Mark did his usual great job, and compelled me to want to build on his thesis: that it’s imperative to challenge yourself with taking on new directions. Looking back, the cognitive framework that makes the most sense of the haphazard and sometimes chaotic progression of my career to date has been plunging unprepared into one deep end of the pool after another. Sometimes those plunges into cold, deep, unfamiliar water was voluntary, but more often than not it was sudden and without warning.
And it wasn’t always fun, at least initially.
First, there was moving from sporting goods into consumer electronics, when the extent of my AV knowledge was quite literally that I could tell a TV from a VCR with hardly any hints. Not long after that there was being trained and promoted up to assistant store manager, only to find myself in the store manager’s position three days later, which I had NOT yet been trained for.
When I moved from retail to CE to AV integration that was an enormous plunge into a much larger, more complex world. As I explained it to one of my former mentors after a couple of months on the job: “I went from being the guy at A&B Sound who knew everything (in my own mind, at least), to the guy at Systems Inc who knows nothing!”
Just as big a plunge was changing channels again and moving from AV into mobile; again, a giant category all its own, about which, when I started, I knew virtually nothing at all.
The two traits that allowed me to thrive and grow along the way were, as Mark said in his column, attitude and aptitude. Enthusiasm, a keen mind and a willingness to learn will help you get to the next level, even if the next level is both up and over there, away from where you are now.
The biggest risk of staying in your safe little box is that it’s not really all that safe.
Eventually you’ll find that your box keeps getting smaller and smaller, and all the technology you’re used to working with no longer exists.
That’s a point that a regularly make in my discussions with my customers. I ask them to reminisce about what their best-sellers were five, ten, and fifteen years ago.
Their experiences parallel my own, and probably yours too. Most of the product categories that I made a living on in the late ’90s to early ’00s either don’t exist anymore or they’re only barely recognizable in their current form, and the industry has moved on.
Think about it, if none of us ever grew out of our box we’d all still be installing volume control knobs. (Well, in my case I’d still be waxing skis and mounting bindings, but you get the point.)
It’s easy to be afraid of how much you don’t know, which is precisely why you have to commit to learning new things. You can admit to being intimidated by a steep learning curve, but remember: Just like a roller coaster, the steeper the curve, the more speed you’ll pick up, and the faster and farther you’ll go.
By Roger Takacs National Sales Manager, Strategic Accounts, Crestron
I believe I was an early adopter of the DVR back when the choice was Tivo or ReplayTV — I chose a ReplayTV. Three hard drives and nearly five years later when we upgraded to HDTV, my trusted ReplayTV was officially dead. The S-Video signal was no match for component or the new HDMI.
Many people will credit Netflix with the advent of binge watching TV, but I can assure you all the early adopters of DVRs were binge watching TV well before Netflix was streaming. We would often keep several episodes of a show on the hard drive before watching them all at once and using that great 30 second skip button. Five skips and you were back in the show. Once we got our first remote control system and I could have one button that automatically fired the five skips as fast as the ReplayTV would take the commands, it was awesome.
Today, we have a single DVR from Time Warner and every time the hard drive dies we get the latest DVR. That doesn’t limit us to a single HDTV program. Time Warner seems to have embraced technology and multiple platforms really well. The Roku box allows us to view live HDTV channels through the Time Warner app just like the Samsung TVs that have the app built in. We can watch anything in any room of our home.
If you’ve made it this far, you’re wondering why I mention the cord cutters. I can only skip commercials on my DVR. This means that when I use the app on my Samsung TV, Roku or any of the mobile tablet or phones in the house I watch live TV. TV networks seem to always want to fight technology, believing it to be bad for them. In this case, I have to disagree completely.
The more access I have on my phone, tablet and devices to TV where and when I want it, the more likely I am to watch something in real time. DVRs are the best device ever created to time shift TV. Skipping commercials was a great bonus of time shifting. If I can watch what I want when I want, I no longer need to time shift.
Once the TV networks recognize that as consumers we are looking for convenience more than anything else, I hope they can stop fighting access to live programming while using apps. The most profitable viewers for the networks are the early adopters that will watch TV when it’s convenient and live.
