The InFocus IN5100 series of installation projectors provides integrators and installers with a powerful 4000 to 5000 lumens in wide or standard XGA resolution. At 5000 lumens, the IN5100 series only uses a single lamp, making it both simple and economical. Horizontal and vertical lens shift, four optional lenses and many connectivity options make the 5100 series adaptable to a broad range of installations. Read on at The Briefing Room

More InfoComm 08 news from The Briefing Room

It’s a testament to the thoroughness of the digital revolution that the introduction of a new analog mixing board is now officially a Big Deal.

Yamaha, which in the past decade has released so many blockbuster consoles with “D” in their designation, has introduced its first analog mixing board since about five years ago. The new IM8 line is built in the heralded factory in Japan that makes all the marquee boards for the company that have PM in their name. The focus is on high sound quality and high build quality. The IM8 is available in 24-, 32-, and 40-channel configurations. The intended market, according to marketing manager Marc Lopez, is smaller musical tours and houses of worship. The latter is a ripe market for analog mixing consoles because for many users, especially inexperienced mixers, it’s much easier to pick up the craft of mixing when there’s a discrete hardware knob for each channel – rather than a digital menu to page through to find the correct channel to tweak. more…

Over at the Rise Vision booth (N7341), fellow Contributing Editor Bennett Liles and I talked digital signage shop with VP Ryan Cahoy. The digital signage area in the North Hall is staggering—and more than a little confusing to some.

Cahoy says what it comes down to is achieving the content goal. That is, content is in an age where it is expected to be continually be updated. Cahoy says that often times users and integrators get hung up on the display systems, when really they should be focusing on content development and deployment. When you buy a computer, that system is already almost obsolete; the same is true of displays. Although users are always going to want display their content at the best quality possible, Cahoy says it’s a moot point if the content is stale. Which is why he points to Rise Vision’s Display Network web-based monitoring system. more…

Yesterday, I stopped over at Lencore‘s booth (C4079). It never fails that I will get some good industry conversation from VP Jonathan Leonard and Marketing Director Jodi Jacobs. Sound masking is the general name of the company’s game, but it’s the way the company is sharing in the open-platform and integration conversations that’s really inspiring. When asked what Leonard was seeing at this year’s show compared to year’s past, he says, “Everything is getting smarter.” Indeed, it is. If you want to talk industry shop with people who are tapped in and passionate, head over to Lencore—it will remind you just why this industry has so much to offer. more…