installation europe january 2012 digital edition

Angles in the architecture

IEINSTALLATION EUROPE

audio � video � lighting

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Schools still spending on technologyMaking steady progressSchools still spending on technologyMaking steady progress

More than half of screensworldwide now digital91% increase in EMEA DLPCinema screens in 12 months

Following strong growth in installationsover the past two years, TexasInstruments DLP Cinema hasannounced that more than 50,000 movietheatre screens across the globe areilluminated by projectors from its OEMlicensees, Barco, Christie and NEC. Thismeans that the transition to digitalcinema has crossed a threshold, with over50% of the estimated worldwidecommercial cinema screens having beenconverted to digital cinema. DLPestimates that the conversion process willbe complete by the end of 2015.

“Together with our licensees, DLPCinema has always focused on the goalof providing audiences with thebroadest digital projection technologyoptions possible to match, and evenexceed, the rich colour, clarity and detailof 35mm and 70mm film answer

prints,” said Dave Duncan, manager ofDLP Cinema for Texas Instruments.

“When the first DLP Cinema-poweredprojectors were installed in 1999, weknew we had embarked on somethingthat would eventually bring positivechange and opportunities not availablein the film-based era. Today, we arethrilled to continue to be the drivingforce in making what was onceconsidered a far off and unlikely future aclear, accessible reality.”

To celebrate this achievement, DLPCinema provided Barco, Christie andNEC with a commemorative DLPCinema chip representing the 50,000th3-chipset manufactured, which will beinstalled at three cinemas selected by themanufacturers.

In the 12-month period between 1December 2010 and 30 November 2011,Europe, the Middle East and Africaregistered a 91% increase in the numberof DLP Cinema screens (17,670 in total).

News and Contents

www.installationeurope.com IE January 2012 3

. NEWS & DATA3 News The latest installation

news from across Europe10 Data The global market for

projectors continues to grow16 The ISE Daily in IE The latest

news on the Amsterdam event53 Product Choice Our pick of the

latest new products

. VIEWS12 Opinion: AV and IT Integrators

need to face their wireless fears1 15 Opinion Differentiating yourself

is crucial in a tough market39 The IE Interview Tom

Gheysens and Hans Swinnen ofAudioprof

58 Q&A Exton’s GunnarGunnarsson and KristjanMagnusson on the Icelandicmarket

. MARKETS22 Schools Despite a reduction

in available cash, demand for AV products remains strong

28 Distributor Focus – FranceA new series of features lookingat distribution starts withanalysis of the French market

33 Touch and Gesture Interfaces A growing number of marketsare embracing this technology

36 Show Control Awareness andacceptance are growing

. SOLUTIONS40 Tidal Information System,

Venice A city-wide audiosystem is keeping residentsinformed

45 VW Passat Launch, Poznan A stunning example ofimmersive video projection

47 Gan Bei City, Riga Restaurantchain invests in audio

48 Royal College of PhysiciansEdinburgh The Great Hall has undergone an AV upgrade

51 National Stadium,Bucharest New audio set-up for country’s first UEFA elite stadium Cover image courtesy of Steljes

DLP Cinema reachesdigital milestone

� www.dlpcinema.com

CONTROL AND AUTOMATIONAMX has unveiled a brand new teachingfacility in its York, UK headquarters.Incorporating the latest in AMXtechnology, the space allows thecompany to deliver state-of-the-arttraining while demonstrating thecapabilities of its own system.

The facility will act as a full-timetraining facility for AMX University, acentre dedicated to ensuringintegrators are able to gather all theexpertise they need to deliver strongAMX solutions.

Delegates will benefit from multi-media-driven training presentationsthanks to AMX’s DVX-3150HD, whichprovides a complete solution for theroom’s control, audio and video needs.

“We are delighted to be opening thisnew facility, which will allow us to meetthe ever-growing demand for AMXtraining courses and certification,” saidGraeme Scott, European trainingmanager, AMX.

New trainingfacility for AMX

This spectacular video projection took place recently to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Russia’s Alfa-Bank. A

total of 81 projectors – believed to be a record in the video mapping industry – were used to cover 25,500sqm: 15

Christie Roadie HD+30K covered the façade of Moscow State University and 66 Roadster S+20K were installed

in towers erected for the event. Nearly 800,000 people watched the show, which was implemented by E/T/C.

www.christiedigital.com/eu www.etc-russia.ru

INDUSTRY EVENTISE has teamed up with Air France andKLM Global Meetings, official travelpartners of the Amsterdam RAI, tooffer discounts on ISE 2012 air travel toshow attendees.

Visitors simply need to enter theEvent ID Code 14715AF when bookingreturn flights through the Air France/KLM Global Meetings web portal(http://tinyurl.com/ISEKLMAF) toreceive a discount that’s unavailablethrough any other booking engine.

ISE airfare deal

� www.iseurope.org

� www.amx.com

News and New Partners

4 IE January 2012 www.installationeurope.com

New PartnersBarco has teamed up with mediablock technology leader Doremi tobring the first DCI-compliant 3Dsound system to the cinemamarket. The Auro-3D audio systemallows for single inventorydistribution compatible with currentand future standards, and will beintegrated by Doremi’s IntegratedMedia Block for cinema exhibitors.www.barco.comwww.doremilabs.com

Audio Visual Material has grownits visualiser range by signing adistributor agreement withBelgium-based Lumens. Lumens’interactive learning technologiesrange includes products withfeatures such as one-touch copy,audio and video recording, built-inmicrophones, and support forSDHC and USB 2.0. www.avmltd.co.ukwww.lumens.com.tw

Outline has partnered withBudapest-based Zaj SystemHouse to create Outline Central-Europe Ltd, to service keyterritories in Eastern and CentralEurope. The organisation will beresponsible for Outline sales,service and support to 10 countries,including Hungary, Slovenia,Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic,Croatia, Ukraine and Bulgaria.www.outlinearray.comwww.zaj.hu

Casio Projectors has announced apartnership with Sahara Connect,a new division of UK AV distributorSahara Presentations Systems.Sahara will stock Casio’s full rangeof laser and LED hybrid light sourceprojectors, and will host training,on-site demonstration and in-depthdealer awareness sessions. www.saharaplc.comwww.casio-projectors.eu

Edinburgh University joinsmanufacturer’s Offset for LifeprogrammeParticipation will boost climatechange centre’s green rating

Edinburgh Centre for Climate Change(ECCC) is using Panasonic’s Offset forLife programme to enhance the greencredentials of its planned new campusbuilding.

Part of Edinburgh University, theECCC provides a forum for solving ‘low-carbon’ problems, and offers skillstraining to enable professionals tosucceed in the low-carbon economy.

A physical location for the ECCC isbeing planned, and is scheduled to becompleted by spring or summer 2014.Panasonic’s Offset for Life programmehas been one of the main drivers behindthe design and development of AVsystems for the ECCC project, as positiveecological changes to elements of thisproject will improve the project’sBuilding Research Establishment

Environment Assessment Method(BREEAM) rating. The programmeallows the carbon emitted by Panasonicprojectors and displays to be offset,effectively reducing customers’ netcontribution to global warming.

“As a supporter of the ECCC, theOffset for Life programme is yetanother way for us to contribute to alow-carbon future,” said John Power,project manager, learning and teachingspaces technology at EdinburghUniversity. “Incorporating the carbonoffset into our plans from the outsetmeans we have a better chance ofreceiving the highest possible ratingfrom BREEAM. As the only AVmanufacturer with an eco-friendlyprogramme like this, Panasonic was theobvious choice for our centre.”

A long-standing Panasonic customer,the University of Edinburgh has 150Panasonic projectors in its teachingvenues, including DZ6700 models forlarge venues such as lecture theatresrequiring high-definition images.

Daniel Rose, category manager,professional projector and display atPanasonic, said the company was thrilledwith the university’s participation in theprogramme. “The centre’s vision for alow-carbon future is one that wewholeheartedly identify with and we aredelighted to be involved in thisinspirational project,” he said.

� www.panasonic-offset.eu

AUDIO CONSOLES Five years after an expansion drivesupported by Matrix Equity Partners,DiGiCo has initiated the next stage ofits development by securing secondaryinvestment of nearly £50 million fromISIS Equity Partners.

The announcement comes as theUK-based manufacturer prepares tocelebrate the 10th anniversary of theD5 Live console, which served as aprimary catalyst for DiGiCo’sworldwide growth.

Matrix is continuing its associationwith DiGiCo, although it has reducedits investment size in the business. “As[Matrix partner] Bob Henry said, theylove the company and believe in the

future vision,” said DiGiCo CEOJames Gordon (left of picture). “Wewanted to keep Matrix included asthey have been very good partners.”

Both Matrix and ISIS have non-executive directors on the board, butare not taking a management role. “Itallows us to remain independent andtake the company in the direction webelieve it should be going,” saysGordon, who describes the ISISinvestment as a “fantastic opportunityfor DiGiCo to build further on theachievements of the last five years”.

Denise Emmanuel, investmentdirector at ISIS, commented: “DiGiCois a fantastic example of anentrepreneurial company andmanagement team that is able todeliver growth even in a difficultenvironment.”

� www.digico.org

Second funding boost for DiGiCo

Uni goes green with Panasonic

www.ateis-europe.com - [email protected]

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News and Appointments

AppointmentsNick Owen has been nameddirector of worldwide sales for theHarman Professional signalprocessing business unit. He will beresponsible for global brandstrategies throughout thecompany’s regional sales officesand driving sales globally for thedbx, Lexicon, BSS and DigiTechbrands. www.harmanpro.com

Crestron has appointed MatthewBuck to the position of commercialaccount manager. He will beresponsible for maintaining goodlinks with existing clients as well asestablishing new relationships. Priorto this, Buck worked for Polar Audiowhere he progressed fromconsumer products manager tobusiness development manager.www.crestron.eu

PSCo Technical Distribution hasappointed Colin Till to the newposition of service business manager.He joins having run his owncompanies specialising in databaseand workflow management solutionsand assembly services for the pasteight years.www.psco.co.uk

Six apprentices chosen forCanary Wharf installLocal job broker helps sourcecandidates

Electrosonic recently held arecruitment and selection event foryoung apprentice installers – followingthe integrator’s winning of a major AVsystems integration contract atLondon’s Canary Wharf.

Held in association withSkillsmatch, a job brokerage service forthe London Borough of TowerHamlets, the event was open toresidents of the borough, and resultedin six candidates being chosen to takepart in a six-month placement

commencing this month. Followingthe successful completion of theaudiovisual apprenticeship,participants will then be offered a full-

time role as a junior installer. They willspend time working both atElectrosonic’s EMEA headquarters inKent and on-site at Canary Wharf.

Financial services giant JPMorganchose Electrosonic to provide theaudio design and installation over 37floors at its office on Bank Street.

Martyn Barnett, Electrosonic’soperational resources manager, said:“We were immediately attracted to thisopportunity to source new aspiringtalent from the local area. The level ofcandidates has been excellent and wehave witnessed a real hunger to learnand willingness to engage and commit.”

� www.electrosonic.com

DISTRIBUTION CHANNELDistributor TDMaverick has investedover €50,000 in a training facility in itsoffices in Munich. This expenditure, itsays, reflects the growing need fromvendors and resellers to offer AV and ITinfrastructure training to support thedistribution channel.

The training room features interactive

solutions from Epson and Samsung,large-format displays from Sony andIiyama, plus connectivity and mountingsolutions from Vision, Cables to Go,Erogtron and HKS. Training sessionsalready booked include Sony Ziris,Samsung Surface 2, and Visionconnectivity and control.

According to Jon Sidwick, director ofTDMaverick Europe, similar facilities

will follow in other countries. He said:“We have a strong reseller trainingprogramme under our AV Academy, andwe will be rolling out a consistent level oftraining in key technical areas across allnine TDMaverick countries. It makesabsolute sense to invest in a network oftraining rooms across Europe.”

Electrosonic recruits apprentices

Maverick launches Munich training facility

� www.tdmaverick.eu

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News and Comment


Iwas heartened to readabout Electrosonic’shiring of apprentices,

after the installation companywon a major contract inCanary Wharf (see News, page6.) However, I wonder howmany of the young applicantsinitially thought they wouldbe put into teams and sentout in taxis across Londonwith camera crews in tow,while they tried to carry outincreasingly difficult business-

related tasks, used theirmobile phones exclusively onspeakerphone and madebitchy comments behind eachother’s backs?

Seriously, apprenticeshipsare an important means oftackling skills shortages.Particularly in an industrysuch as ours where there arefew college courses, on-the-joblearning is the main route todeveloping the knowledge andskills that underpin a career.

Electrosonic is presumablyfunding the apprenticeshipprogramme from its revenuefrom the contract; the projectneeds the extra manpower, sonew recruits would have beenneeded in any event. Whiletraining up the apprenticeswill obviously take time, it’s aninvestment that should pay offhandsomely in the future.

While it would be good forother installation companiesto follow Electrosonic’s

example, it’s clearly difficult tomake long-term investments ifyou’re preoccupied withmedium- or even short-termconcerns. So they can beforgiven if they don’t startrecruiting just at the moment.However, at some stage allcompanies need to startthinking about how totransfer their knowledge fromone generation to the next.Particularly in small firms,there’s a lot of knowledgelocked away in the heads of afew key people; a structuredtraining programme (such asan apprenticeship) can providea means for transferring thatknowledge in a measured andorderly fashion.

In his column this month(page 15), consultant BlairParkin talks about how ITcompanies are less likely toput people at the heart ofwhat they do. I think that thisis in part due to the IT

industry’s tendency tocapture knowledge frompeople and build it intosystems and processes, leavingless room – and less need – forindividual input andinterpretation. As Blair says,it’s a model that we shouldn’tembrace unthinkingly – thereis value in having knowledgewrapped up in people, and weshould make the most of it.

It just so happens thatIntent Media is a strongbeliever in developing its owntalent. To that end,Installation Europe is about torecruit a staff writer – as areour sister titles Pro SoundNews Europe and TVBEurope.I’m really looking forward tohaving a strengthened in-house editorial team. I’ll havemore details for you [email protected] info: [email protected]: installeurope

Editor’s CommentYou’re hired!

Apprenticeshipsand on-the-jobtraining are hugelyimportant for ourindustry

For your diaryISE 2012

31 January - 2 February

Amsterdam, Netherlands

www.iseurope.org

ISCEx2012

28 February

Watford, UK

www.isce.org.uk

CABSAT MENA 2012

Dubai, UAE

www.cabsat.com

The ARC Show

29 February - 1 March

London, UK

www.thearcshow.com

Digital Signage Expo

6-9 March

Los Angeles, US

www.digitalsignageexpo.net

CeBIT

6-10 March

Hanover, Germany

www.cebit.de

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Industry Data


Upward projectionsThe global market for projectors is continuing on its upward trajectory, writes Steve Montgomery

The global market for projectorsreached 1.98 million units in thethird quarter of 2011,

representing year-on-year growth of 4%,according to research fromFuturesource Consulting.

Relatively soft demand in developedcountries was balanced by continuedmarket growth in emerging markets,with China witnessing a particularlystrong quarter at 510,000 units (16%year-on-year growth), cementing itsposition as the global number onemarket. The Latin American territorycontinues to underperform againstexpectations, though numerous largeeducation tenders are in the pipeline.

Within Eastern Europe, Russiawitnessed a belated strong performanceof 54,700 units in Q3, following a quietperiod since the original economicdownturn in 2008, raising its full-yearvolume to almost 160,000 units in2011. Futuresource has bullishexpectations for Russia, largely due toexpected investment in education ICTover the coming years. Eastern Europe

has held the promise of strong growth,but was severely restricted by the globalrecession in 2009.

New entriesThe mix of products is still heavilyweighted towards entry-level productsthroughout Europe, with SVGAaccounting for nearly 30% of sales, butthere is a clear shift away from SVGAacross the first three quarters of 2011,and also a marked trend towards thehigher 2500-2999 lumen category.Looking at the global picture, SVGAsales dropped off slightly and XGAaccounted for over 50% of overall sales.WXGA again gained a small amount ofshare. However, in the US market,WXGA reached almost 30% as adoptiongains pace. Short throw and ultra-shortthrow projectors currently account formore than 14% of all global projectorsales, up from 12.7% in Q3 2010.

The introduction of new features ishelping to stimulate the market.Projectors with built-in interactivityaccounted for nearly 2% of all sales.

The new 500-lumen (LED-based)category reached just over 4,000 units,with five brands now bringing productto market.

Most growth is observed in thebusiness and commercial sectors. Year-to-date home display sales aresignificantly down, as projectorscontinue to struggle for shelf space inretail against larger flat panel displaysand new 3D and smart TV products.

“Moving forward, the outlook for2012 looks relatively mixed, witheconomic uncertainty continuing tosurround the US and Europeanterritories,” says Chris McIntyre-Brown,head of professional IT & imaging.“The Euro 2012 football tournamentshould help to stimulate entry-leveldemand in Europe in 2012 and will alsoaffect market cycles. However, overallmarket activity is expected to remainrelatively flat, with market growthforecast to continue to come fromemerging markets, with Latin America,China, India, Russia and Indonesia theones to watch.” IE

Projector sales in EasternEurope, 2008-14

� www.futuresource-consulting.com

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012* 2013* 2014*

Rest of Eastern Europe

Russia

Full year volume in Russia reached almost160,000 units in 2011

* Forecast

Source: Futuresource Consulting

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Bob SnyderThe age of wireless is comingAs wireless devices become the norm in the consumer market, pro-AVintegrators will have to face their fears if they are to compete

It’s a painful topic. Bring thissubject up in AV discussions andpeople start to shut down.

Normally intelligent and open-mindedintegrators suddenly go intransigent,stubborn and closed to all notions.

Yes, it’s time to talk about wirelessagain.

Come back here. Seriously, we need totalk about wireless.

Integrators run away from this topicbecause poor wireless failed us in thepast. They would rather jump off a cliffthan depend upon wireless. It’s not justthe fact that there are no wires. No, it’sthe feeling of a definite lack of control.Something goes wrong and we havenothing tangible to tweak, to fine tune,to jigger back into working.

If the world of AV had a crosswordpuzzle, there would be a single-wordclue given for our antipathy towardswireless. Mention wireless and you seethe integrator shaking his head andmuttering, “Interference”.