It’s very simple: Give me live access to sports on the go so I can watch from anywhere and I’ll watch them with your commercials. Prevent me from watching on the go and I’ll time shift my viewing and skip your commercials.
As it relates to cord cutters, give them access to live programming. They will be the most profitable viewers the network has, at least using the old model of advertising based revenue.
What do you think? Please share this with your friends.
The LCD market seems poised to overcome the downturn in growth by focusing on China, which has emerged as the world’s largest consumer electronics market. Chinese electronics brands are now ranking second behind top-tier global brands, thanks to their enormous consumer market at home. However, there are still difficulties in generating new demand and spurring development. To succeed on a global scale, Chinese brands need to make the most of their edge, government support and chances for foreign mergers and acquisitions.
Recently, One Belt and One Road (OBOR) and Internet Plus have been discussed as development strategies in China. OBOR, which aims to revive the ancient trade route connecting Asia, Europe and Africa, is an approach to stimulate demand in overseas markets and solve over-capacity at home. Internet Plus is an action program to spur economic growth by integrating internet technologies with other businesses and manufacturing. It is complementary to the OBOR policy, aiming to optimize available resources through the internet and mobile networks. In particular, the OBOR plan could boost Chinese producers, including TV makers, if it is implemented successfully.
The following is the best-case scenario for implementing the OBOR plan:
The Chinese government will increase joint ventures and investments with various companies and governments of other countries. The overseas capital will help upgrade living standards of the local areas and enhance purchasing power.
With greater purchasing power, consumer spending will increase. Trade and distribution will also pick up.
Increased trade and distribution will translate into better business opportunities. For example, the ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between the Chinese and South Korean governments, which include the tariff partnership, could lead to a cut in tariff barriers or tariff elimination between the countries.
Increased business activities between China and other countries will also lead to greater financial transactions. Chinese brands lose money in overseas trade due to transactions done in U.S. dollars, so there could be more demand for transactions in the Chinese currency.
This scenario suggests that India could be a big opportunity for Chinese brands. Chinese brands have a hard time making inroads into the Indian market, another potentially colossal consumer market due to its huge population. According to an IHS forecast, Indians will purchase about 13 million TV sets in 2015. Of them, 12 million will be LCD TVs. South Korean brands like LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics dominate the Indian market now, partly because they run factories in India. Contrary to South Korean counterparts, Chinese brands without factories in India are not as price competitive there, meaning that high tariffs are levied on their products.
Nevertheless, a successful implementation of the OBOR initiative would provide ample opportunities for Chinese TV brands in the Indian market, allowing them to benefit in several ways:
Tariffs can be reduced by an agreement between China and India.
The Chinese and Indian governments could perform joint railway construction.
China will be able to build global logistics companies that could deliver worldwide, using and connecting all possible routes including air, ocean, road1 and rail.
A stronger yuan could allow Chinese TV or panel makers to build factories abroad.
These factors would help bolster Chinese TV brands and make them formidable rivals in India and other emerging areas. According to an IHS survey, more than 50 percent of TVs in emerging economies were CRT-based as of 2013. Chinese brands should target these areas. Japanese and South Korean brands are strong in both emerging and advanced markets, but Chinese brands can bridge over this barrier. For example, Chinese electronics group Skyworth Digital Holdings Ltd. recently acquired the TV division of Metz-Werke GmbH Co. KG, the German high-end TV brand. The acquisition attests to China’s power to purchase global brands. Chinese companies lack brand power and retail and management in overseas markets, so mergers and acquisitions would be the best way for them to go global. The OBOR initiative could contribute to the Chinese TV industry and its expansion into overseas markets.
ISE Adds Two New Board MembersIntegrated Systems Events, the organizers of the Integrated Systems Europe trade exhibition, announced the appointment of two new members to its board. Ollie French, from Future Automation and Tobias Lang from LANG AG will join the nine-person ISE board of directors as of July 1st.
