For AV/IT professionals, there’s no better way to kick off the year than a trip to Barcelona for the annual Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) to learn about innovations, network with peers from around the world, and experience tech on a grand stage. Hosted at the now familiar Fira de Barcelona, from February 3-6, 2026, ISE is poised to break previous records.

We caught up with Mike Blackman, managing director at Integrated Systems Events and SCN Hall of Famer. He shares his insights and excitement for end users, integrators, and consultants, and suggests why you should consider attending ISE in Barcelona.

AVNetwork: Mike, ISE has grown into the world’s largest AV and systems integration exhibition. What do you think makes ISE such a magnet for the global AV community?

Mike Blackman: ISE’s success lies in its ability to reflect and anticipate the needs of the AV industry. From our beginnings in Geneva to our current home in Barcelona, we’ve always focused on creating a platform that fosters innovation, collaboration, and business growth. What makes ISE unique is its truly international scope, over 160 countries are represented, and we’re not just showcasing technology; we’re shaping the future of how AV integrates into every aspect of life and work.

AVN: What is the theme for this year’s show?

Blackman: The theme for ISE 2026 is “Push Beyond”. It’s more than a slogan—it’s a mindset. We’re encouraging the global pro AV and systems integration communities to challenge conventional thinking, embrace bold ideas, and explore new possibilities. Whether it’s through technology, design, or collaboration, ISE 2026 is about pushing beyond expectations to shape the future of our industry. You’ll see this reflected across our content programme, including megatrend sessions, exhibitor showcases, and new initiatives like Spark.

AVN: How does ISE serve the North American market, and why should we make the trip to Barcelona?

Blackman: North America plays a crucial role in the AV ecosystem, and each year we see strong engagement from U.S. and Canadian professionals. ISE complements shows like InfoComm by providing a broader international perspective. Many North American attendees tell us they come to ISE to experience product launches ahead of similar announcements at North American trade shows, to network globally, and to benchmark innovations from Europe and Asia. It’s not about competition, but about synergy. ISE is where global trends converge—an invaluable opportunity for North American integrators, manufacturers, and end users aiming to stay at the forefront of the industry.

AVN: What trends are you seeing that North American professionals should pay attention to?

Blackman: The AV industry is evolving rapidly, driven by several transformative trends. AI is reshaping how we interact with technology, from smart environments and predictive analytics to immersive experiences powered by generative content. At the same time, cybersecurity is becoming increasingly critical as AV systems integrate with essential infrastructure, a challenge addressed by the launch of our first ISE Cybersecurity Summit.

At ISE 2026, these trends and more will be explored through our Megatrends programme, offering 14 hours of expert-led sessions across six key areas: AI, Cybersecurity, Robotics, Smart Spaces, Sustainability, and TradeScape. Attendees will gain insights into the latest innovations and see them demonstrated on the show floor, from unified communications and digital signage to smart building technologies.

One of the most urgent trends is sustainability. At the recent SAVe Annual Conference in Los Angeles, AV professionals convened to advance the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The industry is increasingly focused on reducing e-waste, designing for energy efficiency, and embracing circular economy principles. Manufacturers are developing greener products, and integrators are rethinking deployment and maintenance strategies.

ISE proudly supports initiatives like SAVe, reinforcing our commitment to innovation, collaboration, and equipping the AV community to meet the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly changing industry.

AVN: ISE 2025 broke attendance records. What does that say about the state of the industry?

Blackman: It tells us the industry is thriving. We had over 85,000 unique visitors and 187,000 total visits—a 15% increase year-on-year. That kind of growth reflects a hunger for connection, learning, and innovation. It also shows that AV is no longer a niche. It’s foundational to how we live, communicate, collaborate, and create.

AVN: Keynotes are always a highlight at ISE. What can attendees expect this year?

Blackman: We’re thrilled to welcome Sol Rashidi as our keynote speaker for ISE 2026. Sol is a globally respected AI strategist and former Chief AI Officer at companies like Sony Music, Merck, Estée Lauder, and Amazon. Her keynote, titled “The AI Reality Check: What It Takes to Scale and the Future of Leadership”, will cut through the hype and offer practical insights into AI adoption, governance, and cybersecurity. Sol’s human-centric approach and deep enterprise experience make her the perfect voice to challenge and inspire our audience. Her session aligns with our theme, Push Beyond, and will be a must-attend for anyone navigating the future of AV and tech leadership.

AVN: What’s next for ISE?

Blackman: We’re already planning ISE 2026 with new initiatives, which will redefine exhibition experiences and expanded Listening Suites for immersive audio showcases.

We’re incredibly excited about the launch of Spark at ISE 2026. Spark is a unique, cross-vertical gathering that unites trailblazers, visionaries and pioneers from the full spectrum of the creative industries. Here, creative minds collide, ignite, and set the stage for breakthroughs that will ripple beyond the event and redefine what’s possible for the entire industry.

Our goal is to keep pushing boundaries—technologically, creatively, and geographically. We want ISE to remain the place where the AV world meets, learns, and leads.

AVN: Trade shows have been increasingly attracting end users. InfoComm 2025 reached 39,579 registrants, with a record 35% of verified attendees being end users. Do you track the percentage of end users at ISE, and has that been increasing?

Blackman: Absolutely, we do. Similar to InfoComm events, end-user participation at ISE has been steadily growing in recent years. While our roots are in the AV channel, ISE has evolved into a key destination for corporate buyers, education leaders, hospitality executives, retail strategists, and many others who rely on AV to drive business outcomes. At ISE 2025, approximately one-third of our 85,000+ unique visitors from 168 countries were end users with purchasing authority.

To ensure these attendees find real value, we invest in tailored content, vertical-specific technology zones, and curated networking opportunities. In addition, our Tech Tours and off-site experiences allow both end users and channel partners to see real-life applications of the technologies showcased on the show floor across a variety of industries.

AVN: Do you have specific strategies to entice more end users from North America?

Blackman: Yes, and it’s a priority for us. We know North American end users are looking for global insights, early access to innovation, and strategic partnerships. That’s why we’ve expanded our conference programme, including the Megatrends sessions that tackle topics like AI, cybersecurity, smart spaces, and sustainability—all highly relevant to enterprise and institutional buyers. As I mentioned earlier, we’re also launching Spark, a new initiative focused on creative industries and content workflows, which we believe will resonate strongly with media, entertainment, and broadcast professionals from the U.S. and Canada.

AVN: Any final thoughts for your North American audience?

Blackman: If you haven’t been to ISE yet, make 2026 the year you Push Beyond. It’s more than a trade show; it’s a global experience. Whether you're an integrator, manufacturer, educator, or creative, ISE offers insights and opportunities you won’t find anywhere else. And for those who’ve joined us before—we thank you. We look forward to welcoming you back to Barcelona.

Register to attend ISE 2026!

Barix is set to head to ISE 2023 with a new Annuncicom audio-over-IP device developed for networked intercom and paging applications with elevated security standards. Part of the company’s growing family of IPAC IP audio products, the Annuncicom MPI400 provides a versatile and futureproof hardware and software platform that meets modern IT security requirements, is compatible with Microsoft Teams, and is adaptable to individual customer needs across a variety of audio environments.

The Annuncicom MPI400 can serve as a robust IP intercom and paging end point or as a gateway between IP and legacy systems, microphone/speakers, or an amplifier. It is deployable within an InfomaCast or Syn-Apps architecture for emergency mass notification systems, and meets the latest requirements for secure SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) integration with VoIP telephone systems. These features make the Annuncicom MPI400 ideal for secure communications within schools, factories, transportation centers and corporate office buildings.

[AVoIP Standards: The Fight to Get It Right] 

The Annuncicom MPI400 is also the first Barix Annuncicom device to support the OPUS codec, offering higher quality audio for SIP voice transmission as well as background music streams. With five priority settings, customers can configure the device to switch between audio sources when supporting multiple applications. That not only enhances versatility for users but reduces equipment costs by removing the need for an audio matrix switcher. 

“Annuncicom devices have served paging, intercom and background music applications for nearly three decades across a wide array of business verticals worldwide,” said Reto Brader, CEO, Barix. “Our latest IPAC product firmware strengthens security for the most stringent IT environments, following the latest standards for HTTPS, Secure RTP (SRTP), Secure SIP (SIPS) and more. The same firmware ensures broad open interoperability across AES67, Dante and leading mass notification networks, and overall represents Barix’s spirit of innovation and flexibility for both LAN and WAN-based Audio over IP networking.”

That interoperability spirit expands into the Microsoft Teams universe, which Barix will announce in greater detail closer to ISE. However, the Annuncicom MPI400 can support bidirectional calls and trigger relays through Teams for door or siren activations, for example.

[JUST RELEASED: SCN Top 50 Systems Integrators 2022] 

The PoE-powered Annuncicom MPI400 feature set also includes contact closure inputs, relay outputs, and line and mic/speaker support. Its two dry contact closure inputs are expandable to USB to establish a connection or select a delivery target, while low voltage replay outputs can activate amplifiers when SIP calls are received. These benefits also make the device ideal for door intercom stations and help points, for example. With two microphone inputs and IP connectivity to speaker systems, the Annuncicom MPI400 is also suitable for everyday paging needs in schools and retail environments, as well as IP audio surveillance in very sensitive environments including casinos.

Now shipping, Barix will publicly debut the Annuncicom MPI400 device at ISE 2023, which takes place from January 31-February 3 at the Fira Barcelona Gran Via in Spain. Barix exhibits at Stand 7B150.

Carousel Digital Signage will celebrate its 25th year in business this month with its second annual Carousel Swoop, a customer-focused virtual event designed to educate attendees on topics close to the Carousel user community and provide a peak at what’s ahead for the coming year. Carousel invites existing customers, including partners and end users, as well as AV, IT, and vertical-industry professionals new to the company to participate in the event, which takes place November 16th at 11a.m. ET.

“As we look to 2023, Carousel Digital Signage is focused on creating specific features and content offerings that allow schools, municipalities and businesses to communicate more effectively with their audiences,” said JJ Parker, CEO, Carousel Digital Signage. “We would love for you to join us for The Swoop to learn about our unique approach to digital signage and what really makes Carousel shine.”

[Why 47 McDonald's QSRs Trust Carousel Digital Signage]

This year’s Carousel Swoop presentations include:

• Security Initiatives: Carousel’s IT professionals will share insights into modern security protocols for cloud signage networks, and steps the company has taken to strengthen its commitment to information security and digital signage content protection on IT networks.
• Education Support: Carousel’s marketing director will share how K-12 schools can enhance social and emotional learning with digital signage on campus.
• Customer Success: Carousel’s sales and executive teams will detail how customers can achieve the most value out of subscription-based Carousel Cloud deployments, and learn about what new features and improvements are in store for 2023. 

[Digital Signage on the Go] 

Following the success of last year’s maiden event, Carousel Digital Signage has committed to making Carousel Swoop an annual event taking place every November. Registration for this year’s Carousel Swoop is now open.

For the first time in three years and as a fully unified division, Exertis Almo, the largest and most specialized value-added North American AV distributor is returning to the Eastern region to deliver two unforgettable, single-day E4 Experience events that cater specifically to local area resellers, integrators and their end users.

Billed as the most recognized and valuable one-day education/training and product showcase, the E4 Experience is heading to Washington, D.C. on September 23 and Boston on October 20. Both will feature dramatic showrooms packed with the latest AV gear, and a stacked lineup of AVIXA CTS-certified business, technical and trend sessions.

[Exertis Almo, Spectrio Partner to Expand Digital Signage Content Creation Services]

“The fall E4 Experience will be an industry event like no other in terms of size, scope and opportunity,” explained Melody Craigmyle, vice president of marketing and communications, Almo Corporation. “It’s been a long three years with multiple attempts thwarted by the pandemic, so we are looking forward to a homecoming with our Eastern region. We can’t wait to introduce our combined team and share all the additional people, products and resources that are available as an Exertis Almo partner.” Craigmyle continued, “We have more than 40 manufacturers that will fill our showroom with their latest AV gear, along with the top industry gurus delivering quality educational content worth AVIXA CTS RUs.”  

AN All-Star Pro AV Education Line-Up

One of the bread-and-butter elements of an E4 Experience is the ability to earn high-quality AVIXA-certified CTS renewal units, which is especially important toward the end of the year when CTS renewal credits tend to be most-needed. Led by the industry’s most trusted experts on topics ranging from the basics to the hottest trends, the E4 Experience education track exposes attendees to a wide range of critical topics, including:

• Keynote Address: The Future of Workspaces is All About Experiences (1 CTS RU)
• Gary Kayye’s Official E4 Experience Live Show Floor Tour (CTS .5 RU)
• Power and Grounding: The Fundamentals (1 CTS RU)
• Installation Issue for Converged AVIT (1 CTS RU)
• Camera Selection, Switching and Control for Remote Learning (CTS TBD)
• Panel Discussion: The Future of AV in 2023
• Conducting a Needs Analysis (1 CTS RU)
• Successful Project Management for Design and Installation (1 CTS RU)

Resellers will have the opportunity to register for Exertis Almo’s recently announced “Ireland Bucket List” contest and earn bonus points for attending an E4 Experience. “The E4 Experience showroom really gives our attendees the opportunity to grow their knowledge base and become more informed about the products they have available to them,” explained Craigmyle.

[Exertis Almo Wants to Make a Bucket List Trip to Ireland a Reality—Here's How]

Additionally, according to Craigmyle, as Exertis Almo is always looking for ways to give back and serve nationally, regionally and locally, the fall E4 Experience will kick-off in Washington, D.C. with a Generosity Feeds event for staff and sponsors by which the group will work together to pack meals to help fight hunger in the D.C. area.

What to Know About the Almo E4 Program

The Exertis Almo E4 Experience is the AV industry’s most recognized and most valuable education/training, product showcase and networking program wrapped into a single day. It is the only single-day, live regional event that packs in a non-stop day of learning, showcasing and connecting to minimize time away projects but maximize what can be brought back to your business.

[AV Network's top stories, product news, and expert insights] 

Named a 2022 SCN Stellar Service Award winner, the E4 Experience brings together top educators, manufacturing partners, AVIXA CTS Renewal Unit certified training, technology firsts and endless networking opportunities. Attendees can expect to learn the latest business and industry trends necessary to stay productive and gain valuable skills that can immediately be implemented.