Avoiding wireless is probably one ofthe Ten Commandments of pro AV,right up there with ‘Don’t kill thecontractor’ and ‘Get it in writing’.

Unlike the Ten Commandments, rulesin technology shouldn’t be written instone. Time proves you wrong. Thingschange because technology is like theTerminator... it never gives up. Knock itdown and it just keeps coming.

Consumer powerThe reason wireless is coming back is asobvious as the iPad in your hand.Consumer technology is in the driver’sseat and mobile is the highway. In aworld of wireless devices, wireline willultimately take a back seat.

2012 will probably go down as theyear mobile and cloud computingcreated a new wireless tipping point, the first year wireless managed toreincarnate itself. IT networkers will leadthe way, which won’t make you feel anymore comfortable, but at least you’llhave examples to follow. They will listento people like Alphonso Makeovec,business development Europe fromwireless manufacturer Luxul Wireless:“There’s this total lack ofunderstanding about wireless andits capabilities. If someone says tome that wireless is not dependable,it makes me laugh because so muchof the development is done by themilitary. Their own countriesdepend upon wireless for security.Do they think the military goes tobattle dragging wires around?”

His point is, of course, thatdependable wireless technology existsbut you haven’t seen it yet because ofthe price point. Luxul recently installeda wireless ‘mesh’ system for the Dutchpolice force – a system that is patrol car-based and picks up each police car as itpasses through the city’s network.

Today’s wireless is stronger, faster andworks more and more in a mesh. A meshis like the difference between tying yourshoe with a single shoelace and oneeyelet, and having a grid of eyelets so the

shoelace can run back and forth, gainingstrength and coverage from the overlap.

Even without the growing meshtechnology, other solutions from thewireless industry will emerge this year,targeting the huge market that mobiledevices and cloud will create.

Avoiding interferenceOwners of iPads, Android tablets,notebook computers and smartphoneswant to connect to their TV and streamvideos or watch HD movies. Unlikestreaming over the current shared-bandwidth TCP/IP WiFi or 802.11protocols, new wireless standards willcarry bigger bandwidth at faster ratesand move their frequency to avoidinterference problems.

New HD standards will battle it outin the marketplace:

� WHDI was developed by Israelisemiconductor maker Amimon andjoined by Hitachi, LG, Motorola,Samsung, Sharp and Sony. WHDI 1.0provides a high-quality uncompressedwireless link which supports data ratesof up to 3Gbit/s (allowing 1080p) in a40MHz channel, and data rates of up to1.5Gbit/s (allowing 1080i and 720p) ina single 20MHz channel of the 5GHzunlicensed band. Range is beyond 30m(100ft), through walls, and latency isless than one millisecond.

� Wireless HD was developed at UCBerkeley and commercialised bySiBEAM (now owned by Silicon Image).With over 40 adopters, key membersinclude Broadcom, Intel, LG, Panasonic,NEC, Samsung, Sony, Philips andToshiba. Wireless HD is based on a7GHz channel in the 60GHz ExtremelyHigh Frequency radio band. It allows foreither compressed (H.264) oruncompressed digital transmission ofHD video and audio and data signals,essentially making it equivalent to a‘wireless HDMI’. The 1.1 version of thespecification increases the maximumdata rate to 28Gbit/s, supports common3D formats, 4K resolution, WPAN data,low-power mode for portable devices,and HDCP 2.0 content protection.

� WiGig comes from the WiGigAlliance (supported by AMD,Broadcom, Cisco, Dell, Marvell, Intel,Mediatek, Microsoft, Nokia, NVIDIA,Panasonic, Toshiba, and more).WiGig technology enables multi-gigabit wireless communicationsusing the unlicensed 60GHzspectrum. WiGig tri-band-enableddevices, in the 2.4, 5 and 60GHzbands, will deliver datatransfer rates up to 7Gbit/s,more than 10 times

faster than the highest 802.11n rate,while maintaining compatibility withexisting WiFi devices.

At CES, the giant consumerelectronics show in Las Vegas,companies like DVDO and Belkinunveiled wireless HDTV adapters,which can connect different HDMIsources to a single TV. This yearleading TV makers also privatelyshowed their TVs with built-in wireless.

With the military and industrialsecurity further developing wirelessvideo technology such as mesh, and thehome market launching new standardsto make HD wireless affordable for all,commercial AV integrators will betaking a new look at wireless in thenext couple of years. Wireless will notreplace all wires, but each technologywill own separate applications as best-suited. Already conference rooms of2015 will require more wirelessconnections for mobile devices andfewer traditional AV connectors.

“We’ll believe it when we see it,” willbe the attitude of most integrators. Butthe advantage of a consumer-drivenmarket is we will see millions testing itbefore pro markets will have to adapt itto commercial use. Just like the iPad.

Between the rise of tablets, the shift tomobile in IT and cloud computing, thepro-AV industry will finally confrontand conquer its wireless fear. IE

‘2012 will probablygo down as the yearmobile and cloudcomputing createda new wirelesstipping point’

Opinion: AV and IT


Pro AV must follow the consumer market into thewireless domain

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Opinion


Blair ParkinUncovering the economyAs tales of economic uncertainty continue to fill the news, doing yourown research into the situation and focusing on what’s important toyour customers will help AV companies survive the changes

The last few weeks appear to showthat the global economy iscrumbling. Entire nations are

sinking under their debts and an entirecurrency, the euro, is apparently indanger of collapse. The media arereporting these things with increasingfervour. I do not regard myself as havingany understanding of global financesand indeed my one foray into suchthings means I have a Greek euromortgage to pay for the Greek housethat is my pension…

This has left me wondering: who reallydoes understand what is going on andwhat the outcome will be? Perhaps moreimportantly, what influence will it haveon the communications technologymarketplace of which AV and IT formpart?

As the leader of a UK-based businessworking with clients in over 10 countriesworldwide it seemed an appropriate timeto study some economics. I started bytalking to our bank, HSBC. Theyprovided two things – a pitch to sellhedged/forward-purchased currenciesand a weblink to an inaccessible andsomewhat contradictory piece written byStephen King, their chief economist.Wading through what he has to say, it allseems simple. Economists do not knowand take no accountability for theirforecasts, and all have different opinions.It seems our bank fees go to payeconomists earning seven-figure salariesso that they can tell us that they do notknow what is going to happen. Then,bizarrely, I turned to Ray, an architectwho we are collaborating with and askedhis view on the economy and economics.Surprisingly he had a very succinctresponse. He steered me towards a bookcalled The Experience Economy by JosephPine and James Gilmore. The book is fullof insight and something of a revelation.

Then, I had lunch with Greg Jeffreys,our erstwhile InfoComm president – hecame clutching a copy of Tim Harford’sThe Undercover Economist. It seems I amnot alone in taking a self-help approachto surviving the current economicgloom. Serious reading commenced.

The opening gambit of The ExperienceEconomy is “Goods and services are neverenough”. Further on, a detailed review ofwhat makes a business successfulcompares types of offering fromcommodities, goods through to servicesand then defines a final category of‘experiences’. I found myself seeing manyof the AV and IT businesses I deal withfitting into these categories. The onesthat are persistently successful and ride

the ups and downs of global economicchanges tend to fit into the latter twocategories of service- or experience-basedbusinesses. They understand that theclient’s expectation and not the price ofthe box are what count; they understandvalue, and that price plays a part in thisequation but it is not the only factor.Repeat business and long-term clientrelationships are the core to theirsurvival. They provide a service based onartisan skills and domain expertise.

The commodity or box-shifting worldeveryone so fears does not fit into thisexperience- or outcome-based world. Thedepth of knowledge of therepresentatives of the company provideconfidence and surety in a buyingdecision and the level of added value isseen in the quality of integration into abuilding or project.

Face valueSo it seems somewhat counter-intuitiveto me that so many of the maindistributors we know are reducing thetraining of their staff and divertingcustomers to the web to order, ratherthan meet and greet a knowledgeableteam member. Does the value of theintegrated AV/IT system bestcommunicate itself via a website? Do thetechnical products that manufacturersand distributors seek to get their

partners to lead with sell best via a pricelist and emailed data sheets?

The big IT providers of the likes ofCisco and HP who have entered thismarket bring many things to raise thegame of the smaller companies, but theyalso bring large-company mentality,which can be about cutbacks andsoulless lower-cost ways of marketing,rather than promoting people andknowledge in an industry sector that inreality is an artisan one.

Solid and well-established owner-managed integrators and suppliers suchas Saville Group and DJ Willrich clearlyvalue their customers, train their staffand take a long-term view as to theeconomy and consistently delivering aprofitable bottom line. Theircompetitors have come and gone, oftenin a blast of advertising and publicity.

Manufacturers like Barco, JVC,Panasonic and Sony have cycled over theyears. When they have put people andknowledge at the centre of their offeringthey are successful, when they tried tobecome commodity products businessesin the pro-AV sector they have generallyfailed. Christie has spent over a decade inEurope focused on people andknowledge to create a real buyingexperience. But one majormanufacturer’s products, once so ablyrepresented by independent distributors,have disappeared into a cloud of one-callnumbers for Europe, web ordering andseemingly little focus on people andknowledge. Two other big names seemso busy competing with each other thatthey are starting to forget tocommunicate with the market. Anddon’t start me on distributors. The onlyone I can see that is enhancing thebuying experience is Imago, with all the

others trying to become IT box shiftersor reducing their knowledgeable peoplefrom the field and moving to webordering. This is fine if you are Amazon,but if you are trying to distributecomplex digital switchers, mountproducts with more options than aStarbucks coffee, display technologiesand processors then the commodityapproach seems the wrong one.

These things are not static but onceyou have absorbed The ExperienceEconomy and The Undercover Economistyou can start to unpack potential successfrom failure just by analysing the peopleand style of business. Here we are in thedecade of the web and the smart mobiledevice and it is beginning to look to methat the AV world is forgetting thatpeople make a difference. Knowledge,personality and a people-based customerservice culture are differentiators in acrowded market. Make your business anexperience to deal with (in a positiveway!) and it can lay the foundations for aprofitable long-term future.

So, for some sense while all about youare losing theirs, I recommend readingsome accessible economics books,drawing your own conclusions, andapplying what seems relevant to yourown individual circumstances. Goodluck and a happy 2012. IE

‘The AV world isforgetting thatpeople make adifference’

Further reading.Stephen King, HSBC –http://tinyurl.com/HSBCking

.The Experience Economy byJoseph Pine & James Gilmore

.The Undercover Economist byTim Harford

Countries and currencies are crumblingas the global economy falters

Do some reading and draw your ownconclusions rather than relying on ‘experts’

With record attendance fig-ures in 2011, new hallsfor 2012 and additional

growth planned for 2013, ISE iscertainly a booming show. MikeBlackman, managing director ofIntegrated Systems Events, believes2012 will be “the biggest ever ISE”as showfloor developments com-bine with a strong training andseminar programme. New for thisyear is the UnifiedCommunications hall in Hall 12and larger spaces for digital sig-nage and residential solutions. Theconference programme willinclude the inaugural DynamicEvents conference, looking atinternational ceremonies, whiledigital-signage focused DiSCO willreturn for a second year.

Monday 30 January will seeISE’s first-ever Keynote Addresswith Gerhard Schulz, senior VPCentral Europe for Ingram Micro,unveiling his vision for how theelectronic systems integrationcommunity can respond to thechallenges posed by the transitionfrom analogue to digital.

AudioBack on the showfloor, the Ray-On 100 column loudspeaker isone of the highlights of ActiveAudio’s presence at ISE 2012. The1m-high column speaker can bemounted vertically and, therefore,very close to the wall. Yielding aconsistent sound with strongdirectivity, the Ray-On 100’s designis based around the Active Audio-patented DGRC (Digital andGeometric Radiation Control)principle, which specifies a combi-nation of electronic and geometricline arrays whereby the loudspeak-ers are mounted by group on astepped structure. The wavefront isshaped and controlled by both thegeometric positioning of the loud-speakers, and a specific filter foreach step.

Designed for sound reinforce-ment of speech and music, theRay-On 100 offers easy set-up andis available in two versions: lowimpedance and 100V.

Bosch Security Systems ishighlighting the OMNEO medianetworking architecture at ISE.OMNEO has two components; amedia program transport protocolsuite that offers low-latency, high-quality multichannel media

stream exchange; and a robustcontrol protocol suite that pro-vides reliable and secure systemcontrol for pro media networks ofall sizes, from small to interconti-nental. OMNEO will operate overstandard Ethernet networks, andwill be fully compliant with allemerging standards.

OMNEO’s program transportcomponent is the result of a part-nership between Bosch SecuritySystems and Audinate, while thesystem control component is anopen development from the AES-24 protocol architecture.

Cloud Electronics will exhibittwo additions to its PM range ofzone paging microphones inAmsterdam. The PM4-SA andPM8-SA feature identical functionsto the existing PM4 and PM8, butintroduce Spot Announcementcapabilities to the range, givingusers access to pre-recordedannouncements, adverts, stings,alarm sounds or even warningsfrom the push of a button or firedby remote contact closure switchesfrom a timer, PIR or similar device.

The microphones can hold up

to four (PM4-SA) or eight (PM8-SA) pre-recorded messages, of anylength. These are stored internallyon a standard SD memory card inthe base of the unit. Up to four(PM4-SA) or eight (PM8-SA) pre-announcement chimes can also bestored on the card.

The KF200NT loudspeaker mod-ule will be on EAW’s stand.Oriented towards applicationsincluding corporate AV, performingarts venues and houses of worship,the module consists of a single 10inwoofer with 2.5in voice coil and acoaxial mid-high driver consistingof 8in cone MF with 2in voice coil.Also included are a 1.75in voicecoil compression driver (HF) and a‘perfectly matched’ 1,500W closecoupled amplifier.

Three space-sensitive modelsfrom the EAW VF Series of passivespeakers – the VFR69 6in two-wayfull-range loudspeaker, the VFR898in two-way full-range loud-speaker, and the VFM109 10intwo-way stage monitor – will alsobe at ISE 2012.

Systems integrators visiting theshow are to be given the opportu-

nity to hone their audio skills withGenelec. The audio technologydeveloper will run sessions on itsstand throughout the show, allow-ing integrators to get hands-onwith products and see demos ofacoustic simulation software forthe fixed installation market.

Delegates will have a chance toget up close with the 4000 Seriesactive loudspeakers, as well asreceiving an overview of dif-ferent applications andbasic guidelines for roomacoustics and loudspeakerplacement.

Course attendance is free;attendees will be entered into aprize draw to win a6000A-Tube, Genelec’slimited-edition takeon the desktoploudspeaker. Topre-register, [email protected].

QSC will be showing itsnew TSC-3 Controller – atouchscreen controllerdesigned to enable simple andcost-effective control for Q-Sys sys-

tems and other devices under Q-Sys control. Q-Sys is an integratedsystem platform for audio systemcontrol of large-scale venues.

The TSC-3 uses Q-Sys Designersoftware to create custom controlpanels (called User ControlInterfaces or UCIs), with buttons,faders, custom navigation andother software tools includingbitmaps and other graphicalimages, and then deploys thosecontrol panels to this interface.These UCIs can then be used tocontrol any aspect of a Q-Sys sys-tem and other elements that areput under Q-Sys control, includingCD and DVD players, projectorsand video switchers.

Tannoy’s new VLS (Vertical LineSource) passive column range hasa sleek curvilinear architecturalprofile designed for install applica-tions. It comes in three modelsusing proven transducer technol-ogy adapted from Tannoy’saward-winning QFlex steerablecolumn range.

Also new are Tannoy’s VX Seriesand VXP Series, the latter featuringLab.gruppen’s IDEEA (Intelli-DriveEnergy Efficient Amplifier) powermodule. These passive and self-powered loudspeakers build onthe success of the V Series, with anexpanded line-up that includestwin driver configurations andnew Q-Centric Waveguide trans-ducer technology for optimaltonal clarity.

Technomad’s DragonFly isdescribed as the world’s first com-pletely weatherproof, all-in-one,self-casing portable PA system forthe commercial pro-audio market.

The DragonFly’s weatherproofdesign protects system compo-nents from moisture, dirt,shock and other elements in

Approaching AmsterdamThe ISE Daily team rounds up the latest news from the 2012 show


New developments in 2012 could makefor another record breaking year

The PM4-SA andPM8-SA are newfrom CloudElectronics

in

outdoor environments. The inclusion of green,

rechargeable and long-lastingNiMH battery power, along withwhat the company says is a potentaudio output, supports mobileaudio free of extension cords forcrowds of approximately 2,150.

Digital signageCamvine is introducing two cus-tomised cloud-based digitalsignage modules at ISE 2012.CODAcall and CODAchannelmodules are designed to provide awide variety of businesses withpowerful tools to communicatewith their target audiences.

CODAchannel is said to enableDOOH advertising network own-ers to rapidly and efficientlycontrol live and dynamic contentacross many displays. The moduledrives displays, mixing live datafeeds, custom messages and high-impact visual content.

CODAcall, meanwhile, is avideo and audio announcer,enabling messages to interruptplaylists to make visual and audioannouncements. The messages areeditable and can be triggered exter-nally by either manual orautomatic intervention.

Elo TouchSystems is broaden-ing its line of Interactive DigitalSignage (IDS) touch systems bylaunching a 55in model and intro-ducing an additional touchtechnology available on the IDSfamily.

The new 55in 5500L is a large-format touch display useful forinteractive advertising, way-find-ing, point-of-information and soon. The company says that it offersa high-performance touch solu-tion for interactive digital displaysin high-traffic environments. Thedisplay is housed in a highlydurable steel chassis, and featuresa thinner profile and an LED-back-lit LCD panel which reducespower consumption and heat out-put.

The 5500L features a choice of

two touchscreen tech-nologies, each with pureglass construction forvisual clarity. Opticaltouch provides multi-touch (up to fourtouches) and gesture sup-port (Microsoft Windows7 required), while theIntelliTouch single touchsurface acoustic wavetouchscreen is said tostand out for its consis-tent reliability.

The latest 42inautostereoscopic 3D dis-play from Philips will beon show at the stand ofMMD, the exclusive mar-keter and reseller forPhilips-branded LCDmonitors and public sig-nage displays worldwide.

