LAVNCH WEEK 14 wrapped up with ProAV Day, featuring sessions on broadcast and professional AV convergence, AI-powered meeting room technology, direct-view LED (dvLED) project planning and the challenges of USB connectivity in ProAV environments. Broadcast Thinking for ProAV Spaces Jonathan Mechling of Diversified opened the first session called “Broadcast Thinking for ProAV Spaces,” with a […]

It’s the second day of LAVNCH WEEK 14, rAVe’s virtual event series that combines thought leadership, education and AV product updates. The theme for today was EdTech. Presenters dove into school safety, collaboration and the evolution of expectations for education technology. Connecting the Dots: AV’s Role in School Safety To kick off the day, Scott […]

I was having a breakfast meeting a couple of weeks ago with a new dealer of mine in the commercial integration channel. We have similar backgrounds and a lot in common, unsurprisingly. We talked about many things, but relevant to today’s column was venting to each other about our frustrations with DIY smart home products […]

THIS IS A PROMOTED POST A meeting room can have clear audio and great video, but if something isn’t working when people join a call, that’s what they’ll remember. In Episode 3 of The New Rules of Connection, I sat down with Brian Phillips from HP to talk about what keeps those experiences working: management. […]

THIS IS A PROMOTED POST Your customer wants the impact of a large dvLED display, but it’s your job as an integrator to figure out how that display will fit into the building, the budget and the way your customer will use it; understand how the display works and how they will use the room. […]

LAVNCH WEEK 14 kicked off with Experiential Signage Day, bringing together industry experts to discuss how display technology, data and design can create more meaningful experiences. Across the keynote, presentations and panel discussions, a consistent message emerged: Successful experiential signage starts with understanding the people who will use a space, not simply the technology being […]

Last week, I visited Sharp’s newly expanded Executive Experience Center in Downers Grove, Illinois, and the thing that stood out was the layout and how thoughtfully the technology is presented. The space gives partners and customers plenty to explore, with demonstrations that make it easier to understand the options in front of them. The EEC’s […]

It was a rather ordinary Sunday night in Paris, Oct. 11, 2026. A light drizzle fell under overcast skies, and temperatures hovered around 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). Across France, the weather was pretty unremarkable for the season. At least, outside, everything was normal. But just inside nearby grocery stores, temperatures were not acting […]

 Building Skills, Strengthening the Business By Nicholas John Ducote, Learning & Development Manager at Preferred Technologies and member of PSA Security Network’s Workforce Development Committee Think about the last time someone asked you to do something new at work. Did you know what a good result looked like? Did you have a chance to practice? […]

The other day I was on a call with a design firm, talking about the types of projects they do and how I may be of assistance to them in the future. We went through the typical 45 to 50 minutes of discussing workflows, skill sets, capabilities and portfolio pieces. Then at the end of […]

Some rAVe [PUBS] readers may think of me as the guy who peppers his posts with aphorisms. That’s true, as far as it goes, but I’ve got more tricks in my bag. Yes, I have lots of aphorisms, but I also have sports metaphors.  And pop culture tropes. Here’s one: If you’re a fan of […]

THIS IS A PROMOTED POST By Roland The transition to 4K is well underway across professional AV, but few organizations make that transition at once. Corporate facilities, educational institutions, houses of worship, and event venues may add a 4K camera or display while continuing to rely on HD computers, confidence monitors, streaming encoders, and other equipment […]

THIS IS A PROMOTED POST The way we experience video meetings has changed dramatically over the past several years, but many meeting rooms haven’t necessarily kept up. We’ve become accustomed to seeing colleagues clearly on platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom, where everyone has their own space on the screen. Yet when we return to […]

THIS IS A PROMOTED POST This LAVNCH & LEARN, in partnership with Panasonic, covers TAA compliance — what it actually means, where it applies and how to adapt product strategies to meet these requirements. This session featured Steph Beckett, RP Higgins of Electric Picture Display Systems and Jason Karol of Panasonic Projector & Display Americas. […]

THIS IS A PROMOTED POST By Roland 4K cameras and displays have become increasingly common across professional AV environments. Corporate organizations, educational institutions, houses of worship, and event venues regularly purchase equipment capable of supporting 4K production. Yet many of these organizations continue to operate primarily in HD, even when the cameras within their systems […]

rAVe readers can save up to €300 by registering here using code ravepubs for a FREE ISE visitor badge. Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2027 returns to Fira de Barcelona, Gran Via, from Feb. 2-5, built around a single idea: When Worlds Unite. The lines between AV, IT, broadcast, live events, smart buildings and education continue […]

