On the flight from BNA to DFW on Tuesday my seatmate asked if I was going to InfoComm. I was and assumed he was too since he knew of the show. Actually, no, the fellow, who specializes in HOW AV installs told me, he wasn’t going this year because for the last two shows he said that the number and nature of new products was pretty slim. He wished me a good show. After day one, I wish he would have gone to the show. more…

INFOCOMM ROLLS INTO LAS VEGAS this week and it’s definitely THE place to be for anyone serious about audio and video systems, and digital signage/display technologies. The one thing constant about technology is that it’s always in a state of change and InfoComm is an ideal forum for keeping up new standards and the state of the art.

Founded just a year ago—and celebrating its first birthday at InfoComm—the AVnu Alliance has been advancing pro-quality audio/video by promoting IEEE 802.1 Audio/Video Bridging (AVB) standards over various networking link-layers. AVnu promotes the benefits of AVB technologies and will create compliance test procedures and processes that insure AVB interoperability of networked A/V devices, with the goal of better A/V experiences for end users. For anyone involved in the installation/manufacturing/sales/distribution/operation of A/V products, AVnu is a good thing. more…

The message being promoted at the AMX booth (4727) is “simplicity” this year, especially with a cool little widget that the company’s marketing manager, Jeff Kindig, calls “our sleeper product at the show.” That’s because AMX HydraPort Connection technology solves important, little problems, when compared to the mega signal switchers and other types of technology found across the show. HydraPort is a simple, little, table pop-up module column that is easily custom configurable by the installer or end user directly. more…

Once again this year, at InfoComm 08 in Las Vegas, SVC‘s editorial team fanned out to find some of the most important, leading-edge AV-related products debuting at the show, investigating if they might be deserving of our annual InfoComm Pick Hit awards. Read on at The Briefing Room

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

More InfoComm 08 news from The Briefing Room

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…

David Rodgers, Marketing Manager for Elite Screens, has seen the Pro AV channel adopt Elite’s highest end home theater products. “I’m getting a growing number of requests from the corporate executive level,â€? Rodgers explains, saying that integrators will come to him looking to outfit CEO office and boardrooms in lux style with premium grade screens. “They want it to be the kind of place where Robert de Niro would in a chair getting things done. It’s theater. They see their offices as part of the diplomatic experience of their company.â€? As a result, the Cinetension 2 and Home 2 series lines (released end of last year) are moving through the commercial channels as well as the home theater channels. (Might be time to come up with some new names to suit the corporate channel). more…

Despite having a lousy position in North Hall (N7453), Pantel is still stopping passersby. The company’s weather-proof panels are only a year in production, so Pantel is a little less well-known. But that’s about to change.

It’s all about the water when you’re in the company’s miniscule booth (well, water and the live music funneling over from stage just yonder; it makes the water seem even flashier). The water that’s being sprayed on the company’s displays is a slick graphic, hence the stopping. And the water being sprayed on the mirror-like unit? That’s a water-proof display unit that’s going into Hard Rock Hotel showers. more…

Kramer Electronics is pleased to announce the introduction of the VS-66HDMI high performance matrix switcher for HDMI signals. The product is a 6×6 HDMI switcher that re-clocks and equalizes the signal and can route any or all of the six inputs to any or all of the six outputs simultaneously. It is ideal for a wide range of Pro AV and residential applications. Read on at The Briefing Room

More InfoComm 08 news from The Briefing Room

InfoComm Booth C1740 — Offering three separate functions in a single-box solution, the GefenTV Home Theater Scaler Pro switches between four audio/video sources, converts component, composite or s-video inputs to the enhanced HDMI v1.3 format, and upscales all four sources to 1080p full HD before outputting to one HDMI display or projector. Read on at The Briefing Room

More InfoComm 08 news from The Briefing Room