French works as the commercial director for Future Automation, a manufacturer of motorised and non-motorised mounting and concealing solutions for televisions and projectors with its primary market in the residential sector. Lang joins the ISE board of directors as CEO of Lang AG, the German-based AV sales, rental and solution provider of visual presentation technology.
As manufacturers, both French and Lang will join the board on a fixed term basis. “It’s extremely important that we get a fresh point of view and input into our strategic development,” stated ISE Managing Director Mike Blackman, talking at the InfoComm International trade exhibition. “This is why board members that are also manufacturers work with us for a two year period.”
The two outgoing board members are Jon LeBlanc, formerly of Russound and Damien Weissenburger, director, professional systems for Sony.
The Integrated Systems Europe board of directors comprises nine members:
David Labuskes, Executive Director and CEO, InfoComm International (ISE Chair)
Don Gilpin, Executive Director and COO, CEDIA (ISE Secretary Treasurer)
Terry Friesenborg, Chief Global Officer, InfoComm International
The Integrated Systems Europe exhibition is organised annually by Integrated Systems Events. The event is jointly owned by InfoComm International and CEDIA.
The next Integrated Systems Europe will take place at the Amsterdam RAI on 9-12 February 2016. Our 2015 ISE coverage is here.
HARMAN International announced today that it has acquired SVSi, a maker of networked AV products, which will be incorporated into HARMAN’s AMX brand. Based in Huntsville, Alabama, SVSi manufactures and sells products for delivering a AV over an IP network. Included among these is a full range of encoders and decoders, windowing/wall processors, an audio transceiver, video recorder, and management software. SVSi will join HARMAN Professional’s Video and Control Strategic Business Unit (SBU) led by Rashid Skaf and marketed under the AMX by HARMAN brand. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“HARMAN was early to recognize the emergence and potential of AV over IP,” commented Blake Augsburger, President HARMAN Professional Division. “For more than six years, we have been steadily introducing new products to serve growing customer demand for IP-based products. With the acquisition of SVSi, we will accelerate our development plan with the addition of extraordinary expertise from the SVSi team.”
SVSi products can be ordered immediately from all existing SVSi dealers or AMX dealers. More information on SVSi and its products can be found here.
At InfoComm, rAVe’s Joel Rollins had an exclusive interview with Andy Whitehead and Shaun Robinson, SVSi president and founder:
Futurist Michael Rogers to Deliver CEDIA EXPO Opening KeynoteCEDIA has announced that famed futurist, award-winning investigative journalist and world-renowned speaker Michael Rogers will deliver the 2015 CEDIA EXPO Opening Keynote.
Michael Rogers is an author, futurist and technology pioneer who recently completed two years as futurist-in-residence for The New York Times. He is a columnist for MSNBC.com and his consultancy, Practical Futurist, helps businesses and organizations worldwide think about the future.
Rogers will deliver an entertaining and common-sense vision of change that taps into technology, economics, demographics, culture and human nature.
“Integrators are busy and often wearers of many hats. To many of them looking ahead means looking to the next job versus tapping into the long-term overarching vision of the future,” said Dave Pedigo, senior director of learning & emerging Technologies. “Rogers’ keynote will help CEDIA EXPO attendees understand central trends, their impact on the rapidly shifting residential integration landscape, and how to capitalize on these trends in order to improve long-term profitability.”
“CEDIA members are in a unique position to help us all-from journalists and analysts to hardware and software companies — understand what the connected, intelligent home of the future will be like,” said Rogers. “CEDIA folk have a direct consultative relationship with their clients, trying to understand the lifestyle changes we’re seeing and how to best adapt technology to support that. In a sense CEDIA members are a non-stop hands-on marketing study, a particularly interesting role when things are changing as quickly as they are now.”
Rogers has worked with companies ranging from FedEx, Boeing and GE to Microsoft, Pfizer and American Express, as well as both NASA and the Department of Defense. He addresses groups ranging from venture capitalists and corporate executives to educators, students and the general public and is also a regular guest on radio and television, including Good Morning America, the Today Show, PBS, CNN and the History Channel.
