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  • Our Brave New World

    The Great Recession has redefined large swaths of the economy. For many, things will never be the same. The AV industry is changing, too, and it will take new ideas to seize future opportunities.

     

AV Intelligence

5-Minute Interview

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    Q&A With Dan Fulmer, Fultech Solutions

    As a member of CEA's TechHome division board, Dan Fulmer is a well-respected residential installer. But his company, Fultech Solutions, recently branched out into commercial work. Here's how.

     

Marketwatch

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    The World is Flat(ter)

    After anemic growth in 2009, LCD TVs are apparently hot again, according to research firm DisplaySearch, which is exactly what purveyors of 3D and LED-lit flat-panels were aiming for.

     

Other Articles

  • Green Stepping

    Having struck out with the U.S. Green Building Council, the AV industry now aims to create its own LEED-type sustainability certification process, due out in January 2011. Here's what it entails.

     

Community Views

Parallax View

  • Assaulting the Castle

    If HDMI connectivity woes have you down, take heart. Alternatives to the high-definition standard are taking shape and their proponents are positioning them as a more network-friendly solution.

     

Sustainable AV

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    Blinded By 3D

    Over-promising and under-delivering. We've seen that movie before. Now with clients clamoring for technology that companies insist is ready, are we setting ourselves up for disillusionment?

     

Features

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    Catch Me If You Can

    The deadline to move wireless microphones out of their usual 700-MHz spectrum has come and gone. Who's made the transition and who hasn't? And what should the AV industry do now?

     

Install Solutions

Corporate Install

  • The ceiling above the wooden ceiling was painted black. The desired projectors were only available in white. A custom vinyl detailing company applied black vinyl to the projectors, carefully leaving open all ventilation and control surfaces.

    Modeled to Perfection

    What better opportunity to incorporate the guidance of 3D modeling software into an AV design than when the client is Autodesk itself and the project is a new LEED Platinum corporate briefing center?

     

Tools & Tech

Feature

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    Fiber: The Next UTP?

    AV pros have long recognized advances in the way they can deploy fiber-optic cabling. But certain system costs have continued to hold them back from deploying fiber.

     

Other Articles

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    The Sun Also Sets

    Starting in 2011, it's possible that certain high-definition content won't play in HD if the playback device uses an analog output. In 2013, it might not play at all. Which HD content and why?

     

New Products

Audio

  • Discussion System: Sennheiser ADN

    Sennheiser has come out with a new Audio Distribution Network discussion system, which it says is aimed at the entry-level conferencing market, comprising a central unit and two conference terminals.

     
  • Paging Station: QSC PS-1600, PS-800, and PS-400

    Building on its Q-Sys digital processing platform, QSC came out with a series of paging stations that includes the PS-1600, PS-800, PS-400, plus supporting software.

     
  • Pendant Loudspeakers: JBL Pro Control 60 Series

    JBL Pro is putting a new twist on its Control Contractor speaker series. The new Control 60 Series of pendant loudspeakers is designed for rooms and venues with open architectures or high ceilings.

     
  • Green Amplifiers: Crown ComTech DriveCore

    Crown Audio debuted its new ComTech DriveCore series of amplifiers, four models that each fit in a 1U rack space, are convection-cooled, and energy-efficient. All are Energy Star 2.0-compliant.

     
  • Boundary Microphone: Audio-Technica ES963

    Audio-Technica added the ES963 Three-Element Multidirectional Boundary Microphone to its Engineered Sound line. It?s designed for surface-mount applications, such as sound reinforcement.

     
  • In-Wall Camera: Vaddio Reveal

    Vaddio is putting an architectural spin on pan/tilt/zoom cameras. Its Reveal In-Wall cameras are the first from the company designed to blend into the wall of a videoconferencing or presentation room.

     
  • Commercial LED Displays: Samsung EX Series

    They look like sturdy, commercial-class LCD displays, but Samsung?s new EX Series are also just 1.6 inches thick, thanks to their LED edge-lighting. Sizes range from 40 to 55 inches in full HD.

     

Video

  • Short-Throw 3D Projectors

    Sanyo North America Corp. announced a pair of short-focus projectors that use the Frame Sequential Display Format to display 3D content when viewed through active-shutter glasses.

     
  • Two-Piece Projector

    Projectiondesign's FR12 Remote Light Source series of DLP projectors separate the light source, including lamp and colorwheels, from the projector itself so it can be mounted up to 100 feet away.

