Networks and Signal Distribution

Barix SoundScape for Business Music & Advertising

  • PDF

SoundScape

Let’s call it audio digital signage.

Audio over IP pioneer Barix is now shipping SoundScape, its live and scheduled streaming service that allows audio content providers to centrally manage and distribute branded music and advertising over IP networks.

Barix Managing Director Frank Frederiksen is bullish on the benefits that an integrated Audio over IP platform can bring to in-store radio, which has long been plagued by complex, computer-based architectures or highly expensive satellite platforms

SoundScape lets businesses dump these more complex and expensive systems used for in-store radio. Service providers can quickly launch a SoundScape service with a subscription and IP audio players at each end location, and immediately start reliably delivering music and advertising to restaurants, stores, hotels and public facilities.

The upfront “pay as you go” price model, along with SoundScape’s scalability, also ensures attainable long-term expansion goals are reachable while maintaining overall low total cost of ownership. Advanced features (which include dynamic ad insertion for each location) enable new revenue generating streams and can accelerate return on investment.

SoundScape eliminates the complex integration of many different components to deliver branded audio to customers. The quick and easy deployment is a win for systems integrators, who can now singularly focus on a centralized integration strategy for in-store radio and other audio over IP delivery platforms. SoundScape brings together integrated audio distribution, remote device management, dynamic content scheduling, system-wide reporting and monitoring, hierarchical user management and high-quality, multi-format audio playout using Barix’s rock-solid Exstreamer SoundScape IP audio players.

“With nearly two decades of experience designing professional IP audio decoders, we observed the challenges that systems integrators experienced when combining many disparate components from multiple vendors—and how costly these systems were to maintain over the long term,” says Joan Anton Parilla, product manager, Barix. “We also saw a potential for new features to ease maintenance efforts and related costs, which are a major problem in the industry. We have worked diligently on these enhancements to ensure a fully developed, integrated solution for integrators and service providers.”

Go Barix SoundScape

OCA Alliance Demonstrates New Technology

  • PDF

OCA Alliance Demonstrates New Technology at AES

OCA Microdemo

The OCA Alliance is at the 139th International AES Convention in New York, with a live light-weight hardware demonstration– the OCA Microdemo.

The standardization of OCA is moving toward the public comment stage of ratification before becoming (when ratified) an official public standard known as AES70.

OCA (Open Control Architecture) is an open control and monitoring standard for professional audio and AV media network devices. OCA is not itself a media transport, nor a means of programming a network device or system control or generating a user interface.

From a single device and controller to networks with almost any number of devices and multiple controllers, OCA provides for high speed, low cost, robust system control and monitoring of devices from different manufacturers. OCA can be used in conjunction with any available transport protocol (Dante, AVB, AES67, Cobranet, etc.).

Offering interoperability across different media transports and various devices, it enables new levels of complex system integration (and options as to how and where network devices can be deployed). The architecture operates on commodity Ethernet networking hardware or via standard 802.11wi-fi.

OCA is available free of charge to manufactures, system integrators and designers, to implement with their own and third party network devices, as they require.

At AES, OCA Alliance members have collaborated to illustrate the power and flexibility of OCA across all ranges of applications, large and small. The alliance demonstrates the OCA Microdemo, a full-features implementation of OCA running on a compact and lightweight reference design.

This implementation is ideal for compact devices such as wall controllers or hardware designs where software and hardware resources are limited. Part of the demo shows the multi-controller benefits of OCA, as hardware from multiple manufacturers are controlled simultaneously from the OCA Microdemo hardware, an iPad application, and a Chrome browser-based GUI, alongside native manufacturer control interfaces.

OCA Alliance is also announcing its latest new member, Atlas Sound, LP/Innovative Electronic Designs, LLC (Atlas IED).

The current members of the alliance are Attero Tech, Audinate, Bittner Audio, Bosch Communications Systems, d&b audiotechnik, Focusrite, Harman Professional Group, LOUD Technologies Inc., PreSonus, RCF, Salzbrenner Stagetec Mediagroup, TC Group and Yamaha Commercial Audio.

Go The OCA Alliance

Extron's HDMI Distribution Amp for 4K Video

  • PDF

ExtronDA2 HD 4K

Extron Electronics announces the immediate availability of the DA2 HD 4K, a one input, two output HDMI distribution amplifier designed specifically to support today's 4K applications.

It provides distribution of computer and video resolutions up to 4096x2160, including 1080p/60 with Deep Color.

This distribution amplifier is HDCP compliant, and supports data rates up to 10.2 Gbps, 3D, Lip Sync, and HD lossless audio formats. Automatic input cable equalization ensures 4K signal integrity up to 50 feet when used with Extron HDMI Pro Series cables. To streamline integration and operation, features include automatic color bit depth management, selectable output muting, and Extron technologies for EDID and HDCP management.

The DA2 HD 4K is ideal for applications that require the distribution of a 4K HDMI source signal to two displays.

