AV News March 2023

Bett 2023 the best yet?

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The organisers of Bett 2023 believe that this year’s show will be the best yet. Here’s why!

32% top line growth in Barco year end

In a more than positive year end reported by Barco. The company enjoyed both strong sales and order growth across all of its divisions. Order intake for 2022 was 1,058.4 million euro, 8% more than in 2021. This result was driven by a solid recovery of demand across all divisions: sales for the year increased 32% to 1,058.3 million euro, close to the pre-pandemic level in 2019. Excluding China, all regions posted sales back at the levels of 2019. “We expect the Chinese activity to pick up from the second quarter of 2023 onwards.” Year-over-year, all divisions delivered double-digit sales growth. The steady improvement in the supply chain over the second half of 2022 allowed for faster delivery of the existing orderbook, which was still at a record-high year-end position. The order book at the end of December 2022 stood at 496.5 million euro, which is more than 50% above the level at year-end 2019.

In Healthcare, order intake remained strong throughout 2022. This reflects the resumption of demand in both the Diagnostic Imaging and Surgical & Modality market segments, in all regions, including China. The Diagnostic Imaging business unit benefited from further customer investments in replacement displays for radiology and from the resumption of mammography display sales which have been softer during the pandemic.

The Surgical & Modality business unit generated particularly strong growth in the Americas and in China, driven by large modality projects and digital operating rooms.

Enterprise saw continued recovery from the pandemic with significant sales growth in both segments. Meeting Experience sales accelerated in all regions, starting in EMEA, followed by Americas and Asia. This growth

was supported by the return-to-the-office wave, the increasing trend towards videoenabled hybrid meetings and the growing recognition of ClickShare’s Bring Your Own Meeting value proposition. Large Video Walls realized double-digit sales growth in all regions, fuelled by deployments of control rooms.

The Entertainment division produced encouraging results in 2022. During the first half of the year, the division dealt with component shortages. From mid-year onwards, the situation improved steadily, allowing for a ramp up of deliveries on the high order book. While 2022 Cinema sales have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, Cinema ended the year with an order book that was twice as high as year-end 2019. For Cinema, solid demand for Barco’s alllaser portfolio led to growth in all regions except Asia, where the lockdowns in China impacted the business.

The Immersive Experience top line reached an all-time high, with a particularly strong uptake in the fixed install business that reflected greater demand from museums, projection mapping and theme parks.

Maverick AV Solutions

Barco’s year end reported significant EBITDA margin improvement. The gross profit margin improved quarter-overquarter throughout 2022 to an average level of 39.0%, up 3.3 ppts year-over-year. This rebound in gross profit margin back nearly to 2019 is attributable to gross profit actions, a more favourable product mix most outspoken in the Enterprise division and a less constrained supply chain during the second half of the year.

The EBITDA margin reached 12.0% for the full year, up 4.7 ppts versus last year. Both gross margin recovery and operating leverage on the top line growth contributed to this result. As the supply chain constraints were largely resolved, the EBITDA margin jumped from 9.8% in the first half of the year to 13.7% in the second half, reconnecting with the 2019 level. Each of the business units contributed positively to the EBTIDA margin except Large Video Walls where the profitability keeps lagging. Management intends to conduct a strategic review of this business unit in 2023, focusing on profitable products and markets.

Setup as simple as 1,2,3.

Meeting room setup simpli ed. No PC. Fewer cables. Built in support.

Choosing an education display? Don’t waste your energy!

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Martijn Vanderwoude, VP, Global Marketing & Business Development for Philips Professional Displays at PPDS,

PMA shows supply-chain issues beginning to level off

PMA Research (PMA) has published its latest half-yearly All-Displays sell-through tracking report on professional large-format flat panel displays (55” and larger) and professional projectors (above 500 lumens) being sold by leading U.S. Distributors who serve commercial markets. Supply issues resolved for much of the flat panel market by mid-2022. Inventory for FPDs grew in the second half of the year with demand much softer compared to earlier in the year. Projector manufacturers delivered in large volumes in the third quarter with many backlogged orders filled by the end of the year.

