Volume 11, Issue 18 — September 23, 2013

Sometimes, however, I think that the only one with permanent validity is the first definition. This is because our standards of quality change over time.

When I entered the business about 30 years ago, I was one of the first of the video professionals in the audiovisual industry. At the time, the corporate standard in video production was the Betacam. Three tube, and later three chip, cameras were the norm. Video projection, which we now would consider to have been in its infancy, was inexpensive but growing thing in the professional world. My own role as sales manager in a family owned sales – service – rental audiovisual company was largely as the high-end video and video projection guy. My stock in trade at the time was the BarcoGraphics 400 video projection system, which when equipped with its optional glass lenses and remote convergence board could come in around $40,000. These types of video systems defined professional video at the time.

Then, along came LCD video projectors. The first out the door that we saw in Ohio was the Kodak LC 500 video projector. It was inexpensive and used slide projector lamps. It was portable, and did not require convergence. However, when placed in my demo room alongside my Barco, I scoffed at it. Why? Because it looked like you were looking at life through a screen door. As far as I was concerned, no professional in his right mind was going to use one. However, it was around that time that we hired a guy named Dave Stout from our major competitor. Dave loved the thing. It was portable, it was easy and it was inexpensive. He sold them like they were going out of style, and the LCD projector changed our definition of professional. Because it was easy to use, portable and inexpensive, it changed our opinion of what was acceptable in professional video.

Fast forward 30 years.

Today, and over the last 10 years especially, we have seen another redefinition of what professional means. YouTube, video and cell phone video dominate the Internet. I despair when I look at the awful quality, and yet I constantly see my corporate clients both in rental and in permanent systems move deeper and deeper into this type of communication. Ten years ago, I would have told you that they would not affect the professional market anywhere near as much as they have. We are seeing a new generation of executive enter the ranks of our customers. They have been raised on this kind of video, taken with cell phones and pocket devices and often shown on them. Their standards have changed. Their definition of what is professional has changed, and now includes how fast they got the news out, and how widely it is shown, much more than its visual quality.

In yet another arena, they are busy redefining two-way video communication. Only a few years ago, we would’ve laughed at the idea of one of our clients using Skype. The quality was terrible, there was no security, terrible echo cancellation, etc. Today, however, the use of these types of video tools is marching up the corporate ladder because they are inexpensive, team oriented, and everybody has them. This means that putting an ad hoc team together is faster and easier than ever before, and this is how they rate the application. In fact, in the professional world, the biggest move in videoconferencing is to attempt to replicate the ease-of-use and ease of deployment of these desktop systems.

As a result, we are being asked to implement these types of video systems in the systems that we stage with and build. When we do, are we doing something unprofessional? Or is accommodating the taste and use of our clients for a fee the very definition of professional?

I did a presentation back at ISE in Amsterdam on the next generation of client, and how their attitudes towards visual communication quality, and their attitudes toward work itself are going to impact what we are asked to do for their dollar.

Over the next two issues, we are going to examine those changes in detail. We are going to attempt to predict what a new generation of client will ask for. In the meantime, we are also going to post this article to my page on the blog squad, and I would ask that you all ring in on this. In short, we are going to attempt to define AV professional, and to decide if what we call professional has changed for all time.

And I hope that the part about being paid doesn’t change along with it.

This Health IT meeting was attended by health professionals from across the country. David Muntz, CHCIO, principal deputy of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, was one of three speakers at the meeting. Along with health IT, two portions of Muntz’s discussion piqued my interest — one point focused on comparative technology costs vs. overall advantages (he compared landline to cellular service) and the other, on parallel with that discussion, included an approach to Return on Investment (ROI) as a value proposition or VOI. I asked a question of Muntz during the Q&A session focused on BYOD and telepresence. His answer as well as his panel discussion were enlightening, so much so I decided to introduce myself to him at the end of the conference. We discussed BYOD, telepresence and telemedicine as well as one of the focus subjects of the meeting, which was the quality of healthcare in rural areas. I asked him if he would allow me to interview him for an industry blog article, he agreed and here it is.

Corey Moss: Mr. Muntz, I’d like to thank you very much for your participation in helping to put together this article. To begin, in your discussion you mentioned a focus on a Return on Investment by the organization’s CIO, which you posed as more of what should be viewed as a value proposition or Value of Investment. Could you please elaborate on that as applies to mobility within a healthcare (or any) organization?