Casey Hall, VP Sales and Marketing for Extron, says "The DA2 HD 4K not only actively splits a 4K HDMI signal, it also manages the communication between the source and the displays."

Several Extron technologies included with the DA2 HD 4K distribution amplifier simplify integration of HDMI-enabled devices. EDID Minder automatically manages EDID by maintaining continuous EDID communication with each source, ensuring that sources power up properly and reliably output content for display.

For HDMI signals with protected content, Key Minder authenticates and maintains continuous HDCP encryption to support reliable transmission while enabling simultaneous distribution of a single source signal to two displays.

It also provides +5 VDC, 250 mA on each output for powering peripheral devices, such as an Extron UHD4K 101 or HDMI 101 Plus cable equalizer.

Go Extron DA2 HD 4K

Extron 4K Regenerators for HDMI Signal Integrity

  • PDF

ExtronHD 4K 110 Series

Extron Electronics introduces the HD 4K 110 Series, one input, one output signal regenerators that ensure signal integrity for HDMI sources with marginal or poor quality output. The signal regenerators are HDCP compliant, and support computer and video resolutions up to 4K, including 1080p/60 with Deep Color.

Designed to recondition signals at the source, they equalize the input signal, reduce jitter and skew, and provide output signal pre-emphasis to reliably extend the signal. Video resolutions up to 4K can be extended up to 25 feet (7.6 meters) when used with Extron HDMI Pro Series cable.

The HD 4K 110 Series is available in two form factors: a double-space AAP version for use in the Extron Cable Cubby Series/2 enclosure or other AAP mounting frame, and a single-gang Decora-style wall plate version.

Both versions can be powered by the HDMI source or the included power supply for integration flexibility. Available in black and white to complement a wide variety of environments, the HD 4K 110 AAP and HD 4K 110 D are ideal for discreet installation with remote HDMI sources.

“We designed the HD 4K 110 specifically for system designers and integrators working with today’s professional applications that need to include the latest 4K resolutions from an ever widening selection of HDMI sources,” says Casey Hall, VP Extron Marketing and Sales. “The signal quality offered by various HDMI sources varies greatly, and these 4K signal regenerators provide the needed assurance that transmissions from the table, wall, or floor will reliably reach the destination with the optimal signal quality.”

The HD 4K 110 Series supports HDMI specification features that include data rates up to 10.2 Gbps, 12-bit Deep Color, 3D, Lip Sync, HD lossless audio formats, and CEC. It can be used in conjunction with equalizers and other AV products to ensure optimal image quality within professional applications.

Rear panel dip switch settings for input equalization and output signal pre-emphasis make the HD 4K 110 an ideal input connection to enable a strong HDMI signal within matrix switching applications, such as with the Extron DTP CrossPoint 84.

For AV equipment that does not provide input cable equalization, the signal regenerator can be paired with an Extron UHD4K 101 equalizer at the far end to maintain a high quality HDMI signal from source to destination.

Go Extron HD 4K 110 Series

World’s First 3-stream Uncompressed 4K60 Media Server

  • PDF

Wings Engine Raw

Austria’s AV Stumpfl introduces the world’s first and only triple-stream 4K uncompressed media server, Wings Engine Raw.

Using a single custom engineered RAID 10 system, Wings Engine Raw is capable of delivering constant data stream of 3-channels of true 4K (4096 x 2304 pixels) uncompressed video content at 60fps plus up to 16 text and picture layers, and up to 24 uncompressed audio streams.

The server removes the need to convert content into any intermediate codec format. Content can include native picture sequences such as TGA or TIFF and even instant PNG image format processing.

Wings Engine Raw is capable of processing and delivering video content at the full 4:4:4 color sampling ensuring picture perfect quality and colour accuracy for the most demanding of installation environments.

This data system not only features a massive data throughput but also features redundancy. For example, should one of the SSDs fail, the data rate and the system’s functionality in general will not be impaired.

Wings Engine Raw hosts the new WingsRX™ render core engine which has been developed and optimized especially for premium picture quality applications. Its 64-bit program architecture and clever usage of SSE CPU instructions ensures unequaled decentralized processing power. The software has been designed for a wide range of applications such as themed attractions, digital signage, trade shows, live events and full dome systems.

Wings Engine Raw is complemented by AV Stumpfl’s embedded operating system, Backup-Manager, features a dedicated EDID management as well the award-winning automatic camera based calibration system for soft-edge blending, warp and geometry mapping, all operable by time line control.

Wings Engine Raw is based on professional server technology derived from IT data center equipment. Inside the rack mount system is a Xeon CPU, redundant high performance power supply, 2x10 GBit LAN, server chipset, up to 8 3G-SDI live inputs and Displayport 1.2 and DVI-D output connectors.

With an established worldwide support network, AV Stumpfl has begun shipping Wings Engine Raw to projects worldwide including major product launches, cinematic, theme park and visitor attraction sites in Europe and the Middle East.

Go Wings Engine Raw