The E4 Experience Washington, D.C. is taking place at the Hyatt Regency Reston on September 23 and the E4 Experience Boston is taking place at the Newton, MA on October 20. Both include breakfast and lunch, and are entirely free to local Exertis Almo partners and their end users. To register, go to www.e4experience.com.

Lightware Visual Engineering, a leading manufacturer of connectivity solutions for the professional integrated systems market, announces Discover Lightware, an exclusive educational session on Monday, April 11, 2022, in New York City. Gergely Vida, founder and chief executive officer for Lightware, will lead the event alongside many of Lightware’s key thought leaders and engineers.

[Lightware Joins Esports Trade Association]

During the Discover Lightware event, Mr. Vida will highlight key insights, industry trends, and future projections for the professional AV industry. He will be accompanied by András Tóth, head of research and development for Lightware. Mr. Tóth will be demonstrating the new extender versions of Taurus UCX as a sneak preview of Lightware’s presentations during ISE 2022 and InfoComm 2022. 

Attendees will have the opportunity to exchange ideas with Lightware’s founder and lead engineers, hear about the future of USB extension technologies for the collaboration room, and experience a live demonstration of Lightware’s new Taurus extension solution. The event will include a live Q&A with Lightware’s top engineers developing technology for the future of the industry. 

[Lightware Visual Engineering Joins PSNI as Global Preferred Vendor Partner]

“Discover Lightware is an opportunity for our customers to speak with our founder and engineers firsthand to learn about the exciting technology that we are developing for the future of the industry,” said Jason Tirado, president for Lightware. “Gergely Vida and our team of industry experts are excited to share their insights and industry projections. Attendees will have the opportunity to be the first to hear about our new Taurus extension solution, which we are set to showcase at ISE 2022 and InfoComm 2022. We invite our North American partners to join us for an exciting day of education and networking.” 

The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) Global Summit 2018 began with opening keynotes from representatives from the UK House of Lords, Ofcom, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Microsoft. Each representative summarized the importance of open communication on modern and innovative spectrum management methodologies, including dynamically shared and license-exempt operations.

Twenty-two different regulatory bodies from across the world are being represented at the DSA Global Summit and they joined together for a regulator workshop to discuss spectrum sharing and dynamic spectrum access on an international level. The goal was to share common challenges regarding connecting the unconnected and building the next generation networks for the demands of tomorrow, as well as to share ideas on solutions going forward. This was the largest collection of regulators in the DSA Global Summit’s history and consisted of representatives from around the globe.

“Managing spectrum efficiently is crucial to improving how we enjoy technology today and enabling the services of tomorrow,” said Philip Marnick, Spectrum Group director at Ofcom. “It demands a collaborative approach. This includes exploring options for greater sharing of spectrum among different users and looking at new ways to ensure all industries can access the airwaves they need to unlock the full potential of future technology.”

Following the morning keynotes, Dr. Preston Marshall, principal, wireless architecture at Google, presented on “challenges with the current spectrum approach.” Marshall explained why dynamic spectrum access can drive a more efficient use of spectrum that lowers the cost of access, increases the opportunities for new entrants, and stimulates innovation. He also presented dynamic sharing models that are currently deployed and the market, coverage, and service opportunities, highlighting that the current dominant approach of exclusive licensing for spectrum has challenges for the future.

The challenges with the current approaches to spectrum management and the need for change were key themes of the morning, as several industry figures came together to discuss use cases for shared spectrum to help solve some of the most intractable problems regarding connecting the unconnected. Participants included Dr. Héctor Huici, secretary, Information Technology and Communications, Ministry of Communications Argentina, and representatives from Microsoft, SOVA Innovation Center for TVWS Broadband Development, Whitespace UK, Carlson Wireless, Mawingu Networks, and Cenerva Limited. The panel addressed how shared spectrum access use cases are helping to narrow the digital divide, while acknowledging that more needs to be done.

TV White Space was a key focus of the morning and Mr. Haiyun Tang, CEO of Adaptrum presented the progress and development of TVWS technology and the advances which are in the pipeline.

Catherine Gabay, deputy director of spectrum monitoring and enforcement at ANFR, the National Agency for Spectrum Management in France, commented: “Spectrum is a rare and strategic resource for many services and users, both government and private, which must cohabitate in this finite space (from 9Khz to 300Ghz). One of ANFR’s main activities consists in securing the spectrum, by fighting against interference risks, resolving on-site harmful interference cases, and developing pedagogical actions to promote the good use of spectrum. Interferences, whether intentional or not, may affect the availability of services that depend on spectrum, with the risk of rendering them inoperative. Therefore, securing the radio frequency spectrum contributes to digital security and more generally to economic security, since it is so difficult to find state or economic activities not using wireless technologies.

“It is great to participate in the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Global Summit and share ideas with the various participants from around the world. I will listen with attention to industry representatives’ interests in spectrum sharing for developing wireless applications or spreading broadband internet access in rural areas. ANFR wishes to raise the awareness of all users of spectrum, today’s users and potential future users, of their crucial role in protecting this resource permitting harmonious cohabitation of all spectrum users, both licensed and unlicensed ones. When spectrum sharing is at stake, ANFR wishes that this important objective be kept in mind by all parties at all times.”

There are a lot of different solutions on the market today for enterprise collaboration, active learning, and custom interactive video walls….but there’s only one company with a platform that does them all.

That company is T1V, and at an event on April 26 hosted by HB Communications at Leyard and Planar’s New York City showroom, the firm gave local integrators and end users the opportunity to see firsthand how its ThinkHub suite of software solutions can transform the way institutions work and teach.

Essentially, the company specializes in multi-touch, interactive, BYOD-friendly software that runs from Macintosh hardware and transforms just about any touch-capable display into a collaboration ecosystem. It comes in multiple iterations tailored for its core use cases. These include ThinkHub for BYOD collaboration and videoconferencing in enterprises; ViewHub for presentation; and ThinkHub Connect, a hybrid solution aimed specifically at active learning classrooms—a burgeoning market upon which the company is placing increased emphasis.

“This is software based; that’s really what sets us apart,” said Karen George LeClair, T1V’s business development manager, higher education. “There’s less hardware, fewer points of failure, you’re continuously getting updates and upgrades. So what you purchase today is going to be a better product two years from now, three years from now. There’s a singular user experience across all projects, so it’s an intuitive user experience.”

Complementing ThinkHub and ViewHub is the company’s device-agnostic BYOD application, AirConnect, which is free and can be downloaded and operated by an unlimited number of users. “This is the piece that we feel is different from what anyone else has out there,” LeClair said. “Because through that, you can view the canvas, you can interact with the canvas, send things to the canvas—files, notes, things of that nature.”

According to LeClair, the education-focused ThinkHub Connect has been adopted by several prominent universities—including Texas A&M, Quinnipiac, and the University of Wisconsin—and is favored because of its intuitiveness, scalability, and effectiveness at facilitating group-based learning. “The instructor can walk in, wirelessly connect to the display, and have his or her content up there and be able to present through annotations,” she said. “They can provide feedback through the tablet; they can be walking around the classroom activating group discussion while giving feedback at the same time.”

Another differentiator for the company, LeClair pointed out, is in what it can provide for multiuse spaces in corporations and educational institutions. T1V has long specialized in software for larger-format, “wow-factor” video walls—think touch-interactive timeline walls that display a company or university’s history along with photos and videos. With the company’s software, these walls can double as ThinkHub canvases, allowing for far greater utilization.

Following LeClair’s presentation, attendees were able to try out the T1V software on several different Planar displays throughout the showroom. During this time, Paul Patrick, the company’s vice president of business development, led demonstrations and fielded questions from a group of higher education technology managers.

For those interested in trying the platform, T1V has demo equipment that it can bring onsite, as well as a ThinkHub Connect mobile demo unit that it brings to campuses and corporate facilities.

Coincidentally held around the same time the azaleas are in bloom in Augusta, April 10, 2018 kicked off the 17th year for the annual Crestron Masters.

For the past three years at AV Technology, we’ve been moving the conversation beyond the AV and IT conversion to data. But data is really nothing without the ability to parse and deliver it in a way that can be analyzed and visualized. Without it, a data dump is exactly what it sounds like.

All About the Cloud

Could this be the year that AV firmly plants both feet into the IT world? I think so. The groundbreaking news at Masters 2018 was the official launch of Crestron’s XiO Cloud hosted by Microsoft Azure. When XiO Cloud, Crestron Fusion, and Microsoft Power BI are used together, an incredible visualization of collected data is available.

“If a company already uses O365 (MS Office 365) then they will not have a problem with XiO because it’s hosted in the same data centers,” said Jon Ottesen, enterprise solutions architect at Crestron. “We use the exact same transport mechanisms, queuing, and security that Microsoft uses.”

This is a significant step forward in the evolutionary ecosystem of a 12-year-old product—Crestron Fusion.

“This effort actually started about seven years ago,” Ottesen said at the Designing for Enterprise Management session at Masters 2018. “It required us to reorganize and restructure our entire firmware library from the first variable up. Now if that doesn’t mean anything to you, disassemble your life to the moment of conception and start over. That’s what we did to get to this.”

Ottesen then went on to explain where Crestron XiO Cloud fits into the hierarchy of the company's platforms, beginning with Crestron Fusion, with its primary job of providing proactive monitoring and data collection. With Crestron Fusion Cloud, users can manage and monitor devices. To get devices setup quickly and easily, Crestron XiO Cloud allows the integrators the ability to claim the devices via MAC address and serial number to configure the equipment.

“Crestron Fusion is still needed to manage systems and device status,” said Richard Sasson, global director of technical services. “But the bottom line is that XiO Cloud is a cloud-only configuration and management tool that enables large-scale deployments in warp-speed. Combine XiO Cloud with Crestron Fusion and Power BI, you get real-time analytics.

“We have created dashboards so that we can own the experience without having to own Microsoft Power BI,” Sasson said. “In essence, creating templates and dashboards that our customers can use to have a good experience but were not going to maintain Power BI.” Templates can be customized for a service fee.

An Industry Evolves

Approximately six years ago, Crestron Authorized Independent Programmers became known as Crestron Services Providers. “We’re telling you, you need to offer services beyond programming,” Sasson said. “Will programming exist? Sure. The bread-and-butter is going to be mass deployments, configurations, reporting, creating a service that customers want and real value that customers need—a real return on investment.”

Programming of custom-controlled, one-off boardrooms and auditoriums isn’t going away. The paradigm shift is that systems such as XiO Cloud can now enable the configuration of 50, 100, or thousands of rooms at a time.

Power BI was introduced at InfoComm 2017, and at the time, the interest came more from end users. This makes sense given that technology managers, facilities managers, and CIOs need real information for lifecycle and real estate planning. “After we explained the benefits of the MTA program, we had unprecedented spike in people wanting to change their coursework to obtain the MTA certification,” Sasson said.

“We realized we wanted to offer Masters level training to a wider audience,” he said. “By creating the Masters Technology Architect program, we can really help the industry. We must be able to create a great experience for the end client by having the design community and the programming community work together to create the best solution.”

Fourteen leading developers of the NDI video/IP protocol will join together at NAB 2019 to exhibit their latest products and solutions. NewTek, the developer of the royalty-free standard, will host the event from the NDI Central Pavilion. Those who can’t make it to NAB will be able to watch the exhibition on NewTek’s Twitch livestream. The stream will showcase NDI developers and creators who are at the forefront IP video production.

Since its introduction in 2015, NDI has become a popular industry standard for sharing video on a standard Ethernet network. The protocol is now in use by thousands of products and millions of users worldwide and is potentially the most widely used protocol of its kind.

“These fourteen companies represent some of the best innovators among the roughly 1,000 companies incorporating NDI into their products. NAB attendees will be able to explore the NDI ecosystem and discover the amazing devices and applications powered by NDI,” said Michael Kornet, executive vice president and general manager of NDI for NewTek. “These developers share our vision of the end-to-end all IP workflow that is a reality today and we’re excited to bring them together at the NDI Central Pavilion.” Located at booth #SL5516, the NDI Central Pavilion will be home to:

· AJT Systems

· Boinx Software

· Changsha Kiloview Electronics

· Production Bot LLC

· Easy Media Suite

· Etere

· FingerWorks Telestrators

· LiveXpert by 3D Storm

· Medialooks

· NewsMaker Systems

· NIXUS · Panasonic

· RT Software

· Stream Circle

The livestream starts at 10am on Monday 4/9, and at 9am each day after.

The Audio Engineering Society will hold the second International Conference on Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality on August 20-22, 2018, at the DigiPen Institute of Technology, Redmond, WA. The conference and exhibition will bring together a community of influential research scientists, engineers, VR and AR developers, and content creators to explore such topics as: spatial audio capture, rendering, and synthesis over headphones and speakers; binaural, ambisonics, and wave field synthesis techniques; 3D sound field navigation; HRTF modeling and derivation from optical and/or acoustic measurements; reverb and room acoustics synthesis; 3D audio mixing and content production; and sound design for VR/AR.

The conference’s keynote presenters—Jean-Marc Jot, Ivan Tashev, and Ravish Mehra—are at the forefront of innovation for VR and AR.

According to Tashev, “Audio and video are integral components of AR/VR devices. Spatial audio is an area still under development; we need better capture, representation, and rendering technologies. To make it mainstream, we have to catch up with authoring and editing tools as well.”

The three-day conference and expo will focus on the dissemination of top-level research in the field of spatial audio for virtual and augmented reality, with demonstrations and discussions focused on technical solutions and recommended practices. Leading researchers, practitioners, and industry leaders will offer panel discussions, tutorials, and workshops on new and forthcoming technologies.

The deadline for submission of papers and workshops is May 1, 2018. For more information content submissions, click here.

The conference aims to be as interactive and cross-disciplinary as the field of VR and AR itself, and will include an exhibition of relevant software and product demos. Organizers expect to attract talented researchers and developers who are creating the next generation of audio tools for immersive content.

Neuroscientist Dr. Beau Lotto and pioneering creative technologist Rana June will headline AVIXA's TIDE conference at InfoComm 2018 in Las Vegas.

On June 5 at the Park MGM Las Vegas, the day before the InfoComm floor opens, Lotto and June will join a lineup of innovative minds to explore the creative forces shaping the AV industry. The conference will focus on human-centered design, an approach that considers the human perspective throughout every step of the design process. Understanding the human mind and body can help create AV technology solutions that resonate with users, drive engagement and adoption, and ultimately deliver meaningful solutions. The event will bring together designers, brand marketers, architects, integrators, and live events producers to share their different viewpoints.