David Muntz: Sure, too many people follow the traditional and very limiting idea of Return on Investment which relies on a variety of arithmetic based formulae. I agree that ROI as a measure is still good and very important, but not broad enough to consider the other implications of an investment. I use the term VOI to focus on the Value of Investment. VOI takes into account ROI and other factors associated with the investment — for example, flexibility, and a bunch of capabilities that you really have a tough time quantifying for what some call intangibles. It’s easier to use an example rather than discuss a model in detail. The easiest illustration is a smart phone versus the traditional land line for voice. If you did a traditional ROI, you’d stick with the relatively less costly land line, but when you think about the smart phone, you get all kinds of other advantages: safety, which is why I bought not only my smart phone, but three others for my wife and daughters, plus instant access to a world of knowledge (just last night I looked up several words and checked my calendar at dinner with my wife), location assistance and commerce. There certainly isn’t an app store for my landline. I’m sure you can think of many others.

CM: When you talk about investing in HIT, you also have to consider all of the values of your investment, not just a revenue and expense based return.  When you apply this to BYOD, you have to think about the value in much broader terms. First, and my list will not be complete, there is the soft side of employee recruitment and retention, customer satisfaction — which in healthcare means the ability of healthcare professionals from outside using equipment they already know, and convenience. What hard value can you place on convenience? The training curve for BYOD is virtually flat. Since we’re already headed toward a wireless world, and I’m assuming that most BYOD devices are wireless, there isn’t additional cost of wiring except for expanding access and bandwidth, physically securing, tracking or upgrading these hard assets. BYOD isn’t without challenges, however, such as enforcing security policies to protect data and intellectual property, what to do when a device is compromised, either lost or stolen, how to manage printing and help desk support. BYOD is here; we’ll have to embrace it rather fight against it.  There are products, policies, and processes than can help us manage them.

Please tell me about your experience in terms of implementation of BYOD in the realm of healthcare.

DM: BYOD is already a topic we’re addressing in our Agency. Again, you have to not only accept it, but also create policies and processes to protect and promote the interests of the Agency.  We look at the same products, policies and approaches used in all sectors, such as mobile device management which you know as MDM, training and education with competency testing to enforce those policies, and consistent reminders about our responsibilities to protect sensitive information.

CM:

DM: Rural is a critical focus area for HHS and ONC. We have a program dedicated to the promotion of HIT in rural areas and we’re working with other agencies and departments such as the USDA and FCC to address the disparity.  To answer your question, one of our staff members reports that the rural population is in the range of 46 to 59 million, depending on which definition of rural you use. About 10 percent of physicians practice in rural areas, but that’s heavily weighted towards primary care. An even smaller proportion of specialists practice in rural areas. Without wanting to comment on the quality of care, it is clear that access to care in rural areas is tougher than in urban areas.

Another factor that complicates access to care resources, from an HIT perspective, is the lack of adequate bandwidth for communications to facilitate information sharing and access to telemedicine. Too often, patients are forced to abandon their work in rural areas and travel with family and friends to urban centers to get care. It is impossible to ignore time as a factor, which does directly impact the patient and all with whom they interact. Even if the health problem is minimal, the time for worrying is exacerbated by the distance one must travel to understand the situation. The challenges, therefore, are not just to health status and morale, but to economic status. When members of the rural community have to come to urban areas, their work is often delayed or abandoned. One way to expand that access to health resources is via telemedicine, which would allow patients to access a broader array of experts, which has benefits for everyone. And let’s not make the assumption that all the healthcare expertise is in the cities.  There are many wonderful experts who want the quality of life found in the rural community and access to them could benefit the urbanites. We can and we must overcome the barriers presented by distance.

CM: In your opinion, how can mobility/BYOD and telepresence affect remote medical assistance to these areas?

DM: I’m not sure that BYOD is different regardless of geography. I have already addressed my interest in telemedicine, though I like your term telepresence better. It seems more comprehensive. Maybe telehealth would be better for our purposes.

CM: In closing, where do you see this approach to technology in telemedicine within the next five years?