However, certain projector segments remained in tight supply throughout the year. Manufacturers delivered against significant order backlog in the third and fourth quarter, but spot shortages remained throughout. Meanwhile, orders for flat panel displays softened as pentup demand was met earlier in the year and concerns about inflation tempered corporate spending. Lower fourth quarter sales impacted total revenues for the second half of the year. However, supply constraints resulted in projector prices rising through the second half of 2022 so revenues were stronger. This was true,

even though in the fourth quarter of 2022 much of the projector production was earmarked for consumer projector models to meet holiday demand, limiting revenues for certain B2B models.

PMA Research (PMA) has published its latest half-yearly All-Displays sellthrough tracking report on professional large-format flat panel displays (55” and larger) and professional projectors (above 500 lumens) being sold by leading U.S. Distributors who serve commercial markets.

DiGiCo Quantum consoles at the Grammys

While it may not have had as many individual song performances as past Grammy Awards events, it more than made up for it with more complex productions, most notably the 35 rappers and four DJs who turned the stage into a 15-minute-long history of rap, including Missy Elliott, Big Boi, Run-D.M.C., Queen Latifah, Method Man, Public Enemy, Busta Rhymes, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and the Grandmasters Flash and Melle Mel, backed by a combination of tracks and the Roots playing live.

Getting and keeping all of that audio together fell to a cohort of veteran mixers of the show and an all-star cast of DiGiCo mix consoles, provided through ATK Audiotek/Clair Global, the event’s soundreinforcement vendor. Two Quantum7 consoles were located at front of house, manned by Ron Reaves and Michael Parker, who alternated mixing live performances by the evening’s artists, including Harry Styles, Bonnie Raitt, Lizzo, and Adele, all of whom were also category winners that night. A Quantum338 desk also shared the FOH platform with them, through which production mixer Jeff Peterson combined the two alternating FOH feeds with production-audio elements such as introductions, announcements,

and acceptance speeches from the podium.

Two more Quantum7 in monitor world, manned by Tom Pesa and Andres Arango, reflected a similar split of the bifurcated stage, on which one performance would take place while the next was setting up behind the “close-down” screens that kept the focus on the show. All the Quantum consoles were connected on an Optocore network loop, each with a complement of SD-Racks and SD-MiNi Racks. Everywhere you looked, everywhere you listened, you saw and heard DiGiCo Quantum. “The Quantum7 is simply the best tool for that job,” says Ron Reaves, who was mixing his 20th Grammy Awards show. “It presents a very good, very powerful platform that lets you do anything you want and place anything you want anywhere on it,” he says. “My template is one of 168 open faders so I have to be ready for anything, and I am with that console, because it has the horsepower I need for that kind of wideranging array of performances.” With over two dozen individual artists performing at the show, he spent time on every song during rehearsals and soundchecks consulting with their FOH mixers, and the Quantum’s SD-Range

LG appoints PSCo as service and repair centre

Midwich and its specialist LED division, PSCo, are pleased to announce they have been appointed as LG’s authorised service and repair centre for LED products, delivered through its value-added service department, MiSupport. The enhanced partnership will see Midwich become the official service partner for in- and out-ofwarranty repairs in the UK and Ireland, acting on behalf of LG Business Solutions. PSCo, part of the Midwich Group, is already the official distributor and accredited technical and service delivery partner for LG LED across the UK & Ireland. Michael Mclewee, UK & Ireland LED Sales Manager at LG, said “We partnered with Midwich’s MiSupport because it has enabled us to widen our support coverage and will provide resellers with a clear process for LED product repairs. “As our authorised service centre, channel partners will receive the best possible support services for complete peace of mind when purchasing LG LED.”