The BDL4251VSachieves its 3D imagequality thanks to its 28lenticular views, viawhich the audience isable to peek aroundobjects, depending onwhere they are standingin relation to the displayitself. It offers what is saidto be the widest 3D viewing angleavailable in the market, and thepossibility to change the optimalviewing distance of the 3D display.Its ability to display both 2D and3D material makes it suitable forthe digital signage market, accord-ing to MMD.

Rotapanel has produced itsDigital Advertising Display rangeof LCD screens with 24/7 opera-tion in mind. New for ISE aredouble-sided and multi-touchdisplays. The company says thatits product range features indus-trial quality 1,920 x 1,080Samsung Pro DiD HD/LCDscreens with high contrast andbrightness of 700cd/sqm.

The screens come in what isdescribed as a robust powder-coated aluminium housing in thefull range of RAL colours, and canbe freestanding or wall-mounted.

VideoScreen manufacturer dnp is show-ing enhanced versions of itsSupernova products, alongside itsZenith rear-projection screen. TheSupernova Core screen, which hasa new frame and mounting,allows viewers to achieve high-quality front projection without adedicated darkened room. Thecompany claims that its ‘easy toassemble’ principle has beenimproved, and that its frame andhanging accessories will make iteasier for users to wall-mount thedisplay.

TheSupernovaFlex Classicis a simpli-fied version

of the Supernova Flex screen.It targets the mid- to high-end market for meeting andboardrooms, and is availablein wall-mounted or ceiling-mounted versions, both in16:9 format.

Extron is presenting itsXTP CrossPoint systems,which are said to provide aflexible, reliable and fullyintegrated signal switchingand distribution solution formultiple digital and analogueformats.

The switchers support localconnectivity as well asextended transmission capa-bility for sendinghigh-resolution video, audio, RS-232, Ethernet, and powerup to 330ft over a Cat5 cable.

The switchers are modularand expandable up to 16 x16 or 32 x 32, and can bepopulated with input andoutput boards for long dis-tance transmission when

paired with XTP transmitters andreceivers. I/O boards are also avail-able for direct HDMI, DVI, VGA,video, and audio connections tosupport local sources and displays.

Extron claims that the XTPCrossPoint, which is HDCP com-pliant, delivers ultra-fast, highlyreliable digital switching, using thecompany’s SpeedSwitchTechnology, as well as a series ofintegrator-friendly features in a bidto streamline integration. Theseinclude a number of Extron-exclu-sive technologies such as SD Pro,which enables the processing ofstandard-definition video signals;and EDID Minder, which managesEDID communications betweendevices.

The EYE-LCD-6000-QHD-LDwith Direct-LED backlight is thelatest addition to eyevis’ EYE-LCDof high-resolution LCD monitors.The new launch provides quadFull HD resolution with 3,840 x2,160 pixels on a 60in screen.

The Direct-LED backlight tech-nology is said to guaranteeuniform image representation overthe entire screen surface. The specincludes a brightness level of500cd/sqm, a contrast ratio of5,000:1 and a response of only6ms. The screen is controlled viafour DVI inputs, while a speciallydeveloped input controller solu-tion facilitates the perfect displayof the connected signals.

Hetec is launching the V-Switchquad XP at ISE. The company


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The Ray-On 100columnloudspeaker willtake centre stageon the ActiveAudio stand

Elo will add a 55in model to its range ofInteractive Digital Signage systems

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describes it as an exclusive combi-nation of a Multiviewer and aKVM switch displaying four com-puters/videos simultaneously on asingle display or touchscreen withkeyboard and mouse control.

In addition to preconfiguredquad, PiP and fullscreen modes,each source can be freely sized andpositioned on the display, and theimage transparency of overlappingparts can be set. Each source isshown at full frame rate, allowingfor the display of four digital high-resolution Full HD moviessimultaneously. The V-Switch quadXP supports any mix of VGA andDVI up to 1920 x 1200@60 reso-lution at both input and output.

Hetec is also demonstratingwhat the company says is an eye-catching videowall design, withthe wall layout matching the videocontent.

According to German KVM/DVIswitch and extender manufacturerIHSE, it is the only company inthe world that can supply a solu-tion with the specifications andperformance of its Draco switch.

Described as cost-effective andreliable, the Draco tera matrix issaid to be especially suited for

medium and large AV post-pro-duction studios and TV studioinstallations as well as control cen-tres of all kinds.

Using extender units on theCPU and console side, IHSE saysthat the matrix provides the fastestinstant switching currently avail-able between video sources,including instant access to CPUswith no IP routing and no moni-tor resync. The matrix serves as arouter and repeater, allowingCPUs or video sources to belocated up to 400ft from the useron either side using Cat5e cablesor, for distances up to several kilo-metres, using fibre connections.

Signal distribution specialistMagenta Research has launchedan updated version of itsMultiView line, which has servedfor more than a decade as anadaptable distribution system forpro-AV signals over UTP cable. Thenew MultiView II can replicate1080p (and higher) resolutionvideo at up to 610m.

Where previous MultiViewproducts required internal jumperrepositioning to change configura-tions, MultiView II introduces atotally revamped, all external con-

figuration scheme with easy-to-usebuttons and status LEDs. It alsooffers improved EDID and DDCmodes of operation; full sync con-trol; fourth-pair configurationoptions (for aux data like serialand audio); streamlined connectorlocations for more intuitive rackmounting; and it is fully back-wards compatible with previousMultiView equipment.

ONELAN has doubled the sizeof its stand at ISE this year, to fea-ture its new videowall and otherproducts. These include a newgeneration of Net-Top-Box (NTB)platforms, with HD capture capa-bilities for the high- andmedium-end options; a low-costRetail Media Player; and a low-cost Streaming Media Player.

New NTB features include agraphical input and display oftime validity per media item; aview of channel health and chan-nel reconfiguration via DSM; fastoutput preview; detailed playerhealth information; and the abil-ity to fade stills.

The new indoor SMD 6mm rig-ger cabinet from Retop isdesigned for events that require aslim, modular LED system that is

easily serviceable and delivers aconsistent image to audiences. Thelightweight design of the new P6cabinets enables fast installationand easier transportation (taking6sqm in a single flight case), andmakes flying the panels fast, easyand safe. They have rigging pointsand rig-locks at the top and bot-tom, for quick installation.

The new U-Rigger cabinet has a‘revolutionary’ heat sink design toensure improved cooling, with ribson all four sides of the rear of the

cabinets to dissipate heat. This isclaimed to makes it the quietestpanel in its class.

ControlThe new Gefen ProfessionalAutomation Control System(PACS) offers a versatile new wayin which to automate the controlof multiple audio/video devices.

With PACS, it is possible to setup every detail of audio/videosystem control using any webbrowser to configure the system

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Hetec’s V-Switch quad XPwill be launched at ISE

through the IP port. This is saidto makes automation of standardaudio/video processes, such asinput switching and output distri-bution, easy and affordable.

Source selection, volume con-trol, video distribution and morecan be automated on a one-timeor regular basis. The PACS facili-tates control of HDTV displays(on/off), Blu-ray players, matrixswitchers, distribution amplifiers,scalers and more from a centralinterface. It is also possible toaccess audio/video devices usingRS-232, IR blaster or the Phoenixcontact closure points.Configurable by IP, inputs can beprogrammed to switch or turnon and off, and IR commands

can be delivered. Energy Star-compliant, PACS

operates through a secure Ethernet10/100 BaseT connection andcomes with a locking power sup-ply to prevent disconnects.

Medialon is presentingCueMaster, its new iPad app,which is designed to control anyAV equipment without the needfor PC programming.

CueMaster is a multi-touch appwhich integrates Medialon’s ShowControl with the interface of aniPad. Users will be able to select adevice and a command, and thenapply it to a button. Several com-mands can be applied to the samebutton if required.

A range of pre-existing

button/slider/display combina-tions designed by show operatorsallows users to create an unlimitednumber of pages to organise com-mands and macros. A designatedcue button allows sequential exe-cution of cue lists each time it ishit, and random selection in thecue list is possible.

It is connectable via WiFi orwire, and can control lighting andaudio consoles, audio processors,video and media servers, lightingfixtures, and special effects. It pro-vides two serial ports, one MIDIin/out, TCP/IP, one DMX output,and four I/Os.

ResidentialUK distributor AWE is hosting themainland European launch of theKinetik Labs range of CI speakers –and says it will be on the lookoutfor distributor partners at ISE. TheKinetik products include a rangeof new and improved CI in-ceilingspeakers and speaker cables.

AWE is also showing DFSolutions’ multi-room on-demandcontent distribution platform,offering instant access to thou-sands of Blu-ray movies, DVDs,CDs and internet streaming con-

tent. It offers a polished controlsystem and iPad/Android tabletcontrol integration. Its flagship3D Base can distribute 3D Blu-raymovies, Spotify and all types ofstreaming content to any room.

Belgium’s Fasttel is showingits new door phone product,which it claims is the first everapplication that is able to sendvoice as well as images to asmartphone in real time over theinternet (3G or WiFi).

The company says it has devel-oped this product due tocustomer demand, and thatalthough it has long been possi-ble to speak to visitors andenable access using a mobilephone, this application allowsusers to see visitors from any-where in the world.

If there is no internet connec-tion, the Fasttel door phone willcall the user’s mobile phone viahis or her landline phone; andwithin the user’s home, the appli-cation will use the WiFiconnection by default.

It is also possible to viewthrough multiple cameras withouthaving someone called up, soFasttel says the application is ideal

for video surveillance. Other exe-cutable control actions includeusers being able to open theirgates from their vehicle uponentering their street.

All of these functions can be car-ried out using an iPhone or iPad,and in the next few months, themanufacturer will also launch anAndroid and PC application. www.iseurope.org


Medialon will be showcasingCueMaster in Amsterdam

dnp’s Supernova Flex Classic screentargets the mid- to high-end market

for meeting and boardrooms

in

Produced by Installation Europe,The ISE Daily is the officialnewspaper of Integrated Systems Europe. It is puttogether from an office on theshow floor and distributed toattendees at hotels, on shuttlebuses and on arrival at theevent.

The ISE 2012 exhibition runsfrom 31 January to 2 Februaryat the RAI Centre, Amsterdam;the conference programmebegins on 30 January.

Markets: Schools


If you think education is expensive,try ignorance.” So said Derek Bok,one-time president of Harvard

University. The fact is: education isexpensive. It’s no surprise, then, thatduring times of economic hardshipeducation is one of the first placeswhere politicians look for savings (seeboxout, page 25).

It is also true that education hasbecome progressively more expensive asgovernments have looked to raiseeducational attainment by investing ininformation and communicationstechnology (ICT). In the UK, forexample, the £55 billion BuildingSchools for the Future (BSF) initiativewas designed to see every statesecondary school in England rebuilt orremodelled to incorporate the latestICT equipment that wouldrevolutionise the classroom. (In 2010,however, it fell victim to budgetconstraints, and the programme wascut in order to save £1 billion.)

The AV industry has been a primarybeneficiary of this high level ofinvestment – not only in the UK, butthroughout Europe and, indeed, theworld – and, for many manufacturersand integrators, education is asignificant market. The question is: canit retain that significance?

The industry is, for the most part,guardedly upbeat. “Judging by howbusy our education businessdevelopment consultants are, there isstill budget for the right solution,”says Martine Dodwell-Bennett, sales

and marketing director at UKdistributor Steljes, “but schools arebeing more cautious about spendingand want to fully understand how thesolution will integrate with theirexisting AV infrastructure.”

“There still appear to be significantlevels of funding,” notes ShaunHodgson, central tender manager atintegrator Saville. “However, the waysin which budgets are utilised doesseem to be changing and securingthem is getting tougher.”

Axel Kutschke, who is productmanager at Hitachi EMEA, also sees achange in the way money is allocated.“The budget structure has changed, asthere used to be dedicated projectorbudgets available,” he says. “However,that is no longer the case. Now thereare general budgets which are used tobuy not only AV products but alleducation equipment and supplies.”

“The impression I get is thatalthough capital expenditure has beencut,” says Mark Robinson, head ofglobal education product strategy atPromethean, “school leaders continueto have numerous options andincentives to innovate and develop theright combination of staffing, AV andother technology/educationalinvestments.”

“There is no doubt that budgets aretight although expenditure in UKschools was significantly protected inlast year’s comprehensive spendingreview compared with the cuts thatwere made elsewhere in the public

purse,” he continues. “What haschanged, though, is the approach toschools funding; much of it is nowgoing directly to schools and with veryfew guidelines on how it should bespent – that is down to the localmanagement team in the school whoare held accountable only to theoutcomes in the form of theperformance of the school. This newapproach creates new challenges forthe AV industry: how do you find theAV buying decisions that are out therein the market, and how do youdemonstrate the value of the solutionyou are offering? Market access and

demonstrating ROI will be the keychallenges for 2012.”

Know your prioritiesNeil Hartigan, channel director forNEC Display Systems, probably sumsup the view of many. “In general,” hesays, “there is less money available andschools must prioritise how the moneyis spent: however, there are still areas ofeducation with budget.”

What becomes apparent is thateducation is becoming a morechallenging market in which to succeed– not only because budget is not asfreely available as it once was, but alsobecause of significantly increasedcompetition together with the plethoraof choices facing educators.

It could be that the advent of 3D istimely, with many agreeing thateducation is a market in which 3Dunquestionably has value. That

A passion for learningAs governments across Europe look to reduce spending, education budgets continue to face cuts.However, as Ian McMurray reports, leasing and training schemes, along with a continued desire toembrace new technologies, have ensured the market remains strong for AV products

Steljes, which distributes SMART classroom technology,offers upgrade discounts and a leasing programme

. Budgets are under severescrutiny – but they are stillthere. In general, the AVindustry continues to beenthused about theopportunity that educationrepresents

. 3D has unquestionablepotential. However, in the nearterm, lack of content andexpensive glasses are slowingadoption. Offering acomplete, proven package isthe way forward

. Affordability is, more thanever, a focus. Creative leasingschemes, upgradeprogrammes and providinglower-cost/functionalityalternative solutions are waysin which the industry isaddressing this

. Educators are becomingsmarter about total cost ofownership – and moreconcerned aboutenvironmental issues.Solutions that have a lowerlifetime cost and greenercredentials are finding favour

. Despite appearances to thecontrary, the market for AVsolutions in schools is farfrom saturated. This, togetherwith the replacement/upgrade opportunity,continues to make the marketan attractive one

Key points

‘There is no doubt that budgetsare tight’Mark Robinson, Promethean

perception appeared to be confirmedby a recent study carried out in 15schools across Europe and sponsoredby Texas Instruments (TI) – TI’s DLPtechnology is the technology of choicefor most 3D projectors – whichdemonstrated that the use of 3Dprojection in the classroom increasedstudent engagement, concentrationand test scores when compared with2D projection (see November’s IE.).

If the industry is cautiously upbeatabout spending on AV in education, itis, for the most part, merely cautiousabout 3D.

“There is no doubt that theeducational benefits of 3D in educationcan be real,” says James Hsu, director ofoperations and product management atVivitek. “Currently, however, the lack ofa complete solution makes it difficultfor 3D to succeed because publishers donot have a complete 3D contentoffering, and systems integrators do nothave a compelling complete 3D packageto offer to schools.”

Kutschke also notes the issue ofcontent. “While there are productsavailable, I am not convinced theclassroom is ready for 3D,” he says.“The cost to implement 3D is extremelyhigh. Not only does it require severalpieces of AV equipment but schoolswould also need to purchase a largenumber of glasses and various contentpackages to suit different teaching

levels. Health and safety issuesassociated with active glasses are still aconcern for many educators, as are thereplacement and repair costs.”

“And,” adds Kutschke, “at themoment, there is limited 3D contentavailable, which may be due to the lowlevels of demand.”

Compelling contentDodwell-Bennett also sees theavailability of content as being key tothe uptake of 3D in education – but thepicture she sees is a very different one.“Educators can take advantage of 3D ifthey have great 3D content,” she says.“As a distributor of 3D-capableproducts, we have partnered with Gaiato offer a projection and softwarebundle that brings over 1,500 3Dresources into the classroom.”

Offering a complete package toschools and colleges is, then, the wayforward – a point made by Saville’sHodgson. “The key role of the industryhere is to create full solutions ratherthan just selling product,” he says. “Theprovider that can help the customersecure budget will be successful.Provision of suitable requirement,design and specificationsdocumentation will help demonstrategood use of spend.”

Resistance is, believes Robinson,futile. “Current generations ofconsumer cameras often feature the

Markets: Schools

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Hove Park School in the UK is an 11-18Languages Specialist School that catersfor 1,750 students on two large sites. Itrequired over 100 video projectors inorder to deliver an increasingly digitisedcurriculum with ICT at the heart of amotivating interactive methodology.

A school inspection noted that“resources such as interactivewhiteboards are well used to displayinformation but not to encourageinteractive learning”.

As school managers addressed thisissue, they found many projectors hadbeen installed at just above head height,over 1.5m away from the interactivewhiteboard. When pupils and teachersinteracted with the projected content,they not only cast obscuring shadowsover the whiteboard, but also risked eye

injury from the lamp, which beamed justabove their line of vision.

The school invested in Hitachi ED-A100 short-throw projectors, whichcan project a 60in image at a distance ofonly 9.6cm from the front of theprojector to the whiteboard. Nowstudents and staff can face the class asthey interact with the whiteboardwithout risk of damaging their eyes. Thishas unlocked the teaching and learningpotential of interactive technology andhas led, says the school, to lively andoutstanding lessons. By using theHitachi ED-A100 with interactive orstandard whiteboards, users canmaintain eye contact with their audienceand not have to turn their backs on theclass. Any teacher will tell you theimportance of that golden rule.

Short-throw projectors improve interactivity

CASE STUDY

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Markets: Schools


ability to take 3D pictures and generatethe files that a suitable software playercan project too – and this is likely toprove key in the future,” he says. “Thismove from passive viewing of 3D tothe creation, interaction with and theconsumption of 3D in schools canonly lead to greater adoption as theeducation community becomes able toadd its own content. The popularityand use of 3D programs like GoogleSketchUp and Games Developerplatforms in schools, combined withthe rapid growth of 3D in theconsumer electronics market, will leadto even more standards and more

plug-and-play solutions. It is certainlyearly days for 3D, but it is fastbecoming pervasive in the TV, videogame and movie arenas in whichmodern learners live. It is very likelythat we will see an increasing adoptionof 3D as a vehicle for even moreengaging and immersive classroomand learning experiences or in tacklinghard-to-teach concepts.”

