In Defense of a Less Neutral Network

The FCC made waves last week with an announcement that it’s dropping its long-standing position on “net-neutrality” — the idea that all Internet traffic should be treated equally by Internet service providers. This is something with direct impact on an increasingly network-centric AV industry, and one about which several of my fellow AV bloggers have […]

In Defense of a Less Neutral Network

Survey Says! Surveys and InfoComm’s APEx

I wrote a blog a couple weeks ago about Why I like InfoComm’s New APEx Program.  The blog brought attention to the fact that the new program will include client surveys that must be positively completed each year for an integrator to remain in good standing in the program.  That is an idea I have […]

Survey Says! Surveys and InfoComm’s APEx

A Visit With Savant

Discussion of some project details recently brought me to the Savant Systems showroom in lower Manhattan. In addition to the matter at hand, I was treated to a showroom tour as well as a discussion on their offerings, the overall Savant ecosystem, and where they hope to be in the future. The demo space is […]

A Visit With Savant

Looking and Seeing – The World through AV Eyes

Before my AV career I did a few other things, including telephony and the unparalleled horrors of residential cable installations. One interesting thing about these three fields is each has lead me to a greater focus on parts of our world the rest of us take for granted and fail to notice. If you drive […]

Looking and Seeing – The World through AV Eyes

On Language, Juggling, Lunchtime in the Park, AV, and Networks

Quite a few years ago I earned the CTS (Certified Technical Specialist) certification from InfoComm. Last year I began studying to take the ICND1 (Interconnected Network Devices) in pursuit of my first-ever Cisco certification. Last week I started learning to throw a juggling pattern called a 4,4,1. What do these three seemingly disparate items have […]

On Language, Juggling, Lunchtime in the Park, AV, and Networks

Consumerization in Pro AV

The proliferation of consumer technology in professional AV has been a hot topic as of late both in the office and amongst my fellow AV bloggers. Over the past week we got commentary from Mike Brandes, Josh Srago, Mike Brandes again. It’s also been a recurring topic on LinkedIn and Google+ AV professional groups. There […]

Consumerization in Pro AV

A Visit With Primeview (And Others!)

Today marked the official grand opening of Primeview’s New York showroom. Primeview, for those not familiar with them, are a manufacturer of commercial flat panel displays, focusing on video-walls, digital signage and interactive applications. For their demo space they partnered with several of the manufacturers with whom they work on projects: Haivision, Vista Systems, TVOne, […]

A Visit With Primeview (And Others!)

Why No Product Reviews? On Shootouts and Demos, With an Apology to Extron

About what do AV designers talk? Design certainly, in all of its forms. Past projects and wish lists. Perhaps most of all, we talk about technology. For all of our talk on these things, there are relatively few actual product reviews or comparisons. I’ll talk about products here, but stop short of a formal endorsement […]

Why No Product Reviews? On Shootouts and Demos, With an Apology to Extron

Hardware is Dead! Long Live Hardware! In Defense of the Appliance, and a Look Ahead at Software Solutions

Last week Ryan Pinke joined a new tradition in proclaiming the video conference Codec dead. In my own look ahead I posited a potential future free of boxes, in which software solutions largely replace dedicated appliances. Is Pinke right on this one? Have we reached, or are we nearing the end of hardware? I don’t […]

Hardware is Dead! Long Live Hardware! In Defense of the Appliance, and a Look Ahead at Software Solutions

A Pixel and Ink Stained Year in Review

It’s the end of the year as we know it. This year in review and its companion peek into my pixel and ink-stained crystal ball at the year coming up will be largely “pixel” posts in that I’ll talk about commercial AV. Perhaps one or two literary mentions to round things out. And more on […]

A Pixel and Ink Stained Year in Review

Holiday Musings on Cooperation and Collaboration in the AV industry

It’s non sectarian holiday time in the city. Last night was one of the New York AV community’s traditions: the Sapphire Marketing holiday party at the Crestron showroom in midtown Manhattan. In what may or may not become a bee annual party of the transition, George Tucker and Chris Neto broadcast an AV related chat […]

Holiday Musings on Cooperation and Collaboration in the AV industry

Gary’s HDBaseT Petition — A Bridge Too Far?

AV social media maven and rAVe Pubs founder Gary Kaye is making waves with a recent blog post in which he lambasted the HDBaseT Alliance for its failure to properly monitor and implement the “standard” of HDBaseT.  His article is well researched, and makes a number of very valid points. A few weeks prior to Gary’s post, another well-respected AV blogger, Leonard […]

Gary’s HDBaseT Petition — A Bridge Too Far?

The Other Side of the Bridge — A Look at Some AV Streaming Solutions

One comment I frequently hear about HDBaseT is that it’s a “bridge technology” between the old days of simple point-to-point connectivity and a future in which AV joins the rest of our data on those great big IP networks which dominate the rest of our lives. Are we ready for this paradigm shift? Is the […]

The Other Side of the Bridge — A Look at Some AV Streaming Solutions

HDBaseT Interoperability Follies

Today I’d like to share a moment to discuss everyone’s  favorite transport mechanism, HDBaseT. For those not in the know, the HDBaseT alliance have defined HDBaseT as a technology for transport of video, audio, power, Ethernet and control over standard category cable. As a point-to-point (as opposed to routable) signals, HDBaseT cannot be routed with […]

HDBaseT Interoperability Follies