DM: I’m hopeful that the joint efforts I mentioned earlier will improve the infrastructure that must be in place to facilitate telehealth; that access to the best resources whether physical or intellectual will be the same regardless of geography. I’m confident that video visits will be commonplace, that we’ll use a variety of what used to be called physician extenders, but I’ll call medical professional extenders to provide on-site, hands-on assistance when required. I’m hopeful that our new payment models will encourage telehealth. I’m hopeful that patients will be better able to participate in their own care by generating data for monitoring, reacting to data that is reported by those monitors, and that a closer partnership between patients and caregivers will exist. In summary I am hopeful that geography will be interesting but irrelevant for care.

I would like to thank David Muntz very much for his time and participation in helping to put together this very important industry article. I hope those in the AV industry are able to come away with some thoughts about BYOD, telepresence and telehealth, along with the notion of a value of investment as a revised concept to replace ROI. It’s an education that just continues for me.

My favorite wrestler — and yes, that means I like more than one — is John Cena. The man is a fabulous athlete and ferociously intelligent, but I mostly like him simply for his signature move — the You Can’t See Me. It’s hilarious — he pretends to hide behind his hand, which is waving in front of his face, despite the fact that hand and face are attached to 6’4″ and 300 pounds of granite linebacker.

You see, I can relate to that. I’m one of the (formerly) anonymous members of a small but proud fraternity within the A/V industry, which the rest of the industry barely knows or cares exists. I’ve been in A/V for a couple winters shy of 20 years now, and for roughly the last decade of that, I’ve been supporting the government A/V sector and its kissing cousin, secure A/V.

Every time I meet up with A/V friends, they all ask me: “What is government A/V?” And here’s the thing… that’s a really, really hard question to answer. I have to give a different answer each time, because it’s so difficult to condense into an elevator speech. So when Gary Kayye graciously offered me the opportunity to try to explain this strange and regimented world in which we few, we happy few, we band of brothers operate, I jumped at the chance.

At its very simplest level, of course, government A/V is simply about selling audiovisual goods and services to the federal, state and local government markets. But if that were all there was, odds are, a lot more of you would be doing it, and I probably wouldn’t be writing this column.

While the approach of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart is undoubtedly the most common method to encapsulate all that is, and isn’t, government A/V, I think the more effective way is to contrast government A/V with commercial A/V. With that in mind, I will endeavor over the next few months to help clarify where commercial A/V and government A/V converge and diverge, and where you, the A/V service provider, can best apply your talents in our field.

When I evangelize government A/V to A/V people who live almost entirely outside the government sphere, I invariably get two questions, almost back-to-back: “Where the heck do you start?” and “Why should I care?” We’ll come back to the first question in a future column or three, but for the second question, I have one very basic answer: Revenue. Money. Benjamins. Mad Cheddar.

In 2011, Systems Contractor News had a new company in its Top 50 (I know, I know, you never read The List, except you totally do) that most of you had probably never heard of.* Proving it was no fluke, MicroTech was back at number 2 in 2012, with a reported $315 million in A/V revenue (full disclosure, I used to be employed by MT). In the parlance of the government contracting world, MicroTech is a small-to-medium sized business. But in the A/V world, it’s HUGE. And it came seemingly out of nowhere, simply by making a few strategic acquisitions and winning some key contracts, all within a very short timeframe.

That’s one of the primary differences between government A/V and commercial A/V: SCALE. Government A/V is simply bigger. The players are bigger, the contracts are bigger, the process is longer (and vastly more complicated), the projects are larger… you get the point. Sure, there are some vendors out there who will swear they sell to government, and that it’s only a few thousand bucks worth every year. Not saying that isn’t the case. What I am saying is: That’s a rounding error in the grand scheme of things.

If you really want to get a sense of the government A/V market, think about this… the United States government spends roughly $4 trillion every year. THAT IS ONE CUSTOMER. If you captured only .0000000025 percent of that business per year, you’d be a $100m company. And that’s just the U.S. federal government. There are 206 federal governments worldwide. And literally thousands of state and local government entities in this country alone.
Some of you are probably murmuring, “Well, that’s great if we’re talking about the previous decade, but this is the ‘Tweens (copyright JB 2013), and federal spending is – thankfully – falling dramatically as we get our fiscal house in order.” Well, yes, it’s true that federal contracting spending fell last year by the largest annual drop in 16 years. For those of you who didn’t click through, that massive, jaw-dropping slash in federal spending? Yeah, that was 3.1 percent.