But even if everything is not 100% inplace – whether it’s content oraffordable glasses – all is far from lost,as Hartigan points out. “Many schoolsare buying 3D-ready projectors as aform of futureproofing”, he says.“They’re investing for the future.Although the cost of the projector isreasonably small, it is the cost of theancillary equipment such as glasses thatis holding back schools. When theseprices reach an acceptable level, I believethat adoption will grow very quickly.”

It seems likely that significant 3Dinstallations in education may take alittle while: the main impact of 3Dtoday is in the projector replacementmarket. Few, if any, of the projectorsnow shipping to schools and collegesare not 3D-capable. The challenge forthe industry, however, is how to addressthe upgrade/replacement opportunity.

Technology upgradeBoth Hsu and Kutschke point out theconsiderable total cost of ownership(TCO) advantages of newer equipmentas an important justification thatenables educators to make theirbudgets stretch further. Meanwhile, arecent Promethean study discoveredthat around one in three schools areplanning to replace their existing IWBestate in order to take advantage ofthe improved capabilities of thenewest products.

Steljes offers both upgrade discountsand a leasing programme. “Our leasingprogramme is starting to have a positiveimpact on our sales figures as schoolsare now ordering the complete solutionknowing that they can spread paymentsover a number of years,” notes Dodwell-Bennett. She also points to the growingpopularity of visualisers, together withvoting systems and the SMARTResponse system, the latter enablingteachers to quickly establish who haslearned what.

Interactive whiteboards have becomean AV mainstay in the educationmarket, helping to deliver theinteractivity and engagement that arebelieved to be fundamental toeducational improvement.

“But,” says Robinson, “an effectiveclassroom features many other elementsthat support good teaching andlearning. With integrated solutions,teachers can access an array oftechnologies that are designed byteachers for teachers to make their liveseasier and their lessons more effectiveand engaging.”

He goes on to describe howPromethean’s Learner ResponseSystems have evolved well beyondvoting and now offer text- andequation-based contributions.Questions can be pre-authored or askedad hoc, and the teacher can use theinstant results to plan a lessondynamically and in direct response toeach individual student’s needs.”

For Hartigan, being successful in theupgrade/replacement market is all aboutunderstanding the real world in whichNEC’s customers operate. “Projectors,

for instance, should be able to use thesame ceiling mount as legacy units toreduce installation costs,” he says. “Also,when replacing larger projector itemssuch as lenses, they should be upwardscompatible with new equipment tominimise the budget outlay.” He goes onto note the growing demand fromeducational users for communicationssolutions such as digital signage andwayfinding meeting-room applications.

Saville’s Hodgson makes a similarpoint. “Our technical managers work

closely with end-users and our ownpeople to understand how equipmentis used, what improvements are desiredand what economic and environmentalfactors are important,” he says. “Theindustry needs to listen to the userbase, review successes and look atwhole-lifetime costs, both economicand environmental. Those who do willfind opportunity.”

But will that opportunity be aprofitable one? Hsu doesn’t thinkmuch will change. “There is constantprice pressure in the AV industry withfierce competitors in the market, andthe competition to be the first tolaunch innovative solutions,” he says.“The winners of this are clearly the end-users, with more available modelsto choose from and competitive prices.”

Hartigan agrees – to a point. “Pricesand margins will always come underpressure in a market such as educationwhich has so much focus from somany vendors,” he says. “Where highereducation has somewhat moreflexibility, the projector market ineducation has become extremelycompetitive and the marginopportunities are not what they werein the past. At times, schools docompromise on quality because ofbudget constraints.”

With this in mind, savvy suppliersare providing a range of price/performance options. “At Steljes, westock a range of products from rivalvendors to give our resellers as muchchoice as possible,” notes Dodwell-Bennett. “There are products for all

Wellington Academy was established tobecome one of the best non-selectivestate schools in the UK. Specialising inModern Foreign Languages and Business& Enterprise, the Academy teachesstudents aged 11 through to 18. Afteraccessing £32 million of Academyfunding, Wellington recently opened itsdoors to a state-of-the-art campus, withthe vision that ‘successful schoolschange lives for the better’.

Believing that ICT, and in particular,interactive whiteboards (IWB), had a keypart to play in driving forward pedagogyand creating an engaging learningexperience for students, the schoolfocused on the need to invest in the verylatest technology. It chose Promethean’s

ActivBoard 500, eventually installing 60of them.

The ActivBoard 500 allows users toeasily move and scale objects withfinger-touch in conjunction with theprecision of the pen for tasks such aswriting or drawing.

With the ActivBoard 500 installed inall classrooms, including open-spaceareas and music rooms, the teaching ofall subjects is being enhanced by IWBtechnology. The intuitive nature of thesystem has encouraged the highest levelof adoption, together with trainingprovided by Promethean: it was believedthat IWBs on the previous campus hadbeen underused through lack of teacherconfidence.

New campus, new IWBs

CASE STUDY

Education budgets in the largestEuropean countries are well in excessof €100 billion each year. Spending oneducation averages around 4% of GDP.

In the French budget for 2012,however, 12,000 jobs in education areexpected to be lost. That’s nothingcompared to Italy, where – prior to hisresignation – Silvio Berlusconi wastalking about eliminating an eye-watering 130,000 jobs in the sector,and reducing spending by €9 billion.Strikes took place in Belgium toprotest against plans to increase theretirement age of teachers whilereducing their salaries. In the UK,researchers at the Institute for FiscalStudies have calculated that publicspending on UK education will fall by14.4% between 2010-11 and 2014-15,the largest cut since the 1950s.

Spending on schools

‘Educators can take advantage of3D if they havegreat 3D content’ Martine Dodwell-Bennett, Steljes

‘The provider thatcan help thecustomer securebudget will besuccessful’Shaun Hodgson, Saville

Markets: Schools


budgets, whether they are big orsmall.”

“Prices and margins are comingunder significant pressure and havebeen doing so for a long time,” saysHodgson. “Procurement people withinthe education sector are becomingwiser when it comes to AV; we still see

strong focus on price but the shifttowards whole-life cost and obtainingthe correct solution is moving in theright direction.”

Providing supportMany talk about the need to ensurethat appropriate service and support

agreements are in place, while trainingis a recurring theme as educators lookto maximise the benefit of theirinvestment.

“If interactive technology is to havethe impact upon education which webelieve is possible, teachers must befully trained in its use,” points outRobinson. “Promethean offersprofessional development courses tosuit all needs and budgets through itsAcademy training programme, whichprovides end-user training and onlinelearning for partners and trainers.”

“We are finding that extendedwarranty and maintenance packages areproving increasingly popular as schoolsseek to stretch the lifetime of their ICTequipment,” he continues. “Prometheanis able to offer a range of options frombasic warranty on products to on-siterepair, and free telephone, email andknowledge-base support.”

Steljes sees things similarly. “With thegovernment emphasis on the quality ofteaching, schools are spending more oftheir budget on training their teachersto be more proficient in their use of theAV they already have in the classroom,”says Dodwell-Bennett. “To help budgetsgo further, we have included training aspart of our Steljes Leasing option –schools are making sure they get betteruse from their technology.

“Schools want to have complete peaceof mind when purchasing a product.

After all, who wants to stand in front ofa classroom of 30 children with thetechnology not working? Resellers canmake extra margin and increasecustomer loyalty by adding in support,maintenance and warranty packages tothe overall solution.”

There seems little doubt thateducators have embarked on a journeyfrom which there is no turning back.Equipping schools with computers hasbeen followed by equipping them withprojectors, interactive whiteboards,touch displays and more – and,increasingly, it looks as if pads andtablets will feature in the classroom of the future.

The fact is that AV technology isproven to deliver real benefit in thelearning process. But the financialclimate has changed the mood ofeuphoria to one of hard-nosed realism,in which budgets are being scrutinisedmore closely and spread more thinly.The opportunity for manufacturers andintegrators is, unquestionably, stillthere: it may just need even more focus,energy and creativity than they havehistorically needed to apply. IE

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Promethean's ActivExpressionLearner Response Systemallows students to answerquestions at their own pace

Markets: Distributor Focus – France


Unemployment at an 11-yearhigh... Reduced growthforecasts for 2012... Emergency

budgetary measures designed to helpforestall a spiralling debt crisis... Fearsfor the retention of the much-prizedTriple-A credit rating. Make no mistake:these are testing times for the Frencheconomy, and more specifically forpresident Nicolas Sarkozy, who mustbattle to bring the situation undercontrol while preparing for whatpromises to be a very closely foughtelection in the spring.

The outlook is particularly troublingin the wider context of the seeminglyunending eurozone crisis. AlongsideGerman chancellor Angela Merkel,Sarkozy has been a figurehead ofpolitical efforts to fight economiccontagion and implement reforms. Butwhile the German economy is regainingmuch of its former lustre, its Frenchequivalent looks increasingly batteredand bewildered.

Recently announced plans for €65billion of savings by 2016 do not bodeparticularly well for large-scale Frenchpublic-sector projects. In addition,action to tackle enduring tax loopholes– although arguably long overdue – andincrease corporation tax on businesseswith high turnovers could threatenrenewed activity in the private sector.

The delay or abandonment of majorprojects in the public sphere wascertainly a recurring theme of the

opinion gathered for this market focus– the first in a new format of IE countryreports aiming to paint a portrait of themodern AV distribution sector.Increased emphasis on solutions’ costand effectiveness over the long run alsoreceived multiple airings from ourcontributors, most of whom were –despite the present challenges –determined to strike an upbeat tone.

There is no doubt, however, that theperilous nature of the French economydoes cast a shadow over proceedings.Whoever assumes power after the 2012election, it’s likely to be several yearsbefore anyone is able to declare withconfidence that the country has turnedthe corner.

Market factorsInevitably, the economy featuredprominently in interviewees’ roll call ofexternal factors shaping thedistribution market. Lionel Nunney isdirector general of B&W Group France,which represents a range of AV brands,including Bowers & Wilkins, Classe, D-Box, Kaleidescape, NuVo, Rotel,Screen Research, Silent Wire and SIM2.In general, says Nunney, the companyhad a rather good 2011 – up 12% on2010 – but he admits that the closingmonths of the year were “tougher.Many projects are awaiting final kick-off. Clearly, the poor economicconditions could have an adverse effectfor the coming months. In addition,

2012 is an election year in France,which could result in a furtherdeterioration in business conditions.”

Charlet Dadoun, director of audiobrand TOA’s French distributionrepresentative, isn’t quite sure whatimpact – if any – the forthcoming pollwill have on the country’s economicprospects. He is in no doubt, though,that some people are prioritising price“in front of technology at present. Inaddition, the number of projects for thegovernment and the private sector –theatres, retail, etc – is decreasing.”

Loïc Mayet from KEF loudspeakerbrand representative GP AcousticsFrance reports that the company hasexperienced “stable business”, withsome products – not least KEF’s latestslim ceiling speakers – registeringattractive growth figures. Nonetheless,Mayet is clearly attuned to the widercontext: “Commercial projects arecurrently suffering with lower budgetsand postponed deadlines. The weakereconomy and the endless attentiongiven to it by the media are notencouraging people to invest.”

Ringing the changes?Economic uncertainty can frequentlyyield two strikingly different effects: anincreased search for stability as everyonehunkers down and waits for bettertimes, or radical change as companieslook to shake up their existingrelationships and broker new ones inthe hope of greater rewards. In France,the former result is in greater evidence,with few dramatic changes affecting thedistribution sector over the past year.

That’s not to say there haven’t beensome notable developments. Europeandistributor TDMaverick – which hasrolled out a value-added service-basedspecialist distribution model in the UK,Spain, Portugal, Belgium and theNetherlands – recently added a Frenchoffice to its portfolio. Led by PhilippeBaracetti, TDMaverick France sells afull range of AV products includingprojectors, large-format displays,interactive whiteboards and accessories.

Also strengthening its presence in theFrench market was enterprise IP videocompany VBrick. As part of the latestexpansion of its European partnerprogramme, the company enlisted theservices of Villepointe-based ITsolutions distributor Visualdis. Part ofthe Infodis Group, Visualdis maintainsa network of dozens of reseller partnersin France who sell VBrick solutions.

Meanwhile, pro amplifier giantLab.gruppen was among themanufacturers to recognise theachievements of its French distributionpartners, naming Norroy-le-Veneur-based DV2 Audio its Distributor of theYear 2011 – Europe. Reflecting on allthree of its worldwide distributionaward winners in an accompanyingstatement, Lab.gruppen’s MiguelHadelich expressed the company’sgratitude to all their staff, “who haveworked tirelessly to provide the verybest service to their customer base, andalso help educate them about the manybenefits that Lab.gruppen products canbring to their inventory.”

C’est la AVIn a new series of features looking at various countries’ distribution sectors, we begin with France, wherethe faltering economy is dampening spirits. David Davies finds the cheerier side of an unquestionablychallenging period, highlighting some recent landmark projects and the resilient residential sector

APG speakers were installed in the 495-seatcentre of arts and culture in Meudon

‘New installers are blooming every day’ Loïc Mayet, GP Acoustics

More generally, there is evidence thatdistributors are working hard torespond to the demand for increasinglysophisticated integrations. As Mayetobserves: “Distributors aim to offercomplete solutions. Regular hi-fi storesare now trying to catch up theinstallation market. Moreover newinstallers are blooming every day andgetting in contact with us.”

There is also an increased emphasison promoting directly to end-users andengineers. “We don’t sell to them; onlypromote,” clarifies Dadoun. “Directpromotion to end-users is a key factorin our ongoing success.”

What, though, of the in-demandtechnologies? Re-confirming anoverriding theme of IE’s previousmarket focus features, it is clear thatFrance is profoundly affected by digitalaudio’s onward march. “Digitalamplifiers and digital matrix solutionsare very popular with our customers,”confirms Dadoun.

Flexibility of audio systemdeployment is another watchword. GPAcoustics is among the beneficiaries,with Mayet noting that KEF’s “Uni-Qtechnology allows integrators to usefewer speakers in a room thanks to thewide sound spreading over the room. Inaddition, Uni-Q allows more flexibilityin the positioning of the speaker in theceiling while maintaining high-qualitysound coverage.” Mayet also reportsstrong demand for KEF’s retractable,motorised speakers – one of severaldevelopments designed to ease theincorporation of loudspeakertechnology into the aesthetic of anygiven room.

Elsewhere, recent project stories onthe IE website and in the print editionpoint to healthy demand for high-endvisual display solutions, particularly inschools and colleges of highereducation.

Robust residentialA flurry of distinctive case studies on IEResidential (IE’s online sister title) –

including a Henri IntégrateurDomotique-designed and -installedhigh-tech hideaway in Normandy

(reported in August 2011) – underlinesanother key strand of our Frenchmarket study: that, despite the


IE January 2012 29www.installationeurope.com

As might be expected given theprevailing economic conditions,landmark installations appear to havebeen relatively few and far between inFrance over the past 12 months. Butthere have been some significantprojects, particularly involvinginstallations in and around the capital.

The long-term nature of any upgradeprojects and an obvious need to ensurethat customers’ expectations are methave conspired to keep the hotel sectorrelatively healthy. One recent project inthis area has centred around a thoroughrenovation of Paris’s celebrated RoyalMonceau hotel. Post-makeover, theRoyal Monceau offers 149 rooms, suitesand apartments, a 28m swimming pool,a 1,500sqm spa, an exhibition hall, anart library and a movie theatre, amongmany other facilities. GP AcousticsFrance was a key supplier, providingmore than 200 of KEF’s Soundlight andSpotlight speakers for discreetdeployment in the hotel’s bedrooms.

“The speakers used in the rooms arehidden behind mirrors integrating TVdisplays,” notes Mayet. “We used an

original in-ceiling sub/sat systemconsisting of four Spotlight speakersand a passive 4in stereo subwoofer. Thesound is emitted from behind the mirroron the sides for an invisible installation.The main difficulty was to find a thinenough set of speakers to positionbehind the 2.5m-high mirrors – achallenge that we addressed with thesupply of Soundlight speakers.”

Staying in Paris, another notable 2011installation entailed the provision of aMidas PRO3 live audio system for theGustave Eiffel room, located on the firstfloor of the Eiffel Tower. Resident soundengineer Alain Phillipon said that thePRO3 constituted “the perfect solution”for the 300-capacity venue, which offerspanoramic views of the city and hostsevents, including showcases, seminars,product presentations and conferences.

The past 12 months have also seen theIE website report on an APG loudspeakerinstall at the centre d’art et de culture inMeudon, and the specification of aMartin Professional lighting system atParis’s Austerlitz Railway Station –among other projects.

Refurbs point to healthy hotel sector

‘Many projects are awaiting finalkick-off’ Lionel Nunney, B&W Group France



present challenges, residential is one ofthe really bright spots.

Many of those who spoke to IE havea considerable presence in this market.New-build projects have undoubtedlybeen affected this year – it hardlyneeds pointing out that constructionis always one of the earliest victims ofan economic downturn – butrefurbishments and upgrades are fairly plentiful.

One company, which asked to

remain anonymous, describedresidential as “a bit of a beacon of lightthis year... There has been a steadystream of projects. Not all of themhave been of high value, but they havebeen sufficient in number to reallybump up the cashflow. Just the kind ofdependable business you need in themidst of all the financial gloom!”

Others who spoke to IE confirmedthe robustness of the residentialmarket. “We mostly operate in the

residential market, which has beenstrong this year. [In particular] wirelessmulti-room audio is performing well,”confirms Nunney.

GP Acoustics’ Mayet does notattempt to downplay the impact of thepresent economic cycle on newconstruction, but he confirms theunderlying strength of the custominstallation market. Residential, henotes, accounts for approximately 85% of business, with high-end home cinema rooms continuing tosoar in popularity.

Away from the residential sphere,there has been some rewarding workstemming from evacuation systemupgrades prompted by the new EN54-1 regulation on fire detectionand fire alarm technology. TOAFrance’s Charlet Dadoun also reports aspate of recent projects in locationssuch as railway stations, exhibitioncentres and nuclear power plants.