LG LED customers will now get access to the value-added services from MiSupport, which now completes and further enhances the end-to-end buying experience for customers with best-in-class support

Evolve celebrates the power of partnerships

Fast-growing global collaboration provider, Evolve IP, is hosting a special Partner Day at the Tower of London later this month to showcase the power of partnerships.

Leading industry names will gather at the iconic venue on March 23rd for a full day of insightful talks, interactive workshops and an evening of entertainment.

“Productive partnerships are becoming ever-more prevalent in today’s dynamic business world, where fluidity, versatility and innovation can help build long term sustainable success,” says Evolve IP’s EMEA Managing Director, Paul Harrison.

“We recognise the importance of partnerships which is a key cornerstone of our ethos and evolution. Partnerships help create best-of-breed solutions and can unlock new doors, opportunities and deliver greater customer value and service.”

Evolve IP works with many of the world’s biggest tech companies and innovative industry leaders to create robust and reliable solutions for a growing reseller

base. As a global collaboration provider, it specialises in bringing together unified communications, collaboration tools, contact centre, voice, and omnichannel solutions securely into the cloud.

Harrison continued: “It’s great to be able to host events like this again. This annual gathering is integral to building relationships with our partners as a team and understanding how we can best support them and their growth. We have some great talks planned and some enjoyable entertainment for the evening. It’s important we have fun on the day too.”

A mix of high profile Evolve IP technology partners will be in attendance, hosting talks and joining the exhibition space to help demonstrate their product suites and solutions. These feature Akixi, Enghouse, PRD, Dubber, Snom, Mondago, Poly and Tiger TMS.

The day will begin in the Armouries where guests will get the opportunity to meet vendors, learn about their latest solution updates and collaborate with technology

heritage greatly facilitated that. The hecticness of Grammy Awards rehearsal days—they sprawl across the three days ahead of the Sunday evening event— makes that familiarity critical. “All the guest engineers know it and are familiar with it,” he says. “It gives us a common language, and that makes keeping a hugely complex production like the Grammy Awards moving and on schedule. The snapshot capability is exceptional.”

Similarly, the Quantum7’s innate power helped keep the workflow steady. For instance, Reaves notes that while front of house and monitors share the same preamps, the latter tends to drive them hotter. “My gain structure and way of working will put less pressure on the preamps, but if they start to almost clip upstairs, I’ve still got a ton of headroom on the same preamps,” he explains. “Between the power and the flexibility, it’s the only way

PSCo, part of the Midwich Group, is already the official distributor and accredited technical and service delivery partner for LG LED across the UK & Ireland.

offering from MiSupport. The agreement permits Mi Support to provide UK warranty repairs on behalf of LG for clients and provide optional extended warranty and onsite assistance services including setup and de-rig

Jon Dew-Stanley, director of Technical, Services and Support at Midwich added:

“We are pleased to have been selected by LG to become their official UK LED service and repair centre. This enhanced partnership will give customers access to the full aftercare package from MiSupport, which includes our enhanced warranty, technical assistance, helpdesk support and LED pixel repair service. We have you covered every step of the way.”

Currently, MiSupport has 3,710 warranty contracts live with the helpdesk operating 24 hours, five days a week managing 80,000 technical support tickets per year. The latest LG LED products including the LAEC 136” All-In-One Smart display and the LSCB Ultra Slim Series, including a 1.5mm Full HD display and a stunning true curve LED design, can be seen at Innovation House, the Group’s state-of-theart experience centre in Bracknell.

partners. Attendees will then move to The Revellers, to wind down, watch the sunset over the Thames, and enjoy an evening of entertainment. The iconic location has been specifically chosen, as Evolve IP wants to make an impressive statement of intent with its first event back since the pandemic.

