Latest Headlines: Leonard Suskin and Hope Roth on CES, Leonard Suskin Talks About What Keeps the Industry Up at Night
Volume 16, Issue 2 — January 18, 2018
|
Editorial Editorial Editorial
|
|
Industry News Control & Signal Processing Digital Signage Audio Unified Collaborative Conferencing
|
|
|
What Keeps an AV Professional Awake at Night
By Leonard Suskin Pixel and Ink-Stained Wretch
I still remember my first concerns about user engagement with the technology we provide. It was over a decade ago; we were fitting out four conference rooms per floor over about a dozen floors. Video teleconferencing in two, local presentation in the other. Pack up, head for the elevator, repeat. It was one of my first commercial jobs and an eye-opener.
What concerned me? I had cause to wander back through a completed space to verify punchlist items. The rooms were in use and what I saw haunted me. In each presentation room, a paper easel stood with a set of markers. In all of the spaces – including those with integrated video teleconferencing – a speakerphone sat atop the conference table. It made me step back and wonder what we were doing. Why spend tens of thousands of dollars on integrated microphones, loudspeakers and audio processing only to have actual users engage with low-tech and low-cost solutions such as speakerphones or whiteboards?
It was a real question and one that lead me to my thought processes today: The first questions aren’t about resolution and screen size and videoconferencing. The first questions need to be about workflow and culture. We need to make the most common and most frequent actions as easy to accomplish as possible and as seamless. That – much more than technology – is the heart of what AV design is.
It’s pervasive. Until recently, adoption of technology by regular users has been a major challenge in the industry. Today the challenge has finally shifted. Smartphones have not only brought video chat to all of us, they’ve brought icon-based touchscreen interfaces to everyone’s pocket. Now the Crestron or AMX or Extron touch panel is no longer a scary mystery – it’s familiar. I’ve heard more than one user refer to the “iPad” on a conference table while pointing at the Crestron touch panel. All that said, it STILL isn’t as familiar a tool for making a phone call as the humble and traditional conference phone.
Enter last year’s biggest product – the Crestron Mercury. And with it a whole new set of challenges.
I sometimes think of the Mercury as an “if you can’t beat them, join them” product. After all these years, we still can’t break users of the habit of using that speakerphone in the middle of the table. In 2017, the team at Crestron finally hit on the obvious solution – we’ll give them a speakerphone, complete with the added functionality that the commercial AV industry is known for. Not only that, but it will serve as a gateway to the Crestron ecosystem, with the kind of remote monitoring and control features which are very attractive to IT support teams and completely invisible to users. It’s easy to adopt, easy to use and a big moment of change for the industry.
Why is this a scary moment for us? Because with devices like the Mercury, we can deliver at least a tolerable experience in small meeting spaces without the technical wizardry at which so many of us have become adept. To integrate a traditional video teleconference space, one would need to install and configure a codec appliance, install microphones, write a configuration file for a DSP and create a control system program to link everything together. To install a Huddle space with a Mercury? You need ten minutes with the web interface and not much else. We finally have systems which will be easily, widely, universally adopted — which will be the first choice on entering a space and which people feel they can use intuitively. And you barely need our specialized skillset to make them work.
That’s what should keep us up at night – that now the more mainstream video collaboration becomes, the easier it is to create. We now see an ecosystem with all-in-one solutions like the Microsoft SurfaceHub or Cisco Sparkboard. Simple soft-codec interfaces like the Mercury or Phoenix Condor.
What does this mean for us going forward?
It means that the days are numbered for those of us with nothing more to offer than technical wizardry, no matter how adept we are at it. Technical wizardry is becoming both easier and less relevant.
It also means that a bright future remains for those of us who can focus on building relationships, on serving as partners in providing collaboration as a service and creating long-term roadmaps. It’s what we’ve always done at our best and what needs to be our focus.
