We made the trip out to Las Vegas last week to attend the largest event of the year in our industry, InfoComm 2010. It is always great to catch up with all of our friends and to take a look at the latest technology that they have on the roadmap. Here are a few highlights.
Extron Electronics continues to add to their Touchlink product line. The TLP 350MV is a wall mount touch panel is ideal for the small installation footprint. It is 3.5” backlight with customizable buttons and a motion sensor. A built in speaker gives an audible feedback when button is pressed.
The new Quantum Elite video wall processor is highly scalable for the largest video wall deployments. It has the ability to input DVI,HDMI,RGB or HD component video signals. It can output resolutions up to 1920×1080.
They have also released their latest version of Global Configurator 3.0.3
Polycom announced the release of their New OTX300 Telepresence system. They key benefits of this system is a lower total cost of ownership due to better bandwidth management, interoperability with other systems not just Telepresence.
Lifesize announced the a new collaboration with LG and launched the LG Executive. This unit is very simple to install on an executives desk and gives you 720p 30 frames. It will receive content but can not send it with this release. I guess the most impressive point on this is the price of $2999.
Vidyo announced a new partnership with HP that will integrate HP Halo into the Vidyo environment.
Crestron – We spent some time speaking to Crestron about their DigitalMedia product line. There is probably enough to talk about here for a separate blog however; the main question is if Analog is going away? In Crestron’s opinion it is and sooner than we think. Their Digitalmedia solves a lot of issues when it comes to distributing HD signals. They have there Quickswitch HD technology that pre-authorizes the HDCP keys and maintains a constant handshake for a continuous, glitch free, HD switching.
VgO Communications (formerly Northend Technologies) had their official release of the VgO product at InfoComm and was a finalist in the best new product of the year. OmniPresence has been working with the folks at VgO communications for several months now and are very excited about the launch. This is a unique product that you need to experience to truly get the feel for what this can do for your company.
Clock Audio released a new retractable table microphone, Retracta CRM202-RF that you can have controlled by a Crestron control system.
All the major display and projection manufacturers were demonstrating some form of 3D technology and this was a major buzz at the show. I think we are just seeing the beginning of this and as improvements in this technology develop it will become more adopted. It is certainly something to keep an eye on.
Posted on June 13th, 2010 by dhofferty
Filed under: High Definition (HD) | No Comments »
Every year in the beginning of June our industries manufacturers, distributers, integrators, and customers get together for what has become one of the largest trade shows held all year called InfoComm. This event (InfoComm 2010), being held in Las Vegas this week, will give us incite to what the latest technology that manufacturers are releasing. If you can make it to Vegas this week than no worries, OmniPresence has it covered. We have scheduled meetings with key manufacturers such as Polycom, Crestron, Extron, Bi-Amp, Clock Audio, and others. We will take a close look at what the latest display technology. Is 3-D for real and will it play a role in the commercial market? We will be looking at improvements in Digital Signage and streaming. Our friends at Vgo Communications will be launching their new video conferencing “mobile telepresence” solution that I’m sure is going to be a huge hit at the show.
So stay tuned. We will have a complete update on what was hot and what wasn’t next week.
Posted on June 7th, 2010 by dhofferty
Filed under: Industry News | No Comments »
Typically in our Blog’s we focus on some exciting new technology that we can offer our customers or what makes us different from other companies in our industry. Since it is Memorial Day weekend my thoughts are in a different more important place. It is with the our Marines, Soldiers, and their families who have made extreme sacrifices for us.
The highlight of the past year for me was our involvement in the Seats for Soldiers night with the Boston Celtics. To bring a piece of home through a video conference to these brave young men and woman who risk their lives every day for us is so gratifying. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of them!!
I also think of the relatives of our OmniPresence families that have passed on. I know that they all have something to do with the great people we have working at OmniPresence. This Memorial Day let’s not forget those people who influenced our lives and are no longer with us.