All kidding aside, federal revenue is probably going to plateau for at least a couple years. I’m not trying to tell you that federal government spending is the Rocket to Mars that it used to be. We could argue about state/local money, or international government revenue, or the fact that the federal government is a much more reliable payer than any other organization, but that’s forum fodder. So instead, I’ll give you another Dirty Little Secret for getting into government A/V: If you’re good at it, you’re almost by default good at pretty much every other aspect of A/V. And you’ll probably dominate your competition.

For one thing, you have to be extremely well organized. You have to have a rock-solid administrative practice and exceptional contracting talent. Your business development learning curve is going to be extremely steep. Once you emerge on the other side, however, your organization will be much stronger, and you will have lots of nice, steady, predictable, creditable revenue from your federal customer with which you can go out and build some new practices.
Secondly, the government is extremely focused on security, way more than any other customer. (Note that this is not just the U.S. Department of Defense, although they’re obviously the Big Kahuna when it comes to secure A/V.)

But more on that later. ☺

*The SCN Top 50 is the Princeton Review of our industry. Every year, exactly 50 of our colleagues read it religiously and tout its unparalleled scope and objectivity, and roughly 99,950 of our colleagues read it religiously and scream about its methodology and focus on revenues. It’s the closest thing we have to a barometer in our industry. Send me all the letters you want, but until there’s another metric, it’s what we have to work with.

Focal points for the new Professional Development program will include two new theater spaces on the show floor of ISE 2014 — one in Hall 7 aimed at the residential systems side of ISE’s market, the other in Hall 8 with a commercial application slant. ISE’s co-owner InfoComm International is also contributing to the drive for increased knowledge among the show’s visitors by promoting a special free voucher scheme for its on-site education program.

To this end, ISE has identified three main sectors for non-channel attendee growth: end-customers of commercial integration products and services; adjacent channels in the residential field such as architects, interior designers, building services companies and electrical contractors; and the content creation and experiential design community.

The content at ISE’s Residential Solutions Theatre will therefore be aimed at broadening the market for whole-house automation and intelligent building design, with non-technical presentations showcasing real-world case studies. Similarly, the Commercial Solutions Theatre will focus on the end-customer benefits of systems integration in a range of market verticals such as hospitality, healthcare, education, corporate and government facilities. With the help of a number of technology partners, the design and layout of both Theatres will provide inspiration for content creators and live-events professionals.

Meanwhile, InfoComm’s free voucher scheme for its education program, under which anyone who pre-registers for ISE 2014 using an invitation code will receive complimentary access to two InfoComm seminars of their choice on a first come, first served basis, has been designed to attract greater numbers of junior engineers and technicians to Amsterdam. Continuing the theme, CEDIA will be offering more of its popular technical and business education, with offers in place for earlybird discounts.

• 
  Scott Tiner: Parents Just Don’t Understand
• Jason Griffing: The Art of Saying No
• Mark Coxon: Strategies to Get Noticed (Without Being Annoying)
• Scott Tiner: More Relationship Talk
• Jane Timmins: Jackpot & Creepy Cheers!!
• Lee Distad: Old Stereos And The Birth Of An Audiophile
• Aaron Gutin: Networking in the Home: An Integrator Opportunity
• Lee Distad: Good And Bad Sales Pitches: A Study In Contrasts
• Mark Coxon: MMA-V: A No Holds Barred AV Throwdown
• Gina Sansivero: Creating Balance… and Still Learning

• 
  Rants and rAVes — Episode 166: InFocus’s Latest Projectors are Ultra Short Throw
• Rants and rAVes — Episode 165: The Art of Saying No
• Rants and rAVes — Episode 164: Barco’s 10 Days
• Rants and rAVes — Episode 163: Are You Shure?
• THE WEEK – Episode 48: Midori Connolly drops in on The Week
• Rants and rAVes — Episode 162: All About CEDIA
• Rants and rAVes — Episode 161: The Network in the HomeAV Market
• Rants and rAVes — Episode 160: Optoma ProScene
• AV Insider — Episode 4: The Custom Audio Experience
• THE WEEK – Episode 47: Been Here Before…

The native resolution of the panel is driven by four frame-locked HDMI or DVI sources at 60Hz. Users can quickly connect to high-performance workstations or image processors for greater flexibility. The panel has three additional single channel HDMI 1.4a inputs capable of 4K resolution at 30Hz and each of those inputs are HD compatible enabling beautiful graphics scaled to fill the screen at up to 60Hz.