What keeps us up at night is the question of whether or not we as an industry can make that change or if we’ll cling to shrinking margins on increasingly commodified hardware. Leave a Comment
Share Article
Back to Top |
Click above to learn more
|
|
On Myths and All-Male Panels
By Leonard Suskin Pixel and Ink-Stained Wretch
CES is here and, with it controversy. Of the six keynote speakers, six are male. That’s a ratio, for those of you mathematically inclined, of 1:0. Of those six, one is Asian, five white. None are African or African-American. This is the second year in a row that they’ve chosen not to invite a woman to be a keynote speaker in a move which deeply disappoints me as an AV professional.
First, this IS a problem. It isn’t, perhaps, the biggest problem in the industry. It isn’t even the biggest problem in the realm of diversity. Fellow AV blogger Hope Roth said this better than I could in a Twitter discussion on the matter: “An all-male panel is a symptom, not just its own problem. Get more women into decision making roles and the panels will take care of themselves. 😉”
Roth is absolutely correct about this, and it dovetails with something I’ve said about my AV journey – that no amount of hard work, talent and knowledge will bring you to your career destination unless the right people take notice and give you a chance when you’re ready for it. When I see backlash to the backlash over all-male panels the focus is always on two myths we tell about the tech industry: the myth of the perfect meritocracy and the myth of the self-made man. Yes, I used gendered language here intentionally — the myth is overwhelmingly applied to men. To take a brief aside into politics (don’t worry, I’m not making a partisan point here), there has been criticism of New York’s junior Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for being “too ambitious.” In a man, ambition is not only expected but often lauded. Too see a female politician — regardless of party — attacked for “ambition” is to attack her for the very trait that brings success in politics.
The myth of the perfect meritocracy says that technology is a field in which cream rises, that if you see someone in a prominent position that they earned that, through insight and intelligence, gumption and hard work. That they’re on top because they belong there. The corallary, of course, is that the person who isn’t on top also belongs where they are. If cream rises, that which isn’t cream sinks. Everyone is at their natural level. If you believe this, then the AV industry is overwhelmingly white and male because white males just happen to be better at it. That’s a dangerous way to think, and it’s self-perpetuating.
Again on Twitter, I remarked that my profile in System Contractor News opened with a paraphrase of something I said: that I’m fascinated by the role happenstance takes in shaping our careers and our lives. I won’t rehash my AV journey here, but I’ll note one thing: I began as an outsider who had a perceived skillset that fit what a major integrator needed at the time, having won a major job and needing a full-time site coordinator. Is there a subconscious bias that made me more look the part as a white male? That’s something I’ll never know. What I DO know is that I not only got the job but, down the road, whenever I’ve asked for an opportunity to move up, to take advanced technical training, or to try new roles, it was given to me. I also know that the people who gave me these opportunities looked like me.
Applying the “perfect meritocracy” myth to the selection of a keynote speaker is something that, quite honestly, makes my head hurt. The counterargument I hear to the fact that CES has a problem in not choosing women is that “they pick the best people.” When pressed, nobody can explain what “best person to give a keynote address” means. There is always a choice. Selecting a keynote speaker is a subjective choice, and one made based on any number of conscious or subconscious biases. I’m saying we should look at those.
We like the myth of the meritocracy because it’s the way we want the world to work. Those of us in good positions like it because it means that we’ve earned what we have, that we are beholden to nobody. Those struggling find appeal in that they identify with the ones on the top and believe that, with effort and gumption and talent they, too, can reach the top.
It’s a set of myths that lets us look at the world, see an all-male panel and conclude that men are just better. Because they’re succeeding. Whether we explicitly say it or not, whether we say it out loud or not, that is the message. It echoes.
Some will ask if this is the right battle. They’ll ask why representation even matters, and to whom.
First, the obvious. It matters to girls and women in the industry. Representation matters. Seeing someone from your demographic standing on the stage sends a message that they belong there, that you belong there. That someday, should your path take you in that direction, it could be you on the stage.
Second, a woman is on the stage for all the people who gave me a chance. To have a reminder — even a subconscious one — that a successful AV professional doesn’t always look like a middle-aged white man. That we come in different packages. And the next time they have a role to fill, maybe they’ll gravitate towards someone different, without even knowing why.
