SEEING IS BELIEVING Clients experience AV/IT at Advanced s Executive Briefing Center

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1 Vol. 60 No.12 December 22, 2014 SEEING IS BELIEVING Clients experience AV/IT at Advanced s Executive Briefing Center FROM THE CROW S NEST Pete Putman s paramount prognostications for 2015: Back to the future SPEECH PRIVACY Dealing with work environment and legal requirements SKLZ, WITH EXOS, DOES TECHNOLOGY WITH STYLE VIEW OUR INTERACTIVE DIGITAL EDITION: soundandcommunications.com

It s not entry level; rather, it s basic, explained David Weatherhead, Co-President of Advanced.

2 SEEING IS BELIEVING Clients experience AV/IT at Advanced s Executive Briefing Center. BY DAN DALEY The Focus room is fitted with an 87-inch interactive short-throw-projector whiteboard and a wall-mounted pushbutton controller. It s not entry level; rather, it s basic, explained David Weatherhead, Co-President of Advanced. The Advanced Executive Briefing Center greeted Sound & Communications upon arrival on its 2x2 videowall comprised of four 55-inch LED/LCD ultra-thin bezel panels. Omar Prashad, Systems Integration General Manager of Advanced, the Toronto-based AV systems integrator, was having a meta moment. Sitting at a high-top table in a Jack Astor s restaurant (think Applebee s with back bacon and Molson) in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga, he realized that not only had Advanced installed the 3x3 LCD videowall that loomed over the restaurant s main bar, but at that moment the screen was showing the new HD videowall that Advanced recently created as the backdrop for sports network TSN s wrap-up show. I wasn t expecting that, he said, simultaneously marveling at the serendipity of the moment while also gauging the resolution of the image. Something like that was also happening on a larger scale for the company, which will celebrate its 20 th anniversary in Systems integrators build AV infrastructure for a living for their clients; it s their raison d être. But what about when it comes to building their own infrastructure, when their house becomes the show home? It s like when an architect builds his or her own house: It has to meet personal needs but it s also built with the implicit understanding that it will be scrutinized differently. It will be a statement about how the builder thinks all houses should be designed. Executive Briefing Center Last month, Advanced put the finishing touches on its new home base, a 25,000-square-foot facility in Mississauga industrial park. Inside, there s space for sales and marketing, engineering and design, of course, but 44 Sound & Communications

6-mm, 110-inch diagonal LED display in the Digital Signage

3 The Digital Signage room, a 24-foot-high L-shaped room, looks like an indoor Times Square. The Leyard 1.6-mm, 110-inch diagonal LED display in the Digital Signage room is the only one of its kind in North America at the moment. December

The Collaboration room is dominated by the 137-inch-diagonal, dual-projection, edge-blended fully interactive display. You can also see the 84-inch interactive flatpanel.

At once, it s a rethink of how AV technology is presented to customers and an application of the same kind of immersiveness that clients want integrators to bring to their projects.

4 The Collaboration room is dominated by the 137-inch-diagonal, dual-projection, edge-blended fully interactive display. You can also see the 84-inch interactive flatpanel. the space is also intended to act as a narrative showroom that presents AV options contextually to clients. At once, it s a rethink of how AV technology is presented to customers and an application of the same kind of immersiveness that clients want integrators to bring to their projects. Yo, hip-hop ain t everyone s favorite corporate music! That s why custom audio providers are generating substantial value-add for their customers using Barix technology and music programmes geared towards target groups. The result? Crystal-clear, reliable & handpicked music. Got a message to get through? Visit The point here is to show clients the technology in a working context, instead of talking about it in the abstract, said Prashad, walking through the series of sequential demonstration spaces known collectively as the Executive Briefing Center, that are designed to be not so much good-better-best, but to be points on a continuum in which integrated systems are shown at work in realistic environments. The tour starts with Focus (the rooms are whimsically yet purposefully named), a small presentation room fitted with a SMART Technologies 885ix2 interactive short-throw projector whiteboard, an Extron MLC 55 wall-mounted MediaLink push-button controller and an Extron TeamWork 601 preconfigured collaboration system. It s not entry level; rather, it s basic, explained David Weatherhead, Co- President of Advanced. It s the kind of room that a large corporation might want to replicate dozens of times. Next door, in Brainstorm, a SMART Technologies 8070i 70-inch interactive flatpanel display is paired with an Extron TLP Pro 720M seven-inch wall-mounted control touchpanel and an Extron flat-field speaker. The flatpanel s contrast seems to be a step up over the projected image of the previous room, but Prashad then steps back into the Focus room, closes the blinds and turns off the overhead light, which makes the projected image appear brighter and sharper. Both rooms can be looked at from the hallway through windows positioned so the equipment in each can be seen from a single vantage point. It was designed so you can be in the rooms or see in the rooms and shift that perspective as you need to, said Prashad. Innovation Innovation is a corner conference room with lots of natural light and a Polycom/Crestron CX8000 Lync room system that includes a Crestron UC codec, Polycom CX panoramic video camera with audio capture, a 10- inch tabletop touchscreen for control, an NEC V inch display with an NEC TSI touch overlay and a Crestron QM-RMC control processor. Here, the conversation gets deeper. What really makes this all work is that it s intended to let the client see his or her own content on any of these systems, in any room, at any time, said Prashad. That s the game changer: They re seeing their own content and seeing which systems and in 46 Sound & Communications

