AV Technology - August 2008 - (Page 75)

Access/Series E ceiling-recessed projection screens from Draper where chosen as each of the rooms’ viewing surfaces in sizes ranging from 6 feet x 8 feet to 60 x 80 inches technology that ultimately won out met these expectations, and gave us some relief from budgetary concerns as well.” The controlling factor of which Merkle speaks is the RN-8200 Room Navigator from West Paterson, NJ-based FSR Inc. A complete multi-video format AV switcher and controller, the Room Navigator is a rackmount unit that contains three video switchers: a 4x1 RGBHV switch, an 8x1 Composite video switch, and an 8x1 S-Video switch. Inputs one through four on the device can be either Composite video, SVideo, or utilized for computer input, while inputs five through eight can be used simultaneously for Composite video and S-Video. An 8x1 stereo audio switcher is also found on the device that supports balanced or unbalanced audio; all of its eight audio inputs can be assigned to any of 12 available video inputs. Within the Room Navigator’s control circuitry, four serial ports live in harmony with four learner-equipped IR ports, and four dry contact closures. Placed in the capable hands of the Ohio Valley AV system design team, the device’s control functions had everything required to allow University of Dayton faculty members to put each classroom’s array of AV hardware through its paces. “We are definitely using it all,” Merkle says www.avtechnologyonline.com of the Room Navigator’s configurable control. “The projectors are typically running through the serial ports, the DVD/VCR decks are IRoperated, and the screens are on the contact closures. The Room Navigator is a first-stop destination for everything in terms of signals. All of our video and audio sources are routed to it, and then distributed accordingly through the outputs with the audio going to the TOA mixer/amp, the video to the projector, and so forth.” MINDING THE BUDGET Every project has budget limitations, and the University of Dayton smart classrooms build was no exception. Cost considerations being what they were, the Room Navigator came to the job with a measure of savings centered around the fact that, unlike competitive offerings, it housed no scaler. “We had no real need for a scaler in this application,” Merkle submits. “And to get the kind of switching and control functions we needed, there was no other device outside of the Room Navigator that provided just that in a package without a scaler, too. In these costconscious times, it was definitely a benefit to find a device in this category that provided just what we needed and no more. The client didn’t have to wind up paying more for things they didn’t need.” As a control system, the Room Navigator wasn’t nearly as complex to program as other high-end systems. Using proprietary FSR software, the Ohio Valley AV crew created macros that distilled multi-step command operations down to the levels of one-touch simplicity demanded. As installed in each classroom, a wall plate (the better-equipped of two offered for the system in the FSR catalog) built into a lectern supplied by Spectrum Industries forms a readily accessible and practical interface for all control operations. Outfitted with its own rackrail, the same lectern also serves as a safeguarding repository for all rackmount components. “It was an affordable way to tie everything together,” Merkle says of the Room Navigator. “Plus you have all the control you’d ever need in any of the classrooms right at your fingertips on a single interface. Press a button, and your screen drops down out of the ceiling. Need to adjust the volume of a DVD? That is done from the same place, too. You’ll never have to get down on your knees to hit play to start a VCR either, and there’s not a different remote for every source. Bottom-line, we were able to deliver on everything promised. Anyone can walk into these rooms now, turn on anything, and have complete system access.” This summer, Ohio Valley AV is racing against the clock to complete other smart classroom upgrades at the university before school resumes in the fall. “It’s the season,” Merkle adds on a parting note. “From our perspective, these kinds of jobs aren’t slowing down at all. It’s been great to see the dawning of an age where the technology is addressing the real needs of both the user and those of us who install and service it.” ATLAS SOUND www.atlassound.com DRAPER www.draperinc.com EPSON www.epson.com FSR www.fsrinc.com QOMO www.qomo.com SONY www.sony.com SPECTRUM INDUSTRIES www.spectrumfurniture.com TOA ELECTRONICS www.toaelectronics.com Gregory A. DeTogne is a freelance writer who lives and works in Libertyville, IL. He can be reached at greg@detogne.net. august 2008 | AV TECHNOLOGY | 75 INFO http://www.atlassound.com http://www.draperinc.com http://www.epson.com http://www.fsrinc.com http://www.qomo.com http://www.sony.com http://www.spectrumfurniture.com http://www.toaelectronics.com http://www.avtechnologyonline.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AV Technology - August 2008

AV Technology - August 2008 Contents Precedent Corporate: The Project’s Over...Now What? Government: Generational Diversity and the Rise of the Millennials Education: DIY ISP.EDU HD Videoconferencing On a Budget Using Automatic Mic Mixers The Way I See It: The Standards Dilemma in AV Something for Everybody AV Adds the Magic to Microsoft’s Hat Trick Simple Control for Smarter Classrooms Product Review: VeEX VePAL MX100 Product Spotlight: Amps; Touchpanels New Products Ad Index AV MO: Dealing with Ambient Light

AV Technology - August 2008

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