Finally and, selfishly, I want a woman on stage for me. This is for the same reason I’d rather read Nnedi Okorofor than, say, Ernest Cline. In addition to Cline being not a terribly good writer, he’s a white man obsessed with the popular culture of the era in which I grew up. I already KNOW that stuff and know how a white, male child of the 1980s thinks. Okorofor is a Nigerian-American with influences, culture and a background which are not mine: I can learn from her.
I’ll learn more from diverse panels of speakers than I ever would from the parade of white men currently holding the stage. We all will.
As an industry, let’s make it happen. Leave a Comment
Share Article
Back to Top |
Click above to learn more
|
|
Want More Female Speakers at CES? Get Rid of Booth Babes
By Hope Roth (Full disclosure: I don’t attend CES).
My Twitter feed is rife with discussion about this year’s slate of keynote speakers at CES: six captains of industry and not one of them a woman (and only one of them not white). Even mainstream news outlets are talking about this. I mean, there was an article in USA Today. Can you get any more mainstream than the paper of choice for mid-range hotel chains that like to leave things on their guests’ doorsteps?
The AV industry as a whole does not come across well when the only folks we can send out to talk in high-profile situations are a bunch of older, white men. We want the young women (and young people of color) in our industry to say: “Hey, that could be me someday!” It’s kind of hard to do that when everyone up on the stage looks nothing like you.
And here’s where we get into a chicken and egg problem. Our industry is notoriously lopsided when it comes to demographics. It’s hard to find female heavy hitters if you haven’t built up your bench. But we need to lift up new voices and new ideas. Not just for the young technician who is trying to decide if she should stick it out with us. But because technology is growing and changing faster than you can say “game-changing, disruptive unicorn,” and it’s going to take those new ways of thinking to make our industry succeed. We need to grow our bench.
So, here’s a novel idea: Let’s pick off the low hanging fruit. Get rid of booth babes. Write a damn code of conduct. Stop using the Victoria’s Secret fashion show to demonstrate your fancy new display.
Opening up our industry is going to take a lot of hard work. But there’s no need to hamstring ourselves out of the gate. There are a lot of people doing some amazing work (e.g., the various women’s councils). We need to listen to them. We need to support them. We need to not make their jobs any harder than they already are.
One of my primary goals with my podcast ( The Floating Point) is to speak with people who you wouldn’t normally hear from. I’ve done my damndest to find women to interview. One of the things I’ve discovered, though, is that many of the super-smart, amazing women out there have a wee touch of imposter’s syndrome. They don’t think that their voices are important. They don’t think anyone wants to hear what they have to say.
It’s pretty easy to get yourself a “manel.” It’s a lot of work to find those different voices. I applaud everyone who reaches outside their immediate circle and invites diverse voices up to the microphone.
So, no, getting rid of booth babes won’t magically solve all our problems. But it will encourage more women to stick around. And then we can all work together. The AV industry will be stronger for it.
Leave a Comment
Share Article
Back to Top |
|
ClearOne Awarded New Patent for Integrated Beamforming Microphone Array and Ceiling or Wall Tile gaClearOne announced today that it has been awarded a new patent relating to integration of a beamforming microphone array and a ceiling or wall tile.
The USPTO issued patent number 9,813,806 to ClearOne. This patent, entitled “Integrated Beamforming Microphone Array and Ceiling or Wall Tile,” among other things, describes a beamforming microphone array integrated into a ceiling-tile form that is designed to be used in a drop ceiling.
This new patent is part of ClearOne’s growing patent portfolio that currently includes over 100 patents and pending patent applications covering multiple new technologies in the fields of audio and video processing, audio and video streaming, and innovative communication technologies. ClearOne’s patents reinforce and protect its market leadership position, and demonstrate ClearOne’s ongoing ability to develop cutting-edge technologies and products.