Harrison highlighted: “We want to make a

big impact with our first event back. The team has grown, and the business has come a long way since we last hosted an Evolve IP Partner Day in 2019. Members of our Netherlands team are coming over too, reflecting our growing presence not just in the UK but across EMEA.” Evolve IP spent 2022 streamlining the business, simplifying messaging and growing its talented team. Fast-growing global collaboration provider, Evolve IP, is hosting a special Partner Day at the Tower of London later this month to showcase the power of partnerships.

It says 2023 is going to be a big year for growth for both the company and its EMEA partners.

Harrison concluded: “Our ultimate objective is to enhance today’s hybrid workplace and help make the future of work better for everyone. The Tower of

London event provides the perfect platform to showcase strategies and plans for this year and beyond – reinforcing why partnerships take centre stage.”

PSCo refreshes iiyama rental fleet

PSCo has announced a substantial investment in the latest range of interactive displays from iiyama. PSCo Rental has invested in a full range of iiyama ProLite PCAP (projective capacitive) touch screens with sizes from 32” to 65” from the flagship TF39 Series Touch profes-

Touch feature edge-to-edge toughened scratch-resistant and glare resistant glass with even bezel size making them perfect for rental applications. The capacitive technology allows use in any orientation and IPS panel technology delivers exceptional colour with wide viewing angles

Professional Displays range of interactive panels from iiyama, our first investment since 2005. Following the pandemic, we have seen a big demand from our trade rental partners in the latest touchscreens, and we are pleased that we can help our customers to get hands-on with

Lightware opens new offices France and central Europe

Lightware Visual Engineering has announced the opening of its new French and CEU business hubs, covering countries such as France and the French overseas territories, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania.

In line with Lightware Visual Engineering’s wider corporate strategy to expand across Europe and further meet the needs of new and existing customers, Lightware France, located in 13 Avenue Morane Saulnier, in Vélizy-Villacoublay, right outside Paris, will be a meeting point for partners, consultants and end users, with plans to incorporate in the next couple of months a User Experience Center room and a training room fully equipped with Lightware products and solutions.

PSCo Rental has invested in a full range of iiyama ProLite PCAP (projective capacitive) touch screens with sizes from 32” to 65” from the flagship TF39 Series Touch professional ILFD

sional ILFD which complements the range of touch capable screens up to 86”.

iiyama has established itself as the go-to manufacturer for rental applications with excellent technology in a price-performance package. PSCo has operated both infra-red and capacitive touch screens from iiyama for more than eight years and the reliability and performance of the products has stood the test of trade rental.

All displays in the TF39 Series

making them extremely versatile for all types of live events.

Post-COVID, there has been a pronounced return to getting ‘hands-on’ using technology –particularly in the exhibition/ expo markets. Additionally, with the growth in gaming and VR/AR using touchscreens to complement and enhance immersive experiences is a rapidly growing market.

Tom Allott, asset manager, PSCo, commented: “PSCo is delighted to be investing in the

the latest and best technologies once again.”

Lewis Clifford, sales manager, iiyama International, added: “We have a longstanding partnership with PSCo, part of the Midwich Group, who are our number one distribution partner of interactive displays in the UK and Ireland. It’s a fantastic seal of approval for our products that PSCo have chosen to invest in iiyama Professional Displays to support their customers for the coming years.”

Kramer partners with Westan NZ distribution

Kramer has announced a distribution partnership in New Zealand with Westan NZ, one of the largest AV/IT media technology distributors headquartered in Mel- bourne, Australia. From innovative wireless presentation and collaboration, revolutionary room control built in the cloud, to web-based AV network management, Kramer is setting a new standard for AV/ IT convergence. The company is committed to providing the best products, solutions and services across the enterprise, education, and government markets. With this new partnership, Westan NZ will be able to market, distribute and support Kramer’s entire portfolio while delivering the most intuitive audio-visual experiences through its wide network of resellers, integrators, planners and architects across New Zealand. Customers will now have access to a dedicated team offering the most intuitive end-to-end audio-visual experience with reliable support that drives the business forward.