"We're excited to bring the TIDE conference back to our InfoComm show, this time in Las Vegas," said Dan Goldstein, senior vice president of content and communications, AVIXA. "We want attendees to take a step back from their day-to-day way of thinking about technology. Listening to innovators on stage and seated next to them will open their minds to new possibilities. Starting off the week with the TIDE conference will have people looking at the technology spanning the InfoComm trade show floor in a whole new light."

Kicking off the conference is Dr. Beau Lotto, a globally renowned neuroscientist and founder and CEO of Lab of Misfits Studio, a neuro-design lab that creates real-world "experiential experiments" that place the public at the center of the process of discovery. By spanning social and personal boundaries among people, brands, and institutions, the lab's aim is to create, expand, and apply insights into what it is to be a perceiving human. In 2017, Lotto published his first major book, Deviate: The Science of Seeing Differently, examining how disruption leads us to create and innovate.

"What is core to design? Perception," Lotto said. "Perception underpins everything we think, feel, know, and believe. It explains why we do what we do, when we do it, from the styles of clothes we choose to those we trust. Perception explains why successful design decreases uncertainty. Without this understanding, design fails to foster the level of value and meaning that is essential for success."

Pioneering creative technologist Rana June will deliver TIDE's afternoon keynote presentation. Over the past 10 years, her technology initiatives have spanned from large-scale data analytics programs to site-specific multimedia installations translating physiological data into richly expressive visuals. Her work leverages biometric data to examine the spectrum of human emotion and transforms them into experiential artworks. In 2012, June founded biometrics company Lightwave, which has been recognized internationally for measuring the energy of large-scale events, including Wimbledon and the NCAA Men's Basketball Championships, and for bringing emotion tech to brands, such as Pepsi, Jaguar, Chanel, and Procter & Gamble.

The keynotes will complement a series of fast-paced talks and panel discussions, breakout sessions, workshops, and networking opportunities.

To learn more about the TIDE conference in Las Vegas and to register, click here.

At DSE 2018, Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (booth 2618) is showcasing smart signage displays and new software alliances formed with the aim of creating a collaborative ecosystem.

“We are super excited about the products and alliances that we will be highlighting this year at DSE,” said Gary Bailer, director of product planning and marketing, Pro AV Products. “With the office becoming increasingly collaborative, we are proud to showcase our new products that demonstrate how we can efficiently work together.”

Sharp is showcasing collaborations with third-party software companies for the SHARP Open Architecture Platform technology found in upcoming smart signage displays, as well as alliances in Sharp’s sales channels, as integrators and channel partners work together to provide creative solutions. To date, Sharp has 17 global alliances for the SHARP Open Architecture Platform technology. Of these, Sharp is demonstrating solutions from six at its booth, including Revel Digital, Ping HD, Enplug, Navori Labs, Onsign TV, and Capital Networks Limited.

Smart Signage

The company is featuring a number of new products, including the recently launched 40-inch class PN-B401 and 50-inch class PN-B501 professional LCD displays, Sharp’s first standalone solutions to feature the SHARP Open Architecture Platform for digital signage. These displays offer users streamlined ways to download, store, and play content directly from the display, with the aim of making digital signage more affordable and accessible.

These smart signage solutions include a built-in, quad-core SoC controller, which eliminates the need for a separate media player or PC. The PN-B Series displays also offer increased mounting flexibility: whether in landscape or portrait orientation, the displays can be installed face up, face down, or tilting forward or backward at an angle of up to 90 degrees. They can also be suspended from four corners of the rear housing with wires. The PN-B Series is engineered for 16x7 commercial operation.

Sharp is also previewing two upcoming 40-inch class and 50-inch class Smart Signage displays that provide 50 percent greater brightness and are specifically engineered for 24/7 commercial operation. The new PN-M401 and PN-M501 Sharp Smart Signage products will launch over the next two months.

4K Ultra HD Monitors

In addition to the new Smart Signage displays, Sharp is showcasing its new PN-UH Series 4K Ultra HD Commercial displays, which are available as 70-inch class and 60-inch class sizes. These displays are built for 16/7 commercial usage and feature built-in tuner support and business-friendly features for DOOH and commercial environments.

Interactive Signage

Sharp is promoting the use of its AQUOS BOARD interactive display systems for engaging interactive signage applications, including the company’s first 4K Ultra HD interactive display, which was recently launched and joined the AQUOS BOARD system line. The new 70-inch class PN-L705H offers fast response times and Ultra HD resolution, alongside smooth writing that the company likens to “a real pen-on-paper” experience.

Sharp is also showcasing its new 50-inch class PN-L501C AQUOS BOARD interactive display that joins the 40-inch class PN-L401C model. They are engineered for flexible mounting alternatives including portrait or landscape orientation, as well as flush, face-up, tilt-forward, or tilt-backward mounting.

8K Preview

Sharp is holding a demonstration of its future 8K technology with its 70-inch display, which features more than 33 million pixels. This preview features Sharp’s 8K upscaling, wide-color gamut, Mega-Contrast (Dynamic Range Expansion), and HDR (HLG-PQ) technologies.

At the Society of Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD)’s Branded Environments during the Digital Signage Expo (DSE) in Las Vegas, NV, Justin Wood of Dimensional Innovations discussed extending the brand experience in sports.

Here’s quick recap of his thoughts, broken down into four different categories one should consider with the audiovisual user experience (UX).

1. Experiential

“The days of sponsors being okay with that [just a logo] as their brand recognition—those days are over,” Wood said. “They need to be experiential. Whatever we do in the space needs to support the brand, it needs to support the team, and ideally, they’re in really, really close alignment.” Experiences need to have a wow factor so people stop and spend time there, which brings values to the fans and the sponsoring company.

As an example, he pointed to the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team, and credits the success of their sponsorship program to the alignment of the company’s sales team in putting the right brand sponsors with the right activation. For example, aligning the Blue Cross Blue Shield with the Kids’ Zone when the company had “really deep roots” with amateur hockey leagues in the area, or connecting their hall of fame with a media conglomerate that was able to help with hall of fame members.

“Everything was in alignment, everything made sense,” he said. “Nobody ever had a head-scratcher like ‘Why was that brand here in this space, or vice versa?’”

2. Physical

“We like to think that our stuff is the most important, but it’s absolutely not the most important,” Wood said. “The most important thing is the fans find their seats, they can find restroom, they can get to the concessions—the kinds of things that are the basic level of fan experience, and our stuff shouldn’t impede that.”

Wood advised attendees to ensure the AV UX is being additive and not a distraction. “We’ve all seen experiences out there that are a distraction. They become a visual noise along and on top of the signage, the wayfinding, the concessions, the other stuff that happens in the space, and all of the sudden it becomes this visual noise that we can’t get through.”

3. Visual

The goal of the project should be to make an entire area work together as one holistic system instead of a series of random sponsor activations. For Wood, the design process has to include a constant balance ensuring “the architecture, the design, and the sponsorship spaces all sing together.” For example, wayfinding, lighting, and artwork need to work in concert with the concession and retail design.

4. Sponsorship

Sponsorship can be the trickiest part of designing the experience. Some people have worked on similar projects and have a strong vision, while others haven’t done a major activation and don’t even know where to begin—and there’s often a steep learning curve, even with a brand-savvy company.

Wood frequently has to remind sponsors that “their space is not going to keep this stadium from opening, so you got to stay on path, got to stay on target.” Hitting those deadlines is crucial.

“The design process is a very iterative process to help them make sure we’re hitting all of the goals but also make sure we’re staying within budget, and can actually build what we’re going to build,” Wood said.

AVIXA, organizer of InfoComm 2018, announced that developers of C2 Montréal will bring their innovative brand of immersion and collaboration to the InfoComm show floor in Las Vegas, June 6-8.

"We are thrilled that the creative thought leaders at C2 International are joining us for InfoComm 2018 in Las Vegas," said David Labuskes, chief executive officer of AVIXA. "Both AVIXA and C2 are committed to helping professionals think differently about how they tackle business challenges in a rapidly changing world. I can't think of any organizations that are better positioned to help welcome and engage attendees in brand-new ways at the first InfoComm produced by AVIXA."

Imagined by world-class agency Sid Lee in collaboration with founding partner Cirque du Soleil, C2 International was established to help businesses foster a culture of innovation and creativity. C2 events attract thousands of decision-makers across continents and industries for talks, workshops, extreme brainstorming sessions, meet ups, performances and other festivities. C2 has been called "a business conference unlike any other" by Harvard Business Review.

"Over the past six years, the C2 team has been researching and testing ways to take people outside of their usual frames of reference in the belief that experimentation leads to a culture of innovation," said Martin Enault, president at APAC C2i. "We've been designing and fine-tuning experiences that encourage participants to think differently about a problem, shifting their mindset in a way that will help them find new solutions to their business challenges. Core elements of that are atypical brainstorming experiences that we call labs. We are proud to feature such organic installations at InfoComm 2018."

C2 will bring several of its most engaging labs to InfoComm 2018 in Las Vegas, encouraging attendees to connect with big ideas and collaborate in new ways. C2 labs combine technology, immersiveness, and networking into a series of unique, facilitated encounters.

"The introduction of C2 experiences to the InfoComm 2018 show floor complements nicely other AVIXA initiatives, like the TIDE Conference (Technology. Innovation. Design. Experience.), which returns to InfoComm this year, and the launch of our Integrated Life program," said Jason McGraw, CTS, AVIXA senior vice president of expositions. "The AV industry continues to grow and evolve faster than any of us could imagine. We are dedicated to introducing new content and experiences that help grow our industry and start fresh, new conversations among creative professionals who use AV solutions to drive outcomes."

Registration for InfoComm 2018 is now open at www.infocommshow.org. InfoComm 2018 will be held June 2-8 (exhibits June 6-8) at the Las Vegas Convention Center

Stampede is taking the 2018 Big Book of AV Tour and Conference Series to Danvers, MA, giving Boston-area technology integrators, resellers, and end users a firsthand experience of some of the latest in AV and related technologies.

“Boston has long been a major epicenter of technology in everything from professional audio, imaging, software, and of course, computing,” said Stampede president and COO Kevin Kelly. “With 74 colleges and universities, like MIT and Harvard, located in and around the Boston area, the city has a passionate and talented workforce that’s fundamental to the increase of startup growth and development in the area. This, along with their innovative economy and citywide support for young startups, make it an important stop on our 2018 Big Book of AV Tour. We look forward to hosting industry professionals in the Boston area and providing them with technology updates and training forums for their total business needs.”

The day will begin at 9:00 a.m. with a dealer panel discussion, followed by the Tech Showcase Exhibit where attendees and manufacturers will meet one-on-one to discuss the latest products, systems and services. A complimentary breakfast will also be served during the showcase.

Like the previous stop in the Chicago area, the event will feature the Samsung Experience Demo Room. Guided tours will begin at 10:00 a.m. and will occur every 30 minutes for the duration of the event.

The day will also feature a series of onsite presentations that include: “Overview of the Drone/UAS Industry and Business Potential” and “Drone Video Systems: A New AV Category for a New Age of Opportunities,” both of which will be led by dean of the School of Flight Training at Unmanned Vehicle University, Paul Dragos. Additional presentations include: NEC’s “10 Steps to a Successful Video Wall,” Samsung’s “All-in-One e-Board Solutions,” “Understanding the Benefits of 4L Projection” by Optoma, and “Video Wall Solutions” from Leyard and Planar.

The daylong event will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Boston North Shore (50 Ferncroft Rd. Danvers, MA 01923). Attendee registration is now open here.

Stampede kicked off its 2018 Big Book of AV Tour in the Chicago suburb of Lincolnshire, IL, on March 8. Local #AVTweeps gathered for the daylong conference designed to provide industry insights, technology updates, and training forums.

“We’re here in Chicago to connect resellers and integrators with vendors,” said Peter Hurley, DSCE, vice president of sales, Eastern region, Stampede. “Relationships on both sides add value, and we’re focused on pro AV.”

Vendors were more than ready to add value with their latest and greatest products on display. The Samsung Demo Room showcased some of the company’s technology like the Samsung Flip WM55H, a digital flipchart display. Designed to promote a more collaborative digital engagement, users can “write” on the transportable display with their fingers or a dual-sided pen (included); users can also connect to the Flip with their own PCs, smartphones, and tablets to share content. When the meeting ends, content can be stored in the device with a password-based protection system ensuring complete confidentially.

New to the Big Book of AV Tour is LED display manufacturer Lighthouse. “We recently launched a distribution partnership with Stampede focusing on our new dynamic flat panel-style LED displays,” explained Ed Whitaker, the company’s general manager in the Americas.

On the show floor, the company was displaying its 89-inch Dynamic All-in-One LED Display. The display, which can be wall mounted, hung, or floor standing, comes with a built-in media player, and ships with spare panels. “We’re excited to be a part of the Big Book of AV because it gives us the chance to meet with potential new customers. It also gives us a chance to speak about some of our large installations—like the Spartan Stadium in Michigan, and the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX,” said Whitaker.

Optoma was showing off multiple projection solutions, but its most popular product was the ZU1050 laser projector with 10,000 lumens. Designed for large meeting rooms, auditoriums, museums, and the like, one of the projector’s most prevalent features is that it has interchangeable optical lens options to ensure customizability for each customer.

ONELAN, another newer member to the Stampede alliance, was talking about its various solutions for digital signage including enterprise-level content, network and device management software, and the Reserva room booking solutions. The company aligned with Stampede in July 2017, and promised to provide coaching to integrators who are new to the world of digital signage, according to Irene Chow, VP channel sales North America at ONELAN.

Chow summed up the event and what appears to be the general consensus from manufacturers involved with the tour: “I love the Big Book of AV events because I like to interact with different types of AV dealers who know their customers really well—it creates real conversations about real opportunities.”

Almo Professional A/V kicked off its ninth Almo ProAV E4 AV Tour this week in a suburb of Washington, DC. The one-day event consisted of 12 sessions, 10 featured speakers, 35 exhibitors, and two hands-on workshops.

Attendee Dan Pierce of Building Infrastructure Group emphasized the importance of these local shows, saying that he and his fellow Chantilly, VA-based companies would likely not have been able to go to another event. This was his first time attending.

“We got to learn a lot of stuff, see a lot of things,” Pierce said. He specifically called out Chief’s Fusion Dynamic Height Adjustable Mobile Cart as a cool product, as well as the seamless digital signage offerings.