ClearOne is here. Leave a Comment
Share Article
Back to Top |
Click above to learn more
|
|
New Extron 7″ Wall Mount Touch Panel Blends Performance and Style Extron just introduced the TLP Pro 725M 7″ wall mount TouchLink Pro touch panel. Extron redesigned this latest TouchLink Pro touch panel inside and out with a new quad-core processor and eight times more memory. The display is a higher resolution 1024×600 capacitive touchscreen built with scratch- and smudge-resistant, edge-to-edge Corning Gorilla Glass. The TLP Pro 725M also features the convenience of PoE (Power over Ethernet), which allows it to receive power and communication over a single Ethernet cable. It is ideal in any environment requiring a stylish, wall-mountable touch panel with a fully-customizable interface.
The TLP Pro 725M is built for today with an eye on the future. With its improved graphics engine, quad-core processor and increased RAM, you’ll see faster background graphic loads and crisper page flips. These performance enhancements offer an enhanced user experience now, while providing ample memory and processing power to support exciting new features and capabilities in the future via firmware updates. A variety of mounting kits are available, providing a clean installation on a wall, glass, podium or other surface. All TouchLink Pro touch panels can be customized using Extron GUI Designer software. This powerful interface design software offers ready-to-use templates for a wide variety of rooms and presentation environments.
The TLP Pro 725M is here. Leave a Comment
Share Article
Back to Top |
Click above to learn more
|
RTI Intros Next Generation of Advanced Control Processing RTI today announced the release of the next-generation XP control processor line. RTI’s new XP-8v Advanced Control Processor offers increased processing power, expanded memory and an HDMI output for OSD control interface to bring together all of a home’s or office building’s electronic systems into one unified control and automation system.
The third generation of RTI’s XP-8 advanced control processor, the XP-8v, combines the advanced control options of its predecessors with a new i.MX53 processor for increased processing power and expanded two-way driver support. Its RAM memory and internal non-volatile Flash memory have been upgraded to 1GB and 512MB, respectively. The addition of an HDMI output enables on-screen display, providing users with the convenience of a custom control-interface on their TVs.
Designed for large-scale and complex projects, the XP-8v combines a real-time, multi-tasking operating system with tremendous expandability. Control interface options include two-way RS232, routable IR, Ethernet and relay control. For expanded integration capabilities, eight multi-purpose I/O ports support optional modules for voltage sensing and RS232 control. The XP-8v also features eight programmable relay input/outputs and eight sense inputs (voltage or contact closure). The processor’s Ethernet port provides IP control in addition to support for RTI’s RTiPanel app for smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Additionally, the XP-8v incorporates an astronomical clock, allowing for time-based events and timers to trigger commands and macros.
The XP-8v is programmed with RTI’s new Integration Designer APEX 10.2 programming platform, which combines time-saving automation with the complete freedom to design custom control-experiences — setting dealers apart from the competition. The new software features automatic generation of the graphical user interface and programming, a new IR library, advanced graphic resizing and more. A new global controller feature gives integrators the ability to easily create a multi-room control experience for a client. Additionally, APEX’s room proxy feature allows installers to create interfaces that are even more powerful.
Here are the details. Leave a Comment
Share Article
Back to Top |
Extron Now in the Custom Control Market With Debut of Global Scripter Using PythonAccording to CodeEval in 2016 (the last year data is available), the world’s most popular programming language is Python – with nearly 27 percent of the market. Java is number two with a 22 percent share and C++ is third with 10 percent. That’s not just AV control system programming — we mean all programming languages for all things.
This was the impetus for Extron using Python as its core language platform for their fully-programmable AV control system products. Called Global Scripter, Extron’s Integrated Development Environment harnesses the dynamic and intuitive nature of the Python programming language — an object-oriented language that enables programmers to reuse code and save development time. Since Python is the most popular programming language being taught to both high school and college kids, Extron believes there’s a path for both entry into AV as well as one that allows AV-based Python programmers to expand value outside of just programming AV products.
Extron already has hundreds of certified EQIPs — Extron Qualified Independent Programmers — as the company quietly debuted Global Scripter and a customizable ecosystem of AV control products and software in late 2015. Extron has spent the last two years making it “easier and better.” For now, the customizable Extron control system products include the eBUS line, the TouchLink Pro line and its IP Link Pro line. But Extron says more is coming.