     
  • Commercial Monitor: Mitsubishi MDT651S

    Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America?s Presentation Products Division rolled out a 65-inch LCD with a built-in Cat-5 receiver and ambient light sensors in the front and rear of the display.

     
  • High-Brightness Projectors

    Digital Projection's new HIGHlite Cine 1080p-260 and HIGHlite Cine 1080p-260 HC projectors use Texas Instruments' 3-chip DLP technology and are priced to meet mainstream, high-brightness requirements.

     

Signal Management

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    Hybrid Keypad

    Xantech Commercial introduced its new MRKP2 keypad, which combines the functionality of a keypad with a 2.4-inch TFT LCD touch panel for operating AV components.

     
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    Power Amplifier

    Radio Design Labs' new FP-PA18 and FP-PA18H are high-efficiency 18W power amplifiers with a line input, 8-ohm output, and an integral audio compressor. Both are designed for low power consumption.

     
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    Fiber-Optic Transmitter

    MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Systems introduced the DVI-ONE-E, which can transmit and receive either DVI or HDMI video over a single fiber connection using bi-directional communication.

     
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    Fiber Transmission

    In its attempt to enable transmission of AV over fiber-optic cabling at costs on-par with traditional methods, Magenta Research announced its Voyager series of signal management solutions.

     
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    Matrix Switcher

    At InfoComm 2010, Extron Electronics rolled out its MTPX Plus 6400 Series of large-scale, twisted-pair matrix switchers, available in 12 different I/O sizes, from 16x48 to 64x64.

     
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    Control Panels: Creston TMPC V-Panel

    Crestron has taken its V-Panel line of aesthetic touch panels and created a lower-cost, all-in-one version. The new TMPC V-Panels integrate the graphics engine into the panel itself.

     
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    Presentation Kit

    Altinex has pulled together its new SP300-100 A/V Connectivity Package for creating a single plug-in point for VGA and HDMI sources, data, and power in presentation environments.

     

Cables & Accessories

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    Digital Signage Mount

    Premier Mounts has begun shipping its UNI-DS+Audio all-in-one mount for digital signage or other similar applications. The universal mount has its own set of built-in loudspeakers and an amplifier.

     
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    Equipment Racks

    Middle Atlantic's new EGR Series racks feature what the company calls the V-System of pre-drilled sides so integrators don't have to drill holes to mount small components to the rack.

     

Other Articles

  • Peeps & Company, National Harbor, Md. AV consultant: RTKL Associates. Systems integrator: One Solution. AV integrator: Tritech. Architect/design firm: RTKL Associates.

    2010 Best Retail AV Project

    Candy-maker Just Born opened its flagship Peeps & Company store at National Harbor, Md. RTKL Associates, which designed the AV and lighting systems, calls it "an example of brand-focused retailing."

     
  • Classic Comforts, Greenwich, Conn. AV integrator: Electronics Design Group. Architect/design firm: Shope Reno Wharton Architecture.

    2010 Best Residential AV Project

    The first Spotlight Award winner for Best Residential Project has 14 TVs, 31 AV zones, a 12-seat home theater, and a home office with its own Tandberg videoconferencing system.

     
  • NYU Dolan Recording Studio/Research Lab, New York. AV consultant/acoustician: Walters-Storyk Design Group. AV integrator: Masque Sound. Architect/design fim: Gensler.

    2010 Best Education AV Project (Tie)

    Virtually every room in NYU Steinhardt School's new James L. Dolan Recording and Teaching Complex was designed to be a live recording environment ... even the bathrooms.

     
  • Jimmy Carter Presidential Library & Museum, Atlanta. AV integrator: Design and Production. Architect/design firm: Gallagher & Associates.

    2010 Best Museum AV Project

    Twenty-three years after first working on it, Design and Production had to create "blockbuster" showpieces for the Jimmy Carter Museum to make it the most interactive presidential library to date.

     
  • New York City Visitors Information Center. AV integrator: VideoSonic Systems. Architect/design firm: WXY Architecture & Urban Design. Custom user interface and software design: GestureTek

    2010 Judges' Award

    For a new NYC information center, VideoSonic Systems worked with GestureTek on a wayfinding system that includes three multitouch projection tables with both finger-touch and object recognition.