Marc Remond, Kramer President APAC said: “Partnering with a distributor as credible

and professional as the team at Westan NZ makes me excited for the future of this collaboration. Together, customers in New Zealand will gain access to Kramer’s secure and reliable AV products, that is further boosted by the seamless support from Westan NZ, ultimately driving innovative audio-visual experiences that power creativity, collaboration, and engagement across New Zealand.”

Kam Aghtan, Director Westan is also delighted about the new agreement, stating: “Kramer

stands for a high level of innovation. The range of solutions ideally complements Westan’s wide-ranging product portfolios covering everything from interactive solutions for Commercial to Education verticals – the synergy is endless and we’re very excited.”

The CEU office, located in Warsaw, Poland, will serve the professional AV audiences of the Central European region, increasing the brand awareness and familiarising the Central European AV industry with Lightware’s technologies and products, offering a demo room for local training and technical support.

Leading these important geographic expansions and also point of contact for French and CEU markets are Dominique Bonneau, Country Manager of France, and Piotr bski, Regional Director, respectively. Dom-

inique is a highly experienced and respected team leader, and he joins from Kramer Electronics where he spent 15 years. He previously enjoyed extensive sales and senior management roles at Fnac Video Enterprise. Piotr has been working in the industry for more than 25 years, and he was the Regional Manager for the Central European region at Kramer Electronics for 16 years.

Bonneau explains: “Leading Lightware’s new office will be an exciting opportunity to expose Lightware’s market leading technology to new partners, influential consultants, integrators and new end users, keeping efficiency and professionalism as our main differentiators.”

In the CEU region, Piotr will dedicate his efforts to introduce the values of the company and the difference Lightware can bring into any AV operation. “I am more than happy to extend

and strengthen the brand in the Central European market. I will do my utmost to build an intense presence here, and with my experience I will develop the new Lightware CEU branch very quickly and position it accordingly in the market,” explains Piotr.

Tamás Rapcsák, Global Sales Director at Lightware Visual Engineering says, “I am honoured to welcome Dominique and Piotr to our team. Their proven commercial and technical skills are a guarantee that our customers and those who do not know us in France and Central Europe are going to be in great hands. Lightware’s presence in the EMEA region and beyond will be enhanced by our strategic move to grow the company in France and building our direct presence in the CEU market, especially in Warsaw, a city that means a lot to us, both culturally and historically.”

Lightware opens experience centre in London

Lightware Visual Engineering has announced the exciting news of the opening of its innovative new Experience Centre in the heart of London. This new facility will serve as a central hub for partners and customers across the UK and provide sales, customer, and technical support for all of Lightware's products. Located in Lime Street, City of London, the Experience Centre is not only the new office of the Lightware UK team, but it also features a training room equipped with the company's latest signal management devices. Visitors will have the opportunity to get to know the Lightware team better

and experience the company's products in live environments.

The centre showcases the full range of Lightware's solutions, Vinx, MX2M, TPX and LARA including award-winning technologies, Taurus UCX and UBEX. It provides customers with access to Lightware's products for testing, road map sessions and discussions on future technologies, enabling Lightware to better fulfil its customers' future needs. Opening this new location is also a major strategic step in expanding Lightware's global footprint and fostering growth in Western Europe. It supports the company's strategic growth

plan and provides a platform for customers to see the benefits of Lightware's products without the need for them to set up their own proof of concepts.

“As one of the world’s great cities, and with many of our global customers located within a short distance, London is the perfect location for our new Experience Centre,” said Craig Storey, Lightware’s UK CEO. “We look forward to welcoming visitors to the centre and are confident it will help enhance the experience of working with Lightware and using our products.”