In addition to walking the floor, Pierce attended about five sessions, including the keynote address—which he described as very interactive—as well as “The Future of Digital Signage in Smart Connected Cities” and “Digital Signage Design Principles.”

Another attendee, Greg Lockwood of Net100 also attended the Design Principles session. “I was just in Chuck Espinoza’s seminar.... and I got some interesting information on digital signage,” he said. “That’s obviously a big market, a growing market.”

Lockwood is in the network infrastructure industry, but sees digital signage as a real opportunity. “That’s really why I came down here: to learn some digital signage techniques and tactics.”

The sessions at the E4 AV Tour offer attendees the opportunity to earn CTS recertification units approved by education partner AVIXA; a scanned badge is the proof of attendance.

“We try to have every class certified,” said Almo vice president of marketing Melody Craigmyle. “It’s very valuable for CTS holders in terms of having renewal units, but the other reason we do that is we feel like it lends a level of credibility to our curriculum that you are not going to be walking into a product commercial. New this year, some of our courses are [CTS] -I and -D certified as, well.”

In a morning session titled “OLED: the Curve of the Future,” LG senior engineer John Fisher made clear that the title is more literal than figurative. OLED technology enables panels to have flexibility, which means curved and bendable displays are now possible. Additionally, OLED panels enable deeper blacks and truer whites than LCD, among other advantages, Fisher said.

Separately, Almo executive vice president Sam Taylor compared OLED to a sports car. “OLED right now is an expensive product to be manufactured, so the premium over LCD is high,” he said. “The adoption rate is going to be slow until manufacturers figure out how to make that less expensive. So right now it’s like going to the car dealership and buying the Tesla or the Porsche; until they get it down to the price of a Honda Accord, it’s not going to be massively adopted. It’s for the places where you need deep blacks, and it’s going in the high-end applications. If they get the price close enough, it will be widely adopted.”

Taylor and Craigmyle also touched on industry trends for 2018. 4K is already here in terms of content and the price point, so it is beginning to be widely adopted, Craigmyle said. Taylor emphasized that the industry should expect more growth in digital signage and huddle rooms, and Craigmyle called attention to indoor direct-view LEDs.

• Craigmyle noted that the show’s education programs are not the main draw for all attendees. According to attendee surveys, she said, “The number-one reason is to see new technology, very closely followed by education. It’s really that emphasis that we have put on bringing the latest; we have products here that have never been shown in the U.S.
• “People wanted to get more hands-on with the products, so then we created these ‘experience rooms,’ where people were actually programming control systems, and they were creating content and publishing it to a player. And then the next evolution was, well, we want to see more solutions working together, so then we went to these solutions corners, and you see many manufacturers working together.”
• Capping off the event, football legend and local Virginian Joe Theismann delivered an end note address that drew parallels because success in athletics and success in the business world.
• The 2018 Almo ProAV E4 AV tour will continue with stops in Dallas and Boston, with the tour’s final event in Nashville.

Digital Signage Expo (DSE) has been named as Trade Show Executive magazine’s 2017 Fastest 50 award winners. This award is DSE’s seventh Fastest 50 award, having won in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and now 2017.

The award recognizes the 50 fastest-growing trade shows in North America based on total net square feet of exhibit space, number of exhibitors, and/or attendance growth between 2016 and 2017.

Exponation, which produces the event—as well as LightShow West, another 2017 Fastest 50 show—announced that Digital Signage Expo was recognized both for its substantial attendance growth and increase in exhibiting companies; LightShow West was recognized for its growth in net square feet of exhibit space, exhibiting companies, and attendance.

“We are honored to have again won a Fastest 50 Award,” said Andrea Varrone, DSE’s show director. “We are extremely proud to have won this award seven times in 11 years, which is as much a testimony to our industry’s growth as it is to DSE’s leading position in this marketplace.”

The FOR-A HVS-6000 At the upcoming NAB Show in Las Vegas, FOR-A will demonstrate its end-to-end line of video production tools and unveil several solutions, including video switcher, frame rate converter, routing switcher, and IP control software technologies. FOR-A’s booth will place an emphasis on 12G supported products and solutions that integrate baseband and IP for a wide variety of applications, including live studio and sports production environments. The company will also showcase its commitment to developing technologies that support UHD resolution, high dynamic range (HDR), and wide color gamut (WCG), as well as various codecs. FOR-A will exhibit in booth C5117 during the show, which takes place April 9-12.

“FOR-A is looking forward to showcasing its latest innovations and wide variety of solutions, and to giving NAB attendees an idea of just how well our products integrate with one another to provide a complete, end-to-end system,” said Takaaki Imoto, senior general manager of FOR-A overseas sales and marketing division. “From video switchers to signal processors, and graphics solutions to virtual studio systems, FOR-A offers a comprehensive line of technologies for every part of the production process.”

FOR-A’s newest switcher, the 12G-SDI supported HVS-6000, will make its NAB show debut. The latest in the company’s line of HANABI video switchers, the HVS-6000 offers 4K support, maximum 48-input/24-output in 12G, and scalability to users looking to transition to 8K further down the line. The 2 M/E HVS-6000 offers frame synchronization, frame buffer, 3D DVE, and four keyers per M/E with DVE function and 4 DSKs. The new solution will be shown in the booth’s video switcher area alongside its existing 4K supported units, including the HVS-2000, which offers the performance of a 7 M/E switcher; the compact HVS-490; and the portable HVS-100.

In its 12G/IP technology area, FOR-A will showcase its entire USF-Series of universal systems frames and introduce the USF-106UDC-12G 4K up/down converter—which offers interlace/progressive and up/down conversion for a range of signals from SD and HD to 4K. Other new solutions in this area will include the MFR-6000 SD/HD/3G/6G/12G router with a matrix of up to 144x144 and MBP-1000VS-12G/IP 4K video server, which offers multi-input/output 4K and HD support and ingest, playout, and 4K recording functionality.

Existing products that FOR-A will show in this booth area include the ESG-4200 multi-rate 12G/IP 4K test signal generator, USF-10IP series IP/SDI or IP/IP gateway, MV-4320 multiviewer supporting 12G-SD I/Os, and MFC-2GB 12G-SDI/Quad Link 3G-SDI converter. FOR-A will also unveil a prototype of new IP/baseband management/control software.

In the company’s HDR technology area, FOR-A will introduce a system package that includes the HVS-490 video switcher, MFR-3000 routing switcher, MV-4200 multiviewer, and ClassX content creation and graphics playout solution. Another solution to be shown in this section is the InSync MCC-4K motion-compensated converter—a hardware-based unit that offers conversion from any 3G/HD-SDI frame rate to any other 3G/HD-SDI frame rate, as well as up/down conversion to and from 3G/HD and UHD. The unit is designed for live broadcast environments and also offers support for quad link 3G-SDI of two-Sample Interleaved (2SI) or Square Division (SQD) format, as well as single-link 12G/6G-SDI and SFP connectivity.

FOR-A’s NAB camera stage booth area will feature the FT-ONE-LS-12G high-speed full 4K camera, which supports full 4K shooting in maximum 500 frames per second or up to 1,200FPS high frame-rate shooting in 1080p, offers the ability to independently move the camera head around to capture the next crucial shot, and features simultaneous output of live and super slow-motion video. Alongside the FT-ONE-LS-12G will be the ZE-ONEA 4K extraction system with new automatic motion-tracking function, RFC-ONE real-time flash corrector, and FC-ONE flicker corrector.

In its virtual system area, FOR-A will demo the VRCAM-NX sensor less virtual studio system and Brainstorm Infinity Set advanced virtual system. The FVW-700-4K 4K/HD telestrator will also be showcased in this area. The FVW-700-4K enables users to annotate and draw on video using a touchscreen computer monitor or wirelessly connected tablet, and the unit recently began shipping.

Chicago area resellers and their customers who want to take a look at the future of digital signage will have that opportunity on March 8, 2018 when Stampede takes the Samsung Demo Room to the Lincolnshire, IL as part of its 2018 Big Book of AV Tour and Conference Series. The daylong event will be held at the Lincolnshire Marriott Resort from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Attendee registration is now open here.

“Ranked as one of the largest and fastest-growing tech markets in the country, the greater Chicago area is an important stop on our 2018 Big Book of AV Tour,” said Stampede president and COO Kevin Kelly. “The Chicago technology community has seen a major boost over the last three to five years, as a result of its diverse community, stable living environment, and its anchor resource in the major universities in the area. These recent developments provide us with the ideal platform to engage with the tech community in the area and provide resellers and customers with the opportunity to meet one-on-one with manufacturers showcasing their newest products and technologies.”

Headlining the tour stop is The Samsung Experience Demo Room, which is designed to ask the question we all ask each and every day: What does the future look like? Guided tours will begin at 10:00 a.m. and will occur every 30 minutes for the duration of the event.

The day will begin at 9:00 a.m. with a dealer panel discussion, followed by the Tech Showcase Exhibit where attendees and manufacturers will meet one-on-one to discuss the latest products, systems, and services. A complimentary breakfast will also be served during the showcase.

The day will also feature a series of on-site presentations that include: “Overview of the Drone/UAS Industry and Business Potential,” and “Drone Video Systems: A New AV Category for a New Age of Opportunities,” both of which will be led by dean of the School of Flight Training at Unmanned Vehicle University, Paul Dragos. Additional presentations include: NEC's "10 Steps to a Successful Video Wall,” Samsung's "All-in-One e-Board Solutions,” “Understanding the Benefits of 4L Projection" by Optoma, and “Video Wall Solutions" from Leyard and Planar.

Each event includes an information-rich schedule of exhibits, training sessions, product introductions, and networking opportunities. Every attendee of the 2017 Big Book of AV Tour & Conference Series will receive a $500 Stampede credit, a $50 American Express gift card, and will be entered into a drawing for the chance to win a free DJI Drone.

The Yamaha YVC-1000MS USB Speakerphone Yamaha Corporation subsidiary Revolabs will bring a lineup of products and experts to Enterprise Connect, March 12-15 in Orlando, FL.

"Enterprise Connect is an important conference for us because it gives us a chance to shine a spotlight on our latest innovations and, more importantly, to explore the marketplace and learn more about what our customers need," said Mick Kamihara, chief executive officer, Revolabs. "This year at Enterprise Connect, we're focusing on the ever-evolving huddle space, which is becoming increasingly important in today's business environments. Visitors will see how they can use our solutions to make the most of their collaboration efforts, and we look forward to hearing from customers and other industry experts about where they see the technology going."

On display in Revolabs' booth 907 will be the Yamaha YVC-1000MS, a USB speakerphone and Yamaha's first product certified for Skype for Business. The microphone and speaker system passed Skype for Business Certification Version 3 tests—Microsoft's highest standards—providing natural, clear audio that defines the platform's meeting experience.

Revolabs will also demonstrate the Yamaha CS-700 Video Sound Bar, an all-in-one, wall-mounted UC solution with an adaptive beamforming microphone array, which enables all speech to be captured and delivered to the far end; four Yamaha speaker elements to provide the highest degree of audio intelligibility; and a wide-angle HD camera that captures every meeting participant in clear detail.

In addition, Holger Stoltze, senior product manager, will participate in a panel titled, "Software-Based Video in the Meeting Room." Stoltze and his fellow panelists will provide insight into the pros and cons of software-based video and offer guidance to help attendees choose the right solution for their environments. The 45-minute session begins at 8 a.m. on Thursday, March 15, in room Sun D.

Middle Atlantic Products’ Proximity Series Sliding Mounting Plate was recognized with an ISE 2018 Best of Show Award by SCN sister publication Installation Magazine. The Proximity Series Sliding Mounting Plate is designed to address the growing complexities in residential and commercial applications that stem from ongoing decentralization of systems often located at the display. The editors of Installation Magazine, which covers permanent audio, video, and lighting systems integration within the global market, judged the awards on the show floor.

"To be recognized within the global market for the Proximity Series Sliding Mounting Plate is a real honor for Middle Atlantic," said Timothy Troast, VP of product management, Middle Atlantic. "After identifying the challenges integrators are facing, we developed a solution that is perfect for mounting small devices behind the display, while providing ease of access with the sliding mechanism. The award serves as a confirmation of our mission to provide innovative solutions that enable integrators to deliver amazing AV experiences with every installation."

The Proximity Sliding Mounting Plate mounts directly on the wall behind the display, optimizing unused space to store and reliably support today's AV devices without adding bulky storage furniture in the room or the need for an equipment closet. The plate mounts directly to the extrusion of Middle Atlantic's Vision Display Mount Series multi-display wall and ceiling mounts, increasing both installation flexibility and ease of maintenance. The Sliding Mounting Plate tucks discreetly behind the display, concealing equipment out of view for a clean aesthetic.

ATEN Technology will join Almo Professional A/V to give resellers, integrators, and consultants the opportunity to learn how to create integrated AV experiences during the distributor’s E4 AV Tour in Washington, DC. on March 6, and Dallas, TX on April 24. At both events, ATEN will provide live and static demos of its pro AV solutions, as well as offer an HDBaseT Certification course for installers and integrators.

A recipient of an SCN 2017 Stellar Service Award, the E4 program offers AV professionals the experience of a full day of educational sessions worth AVIXA CTS Renewal Units (RUs), as well as exclusive access to the newest AV products and services.

ATEN will provide live demos of its VE8950 - 4K HDMI over IP Extender. Engineered to meet the demands of large-scale, multi-display, 4K signal transmission, the solution is designed to be easy to set up and operate. It is well suited for a wide range of environments, such as trade shows, airports, university campuses, conference centers, and shopping centers, and delivers visually lossless 4K AV signals with low latency over long distance via a local network of standard Gigabit network switch.

Additionally, ATEN will provide static demos of its video matrix, video extender, video splitter, video switch, and video converter with 4K solutions.

HDBaseT Certification
ATEN will offer HDBaseT Certification at both E4 events. The HDBaseT Certification course is targeted at both the beginner and expert installer, and includes technology principles, installation dos and don’ts, best practices, product certification and interoperability, and a hands-on tutorial and demonstration. The course’s instructor is YT Liang, an ATEN Technology product manager.

