Technology

The stats are impressive and opportunities abound, but the video conferencing and collaboration sector is going to have to change its modus operandi in order to both benefit from and cope with future developments. That’s an over-simplified summary of the findings from this year’s Wainhouse Research (WR) Collaboration Summit 2012,…

Despite the economic crisis the picture for video conferencing demand has never looked better. Cutbacks in business travel and increasing demand for global collaboration is driving demand. Vcon integrators claim business is booming as the benefits of telepresence and distributed video conferencing gain traction in most vertical channels. “Business is…

Sound isn’t just the supply of systems so audiences can hear. It has also traditionally been the audio team’s role to supply the essential backstage crew communications. But there are so many different ways for production crews to communicate on site, it’s worth explaining what comms isn’t. Productions commonly use…

Take a photograph of the surface of the building (or object) which is to receive the projection. Process that image, usually in Photoshop, to remove any distortions due to the lens and viewpoint so that a flat and correctly proportioned image is achieved. Use that image as a template to…

Ever since the concept of son et lumière was created in the 1950s by Paul Robert-Houdin, the projection of lighting effects on to historical monuments together with synchronised sound has become an established tool of local councils, national institutions and large corporations hoping to impart education, culture and local pride.…

There was a time when adding the prefix laser to any product title provided an aura of sophistication and a feeling that the future had arrived. It’s a measure of the ubiquitous nature of laser technology that these days we find such notions quaint. There is however a frisson of…

Traditionally projectors were ceiling mounted several metres away from the screen in a boardroom or meeting room installation and used for just a few hours a week. However with the huge growth of projector usage in classrooms in the last decade, sparked by BECTA funding, significant health and safety concerns…

It’s been a momentous period in the video conferencing market. Cisco’s acquisition of Tandberg, closely followed by Logitech’s purchase of LifeSize and Microsoft’s Skype deal, propelled IT sector ‘majors’ into the market, while Polycom strengthened its own IT sector alliances and listed on the NASDAQ. Corporate activity was quickly followed…

Most of the time the AV industry provides sound systems for presentations and entertainment, but in many buildings such systems have another purpose - to assist with the evacuation of the public. Such systems are known as voice alarm or sound systems for emergency purposes. The critical question when planning…

First, a bit of etiquette, if you please. You’ll find that most audio professionals talk about ‘loudspeakers’. They never refer to them as ‘speakers’. Someone who stands up on stage and talks is a speaker. If you want to sound like you know what you are talking about, use the…