ConclusionThis has not exactly been a golden yearfor the French installation market –but then much the same could be saidof the situation in numerous othernations. But it has hardly been a wash-out either, and in terms of defining

the future shape of the distributionsector, it could actually be said to havebeen a rather productive year.

Certainly, it is evident that manycompanies have reviewed theeffectiveness of their offer tocustomers – from ensuring that basiclogistics are fully up to speed, tostrengthening their ability to offercomplete solution packages. There is,too, a keen determination to reach outand engage the interest of allinstallation stakeholders – fromarchitects (“we want to communicatemore effectively with them as theinterest of architects and interiordesigners in audio products is stillweak,” says Mayet) to end-users(according to our anonymouscontributor, “you have to try and seeeverything from their perspective – inthe short and long term”).

Ultimately, of course, it is the widerfinancial situation that largelydetermines overall activity levels, andthere is no denying that the outlookdoesn’t look too good at present. Thereis a clear need for economic stimulus toget business moving again, and it’slikely this will be priority number onefor whoever holds the top job in Frenchpolitics after election day 2012. IE

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Top Ten - Geography Current

UK..........................................................................6,448

Netherlands ...........................................................1,945

France ...................................................................1,874

Belgium..................................................................1,255

Germany ................................................................1,254

Italy ...........................................................................521

Denmark ...................................................................437

Spain ........................................................................366

Sweden.....................................................................336

Norway .....................................................................268

Others ....................................................................1,794

TOTAL ................................................................16,678

Top Ten - Company/Business Activity Current

Installer/Systems Integrator ..................................4,884

Architect/Project Consultant .................................1,965

Dealer/Distributor (Pro Audio/Lighting/Video) .......1,398

Video Dealer/Distributor .......................................1,125

Audio Manufacturer .................................................687

Dist/Dealer ............................................................1,023

Video Manufacturer .................................................687

Manufacturer (Pro Audio/Lighting/Video) .................548

Technical/Facilities Management.............................551

Consultant ...............................................................403

Others ...................................................................2,969

TOTAL ................................................................16,678

Contact the sales team for further details:

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Following the hugepopularity of personaltouch-enabled devices,

there has been growingdemand from end-users inevery market area for solutionsfeaturing touch interfaces,whether single-touch or multi-touch.

Single-touch can be seen atticket machines and check-inkiosks at railway stations andairports, and allow for a singlecommand to be given at atime; multi-touch can be seenin smartphones and tabletswhich allow users to touch thescreen at multiple points, forexample as they pinch thescreen to zoom in and out.

Indeed one can easilyimagine creative touchinterfaces in just about anykind of environment, whethereducational or corporate.

“The world is going touch,”says Mark Jones, MD,Touch2View. “In a commercialsense the enthusiasm for touchis a natural reservoir. It’s aboutengaging customers and thatmeans putting them incontrol. Touchscreens andinteractive content withgestures, movements andchoice give them control.

Touch is inevitable because it’salready the interface of choice.”

“We’ve seen increasingdemand for more intuitive userinterfaces from marketsincluding industrial, homeautomation, medical andtransportation,” says TimBonnett, MD of MSCGleichmann’s UK wing. “Wenow have the ability to supplyand support a fully integrated

multi-touch solution for low-volume embedded designs.”

MSC Gleichmann recentlyannounced gesture-capablemulti-touchscreen overlaysfeaturing a touch sensorunrestricted by the size andshape of the display beingused. “This can be made biggerto integrate extra functionalityand capacitive touch keysaround the perimeter of thedisplay,” adds Bonnett.

Building connectionsUltimately the area of usecomes down to the specificwishes of a client, but, sayscoolux CEO Jan Huewel: “Ingeneral one can say that bothtouch and gesture interfacesare particularly suited for useas part of public displays, eventdisplays, and point-of-saleinstallations. Anything thatcan help add anotherdimension to the way in whichwe relate to a given subject orproduct can help to deepen theconnection between the userand the ‘topic’ which theinterface is based around.”

In reality, while such touch-based solutions can bedeveloped, it is not always themost appropriate answer.

Markets: Touch and Gesture Interfaces


MultiTouch gesture-based deployments are increasing inthe retail, museum and hospitality sectors

. Touchscreens arepopular because theyengage customers andput them in control

. Gesture technologiesare being introduced atconsumer level

. Installation isstraightforward;integrators have anopportunity to revisitclients and introducethem to new touch andgesture technologies

. It is only a matter oftime before more ofthis technology comesto market atcompetitive prices,leading to increaseduptake for most sectors

. The first general-purpose touchscreenmonitors are beingintroduced

Key points

In touch with the futureA growing number of markets, including retail, transport and education, are embracing touchinterfaces, and their popularity is expected to continue to rise, as Adrian Pennington discovers

MultiTouch and uma havecollaborated to create theworld’s largest (8.5m) publicmultitouch display in the lobbyof Siemens Central andEastern Europe (CEE)headquarters in Vienna.

The Siemens IdentityDisplay, based on uma’s newSKIN product, includes 14MultiTouch Cell 46in Full HDLCD displays. At 29 megapixels,SKIN has the highest resolutionof any MultiTouch installationin the world. This huge displayenables tens of visitors tosimultaneously interact withSiemens information, facilitydesign and layout, as well as

digital art, local and globalnews, audiovisuals and otherrich media and Web 2.0content.

SKIN allows visitors toexplore a universe of Siemensvalues and topics that arepresented and contextualisedautomatically from differentdata and web repositories,minimising contentadministrative efforts forSiemens CorporateCommunications. SKIN alsoincludes person-trackingtechnology, which enables it toreact to the presence of peoplein front of, or passing by, thedisplay.

MultiTouch displays for Siemens

CASE STUDY

‘Interactivitywill be one ofthe ubiquitousparts ofdisplay’ Greg Jeffreys, Paradigm AV



According to AMX Europeantechnology & training directorBrian Davies: “Complexsystems have always benefitedfrom the power of a touchinterface and its ability toabstract the user from theinherent technical complexitiesof the underlying hardware.However, adding a touchinterface to a simple systemcan sometimes serve to addcomplexity rather thanimprove the user experience.”

Likewise, he says, theaddition of gestures, such as

swipes, to touch interfaces doesallow for the simplification ofthe user experience in large andcomplex solutions. “However,adding such features to GUIdesigns just because they are‘cool’ can result in inelegant orillogical design solutions,” saysDavies. He points to the newAMX Modero-X range oftouchpanels, which featurewide-ranging support formulti-touch gestures, “whileblending these new tools witha more traditional pushbuttonapproach to GUI design”.

For LG Electronics, thetouch interface is a keyapplication area which crossesmany of its business sectors.“Retailers are already reapingthe benefits of havinginteractive digital signage andtouch kiosks as they enhancethe shopping experience forthe customer by providingthem with easy access toproduct information and afaster way to order and pay forgoods,” comments MarkWeston, distribution channelmanager UK and Ireland.

Multiple applicationsTouchscreens are quicklybecoming the norm fortransport-related transactionsand processes. The sector hasbenefited from reducing staffoperating costs and printingcosts, while increasing thespeed at which the process iscarried out.

“In restaurants, the adoptionof touchscreen menus to sendrequests directly to the kitchenhas great potential for uptakeas it can add a new dimensionto the dining experience inrestaurants as well as reducewaiting times at fast foodoutlets such as McDonald’s,”says Weston.

When it comes to education,quick and easy access toinformation is the key. Hereinteractive whiteboards (IWBs)or interactive e-boards offer anattention-grabbing andintuitive solution. Simpleaccess to information can alsobe provided for disabledstudents and elderly users.

Touchscreens are prevalentin the medical sector too. Inthe UK, Wokingham surgery,for example, uses touchscreensin patient-booking rooms.“They become a point forquick access to information ondemand and allow patients tocheck themselves in whilealleviating the stress put onnurses,” says Weston.

Gesture interfaces“The markets [for touch andgesture] are growingexponentially because we nowhave plug-and-play Windows 7-compliant displays,” observesGreg Jeffreys, director andchairman, Paradigm AV. “Thismeans that the entry cost forcontent – which can be veryhigh for bespoke programming– can be reduced.”

Paradigm is fielding ordersfrom high-level B2Bapplications, as well as those inthe leisure/museums sector.Currently relatively few arebespoke displays, comparedwith supplying the primarycomponents for integration.

“Simulation and simulationtraining are a particular focusarea for us, but that’s as muchan indicator of us [andParadigm’s new simulationdisplays division] as of themarket overall,” Jeffreys notes.

When it comes to gestureinterfaces, the area is explodingwith innovation, in partbecause products such asPanasonic D-Imager andMicrosoft Kinect are addinginfrared and 3D tracking at anaffordable cost.

“The Kinect device,

formidable as it is at such acompetitive price, was notmanufactured withprofessional fixed installationsin mind, but as a high-techtoy,” says Huewel. “There aremany alternatives, such ascombining the coolux WidgetDesigner with the coolux AirScan touchless infraredscanner.”

In the specialist education

sector there is strong potentialfor uptake as certain types ofgesture-recognition softwarecan transcribe symbolsrepresented through signlanguage into text.

Promoting AMX Gestures,Davies says these are useful fornavigating large amounts ofdata such as videoconferencing(VC) lists, where swipes canprovide an intuitive andelegant solution.

MultiTouch deals exclusivelywith gesture-based UIs forwhich it builds advancedmulti-touch LCD displays.According to Hannu Anttila,VP of sales, gesture-baseddeployments are increasing inthe retail, museum andhospitality sectors, and theyshow the greatest potential dueto the sheer number oflocations. “Applications whichinvolve multiple userssimultaneously in a social wayare becoming more common,”he says. “For gesture-basedinterfaces in large-scaledisplays, infrared overlays havebeen common with someprojected capacitive productsin the 32in and under sizes.”

The upcoming technologiesproviding more advancedcapability are all optical camera-based systems, such asMicrosoft Surface 2/Samsung

The special educational needsRidgeway Community School inFarnham, UK sports aninteractive GestureTekGroundFX floor, designed tostimulate the 110 students who attend.

The school already had arange of interactive learningaids in its sensory ICT suites —from soundbeams to bubbletubes and eye-controlledcomputers distributed throughits Multi Interactive LearningEnvironment (MILE).

The GroundFX dynamic floor,

installed by Digital Vision AV,enables participants immersedin the GestureTek field tochange the environment byhand and motion gestures.

GroundFX is a multimediavisual floor display system that vertically projectsincredible interactive floorspecial effects, games oradvertisements. It is a full-bodyinteractive experience in whichusers control dynamicmultimedia displays with simplegestures and body movement.

A survey revealed a

particularly high ceiling witharched beams under acorrugated roof, with no void forfixing. GestureTek’s UKdistributor Paradigm AV wasbrought in, and along with theschool’s original theatre lightingsuppliers, KAVE Lighting,repositioned some of theluminaires, put secure strutsacross the beam and carefullycalibrated the delicate ceiling-mounted mirror rig (housingfour IR emitters and a USBcamera), which enables thegesture control.

Motion-controlled interactive floor for school

CASE STUDY

AMX’s Modero-X range oftouchpanels feature supportfor multi-touch gestures

‘Multi-touchenabledsurfaces anddisplays willbecomecommonplace’ Hannu Anttila, MultiTouch

SUR40 and MultiTouch’s ownMultiTaction Cells. Thesetechnologies feature finger andhand recognition, objectrecognition and othercomputer vision-based features.

“We believe that multi-touchenabled surfaces and displayswill become commonplace,”says Hannu. “To differentiate,clients require more and moreadvanced features andcapabilities, such as very largemulti-user installations, andadvanced features such asobject recognition to drivetheir user interfaces.”

As far as integration is

concerned, the challenges arefar from insurmountable. Inthe case of coolux products, theprocess is incredibly simple,”says Huewel. “No specialistprogramming skills arerequired. All one needs is twodays’ worth of training, andtechnological enthusiasm.”

It’s a similar story elsewhere.“Installation is a hole in a walland a cable feed,” says Jones.“If planned early, this is noproblem. Clients share an idea,mention someone from ashow, or get the idea at adifferent stage. If someone is

thinking about it, and has thebudget, it can be done.”

At AMX the use of gesture-based solutions is asstraightforward for anintegrator to deploy as itwould be for them to use thefirm’s pushbutton panels.“The support of gestureswithin a GUI design is afundamental part of the AMXTPDesign software tool,” saysDavies. “Providing integratorswith a simple, reliable andrepeatable solution to thecomplex question of how tosurpass their clients’aspirations for touchpanelGUI functionality is a majorpart of what has been achievedwith the introduction of theModero-X touchpanels.

Integrators, he says, have areal opportunity to revisitlegacy installations andintroduce new touch andgesture technologies to theircustomer base. “Touchscreensare now the norm, not theexception, with marketacceptance of them growinghugely in the past five years,and now is the time tocapitalise on that fact,” urgesDavies.

Looking to the futureFuture key trends will includeprojected capacitance (whichcan work through glass and isimmune to ambient lightissues); diffusive infrared andvideo camera tracking; andhigher frame rates and higheraccuracy in general.

“These will lead to an

improved user experience,which in turn makes gestureand touch interfaces evenmore likely to be employed,”says Huewel.

For Jeffreys: “Interactivitywill be one of the ubiquitousparts of display, aided by theability to include suchtechnology into standard flatpanel displays. However, thechequered history of multi-touch tables represents a noteof caution.

“It’s all very well having adisplay that can supportsquillions of touches, canhandle object recognition –but where’s the killer app?” heasks. “Currently, in terms ofvolume opportunities, single-touch or twin-touch (pinch,rotate, etc) mark the limits ofmost expectations offunctionality. Many users arehappy with what they willeven describe as a ‘big iPad’.”

Touch2View actually has aGiant iTab used at venuesincluding the annual IP Expo.The company’s Mark Jonessays: “Digital signage forevents and exhibitions hasmoved beyond the simple‘You Are Here’ board and intothe now familiar format ofapp presentation, which is farmore relevant and easy to usefor everyone. Addinginformation about localhotels and restaurants offersadded value to visitorstravelling away from homeand provides potentialsponsorship and special offeropportunities.” IE


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‘Touchscreensare now thenorm, not theexception’ Brian Davies, AMX

. Max-Planck-Institute for Ornithology, Germany:coolux workstations enable visitor interaction with aprojected world map at this revamped visitor centre

ONLINE EXTRAS: CASE STUDY

www.installationeurope.com

At IP Expo 2011 in Earls CourtTouch2View supplied three

Giant iTabs as interactiveshowguides for visitors

Markets: Show Control


The concept of showcontrol is nothing new.It may be defined these

days (by Wikipedia, no less) as‘the use of automationtechnology to link togetherand operate multipleentertainment control systemsin a co-ordinated manner’, butthat’s just putting a moderntechnological gloss on alongstanding function.

Of course, we didn’t callthem show controllers back inthe day. We called them stagemanagers or ASMs (cue lights,music… and action) in thetheatre, dressed them in tophat and tails and stuck a whipin their hands and called themringmasters in the circus, andswapped the hat and the whipfor a baton and called themconductors on the podium.

The essential thing is thatthese are overall controlfunctions, cueing in all thedifferent elements that makeup a performance. In theory,they could all be replaced bymachines, though in practice

we’d lose spontaneousinterpretation, a degree offlexibility and, in some cases,an integral part of thespectacle if they were.

So though show control is akey part of live performance,in its fully automatedincarnation it is much morelikely to be found in visitorattractions which run to anunvarying format and whereany interpretation is hard-coded into the programming.Nonetheless, the technology isdoing its best to push thatenvelope too.

“‘Show control’ is a verywide subject and is achievedby many different devices,”says Robert Simpson,founding director ofElectrosonic. His firm hasbeen in the game since 1964,with a string of museums,leisure parks and digitalsignage projects to its name.“For example there are roomcontrollers, programmablelogic controllers, DMXstorage devices, lighting

controllers, personalcomputers with show controlapplications, dedicated ‘showcontrol’ devices and so on.

“In this respect there is littledifference between now and

five years ago. It is often amatter of personal or fashionpreference as to which is used.It is also the case that showcontrol for live events uses adifferent approach. Thus inpermanent installations (suchas museums) the use of roomcontrol or similar devices canbe a good approach and yieldsthe simplest possible system;however, the same idea may bequite inappropriate for a liveevent where a lighting or videocontroller would be a betterstarting point.”

Maintaining control“The fundamentals of whatwe are doing have not changedfor 30-40 years,” adds PeterBarrett, Electrosonic’s leisuresolutions director. “We are stillcontrolling devices and effects.

“Historically this may havebeen performed with parallelcontacts,” he explains, “thenwith serial ports, and over thepast few years networkmessaging and infrastructurewhich make the configuration

of systems more flexible. Thelimitations are still down tothe capabilities of the devicesbeing controlled.Programming has becomemore graphical and objectbased, and finally the majorchange that has occurred isthe control interface, with thecompatibility with webbrowser interfaces to allowremote control andmonitoring of systems.”

Likewise, Sierk Janszen, apartner in integratorRapenburg Plaza, sees littlefundamental change duringthe past few years. “It’s notreally different, it’s just morewidely accepted now – andexpected by designers. Threeto five years ago we had toexplain what it was and whythey needed it. Now there’s alot more software availableand a greater awareness ofwhat show control means andwhat it can do.”

Jeremy Scheinberg, COO ofAlcorn McBride, singles outnetworking as the biggestrecent change. “Most of showcontrol these days is network,and most devices now haveethernet rather than RS-232.”

The very fact thatnetworking allows suchflexibility of communicationbetween devices brings its ownchanges too. “It means we canhave monitoring anddiagnostics and distributedI/Os via Ethernet,” Scheinbergadds. “Everything is about thenetwork now. So we are alsoable to implement remoteadministration. As amanufacturer that gives usmore tools, and our goal is togive the integrators tools fordoing things in new andcreative ways.”

It’s a point also made byJanszen. “Show controllersnow are far better than theywere. They listen to thecontrol machines better, andthey query – a good machinenowadays can do that.

“So a show controller isboth a start-up and a monitorsystem, and that includes theability to send status orwarning emails to externaldestinations. That means wecan restart a system from ouroffice without having to travelto the client site – which couldbe a problem since we have 35or so installations.