“We’re thrilled to have ATEN offer HDBaseT Certification training at our upcoming E4 events in Washington, DC and Dallas, TX to help educate our attendees about best practices when building reliable HDBaseT installations successfully,” said Melody Craigmyle, vice president of marketing, Almo Professional A/V. “Through the training course, integrators will obtain a better understanding about the HDBaseT technology, its application, and hands-on practice of each of the 5Play (USB, AV, Ethernet, control, and power), helping them more easily determine the interoperability of different HDBaseT products to avoid additional costs and project delays due to incompatibility.”

For more information about ATEN’s HDBaseT Certification training at E4 in Washington, DC, click here. For the Dallas, TX show, click here.

E4 Washington and E4 Dallas Details
E4 Washington, DC is on March 6 at the Sheraton Tysons Hotel from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. E4 Dallas is on April 24 at the Hyatt Regency Dallas from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Both events are complimentary (including parking) for Almo Pro A/V’s reseller, integrator, and consultant partners. To register, click here.

• Gig Gear, maker of Gig Gloves—protective work gloves designed specifically for live event and entertainment production professionals—has been selected to the InfoComm 2018 Innovations Showcase, which highlights new tech companies and products for the commercial AV market.
• While not a technology-based enterprise like most companies traditionally selected to the showcase, Gig Gear’s Gig Gloves are designed to provide an invaluable service to the professionals who work within the AV industry: helping them complete their jobs more safely and effectively.
• “Gig Gear is very excited to have been one of the few companies selected to participate as an exhibitor at the 2018 InfoComm Innovations Showcase,” said Danny Shatzkes, founder of Gig Gear. “We’re aware that the Innovations Showcase has been very selective and includes mostly tech companies showing their cutting-edge technology products and services. However, behind all of the technology in pro and commercial AV, installation and integration, there are actual human beings that need to do the physical work required to get these systems working flawlessly.
• “Gig Gear manufactures products that make the actual physical jobs and work of the people in the industry safer, easier, and more efficient. This recognition of the human component is just as important, if not more so, than quoting, installing, and integrating the latest and greatest technology for each job. I’m sure that professionals in the industry would agree and I invite all attendees to visit the Innovations Showcase and check out what we have to offer.”
• Featuring strong nylon threading throughout, Gig Gloves include TPR molding on the back of the hand and fingers to ensure ultimate protection against impact, abrasions, or pinching. Fold-over fingertips allow for use of smaller tools and items, and Gig Gloves work with touchscreen devices without needing to be removed. They are available in three models—Original Gig Gloves, all-black Gig Gloves ONYX, and fleece-lined THERMO Gig Gloves—and come in six sizes (XS-XXL).

NanoLumens' Las Vegas Visualization Center NanoLumens will host a panel discussion on the future of LED visualization at its Las Vegas Visualization Center on March 28, 2018 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. The panel will include representatives from NanoLumens, Hospitality Network convention engineer manager Javier Garcia, DailyDOOH co-founder and editor Adrian Cotterill, and other industry leaders. Registration to attend is now open here.

“The NanoLumens AWARE LED display network diagnostic and management platform that Cox Business and Hospitality Network installed at the Las Vegas Convention Center is the most sophisticated system of its kind installed anywhere in the world today,” said Joe’ Loyd, NanoLumens vice president of global marketing. “So it’s only fitting that Cox Business and Hospitality Network participate in this forward-looking panel discussion with NanoLumens, industry visionary Adrian Cotterill, and other participants to be announced shortly. This is certain to be a very thought-provoking discussion of the future of LED visualization.” Along with the management platform, NanoLumens supported Cox Business and Hospitality Network in installing two back-to-back 40-foot LED screens in time for CES 2018.

The three-hour event will feature cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Transportation to and from the NanoLumens Las Vegas Visualization Center will be provided through an Uber voucher. The NanoLumens Las Vegas Visualization Center is located at 5275 South Arville Street, #328, in Las Vegas.

LG Roadshow attendees discover a myriad of industry solutions. The LG Roadshow made its last stop in Houston, TX last week; the roadshows are a way for #AVTweeps to get up close and hands-on with LG’s latest and greatest commercial display innovations and certified partner technologies. The focus of this event was clearly more than displays; it was plain to see that LG was all about the full technological ecosystem.

The Full Solution
Showcases, like the LG Roadshow, are a great place to check out the company’s products in your own backyard. But this event served a greater purpose: the ability to see the full solution with LG’s technology integrated into partner technologies. And that’s important, because, according to Daniel Leunig, LG’s senior national sales manager, “We sell solutions by working with our partners.”

At this event, there were two new partners involved, one of which was Datapath. “We do nothing without great displays, we are the processors,” said Eric Wooten, the company’s Midwest U.S. senior sales manager. Datapath had its new iolite 600 controller with WallControl 10 software on display. With the software, Wooten said, you can easily and quickly place any piece of information anywhere you’d like. And, in this case, all of that information was placed on an LG display.

Another newcomer to the LG Roadshow was rp Visual Solutions (rpVS), a company known for its cool, creative designs. When LG and rpVS put their heads together, the results will be an artistic deployment, and one that will allow easy access to the back of the screens for any required maintenance, according to James Fife, the company’s consultant extension. When asked about upcoming deployments with LG solutions, Fife played coy but did say, “We have a very unique project about to take place in New York—that’s all I can say about that right now—but an integrator will be able to easily access the displays with no problem.”

A World of Content
Along with the company’s displays, LG’s webOS was live and in action at the roadshow. Not just for consumer TVs, webOS is a smart signage, multipurpose platform that can be easily integrated into displays to provide various solutions; it is a web-centric, built-in media player with system on a chip architecture, cutting costs on buying multiple media players in spaces with large amounts of displays deployed, according to Peter Kim, technical product manager, LG. “Eighty percent of the industry won’t need any extra equipment when using webOS,” he said.

With a myriad of both LG and its partner solutions on display, it is no wonder these roadshows have become such a popular event for AV professionals. Patrick May, strategic accounts manager, Milestone AV Technologies, summed it up best: “LG is out on the forefront; they’re innovative with their technology, and it creates a better roadmap for us.”

At the PSNI Super Summit in Houston, TX, a panel of senior leaders from integration firms and manufacturers discussed their technology roadmaps for 2018 and beyond.

Moderator Tim Albright: Where do you see the AV industry in the next two years?
Steve Durkee, President, Commercial Products, Milestone AV Technologies
The number-one thing I’ve heard about was people are ready to go global. And it’s not that we weren’t ready to go global, it was that the enterprise customers are starting to think about the discipline necessary, internally, to go global. That’s not for everybody—if they do an acquisition, they have to be careful. Going global is a trend that I think is taking root and is going to impact our business and drive all sorts of things. And it’s real. Integrators were ready but the end users weren’t…and they seem to be ready now.

Girish Narayanan, Founding and Managing Director, Granteq and Resurgent
Building expertise onto certain vertical markets will be a leading trend. As we work from an emerging market, [India’s] market is not as regulated as some of the developed countries, so what we expect to do is to work into certain verticals, like what we have done in telemedicine and things like that. And I think our industry also requires that we need a lot of capital influx into this to drive innovation.

Kelly McCarthy, President, Genesis Integration
We’re going to see our core competencies, in a lot of ways, change—core competencies are going to be moved toward networks, and we’re going to be subject matter experts in IoT. But I think that the ecosystem is the network, and we have to find our place in there because there’s a battle that’s going on right now. I think, for us, the trick is to find where we land and what our space is.

Steve Alexander, Director of Sales, Avidex
I would predict that within the next two years, a nationally reputed IT VAR (value added reseller) will buy a national-footprint AV integrator and attempt to craft an AV practice through a national IT VAR.

• The NSCA has revealed the winners of its 2018 Excellence in Business awards. They are:
• Business Performance: Infinity Sound, Grand Prairie, TX
• Customer Experience: JKL Technologies, Newbury Park, CA
• Differentiating Strategies: ET Group, Toronto, ON
• Employee Engagement: Avidex, Bellevue, WA
• Strategic Transformation: Tech Electronics, St. Louis, MO
• Talent Development: Bluewater Technologies, Southfield, MI

“As usual, this year’s submissions were very impressive,” said Chuck Wilson, NSCA executive director. “Every year during this process, we learn about new strategies and initiatives that innovative companies in our industry are taking on in order to create new business and keep up with the changes headed our way. There are some great lessons to be learned from these leaders.”

This year’s awards honor six systems integration firms in their efforts to adapt to the constantly changing industry.

Infinity Sound, winner in the Business Performance category, wanted to position its company to generate more sales through existing channels and markets. Its capture rate has remained the same over the last few years, even though the company was gaining more clients and leads. After conducting research on proposal wins and losses over a two-year period, Infinity Sound spoke directly with customers to learn more about buying habits and decisions. After creating new pricing strategies and examining value-added options, the company’s project backlog is now five times larger than the last few year-over-year sales. Monthly sales intakes have more than doubled.

JKL Technologies, winner in the Customer Experience category, expanded its AV services and wanted to help customers introduce new technologies to their end users to ensure long-term success. Through a combination of training, communication, proactive assistance, near-immediate support, and accessible expertise, JKL Technologies has helped clients successfully launch new technology initiatives and increase business. The service has been so well received that technology adoption services have been requested even when JKL Technologies wasn’t the company to complete the project.

ET Group, winner in the Differentiating Strategies category, knew that the industry was shifting, and wanted to refocus its offerings to clients, expanding from technology to business advice. With a new approach that weaves together people, space, and technology, ET Group employees embed themselves into their clients’ organizations to become strategic advisors. To do this, the company adopted design thinking and participatory leadership approaches, moved to a self-managed structure composed of cross-functional teams servicing specific customer types, decentralized decision-making, and embraced a work-from-anywhere culture. As a result, ET Group has grown its revenue by 30 percent.

Avidex, winner in the Employee Engagement category, wanted to establish a positive experience not only for its customers, but for its employees as well. By creating an internal team dedicated to developing standard processes for all areas of operation across all Avidex branches, the company now has an established guideline for growth and expansion, and can ensure the best financial results possible.

Tech Electronics, winner in the Strategic Transformation category, recognized the need for change in order to continue its success. Instead of convincing them to stick with existing solutions that were familiar, the company wanted to be ready when customers asked about future technology. Just one example of success in this area for Tech Electronics has been the establishment of its own hosted voice solution, which allows clients to forgo upfront equipment purchases and bundle services and maintenance into one monthly fee. This solution will expand to support hosted access control and many other technologies.

Bluewater Technologies, winner in the Talent Development category, developed a new mentorship program to help employees successfully onboard and feel secure in their roles. This program has helped employees establish personal and professional development goals by being paired with someone to help them exceed their objectives. Through a mix of one-on-one mentoring, e-mentoring, reverse mentoring, group mentoring, and peer mentoring, mentors and mentees can select which method will work best for them. This mentoring program has empowered Bluewater to foster innovation and collaboration, which helps employees in all roles and at all age levels become exponentially more successful.

Award winners will be recognized at NSCA’s 20th annual Business and Leadership Conference, February 28-March 2, 2018, in Irving, TX. To learn more, visit www.nsca.org/blc.

Yamaha Corporation subsidiary Revolabs will showcase its YVC-1000MS Microphone and Speaker System certified for Skype for Business at Microsoft Tech Summits in Washington, DC, March 5-6 and San Francisco, March 19-20.

"The Microsoft Tech Summit is where cloud engineers and IT managers go to learn and share ideas about how to get the most out of the Microsoft cloud,” said Phil Marechal, vice president of business development and product management at Revolabs. “Because Skype for Business continues to be the platform of choice for collaboration, there's no better place for us to highlight the benefits of our speakerphone system, which meets Skype for Business' stringent certification standards. Engineers who incorporate our YVC-1000MS gear into their organizations' UC infrastructures will help their users be more productive thanks to clear and natural-sounding Skype conversations in every meeting space, large or small."

The Yamaha YVC-1000MS is a USB and Bluetooth speakerphone and Yamaha's first product certified for Skype for Business. The microphone and speaker system passed Skype for Business Certification Version 3 tests—Microsoft's highest standards—providing natural, clear audio that defines the platform's meeting experience.

The scalable and flexible YVC-1000MS solution is engineered to support the audio requirements of large meeting rooms, rooms with special table configurations, and even remote education classes or seminars within the Skype for Business application. The YVC-1000MS features separate microphone and speaker units that integrate audio for comfortable remote communication. Yamaha's adaptive echo cancellation and other sound processing technologies facilitate a stress-free conversation. The user-friendly design provides fast connection to a call on a smartphone by Bluetooth and can bridge to a Skype for Business call via USB.

The Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) gathering in Amsterdam has revealed the depth and dramatic scope of AV over IP, with hundreds of new solutions, enhancements, and AVoIP iterations on display. Across the 15 halls of the RAI, it’s clear that AVoIP technologies and signal compression methods are the development paths shaping the next chapter of integrated AV experiences.

Approaches
There are myriad protocols for running and managing AV multimedia content over Ethernet, but it’s hard to argue with the market dominance of Audinate’s Dante. There are now more than 1,300 Dante-enabled solutions available, all showing the “Dante Spoken Here” sign at ISE. Focusrite, MIPRO, Yamaha, AKG, Allen & Heath, and dozens more are using the ISE 2018 platform to launch new Dante-powered networked audio products. Legacy equipment can now be patched into a Dante system thanks to the new AVIO adapters.

Audinate is spotlighting its Dante Domain Manager, which is now shipping globally. While you can network more endpoints with Dante, it won’t save your team dollars or hours if you can’t manage sources easily. Enter the new Dante Domain Manager, now shipping globally via Audinate.

While Dante is dominant, it’s not the only protocol for IP-based media transpor (check out Q-SYS, SMPTE 2110, AVB/TSN, and Ravenna AES67, to name a few), nor is it an open standard. While there may be higher priced switches and less OEM endpoints Dante, open standards require no licensing royalties.

To that end, the Alliance for AES70, the open network control standard, is offering classes and training this week. On ISE Day One, Avnu Alliance, the industry consortium driving open, standards-based deterministic networking with AVB/TSN, held its AVIXA Master Class at ISE called “The Evolution of Ethernet and IP for Audio, Video and Beyond.”

On display at ISE are AVB/TSN-enabled solutions from Meyer Sound, Extreme Networks, PreSonus, L-Acoustics, Audix, and Biamp. Genio Kronauer from L’Acoustics added that “AVB is an important step forward for the industry and it’s amazing to see equipment from many different independent platforms working together smoothly on an open standard, without needing to call upon an off-the-shelf, single-source implementation.”