From left: Omar Prashad, Mark McPherson and David Weatherhead in the Collaboration room.

controlled with a TPMC-8L 8.4- inch wall-mounted touchpanel. It s here that the conversation turns to how the technology platforms and how products that equip each room were chosen.

Prysm, Anacore, Delta, Middle Atlantic, BrightSign and others.

integrated into the same overall system. It s an atmosphere that he said will be familiar to those in IT, where that domain s mainstay switches which types of environments it looks best.

But when you walk around and look at the same content on the same screen from an angle on the side, it looks less so. But from that same angle it may look great on an LED videowall.

In this regard, Prashad said that they ve taken a leaf out of the residential AV integrator s playbook, creating realistic working environments and then blasting the equivalent of familiar

Collaboration The narrative continues in Collaboration, a large room with three distinct system environments.

5 From left: Omar Prashad, Mark McPherson and David Weatherhead in the Collaboration room. behemoth that, theoretically, can be extended continuously with additional displays and short-throw projectors, is supported with Mersive Solstice collaboration software and a Crestron CP2E processor controlled with a TPMC-8L 8.4- inch wall-mounted touchpanel. It s here that the conversation turns to how the technology platforms and how products that equip each room were chosen. The collection, worth an estimated $1 million, is a combination of acquisitions and donations, in Weatherhead s words, from an array of partner companies, including Polycom, Crestron, Extron, NEC, Prysm, Anacore, Delta, Middle Atlantic, BrightSign and others. These, Weatherhead said, share Advanced s foundational notion: It s not a competitive environment but a collaborative one, where Crestron and Extron products are not only shown together but integrated into the same overall system. It s an atmosphere that he said will be familiar to those in IT, where that domain s mainstay switches which types of environments it looks best. Weatherhead agreed, adding, You might look at your content on one type of screen, an HD plasma, for instance, and it looks stunning. But when you walk around and look at the same content on the same screen from an angle on the side, it looks less so. But from that same angle it may look great on an LED videowall. That s the key: You re looking at familiar content so you can focus on what you re seeing it through. In this regard, Prashad said that they ve taken a leaf out of the residential AV integrator s playbook, creating realistic working environments and then blasting the equivalent of familiar home-theater perennial demo favorite Master And Commander through the speakers. You rarely see this kind of demonstration on the commercial side, he said, but it s the best way to tell the story. Collaboration The narrative continues in Collaboration, a large room with three distinct system environments. On one end is a SMART Lync 8084i-G4 room system with an 84-inch interactive HD camera and dual tabletop microphones, an 11.6-inch tabletop control touchpanel/ administrative console and wall-mounted CSR 500 speakers. At the other end is a Polycom HDX 7000 system with an Eagle Eye camera, and two NEC 46-inch LCD monitors. In the center, dominating the rectangular room, is a Delta WX21i-HD 137-inch diagonal, dual-projection, edge-blended fully interactive display. This 11½-foot-long See everything. Work anywhere. A 360º View of Operations. Real-time Visual Collaboration. Canvas is visual business intelligence. Share any source with colleagues down the hall, across campus, or around the world. On the video wall, PCs, tablets and smartphones. Share live video, applications, data and more. From any location, at any time, on any device. JUPITER SYSTEMS Collaborate like no one has ever collaborated before. With Canvas, you can draw, annotate, and type directly on live video. Point out an area of interest, circle a person or object in motion, create a shared whiteboard. Work in real time, solve problems, with one person or many. December