Conferences

Sound Image transforms conference centre

Sound Image has transformed an executive conference centre for Edwards Lifesciences with the installation of two 16-by-9-foot Christie LED video walls and a Christie Spyder X80 image processor. Specified and integrated by Sound Image and designed in collaboration with PLANNET, the impressive new space can seat 126 people. Edwards Lifesciences, headquartered in Irvine, California, is a leading medical technology company. For its renovated conference centre, Edwards was looking for a fully redundant space that included a full video production suite as well as selfserviceability.

account executive, Sound Image. “The customer wanted an off-board power supply because of heat concerns they had in this space. This allowed us to move all those BTUs into the rack room where they can be better controlled.”

The Christie LED video wall is frontserviceable and features an optional remote power supply for installation flexibility, efficient heat management and redundancies. This premium LED video wall solution delivers 4K@60Hz resolution, HDR10 compatibility, built-in Clearview technology, and low-brightness enhancements for incredible visual

Readers Offer

the challenge. “Sound Image is a touring company by heart, and we've been in the audio industry for decades. The show must go on, and we could never cancel a concert because we have technical difficulties.

We have that same mindset when we do permanent installations,” says Shapiro. Additionally, the condensed installation timeline meant that Sound Image was working concurrently in the space with construction crews and carpenters, but care was taken to ensure the project went smoothly. “From pre-sales all the way to commissioning, we had Christie’s support. I adamantly take advantage of Christie’s

Grow in life and business: The importance of Belief Systems in Convincing and Winning

Winning in a competition, be it in business or personal life, requires more than just meeting the requirements and having a good track record. There are several dimensions to convincing and winning, but the most important and often overlooked one is the belief system. This layer of values and expectations, although not directly mentioned, holds great value to the client.

Discovering both your own belief system and that of your client will give you brand new insights in the beliefs you share and the beliefs which di-vide you. Belief systems are the fundamentals of the Why, the How, and What things you create, make or buy. Here are the ingredients to discover when you want to start winning:

The Basics: Winning with the "What"

In a stable and predictable environment, the "what" is delivered is enough to win. For example, if a client requests a battery drill with 5000 revs, 7.2 Volts, and 2 years guarantee, delivering the drill is enough to win on a transactional level. The requester sets the requirements, and the supplier delivers them. This type of winning focuses on the "what."

Adding the "How" to the "What"

However, if you deliver the requirements and price perfectly, but still don't win, you may be missing out on deeper factors. For instance, when we were looking to insulate and renovate the rooftop of our house, it was not just a transactional deal to us, but one of heavy investment and risk. In such cases, asking the experts "how" they are going to organize the work can make all the difference. For example, one company explained step by step how they are going to do the job, tailored specifically to my house, giving me trust and a good night's sleep. The company that ex-plained the "how" won the deal.

Combining the "What," "How," and "Why"

Sound Image has transformed an executive conference centre for Edwards Lifesciences with the installation of two 16-by-9-foot Christie LED video walls and a Christie Spyder X80 image processor.

Two 16-by-9-foot Christie 1.2mm LED video walls were installed with redundant Christie E600 controllers and driven by a Christie Spyder X80 image processor. With seating

experiences. The use of a Christie Spyder X80 image processor in the boardroom was in part to standardise the technology across Edwards’ campus and to take advantage of

installation support, as well as all the commissioning services for the Spyder X80. I like to make sure the customer feels that they are getting the best of the best,

Besides the "what" and "how," the "why" can make a significant differ-ence in winning. For instance, in the hiring process, two questions to al-ways ask are "why do you want to work for us?" and "why should we hire you?" A good answer to the "why" shows intrinsic motivation and commitment and demonstrates a strong match and synergy with other employees in the company. The more challenging and dynamic the de-pendence between parties, the more important the "why" becomes in winning.

Taking it One Level Deeper: The Belief System

There is one more aspect to consider in winning. It is the least visible, or even invisible to most and that is your belief-system. This is present in every person, team, and organization, but is not openly discussed. The belief system is the set of unwritten rules that govern behaviour in a group. What if I make a set of house rules with: “Rule number one - In this house, we don’t kill each other”. Imagine you come to my house for the first time and see this rule. Would you feel comfortable and safe?