The 84-inch Christie QuadHD84 can handle 2D and 3D sources and has a 50,000 hours illumination life too and the complete specs are here.

The SuperView 4K is a real-time multiviewer designed for monitors with a native resolution of 3840×2160 (4K, or Ultra HD). It can display and manipulate native 4K images, a combination of 4K and HD (1920×1080) windows, or up to eight HD graphic or video windows (scaled or unscaled) on a single 4K monitor.

Developed for commercial use, both JVC monitors feature an IPS LCD panel with 120Hz refresh rate and 10 bit color depth. Housed in a slim bezel with a 178‑degree viewing angle, the ELED Illuminated monitors offer HDMI 1.4a (single cable 4K up to 30p) and HDMI (four cable 4K up to 60p). The PS-840UD includes compatibility with the Intel open pluggable specification (OPS) as well. The RS-840UD has been licensed with the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) and includes a C3 mode for professional calibration.

Learn more about JVC Professional and RGB Spectrum here and here.

The Simplicity Series is designed for digital signage applications in either landscape or portrait orientation, with no distracting logo or uneven side bezel, which can look awkward, especially in portrait orientation. At a depth of less than 1.7”, Planar Simplicity Series displays are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The media playing capabilities of the Planar Simplicity Series support playback of a variety of formats including video, audio and images. Inputs and external controls include HDMI, VGA, DVI, Component Video, RS232, Ethernet (RJ-45) and IR Remote Control.

The Planar Simplicity Series is available now in 32” and 42” sizes through Planar dealers. Additional sizes will be available in early 2014. For additional information, click here.

Featuring the same optical performance and construction as the S300, the Christie MicroTiles S310 screen is slightly larger and features 0.7-millimeter seams (compared to 1.3-millimeter seams for the S300). The S310 operating temperature range is 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit) to 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit).

Christie Interactivity Kit provides the creative flexibility to incorporate multipoint touch interactivity into large-format digital displays and allows multiple users to interact simultaneously with content on Christie MicroTiles or any large-format video wall.

With a much wider color palette than conventional LCD and plasma displays, Christie MicroTiles display pure, saturated, accurate colors, making them ideal for public spaces. The modular display technology can be configured into nearly any shape and size to create an eye-catching digital canvas.

The Christie MicroTiles S310 screen is now shipping and full specs are here.

Over the next ten days, Barco will introduce a series of new products for its corporate audiovisual line, including three new projector families — the Present line, the Collaborate line and the Impress line.

The models are:

Models include:

Specs are as follows:

Additional information can be found here [PDF].

Using three D-ILA imaging devices (RGB), the DLA-VS2200ZG offers a seven-axis adjustable color management system (CMS), 12-bit gamma correction with six user adjustable gamma presets, 16 step lens aperture control, and 10-bit color depth via its two HDMI 1.4a inputs. Its anti-smear reduction modes reduce image smearing during fast-motion scenes through black frame insertion.

JVC also says a new 1/16 sub-pixel convergence correction delivers more precise picture alignment than past D-ILA models and it uses a 230-watt NSH illumination system that’s spec’d to deliver 850 lumens for daytime and nighttime flight training, and 4,000 hours in normal lamp mode, which contribute to a lower cost of ownership.

Housed in a rugged chassis for motion-based applications, the DLA-VS2200ZG features wire grid polarizers and inorganic optical components for long life performance. Its 1.4-2.8:1 zoom lens offers remote zoom and focus, +/- 80 percent vertical offset, and +/- 34 percent horizontal offset. The projector also includes RS232c and LAN connections as well as a wired/IR remote for control.

Finally, this same model is available without a lens, dubbed the DLA-VS2200G. Both projectors maintain the same form factor as previous models, and use the same mounting hardware and lenses, so projector replacement in existing installations is simplified. The DLA-VS2200ZG and DLA-VS2200G are now shipping.

