Situated within the central business district of Lujiazui, the Shanghai Tower is the largest building in China and the second-tallest building in the world. Measuring 2,073 feet (632 meters) tall with 128 floors, the Shanghai Tower features a unique outer layer that twists as it rises above downtown Shanghai. Within the Shanghai Tower lies the newly opened J Hotel, an accommodation with 240 guest rooms spanning many of the skyscraper’s highest floors. The J Hotel is the centerpiece of the stunning Shanghai Tower. No detail was overlooked in the design of the J Hotel, including technology integration.

PCI China was selected to design, engineer and integrate technology throughout the J Hotel’s various gathering and community spaces. “Because the Shanghai Tower is a monumental, exquisite piece of architecture in Shanghai, it was necessary to design a state-of-the-art audio and video system to meet our client’s expectations,” said Norman Hu, marketing manager for PCI China. “We designed three boardrooms, two ballrooms and other public areas. The Shanghai Tower had an existing Gigabit network infrastructure; therefore we needed a flexible video solution able to operate with standard network wiring. We selected Visionary’s PacketAV Matrix Series because of the product’s resilience, reliability and price-point. The solution fit our client’s specific needs.”

Each ballroom was designed as a large room with the ability to divide the room into two smaller, independent, multifunctional spaces for business meetings, conferences, weddings and other activities. “The J Hotel’s ballrooms are designed to be leased for various activities. A flexible, high-quality video matrix with ultra-low latency was a necessary solution,” said Hu. “We incorporated Visionary’s PacketAV Matrix Series Encoders and Decoders to provide a solution that is scalable based on changing room designs for different event functions. Each LED video wall features four PacketAV D4100 Decoders that enable up to four separate images or a single large image. An additional D4100 Decoder was provided to ensure the banquet space can be flexibly extended with a video display output.”

The J Hotel’s boardrooms also required a simple-to-use BYOD solution that didn’t take up unnecessary space within the room. “We included six PacketAV E4100 Encoders and three D4100 Decoders to provide an easy-to-use BYOD solution,” stated Hu. “The small, yet powerful, design of the PacketAV Matrix Series enabled PCI China to install the PacketAV Matrix Series behind the video display and underneath desks to save on installation space. With the PacketAV Matrix Series’ PoE power supply, there’s no complex wiring to consume additional space, only a cable connected to the switcher. The integrated audio port connection is also convenient for streamlining video and audio transmissions.”

Visionary’s PacketAV Series is designed for standard network infrastructure, which allowed PCI China to create a scalable solution for the J Hotel. “Visionary’s PacketAV Series lays the foundation for future system upgrades because of its ability to utilize an existing network,” said Hu. “Additionally, the PacketAV Series integrates seamlessly with other solutions to eliminate unnecessary downtime for programming and control. We paired Visionary’s PacketAV Matrix Series alongside QSC’s Q-SYS system for a seamless audio solution. Visionary’s PacketAV Matrix Series supports HDMI audio and transmits the audio directly to the Q-SYS system for processing through the network. The end user has a simple-to-use video and audio solution by utilizing a single output to an HDMI and, meanwhile, eliminating unnecessary audio cables.”

Visionary’s 4K UHD over IP PacketAV Matrix Series encoders and decoders redefine traditional switch matrix systems to create a flexible, scalable, cinema-quality solution for IP networks. The PacketAV endpoints offer ultra-low latency with unlimited distribution capabilities. Utilizing existing network resources, the encoders and decoders can be rapidly deployed enabling cost-effective distribution of multi-channel Dante/AES67 Audio and Video over IP.