You are probably thinking: “Wow, these people are obviously not from the same planet if they have to spell this out as a rule.” This works the same way in business.

In business, failing to pay attention to the relevant belief systems can re-sult in a situation where you think you have delivered the best proposal ever, only for the client to respond that you "haven't understood a single thing of what we're doing here."

The belief system, and the other aspects of winning can be best explained using a tree as a metaphor.

•The WHAT is like the apples on a tree. They are the things we look at and value first.

•The branches and leaves of the tree are the HOW. Many leaves and branches make it possible to produce great many apples.

•The tree trunk is our WHY. It is strong, solid and essential to grow high and let the leaves catch lots of sunlight.

•The roots of a tree is our BELIEF-SYSTEM. It is invisible, but es-sential to the tree’s trunk, branches, leaves and fruits.

About the author:

Patrick Alexander, the author of the book

‘The secret of Value Based convincing Winning’ is an expert in winning and shaping the winning process. During his career he won and lost multiple times. As an inven-tor, he participated in a national contest with 2000 others and tackled several stages before winning this contest. During the last 10 years as a proposal architect, he worked with dozens of teams in making complex and winning proposals and tenders, contributing millions of Euros per year to his company’s revenue. Patrick’s mission is: Let people, teams and organizations with the highest value win. Let those win, who most deserve it!

to accommodate 126 people, microphones were installed at each spot. Six cameras are used at the front and two in the rear of the room, in conjunction with the Spyder X80, which enables multi-window and selfconfigurable full auto-tracking during video calls.

The selection of Christie LED video walls was driven by budget and the unique requirements for the space. “We looked at a couple other Christie products and solutions as well as other manufacturers, but the customer likes Christie, and I like supporting Christie,” says Jared Shapiro,

its multi-windowing capabilities. “Spyder has been established across multiple projects throughout this campus, and what I like to do is standardise some of the technologies that we're using,” says Shapiro. “Spyder is driving the multiwindow and auto-tracking functionality, which helped us create clean transitions and multi-window presets.”

The requirement to create a fully redundant space was unique to the project. While it added complexity to the system, and required significantly more rack space, Sound Image was well-prepared to take on

and that includes the manufacturer being part of that process.

The result is a renovated executive boardroom that exceeds expectations. “Everyone loves the space, and everything about it – from the audio to the video – is top-notch,” adds Shapiro.

Sometimes winning is as easy letting someone a pick an apple from the tree (transactional winning). In many other cases where the transaction is more complex, dynamic and outcome uncertain, assessors (buyers, jury etc.) will look seriously at the other factors: How will they do it? Why do they do this? Getting insight into the whole tree is important for long term and sustainable winning, producing the right and great apples every year.

More information on http://www.valuebasedwinning.com.

The book can be ordered via the website and https://www.amazon.co.uk.

ZetaDisplay / Link Retail to capture analytics at EuroShop

Full-service Digital Signage solutions provider ZetaDisplay and analytics pioneers Link Retail are partnering to discover the analytical truth behind which content really captures atten-

content and live data analysis displayed to pinpoint the trends throughout the day. ZetaDisplay aims to propel the Digital Signage industry forward with future-proof analytics so retail-

Digital Signage placement and content has an impact in your unique customer journeys. Different strategies can then be explored for various factors, such as the time of day, to really re-

PPDS Studios open across Europe

PPDS has unveiled its network if state-of-the-art, fully interconnected ‘PPDS Studios’ in Europe and North America, providing customers and partners with unrivalled access to its full suite of products and solutions, for more inspired co-creation with partners and the opportunity for better informed decisions for customers.

Accelerating PPDS’ commitment to supporting partners (including system integrators, consultants, distributors, AV/IT designers / architects), and

as Crestron, Logitech) and software partnerships (Intel, i3, GoBright) – supporting installations in all major verticals. These include dedicated solutions for hospitality, corporate, education, retail, food and beverage, public spaces, transportation, and broadcast, among others.