6 and terminals have less brand intensity than AV s speakers and screens. You might think having a SMART touchscreen and an NEC touchscreen in the same space would be a detriment to the brands, but here it s really just the opposite, said Prashad. The goal is to drive customers and put the technology in the right light. And it does that. Installation Like, And Unlike, Most Others The Collaboration room is also where the integration aspect of the facility emerges. The long, rectangular conference table is supported by two TechPeds, a technology pedestal built by Middle Atlantic, which also constructed the table itself. The TechPed conceals the Delta WX s electronics rack, as well as the PC running the Mersive Solstice software, porting into an Extron Cable Cubby 200 with HDMI and VGA connectivity. Some cabling is run in a conduit cored under the floor; some is run beneath a metal cover, showing clients both options for wiring. The entire facility is wrapped with multimode fiber, with plenty of dark fiber ready for future additions to the space. The displays and the other systems might change, but damned if we ll have to go fishing for fiber again, Prashad proclaimed. That cabling, though, showed that this new facility, for all of its other ambitions, is no different from any other AV integration project. The cabling, like the rest of the project, was handled by Advanced s own installers and engineers, and the occasional glitches occurred. For instance, one part of a room s specifications called for shielded twisted-pair cabling, but unshielded wire accidentally went in, a mistake that was rectified quickly but involved pulling out the installed wire. They replaced it with Provo Cat6 shielded 24Ga ( Y). In another instance, it was noticed that the drywall contractor had not placed the correct support backing behind a wall that was to hold a large display. The wall was rebuilt. In fact, the new facility was entered into Advanced s project scheduling software as though it were an outside project, and the company s Co-President, Mark Mulford, was assigned to play the role of the client. He was to be informed if personnel had to be reassigned to another project on a day they were expected to work on the new facility (and he could stay in character and fume about it to the project manager to heighten the authenticity of the exercise). Any change orders had to be signed off on by all concerned parties. In all, Advanced Vice President Mark McPherson reported that there were nine major revisions to the project over four months of construction. We treated ourselves like the customer, he stated. We logged in and checked off the same milestones as we would on any project. If anything, it deepened a sense of empa- Equipment FOCUS 1 Extron MLC 55 RS wall-mounted MediaLink push-button controller 1 Extron TeamWork 601 pre-configured collaboration system for 4 digital, 2 analog sources 1 SMART Technologies 885ix2 interactive whiteboard BRAINSTORM 1 Extron TLP Pro 720M 7" wall-mounted control touchpanel 1 Extron IN1608 MA IP scaling presentation switcher 1 Extron flat-field speaker 1 SMART Technologies 8070i 70" interactive flatpanel display INNOVATION 1 Crestron QM-RMC control processor 1 Extron Cable Cubby 200 supporting 1x HDMI (digital), 1x VGA w/audio (analog) connectivity 1 NEC V801 80" display 1 Polycom CX5100 Lync room system camera, 360 panoramic video w/audio capture 1 Polycom/Crestron CX8000 Lync Room System w/crestron UC Codec, speaker bar, 10" tabletop touchscreen 1 TSI touch overlay for 80" NEC display COLLABORATION 1 Crestron CP2E processor 1 Crestron TPMC-8L 8.4" wall-mounted touchpanel 1 Delta WX21i-HD 137" diagonal, dual projection, edge-blended fully interactive display 1 Extron Cable Cubby Mersive Solstice collaboration software 2 Middle Atlantic TP-F1318 TechPed Series technology pedestals 1 SMART Lync Room System w/8084i-g4 84" interactive flatpanel, HD camera, dual tabletop mics, 11.6" tabletop control touchpanel/administrative console, CSR500 wall-mounted speakers 1 Polycom HDX 7000 room telepresence (1 Eagle Eye camera, 2 NEC 46" LCD monitors) 1 Video Furniture International mobile cart RECEPTION MEDIA WALL 1 Anacore SSI-1DH6IAG-ANA 1 BellTV receiver 1 BrightSign 4K1042 4K digital signage media player 1 Orion LED/LCD ultra-thin-bezel videowall w/2x2 panels (4 55" OLM-5520) CUSTOMER SERVICE MEDIA WALL 1 BrightSign HD220 2K digital signage media player 1 BrightSign 4K1042 4K digital signage media player 1 Datapath X4 display controller 1 HP custom PC driving full resolution content 6 NEC X463UN 46" LED/LCD ultra-thin-bezel videowall panels in 1 2x3 videowall 1 Rogers HD cable box DIGITAL SIGNAGE ROOM 1 Aviary Par4keet video processor (Green Hippo) for playing and processing video to displays 6 BrightSign XD230 media players (driving content to the different videowalls) 1 Delta 2x2 array rear-projection cube, 67" diagonal, SXGA resolution 1 Leyard 110" diagonal 1.6mm pitch direct LED display 3 NanoLumens 112" NanoFlex 6mm flexible LED displays 2 NanoLumens 114" NanoSlim 5mm LED displays 16 NEC X464UN LED/LCD panels in a 4x4 46" videowall 3 NEC X554UN LED/LCD panels in a 1x3 55" videowall, portrait mode, driven by full-resolution 3K content 4 Orion OPM-4260 seamless plasma panels in a 1x4 42" vertical videowall 1 Panasonic 103" plasma display 12 Prysm LPD (Laser Phosphor Display) TD1 tiles in 4x3 array videowall 1 Sharp LC90LE650U 90" LED/LCD display in portrait mode List is edited from information supplied by Advanced. 48 Sound & Communications

