics video signal on a 15-pin HD connector and outputs an RGBHV signal on 5 BNC connectors with recessed and adjustable EQ and defeat-able Horizontal and Vertical shift controls. It supports ID bits on pins 4 and 11 and it has a very high bandwidth of 430MHz @-3db. It provides a fully buffered (active) local monitor output on a 15-pin HD connector. And, it accepts an unbalanced stereo audio input and provides a fully balanced stereo audio output with recessed L and R level controls.

The VP-100A will also output an RGBS signal in addition to the standard RGBHV signal.

The VP-100A is housed in a compact desktop enclosure and operates via an internal worldwide power supply. It is shipping now.

The two new video scalers, part of the TOOLS product line, are the VP-413 and VP-415. These are designed to accept a composite or s-Video (YC) signal and scale it up to a computer graphics video output resolution. These scalers can scale video up to VGA (640×480), SVGA (800×600), XGA (1024×768) or WXGA (1366 x 768) resolution in RGBHV output format. The VP-413 has an analog output on a 15-pin HD output connector, while the VP-415 has both a digital and an analog output on a DVI-I output connector. Both models have an input selection switch to toggle between the composite video and s-Video (YC) inputs and a resolution button to toggle between the four output resolutions. Both the VP-413 and the VP-415 have 3-D de-interlacing circuitry and 3-D comb filters resulting in extremely high image quality from such compact and cost effective units.

They are currently shipping.

For more information, go to http://www.kramerelectronics.com/

ALTINEX Introduces Twisted Pair INTERA Wall Receiver and Transmitter

ALTINEX’s new DS801-110 Transmitter and DS801-111 Receiver are two Twisted Pair audiovisual solutions in the company’s INTERA series of wall mount Designer Solutions.

The DS801-110 Transmitter is designed as a wall installation to transmit RGBHV or component video and audio over UTP cable and offers a female 15-pin HD input with native Plug and Play compatibility. A 3.5mm Stereo Audio jack aids input, which is converted to Mono Audio prior to transmission. The DS801-111 Receiver receives computer video and audio encoded Twisted Pair signals and provides video equalization for cable runs up to 300ft.

The products feature VGA through UXGA over UTP cable, signal detect, plug and play and compatibility with all other ALTINEX Twisted Pair products. They are wall-mountable.

For more information, go to CS801-110 and DS801-111

Projection

Da-Lite Introduces Pneumatic Mobile Screen

Da-Lite’s new Insta-Theater Plus is a new portable front projection screen with a pneumatic lift that allows the screen to be raised from starting position to fully-extended. Users depress the foot pedal to retract the screen. Designed for traveling presenters and any other portable applications, the Insta-Theater Plus is available with the company’s Wide Power fabric and in a 100-inch diagonal NTSC format.

For more information, go to http://www.da-lite.com/products/product.php?cID=19&pID=363

Canon Debuts Three XGA Presentation Projectors

Canon introduced three projectors designed for education, business, government, and other commercial applications. The Canon LV-7255, LV-7250 and LV-X6 are XGA LCD projectors specified at 2500 ANSI lumens, 2000 ANSI lumens, and 1500 ANSI, respectively, and the LV-7255 and LV-7250 at 600:1 contrast ratio; the LV-X6 at 500:1.

One unique feature is a Drag mode, which lets presenters use the remote control to wirelessly drag and move on-screen graphics as they’re presented. Another is the seven color adjustments for projecting on just about any color surface — greenboard, light yellow, light green, light blue, sky blue, light rose, and pink as well as white. The projectors also have presets for Video, Cinema, Standard, and sRGB.

The first two models run at 30dB, but the LV-X6 runs at an unusually quiet 25dB. The projectors range in weight from 6.4 to 7.3 pounds.

The Canon LV-7255, LV-7250, and LV-X6 have MSRPs of $1,999, $1,599 and $1,299, respectively. The LV-7250 and LV-X6 projectors ship at the end of March and the LV-7255 projector at the end of April.

