AMX (C2902), active as always at InfoComm, offered lots of highlights to think about in keeping with the trends I’ve been watching the last couple of days. In particular, the company’s “Making Technology Green� presentation caught my eye. AMX’s approach to power monitoring and data analysis within a control interface is built on its Meeting Manager technology (version 3.28 debuted at InfoComm this week). It essentially gives administrators the ability to monitor and analyze power consumption, establish rules for power use, and receive notifications when those rules are violated—among other highlights.

AMX executive Robert Noble also emphasized the obvious—that globalization is, indeed, real. He said that AMX’s business currently is almost 50% international at this point, and that number he fully expects to grow. He confided that the Burj Dubai tower, the world’s newest tallest building, has been specked out to include, according to Noble, “hundreds of AMX systems.â€? more…

I’m looking for a quote at the Tannoy demo room in the North Hall. “Three days in, not enough sleep, too much to drink?� offers Marc Bertrand helpfully. “Nothing our customer base doesn’t already know.�

Still, there is news at Tannoy, big news actually: the launch of the VQ Series—a line of precise directional loudspeakers, built for large scale installations that need great quality–and high SPLs. Really high SPLs.

Since the press release calls them “revolutionaryâ€? I need to know why, specifically. more…

ClearOne, a leading global provider of high performance audio conferencing solutions, announced the new Converge PA 2250 and Converge PA 4160 professional audio amplifiers. The PA 2250 is a two channel amplifier that provides 250 watts per channel while the PA 4160 is a four channel amplifier, providing 160 watts per channel. The PA 2250 and PA 4160, with their ample power and exceptional audio performance, satisfy the demand for high definition, multi-channel audio for conferencing, rich media presentations, and sound reinforcement applications. Read on at The Briefing Room

More InfoComm 08 news from The Briefing Room

Chyron, known best as the broadcast industry’s standard for on-screen graphics, has developed over the last five years a strong foothold in the digital signage space. The ChyTV products are designed for basic applications that often involve only a single screen — think of a deli with a busy lunch line, entertaining its customers with a live television feed while trying to promote specials (via graphics around the border).

The focus of the ChyTV line has not changed much, except that it’s participated in the industry’s general move toward HD. The new ChyTV HD 150, for instance, accepts an SD video feed on the input and incorporates digital signage graphics on the output and upscales the aggregate signal to 720p or 1080i/p. It also plays clips via its 160GB hard drive. more…

Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems announces the availability of the PM5D-EX digital console power package. The live sound and recording system combines a Yamaha PM5D Digital Mixing Console with a DSP5D Expander doubling the I/O and processing capacity of two PM5D consoles but controlled from a single surface. The system features 96 mono and 16 stereo input channels in a very flexible configuration. Read on at The Briefing Room

More InfoComm 08 news from The Briefing Room

Talking with Ralph Bachofen, senior director of product management and marketing. He’s here in at least two roles—he spoke at a packed NXTcomm session on video quality for IPTV and he’s on the LG booth at InfoComm with Treveni’s digital signage software.

Specifically they’re showing the Treveni software riding atop the built in controller of the LG M4210N HD LCD—called the Ensignia Digital Signage Lobby system. This is a wireless virtually installation-free deployment; it also comes in a networked version, that plays into what Bachofen says is a desire for end-to-end, simple systems. “You power it up and it’s a sign,â€? Bachofen says. Treveni already has a deal to distribute the Ensignia Lobby signage system here in Vegas through Innovative. more…

Yael Elstein, the C-nario VP of Marketing and David Kanaan gave me the tour of new things from C-nario. This included a demonstration of the C-nario Cube, the digital signage display, distribution and management platform for messaging in better than broadcast quality playback. The learning curve on this seems to very easy and the demo included setup of various patterns on a 40-screen monitor wall. These can be saved as presets and then recalled with one button push completely reassigning every individual monitor and its content source. C-nario Advertiser ad management system blends with this to allow complete control and reporting of all content. The C-nario Entertainer allows managing and operating complex, high-quality video based shows to add excitement to any event. The C-nario Messenger can show a screenful of individual displays so that an operator or controller can see exactly what each screen in an ad network is doing in real time. Email trouble reporting is also possible for rapid troubleshooting. This was a very impressive demo and C-nario seems to have a lot of the right answers with this system.

You can always count on Extron to have a lot of new things to unleash on the Infocomm crowd and this year is no exeption. Director of marketing communication, Mike Andrews showed Michael Goldman, Jessaca Gutierrez and I around the massive Extron area and I was particularly impressed with their new Global Viewer Enterprise. This is the new server-based AV system management and control application that I got a sneak peek at during the Educators’ reception. The primary advantage is multi-rooms at a glance with lamp time meters and a host of other control and management features. more…

Electrograph Systems (InfoComm Booth C1230), a leading national distributor of display technology products and services, will showcase the widest array of AV displays and accessories to be seen in one booth, including exclusive showings of several digital signage products, during InfoComm 08, June 18-20, in Las Vegas. Read on at The Briefing Room

More InfoComm 08 news from The Briefing Room

Furman, a world-leading provider of power management solutions, today announced that Christos Desalernos, domestic sales manager for Furman’s Pro Division, will conduct a training session at InfoComm 2008 in Las Vegas. The hour-long session, entitled “AC Power Management for Audio/Video Professionals,� will be held on Friday, June 20, at 10:30 a.m. in Training Room 3 (MT3) of the Las Vegas Convention Center. In his presentation, Desalernos will provide a comprehensive look at the challenges caused by AC power in modern AV installations and their solutions. Read on at The Briefing Room

More InfoComm 08 news from The Briefing Room