At last year’s ISE, Biamp’s big news was the TesiraLUX, which included an AVB video encoder and video decoder, and support for 4K/60 4:4:4, high dynamic range (HDR), and the Rec. 2020 color space. While TesiraLUX debuted to industry acclaim and has been shipping since September, Rashid Skaf, Biamp’s president, CEO, and co-chairman, acknowledged the company’s desire to meet customers where they are and evolve toward a protocol-agnostic approach. “We have the best solutions in the world, and we will put them on your network,” he said.

Panasonic's new PTZ camera leverages NewTek's NDI interface. Skaf underscored that Biamp is not abandoning AVB, but so-called “protocol wars,” or planting a flag in one camp or another is “not our fight to take,” he said. Rather, the company would focus on platform innovation and developing solutions of the highest class that work cohesively and “elevate the user experience.”

A manufacturer hedging its bets on an internal but open standard is NewTek, whose NDI (Network Device Interface) brings IP capabilities to the broadcast and production world. By integrating NDI, manufacturers can make PTZ cameras available for use in NDI-based video production workflows without additional configuration. Panasonic is demonstrating its NDI-enabled line. NewTek's NDI Version 3 offers SDK enhancements that improve encoding performance and multicast support with FEC (Forward Error Correction).

1Gb or 10Gb?
Another spirited debate in the AV-over-IP conversation at ISE 2018 is the question of whether a product is best designed for use on a 10Gb or 1Gb network. While still a sizeable investment, 10Gb switches have become more affordable, as have UHD displays. If you can offer 4K content at 60Hz and 4:4:4 over the Ethernet with a 10Gb network switch, why not?

That’s how the SDVoE Alliance sees it. The consortium of manufacturers standardizing Software-Defined Video over Ethernet around the Aptovision chipset, has established a 10Gb platform. At ISE, SDVoE celebrated its one-year mark and announced extensive SDVoE training, case studies, and an array of new members adopting the 10Gb strategy.

Crestron's DM NVX solution allows transport of 4K60 video over existing 1Gb networks.One of those new SDVoE members is WyreStorm, which is showcasing a 10Gb Ethernet solution. "A lot of 4K-over-IP solutions claim support for 4K60 4:4:4 with HDR over just 1Gb, so why go 10Gb?” asked James Meredith, WyreStorm EMEA sales manager. “Well, think of the banding, blockiness, and overall image softening resulting from the 20-1 compression needed to fit such a small bandwidth. Only a 10Gb solution gives you a lossless image and audio indistinguishable from an uncompressed source."

MuxLab is also firmly in the 10Gb camp. The company’s new HDMI-over-IP uncompressed extender helps connect one or various sources to one or many displays through a 10Gb Ethernet switch.

In a new video by Aurora Multimedia, Paul Harris, CEO, explains why a 10Gb solution is necessary for 4K60 4:4:4. He suggests that 1Gb works for 4K60 4:2:20 or 4K30 4:4:4 and below where bandwidth requirements are less demanding. "Applications determine what's the better solution." That’s why Aurora offers the IPX line as part of the SDVoE Alliance.

But Crestron and Matrox Graphics disagree. The Canadian manufacturer Matrox Graphics offers streaming of 4K60 4:4:4 over an existing 1Gb network with its Maevex solution. The belief is that if you can leverage an organization’s current system without a quality or performance compromise, it’s a more practical and sensible approach than replacing and building out new core switches, cables, and necessary elements for 10Gb. At ISE, Matrox also announced that its “Matrox Knowledge Net: Tips and Techniques for AV-over-IP Training Program” is now accredited by AVIXA as a CTS Renewal Unit-recognized program. The Knowledge Net seminars are formatted to meet the high ethical and professional practice standards of the AV industry.

Altona's focal point was its Velocity cloud-based AV control platform. Crestron used the ISE spotlight to showcase its DM NVX line for networked AV, as well as the new DM XiO Director, which provides browser-based monitoring, management, and control of DM NVX endpoints. DM NVX offers 4K60 4:4:4 over a standard 1Gb network.

Ultimately, though, AV-over-IP reality is nuanced, and every use case has specific requirements. Additionally, some stakeholders are already eyeing up higher-bandwidth IP like 25, 40, or 100Gb, waiting for prices to drop. Can you imagine a world where we need systems capable of managing less bandwidth? Not a chance.

Even the most harmonious alliance still requires some fancy fixes and creativity. One of the gaps in the marketplace occurs when users want to extend uncompressed HDMI 2.0 signals, as full-bandwidth HDMI 2.0 cannot yet be sent long distances over copper without some compression. Fiber optics is one approach for uncompressed AV transmission in 4K, therefore companies like Gefen are debuting new extenders at ISE 2018 that meet this need.

From end users and integrators alike, it is clear that the demand is growing for networked AV, but challenges remain, such as security, legacy equipment, and the shift to the cloud. Cloud-based AV control is one of Atlona’s focal points at ISE as the company demos Velocity, a cloud-based solution for scalable AV control. At ISE, they welcomed attendees to participate in the Velocity Challenge to see how fast users could set up a system. “You don’t need to know Python to set this up,” said Garth Lobban, Atlona’s director of marketing. Atlona is also sharing its refined AV-over-IP strategy for its OmniStream platform with three product families (Pro, R-Type, and Audio that supports Dante, AES67, and analog audio transport).

QSC demonstrated its new Q-SYS Reflect Enterprise Manager and Enterprise Core Processor. Cloud-based AV-over-IP control is also a key ingredient in the disruptors at Utelogy. The Costa Mesa, CA, company’s big news at ISE? They are expanding to Europe (and beyond) with the help of Jonathan Mangnall’s new company, U-Topia Technologies, which has been awarded Master Distributor license for the EMEA market (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). The company also announced a Managed Services Portal (stay tuned for more information).

A Costa Mesa neighbor to Utelogy, QSC, made major debuts this week and explained the plan for cohesive Q-SYS control. It is the agile, scalable platform strategy that QSC believes will help bring the AV industry to the next level of maturity. “Product is dead. We are building a platform,” said TJ Adams, QSC’s senior director of product management, Installed Systems. QSC is using ISE’s stage to demonstrate its new Q-SYS Reflect Enterprise Manager and Enterprise Core Processor.

Harman, whose SVSi brand is a benchmark of networked AV quality, and who was one of the earliest networked AV providers, made the ISE debut of its new AMX N2400 Series Windowing Processor, a network-based windowing processor that supports 4x1 windowing for the AMX N2400 Series video-over-IP solution. The new solution can manage multiple real-time 4K60 streams with no video input or output connectors.

Kramer showed its "drag and drop" Network AV-over-IP solution. Not resting on its laurels, RGB Spectrum keeps pushing the AVoIP envelope. At ISE, the command and control room stalwart is introducing its brand new Zio Decoder App for Smart Displays. The Decoder App enhances the capabilities of smart displays by allowing you to decode an IP stream directly on the display, without external hardware and offers access to the Zio system’s advanced GUI and features.

Sharing a devotion to UX (user experience) and “drag and drop’’ ease is Kramer’s Network AV-over-IP approach and the Canadian manufacturer VuWall’s AV-over-IP solution. It is using the ISE 2018 launchpad to showcase the TRx 2.0 solution for distributing AV signals and content over standard IP networks.

Do you have an ISE 2018 AVoIP innovation to add to this list? Tweet @AVTechnologMag.

Integrate Baltimore, a 501(c)(3) organization designed to connect the audiovisual workforce with the STEM community, has partnered with the Baltimore Robotics Center on the upcoming Beer and Bots Executive Happy Hour.

The corporate happy hour encourages STEM and audiovisual executive to network, create new partnerships, and learn more about the technology community. All proceeds will benefit the Baltimore Robotics Center in the Pigtown neighborhood of Baltimore City; the center’s mission to inspire and create sustainable STEM careers in underserved areas.

“There is a connection between promoting AV as a career track to students interested in STEM,” said Ernie Beck, CTS-D, founder, Integrate Baltimore. “The Beer and Bots event is an inspiring networking opportunity for the Baltimore technology community, and I’m trying to integrate, pun intended, our existing professional AV community.”

The event will be held on Thursday, February 1, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the STAR Academy in Timonium, MD. For more information or to register, visit http://bit.ly/BaltimoreBots.

After years of anticipation, the NAMM Show expanded this year into ACC North, a newly built, 200,000-square-foot facility, packed almost entirely with pro audio exhibitors. Amongst those many manufacturers presenting their latest and greatest offerings, reactions to the new building were largely positive on the first day, and foot-traffic from convention-goers was strong.

With two floors, both 25 feet high, it’s an enticing space for presenting loudspeaker hangs and the like, but there’s a caveat: the new building is separate from the rest of the convention center. To get inside ACC North, attendees either have to leave the main convention center and then wait on security lines to get into the new facility, or they have to go upstairs inside the convention center to take a small pedestrian walkway—dubbed the Skybridge—between the two buildings’ second floors.

Accordingly, there was some trepidation whether attendees would make the effort to see the pro audio area, but concerns proved to be largely unfounded.

“We’ve been getting excellent traffic, and it hasn’t been just other manufacturers and exhibitors; it’s been quality pro-audio people and we’ve been busy all day,” said Margie Kirby, head of marketing at Allied Professional Technologies, which is presenting Linea Research amplifiers and Luminex network switches inside ACC North.

David Claringbold, CMO for d&b audiotechnik, concurred, noting, “We have been pleased with the success of the pro-audio addition to the show. It's been an excellent opportunity to get our upcoming release, the d&b Soundscape, in front of customers. The important word here is ‘customer’—we are moving ever closer to a world where our audience is at the center of our sound-experience thinking, not at the end, so NAMM is the perfect setting to share the d&b Soundscape and that new way of thinking.”

By creating a new space specifically for pro audio, NAMM is looking to not merely cater to its existing exhibitors, but attract new ones: that worked in the case of audio networking giant Audinate, exhibiting for the first time in 2018. Josh Rush, VP of marketing for the company, opined, “So far, we have been really impressed—it’s been packed. We weren’t quite sure at first what to make of it being split out, but certainly in our booth, we’ve been happy with it.”

For longtime exhibitor Electro-Voice, moving to a pro audio-centric space provides an opportunity to strut its stuff yet also be a better neighbor to fellow exhibitors. The loudspeaker manufacturer has a considerable demo room at the back of the second floor, inside which is a massive video screen, concert lighting and more than 100 loudspeakers.

“This accommodates us in very positive way, because we’re a loudspeaker manufacturer,” said Guy Low, the brand’s content & creative manager. “In order to communicate value and quality, being able to turn it up makes a big difference for us! We don’t have to be concerned with noise-level ordinances on the main floor now. We were in Hall A for years, and of course, you’re in the thick of it down there, but here we are on Day 1 and we’ve had some good traffic. We’re still in the middle of our first demo session and the turnout is very good.”

Some exhibitors on the first floor were reserving judgment for a day or two, perhaps less impressed by the traffic they were getting than their counterparts on the second floor. “We weren’t quite sure about being upstairs versus downstairs, but I think the fact that we have the Skybridge here on the second level brings a lot of traffic here,” offered Rush of Audinate, which is highlighting its new Dante AVIO adaptors at the show.

“People are going to become familiar with the layout of the new wing, and that will take a little bit of time, but we’re optimistic that this will be a positive change with NAMM accommodating pro-audio manufacturers,” said E-V’s Low. “We make sound, so actually having enough space to do that—not only our new products, the Evolve 50 and the ELX 200 lines, but also our whole portfolio—is very positive. People can experience the scope of our products properly now.”

The rest of the convention will fully reveal how the addition of ACC North will affect pro-audio exhibitors, and doubtlessly there will be tweaks made for the 2019 NAMM Show, but as the first day of this year’s edition came to a close, the new facility’s exhibitors seemed largely pleased. As Allied Pro’s Kirby summed it up, “It’s been a phenomenal day, really.”

For more NAMM updates, follow @ProSoundNews and @YoungClive on Twitter.

• Almo Professional A/V, in partnership with AVIXA, announced dates and highlights for its 2018 E4 AV Tour program. The one-day E4 program—which stands for Educate, Exchange, Explore, Experience—is taking place on the following dates:
• March 6 (Washington, DC)
• April 24 (Dallas)
• September 21 (Boston)
• October 26 (Nashville)

According to Melody Craigmyle, vice president of marketing for Almo Professional A/V, “In step with AVIXA, we’ve updated the final ‘E’ in E4 to ‘Experience.’ Many of our AVIXA-accredited educational sessions and workshops are focusing on the integrated customer experiences that are possible through the use of AV technology. 2018 is going to be an exceptional year for the E4 program with new opportunities for our partners to learn how to create these integrated AV experiences while advancing and profiting in this incredible industry.”

“The E4 emphasis on the power of audiovisual experiences is exactly in line with the direction of our industry,” said David Labuskes, CTS, CAE, RCDD, chief executive officer for AVIXA. “We look forward to working with the Almo Professional A/V team again this year as they build on the traveling E4 Tour and bring the experience portion into practical application for program attendees.”

