Technology

Servers at your service

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The media server is the eminence grise of the AV world. If the video wall or signage display is the Sun King, all pomp and outward show, then the media server is the shadowy advisor – the power behind the throne, the brains of the operation, never seen but always…

Clean manageable sound

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The environment is among the most serious issues facing people today. Awareness of climate change and global warming has risen considerably since the pioneering ecologists of the 1960s and 70s first raised concerns about the impact industrialisation and pollution were having on nature, and the planet in general. As a…

Thinking real big picture stuff

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Projection mapping is the nearest thing to magic most of us will ever see. It can take anything – a palace, a skyscraper, a row of old silos – and transform it into an animated fantasy world of mesmerising intensity. And when the lights go out, the structure is completely…

It takes two to interact

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Today’s customer-facing AV system is like a cross between a precocious child and a nervous pet. It likes to know that someone is watching it, and to be patted on the head now and then. In other words, it likes to interact with its audience. This has been possible for…

What’s behind the wall?

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A video wall is any display composed of more than one display panel, from a basic 2x2 in a meeting room to the entire facade of a building or the animated touchline board of a sports stadium. The display area itself generally uses one of three technologies: LCD, direct view…

Getting your protocol right

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Protocol people are like British Gas. Fortunately, they are not equally full of hot air. Their goal in life is to guide you towards an existence in which you take your networking as much for granted as the appliances in your home – especially those that come into their own…

Can everybody hear?

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One of the many unforeseen side-effects of the Covid pandemic has been to raise the profile of acoustic design and planning. Half-empty venues and restaurants have suddenly sounded echoing and clinical. Socially distanced meetings have taken place in larger rooms where it is harder to hear. And, perhaps most importantly,…

Creating impressions at the speed of light

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If flat panels are the heavy armour of the AV army, projectors are the shock troops, able to deploy with a combination of rapidity, stamina and power that leaves onlookers reeling. “Projectors continue to evolve and push the boundaries of display technology,” says Simon Jonas, category manager for flat panels…

Loudspeakers for all reasons

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Selecting the right loudspeaker for the job can be challenging in any audio sector, but AV is multi-faceted and has several areas under that umbrella term which broadens the choice of loudspeaker. In some cases there are crossovers with live sound, corporate presentations being the obvious example, but for other…

Getting the smarts on smart buildings

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In the science fiction of the 1950s and 60s, the homes and offices of the future were envisioned as places where every task or function previously performed by humans would be carried out by robots or other technologies. Some automation was achieved in the 70s and 80s but the model…