Electrosonic kit has been used at the Parliamentarium –the visitors’ centre of the European Parliament

. IP networking hastaken over from thelikes of RS-232,though there is notyet a universalprotocol to guaranteeinterconnectivitybetween differentmanufacturers’devices and programs

. Networking addsmonitoring anddiagnostics to a showcontroller’sfunctionality and alsoallows for remoteadministration

. There’s a trendtowards interactivityas against purely‘linear’ shows,allowing each visitora customisedexperience based onhis choices

. Some productsoriginally developedfor specific showelements (eglighting) are nowmorphing into fullyfledged showcontrollers

Key points

The show must go onWhat’s new in show control – and how does the future look? Gez Kahan canvasses opinion

‘Showcontrollersnow are farbetter thanthey were’ Sierk Janszen, Rapenburg Plaza

Rapenburg Plaza installed and programmed AV resources for the NAI exhibition City of the Netherlands

“Having the capability to dothat remotely is very costeffective. In the old days it wascharged for half a day, butnow it’s a matter of a coupleof hours, if that. Fortunatelywe don’t live off our servicerevenue – we’re a designcompany who entered sellingand installation purely tosatisfy customer demand.”

Monitoring changesMonitoring is also picked outby Barrett as one of the bigadvances. “The majordifferences are not in thecontrollability of a system butin the ability to gain anddisplay real-time feedback thatcan be displayed locally withinthe control system or on aremote browser windowanywhere, provided there isinternet connectivity. Secondly,video, audio and light replaydevices are more intelligentand contain a level of scriptingand their own control.”

Simpson, however, pointsout how some ‘entertainmentcontrollers’ are making the

jump to become true showcontrollers. “The onesignificant thing that hashappened in the past few yearshas been the rapiddevelopment of the video or‘electronic image’ server,” hesays. “Devices from DVS(Germany), Green Hippo, 7thSense, coolux, Dataton andothers have made the controlof multichannel imagespractical. These all have userinterfaces which make themmore suitable/favourite forparticular applications – andin many cases actuallyrepresent ‘show control’ aswell as image storage andprocessing. For example,

Green Hippo got a good startin the live entertainment fieldby being designed from theoutset to work with the DMXlighting protocol; whereas aproduct like 7th Sense cancope with multiple channelsof very high resolution at highframe rates.”

For his part, Scheinberg hasseen the technology givedesigners the opportunity todeliver a more personalexperience, with contentvarying according tointeractive choices made bythe visitor. “One of the bigthings is the programmability.Shows used to be much morelinear. Now they’re interactive.Plus, of course, they’recontrollable by iPad and otherhandhelds. We have apps forApple products but we try tobe interface-agnostic – thereare hooks within the systemthat allow integrators to dowhatever they want.”

For the future, he sees thatas a growing trend. “From ourperspective, Alcorn McBridesees more interactivity, andbelieves that shows willbecome more a one-to-one –each show an individual,unique experience – than aone-to-many.”

Both Janszen and Barrettnote the increasingimportance of IP networking(though Janszen thinks itcould take five years to developa truly universal protocol).

Simpson, however, doesn’tbelieve technology is the onlydriver.

“It is easy to see thatdevelopments in show controlhave always represented acombination of technologicalprogress and market demand.A simple example is the AppleiPad. Technically it waspossible to have had such adevice years ago to be the userinterface (it could be arguedthat we already had it intouchscreen displays). But twothings happened with theiPad: cosmetically we nowhave an appealing productthat is good looking,lightweight, and easy tohandle; more important, thereare millions of people whoown an iPad, smartphone orsimilar device. Such peopledemand that these devices areused as the user interface to acontrol system, and areimmediately comfortable withusing them.

“A less obvious example isthe increasing capability ofnetworks. Developments likeAVB will influence how showsystems are configured; but inthe end the mantra mustremain ‘the show must go on’and it will always be best toseek the simplest solution to ashow control problem.Technology alone will nevermake a good show.”

No, but it may make a goodshow run better. IE

Markets: Show Control


� www.alcorn.com � www.electrosonic.com � www.rapenburgplaza.com

‘Thefundamentalsof what we aredoing have notchanged for30-40 years’ Peter Barrett, Electrosonic

The Dolfinarium in Harderwijk,Netherlands, a theme park withan impressive collection ofmarine mammals, also presentsa show entitled Spetter theDolphin and his MagicalAdventures. Staged in a 500-seat former 4D theatre, so thatseat movements and air effectsare integrated into thepresentation, the show usesAlcorn McBride’s V4 Pro, VideoBinloop and LightCue for showcontrol and AV sourcing.

Although no humancharacters appear in the tale ofthe dolphin and his friends, theactual show is controlled byactors who trigger the start,pause and lighting controlsfrom an OCC panel on thestage.

“The V4 Pro is the perfectcontroller in the hands ofactors and operators,” says

Frank Ruisch of AV-Sync, theshow’s sound designer whoalso handled show controlprogramming in collaborationwith Boaz Borggreve ofNightlife Productions.

Ruisch, who did all of thevoiceover recording for thecharacters and thesoundtrack’s final mixdowns,also had to ensure the show’smusic and sound effects werein place and mixed to surroundsound. But once it was done, itwas done. “The show is runningperfectly two to five times aday; we haven’t had anydowntime,” he reports.

A MagicalAdventure forAlcorn McBride

CASE STUDY

The IE Interview


Tom Gheysens, CEO of Audioprof,founded the company, which makesinstalled audio products under theAPart brand, in the 1980s. In 2009the company secured an injection offunding from Belgian investmentcompany 3D-Participaties, andHans Swinnen, a partner in thatcompany, became Audioprof’schairman. In 2010 the companymoved to new custom-designedpremises not far from its oldlocation in Schoten, outsideAntwerp.

Tom, you founded the companyaround 25 years ago because youweren’t satisfied with the qualityof in-car audio. Was it slow,steady growth?TG: It was a natural evolution.I started as a young kid as aDJ, having the perfect excuseto be the last one at the party.Luckily my mother was verysupportive – she saw that Iwasn’t just partying, there wassomething more to it. Lateron, I got interested in thematerials – at that time it wasstill profitable to build yourown materials when youstarted a rental company. So Istarted to make my ownspeaker systems, and peoplereally liked them. Some I wasrenting out, others I wasstarting to sell. Then the nextstep is selling to a widermarket – but still you have tokeep up the quality level anddo what the customer wants.

Your new premises are muchlarger than, and different from,where you were before. TG: We moved into ourprevious premises around theyear 2000. At the time we werethinking, “This is huge, it willtake 10 or 15 years to fill it”.But after two and a half years itwas too small. So quite quicklywe had to sub-contract ourwarehousing – and we hadgone from a complete companyto an office with some kind ofwarehouse, which by the endwas only serving the Belgiumarea. As the company wasgrowing quite fast, at a certainpoint the building was full. Weknew that it was a big step togo to the next level.

But we took the decision,and then Hans came in withour new partner, and as theyhave a lot of experience ofgrowing companies worldwide,we took the decision that thenext change must be a reallyfundamental one. HS: Tom was very smart inknowing that at a certainmoment you have to make sureyou can adapt yourorganisation’s infrastructure tomove to the next level. We’redoing that while keeping theunique culture, the uniquecreativity and the uniquecustomer focus.

So what was it about Audioprofthat made you say, “Yes, this is a company that I can help to grow”?HS: Well, first of all they hada very good track record interms of growth andprofitability. Secondly, we didsome customer interviewsand received very consistentfeedback: it’s a company withgood focus on installedsound, very good products,different from the others,very well designed and so on.If you hear these things onceyou say, “OK”; if you hearthem in sequence severaltimes you say, “Wow!”

Last but not least, we alsobelieve that with ourknowhow we could really behelpful in taking thecompany to the next level.You have to make sure thatyou’re relevant to addingvalue – and if you can addvalue to a success story, that’svery nice.

How would you describe thepositioning of the APart brand inthe market and how it haschanged over the years?TG: Again, it’s a naturalevolution – you have to watchthe market and anticipatewhat is happening. It’s veryclear, there are a lot of me-tooproducts coming into themarket. If you see thathappening, you have to react.It’s in our name – we reallywant to be apart from theothers. Now that is more

difficult than before, but weare ready for it.HS: I think you can say, Tom,that in the early days youstarted as a C brand, youmoved up to a B brand, andnow customers tell us thatyou’re in the A brand league.People say with the quality wenow offer – and we do speakertest comparisons – often theysay the quality you bring is

better than the A brands. OK,we’re a young brand, we’re notso well known, but the imageof the brand is moving up – it’sgetting really appreciated andrelevant in a lot of markets.TG: In the beginning we hadto fight a lot against negativeperceptions of China-madeproducts. It took us sevenyears to convince people thatChina is not some lousy, dirtymanufacturing place –because the big brands go

there also. We are very luckythat we can buy such qualityat such a price.

We are still competitive. lfthey buy APart, most peopledon’t even consider buyingfrom China directly, becausefrom us they get a very goodservice, a good price, a goodproduct, and a brand with aname behind it.HS: And don’t underestimateBelgian engineering. Tom ismodest, which is good, but thefact is that we have someengineers here who in theirveins, their blood, their DNA,they have this APart, different-from-the-others, thinking,trying to have smarterproducts. They focus on theessence of what the customerreally wants. “They listen sowell to their customers” –that’s the feedback that we get.And Tom absorbs it – he playsaround with it, his engineeringmind starts thinking and hesays, “This, this and this I needto do.” This process of westernEuropean market-orientedproducts – people in othercontinents, other cultures, theycouldn’t create these products.The thinking work is donehere then, in a feedback loop,it’s produced over there – butdon’t underestimate theBelgian design aspect of the

product, because it’s reallyessential.

Do you have a vision of whatAPart will look like in, say, fiveyears’ time?TG: Our customers will tell uswhat to do. We will guide itinto the right direction, butfinally it is the customers whoare telling us the directionwhich we will have in five years’time. I cannot tell you what itwill be. Of course we alreadyhave some ideas, but maybesome competitors are listening!HS: We will do it step by step.Because we believe that we haveto always guarantee and sustainour service and our qualitylevel. That’s our number onepriority, and from there we takeit step by step.TG: This we understand veryclearly because I started thecompany from one person –me. Now we’re bigger, weunderstand it’s not so easy tochange and be flexible, but onthe other hand the basis ismuch stronger. So if we take astep, it’s a much more maturestep compared to 20 years ago.We think about every step.Sometimes people say, “They’requite slow,” but watch us – it’sa matter of time. IE

Tom Gheysens and Hans Swinnen, Audioprof‘Don’t underestimate Belgian engineering’The CEO and chairman of the Belgian installed audio company talk to Paddy Baker about smallbeginnings, making quality products in China, and listening to your customers

‘People in othercontinents,other cultures,they couldn’tcreate theseproducts’

(L-R): Hans Swinnen, a partner of investmentcompany 3D-Participaties who joined Audioprofas chairman in 2009, and Tom Gheysens, whofounded the company in the 1980s

� www.apart-audio.com

Solutions: Tidal Information System, Venice


When Americanhumorist RobertBenchley arrived on

an assignment in Venice in the1930s, he famously telegraphedto his office: “Streets flooded.Please advise.” While it’s notknown what, if any, advice theoffice of The New Yorker gaveBenchley, the citizens of today’sVenice value being told howhigh the waters are going to beevery day – and an audioinstallation in the city ishelping to do just that.

Most of us try to catch aweather forecast before we leavefor work in the morning, sothat we know whether to dresswarmly or take an umbrella –but that’s generally as far as itgoes. In Venice, however, wherethe canals are tidal, theconsequences of a high waterlevel could be rather moresevere. Reduced headroomunder bridges means that theboats that do the duty of taxis,buses and even lorries inconventional cities may need tore-route; and if pavementsdisappear underwater, raisedwalkways may need to be setout. The city’s population –including a sizeable cohort ofcommuters – are well used tothis, but having accurate,timely information isimportant so the necessary

adjustments can be made tokeep daily life on track.

A local governmentdepartment, the CentroPrevisioni E SegnalazioniMaree (Tidal Forecasting andSignalling Centre), is chargedwith monitoring andpredicting the water levels, andcommunicating them to thecity. The higher the tide, thegreater the proportion ofpeople that are going to beaffected. The department hasidentified four different tidalbands: the lowest, 110-120cmabove normal sea level affects12% of the population, whilethe highest (140cm and above)affects as many as 90%. (If thewater rises beyond 190cm, itimpacts the city’s entirepopulation.)

The Centre has embracedtechnology in a number ofways to inform the city aboutwater levels: these include awebsite, a toll-free phone lineand even a smartphone app.

There are also a number oftouchscreen informationpoints at newspaper kiosksaround the city.

A siren-based audio systemhad been in place for a numberof years; however, mechanicaldeterioration had led to it

behaving erratically, and itcould only broadcast one alertsignal. It was decided to replaceit with a system that could give

‘Streets flooded. Please advise’High tides in Venice can have a major impact on day-to-day life – so a new city-wide audiosystem has just been installed to let the population know when they will need to take action.Paddy Baker reports

Community R.5-V2000 speakers – a twin-driver model created specifically for thisproject – are located around the city readyto inform residents of water levels

The tide is high: doing the sums

Predicting the water level inVenice is a complex business:it’s not just a question ofcalculating tidal flows, butalso taking into accountweather conditions, such aswind speed and direction, andrainfall. As the director of theCentro Previsioni ESegnalazioni Maree, Ing. PaoloCanestrelli, points out, this isa much more challengingoperation than simplyforecasting the weather,because so many people aredepending on the centre toput out accurate information.

The centre’s control roomreceives information fromdifferent types of sources.These include notification ofwater level, temperature, windspeed and direction fromfloating units spread aroundVenice’s lagoon. (There is aback-up network of similarprobes, in case the first set failor there is a problem with theirdata.) Data also comes in from

a European weatherforecasting centre. Data fromthe different sources arecompared and merged, andnumerous calculations runfrom them.

There are 15 loudspeakerlocations in central Venice,with more on the outlyingislands – making around 30 in

total. These are linked bywireless broadband orHiperLAN stations; a display inthe centre’s control roomindicates the status of these.There is some redundancy inthe network, so that a singlepoint of failure will not stopthe control signal gettingthrough to all the locations.

Audio. Community Pro R.5-V2200 speakers. Prodytel S-Cluster audio streamingsystems. Duran Audio Axys PB400IndustryAmp four-channel poweramplifiers

Installed

Early warning of high water enablespreparation such as the laying ofraised walkways

INSTALLOF THEMONTH



more detailed informationabout water levels.

A clear messageAudio consultant Ing. UmbertoNicolao was engaged to specifythe new audio solution. Heexplains: “The mission that wereceived was to advise theVenice community withouthaving the possibility to teachthem about the signals. So wehad to communicate fourdifferent levels of the sea by aset of signals that could beunderstood immediately.”

Nicolao didn’t want to usestandard electromechanicalsirens in the system. “We triedto work on an audio signalthat didn’t have the urgency ofa Second World War siren.Here we’re not dealing with arisk to people, we only have toadvise them that there is a highwater event coming, and whatlevel is foreseen.”

Given that musical notes canbe high or low, Nicolao thoughtthat broadcasting differentnotes could readily beunderstood as referring toheight of water. Also, he feltthat using a musical tone fits inwith the city’s musical heritage.

“I studied the characteristicsof many acoustical signals, andI found that the sound of theflute is a very pure one,” hecontinues. “You can recogniseit only with the first three orfour harmonics. The violin, bycontrast, has about 30harmonics, and you need all ofthem to recognise the sound ofa violin. But with a flute, youonly need the four.

“Also, when you have tobroadcast a sound a greatdistance, you have to considerthat many of the high-frequency components will notarrive at all. So don’t count onfrequencies above 2 or 3kHz.”

So it was decided to use an

electronic sound similar to aflute, with the fundamentaland just three harmonics.Despite his overall reservationsabout siren-type signals, hedecided to use a siren-likeintroductory “attention” signalat the start of each signalbroadcast; this is followed bybetween one and four notes,lasting a few seconds each, todenote the predicted heightband of the incoming tide.

The right toneThe decision about what tonesto broadcast came after thesystem selection process – andthat was more complicatedthan first expected. From thepoint of view of efficiency,having the fewest speakers tocover the entire city meantneeding very powerful speakers,positioned where their signalswould not be blocked – andthat means high up.

“Venice is mainly composedof buildings that are not sohigh,” explains Nicolao. “Onlythe palaces on the CanalGrande are three or four floors– normally the buildings haveonly one upper floor. So youneed a point above thebuildings to cover the area,acoustically speaking.”

Fortunately, Venice is wellserved with bell towers in itsvarious churches. To investigatethe potential sites to installspeakers, “We visited at least 50churches in Venice,” he says.“There was only one churchwhere we couldn’t install thesystem because of the decisionof the priest – he prefers tohave an anti-theft system ratherthan our speakers.”

When it came to specifyingthe system, Nicolao was in for asurprise. “It’s incredible howlittle knowhow there is in thisfield,” he confides. “If you lookat the most specialised systems,which come from the US, theycouldn’t work here as theyradiate mainly in the horizontalplane. If you installed thesesystems 50m above the groundyou would only advise theangels!” His team asked themanufacturers to supply polardiagram data for these systems,especially in the vertical plane,but his team’s calculationsprovided better data than themanufacturers could supply.This, along with greaterconvenience, steered Nicolaoand his team towards designingtheir own solution.

Nicolao felt that there wasonly one manufacturer thatcould supply speakers offering acombination of high SPL andweatherproof construction –Community Professional.

However, the exact product thatNicolao wanted did not exist.

Ennio Prase, whose companyPrase Engineering distributesCommunity in Italy, takes upthe story: “When the designerscame to us, we didn’t have theperfect solution in terms of aloudspeaker system. We neededto have something reallycompact, extremely efficient,extremely powerful in terms ofSPL, and preferably light inweight because there are noelevators in these campaniles!Umberto and his team analysedcomponents and we offeredsome options – but at the endof the day the best fit was aproduct that we didn’t have asa distributor.”