Global Scripter works with its ControlScript Python library and uses familiar AV terms, which Extron says makes it easier for integrator-programmers to program AV control system projects. When combined with Extron Pro Series control hardware, Global Scripter and ControlScript make a system fully custom programmable.
We learned today that the new Atlanta Braves stadium, SunTrust Park, is integrated with Extron’s new custom control system running everything AV — and since it’s Python, which is the same language all the other services in the park use too, it’s connected to the system running nearly everything in the stadium.
As mentioned above, Python is an object-oriented programming language that’s known, by programmers, to be easily readable, and editable, making it a very popular scripting language. Python allows programmers to leverage libraries, modules and functions without the need to learn syntax. With ample documentation available in print and on the Internet, there are numerous programming resources for novices and experts alike.You don’t have to learn a custom programming language.
Access to Global Scripter and ControlScript is available to certified Extron Authorized Programmers. Additional programming support is available with our well-established EQIP program, which provides resources to customers deploying Pro Series control systems. Extron Qualified Independent Programming companies are carefully screened and selected to provide expert support for Extron control system projects.
Here’s a video that explains Extron’s philosophy in using Python as well as how it works.
Here’s a site that explains Extron’s Global Scripter. Leave a Comment
Share Article
Back to Top |
Click above to learn more
|
|
Signagelive and BrightSign Partner for Global Digital Signage Solution Signagelive today announced that it’s bringing Signagelive support to BrightSign’s line of Series 3 digital signage media players.
The BrightSign/Signagelive solution is meant for large companies and media agencies that require centralized control of their brand messaging worldwide. This pertains both to customers that require a platform for cloud-networked global signage networks, as well as tech-minded customers who build custom solutions based on their proprietary application programming interfaces (APIs).
Signagelive’s support for BrightSign Series 3 media players includes the following capabilities:
- Setup — Timezone configuration from the Signagelive platform/cloud
- System Reporting — manufacturer, model, app version, screen status (on/off), OS, serial number, IP address, CPU, memory and storage
- Screen Control — ability to schedule on/off based on day, time and recurrence
- Remote Reboot — force a reboot at the next check-in
- BrightSign NativeTicker support — very smooth left-to-right ticker
- HDMI input — full-screen and in a zone within a layout
- Dual-video support in layouts
- Frame-accurate synchronisation
- BrightSign WiFi Module and NativeTicker support
- IPTV Streaming — HLS only, full-screen and in a zone within a layout
- Remote Screenshots — shown on device dashboard including the capture of HDMI input
- Proof of Play — records and reports all media played with tags and metadata
For more information about BrightSign’s media players and the company’s full suite of digital signage software solutions, go here. To learn more about Signagelive’s digital signage software platform, go here. Leave a Comment
Share Article
Back to Top |
|
PreSonus Expands Studio Series USB Interface LineFollowing up on its Studio 26 and Studio 68 ultra-high-definition recording solutions, PreSonus announced the Studio 1810 and Studio 1824 USB 2.0 audio/MIDI interfaces. The new interfaces record at up to 24-bit, 192 kHz resolution and feature PreSonus’ famed XMAX Class A microphone preamps, audiophile-grade digital converters, ultra-low-jitter clocking and MIDI I/O. All analog inputs and the main L/R outputs have eight-LED, ladder-style level meters.
Both interfaces’ outputs offer flexible routing with zero-latency DSP-based monitor mixing and control-room integration with included PreSonus Studio One Artist for Mac and Windows and free PreSonus UC Surface for Mac, Windows, iPad and Android. You also get the Studio Magic Plug-in Suite for Mac and Windows, which provides seven popular plug-ins in VST, AU and AAX formats.
A fine choice for project studios, the Studio 1810 USB 2.0 audio/MIDI interface records up to 18 simultaneous inputs. This includes two combo mic/instrument/line inputs and two combo mic/line inputs, all with XMAX Class A mic preamps and global +48V phantom power; four back-panel, ¼” TRS line inputs; 8 channels of ADAT Optical input (four channels at 96 kHz); and stereo S/PDIF inputs. You get eight outputs, including left and right, ¼” TRS balanced main outputs with dedicated level control and Mute, four ¼” TRS balanced line outputs and stereo S/PDIF outputs. All analog line outputs are DC coupled for sending control voltages. Two loud, clear headphone outputs include A/B switching for monitoring different mix streams.
