Principal Park, Des Moines, IL, AVI Systems
The Triple-A Iowa Cubs baseball team needed an overhauled easy-to-use HD LED scoreboard and video feed for Des Moines’ 11,500-seat Principal Park. The timeline was tight: everything had to be ready by the season opener. AVI Systems placed two Panasonic cameras across the stadium with the main in the upper level, above home plate. Signals are sent to the control room via SMPTE fiber.
The Cubs purchased the complete HC3800 camera systems, including 7-inch color LCD viewfinders. These can be connected to the cameras via the SMPTE hybrid fiber, over a distance of up to 1,000 meters. This provides uncompressed video, control, and camera power over a compound cable. Three remote panels are located next to the director in the control room. An additional operator monitors the cameras with a Panasonic LCD monitor, using the waveform scopes to view and adjust settings. Switching is done with a nine-input HD switcher.
AVI Systems installed the new equipment in advance of the Cubs’ season opener in April. Video director Justin Walters was impressed with the functionality of the system, especially the image, the clarity, the ability to color match, and the ease of operation for his staff of college interns.
Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate, Boston, MA, Electrosonic
The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate, a non-profit educational institution located in Boston and named for Senator Ted Kennedy, serves to educate the public about the importance of the U.S. Senate. Electrosonic provided audiovisual engineering, integration, and programming, to enhance several exhibits with AV technology and to facilitate interactivity between the visitors and the exhibit experiences.
Electrosonic equipped the Orientation Theater with a three-projector system, which displays edge-blended content onto a curved screen. The Quote Wall is comprised of five 55-inch video monitors, and the east, west, and north walls feature multi-projector blends, the contents of which address the role of the Senate and what the next generation of citizens can do to participate. Electrosonic provided additional video walls for other key areas, along with touchscreen kiosks in a replication of Senator Kennedy’s office. In terms of interactivity, Electrosonic also provided 750 Google Nexus tablets as the handheld interface visitors use to choose a political party affiliation, vote, take pictures, and assume the role of senator in the Senate chamber. Electrosonic also provided a full sound system, while an extensive video matrix system allows any source to be switched to any room.
Orlando Citrus Bowl, Orlando, FL, AVI-SPL
Orlando’s Citrus Bowl recently underwent an extensive renovation in order to maintain its viability as a premier destination for high-profile events—including big-name concerts, college football games, and soccer matches like the one it hosted this past October for the U.S. Women’s National Team versus Brazil. A major part of that renovation, aside from the structure of the stadium itself, involved the AV systems that make concerts and athletic events come alive for spectators. AVI-SPL was brought in to handle the AV integration, including the Citrus Bowl’s sound systems and broadcast capabilities.
The biggest challenge to the AVI-SPL team was an accelerated timeline and having to wait on the work of other trades before it could begin the onsite cable runs and speaker installation. A good relationship with the consultant and construction company, and a lot of planning and close communication with Citrus Bowl officials were key to AVISPL meeting its deadlines.
A crew of about 15 technicians installed Belden cables and a variety of Harman brands—including JBL speakers, BSS audio processors, and Crown amplifiers, which were utilized for the majority of the audio system. In total, AVI-SPL technicians laid approximately 85 miles of cable throughout the Orlando Citrus Bowl, completing a year’s amount of work in just two months.
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Washington, DC, Washington Professional Systems
Washington Professional Systems won a competitive award for the new Security Operations Command Center for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA SOCC). Goals of the project included flexible video wall technology, integration of existing, system-wide CCTV, multi-desktop control capability, VTC and streaming media sources. The CCTV alone is comprised of some 12,000 cameras, deployed across the Washington DC Metro region in both Metrorail and Metrobus locations.
This sophisticated system includes digital media switching, flexible video wall processing, and service-free, LED light engines. The controls are accessed from both dedicated touchpanels and desktop workstations. Five distinct subsystems share the complex mix of remote and local sources needed to satisfy the customer’s full performance specification. Challenges ranged from technical performance issues (fast video wall template switching, low frame latency, overall system flexibility, fault-tolerant 24/7 operation, and low maintenance) to planning for serviceability (strategic spares, staff training, operations and maintenance documentation, and other logistical considerations).
