There was a time when the term "restaurant AV" meant an analog TV set sitting on the bar and a reel-to-reel tape deck playing Muzak. No longer: In the 21st century, restaurant AV means taking video and audio to the next level and beyond, because today's tech-savvy patrons expect no less.
The Big, Big, Big Picture
There are large displays in sports bars across the United States, and then there's the gigantic 4K display in Blinders Sports Lounge in Charlotte, NC. This 5,500-square-foot sports bar/restaurant, which seats 160 inside and 60 more on the 1,500-square-foot patio, has installed an 850-square-foot 4K dvLED video wall over its bar.
Visible from all areas of the main room, the 10,000-pound display can show up to 24 different feeds or any combination of fewer feeds at a larger scale for sports, parties, movies, and esports tournaments. It’s no wonder that Blinders describes the visual experience as immersive viewing: It's like having a video billboard inside the sports bar.
“Kush Anandani, the owner of Blinders Sports Lounge, is an avid sports fan who wanted to create an incredible space in his hometown of Charlotte that mimicked the exceptional experiences he had watching sports at different Las Vegas spots,” explained Rob Meiner, technical sales engineer for Peerless-AV, which provided the mounting system for the video wall in association with AV design firm DCBolt Productions. "To achieve this, Kush wanted to provide a high-definition viewing experience of a sportsbook, combined with the live energy of a sports lounge and the luxurious detailing of a cocktail lounge.”
Of course, offering a gigantic video wall isn’t enough. To motivate sports fans to come back to Blinders after watching the game here once, the viewing experience has to be as comfortable as possible. "The Unilumin USlim2 displays are mounted at a 10-degree forward tilt, making this structure stand out as unique as it delivers the ultimate viewing experience for every guest, no matter where they are seated,” Meiner said. "We implemented a SEAMLESS Bespoke floor-to-wall mounting structure made of steel, weighing 6,000 pounds."
The video wall is controlled by an iPad loaded with the Creston Go app, so it can support custom software made by DCBolt. The lounge is also home to a nearly 50,000-watt VOID Acoustics sound system, also installed by DCBolt, that feeds a row of 24-karat gold-plated speakers installed under the dvLED screen. Total cost for the AV package: a cool $1.5 million.
Currently being billed as the largest dvLED video wall of its kind on the East Coast, the installation required a great degree of care and forethought. “For a dvLED video wall of this scale, precision engineering is critical to account for factors such as total wall load, tight tolerances, and heat dissipation,” said Meiner. “To guarantee optimal performance for 24/7 operation, we conducted thorough testing on samples in advance.”
Sunlight and indoor lighting had to be factored into the mix as well. No problem: “Besides having the angle of the video wall tilted forward 10 degrees, Blinders and their industrial designers selected fixtures that are appropriate for the space and ensured they were placed and angled correctly,” Meiner noted. “This includes ceiling lights and wall sconces that have baffles to direct light and prevent it from spilling. Additionally, windows are slightly tinted to filter outdoor lighting to create a darker ambiance, while the indoor lights are considered warm white light.”
Then there was the challenge of fitting the video wall into the restaurant itself. “Some of the challenges included fitting large-scale installation equipment within the space, such as getting an atrium lift inside the building, and the structure of the bar making it impossible to use ladders or scissor lifts,” said Meiner. “Additionally, working with several types of teams at once in such a tight space and limited time frame presented its challenges, but through collaboration and constant communication, we ultimately made it work to achieve the desired results.”
The Blinders video wall and VOID sound system were installed and ready to go in time for March Madness earlier this year. "Everyone is extremely happy with the final result,” Meiner concluded. “Peerless-AV's close partnership with DCBolt throughout the installation allowed the teams to navigate tight timescales to deliver a result that lives up to its promise of exhilarating, immersive 4K sports action from the moment guests step inside.”
That Sounds Italian
Prati Italia is an upscale Italian restaurant in Jacksonville, FL, whose many rooms are also used for private events and conferences. The sound system at this restaurant was modern when it was installed in January 2013. But time and technology wait for no one, which is why Prati Italia decided to upgrade its audio system as its existing equipment started to fail.
As it turned out, its best choice was to install a SoundTube DSM-16 Dante system manager, which transported audio using Prati Italia’s existing network cables and outlets. This proved to be an ideal solution for this location.
“The old audio system had equipment in various rooms with separate control panels,” explained Ken Hecht, VP of SoundTube Entertainment. “Integrating it through the centralized Ethernet network enabled us to use existing Ethernet cables, which simplified the installation. By using PoE to power the new amplifiers, we were able to centralize everything in one location and add new capabilities without the expense and time required to run cabling.”
Prati Italia IT manager Jerry Gray chose a cost-saving hybrid approach for the upgrade, an approach that allowed the restaurant’s legacy Crown and Ashley amplifiers to be integrated with the DSM-16 and three SoundTube IPD-Hub 2 DSP amplifiers on a property-wide network. The DSM-16’s audio outputs, which can be assigned to different areas of the restaurant on a zone basis, are sent to various SoundTube speakers.
The restaurant has 18 RS500i pendant speakers and 23 CM62-BGM 6-inch in-ceiling speakers in the interior areas. Meanwhile, the outdoor deck has 10 SoundTube SM82 8-inch outdoor extreme weather surface mount speakers, plus four amplifiers designed for multi-room applications powering passive speakers, an audio extender box, and a remote volume control system.
The best part: “All of the audio zones can be controlled using a tablet computer,” said Gray. "So, not only is our new sound system more flexible and better sounding than ever before, but it is extremely easy to control from anywhere in the restaurant using a tablet.”
Lessons Learned
Obviously, the AV installations at Blinders Sport Lounge and Prati Italia are very different. Still, some common lessons can be learned from them both. For one thing, there are innovative restaurateurs who are open to investing in the latest in AV technology, which means there are opportunities worth exploring by integrators and installers.
lso, the advanced possibilities offered by modern AV equipment can make a real difference in making restaurants more attractive to patrons. In a very obvious sense, the gigantic video wall at Blinders gives sports fans a good reason to keep coming back. In a more subtle way, the same can be said of Prati Italia’s audio system, which helps make the dining experience more enjoyable. Restaurant AV can be expensive and eye-catching or affordable and enhancing—but either way, it can be a competitive advantage that can help keep patrons coming back for seconds.