The Studio-series top-of-the-line Studio 1824 audio/MIDI interface records up to 18 simultaneous inputs (8×8 at 192 kHz), including two mic/instrument/line inputs and six mic/line inputs, all with XMAX Class A mic preamps and global +48V phantom power, plus eight channels of ADAT Optical input (four channels at 96 kHz) and stereo S/PDIF. The Studio 1824’s generous 18 outputs include 8 ¼” TRS balanced line outputs; stereo main outputs (which duplicate line outs 1/2), with dedicated Mute and Mono buttons; eight channels of ADAT Optical output (four channels at 96 kHz); and stereo S/PDIF.
As with the Studio 1810, all Studio 1824 line outputs are DC coupled for sending control voltages, and you get two stereo headphone outputs with independent mix streams. The Studio 1824 also provides BNC word clock output.
The Studio 1810 and Studio 1824 are expected to be available in the second quarter of 2018, with list prices of $399.95 and $499.95, respectively. Here are all the specs. Leave a Comment
Share Article
Back to Top |
Click above to learn more
|
Biamp Debuts Tesira Beamtracking Microphones and PoE+ Amplifier Technology for Conference Rooms Biamp Systems announced the expansion of its Tesira audio and video platform which include new power over Ethernet (PoE+) amplifier technology and a series of beamtracking ceiling microphones.
Providing full 360-degree room coverage, each of the new Tesira microphones uses Biamp’s Beamtracking technology to identify and lock to a signal source — even if the person speaking is moving around. With little or no setup required, the Tesira beamtracking ceiling microphones actively track and intelligently mix conversations from around the table, allowing everyone on the call to be heard. The microphone models include:
- Tesira TCM-1: AVB ceiling microphone with built-in DSP for beamtracking
- Tesira TCM-1A: All of the same features and capabilities of the TCM-1 plus a two-channel PoE+ amplifier with burst power mode
- Tesira TCM-1EX: An expansion microphone specifically designed to be daisy-chained to either the TCM-1 or TCM-1A microphone for expanded coverage within the space
The new Tesira AMP-450P is a four-channel, PoE+ conferencing amplifier that can be placed wherever it’s needed, including air-handling spaces. Well-suited for ceiling speakers, program speakers, and mix-minus systems, it’s capable of operating in a burst mode to handle peak loads, providing up to 50 watts per channel.
For smaller conference rooms, solutions are available that utilize a single Ethernet cable to connect a TesiraFORTÉ AVB VT4 to the new Tesira TCM-1A beamtracking microphone. For larger conference rooms, use a TesiraFORTÉ AVB VT in conjunction with the Tesira AMP-450P and TCM-1.
The Tesira beamtracking ceiling microphones and the AMP-450P amplifier will be available in the second quarter of 2018 and all the technical specs are here. Leave a Comment
Share Article
Back to Top |
Barix Introduces Openly-Programmable IP Audio Module for Third-Party Product Developers at ISE 2018 Barix is introducing at ISE 2018 its newest-generation IP Audio Module, the IPAM 400. The Linux-based IPAM 400 is Barix’s most powerful OEM audio platform to date, combining a quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 MPCore processor and an open-source programming model for supporting complex signal handling and an array of applications. The new module supports multiple audio formats and features stereo audio, network, USB, GPIO and serial interfaces alongside built-in Wi-Fi capabilities, enabling developers to easily incorporate advanced audio processing, IP-based streaming and control functionality into their product designs.
The IPAM 400 continues Barix’s move towards an open-source, Linux-based approach, which began with the introduction of the Barionet 1000 control module at last year’s ISE show. While previous IPAM models included libraries of finished applications and clients, the IPAM 400 provides systems integrators and OEMs with a blank slate upon which they can tap into the open source community or develop almost any audio-oriented application they can envision. While customers can select their preferred operating system implementation and install their own image, Barix provides an example Yocto image that includes firmware upgrade and advanced recovery function for the platform. Barix can also work closely with customers’ development teams to realize their desired applications through various levels of support, consulting and professional services.
