Videobars are making online meetings better and often more efficient than traveling to face-to-face encounters. A quad-camera system, the Crestron Videobar 70 captures the motion, beamforming microphones record the sound, and its stereo speakers for playback are ideal for medium or large rooms. Crestron likes to call it an all-in-one collaboration bar, and it's easy to see why.
If your goal is complete coverage of the meeting’s attendees, you have two video options. Three narrow field of view 4K cameras (left, center, and right) capture individual participants with 14-degree overlap, while the main 20 MP wide-angle 4K camera frames the entire group. The 4K image may be output on two separate displays at 30fps. So many cameras give you so many display options, such as multiple views or picture-in-picture, to customize your meeting experience.
Audio is captured throughout the room with 24 microphones, and the two 10-watt speakers clearly reproduce it. With aural features like speaker equalization, adaptive beamforming, dynamic noise suppression, dereverberation, acoustic echo cancellation, and automatic gain control, your audio will probably be better than your ears will actually hear.
The Videobar 70 is massive (relatively speaking), measuring just over 38 inches long and weighing about 13 pounds. Although portable, it is a dominant feature in the room. The center-mounted camera array is concealed by a metal door and is surround by an LED that glows green or red.
Connection ports are in the rear. From left to right is the AC input, reset button, USB-C port, USB-C microphone input, two USB-A ports, two LAN inputs, three HDMI outputs, two HDMI inputs, and 3.5mm audio I/O. A separate TS-1070 touchscreen control panel is vital for custom control of the videobar.
Making Connections
I’ve reviewed numerous videobars and this one has to be the biggest I’ve seen. More like a piece of expensive office furniture, the package came in a large box with the Videobar 70, TS-1070 touchscreen, and all the cabling you need. The initial setup was a little complicated, so I asked for Crestron’s help.
The TC-1070 gets its power from the gray Ethernet cable plugged into the Lan PoE port on the PWE-4803RU power supply. The blue Ethernet cable runs from the LAN output to Input 1 on the Videobar 70. An HDMI out connects the videobar to a monitor, in our case a Samsung 55-inch 4K display. Input 2 on the Videobar 70 accepts the internet signal via an Ethernet cable.
Power up both the touchscreen and the videobar. After the color parade is finished, you should be ready to go. That should have been the case. However, our university’s firewall is so strong, it recognized a non-university, non-approved signal and blocked it (as it should).
I had to contact IT, give them the pertinent info on the Crestron 70, and allow the unit to be recognized. This didn’t happen overnight. It seems that the video touchscreen needs its own Wi-Fi signal on its own line. Once the university allocated two separate lines for the touchscreen, the system operated properly.
The system defaults to mirror mode. That is easily switched off on the touchpanel. The camera tracked the subject as he moved throughout the room. There was a second or two of lag before the camera caught up to him, but once the facial recognition locked on the person whatever he would do, the camera would track them.
When we initially heard audio for the first time, it was extremely loud. We didn't realize the quality and power of the speakers. Once we got it down to a reasonable level, it sounded less like a surround sound system in a movie theater. After a few moments of fiddling around, everything was set up and working properly, it was incredible what the Crestron videobar could do.
You're Gonna Be a Star
With the Videobar 70, you are the producer of a Hollywood-style meeting. Your clients, coworkers, or students have the best seat in the surround sound theater for their meeting. Seriously, the sound and picture make me want to compare it with a major studio production.
In this instance, AI really does enhance the viewer/attendee’s experience. However, there are some logistic loops you must jump through. Depending on what software version is installed on the videobar, you’ll need a Microsoft Teams or Zoom account.
I was complaining about the difficulty at my university about getting access to an Ethernet connection because of the firewall. At home I wouldn't have had those problems, but I don't have my own Zoom account. There also are a lot of connections that must be made, so I found it helpful to label each end of the cable to know where its proper placement is.
[Product Review: Think Outside the 'Box']
The Crestron Videobar 70 is great for any meeting with only a few minutes of setup time—once you know where everything goes. Optimal sound and visuals will enhance any meeting or presentation. You can control all the Videobar’s features with touchscreen control, so you can take better command of your meetings and make each presenter the star attraction.