The Opening Keynote will take place on Wednesday, October 14, 2015 at 5:30 p.m. in the Forks Ballroom of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Registration for CEDIA EXPO opens July 8. CEDIA EXPO 2015 will be held at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas Oct. 14-17, with the show floor open Oct. 15-17.
FX Luminaire Introduces the BQ Barbecue LightFX Luminaire has announced the release of the new BQ, an LED fixture that was designed to withstand outdoor elements. The BQ was designed to meet the needs of residential design build contractors who were looking for a high-quality light to illuminate grilling areas and cooking surfaces. It completes the hardscape lighting plan, offering a seamless look for outdoor kitchens.
The BQ illuminates grilling areas with bright 1 LED task lighting. Designed to withstand the elements, the BQ is made of 304 stainless steel and mounts directly into the outdoor counter surface material with a threaded rod and hand wing nut mount. Its sleek lines blend into any setting with a flexible arm that adjusts to any angle. The BQ is capable of Luxor integration, or it can be operated independently using an optional plug-in transformer.
Triad Speakers Adds Step-up Dolby Atmos Enabled Loudspeaker to Line-upTriad’s InRoom Silver LR-H is a loudspeaker that combines traditional front firing-drivers with an integrated Dolby Atmos enabled module that directs sound towards the ceiling. Utilizing two front-firing 6.5-inch drivers with a 1-inch tweeter, along with an upward firing top array comprised of four 3-inch drivers, the Silver is a step-up in size and power-handling from Triad’s popular InRoom Bronze LR-H Dolby Atmos enabled loudspeaker.
To achieve the immersive moving audio experience of Dolby Atmos without requiring the separate use of in-ceiling speakers to capture overhead effects, one InRoom Silver LR-H is placed in each of the left and right front and left and right rear surround positions, complementing the center channel speaker and subwoofers.
InRoom Silver LR-H specifications include:
Dimensions (inches): 22.4 (H) x 8.75 (W) x 11.2 (D)
Front Firing Drivers: Two (2) proprietary 6.5-inch organic-fiber cone drivers and one proprietary 1-inch fabric dome neodymium tweeter
Frequency Range: 80 Hz – 20 kHz (+/-3dB)
Sensitivity: 91 dB (2.83v, 1m)
Nominal impedance: 4 Ohms
Recommended Amp Power: 50-200 watts (range)
Dolby Atmos Enabled Height Speaker Specifications
Top Firing Drivers: Four (4) proprietary 3-inch full-range neodymium drivers
Frequency Range: f3 130 Hz – 20 kHz
Sensitivity: 89 dB/1W/1m
Nominal Impedance: 6 ohms
The InRoom Silver LR-H is available in a wide variety of colors and finishes including custom paint-matched or veneered to match the décor of the room. When combined with a Triad Silver Center Channel, Surrounds and DSP Subwoofer, the InRoom Silver LR-H is the heart of a superb high-performance Dolby Atmos home theater system. Pricing for the InRoom Silver LR-H is set at $1,500 per speaker. And, all the specs are here.
Lexicon Introduces QLI-32 Quantum Logic Immersion Processor for Cinema Surround SoundLexicon today introduced its QLI-32 Quantum Logic Immersion cinema processor, designed to deliver up to 32 channels of surround sound in professional cinema applications. The new QLI-32 interfaces with a theater’s media source and existing cinema processor to provide a multi-dimensional listening experience with left, center, right, surround, rear and height channels, all via HARMAN’s proprietary Quantum Logic Immersion surround-processing technology
The Lexicon QLI-32 utilizes Quantum Logic technology to provide up to 32 channels of immersive surround-sound audio over BLU-link from any mono stereo, 5.1- or 7.1-channel program material. The Lexicon QLI-32 claims exclusive signal processing techniques to actively analyze the acoustical information in the audio mix and re-create a full three-dimensional sonic environment with width, depth and height by identifying and positioning objects in the sound field – all without adding elements to the original mix. Because the QLI-32 works with existing audio systems, installation costs are reduced and any stereo or multi-channel content can be made immersive.