Posted on June 1st, 2010 by dhofferty
Filed under: Video Conferencing | No Comments »
—It’s all about the Experience—
When Designing a successful AV integrated room there is always one important thing to keep in mind. What will the experience be for the meeting participants? Of Course, that always depends on what they want to do in the room. Are they doing a Video Conference, Audio Conference, possibly both. Are they just doing a local PC presentation. Do they need to share their content with others that are meeting with them from a distance. One of OmniPresence goals in every AV integration is to allow customers to easily communicate their message whether they have a local audience or participants located all over the world. They key things to keep in mind is Quality and Reliability. For example when doing a video conference you want to see the person (or people) as clearly as possible. With the emergence of High Definition Video Conferencing you feel like you are in the same room with everyone. The days of 5 frames a second or missing audio are over!! You also have High Definition Displays and Projectors. This combined with the High Definition Video Conferencing Codecs give the user an experience that is the closest to being there without going there. So you have a good experience but will you get that same consistent positive experience every time?? OmniPresence puts the right infrastructure in place to ensure this. We recommend a central user interface such as a Crestron Control System with a Customized program that makes it simple for the most non-technical person in your organization to do anything in the room. This same system can be accessed remotely so the person supporting the room can have the room ready for the end user without having to do anything. They walk in the room and it is ready for them. There are other central control systems that we recommend in smaller rooms called MediaLink from Extron. These solutions are a bit more basic however can accomplish some of your goals such as giving the end user a single location for switching sources, volume control, and the ability to set a timer so all equipment is powered down at night. This last item, in my opinion, makes this investment pay for itself. Our team of expert AV Designers and Engineers have helped customers think at a higher level about the experience. Let us worry about the technology so you can worry about your meeting!! Dan
Posted on May 26th, 2010 by dhofferty
Filed under: Video Conferencing | No Comments »
One of the most talked about issues we are hearing from our customers is the need to integrate existing room video conferencing units with more mobile, desktop video conferencing systems (see Video Conference Design ). The end users need to be able to connect people at headquarters with employees on the road. We here that Sales Managers need to keep in contact with sales reps, busy Executives who are traveling, need to have meetings with people at HQ or Marketing people need to do training with remote employees.
This is a departure from the past when video units would be deployed only in main locations and people who were traveling or in smaller or remote locations, were not able to use these types of technologies. With the lowering of bandwidth pricing and endpoints, these technologies are now available to more and more people within the enterprise. At OmniPresence we have been helping these types of customers by providing room and desktop video from Vidyo. Vidyo makes videoconferencing that can work with older, legacy room units and can have people join via their laptops. Vidyo also makes room systems that deliver video in High Definition (VidyoRoom HD-100 & VidyoRoom HD-200). So more and more customers are going with a hybrid approach to video. They want solutions that can do room to room, room to desktop and desktop to desktop and have multiple users on each call. The Vidyo solution can provide all of these and that’s why it’s one of our fastest selling solutions.
Posted on May 6th, 2010 by ahilliger
Filed under: AV Integration | No Comments »
OmniPresence uses the latest in Video Communication technology to connect Soldiers in Bagdad and Fort McCoy with their loved ones and the Boston Celtics.
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OmniPresence was thrilled to be part of the third annual Seats for Soldiers night with the Boston Celtics. With the help of the USO we were able to connect with soldiers from this area that are stationed at Fort McCoy Wisconsin while they prepare to go overseas to Afghanistan. The first part of this event was to invite five local families to come into the Larry Bird Conference room at the Celtics Headquarters, which OmniPresence has outfitted with the latest High Definition communication technology, to have one on one private conferences. We also were joined by Rich Gotham president of the Boston Celtics, some of the Celtics Cheerleaders, Lucky the Mascot, and Celtic Legend and current radio voice Cedric Maxwell. |
| After this we went over to the TD Garden and reconnected with the folks at Fort McCoy as well as connecting with some local soldiers stationed in Bagdad. At key points in the game the AV staff at the TD Garden would feed the Video signal from these bases so they were displayed on the Megatron. We also had families of the troops in Bagdad join us so they could speak to their loved ones during the game.”We are experts in integrating AV in Boardrooms and Conference rooms for our customers. It is great to be able to use this incredible technology to connect families to their loved ones half way around the world. Thanks to the USO and the entire Celtics organization for helping OmniPresence with this special event.” - Dan Hofferty, CTS Vice President of Sales |
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Posted on April 7th, 2010 by dhofferty
Filed under: High Definition (HD), Industry News | 1 Comment »
