Category: Blog

Video walls are a much-discussed subject nowadays, as it becomes increasingly feasible to achieve large video displays without resorting to projection.  And certainly direct-view LED walls are receiving most of the attention; they are beautiful, seamless, and prices are falling.  Twice though in the past week I’ve looked at current projects where LCD walls remain

As the summer winds down, some of our clients in higher education are taking stock of their responses to the challenges brought by the coronavirus.  And it’s pretty clear that they’ve relied upon industry partnerships to get through.  As a notable example, and one I’ve heard a couple of times, there was an immediate need

I try to avoid discussing products, but there’s one that’s come to mind recently, available on Amazon for $5.88.  It’s a book, Ray Wadsworth’s Basics of Audio and Visual Systems Design, in its original 1983 first edition.  You can get it here https://www.amazon.com/Basics-Audio-Visual-Systems-Design/dp/0672220385, and it’s a treasure for anyone working in the field.  Though of

I touched a while ago on the concept of a hybrid classroom, a space that supports teaching to both local and remotely located students.  But increasingly a new term is appearing – “HyFlex.”  What is this, and can we use the two terms interchangeably? The term “HyFlex” has been credited to Brian Beatty of San

We’re beginning to see 8K UHDTV (7680 x 4320) cameras and displays come onto the market, although so far they’re just a curiosity in pro A/V.  The Japanese broadcaster NHK was planning this year’s Summer Olympics in 8K, and as this newsletter https://www.smpte.org/8k-continues-carving-niche from SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers) notes, there’s an

There’s little doubt that product standardization offers benefits to users and increases the adoption of a technology.  The telephone, the PC, and Ethernet are all examples we know.  As consultants, we’re watching networked audio coalesce around AES67, and for broadcasters, SMPTE ST 2110 is rolling out.  But the Pro-A/V industry still has a distance to

I usually start each workday by scanning through my email, and the other day, following a series of links on changes in higher education wrought by Covid-19, I came across this article https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/how-harvards-star-computer-science-professor-built-a-distance-learning-empire on the introductory computer science course at Harvard.  It’s a long but fascinating read, talking about the intersection of education and technology,

It wasn’t all that many years ago that every project had a 3-pointed conference telephone on the table, with a cable snaking off to the wall or, if we were lucky, disappearing down through a hole in the table top.  Then along came video conferencing, first in large complex rooms, and now everywhere.  An article

There’s a new acronym we’re learning, BYOM, Bring Your Own Meeting.  No longer are meeting participants bringing their own devices simply to push content – they’re bringing the meeting itself.  Our enterprises and institutions may have a supported platform (Teams, Zoom, or Webex perhaps) and rooms with fancy touchscreens, but when I’m the meeting host,

With heightened concern about spreading illness through surface contact, we’re seeing the term “touchless” within the A/V industry.  But what does this mean?  Are we really running our presentations by waving our hands, or with our voices? Well, possibly yes.  Voice controlled A/V systems are real; see this video from Utah State University https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARPj5q2_mHw  But