• AdMobilize will bring its Audience and Crowd Analytics technology to ISE 2018 at Booth 8-R330 in the RAI Centre.
• According to AdMobilize co-founder and CEO Rodolfo Saccoman, the ISE debut will mark the start of the company’s next phase of market expansion and is timed to leverage the power and reach of its international partnerships with commercial AV and DOOH advertising market leaders that include Signagelive (U.K.), avt (Australia), Ayuda Media Systems (Canada), PersonifAI (Lithuania), Invian (Peru), MediaEdge (Japan), UBI Communications (Canada), Grupo EDM (Mexico), SmartLink Systems (USA), and NanoLumens (USA).
• “Integrators throughout the U.K., Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East are about to experience what forward-looking companies in North America are swiftly embracing,” Saccoman said. “The era of robust, reliable, easy-to-install and maintain audience and crowd analytics is at hand and this era promises to make channel-specific visualization solutions much more effective customer engagement solutions.”
• The AdMobilize Crowd Analytics solution is designed to empower customers to quantify any space anywhere by utilizing customized audience measurement, report aggregation and audience triggers in environments like retail, shopping malls, airports, other transportation centers, arenas, as well as in outdoor public spaces. The solution is compatible with all major IP/security camera systems and enables clients to leverage the company’s computer vision technology to analyze any space to count people using a variety of disciplines. The solution’s dashboard metrics include Person Count, Real-Time Area Volume, Zone Counting (In/Out), Session Time, and Heat Mapping. Data can be viewed either in real time or in aggregate.
• Customers also have the option of working with two versions of the solution. AdMobilize Crowd Edge is a hardware kit combined with a camera that runs all of the included software on the processing unit, providing real-time data capture capability within a small form factor device. The AdMobilize Crowd Cloud option enables customers to simply connect Crowd Analytics to any IP camera to acquire the same metric information. Areas and zones can be set up from the dashboard using the camera’s video stream.
• The AdMobilize Audience Analytics solution can track real-time ad performance and customer engagement; segment campaigns and content by hour and site; target content by both audience demographic and emotion; and optimize store traffic flow; and more. All captured analytics are fed to a cloud-based dashboard (in less than 15 milliseconds) or API that allows end users to assess results and performance, identify trends, and make any necessary adjustments to the displayed content.
• A growing number of partnerships with third-party companies is fueling the adoption of AdMobilize solutions in North America, and increasingly, around the world. Last year, AdMobilize entered into a dozen partnerships with a broad range of companies from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Peru, Australia, and beyond. AdMobilize now has relationships in place with more than 100 companies that span virtually every major vertical market.
• “AdMobilize continues to bridge the gap between the digital revolution and disruptive computer vision analytics, ultimately infusing machine learning into formerly unintelligent displays,” Saccoman explained. “Our turnkey technology allows integrators to activate their digital signage solutions and physical-world installations into sophisticated audience tracking devices and environments enabled with interactivity and dynamic triggering. Our growing portfolio of partners reflects the new reality that every vertical market can benefit from computer-vision enabled digital signage displays. We look forward to demonstrating the remarkable capabilities of our solutions to ISE show attendees.”

Yamaha's RIVAGE PM10 Series Digital Mixing ConsoleAES and NAMM have partnered together in an effort to bring pro audio education to the NAMM show. As part of these inaugural sessions, the Yamaha Professional Audio division will host a series of classes on its CL Series and RIVAGE PM10 Series Digital Mixing Consoles. The courses will cover a wide range of topics, suitable for entry-level engineers as well as seasoned professionals, and will be taught by members of the technical marketing staff as well as two guest engineers/instructors.

Yamaha courses include PM10 and CL Operational Overview, Hands-on Sessions, FOH and Monitoring Apps including Nuendo Live and Virtual Soundcheck, Practical Mixing Tips for Up-and-Coming Engineers, and more. Scott Baldwin, FOH Engineer for Prince, The Fray, and Lady Gaga will be presenting on the CL Series. John Mills, FOH and Systems Engineer for Chris Tomlin, Lincoln Brewster, and Kenny Chesney will be presenting on RIVAGE PM10.

All of the AES training sessions can be accessed by registering through the NAMM website for a half-day or full-day pass. AES members can purchase a half-day pass for $69 and a full-day pass for $99. Non-members can purchase for $169 and $199, respectively.

AVAD is celebrating 10 years of Vendopalooza, its touring roadshow. In 2018, Vendopalooza will visit 13 markets, kicking off in San Diego on January 23, 2018.

AVAD’s Vendopalooza will focus on residential and commercial technologies while providing dealers with the opportunity to speak one-on-one with vendor partners to learn more about new technology available from AVAD. The touring roadshow will provide dealers with the opportunity to interact with more than three-dozen AVAD vendors, enjoy more than $10,000 in giveaways, and take advantage of exclusive discounts through the entire week.

In 2018, AVAD’s Vendopalooza will feature many of AVAD’s vendor partners on site, including Integra, LG, JVC, Martin Logan, URC, Peerless-AV, Polk Audio, Samsung, RTI, Bose and Bose Professional, Middle Atlantic, and more.

“We created Vendopalooza to bring the tradeshow experience to our dealers and give them the opportunity to meet vendors, see new products, as well as take part in exclusive training courses, and now, 10 years later, it’s one of our most popular and successful resources,” said Seth Evenson, director of customer experience management for AVAD. “We look forward to continued growth for our award-winning events in 2018, and another ten years of success.”

A new touring roadshow featuring dozens of lighting, audio, staging, and vision brands will visit select U.S. states in September. Using the ENTECH format from Australia, ENTECH ROADSHOW USA is a partnership between Cary, NC-based Production Media, an entertainment media company, and JuliusMedia Group from Sydney, Australia.

ENTECH, which has been held for 19 years in Australia, features a ballroom-sized footprint instead of the miles of aisles of a big tradeshow, and its one-day format is designed to make the most of the time constraints of most AV technicians, designers, and integrators, allowing them to meet the key people from major brands, and see the latest technologies.

Everything is bundled together with all freight traveling in dedicated trucks and delivered on to each stand. Traditional ‘gotcha’ add-ons like shipping, drayage, power, furniture, and even drinking water are provided, along with parking.

Focusing on a series of key markets, the inaugural Roadshow will travel to convention centers in Richmond, VA, Charlotte, NC, Atlanta, GA, and Birmingham, AL across a compressed two-week period in September, 2018.

A new touring roadshow featuring dozens of lighting, audio, staging and vision brands rolls out through selected US States in September. Using the ENTECH format from Australia, ENTECH ROADSHOW USA is a partnership between Cary, N.C.-based Production Media Inc, a entertainment media company, and JuliusMedia Group from Sydney Australia.

For 19 years, the ENTECH has been a popular event for exhibitors and visitors alike in Australia. The Roadshow format includes a ballroom-sized footprint that avoids the miles of aisles of a big tradeshow, and the one-day format respects the time constraints of most AV technicians, designers and integrators, allowing them to meet the key people from major brands, and see the latest technologies.

ENTECH representatives stated: "Exhibitors love the convenience, with no extra costs. Everything is bundled together with all freight travelling in dedicated trucks and delivered on to each stand. Traditional ‘gotcha’ add-ons like shipping, drayage, power, furniture and even drinking water are provided, along with parking. Major brands in Australia have come to rely on the Roadshow to ‘bring the show to the people’ in major cities. Traditional large-format shows feature a high home town attendance, with many trade unable to justify the cost and time to travel."

Focusing on a series of key markets, the inaugural Roadshow travels to Convention Centers in Richmond VA, Charlotte NC, Atlanta GA and Birmingham AL across a compressed two-week period in September, 2018.

For more information, visit www.entech-roadshow.com.

Beginning on January 14, five international video artists start a three-week display of 3D projections in the center of Amsterdam onto the EYE Filmmuseum façade, and in the last week, onto an adjacent water screen. The video artists are taking part in The World Masters of Projection Mapping, a joint venture initiative from Amsterdam Light Festival, Integrated Systems Events, and RAI Amsterdam.

The shape of the multifaceted museum, with no straight surfaces and the close proximity of water from the IJ, created a unique set of technical and production challenges for the artists. To make projection possible, 12 Panasonic projectors have been positioned all around the building and pontoons moored in the river for the water screen.

World Masters of Projection Mapping culminates on February 8 with the presence of an international jury followed by an awards showcase that will take place at the RAI Amsterdam on February 9, the last day of ISE 2018. On each consecutive day leading up to the final, the work of one of the artists will be showcased from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m., and 5:00 to 11:00 p.m. onto the EYE Filmmuseum.

The finalists are:
Geert Mul
For more than 25 years Mul, has been exploring the possibilities of poetry in the language of new (data-based) media. Mul’s practice engages the broader public through audiovisual performances and commissioned artworks in public spaces. His installations have been showcased in numerous museums for modern art including the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.

Alida Dors and Manuel Rodrigues
Alida Dors is the artistic director of dance company BackBone. BackBone uses dance to address societal issues and bring different groups together. Rodrigues is a graphic designer and film artist. He treats and manipulates elements from the visual world as dances, in which image and sound become inextricably linked.

Telcosystems (Gideon Kiers, David Kiers and Lucas van der Velden)
In their work, the trio researches the relationship between the behavior of programmed numerical logic and the human perception of this behavior. This leads to the creation of immersive audiovisual installations, which are shown through various media and live performances. Their work has been featured in museums and festivals such as Ars Electronica, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and the Holland Festival.

Florian and Michael Quistrebert
The duo creates optical canvasses and video showing angular patterns in which symmetry and reflections are recurring themes. Using a variety of material and techniques they seek to reinvent modernism, futurism, and optical art.

Eder Santos
Santos, a pioneer of multimedia art in Brazil, is recognized worldwide for developing hybrid projects that mix visual arts, cinema, theater, video, and new media. His works belong to the permanent collections of the MoMA in New York and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, two of the largest contemporary art museums in the world.

The selection of the finalists was carried out through close collaboration between the EYE Filmmuseum and Amsterdam Light Festival. The international jury that will judge the finalists on the February 8 comprises:

Lennart Booij, artistic director, Amsterdam Light Festival (jury chair)
Jaap Guldemond, director of exhibitions, EYE Filmmuseum
Marente Bloemheuvel, associate curator, EYE Filmmuseum
Jozef Hey, founder and owner, BeamSystems
Giny Vos, artist
Paul James, editor in chief of Mondo*arc

Central to the criteria for the jury will be how the finalists combine their creativity and storytelling with the utilization of technology to deliver their vision.

“The quality of the entries is high and the jury is enthusiastic about the final selection of national and international artists,” Booij said. “These conceptual and cinematographic works enable us to deepen the scope and the artistic quality of projection mapping.”

Technical project manager Rembrandt Boswijk from Indyvideo has coordinated the services of a range of manufacturers and suppliers to produce the early-morning and evening display. Technical partners are Panasonic (projectors), Disguise (media servers), Alcons Audio (audio), and Lightware (transmission). Creative partners are BeamSystems, (installation and integration), and EYE Filmmuseum.

“This project has now come to life in spectacular fashion,” said ISE’s managing director, Mike Blackman. “The results can be seen each day in Amsterdam. The competition showcases the perfect marriage of technology and creativity. It involves leading artists, manufacturers, and solution providers—everything that Integrated Systems Europe represents.”

“Connecting people, ideas, and visions at RAI Amsterdam creates quality and added value for ISE, its exhibitors, and visitors,” said Paul Riemens, CEO RAI Amsterdam. “By supporting communities and our partners around events we generate a platform, also into the city. We look forward to bringing this competition to the people of Amsterdam.”

A Bose Professional ShowMatch DeltaQ system employed at Teatro Degli Arcimboldi in Milan, Italy. As part of an ongoing support program for the ShowMatch DeltaQ line array system, Bose Professional will be participating in the inaugural AES@NAMM Pro Sound Symposium, held concurrently with the NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA, January 25-28, 2018. Bose product specialists will be holding ShowMatch DeltaQ line array training sessions as part of the symposium’s AES@NAMM Line Array Loudspeaker System Academy. Two three-hour sessions will take place on each of NAMM’s four days (9 a.m. and 1 p.m.) at the Anaheim Hilton Hotel’s NAMM U Education Center located on the fourth floor.

Session topics will include an overview of DeltaQ technology and benefits, the design options of ShowMatch arrays using EASE Focus 3 software, ShowMatch presets and power configurations using the PowerSoft X4 platform and Armonia software, and more. Participants will get hands-on time with the ShowMatch system and Bose Professional experts will be available to field questions. Space is limited; those interested can register here.

“Bose Professional looks forward to sharing configuration and setup details of our ShowMatch System Solutions during the AES@NAMM Symposium,” said Jeff Lange, global loudspeaker training specialist. “We will be providing hands-on training for our compact line array assembly with DeltaQ technology, along with details of our collaboration with Powersoft's DSP and amplification platform, and a thorough explanation of our line array calculation software using AFMG's EASE Focus. I'm really looking forward to meeting rental company owners, system engineers, and field technicians at the show in Anaheim.”

Additionally, the ShowMatch DeltaQ system will be on display at the Bose Professional exhibit at The NAMM Show, in the new ACC North Hall facility, booth 18610.

Audinate is expanding its Dante AV Networking World conference at ISE 2018 with a new track course covering tips, tricks, and best practices. Taking place February 5 at the Amsterdam RAI, the free daylong training event will offer training sessions geared at every experience level, as well as hands-on product demonstrations from leading audio brands.

Now in its eighth year, Dante AV Networking World showcases the benefits of audio networking for commercial installation. The complete agenda, which can be found here, comprises three distinct tracks aimed at attendees ranging from those who are brand new to audio networking to those who are advanced “power users” of Dante. Audinate will offer all three levels of its Dante Certification Training, and debut its new course, “Beyond Certification: Tips, Tricks, and Best Practices with Dante.”

“As Dante has evolved and grown more popular, there is clearly a thirst for more variety in Dante education,” said Joshua Rush, vice president of marketing, Audinate. “We are constantly adding to the agenda to make sure we are offering the content our customers want, regardless of their experience level.”

With its expanded agenda, the three-track format gives attendees the following options:

Track 1 Program: Dante Levels 1 and 2 Certification
The first track is an introductory course for users who are new to networking, and offers a foundation in audio and networking concepts to assemble and operate a small, standalone Dante audio system.

Level 1 Certification course topics cover digital audio and IP networking basics, as well as the fundamentals of using Dante Controller and Dante Virtual Soundcard. Level 2 Certification is a multilevel training program designed for intermediate to advanced Dante users, covering Dante Controller, redundancy, clocking, latency, and Dante Via, among other course topics.

Track 2 Program (New): Beyond Certification: Tips, Tricks, and Best Practices with Dante
The second track is designed for intermediate attendees who have completed Level 1 and Level 2 certification, but don’t have a need for the more complex topics and systems covered in Level 3 Certification.

This course will teach attendees problem-solving skills for the most common mistakes in system design. This course is ideal for reinforcement of Dante Certification topics along with new approaches to IT convergence, system design, and more. Several live demonstrations will illustrate key concepts that attendees can personally experience in hands-on approach. Course topics include Traditional IT Ethernet Lessons, Audio System Design Concepts, and Troubleshooting and Maintenance.

Track 3 Program: Dante Level 3 Certification
The third track will offer the Dante Level 3 Certification class. It’s is an advanced training program covering networking best practices geared toward attendees already using Dante who seek to create larges scale system installations.

Designed only for the Levels 1- and 2-certified users, course topics include Advanced Networking Concepts, Mixed Use Networks, Networking Best Practices, and Troubleshooting Techniques.