What was wanted was acompact model with two 2inmid-range drivers. “I had to goto Community and express thedesire of having somethingcustom built,” continues Prase.“They liked the idea – we tried

to provide a sketched-outdesign to show the concept.They said, ‘Leave it with us,we’ll experiment with somemouldings – and let you knowif we can shrink the cabinets

and still hold two 2in mid-compression drivers.’ Theymanaged to get the properresult out of it. They created abrand new product – the R.5-V2200.” This has become a

About the project team. Audio consultant Umberto Nicolao can rightly bedescribed as a veteran of the audio industry – he hasbeen part of it since 1976, when he was still ateenager. Besides consultancy, his work has entailedjournalism, authorship (of over 20 books), trainingand lecturing

. Based in Noveta di Piave, a few kilometres outsideVenice, Prase Engineering has been a distributor of audio products for over 15 years. Among the 30 orso brands represented are APart, Ateïs, DIS, Listenand Tannoy

. Installation was carried out by S.T.A.S, aninstallation company based in Verona. Founded in1989, its core services are in the areas of CCTV andsecurity systems

It was decided to create a bespokesolution for this project, ascommercially available systems hadlimited vertical dispersion

bespoke product in theCommunity catalogue, and hasbeen deployed successfully inother applications.

Unique challengesIt’s not just the weather thatthe speakers need to withstand,adds Prase: “You have toconsider protection from birdsin Venice – there are a lot ofpigeons. The speakers have amulti-layered weather-techcoating that Community alsouses on the WET series – amulti-layer different meshdensity grille that works likeGore-Tex: water can drain outeventually but not get in.Acoustically it’s quite

transparent – not a significantSPL reduction. The cabinet isroto-moulded polyethylene, sothere’s no molecular stress inthe material, and mountinghardware is stainless steel.”

We visit two installation sites,where the setups are broadlysimilar. One is La Fenice, a well-known theatre whose name(‘fenice’ means phoenix) hasironic significance: it was builtin 1792 after the city’s leadingopera house burned downnearly two decades earlier.However, La Fenice has itselfbeen destroyed by fire andrebuilt – twice. The currentbuilding dates from 2001.

The other install site is aneven more iconic Venetianlocation – the belltower of StMark’s. This is one of thelowest-lying parts of the city – itbegins to fill up when the tiderises more than 80cm abovemean sea level. Each of twoneighbouring balconies has twoCommunity R.5-V2000speakers stacked vertically,firing out over the city. Theseare fed by Duran Audio AXYSPB400 IndustryAmps, whichtake their signal from aProdytel S-Cluster output box.

Describing the S-Cluster,Prase explains: “This is a verycomplex device – it’s an audiostreamer, designed for securitysystems. The audio content –all the different samples – arestored in flash memory insidethe unit.” These communicatevia WiFi with the controlroom at the tidal centre, whichtriggers the playing of the alertsignal when required. This linkalso makes it possible to checkthat the signals have beenloaded properly; although it’snot required here, additionalsignals could be loaded ontothe S-Clusters from thecontrol room.

At one point in the day, as weare walking through the streets,Nicolao says: “I found a lot ofpoetry in this project – andespecially the idea to use amusical signal as a warningsignal – because everywhere youlook there is someone playing amusical instrument.” Literally,at that moment we come acrosstwo people in period costume,carrying instruments. Later on,I ask him: of all the projects hehas worked on, which is hemost proud of? He replies:“This one, for sure. From theromantic point of view.” Venice,it seems, can capture the heartsof more than just tourists. IE

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- Including ceiling mount bracket

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- 5 input talkback system with tally function



� www.communitypro.com � www.duran-audio.com � www.prase.it � www.prodytel.de

(L-R) Umberto Nicolao and Ennio Prase

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Working in conjunction withadvertising agency JUST andevent producer

Mediaconcept for end customerKulczyk Tradex (the official VWdistributor for Poland), Polishmultimedia production companyMOOV was tasked with creating amultimedia production to showcase thenew Passat’s capabilities in a way thatwould capture the imagination of ajaded public. The show was to make itsdebut at the Polish National MotorShow in Poznan before being taken ona tour of upmarket shopping centresand other venues in major cities aroundthe country.

MOOV’s Piotr Majewski says: “Thepresentation was to take place in atemporary ‘black box’ structure erectedat each venue. To immerse the audiencein our animation, we wanted to use notjust the rear wall as a projection surface,but also the floor, sides and, of course,the car itself. We used 3D projectionmapping to create the movie using theexact proportions of the new Passat,with the precise positioning of the carin relation to the walls and floor of thepresentation space.”

This pre-show visualisation andprogramming was carried out usingDataton’s WATCHOUT, which alsotook care of the seamless edge-blendingand image-warping of the fourprojectiondesign projectors used toshow the movie at each location.

“We had five WATCHOUT servers forthe production – one for each of theprojectors, plus a fifth as the mastercontroller,” Majewski adds. “Thecontroller was also responsible forplaying special effects and the music,which was specially written by our in-house team for this production. Thewarping geometry calibration functionwithin WATCHOUT was especiallyuseful because it allowed us to adjustthe animated image on each differentsurface very precisely.”

The full effectFredrik Svahnberg, Dataton’smarketing and communicationsmanager, comments: “The ability ofWATCHOUT to render highly accurate3D images for the design of shows,together with its blending and warpingof multiple images from differentsources and surfaces, makes it perfectlysuited to projection mappingapplications. The MOOV show for theVW Passat is a perfect example.”

The end result was a groundbreakingshow in which audiences saw a car thatappeared to move (complete withrotating wheels and air apparentlyflowing over the bodywork) against aconstantly changing backdrop, though

in reality the whole display was static. Atone point the Passat looked as though itwas reversing into a parking space –complete with sensor sound effects!

MOOV opted for projectiondesign’sF82 projector to deliver the requiredimage quality. “Each projector offers abrightness level of 10,000 lumens and,when the output of the four devices isblended together, the combinedresolution of the animation is nearly8K,” Majewski explains. “We usedprojectiondesign’s RealColortechnology to precisely calibrate thefour projectors with one another andadjust the brightness to take into

account the different materials of theprojection surfaces in the space.”

He continues: “As well as highresolution, the F82 also came into itsown because it is available with shortfocal-length or wide-angle lenses, whichwere essential to produce such a wideimage from a relatively short projectiondistance. Additionally, theDynamicBlack function, whichdynamically narrows the aperture ofeach projector lens, gave us the very highcontrast we were looking for during the‘night’ scenes in our animation.”

Anders Løkke, marketing director,projectiondesign, concludes: “Live

events applications such as the VWPassat roadshow pose particularchallenges for professional projectors,and we are delighted that our F82sperformed faultlessly for MOOV andtheir customers. The very highresolution, contrast, brightness andcolour accuracy of our 3-chip DLPsystem is perfectly suited to such events,and for anyone who saw thisgroundbreaking show, the results reallyspeak for themselves.” IE

Solutions: VW Passat Launch, Poznan

A moving experienceA major car launch event required image blending, synchronisation of content and high-qualityprojection mapping, says Tom Bradbury

� www.moov.pl � www.projectiondesign.com � www.dataton.com

About theinstaller. MOOV was founded in 2002 inPoznan. It is a provider of videotechnology and production,specialising in widescreenprojections. Most of its activitytakes place in its home city

. The company employs 10people, boosting its numberswith freelancers for major events

. MOOV deals with more than100 events each year, mainly intrade fairs, congresses, corporateevents, parties and concerts

Projection mapping made the car appear to move, with rotating wheels and air apparently flowingover the bodywork. At one point it even seemed to be reversing into a parking space


As well as the car itself, projectionsurfaces were the rear wall, floorand sides of the display area

Solutions: Gan Bei City, Riga


With a variety ofestablishmentsacross the Baltic

region, restaurant chain GanBei is well known for servingquality food in sleeksurroundings.

When fitting out its newflamboyant Asian restaurantGan Bei City, located in theGalleria Riga shopping centrein the Latvian capital, theowners were keen to continuethe tradition of quality with aclassy interior that had echoesof the Orient, but at the sametime was sleek and ultra-modern. And, of course, theyneeded an audio set-up thatfitted in with that ethos.

Owner Oleg Arup called inaudio specialist Unique Ltd tocreate a system that wouldn’tinterfere with the designaesthetic of the newrestaurant, but would stilloffer the quality andflexibility needed.

Rihards Rubenis, CEO atUnique, says: “The restauranthas a total area of 300sqmand has a high-class interior,so the owners were keen notto spoil that with theintrusions of an installedaudio system. In essence, theywanted the loudspeakers to bevirtually invisible, but at thesame time deliver highquality, high SPL soundcoverage, particularly as theybring in guest DJs to playmusic at the weekends.”

Total coverageRubenis found the solution inTannoy’s dedicated in-ceilingCVS Series, a range developedspecifically for installationprojects where performance,reliability and budget areequally relevant concerns.

For total coverage in therestaurant hall, Rubenisdecided on eight CVS 8loudspeakers supplementedby four CMS 801sub devicesto provide the additionallower-end presence requiredof a flexible system. These arecontrolled by an APartPM7400MKII preamplifier,Champ4 amplifiers and aPC1000R CD/SD card player.

“Tannoy CVS 8 speakerstogether with CMS sub was

the perfect combination,” saysRubenis. “The sound is clear,powerful and with a reserveon power.”

Outdoor areaGan Bei City also has anoutdoor terrace, and for thisarea Rubenis chose Tannoy’sDVS range. Thanks to thepoint-source driver design,DVS can be mountedvertically or horizontallywithout compromising thedispersion and coveragecontrol, offering a highdegree of versatility wherepositioning is concerned.

Rubenis says: “For theoutdoor area (80sqm), weused four DVS 6 speakers,which sound fantastic. Theversatility of the speakersmeant we were able to offercomplete coverage, whichmeans it sounds great nomatter where you are sitting.”

While this is just the firstrestaurant in the Gan Beichain that has been fittedwith Tannoy CVS Series, theowners have already statedtheir intention to use theCVS series for their nextrestaurant. IE

Eastern premisesOne of the most popular restaurant chains in the Baltic region has opened a new outlet complete withhigh-spec audio set-up, writes James Christopher

Audio. Tannoy DVS 6 speakers. Tannoy CVS 8 speakers . Tannoy CMS 801sub subwoofers . APart Audio PM7400MKIIpreamplifier. APart Audio Champ4 amplifiers . APart Audio PC1000R CD/SD card player

Installed

� www.apart-audio.com � www.tannoy.com � www.unique.lv

The requirement was for a system that offered sound quality andflexibility without interfering with the restaurant’s aesthetic

Solutions: Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh


The Royal College of Physiciansof Edinburgh (RCPE) is aprofessional membership

organisation that develops and overseesa programme of medicalexaminations, education and trainingfor qualified doctors who wish toundertake postgraduate educationand training. Its base is a unique,historic building located in centralEdinburgh that offers a wide range offlexible spaces for all kinds of eventsand functions – including conferences,meetings, dinners, receptions andweddings as well as product launchesand photo shoots.

Evoking the heyday of its elegantsurroundings, the stylish suite ofVictorian and Georgian rooms are filledwith stunning original architecturalfeatures, while the conference centreand meeting rooms provide all thetechnical and audiovisual facilitiesexpected from a modern event.

At the heart of the building is thehistoric Great Hall – complete withgrand pillars, impressive Greek statuesand rich crimson walls, – where AudioLight Systems recently upgraded theaudio and lighting equipment. Thecompany, which has offices inEdinburgh and Belfast, has animpressive track record of high-profileinstalls. It is also no stranger to theRCPE, with previous work including aCrestron-controlled DALI dimminglighting system installed in the main

lecture hall in 2010, and the previousyear a major upgrade to the venue’sCCTV system.

Old meets newThe brief from the RCPE for the GreatHall was to install contemporarylighting and audio design withcontrol, in extremely sensitivesurroundings. Any new equipment hadto be discreet and stylish. The audiosystem is primarily for speechreinforcement, but can also be used formusic playback. Allen & Heath’s iDR8matrix mixer was chosen.

Audio Light Systems’ Trevor Cross,project manager for the RCPE install,comments: “It has proved to be theideal choice of mixer, with 16

processing channels, eight analoguemic/line inputs on XLR with 48Vphantom power, high-quality audiosignal path and DSP processing. TheGreat Hall can now handle a variety ofaudio requirements.”

Four Sennheiser ew300 G3 seriesradio microphone systems, sent to theiDR8 via analogue tie lines placedaround various positions in the hall,allow for flexibility in the speakingposition. Cross comments on what helikes about the microphone: “The newreceiver has a built-in Ethernet portfor remote PC monitoring and is setup with Sennheiser’s Wireless SystemManager software. The receiver’swireless sync function makes it abreeze to link up any G3 transmitterwith the unit. In addition, it has alarge backlit graphic display wherereceiver and transmitter informationcan be easily seen, along with an auto-lock function, meaning that it avoidsaccidental changing of settings. Thisis critical if the hall is in use withoutthe support of a technician. Anotherfeature is that the receiver showstransmitter battery indication in four steps – again helpful for self-operated functions.”

Four QSC AcousticDesign AD-S282H have been placedthroughout the hall, along with twoAD-S28Tw subwoofers, discreetlyinstalled in existing wall cavities. Thecompact AD-S82 is a full-rangesurface-mount loudspeaker with asleek, contemporary style that fits inwith the elegant feel of the hall. Thetwo-way 240W system is housed in aported enclosure that incorporates an8in LF transducer with a heavy-dutydouble roll cloth surround. The HF

driver is coupled with QSC’s AdvancedDirectivity rotatable waveguide,enabling the loudspeaker to deliveraccurately focused sound, regardless ofits mounted orientation. Driving theloudspeakers are three QSC PLX2high-power amplifiers.

Cross comments: “With powerratings up to 3,600W, PLX2 amplifiersare capable of providing plenty ofclean, undistorted output to theloudspeakers. Additional mechanicaltouches such as the side stiffeningrails, rear rack ears and cable tieanchor points attest to QSC’s years ofexperience and attention to detail.QSC has even designed the integratedfront handles so the amplifier slidesinto a rack without scraping theinstaller’s fingers on the rack sides.”

Easy accessA Crestron CP2E Control Processorcan be controlled wirelessly with aniPad or iPod, which gives usersflexibility and access to a wide varietyof on-site music libraries. The CP2E isa compact Ethernet control systemdesigned for small to medium-sizedresidential and commercialapplications. All audio and lightingelements of the Great Hall can becontrolled, including an iLight single-box low-noise operationsolution that enables a variety ofpreset lighting positions.

Dave Blackie, RCPE’s senior audiovisual technician, comments on theinstallation: “When doing a projectlike this, it’s great just dealing withone company, rather than two or three.Audio Light Systems’ quality ofinstallation is excellent. The end resultreally did exceed our expectations.” IE

Achieving greatnessThe classically themed Great Hall at a Scottish professional body’s headquarters has received anupgrade to its sound and lighting. Simon Duff reports

� www.allen-heath.com � www.ampetronic.com � www.audiolightsystems.com � www.cinetix.de � www.crestron.com � www.ilight.co.uk � www.qscaudio.com � www.rcpe.ac.uk � www.sennheiser.co.uk

Audio. Allen & Heath iDR8 mixer. Sennheiser ew300 G series radio microphones . QSC PLX2 amplifiers. QSC AcousticDesign AD-S282H speakers. QSC AcousticDesign AD-S28Tw subwoofers. Ampetronic ILD500 induction loop amplifier

Lighting. iLight SCI 1210 SX source controller

Control. Crestron CP2E control processor. Crestron C2NI-CB-W-T Cameo keypad. Apple iPad. Cinetix Ethernet/DMX512 control module

Installed

About the installer. Audio Light Systems Limited was formed in 2004 by Trevor Cross andEddy O’ Hare

. The company has 18 staff at offices in Edinburgh and Belfast,supplying and installing AV equipment to government and privateclients across Europe

. Previous high-profile installations include the Pavilion Dance,Bournemouth’s national dance house, opened in 2010, The BelgradeTheatre, Coventry, The Royal Commonwealth Swimming Pool, Edinburgh,and major restoration in 2011 of the Theatre Royal, Newcastle.

. Projects for 2012 include work for the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh,Queen Mary, University of London, the Westminster Theatre and theMulberry & Bigland Theatre in London

. In September 2011 Audio Light Systems became distributor of EMAcoustics, the independent British loudspeaker manufacturer

Four QSC AcousticDesign AD-S282H speakershave been placed on the walls of the hall

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New technologies and workflows behind big live/as-live TV productions

For over 50 years, theNational Stadium inBucharest was the

venue for all home matches ofthe Romanian nationalfootball team. In 2005, it wasdecided to tear the stadiumdown and construct a new onein its place. The StadionulNational, which was three years(from 2008 to 2011) in themaking, is an ultra-modern,arena designed for majorsporting events and concerts.

The new stadium is capableof accommodating over55,000 spectators. If needed,the total capacity can beexpanded to 63,000. Thearena is the first in Romaniato meet the elite stadiumstandards for infrastructurelaid down by Europeanfootball governing bodyUEFA, making it the firststadium in the countryqualified to host the finals ofinternational competitions.The first such eventscheduled for the stadium is

the 2012 UEFA EuropaLeague Final on 9 May.

Among the most importantcriteria prospective elitestadiums need to satisfy arethose relating to their soundsystems. UTI INSTALCONSTRUCT of Bucharest,which was was charged withensuring compliance,conducted simulations andcomparisons before thoseresponsible for the installationopted for an extensive Electro-Voice system. The equipmentfeatured includes 141 EVH-1152S horn-loaded (models64-PIB, 94-PIB and 66-PIB)and 32 EVID 6.2 T compactsurface-mounted loudspeakers.The installation is powered andprocessed by 40 CPS 4.10power amplifiers and 10N8000 NetMax controllerswith MI-1, AO-1, DI-1 or DO-1cards as well as CM-1CobraNet network modules.

Thanks to IRIS-Netsoftware, a multitude ofpossibilities exist for the

configuration, operation andsupervision of the system. It ispossible, for example, to createan interface tailored to theneeds of each user, in which allthe most importantparameters – such as the level,muting, or error conditions –are clearly and intuitively laidout. Furthermore, all theparameters of the installationcan be accessed from a singlecentral location, simplifying

the commissioning, operationand maintenance of thesystem.

The N8000 task engineprovides automaticredundancy switching betweenthe main and ancillary controlroom matrices, which bothexhibit dual redundancy. As aresult of the freeconfigurability of the N8000’sDSP, it is possible, for example,to selectively manage

announcements to differentareas of the grandstand viaboth the PA/VA system and thecentral operational computer.