     
  • Coca Cola Live Site Pavilion, Vancouver, British Columbia. AV integrator: Dangers. AV consultant: Robert Levac Design Services. Architect/design firm: Chris Jones Designs. Equipment supplier: Solotech.

    2010 Judges' Award

    Front-projecting onto a two-story Coke bottle isn't easy. AV integrator Dangers and its AV consultant hung projectors above the bottle, aimed down at a 40-degree angle. Don't try this without testing.

     
  • The Block, Louisville, Ky. AV integrator: Mankin Media Systems. Architect/design firm: Bayus Design Works.

    2010 Best House Of Worship AV Project

    The centerpiece of The Block student ministry venue by Mankin Media Systems is a 1,200-seat box-style theater with a 26-foot Da-Lite screen, Barco FLM HD18 18,000-lumen projector, and d&b line array.

     
  • Stay Hotel, New York. AV/lighting consultant: Robert Singer & Associates. AV/lighting integrator: SJ Lighting. Content consultant: V Squared Labs. Hardware/software integrator: DigitalMediaDesigns.

    2010 Best Hospitality AV Project

    To help the Stay Hotel stand out in Times Square, Robert Singer & Associates created a 10-story, seamless video projection system for the hotel's courtyard and a four-story system for the facade.

     
  • Center for Connected Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pa. AV consultant: The Sextant Group. AV integrator:  SoundCom. Architect/design firm: The Design Alliance. Visioning consultant/communications consultancy and design: ThoughtForm.

    2010 Best Health Care AV Project

    Sixty floors above Pittsburgh, sensors detect visitors? arrival at the Center for Connected Medicine and greet them with an interactive Flash program projected onto glass-etched automatic doors.

     
  • New York City Hall Situation Room, New York. AV integrator: AVI-SPL. AV consultant: Shen Milson Wilke. Control programmer: PepperDash.

    2010 Best Government AV Project (State & Local)

    When building a situation room for New York's City Hall, AVI-SPL and its team had to work within the confines of a 200-year-old historic building. Control systems were key to success.

     
  • U.S Army TRADOC Classroom XXI Modernization Program. AV integrator: Audio Video Systems.

    2010 Best Government AV Project (Federal)

    The Army's Training and Doctrine Command called on Audio Video Systems to modernize schools at 16 installations. Due to the number of classrooms, AVS designed standard, repeatable technology systems.

     
  • Centre of the Cell, Whitechapel, London. AV integrator: D J Willrich Ltd. Design firm: Land Design Studio. Contractor: Beck Interiors.

    2010 Best Entertainment AV Project

    Education can be entertaining. Kids visiting the Centre of the Cell biomedical science center in East London may not realize how much they're learning as they enjoy the various AV games and exhibits.

     
  • Cuyahoga Community College Center for Creative Arts, Cleveland, Ohio. AV consultant: Westlake Reed Leskosky. AV integrator: Zenith Systems. Acoustician: Walters-Storyk Design Group. Architect/design firm: Robert P. Madison International.

    2010 Best Education AV Project (Tie)

    Anywhere to anywhere. Ask the team from Westlake Reed Leskosky where it needed to send AV signals at the Cuyahoga Community College Center for Creative Arts and that's what they'll tell you.

     
  • Boston Scientific Visitors Center, St. Paul, Minn. AV integrator: Sensory Environment Design. Architect/design firm: RSP Architects. Custom curved screen by Spyeglass.

    2010 Best Corporate AV Project (under $250K)

    Tasked with creating a "wow" effect Sensory Environment Design created a custom 4-by-20-foot seamless curved rear-projection screen with 3M's Vikuiti projection film and custom edge-blending software.

     
  • Bank of Amercia, New York. AV consultant: CMS Audiovisual Consultants. AV integrator: AV Services. Architect/design firm: Gensler

    2010 Best Corporate AV Project

    The Bank of America building in New York was designed to earn LEED Platinum. As such, the AV designs from CMS Audiovisual Consultants had to be as green as possible.

     
  • Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pa. AV integrator: Production Technology Consultants Group. Architect/design firm: Friedmutter Group

    2010 Best Restaurant/Casino

    When Greenwood Racing got approval to build the 260,000-square-foot Parx Casino, it contracted with Production Technology Consultants Group to design all the AV and production lighting systems.

     
  • 2010 PRO AV Spotlight Awards

    In its third year, the Spotlight Awards program recognizes 16 winners, including 12 first-time recipients. Talk about an industry with talent to go around.

     
 

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