As with previous years, the event will feature a large, hands-on demonstration of Dante-enabled products from leading AV manufacturers. Current sponsors of the event include Allen & Heath, Ashly Audio, Attero Tech, Extron, Focusrite Pro, Neutrik, RDL, Shure, Stage Tec, Stewart Audio, Symetrix, Visionary Solutions, Xilica, and Yamaha Commercial Audio.

The Yamaha CS-700 Video Sound Collaboration System Revolabs announced its product lineup for Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2018. Together, Yamaha and Revolabs will demonstrate their portfolio of unified communications (UC) solutions, with special focus on the Yamaha CS-700 Video Sound Collaboration System for huddle rooms and Yamaha's YVC-1000MS Unified Communications Microphone and Speaker System. Demonstrations will take place at Stand 11-F120.

"Technology managers are dealing with a growing number of huddle rooms and small meeting spaces that must accommodate more and more offsite meeting participants,” said Mick Kamihara, CEO of Revolabs. “That's why Revolabs has put great emphasis on solving the most perplexing UC challenges, namely streamlining workflows and installations—improving the quality of experience for users. Our UC customers have been asking for an easy-to-install, easy-to-use UC solution with excellent video and sound, and they have it in the CS-700. ISE 2018 marks the first time we'll be showing the new CS-700 in Europe, and we expect a warm reception."

The Yamaha CS-700 Video Sound Collaboration System for huddle rooms is an all-in-one wall-mounted UC solution engineered to simplify installation and deployment while providing high-quality audio and video in huddle and small meeting spaces. It is the first solution that optimizes audio, video, and collaboration capabilities in a wall-mounted system, creating an intuitive meeting experience. It features an adaptive beamforming microphone array, four Yamaha speaker elements, and a wide-angle HD camera. Through a single USB cable, it is ready to connect to an organization's chosen UC platform, such as Skype for Business, Cisco Spark, GoToConference, Zoom, and many others. This plug-and-play approach allows users to get started quickly without wrestling with disparate audio, video, and collaboration components.

• At ISE 2018 (Stand 3-B150), the SDVoE Alliance will feature a series of interactive, head-to-head demonstrations that highlight the pitfalls of trying to use a single 1G network to combine AV and IT.
• “The big dream of AV/IT integration is to simplify your infrastructure to a single, flexible network, and the benefits are huge,” said Justin Kennington, president of the SDVoE Alliance. “We’ve put together three straightforward comparisons that confirm 1G infrastructure cannot support IT data users and AV-over-IP systems simultaneously. True AV/IT convergence, with zero-millisecond latency and flawless image quality, can only happen on 10G infrastructure, and only with SDVoE.”
• The demonstrations will use quality of service (QoS) techniques on standard network hardware to illustrate the productivity losses that occur when one type of data must be prioritized. The demos will show that with low-cost 10G hardware, such compromises are not necessary.

AVIXA will welcome thousands of visitors to Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2018 in Amsterdam, February 6-9. It will be the first ISE since AVIXA changed its name from InfoComm International, in a move that reflects the association's broadening mission to be an industry hub and a catalyst for market growth. AVIXA co-owns Integrated Systems Europe, along with CEDIA.

"This is a significant ISE for AVIXA," said Pamela Taggart, CTS, AVIXA senior director of development for Europe. "We are excited to demonstrate our commitment to what continues to be a vibrant, growing AV industry—both in Europe and worldwide. AVIXA aims to be a business partner to all the innovative technology companies using audiovisual solutions to create experiences and generate positive outcomes."

ISE attendees will make connections, gain insight, and benefit from key resources when they visit the AVIXA stands 12-N110 and 13-N110 at the RAI Amsterdam. AVIXA attractions include:

A New Double-Decker Stand
AVIXA will embrace the importance of experience with an all-new main stand (12-N110) that offers visitors both an area where they can mingle and learn about the association's offerings, plus a place for more in-depth, one-on-one conversations in the second-level meeting area.

A Chance to Attend InfoComm 2018 in Las Vegas
Visitors to the main AVIXA stand can enter to win a trip to InfoComm 2018 in June (www.infocommshow.org). The winner will receive round-trip airfare and three nights' hotel accommodations.

Free Market Intelligence
AVIXA will distribute executive summaries of all four Industry Outlook and Trends Analysis (IOTA) reports, while supplies last. The landmark studies, which include market forecasts through 2022, offer in-depth analysis of the solution areas and vertical markets that are most poised for growth.

Free Drinks and a Chance to Meet AVIXA
On Wednesday evening, February 7, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. CET, AVIXA leadership and European staff welcome all industry professionals for an informal reception, including cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, at the AVIXA stand (12-N110).

A Fresh Selection of FlashTracks
Just across the RAI lobby from the main AVIXA stand, the dedicated AVIXA FlashTracks stand (13-N110) returns to ISE with a selection of more than 30 free, 20-minute education sessions, covering everything from "Converged Networks and What It Means to Pro AV" to "Key Principles of UX Design." Learn more at www.iseurope.org/professional-development-avixa.

"AVIXA offers our European members and AV professionals around the world real business value," said Taggart. "Our presence at ISE reflects our commitment to helping companies and individuals succeed in this market."

In addition to activities at its stands, AVIXA brings a robust content and professional development program to ISE, starting the Monday before the show, with the European debut of its TIDE (Technology. Innovation. Design. Experience.) conference at Hotel Okura Amsterdam. TIDE explores the creative forces shaping the AV industry and how businesses can benefit from design concepts.

During ISE, AVIXA's professional development program includes four distinct education tracks that highlight changing expectations in the AV industry: User Experience, AV/IT, Design, and Emerging Trends. In addition, AVIXA will host two half-day conferences at ISE: "Enterprise AV Integrated Experiences," in partnership with the AV User Group, and "Higher Education Integrated Experience Design," in partnership with the European University Information Systems (EUNIS) and Standing Conference for Heads of Media Services (SCHOMS).

• ZeeVee (Stand 10-H195), has developed a complete starter kit designed to allow the pain-free installation of AV-over-IP solutions, which it will demonstrate at ISE in Amsterdam, February 6–9.
• With the solution, customers can distribute uncompressed 4K video with minimal installation and configuration time. This starter kit leverages ZeeVee’s Zyper4K AV-over-IP signal distribution solution, which is well suited for corporate environments that want to take advantage of the benefits of AVoIP offers right out of the box.
• “The ZyPer4K meeting room starter kit is ideal for first-time organizations looking to deploy an AV-over-IP solution,” said Bob Michaels, CEO, ZeeVee. “There is no need for a two-day training course, as the ZyPer4K solution is virtually plug-n-play. What’s more, a complex control system is not required because the ZyPer MaestroZ interface allows control from any device on the ZyPer network and includes admin rights. Up to three sources can be switched to two screens and expanded up to eight more devices.”
• The ZyPer4K meeting room starter kit can be adapted to connect multiple meeting rooms, delivering pixel-for-pixel image quality at any resolution and zero latency.
• “Presenters can now focus on their content and not on managing the technology,” Michaels said. “Regardless of where the content resides on the network, ZeeVee delivers it to the right display simply and easily with no distance limitation.”
• Visitors to ZeeVee’s booth can also enter a competition to win product valued over $9,000.

Expanding its national and regional marketing programs beyond major industry trade shows and regional end-user conferences, ClearOne has announced the start of its 2018 national road show, the “ClearOne Connections Tour,” which is visiting cities throughout the United States from now through May 2018.

A 36-foot ClearOne Tour Bus is bringing the company’s complete line of conferencing, collaboration, and streaming solutions directly to commercial AV practitioners and their customers who can’t always get to larger trade shows and conferences. “The performance, reliability, and affordability of our entire line of diverse AV communications solutions deserves to be experienced firsthand by systems integrators and end users across the country, and the ClearOne Connections Tour has been created to make this an easy and convenient reality for them,” said ClearOne president and CEO Zee Hakimoglu. “The tour is visiting 18 cities through May 2018. We will announce the second half 2018 schedule in July.”

According to Hakimoglu, the ClearOne Connections Tour is open to AV practitioners and their customers in each of the markets the tour truck visits. The tour includes presentations, trainings, question and answer sessions, networking opportunities, and demonstrations of ClearOne’s solutions in videoconferencing and collaboration, pro audio, and network media streaming. The complete tour schedule is as follows:

A projection by Teresa Man at the Amsterdam Light Festival. You’ve heard all the buzzwords for 2018: collaboration, user experience (UX), innovation, partnership. Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2018 is all of those things—and all in one place.

The show, held February 6-9 at the RAI in Amsterdam, has broken its own attendance records year after year, and plans on doing so again in 2018. So how is it drawing in the AV industry and all its side-hustlers?

“ISE attracts new visitors each year by carefully delivering what AV professionals are searching for,” said Mike Blackman, managing director, ISE. “It features the world’s leading technology vendors and service suppliers all under one roof. In addition, ISE provides a rich set of conferences, keynotes, and show features that occur over the four days of the show and the day preceding it.”

Trending Topics
If you’ve attended ISE in the past, you know the show floor is enormous, and the number of new technologies is borderline overwhelming. To get the most out of the show, a carefully executed strategy is a necessity. So what are some of the key trends to explore?

Collaboration is one of the first things that comes to mind, and not just in the sense of manufacturers teaming up to create a nice little AV package. “There will be the need for customized collaboration solutions that can be tailored to today’s enterprise employees and their teams,” said David Schweer, director of product marketing, Prysm. “As each employee, and the teams they’re a part of, has their own unique work style and technology preferences, enterprises need to offer them a tool that is flexible yet unifies any existing technology investments to promote continuous productivity and drive business insights.”

Datapath also expects “collaboration to be big business at ISE,” according to Bjorn Krylander, managing director. The company will host “demonstrations of how any application window can be easily shared, with the option to share to a video wall for meetings and process management,” in its Hall 11 stand, and using its Quant application software.

Corporate and educational efficiencies are part of the larger collaboration trend. We’ll continue to see subsets of this highlighted at the show, including huddle room solutions. “Enterprises are looking beyond typical meeting rooms and more broadly at the dynamic shared spaces their teams are using,” said Rob Abbott, Nureva’s vice president, products. “This is less about the traditional view of collaboration, which is focused on better meetings, and more about improving a structured core methodology like agile or lean.”

Mike Blackman speaking at the ISE show. On the video side of the house, quality will continue to improve, creating stunning displays and projections that our eyes have only dreamed of. “The biggest trend at ISE will be still be the advancements in solid-state illumination and the rise of higher resolutions,” Mark Wadsworth, international marketing manager, Digital Projection, said. The company will be launching its new 8K INSIGHT Laser Projector, which can be seen at stand 1-F40.

ISE also plans on helping integrators and installers understand the “power of trying new things,” according to Blackman. New in 2018, the XR (Extended Reality) Technology Zone, will be located at the rear of Hall 8, in the Park Foyer. Attendees can test out different types of XR, including augmented and/or virtual reality, to gain firsthand experience with the business opportunities they can create.

Here Comes the Rising Tide
Technology. Innovation. Design. Experience. The aptly named TIDE program is sure to be the belle of the ball at ISE. This thought-provoking, daylong session explores the creative forces from design, architecture, technology, live events, and art, and discusses the results and experiences design-thinking creates for business, according to AVIXA.

“TIDE is a great forum for gaining a fresh viewpoint on the possibilities of AV technology,” said Dan Goldstein, senior vice president of marketing and communications, AVIXA. “The conference will help contextualize the technology that people will see while they walk the ISE trade show floor. TIDE’s innovative speakers will show how organizations are pushing the limits of technology to deliver extraordinary business results.”

Daan Roosegaarde, internationally acclaimed creative thinker and founder of Studio Roosegaarde, which develops projects that explore the relationship between people, technology, and space, will keynote the TIDE conference. Following the keynote will be a series of fast-paced talks, panels discussions, breakout sessions, workshops and networking opportunities.

TIDE will be held Feb 5 at Hotel Okura Amsterdam, the day before the ISE show floor opens. The event will close out with artist and designer, Monika Bielskyte. Bielskyte creates future-world prototypes and spends a large portion of her time focusing on research and strategy in the immersive technology space. With clients like Universal, Dreamworks, Aston Martin, and the United Arab Emirates government, there is no doubt attendees will leave TIDE dreaming of their own future and how they can incorporate next-generation tech into AV projects.

Light Up the Night
Innovation and partnership are the pillars of ISE. Thus, it makes sense that the show is working with the RAI (its host venue), the Amsterdam Light Festival, and Artifex, a local cultural organization, to host the inaugural World Masters of Projection Mapping.

The event will showcase the art of projection mapping and explore collaboration between artistic creativity and cutting-edge technology. Amsterdam Light Festival, now in its sixth year, is managing the competition, which will showcase work from five competing artists on the façade of the EYE Filmmuseum; the winner will be announced at the RAI on February 9, the final day of the ISE exhibition.

“With this first edition of the World Masters of Projection Mapping, we are keen to show the high-quality artistic level of projection mapping combined with the possibilities of technological innovation,” said Lennart Booji, artistic director for the Amsterdam Light Festival. “This is an outstanding opportunity to display art on one of Amsterdam’s most iconic and spectacular facades. For over four weeks, the EYE Filmmuseum will be the canvas for contemporary video art—accessible for everyone to admire and experience.”

Plan Ahead
Between the education, show floor, special events, and more than 75,000 anticipated attendees, taking advantage of everything at ISE can get stressful. Don’t let any of those things intimidate you—“there are numerous ways to learn how to navigate the show floor,” said Blackman. “I would start by looking at the ISE website. There you will see a show floor plan and a full list of exhibitors.”

The SDVoE Alliance will present daylong AV-over-IP training courses in Singapore on January 16 and 17 at the Hewshott Singapore facility. Organized by Systems Integration Asia and sponsored by NETGEAR and ZeeVee, the interactive sessions will cover the basics of IP networking, followed by hands-on training in small groups exploring an AV-over-IP system. All participants will earn 2.5 CTS credits towards AVIXA certification.

“The SDVoE Alliance World Tour has delivered very well attended education and training sessions in the U.S., Australia, Latin America, and Europe,” said Justin Kennington, president of the SDVoE Alliance. “We are excited to introduce this intensive version of our AV-over-IP training in Singapore and to demonstrate how integrators and end users can take advantage of the flexibility and scalability of Ethernet to deliver 4K video without compromise, without latency, and without image artifacts.”

Course material includes the design, installation, configuration, and management aspects of an AV-over-IP system including encoders and decoders, as well as the software-based management platform which drives configuration and content management.