The IPAM 400 can run multiple encryption and decryption processes concurrently for data, streams and web server access, enabling the creation of products supporting the latest security standards. The IPAM 400 architecture also allows devices to be reinstalled, reformatted and updated remotely without risk of ‘bricking’ the units, avoiding expensive and user-frustrating product return cycles.
Samples of the IPAM 400 are available immediately to developers, with full-quantity shipments planned for later in Q1. The IPAM 400 and other Barix products can be viewed at ISE 2018 in Amsterdam next month in stand 8-K255.
Barix is here. Leave a Comment
Share Article
Back to Top |
Symetrix Composer 6.0 Adds Dante EnhancementsSymetrix has released the latest version of its Composer programming software for Edge, Radius, Prism and Solus NX DSPs. In addition to DSP design, Composer v6.0 for Windows natively configures the setup and routing of Symetrix Dante I/O expanders, along with select third-party Dante devices. With Composer, integrators can program a complete end-to-end DSP signal path using just one application.
Composer 6.0 adds many new Dante-related workflow enhancements and other features for Symetrix DSPs. Previously, Composer was always in control of Dante configuration and routing, so changes made outside of Composer would not be preserved. With version 6.0, programming devices’ Dante interface in the Site File is now optional, accommodating users who rely on Dante Controller or another external means of network audio routing during daily operation.
In addition, Composer now optionally synchronizes changes made to the system in Dante Controller with the Site File for archiving or for use as a new baseline configuration. The system also can now be programmed to not restore the default Dante configuration and routing, preserving changes made in Dante Controller through system power cycles. Users can configure and route with Composer, with Dante Controller or with a hybrid of the two, as system design and use cases dictate.
If it speaks Dante, it can be added to your Site File with Composer 6.0. Composer can obtain information about channel counts, channel names, device name, manufacturer and model directly from the device over the network. Symetrix or third-party manufacturers can distribute XML databases of known units for import into Composer, and users can manually define a unit. Some XML databases of third-party products are included.
Dante firmware version 4.x poises Symetrix for the upcoming support of Audinate’s Dante Domain Manager. In addition, Symetrix DSP units can now receive and transmit AES67 network audio empowering users with an unparalleled level of compatibility and interoperability to leverage Symetrix DSPs with greater flexibility and fewer restrictions. Composer 6.0 also detects and displays the lock status of a Dante device.
Network audio Transmit and Receive objects in Composer are no longer tied directly to a set of Dante channels. Their use has been virtualized, expanded and made more generic. Flow management is now handled automatically, without user interaction or management. Buses now accommodate more than one network audio technology.
Other new features and enhancements include:
- Users can place network audio Tx and Rx objects having up to 64-channels, greatly simplifying schematic layout and wiring when busing large amounts of network audio.
- Users no longer must remove old, and replace new, Network Rx objects in order to change sources used in a design, making system changes or service quicker and easier by reducing editing steps and chances for wiring errors.
- Third-party Dante-enabled products have been fully integrated into Composer, allowing for their configuration, management and control (as applicable) without Dante Controller or third-party software.
- Dante diagnostic information is now available in the Composer diagnostics module and web interface for all Dante-enabled DSPs, providing multiple ways to quickly and easily keep tabs on the Dante interfaces.
- Composer 6.0 greatly streamlines methods for assigning and managing controller numbers, offering an easier way to both organize and troubleshoot control assignments.
- To help avoid unintentional control assignments or parameter linking, Composer 6.0 provides additional tools and methods to manage both linked and individual control assignments and will prevent duplicate control assignments in cases where control numbers are automatically generated.