Here are complete specs.

Both projectors have VGA and HDMI inputs (HDCP), are DLP-based and claim to have a 10,000:1 contrast ratio. While running in Eco Mode, the ultra short throw projectors reduce power consumption and extend lamp life to up to 8,000 hours.

Full specs of the IN134UST are here and the IN136UST can be found here.

MultiMonitor is standalone software for Windows or OS X that provides flexible, real-time monitoring in full compliance with the U.S. CALM Act legislation, ITU-R BS. 1770/1, ATSC A/85, EBU R128, and other global loudness regulations and standards. Each MultiMonitor meter displays dedicated momentary, short-term, and integrated program loudness alongside true-peak levels in a highly configurable environment that enables individual or group/subgroup operation as required. The multiple meter configurations allow numerous sources, groups and playout streams to be monitored simultaneously, in any combination, and to individual specifications. In addition, MultiMonitor features short-term loudness-level alerts and color-coded meter groups.

In a strategic partnership with SSL, MultiMonitor is also available through the LMS-16 turnkey system. Through LMS-16, SSL is providing the MultiMonitor software preinstalled and configured on an industrial-strength, 1-RU PC fitted with the SSL MadiXtreme 128 audio interface. An optional monitor arm is available to facilitate convenient side-mounting of a screen on SSL’s C100 HDS or C10 HD consoles.

MultiMonitor is now available for $2,000. More information about MultiMonitor and other NUGEN Audio products is available at www.nugenaudio.com

Audio Architect is the software element of HARMAN’s Architectural Media Systems, and is a single control platform for all devices in a HiQnet sound system, from microphone to speaker.  HARMAN Architectural Media Systems combines the processing power of BSS Audio and Crown Audio’s category leading amplifier technology with the configuration and control capabilities of HiQnet Audio Architect.  This solution provides audio professionals with the most complete, versatile platform available for small to large-scale AV system design, with the single point accountability of one-stop comprehensive support and logistics.  Architectural Media Systems provides networked audio connectivity via the designer’s choice of AVB, HARMAN’s proprietary BLU Link bus, Cirrus CobraNet or Audinate Dante.

To facilitate system setup, Audio Architect 1.1 utilizes graphical, diagrammatic representations of the installed or live sound venue, and the components and loudspeakers in the system. Devices “understand” both their physical and logical placement – in racks, arrays and rooms – and the software “learns” how they are to be used in the real world, while offering extensive setup and configuration capabilities, now further enhanced with version 1.1.

Audio Architect 1.1 now supports the Audinate Dante-enabled BSS Audio Soundweb London BLU-806 signal processor and BLU-326 I/O expander devices. Version 1.1 also enables signal naming and signal following in the software’s BSS Soundweb London Route Audio Mode, giving users the ability to trace signals quickly and easily through the open architecture of a BSS Soundweb London device and between Soundweb London devices over the network.

Here are the details.

By enabling the user to select independent trim and delay values for both analog and digital monitoring outputs, this information can then be stored in up to five level/delay trim sets in the audio system menu. When defining the individual input routing for the sub presets, these new level/delay trim sets can be allocated and tapped into as needed.

RTW’s SurroundControl 31900 and 31960 series combines control, analysis and monitoring of eight-channel 5.1 to 7.1 surround sound into one single system. The proprietary Surround Sound Analyzer (House display) is a powerful tool for visualizing the interaction of all important parameters of surround signals.The dynamic behavior of all display elements corresponds to the subjective listening impression, enabling you to see the balance of a surround program intuitively and at a glance. RTW’s unparalleled Surround Sound Analyzer is capable of displaying any surround program up to 7.1 DD+ and Cinema for fast, in-depth evaluation.

Here are all the features.

Studio Technologies Inc., the manufacturer of tailored high performance audio, video and fiber-optic products, are used in broadcast, studio, stadium and corporate environments. Studio Technologies products are used worldwide.

Audinate is here. Studio Technologies is here.

These speakers are aimed at cinemas, but will be used in live large-format installs as well.

The entire line is here.