The QLI-32 features an eight-channel analog 25-pin connector, two eight-channel AES RJ-45 inputs, a BLU-link (two RJ-45) input and a BLU-link (two RJ-45) output. It also provides an Ethernet port and RJ-45 control connections. The QLI-32 provides Auto EQ per SMPTE 202 and offers 1/3-octave graphic EQ for each of its 32 output channels as well as parametric low-frequency EQ. The QLI-32 can be easily configured via its web-based interface and its simple front-panel control layout provides ready indication of operational status. Measuring 1U rack space high, the QLI-32 installs easily into an equipment rack.
Aurora Intros 4K TunerAurora Multimedia unveiled its V-Tune Pro 4K Tuner at InfoComm.
Designed for systems requiring IPTV, ATSC, QAM, NTSC or PAL formats, Aurora Multimedia’s V-Tune Pro 4K provides the additional capability of decoding MPEG2, MPEG4, VC-1, H.264 and H.265 with resolutions up to 4096×2160 at 60Hz via both RF and LAN access. Featuring an integrated 4K scaler for viewing 1080P HD content on 4K displays, it has IR, RS-232 and IP-based control. And both outputs are HDMI 2.0.
Featuring the ability to program any channel for OTA/Broadcast or content streaming directly from LANs, the V-Tune Pro 4K lets users to switch between any type of content — just by changing channels on the TV. While channel setup and configuration capabilities can be cloned to speed up the setup process, the device simultaneously supports all 4K2K media via both broadcast and streaming over IP.
Epiphan Announces AV.io HD — an Easy-to-use HDMI Video GrabberEpiphan Video just unveiled the AV.io HD — something they are calling a video grabber that lets you capture video from HDMI, DVI and VGA sources.
AV.io HD is a video capture device that lets anyone easily connect their device with a HDMI, DVI or VGA output, including cameras, laptops, tablets, projectors, game consoles, and embedded devices to a computer running Windows, Mac, or Linux without the need to install any additional drivers or add-ons. Just like a webcam, when plugged in, AV.i o appears as a video source, making it compatible with virtually any software, including Skype, Wirecast and QuickTime.
Like other products from Epiphan Video, AV.io HD is able to capture crystal-clear Full HD video (1080p) at 60 frames per second with near-zero latency and ultra-high reliability. Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, yet entirely enclosed in an all-aluminum casing, AV.io HD is the perfect companion for video capture anytime, anywhere, and from any video source.
SpectraCal Announces Free Automated Pattern Generator Solution for Home Theater EnthusiastsSpectraCal’s new calibration solution for home theater enthusiasts provides automated test patterns for home theater flat panel and projector calibrations through SpectraCal’s mobile application, MobileForge.
Users of SpectraCal’s home theater calibration software, CalMAN, can now generate patterns for their TV flat panels and projectors straight from their mobile devices.
In the past, pattern discs have been one of the only affordable pattern generation solutions for home theater enthusiasts, though they require tedious, manual operation and cannot be controlled automatically.
For Android devices, the type of HDMI adapter required will depend on the mobile device itself. “Some devices, like Samsung, use an eleven or five pin active MHL micro-USB to HDMI adapter, while other devices will require different connections,” said Pruitt.
For iOS devices, users will need a Lightning Digital AV adapter, or for older iOS devices an Apple Digital AV adapter.
MobileForge users with AppleTV or Google Chromecast also have the option of screen-mirroring the app to their TV without an HDMI adapter.
The MobileForge pattern generator application is available as a free download in both the Apple and Google Play stores. MobileForge is supported in all license levels of CalMAN Home Video.
For all you REGULAR readers of rAVe HomeAV 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% opinionated. We not only report the news and new product stories of the high-end HomeAV 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).
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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.
rAVe HomeAV Edition, co-published with CEDIA, launched in February, 2004.
To read more about my background, our team, and what we do, go to https://www.ravepubs.com
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rAVe HomeAV Edition contains the opinions of the author only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other persons or companies or its sponsors.