About two months
ago, I was in the market for a new laptop. So, what did I do? I made
a list of all the features and specifications that my new laptop needed
to meet and created a spreadsheet with all the possible manufacturers
that could “fit the bill”. Then I went onto the web and spent an evening
filling in my spreadsheet with all the possible contenders. And, the
outcome? Well, I bought another Dell mostly because of the satisfaction
I have enjoyed when dealing with their impeccable technical support
team.
Well, a few nights ago, a friend from Disney called me, and asked if
I could help narrow down his department’s search for a new projection
system and give him a list of manufacturers and specifications to look
for when doing his search. I obliged him and we started brainstorming
over the phone. After spending about an hour on the phone with him,
I came to an interesting, but frustrating, realization. It is almost
impossible to do an apples-to-apples comparison of features and performance
in our industry. Why? It’s simple, no standards. Ok, we do have the
ANSI Lumens standards, and some manufacturers are even starting to use
them, but in reality, they're useless if not specified with the contrast
ratio.
But, even if we include ANSI Lumens as a standard, that brings our total
to, well, ONE. One standard. Imagine buying a laptop that was specified
to perform at 330Mhz only to find out a month later that it was actually
only 166 MHz. I bet you would be pretty upset. Well, what’s the difference
in that example and buying a projector specified to output 650 lumens
and, after setting it side by side with the 500 lumens projector you
purchased a month ago, you see that the new projector is actually dimmer!
So, what’s the difference?
Well, I don’t want to pick on the projector manufacturers as in many
cases it’s not actually their fault and, that’s not the point of this
article. But the projector example is only one single product and one
single example. Now, put yourself in the shoes of someone who designs,
specifies and sells systems with over 50 professional AV products in
a typical application and virtually none of them with standards. What
do you have? The day to day perils of the average AV contractor today.
If you think you’re confused, imagine having to integrate 50 non-standard
products without standardized specifications into a system and trying
to guarantee a customer it will work, even though the system is using
products that he/she has never integrated together before. And, to top
it all off, because virtually every system the typical AV contractor
does today is custom and there aren’t any standards, in many cases,
each manufacturer must be called one-by-one to insure compatibility.
The solution is really rather complicated as there isn’t a governing
body for the professional AV industry and there isn’t an active “standards
committee” that is addressing all the issues of specifications and how
they should be measured, displayed and quoted in a cut-sheet or a product
catalog. In addition, it’s not really the fault of any of the manufacturers,
as many of them actually have to create new terms and labels to explain
totally new technology in the first place. For example, the term “computer-video
interface” was created by COVID back in 1986 to label the technology
used to convert a computer’s TTL video signal to analog. Since then,
every major computer-video interface manufacturer has adopted that term
to label their line of computer analog video converters. And where do
you think the term “line doubling” came from? Well, Faroudja of course.
They invented the first line doubler in 1989 and since then, at least
15 other line doubler manufacturers have adopted the term.
In Jeffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm (the high-tech marketing “bible”)
he described the development of a market and an industry for that matter.
Right now, the Pro AV market customer base is made up of what Moore
labeled early adopters and innovators. We need to force ourselves into
eventually adopting standards beyond today’s recommended practices so
that we can move our market towards the early majority customers so
that we can continue to enjoy the same growth we have since the early
90’s. I will certainly support any industry efforts in this direction
and hope that either ICIA or NSCA will take a leadership role in developing
these “standards”.
Case in point, did you know there’s a manufacturer of cable out there
that is actually promoting “liquid cooled cable”? They even claim that
their liquid cooling method leads to super-high performance and unparalleled
quality. Well, since when do liquid and electricity produce anything
good? What’s all this mean? It just underscores the need for some “standardization”
and maybe even (dare I say it) some regulation to protect us all from
the marketing hype that surrounds the stuff we read in the average cut-sheet.
However, in the mean time, the standards don’t exist and the potential
compatibility problems are endless.
In fact, there are a number of manufacturers who have developed a complete
market from the lack of standards. So, business is still good. On the
other hand, lack of compatibility wreaks havoc on the system designers
and installers whose jobs, reputations and work is on the line.
So, until standards arrive, here are a few tips and tricks to help make
everyone’s life a bit easier:
1. Get to know to glue: There are a number of key driving-force
manufacturers that are providing the glue to connect all these incompatible
systems together and can make life much easier on a designer and installer.
Control System companies like AMX and Crestron for example. Both companies
unfortunately use different control protocols and proprietary programming
languages, but their product has become remarkably easy to program over
the past few years. Crestron’s simple-to-program system is called the
SmartTouch and AMX’s is the new ViewPoint system.
In addition, companies like Extron, Altinex CSI and Covid make high-resolution
connection and converter boxes but even more importantly, each offer
FREE technical support and an incredibly knowledgeable support staff.
Some standout products from each of these companies include the Installation
Cable from Extron (designed to be the one and only cable you will even
need in an installation as it is capable of carrying high-res video,
RGB, S-video, audio, data and control signals down one bundle of cable.