The DXM-G2 also offers flexible RS232 signal routing via HDBaseT I/O Cards to individual outputs or to all outputs simultaneously for unprecedented display control. With a full assortment of Input cards no format is left behind with crystal clear digital conversion to 1920×1080 60Hz.

Features:

• Units configurable 4-channels per card
• HDBaseT CAT Input / Output Cards (up to 600ft over Single CAT Cable)
• VGA Input / Output Cards
• 3G/HD/SD SDI Input / Output Cards
• HDMI Input / Output Cards (Output Cards w/Audio De-embedding & Auto DVI Detect)
• HDBaseT Powers remote Tx/Rx units over CAT Cable w/Flexible RS232 Control routing
• DVI Fiber Input / Output Cards (up to 2km Single Mode)
• YPbPr Input Cards
• RS232 Control and Optional LAN Control
• Field Serviceable with Hot-Swappable I/O cards and Optional Redundant Power Supplies
• Available in 8×8 (DXM-88-G2), 16×16 (DXM-1616-G2), and 32×32 (DXM-3232-G2) configurations (I/O cards sold separately)

Here are the specs.

Atlas Sound also offers an array of rack accessories including fan panels, blank panels, shelves and doors that work with either model in the Series as well as equipment mounting options for Time Saving Devices, wall plates and AA Series amplifiers. A vertical rack mount kit is also available that allows for vertical installation of full width rack product in half width rack.

Full specs are here.

The MPS 601 offers integrator-friendly features, including cable equalization on each HDMI input, automatic color bit depth management, indicators for monitoring and troubleshooting, as well as peripheral device powering. Multiple control options including front panel, RS232, contact closure and auto-input switching also help streamline integration into various environments. Housed in a 1U half-rack width metal enclosure, the compact MPS 601 can be rack-mounted, installed in a lectern, or mounted under a table.

Full specs are here.

Grass Valley just introduced its new CommandCenter software application that’s designed to configure, control, monitor, and diagnose a range of broadcast infrastructure devices on-site or remotely.

With an intuitive GUI, CommandCenter gives broadcasters and media organizations a set of comprehensive tools to customize their workflows. This flexibility offers time-saving benefits by permitting operators to save commonly used configurations as template files, or save them to the clipboard for quick copying to other selected devices in the workflow. Remotely, users can configure and execute complex workflows with only short notice, with diagnosing and reporting of events using a hierarchical system status. Command Center also helps to maintain the integrity of workflows over time.

CommandCenter supports the control and monitoring of many Grass Valley products and extends Prelude, Encore and Jupiter control solutions to a broadcast infrastructure facility control layer. It also supports a wide variety of devices found in broadcast facilities from various manufacturers using SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol).

Here are all the details.

Features include:

• Extreme precision 7 sensor calibration
• USB to LANC serial control unit included for automatic calibration
• Calibrate to 6500K ITU-Rec709 white point with delta-E better than 2 down to 20 percent grey
• User adjustments of lift, gain and gamma per channel after initial calibration
• Can be used as a standard calibration unit for any monitor or computer (provided Datacolor software is purchased from its website).

The Windows compatible version of the Atomos Spyder is slated for shipping November 2013 with a list price of $199. All the specs are here.

Here are all the details.

The loaded bend radius of the new cable is 6.16 inches and the jacket thickness is 0.016 inch. In contrast, the loaded bend radius of the original cable was 6.8 inches and the jacket thickness was 0.032 inch.

The RGB5C-PLN cable is in stock on 1,000 foot spools and now shipping from authorized Liberty AV Solutions dealers across North America.

All the specs are here.

With ClickShare, Barco’s wireless meeting room collaboration system, users can present their content on the main meeting room screen with just the click of a button. Now users of Android phones and tablets can also enjoy the ClickShare experience with the new ClickShare mobile app for Android. The app provides a virtual button allowing users to show documents, pictures and screen shots in the ClickShare composition. As Android is now one of the most widely used platforms for smart devices in the world, this hugely expands the applicability of ClickShare.

The ClickShare iOS app has also been updated and is now compatible with Microsoft Office documents, as well as JPEG images and PDF documents. The ClickShare Android App is available to download free from the Google Play store now.

You can see the entire product line here.

To read the complete press release online, click here.

To read the complete press release online, click here.

To read the complete press release online, click here.

To read the complete press release online, click here.