Positive outcome“Our client is totally delightedand full of enthusiasm for theoutstanding acoustic quality,”says Cristian Gheliuc ofdistributor ProsoundSolutions Romania. “This isthe first major project of itskind in Romania and thisinstallation now representsthe standard to which allfuture stadiums in thecountry will aspire.” IE

Solutions: National Stadium, Bucharest


Attracting the eliteA high-quality sound system was a must for Romania’s first UEFA elite stadium, writes Tom Bradbury

The 63,000-seater National Arena has beenselected to host the Europa League Final 2012

AudioAll Electro-Voice. EVH-1152S/64/94/66 loudspeakers. EVID 6.2T loudspeakers. CPS 4.10 power amplifiers . N8000 NetMax controllers

Installed

� www.electrovoice.com � www.uti.eu.com

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A complete new range.Backed by years of experience.

It’s… A range of 30 different Multi-Touch products, most designed formulti-user applications.

Details: The BDT Multi-TouchSeries incorporates screensranging from 32in to 65in, as wellas different sizes of Touch Tables,Touch Kiosks plus indoor andoutdoor Touch Totems. Touchtechniques vary according to theintended purpose – as do thenumber of simultaneous touchpoints available. Optical TouchImaging is intended as a cost-effective system for a variety ofapplications and offers two touchpoints simultaneously. InfraredTouch is designed for accuracy

and to allow Multi-Useroperation through 6 or 32simultaneous touch points.Capacitive Touch offers apractical solution for (outdoor)public use with twosimultaneous Touch Pointsavailable, and is designed to beeasy to clean.

And also: The BDT Seriesincludes a Multi-User TouchTable based on the firstPhilips 55in LEDtouchscreen – theBDT5530ET/32 – anddesigned to be placed on acabinet to work at anergonomic height.

www.philips.com

We present our choice of new products for the installation market

New this month

Philips Public Signage

BDT Multi-Touch Series

Product Choice


It’s… A touchscreen lightingcontroller capable ofmastering an entireinstallation – while alsointegrating with a largerMosaic installation.

Details: Designed to be part of anetworked system or to operateas a complete stand-alonecontroller, the Tessera combines a4.3in (10.9cm) touchscreen with a512-channel DMX over EthernetMosaic controller. The systemprovides control over complexlighting shows as well as deviceslike moving lights, colour-mixingLEDs and dimmers; it can alsohandle impromptu show control,accessories, automation,

waterworks and other non-lightingeffects. Colour-changing lights ina shopping centre or office block,for example, can include dynamiceffects, seasonal themes or subtlelighting events without the needfor complex control systems.

And also: Mosaic Designersoftware v1.9 is also nowavailable for download fromETC’s website and includessupport for Tessera, including thecreation of customisedtouchscreen designs.

ETC

Tessera

It’s… A compact, three-inputstereo audio mixer featuring adigital signal processing platformfor audio signal mixing and control.

Details: The MVC 121 Plusfeatures a stereo line-level inputand two mic/line-level inputs with48V phantom power forcondenser microphones, plusfixed and variable stereo line-leveloutputs. It includes gain, filter,tone processing and parametricEQ and is said to offer quick andintuitive configuration usingExtron’s DSP ConfiguratorSoftware. The MVC 121 Plus isaimed at presentationapplications that require line andmicrophone audio mixing with

DSP in a small form factor.Housed in a compact, quarter-

rack enclosure, the MVC 121 Plusis suitable for smaller systems.DSP Configurator software alsomakes it easy to adjust gain,apply filtering and set levels.

And also: DSP Configuratorsoftware uses an intuitive on-screen layout to provide fastaccess to digital audio signalprocessing tools as well as audiomixing.

Extron Electronics

MVC 121 Plus

PRODUCTOF THEMONTH

It’s… A range of three-chip 4K DLPprojectors for large-screen 2D and3D applications in the virtualreality market.

Details: The Galaxy 4K seriesincludes three models: 4K-12(pictured), 4K-23, and 4K-32 –offering brightness levels of12,000, 23,000 and 33,000lumens respectively, and aresolution of up to 4K (4096 x2160) via the DVI inputs. Theprojectors benefit from the use ofDLP technology, said to offerimproved brightness uniformity,long life and colour saturation.

A hermetically sealed opticalengine prevents dust affecting theDLP 4K chip, while enhanced DMDcooling protects the system’s corecomponents. Barco supports anumber of stereoscopictechnologies including active 3Dstereo and active Infitec 3D stereosingle-projector technology todisplay 3D content in 2Kresolution, or a dual-projectorpassive Infitec 3D stereo setup forstereoscopic images in 4Kresolution.

And also: Barco projectors comewith a patented convergencealignment tool, said to requireless effort to optimiseconvergence than other toolscurrently on the market.

Barco

Galaxy 4K

It’s… A high-definition lecture-capture solution for scheduling,recording, online publishing andviewing lectures, presentations,medical procedures and seminars.

Details: Designed for easyoperation and streamlinedinstallation, the CaptureLiveHDsystem includes the Capture-HD

high-definition recorder, Capture-TPMC-4SM touchscreen controller,a choice of Sony PTZ and SonyCompact HD video cameras, plusCaptureLiveHD software. Said torequire no special training,CaptureLiveHD records a completepresentation in HD 1080p andsaves it in high-quality H.264format. The recorded lecture

includes content andmicrophone audio, plus fullscreen, PIP and PBP videofrom the instructor cameraand any other presentationsource such as aPowerPoint, DVD, or website.

And also: Two versions areavailable: Capture-HD PRO

features a 3G SDI input to supportSDI, HD-SDI, or 3G-SDI cameras.CAPTURE-HD provides acomposite input for lower-

resolution cameras, in addition torecording high-definition VGA andHDMI signals from AVpresentation systems.

Crestron

CaptureLiveHD

www.extron.com www.etcconnect.com

www.crestron.com

www.barco.com

www.iseurope.org

The No.1 show for professional AV and electronic systems integration presented by

ISE 2012 attendees represent every link in the communications business value chain. With manufacturers, distributors, integrators, specifiers and technology managers from over 100 countries walking the show floor, you’re bound to meet new contacts to help you grow your business. If they’re industry people worth knowing, you’ll find them at ISE 2012.

Meet. Greet. Network.

Platinum Sponsors:


Product Choice

W h o l e H o m e A u d i o

Make room for even more flexibility.

NuVo whole home audio systems are the most flexible

of their kind – with Essentia®, Concerto® and Renovia® all

compatible with the keypads of your choice. So now your

customers can mix and match, and have lots of room to

roam. Visit nuvotechnologies.com.

Visit NuVo Stand #1P122 at ISE

www.neets.dk

Neets

Control-AlFa

It’s… A dedicated AV controllerfor use with other Neets productsin installation applications such asadvanced auditoriums andconference rooms.

Details: Control-AlFa is designedfor use with an Apple iOS orAndroid touch device or bycomputers with Safari or Chromebrowsers. Users can createcustom-designed graphical userinterfaces through Neets’ ProjectEditor software. The systemprovides control of the connected

devices through RS-232 and IRwith dedicated I/O and integrationof the touch device, making off-sitecontrol possible via LAN. LEDsindicate system power, status ofbuilt-in relay boxes and activity onthe communication ports.

And also: Dedicated connectorsfor the relays and four relay testbuttons on the rear panel aredesigned to make installation andservice easy and intuitive.

It’s… A portable audio interfaceproviding direct, high-qualityaudio transmission fromcomputer to soundreinforcement system.

Details: The A-1 Live is a portablestereo USB audio interfacedeveloped for transmission ofaudio directly from a computer/laptop to a professional soundreinforcement system, withoutthe need for additional hardwaresuch as a mixer or DI box.Primarily designed for live sound

applicationsand permanentinstallations,the A-1 Live is astandaloneUSB deviceequipped with balanced XLRstereo outputs and a galvanicallyisolated USB connection. Thesefeatures are designed to preventinterference, hum and reducedsound quality or loss of outputlevel – all common problems forinterfaces with unbalancedconnectors, or when there is no

galvanic isolation between thecomputer and the interface.

And also: Offering simple plug-and-play installation without theneed for a separate powersupply, the A-1 Live is suitable forlive sound, DJ and other pro-audio applications.

www.fohhn.com

Fohhn

A-1 Live

It’s… An LED projector designed tooffer the highest availableresolution for simulation andtraining applications.

Details: According toprojectiondesign, the FL35 wqxgacombines low cost of ownershipwith near ‘eye-limiting’ 2,560 x1,600 resolution, increasedbrightness and 100,000 hours oftypical service life. Based on thecompany’s F35 platform, theprojector combines its 4.1megapixels resolution with solid-state ReaLED illuminationtechnology. The design reduces thenumber of channels needed toconfigure simulation systems andwith no restrictions on theoperation orientation of theReaLED engine, is said to provideimproved installation flexibility. Thehigh resolution enables higheracuity systems or reduced channelcounts and makes the FL35 wqxgaideal for integration inmultichannel systems. A single-chassis solution, it features fiveprecision optical lenses to providesustained high contrast, accuratecolour rendition and sharpness.

And also: Unlike 4K resolutionprojectors, the FL35 wqxga usesindustry-standard single cable IGinputs and has expandable inputsand outputs ensuringinteroperability with exports andimage processing interfaces.

www.projectiondesign.com

projectiondesign

FL35 wqxga

Product Choice


www.stardraw.com

Stardraw

Stardraw Design 7

It’s… A software design/documentation tool for systemsintegrators.

Details: Stardraw Design 7generates a project- and product-centric database accessible viadrawing environments such as‘Block Schematics’ and ‘RackLayouts’ as well as a new, grid-based products overview andintegrated reporting interface.

Each ‘view’ provides arepresentation of the centralproject database, so a change inone ripples through to all theothers. A multi-tab interfacemeans that all drawings areaccessible at the same time,while the Project Dashboardprovides a master view of thewhole project.

Other new features includecompatibility with the latestversions of AutoCAD (R12 – 2010)and Visio, as well as a built-in PDFgenerator. The drawing interfacealso includes requested featuressuch as grab/pan, wireframedragging, arrowheads, improvedimage support, setting of multiplecable labels with a single clickplus automatic Title Blocks.

And also: A new Symbols Palettefeature reveals products not usedin the current drawing. This helpsusers keep track of projects andensures nothing is overlookedwhen building racks ordocumenting systeminterconnections.

It’s… The first of Optoma’sProScene range of productscreated for very high-brightnessapplications.

Details: The EH7500 is a dual-lampWUXGA projector delivering 6,500lumens output. Its sealed, filter-free design prevents dust and dirtfrom affecting the system –ensuring optimal image qualitywith minimal maintenance.Motorised lens shift, focus andzoom combined with the extensivelens options and interchangeable

colour wheels areincluded forimproved installation flexibility.

An aspherical lens and opticalelements using low-dispersionglass maintain optimum sharpnessand focus uniformity over theentire image as well as ensuringextremely low colour flare andchromatic aberration. A standardcolour wheel maximises brightnesswhile ensuring good colourreproduction; the enhanced colouroption maintains colourperformance and accuracy. The

colour wheels are interchangeablemodules and can be fitted orexchanged on site withoutremoving the projector cover.

And also: ProScene projectors willbe available only through certifiedpartners. Optoma will be providingspecially trained support andservice teams to advise on anyaspect of the installation,integration or maintenance ofProScene products.

www.optomaeurope.com

Optoma

ProScene EH7500

It’s… A 46in LCD ultra-brightdigital signage display designedfor high-brightness environmentssuch as lobbies and public spaces.

Details: With a maximumbrightness value of 1,500cd/sqmcombined with HD resolution anda large viewing area, theMultiSync X462HB is said to offereasy readability even in sun-flooded buildings. An ambientlight sensor ensures that thebrightness is automaticallyadjusted as light conditions

change; the display is alsoequipped with a quarter-lambdapolarising filter, which enableswearers of polarised glasses toview the content on the screenregardless of portrait orlandscape orientation.

And also: Other features includea carbon footprint meter, OSDrotation for portrait mode and afull range of inputs with picture-in-picture support and rapid inputswitching.

www.necdisplaysolutions.com

NEC Display Solutions

MultiSync X462HB

Intent Media isa member of

the PeriodicalPublishers Association

. Kristjan Magnusson explains Exton’spolicy of specifying top-line brandshttp://tinyurl.com/IEExtonQandA

Q&A


Visit www.installationeurope.com ortype the tinyurl into your browser

ONLINE EXTRAS

Active Audio 38AMC Baltic 30Analog Way 29APart Audio 49Ateïs 4AudiPack 52Barco 11Black Magic 13Bosch 26Braehler 32Chief 57CommTec 35Community Professional 47Crestron Front cover, 9Dataton 23DataVideo 42EAW 27eyevis 49Fast Turnaround TV 50Gefen 44Harman/JBL 31Hitachi 21HumanTeknik 38InOut 19Integrated Systems Europe 54Kramer Electronics 56Lightware Inside front coverMagenta Research 32Midwich 14Mitsubishi 24Nuvo 55Opticis 10Powersoft 46PVS 6QSC 5Revolabs 20RGB Spectrum 51Sennheiser 18SmartMetals 7Sommer Cable 37Sony 43Tag 3Taiden 59Tannoy 8, 44Televic 41TLS Communications 14TV One 17Vogel’s Outside back coverYamaha 52

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Installation Europe is published 12 times a year by Intent Media London, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London N1 8LR, EnglandCirculation and subscription enquiries Tel: +44 (0)1858 438786 Fax +44 (0)1858 434958 Intent Media 2012, Tower House, Lathkill Street, MarketHarborough, Leics LE16 9EF, UK Editorial tel +44 (0)20 7226 7246 Sales tel +44 (0)20 7354 6000 Editor Paddy Baker [email protected] Managing editor Joanne Ruddock [email protected] Designer Claire [email protected] Sales manager Ian Graham [email protected] Sales executive Les Wood [email protected] US sales representative Michael Mitchell +1 631 673 3199 [email protected] Senior production executive Alistair [email protected] Production executive Florence Beaumont [email protected] Digital content manager Tim [email protected] Publisher Steve Connolly [email protected] Managing director Stuart Dinsey Contributors David Davies, SimonDuff, Gez Kahan, Nigel Lord, Ian McMurray, Steve Montgomery, Blair Parkin, Adrian Pennington, Bob Snyder Special thanks this issueKatinka Allender, Sverrir Hreidarsson, Mark Millar, Caroline Moss © Intent Media 2012. No part of this publication may be reproduced in anyform or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owners. Printed by Headley Brothers, UK

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You founded Exton [Gunnar] andKastljos [Kristjan] in 1992. Was it aneasy decision to set up your owncompanies, or was it a leap of faith? GG: It was relatively easy – at that timethere wasn’t a rental market. I had myown lighting system, and my businesspartner had a system. We did somebigger concerts together. In many ways itwas a natural step to set up a company tohandle imports of equipment and so on.KM: When we started, the rental marketwas totally undeveloped – the onlyequipment available for rental was a fewpar cans and a couple of smokemachines. It was a part-time gig at thestart: it took five or six years before aproper company could become viable.

So when did the installation workreally start to take off?KM: In 1998, Kastljos got its firstinstallation job – I was asked to designan installation for the world expositionin Lisbon that year, handling all of thetechnical installations for the IcelandicPavilion. Then in 2000 when we mergedExton and Kastljos, we decided this wasa viable market and we should spendsome time on it. So we formed aseparate division to take care of

installations – and spent the next sevenyears working towards being able tohandle the national concert hall project.

I gather that you’re not the biggestAV and lighting company in Iceland,but you’re the most diverse.GG: We have different competitorsdepending on what we do. In rentalthere are three other companies: onedoes sound and light, and some video;one does lighting and video; the thirddoes video and audio. One of them is adivision of a large IT company with

around 400 people. They’re our biggestcompetitor in AV installation and rental.

How would you say the installationworld has changed in Exton’s lifetime?GG: In the beginning, we hardly did anyinstallation – it was mostly boxes sales.After we began to focus more oninstallation, we started to do projects instores, schools, offices, and just let itgrow. At the peak, we did some crazyinstallations. A few years ago, forexample, we put an AMX control systeminto a power company’s foyer thatpumped water through a clear acrylicball, maybe 1.8m in diameter. The waterlevel in the ball mimicked the water levelin one of their hydroelectric reservoirsup in the mountains. It was rather

different from a regular AV installation.

Harpa is a concert hall andconference centre. Is it the biggestproject you’ve worked on?GG: Yes – by far. The project we didbefore this – the Hof theatre inAkureyri, in the north of Iceland – that’sabout one-third of this project in value. KM: This is the biggest project of thiskind in Iceland since 2000, when thestate TV broadcaster moved into a newbuilding.

Has the type of sector that you workin changed over the years?KM: Besides theatres and concert halls,we also do a lot of meeting rooms andboardrooms, plus we have done quite afew museum installations in Iceland – aswell as in Paris and London.GG: If you look back over 15 years, ithas gone in cycles. Because we work in alot of sectors, we’ve been relatively stable,because when one area of the businessgoes down, another one goes up.

I suppose the timing of the Harpaproject was lucky, as it saw youthrough a couple of years when therewasn’t much else around.KM: It helped quite a lot. It would havebeen hard to survive 2009-10 withouthaving this on hand – simple as that.

Do you have any unfulfilled ambitions –either for the company or personally?GG: We’re looking more abroad for newprojects – there are not going to be anybig projects in Iceland for the next fewyears at least. We’ve won a contract inAalborg, Denmark, and we’ll keeplooking for similar projects in TV. KM: On a personal level, I can’t think ofanything. I like spending time in theoffice – this is a passion. You can’t getgood results unless there’s some kind ofpassion involved in it. IE

. Gunnar Gunnarsson and KristjanMagnusson were talking to Paddy Baker.We will carry a report on the Harpaconcert hall in a future issue.

Gunnar Gunnarsson and Kristjan Magnusson, Exton

During IE’s recent visitto the Harpa concerthall in Reykjavik, wespoke to the foundersof the main integratorfor the venue

‘You can’t get goodresults unlessthere’s some kind ofpassion involved’

Diversity and passion

� www.exton.is/english

installation europe january 2012 digital edition

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