THIS IS A PROMOTED POST How Technology and Storytelling Come Together to Create Memorable Experiences: This LAVNCH event, in partnership with Panasonic, highlights how advanced projection technology and storytelling are powering the immersive experiences of today. This session featured Steph Beckett, Brian Duffy of Panasonic & Display Americas, Tice Lerner of LUMA Projection Arts Festival […]

THIS IS A PROMOTED POST By Roland Professional video production has traditionally relied on multiple cameras to create the variety of shots expected during live events, presentations, and streaming productions. A wide shot may capture an entire stage while additional cameras provide closer views of presenters, panelists, or other areas of interest. Each additional perspective […]

THIS IS A PROMOTED POST AI has gotten remarkably good at finding information, analyzing data and helping people make decisions. Across the enterprise, organizations are now exploring the next step: AI agents that don’t just provide answers but can initiate workflows and take action. For AV and IT teams, that raises an interesting question: What […]

By Richard Jonker, vice president of commercial business development at NETGEAR David Danto’s recent piece on rAVe, “The Weakest Link Is Listening,” makes a warning AV needs to hear: microphones, cameras, displays, video bars, smart glasses and AI recorders are endpoints, and they can leak some of the most sensitive information in the building. That […]

What does it take to deliver a meeting experience that works for everyone, wherever they’re joining from? That’s the question behind “New Rules of Connection,” our new video series with HP. Throughout the series, we’ll explore what makes collaboration successful and what it means for the AV professionals designing, installing and supporting those experiences. For […]

We have spent years securing the enterprise network. We secure laptops, servers and smartphones. We worry about passwords, multifactor authentication, phishing, ransomware, USB drives, cloud storage and every other conceivable place where corporate information might escape. Meanwhile, we have been putting microphones everywhere: in phones, laptops, smart speakers, televisions, conference-room cameras, video bars, desk devices, […]

By Doug Barlett, CEO, EzoBord As an AV integrator, you have likely experienced this scenario: your team designs and deploys a state-of-the-art meeting space with beamforming microphones, high-resolution displays and seamlessly integrated UC technology. The room passes commissioning. The client signs off. Then the calls start. Remote participants cannot understand people in the room. Voices […]

In my role, I get cold-called and pitched. A lot. I find that ironic, considering that part of my job description is that I’m the one out there cold calling and pitching. It’s the circle of life, I suppose. I’ll tell you a secret about the pitches I get: Most of them are awful. I […]

Trends are everywhere, even in the AV industry. For May’s temperature check survey, we decided to ask you, the readers, what trends are influencing projects the most and having the biggest impact on the industry. We also asked what trend has been the most overhyped. Your responses provided some interesting perspectives on the ideas and […]

There’s a great scene in “This Is Spinal Tap” where the musicians tout an amp as louder because the dial goes to 11. It’s hilarious, of course, and obvious that the dial numbering really has nothing to do with the output itself. However, it had me thinking about a few misconceptions in audio that can […]

By Steph Beckett and Cory Knapp This year marked my sixth CEDIA Expo. I’ve attended every year since 2021, and every year I look forward to seeing what’s new in residential AV. This year, I brought along our content specialist, Cory Knapp, for his first-ever CEDIA Expo. We thought that gave us an excellent reason […]

I wrote two posts about eight years ago that raised a lot of eyebrows. They questioned the continued value of an integrator who believed their value lay in delivering hardware at the end of a construction project, especially as systems became more commoditized, complexity decreased and platform access became more universal. I asserted that firms […]

THIS IS A PROMOTED POST By Brian Phillips, Director of Product Marketing for HP Poly Meeting room collaboration technology has been constantly evolving for decades, with new waves of innovation emerging just as we get used to the previous ones. Artificial intelligence, advanced camera experiences, intelligent audio processing and new software capabilities continue to reshape […]

Human history is full of things that once seemed perfectly reasonable and that we now look back upon and wonder, what in the world were they thinking? For centuries, illnesses were treated by bleeding patients, attaching leeches or heating cups to create suction that was thought to draw sickness out. Even indoor plumbing was once […]

“I don’t know, ask ChatGPT.” Probably one of the most uttered sentences in the English language right now. Between ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and others, we have so many resources at our disposal for solving problems. But every time I use one of these readily available resources, I feel guilty. AI guilt is a new-ish […]

THIS IS A PROMOTED POST By Brian Phillips, Director of Product Marketing for HP Poly Meeting room “success” is often measured by the technology deployed within the space. Are we using certified devices? What are the camera specs and microphone pickup? Are the camera and microphone appropriate for the room? Did we deploy the features […]