For more on Canon projectors, go to http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=109

WolfVision to Ship XGA 30-FPS Live Image Camera in April

The new EYE-10 from WolfVision is designed for live image presentations, including live image transmissions from room to room. It is also designed for versatility – it can be installed like a ceiling visualizer and can be placed on tripods or wall mounts and used for video or even for surveillance.

The EYE-10 is specified at XGA (1024 x 768) resolution and video at 30 frames per second and can be controlled via remote and on the integrated keypad. Two RGB (XGA) outputs can be used simultaneously and it has 12x optical and 2x digital zoom. This model ships in April and pricing is TBA.

For more information, go to http://www.wolfvision.com/wolf/cameras_eye10.html

Control

Sampo Adds Network Control to Displays

Sampo displays are now network-ready, with the introduction of DisplayNet system, which lets administrators control, manage and troubleshoot networks of Sampo Professional flat-panel displays from a single networked computer.

The first display to use DisplayNet is the new 50-inch PME-50X10, a 50-inch HD WXGA (1366 x 768) plasma designed for digital signage and other commercial applications. The PME-50X10 can be controlled remotely via RS232 or a RJ-45 port with a browser-based control interface.

Connectivity options on the PME-50X10 include DVI, RGB input, RGB loop-out, two sets of composite/S-video inputs, two sets of SD/HD component video inputs, discrete audio inputs for each video input, audio output, subwoofer output, and the RJ-45 and RS-232 remote control ports. It is shipping now for MSRP of $3,999.

For more information, go to http://www.sampoamericas.com/cd_9.aspx

Conferencing

Revolabs Looking to Improve Conferencing Audio With Solo

One of the truly new products at NSCA was the Solo Wireless Microphone Systems from Revolabs. Both the product concept and design are noteworthy.

The concept is one of those simple ones: individual microphones that can be clipped on a lapel or worn on a lanyard help cut down on the noise level of audio conference systems with duplex, wideband audio. And of course, they’re wireless, so any of the speakers using Solo can move freely around the room. In fact, they can leave the room and move up to 30 meters and still be on the call. 

The Solo Executive system connects to any traditional video and audio equipment with eight microphones per system (three of the systems can be linked together for up to 24 microphones). The docking station is also a charging station, and the system uses DECT, a standard cordless telephone technology.

Revolabs also introduced the Solo Desktop for individual use.

All you system integrators out there can probably sell this thing on the design alone. The aesthetic appeal of these small, palm-sized, lipstick-shaped microphones is fantastic. You bring these into the boardroom and everyone’s going to want one. The company tells rAVe that pricing is $8,000 per Solo Executive and $500 per Solo Desktop.

For more information, go to http://www.revolabs.com/

The news release is at http://www.revolabs.com/downloads/launchreleasefinal.pdf

New SMART Board Tutorials From Atomic

Atomic Learning now offers 45 two-minute tutorials covering different features of the SMART Board interactive whiteboards. Atomic Learning is an online library where teachers can access QuickTime movies on the effective use of a wide range of popular hardware and software applications. The SMART Board interactive whiteboard tutorials cover a lot of basic functions –from using your finger as a control tool to navigating with the Page Sorter tool.

Atomic Learning’s tutorials can be found at http://www.atomiclearning.com

Digital Signage

Avocent Partners With Electrograph, Exhibits Wireless Media Streamer

Avocent announced that Electrograph will now offer Avocent connectivity and control products – a big boost to Avocent, a company that entered the ProAV channel last year showing its wireless digital signage technology.

Avocent showed the company’s WMS1000 wireless streamer at NSCA. The system broadcasts full motion streaming video from a source computer to multiple displays up to 1,000 feet wirelessly.

Also, the company’s EMS1000MP and EMS1000P media streamers extend stereo audio and analog video from point to destination up to 500 feet over Cat5.