McKesson Vision Center, San Francisco, CA, Avidex
Avidex worked directly with the McKesson Vision Center design team to develop an AV solution to help convey the McKesson story. Avidex developed the technical solutions using multiple displays, audio, and control to help facilitate the end goal. McKesson wanted an easy-to-use solution that would allow presenters to control the slideshows, lights, and audio as they walked from display to display. An iPad is used to communicate to a Crestron control system that acted as the brain for the whole system. As the presenter moves to each display location, he or she can start and stop content and interact with the audience for real-time question/ answer dialog. McKesson uses multiple Mac Minis for their content sources. Avidex and McKesson needed to come up with a solution to allow the iPad to control the content, as well as configure the content on the fly. The Vision Center iPad not only controls the slideshow for each location but can also change the content in the entire facility on all of the Mac Minis, to different slideshows based on the tour configuration (what type of customer is attending), with a push of a button. The iPad talks to the Crestron control system, which in turn talks to a Mac Mini, which controls all of the other Mac Minis to reconfigure their presentations. This solution allows all of the Mac Minis to be put asleep at night and wake them in the morning on an adjustable schedule.
Audio throughout the space is handled by a Biamp Tesira card frame system. As a presenter walks through the space, audio can be activated for each location from the iPad. The presenter has the option of also using a microphone depending on how large or small the group is. Lighting control also adjusts as you move through the Vision Center to highlight the area being discussed. Many displays are used throughout the facility including 55-inch NEC displays, Sharp 90-inch, Planar 85-inch 4K displays, and finishes the tour with a curved Christie 4x6 MicroTile wall with a surround sound system.
Commonwealth Stadium, Lexington, KY, Alpha Video & Audio
Commonwealth Stadium is home to the University of Kentucky’s football team. Just prior to the start of the 2015 football season, the university completed a $120 million renovation to the stadium that included adding more private suites, more club seats, new press facilities, a multipurpose recruiting room, improved concession areas, and a new video scoreboard. Alpha Video worked with the University of Kentucky to deploy CastNET SportsView, an IPTV-based digital signage solution. CastNET SportsView manages content throughout the stadium on screens in the concourses, suites, lobbies, locker rooms, recruiting rooms, press box, and lounges. More than 500 new Samsung screens, ranging in size from 19 inches to 82 inches, were installed for the project. The CastNET SportsView digital signage solution was integrated with the Daktronics scoreboard, StatCrew Software, and a closed captioning system.
Signe Skott Cooper Hall, Madison, WI, CompView
Over the last five years, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Nursing School has been working toward a massive transition to active learning methods for all classroom instruction. The transition culminated with completion of the new Signe Skott Cooper Hall School of Nursing. The building includes AV integration in 30 rooms, consisting of active learning classrooms, hospital simulation rooms, home health labs, observation rooms, seminar rooms, training/conference rooms, multipurpose rooms, an auditorium, interview rooms, research pods, and debriefing rooms. The active learning classrooms enable students to work at huddle tables, each with a 55-inch display; push-to-talk boundary microphones on the student tables and wireless mics for the instructors make it easy to address the entire class; a “show me” button next to each table-mounted computer input triggers a presentation system to switch that laptop to the display; and room control via 15-inch touchscreen (with annotation) at the podium, or either of two Apple iPads equipped with the Crestron application.
Talking Stick Resort & Casino, Scottsdale, AZ, CCS Presentation Systems
This Talking Stick Resort & Casino installation is the largest SVSi N3000 system in the United States. Located in Scottsdale, AZ, it has 46 inputs and 101 outputs with displays that range from 42 inches to 103 inches. IT implemented the unique system with minimal hardware additions and utilized the existing network. Planning was done over months and coordinated both with the property’s internal departments and CCS to make sure that all work was done during off-peak hours and that disruption to the 24/7 gaming floor, restaurants, and meeting spaces were kept to a minimum. Measurable results included the reduced footprint of the video distribution system, allowing for the removal of three racks, freeing up space in the head end. Installing new displays and moving existing displays has been made easier and more cost effective by using standard Cat-6 cabling. New displays can now be up and connected to the distribution system in hours instead of weeks.
Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, OK, Carousel Industries
Carousel Industries helped Oral Roberts University (ORU) achieve its vision of a digital society in time for its 50th anniversary celebration by leveraging wireless technology delivered in a managed services model. ORU’s vision was to extend the reach of education to anyone, anywhere in the world. With the use of telepresence robots connected through a powerful wireless infrastructure, students can now connect to ORU through live two-way video and streaming. A major component of this program included a Global Learning Center, featuring three stories of smart classrooms, a multimedia production studio, a 715-seat performance hall and a virtual/augmented reality classroom capable of delivering more than 7,000 academic subjects in a live format. Since embarking on its ambitious digital society initiative, ORU through the use of telepresence technology has already been able to facilitate campus tours, conduct student interviews, and even present a diploma onstage—with the student being located over 1,000 miles away in South Carolina.
RagingWire West Coast Data Center, Sacremento, CA, IES Commercial
RagingWire’s West coast data center in Sacramento, CA, called “The Rock,” is the largest data center in the state of California and needed a NOC AV solution that matched the high-tech atmosphere of the data center. IES designed a video wall solution to allow them to monitor their day-to-day operations while matching the form and function of the room. This showpiece NOC integrates with a boardroom that allows clients to view the room through a bordering window that provides physical separation from the high-tech space.
Using a custom programmed Crestron 10-inch touch panel, sales personnel can route any NOC video source to the boardroom’s 90-inch LCD display. Other system features include VoIP conference dialing, wireless video collaboration, internet audio streaming, voice lift using wireless microphones, and control of customer’s nLight lighting system. Blue LED strips were added behind the video wall to create depth of field, reduce eye fatigue, and add that extra wow factor. Equipment used in this solution includes a 2x8 Planar Clarity Matrix video wall system with off-board electronics; Crestron Digital Media switching distribution system; Biamp TesiraForte VoIP conferencing; and Clockaudio through-table boundary layer microphones featuring HJA Hushbutton LED rings for mute status and touch control.
FourPoint Energy, Denver, CO, LINX Multimedia
FourPoint Energy, a private oil and gas exploration and production company headquartered in Denver, is celebrating its success by moving to a state-of-the-art new location in the city’s Cherry Creek neighborhood. FourPoint Energy contracted with LINX Multimedia to design and install an audio video technology system that met the company’s present and future needs. The scope was complex. For example, the 35-monitor walk-up video wall installed processing needed to handle (12) 4K input sources to provide native pixel-to-pixel resolution across the entire wall. The LINX-designed system is a Crestron-certified design and all displays include Planar video processors. The project includes 12 conference rooms of varying complexities and highlights that include a 7-foot-by-5-foot display in the entrance area; a boardroom with a 120-inch screen from Screen Innovations that utilizes an ultra-short throw 4K projector; and a community/café room with a 3-foot-by-3-foot video wall. LINX’s keys to project success included being flexible and prepared by utilizing an in-house production facility to test and kit each room’s products before sending them to the on-site install teams. One of the greatest challenges LINX overcame was achieving perfect alignment of 35 video monitors on a wall with inconsistencies typically found in metal-stud and drywall construction. This feat required skill and precise technique from LINX’s install team.
Intercontinental Exchange, Atlanta, GA, Technical Innovation
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has called Atlanta home since it was founded in 2000 as the premier provider of on-line trading platforms. Since their acquisition of the New York Stock Exchange in 2013, their employee base has grown exponentially. To accommodate that growth, ICE purchased and remodeled a 14-story building in North Atlanta. The end result is a spectacular workplace environment with six standardized room types applied to 75 meeting areas. Conference rooms are reserved through Outlook and have scheduling panels displaying meeting details. To maximize usability, each room has touchpanel control with standardized graphical user interface.
Technical Innovation partnered with the architect and general contractor to design and implement a unique place for ICE team members to work and meet. Several areas were purpose built to support the business activities of specialized teams. The Network and Security Operations Centers leveraged ultra-narrow bezel video walls and several floors required distributed arrays of video monitors for nearby work teams to monitor core business applications in real-time. A centralized HD cable head end system distributes six television channels to the entire building. Each elevator lobby and collaborative break area has an 84-inch 4K monitor that displays digital signage and television content simultaneously. Large video walls were integrated into the design in the reception areas as a signature video element to greet visitors to the building.