thy for clients in general. Like any good show, Advanced s new facility saved the biggest for last.

Aimed inward from three sides are the Executive Briefing Center s largest displays: a Prysm Laser Phosphor Display (LPD) videowall in 4x3 array comprised of 12 Prysm TD1 tiles; an NEC 4x4 46-inch

X554UN LED/LCD panels configured in portrait mode and capable of displaying 3K content; an Orion 1x4 42-inch videowall with four Orion OPM-4260 seamless plasma panels; two NanoLumens displays: a

These are fed by a combination of a Green Hippo Aviary Par4keet 4K+ video processor and six BrightSign XD230 media players.

room has quite a few. The parallel, highly reflective surfaces were left that way purposely, said Prashad, for exactly that reason.

The final stop on the tour is a combination warehouse space and engineering area, the latter where systems can be prebuilt and tested before installation.

It s there on an experimental basis, a super-hd technology product waiting for the content to catch up.

7 thy for clients in general. Like any good show, Advanced s new facility saved the biggest for last. The end of the main corridor opens onto the Digital Signage Room, a 24-foothigh, L-shaped room that looks like an indoor Times Square. Aimed inward from three sides are the Executive Briefing Center s largest displays: a Prysm Laser Phosphor Display (LPD) videowall in 4x3 array comprised of 12 Prysm TD1 tiles; an NEC 4x4 46-inch videowall made up of 16 NEC X464UN LED/LCD panels; a Delta rear-projection cube in a 2x2 array measuring 67 inches diagonal, with SXGA resolution; an NEC 1x3 55-inch videowall made up of three NEC X554UN LED/LCD panels configured in portrait mode and capable of displaying 3K content; an Orion 1x4 42-inch videowall with four Orion OPM-4260 seamless plasma panels; two NanoLumens displays: a 112-inch NanoFlex using 6mm flexible LED displays and a 114-inch Nano- Slim with 5mm LEDs; a Sharp 90-inch LED/LCD display in portrait mode; and a Panasonic 103-inch plasma display. These are fed by a combination of a Green Hippo Aviary Par4keet 4K+ video processor and six BrightSign XD230 media players. The room is large enough to hang a line array sound system in, which they did in October, demonstrating to a client how a steerable line array could help mitigate sidewall reflections, of which this room has quite a few. The parallel, highly reflective surfaces were left that way purposely, said Prashad, for exactly that reason. It reproduces what a lot of clients have to deal with when it comes to sound in their spaces. The final stop on the tour is a combination warehouse space and engineering area, the latter where systems can be prebuilt and tested before installation. At the moment, it was also home to a Leyard 1.6mm, 110-inch diagonal LED display with breathtaking resolution. It s there on an experimental basis, a super-hd technology product waiting for the content to catch up. It s that idea that partially drives the Executive Briefing Center concept: that AV technology changes so quickly and sometimes so radically that it can no longer be adequately evaluated by end users without sufficient context. In fact, the Center itself will undergo annual reviews to see what new technology products, systems and platforms it will need to stay current and even a bit ahead of a fast-changing game. And, as if to acknowledge the role that IT systems will play in that future, Prashad said, only partly in jest, that, when it comes to software, We ll be reviewing that on a daily basis. Dan Daley has covered the confluence of technology, business and culture for almost 30 years. He has also been a successful composer and recording studio owner, and authored the book, Unwritten Rules: Inside the Business of Country Music. LiveCore series handles true 4K resolutions 4K HDMI now available on all LiveCore Premium Video Processors To learn more, connect with us on: The Americas Analog Way Inc. - New York Phone: salesusa@analogway.com

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