For more information, go to http://www.avocent.com/web/en.nsf/Content/03172006-W

Contemporary Research Debuts SignStream HD Narrowcasting at NSCA

Contemporary Research showed its new SignStream system, an HD digital signage narrowcasting technology with an integrated digital signage server with iC-Net control that broadcasts the control and HDTV/NTSC content to ATSC-equipped displays and analog TVs. The media files are ATSC-format MPEG2 transport streams.

Basically, this system integrates both the server and the control system, but it can also be used with third-party signage systems.

SignStream includes a rack-mountable (2RU) server with internal modulator, the SSV-200, that converts the MPEG2 files for broadcast as both digital ATSC and analog NTSC channels. The onboard SignStream software provides control commands, playlists, and onscreen setup and diagnostics. The control commands are sent over the same coax cable to iC-Net controllers.

For more information, go to http://www.crwww.com/CRWeb/signstream.asp

For the news release, go to http://www.crwww.com/CRWeb/PDF/CR%20PR%20-%20CR%20Debuts%20SignStream.pdf

Audio

Crown Introduces Business Music Systems With XM Satellite Radio

Crown International showed two new business music systems at NSCA, the 180MAx and 180MAx PACK. The integrated tuner in these new products receives XM Satellite Radio stations

The 180MAx PACK is designed to be an “out of the box,” complete business music system including the 180Max tuner amplifier/mixer and four JBL Control 1ST 2-way loudspeakers with built-in 25V/70V transformers, XM antenna, and a wireless remote control. The front-panel LCD screen on the 180Max displays XM Satellite Radio channel data (channel number, channel name, artist name, song title), 16 station presets and signal strength. The amplifier section provides 80 watts into 4 ohms, 25V and 70V. Crown says that current and thermal limiting protects the amplifier and loudspeakers from accidental overload.

The unit also accepts signals from line, telephone, or microphone (phantom power included), and it has bass and treble controls, priority ducking, and a Music On Hold output. Crown is targeting restaurants, retail stores, coffee shops and other commercial establishments.

For more information, go to http://www.crownaudio.com/gen_htm/press/pr129.htm

OAP Shows 10-Inch-High Staging Speaker System

The new SM-281 from OAP is an "ultra" low profile/low sight line, bracket mountable loudspeaker system. The company says the SM-281 was developed for applications that required low profile, yet high sound output. The SM-281 stands less than 10 inches high, which the company says is suited to houses of worship, boardrooms, classrooms, restaurants, lounges, and live stage applications.

The SM-281 has an optional handle and has a MB-822 mounting bracket. The SM-281 uses two 8-inch direct radiators that extends low frequencies and a 1-inch throat mylar diaphragm driver coupled to a 90° x 60° constant dispersion rotateable horn for extending high frequencies. Also, the SM-281 has a specifically designed integrated crossover in order to provide a full range loudspeaker. The enclosure has a power handling of 325 watts continuous program power; 97.3 db sensitivity; and angles of 35 and 55 degrees.

For more information, go to http://oapaudio.com/znewproducts.html

Yamaha Brings 11 New Audio Products to Integration Channel

Yamaha introduced 11 new products in its Installation Series of audio products designed for contractors and sound reinforcement professionals. Yamaha is targeting education, houses of worship, performance venues, amusement parks, public spaces and regional sound reinforcement companies.

The new Installation Series includes 15-inch and 12-inch full range 2– and 3–way speakers, and a single 15-inch low frequency speaker. Cabinets can be stacked, arrayed or hung. In addition, Yamaha says they have designed the speakers to have uniform response, so integrators can mix and match any number of these speakers without hot spots and dead areas.

A selection of horn coverage patterns have been designed for ideal long–range, short–range and long/short–range throw applications. And, like other Installation Series cabinets, the new models incorporate custom, rotatable horns for better dispersion and response.

Connections include a barrier strip and Neutrik NL4 or NL8 connectors. A mode selector switch offers a choice of single-amp, bi–amp, tri–amp, parallel or discrete operation, depending upon cabinet type.

All models will be available April 2006.

For more details, go to the news release