CSI’s Deuce and ScanDo Ultra offer scan conversion outputs so that any
computer or video signal can be connected to any projector or monitor
regardless of resolution or input type. Altinex simplifies computer-video
interfacing by offering a single wall-plate interface capable of routing
RGB, video, audio (line, PC level or Mic level), control and data at
the same time. And Covid’s new ISDN router that simplifies a videoconferencing
installation by providing a remote controllable ISDN matrix switcher.
Of course, each of these companies makes hundreds of other products
that can make life easier and I only highlighted a few of them. So,
go check out their web sites or call and order a catalog from them.
And, carry it wherever you go.
2. Do it 5-Wire: Whenever you’re designing a system using computer-video
signal distribution, and of course most do, route all signals as five
wire (RGBHV) instead of four wire (RGBS). Why? Well, there are a number
of reasons why this can solve compatibility issues, but the most common
issue is noise. Most computer-video signals are output as analog video
(RGB) and TTL or digital level sync (HV). Well, when you send that combined
(S) TTL level sync long distances through one wire, they tend to have
cross talk as the signal degrades over distance. If you route everything
as separate H and V sync, the potential for cross talk is eliminated.
In addition, many of the leading projector manufacturers will tell you
that their inputs are more stable and noise-free if you connect your
signals as separate H and V signals as opposed to composite Sync. You
will get a cleaner picture 99 out of 100 times with separate sync routing
and doing it 5-wire (RGBHV).
3. Cable Up: The weakest link in every system is the cable. In
fact, the highest resolution cable on the market theoretically isn’t
capable of carrying the super high-resolution signals of SXGA and the
future UVGA. In fact, the rule of thumb for video bandwidth is three
times the source bandwidth. So, keeping that in mind, an XGA computer
has a video bandwidth of about 100 MHz. So, using the rule of thumb,
you need to use 300 MHz cable to maintain signal integrity. So, why
skimp? Knowing that’s it’s already the performance-limiting factor of
a system, use the best stuff you can get your hands on. Every major
cable vendor makes what they call super, high-resolution coax cable
that, although it’s typically thick, it’s high performance oriented.
High performance cable manufacturers include Belden, WestPenn, Canare,
and Covid’s Cactus Cable brand.
4. Simplify by Design: More isn’t always better and in many cases
makes a system complicated. It’s well documented in the consumer electronics
industry that greater than 80% of the population has a VCR sitting in
their house with a “blinking 12:00”. Why? Well, it’s certainly not because
of continuous power outages. In fact, it’s because most people can’t
figure out how to program the clock. So, keeping that in mind, you can
design and install a system with 100 components and think the way to
solve the complexity is simply to use a control system. Yes, a control
system can solve the problem but Keep It Simple. A cool-looking LCD
touch-screen may look awesome sitting on the boardroom table, but if
the only person who knows how to use it is out sick or the batteries
die, what’s next? Well, consider redundant control with the touch of
a button: good, old-fashioned, push buttons. Even if it take a lot of
buttons, label each one so that anyone can figure out how to make the
system work and then voila, simplicity. KISC: Keep It Simple for the
CEO.
5. Get in a rut: There’s something to be said for redundancy.
Of course, no two systems are ever exactly alike, unless you make them
that way. Why not standardize on a packaged system design and stick
with it. OK, maybe you will lose a few custom systems but if you package
the system right, you may just end up with a system that will fit 90%
of the same applications. In other words, “cookie-cutter” systems may
not be cool but they sure can be profitable and simple. In addition,
think of the reduction of the “learning-curve” for new Installer training.
6. Read the newsletters: Most major manufacturers have better
newsletters than catalogs. That’s because the marketing department designs
the catalog and the product development or education department writes
the newsletter. Trust me, not too many engineers who design the stuff
ever actually ever see the cut-sheet before it goes to print. However,
newsletters tend to be a little bit more technically oriented. One of
the best out there is Da-Lite’s Angles of View. Written by Kim Milliken
of Da-Lite, Angles of View covers more than just projection screen issues.
In fact, he regularly addresses issues like projector installation,
ambient lighting concerns, resolution, scaling, facility design and
even audio. Again, call every major, manufacturer you deal with and
get on their subscription list. They are FREE and informative.
7. Go to INFOCOMM and NSCA: I have always found it perplexing
how so many dealers and contractors will send the management of their
company to INFOCOMM but not send the installers and designers. Who needs
to see the product anyway? When was the last time the owner of your
company installed something? Now, I know there are exceptions, but I
am sure you get the point.
Some people in our industry argue that when we have standards, the market
will no longer be profitable. In addition, standards will lead to retail
distribution of the Professional AV gear. I don’t buy that argument
and, in fact, I think the very opposite could occur. I think that a
lack of standards eventually breeds confusion. Confusion breeds indecision.
Indecision leads to a market recession and a recession begets a lack
of profitability. However, an informed, educated consumer is much more
likely to buy something and even spend more money for it to get personalized
service.
Gary Kayye is
Principal of Kayye Consulting a firm that specializes in providing marketing
consulting and training development to the professional audiovisual
industry.