For all the details on the Symetrix Composer 6.0 for Edge, Radius, Prism and Solus NX DSPs, go here. Leave a Comment
Share Article
Back to Top |
|
InFocus Introduces Its Largest Open Android-Based Touch Display for Collaboration InFocus Corporation today launches an addition to their JTouch product family, with the JTouch Plus INF8630AG. It’s the largest open Android-based interactive touch display solution built for collaboration, featuring a 4K anti-glare 86-inch display that users can customize and annotate over any documents, whiteboard, browse the web and run Android apps, plus wirelessly cast with ease using LightCast.
The 86-inch JTouch Plus is optimal for education applications, using an open Android platform that allows users to easily install and use any applications from the Google Play Store. Students can interact with educational content, games and information on the large screen as they would on a tablet. Featuring Total Touch Control, the JTouch Plus is intuitive to use without a remote. Presenters and peers can simply touch icons on the display to change inputs, or access the home screen, all applications and control functions; and when whiteboarding, users can draw with one finger, move on-screen content with two, or use three fingers to quickly erase.
Like its predecessors in the JTouch line, the 86-inch JTouch Plus features the premium LightCast suite of presentation, teamwork, and content-sharing capabilities. Teachers and students can use a variety of pens and shapes to annotate on top of e-books, lessons and notes, web pages or student’s work, and even spotlight areas of the screen to hide answers or focus attention. Teachers and presenters can also connect any device (HDMI, VGA or PC), freeze the screen and annotate over any content, and then save screen captures to the internal storage or an external USB drive.
It also features multi-device touch control, which allows presenters to plug in up to eight devices including smartphones, laptops or tablets, without needing to change cables. In addition to LightCast, there is also wireless casting via built-in AirPlay that allows presenters and teachers to share work or lessons to the display from their mobile device or computer.
The 86-inch JTouch Plus INF8630AG and INF8630eAG for K-12 education customers is now available in the U.S. and Canada for $11,999 and $11,099, respectively. More information is available here. Leave a Comment
Share Article
Back to Top |
TrueConf and NVIDIA Bring 4K Video Conferencing to Smart TVs TrueConf introduced 4K (2160p) video calls to smart TVs for NVIDIA SHIELD TV users. Backed by NVIDIA, TrueConf has released a new solution to run 4K video conferences on smart TVs based on NVIDIA SHIELD TV consoles. The integration is powered by NVIDIA NVENC technology which has been supported in TrueConf for Android application. Video is transmitted at 2160p and 30 FPS. Incoming and outgoing streams are processed using H.264 codec.
TrueConf integration turns NVIDIA SHIELD TV into an Android-based 4K video conferencing endpoint for living rooms or offices. Just connect a USB camera and TV to your console to call your friends and colleagues and enjoy high-definition video on a large TV screen. TrueConf for Android TV users have access to all the features of TrueConf for Android, while the application interface is fully adapted for gamepad or remote control. The app is already available on Google Play Market.
TrueConf will demonstrate 4K video conferencing on smart TVs based on NVIDIA SHIELD TV console at Integrated Systems Europe in Amsterdam. Here are the details. Leave a Comment
Share Article
Back to Top |
|
For all you REGULAR readers of rAVe ProAV 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 percent opinionated. We not only report the news and new product stories of the ProAV 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).
Don’t like us? Then go away — unsubscribe! Just use the link below.
To send us feedback, don’t reply to this newsletter. Instead, write directly to founder Gary at gary@ravepubs.com or Editor-in-Chief Sara Abrons at sara@ravepubs.com
Everything we publish is opt-in — we spam NO ONE! rAVe ProAV Edition is our flagship publication with what we believe is a reach of virtually everyone in the ProAV market. rAVe HomeAV Edition is co-published with CEDIA, covering the HomeAV market. We added rAVe Rental [and Staging] in November 2007, rAVe ED [Education] in May 2008 and then rAVe DS [Digital Signage] in January 2009. We added rAVe GHGav [Green, Healthcare & Government AV] in August 2010 and rAVe HOW [House of Worship] in July 2012. You can subscribe to any of those publication or see ALL our archives by going to: https://www.ravepubs.com
To read more about rAVe’s team and what we do, go to https://www.ravepubs.com Back to Top |
Copyright 2018 – 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 contains the opinions of the author only and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of other persons or companies or its sponsors. |
|
|
|