Liberty Wire & Cable, worldwide supplier of a broad range of wire and cable products for the audio/video trade, including custom installers and systems integrators, has announced publication of its first-ever guide to fiber optic products and solutions, available for the first time at InfoComm 2008. Read on at The Briefing Room

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Klein + Hummel introduces the visually appealing CLS Series of slim-line loudspeakers at InfoComm08. With special features like a power amplifier and plenty of virtual effects on the FX version, the CLS-2 Series is ideal for such applications as point-of-sale digital displays or multi-media shows. In addition Klein + Hummel is also debuting the CLS-3 Series column loudspeakers for wall-mounting in locations where high ceilings or the architectural or visual design limits speaker placement for distributed public address or background music applications. Read on at The Briefing Room

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Audio Enhancement, one of the education industry’s leaders in enhanced classroom learning systems, has introduced a unique new portable solution here at InfoComm 2008. The new self-contained system – SoloSolution powered by Panasonic’s world renowned audio technology – allows educators to easily employ the proven benefits of enhanced learning systems anywhere in the field while at the same time providing a high quality system for multi-media playback. It’s an ideal tool for off-site instruction, classrooms with installation challenges, seminars and conferences across a wide range of applications. Read on at The Briefing Room

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As the show madness started easing up, I had time for a nice chat with the always cheery Ron Johnson, director of sales and marketing for Adtec Digital (N6825) this afternoon. After regaling me for a while with tales from the early days of digital signage (“we called our product 13 years ago a multimedia player device, but it was digital signage back before most people knew that term,” Ron said), he spoke with pride about a cool little device from Adtec called mediaHUB HD–a 1080i and 720p encoder that made its InfoComm debut this week.

Ron was particularly pleased that the mediaHUB, checking in at a price point around $12,000, is more than a real-time encoder. It also has a hard drive and can play the role of a scheduling and management server, among other chores. more…

Revolabs has changed the way many companies think about audioconferencing over the past few years. For a technology that’s good when the gear is expensive and often horrendous when the gear is mediocre, Revolabs forged a middle path with easy-to-use, rechargeable personal lipstick-shaped mics, sold in relatively affordable packages with receivers that integrate well with most videoconferencing systems. These systems are designed for custom installation into racks by professional AV contractors. more…

John Lopinto and Derek Miranda at Communications Specialties gave me a great demo of their new 3150 series fiber transmission hardware. It can handle either single or multi-mode for HD and SD with no adjustments and the system has two significant firsts. The whole thing is built on strict adherence to SMPTE standards fo that it can connect anywhere to anyone’s standards-compliant equipment. Secondly, the transmitter performs EQ and reclocking so that as the signal goes onto the fiber, it is as stable as it can possibly be. They were taking a video signal and running it through 250 feet of coax and then into a one kilometer reel of fiber and it looked as clean as the original video on the source monitor. Next door in the Projection Design booth, all of the large venue displays were taking their video signals through CSI’s fiber. The crowd at the CSI booth pressed in to get a look and it appeared that word had gotten around. John Lopinto told me that the new 3150 series has “caught fire like no other new product we’ve introduced.”

Based on input from system integrators and its dealer network, Premier Mounts has introduced the PWH Series of cable management accessories for its popular PDS Series Projector Mount. Ideally suited for education and commercial applications where appearance and security are paramount, the PWH Series minimizes the visibility of cords and plugs to present a unified and professional mount-to-projector solution. Read on at The Briefing Room

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Dealing with marketing professionals is a daily occurance for a journalist, so it takes a lot to impress me, but I do have to offer kudos to the marketing team at Chief Manufacturing, led by marketing manager Karen Mefford. The reason for this pat on the back is Chief’s keen understanding of the need for, and importance of, useful online tools for customers, dealers, and the media to use in order to fully absorb the Chief message. Thus, this week at InfoComm, the company debuted the latest in a sophisticated suite of web products created by its three-person, in-house web development team–a tool called Chief MountBuilder, which Chief is calling “a visual product configurator” of use to dealers, installers, and others incorporating Chief technology into jobs.

You can check out the free, downloadable configurator for yourself at www.chiefmfg.com/mountbuilder, but the point is that MountBuilder is just the latest online tool from a company that has been, as it celebrates its 30th Anniversary this year, at its core, an engineering firm dedicated to making a very highly specialized product. Chief, in recent months, also debuted its “Online Classroom,” its “Education Center,” its “Knowledge College” and its “Design Center,” among other useful web tools. more…

Legends In Concert, celebrating its 25th year, is the longest running independently owned production show on the Las Vegas Strip. This international award-winning stage spectacular is a live musical celebration featuring the world’s greatest celebrity tribute artists. Behind the scenes, the musicians and sound engineers at the Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino know that there is no substitute for a crystal clear monitor mix. That’s why the team at Legends turns to Aviom (InfoComm Booth C4175) gear for real results. Read on at The Briefing Room

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The Luxtera (C1744) booth was a mob scene. Back in January, at CES, the company annouced its DisplayPort optical active interconnect long-reach cable for home and digital signage applications. At the core of the cable is Silicon CMOS Photonic technology—a chip the size of postage stamp. The company had a very compelling presentation, comparing the one Display Port cable to the large piles of the VGA, DVI, and HDMI cables. Size (smaller in this case) really does matter. more…