To help experience the full power and benefits of PPDS’ and its proven partners’ technologies and solutions, all Studios are connected, allowing partners and customers to view and participate demonstrations and

more convenient and intimate setting to discover the latest and greatest solutions from PPDS Martijn van der Woude, VP Global Marketing and Business Development at PPDS, commented: “At PPDS, we understand the value for our partners and customers to be able to come together to collaborate, discover and experience our extensive range of products and solutions for themselves. With our new multidiscipline PPDS Studios, partners and customers – whatever vertical they operate in –

tion at EuroShop 2023. Attendees visiting Booth A28 in Hall 6 will experience first-hand the effects different types of Digital Signage content has on customers. Proximity sensors, motion depth sensing cameras and video software will be capturing data and displaying the results in real-time on the booth to determine which style of content is the most impactful.

In partnership with Link Retail, the myth busting stand will put different styles of Digital Signage content to the test. The Booth will be split into six different zones each with targeted

ers can get the best out of their Digital Signage ecosystem, drive sales, reduce waste and provide further advertising opportunities for brands.

Robert Bryhn, Chief Marketing Officer at ZetaDisplay explains: “We want to give visitors concrete insight into what type of content performs best, but also showcase how live data and actionable analytics can be harnessed to increase the impact of in-store messaging. “Analytics backed retail solutions can be used to explore visitor numbers, zone occupancy, dwell time and conversion to understand how

spond to your customer requirements.”

In addition, Link Retail will launch its Food Waste Management solution, which manages to reduce bread wastage in grocery stores between 30% and 50%, significantly reducing food waste and Co2 emissions. The sophisticated algorithm-based software optimises operations and reduces waste by monitoring sales and demand for produce to ensure fresh food producers are only making what they need on a given day which in turn saves the retailer from losing out on profits.

PSNI announces certification for strategic account rngagement

(PSNI Global Alliance, the leading global network of technology integrators and service providers, has reinforced its mission for the highest worldwide standards with the introduction of its Strategic Account Specialist (SAS) Certification. The SAS certification is the third accreditation developed by The Alliance and involves a comprehensive process to ensure its Certified Solution Providers (CSPs) meet PSNI’s criteria for pre-installation practices, including customer relationships and engagement, deployment practices and future growth strategy.

Chris Miller, Executive Director for PSNI Global Alliance explained the importance that this new Strategic Account Specialist Certification will deliver for customers, “The SAS program is a business transformational model that focuses on teaching CSP account managers the critical skills that utilize common value enablers provided by being part of The Alliance. In a world where everything is quickly being commoditized, it is how you engage with customers and connect with their real needs that is the differentiating factor. PSNI’s

Strategic Account Specialist Certification has undoubtedly enhanced our customers experience already.”

Covering several areas, including, customer experience, proven best practices, and relationship building, CSPs are required to train and complete a strategic account management workshop, as well as present to a PSNI panel and build a suitable account plan to earn their accreditation. “Professionalism and preparation are the keys to understanding, meeting and exceeding customer expectations—locally and globally,” said Chris “By reinforcing the best practices of universal professional account management strategies, we are developing a sustainable approach that benefits our CSPs as well as their customers’ experience. This latest certification from PSNI is a big help in reinforcing those practices.”

To date, 10 PSNI Certified Solution Providers across the globe have officially earned their Strategic Account Specialist certification, applying their learnings to customers worldwide. Kulip Kamat CTS, Managing Direc-

tor of All Wave AV, spoke of the benefits that the new certification brings to PSNI’s CSPs: “The certification will be useful for the customers that have a global footprint, as they are migrating or thinking about the solutions and integrators that have a global footprint and a roadmap, as well as the ones that are very strategic about the way they operate. We are seeing a lot of opportunities open up for longer-duration plays. And the SAM Certification will help customers who genuinely see the value in long-term business transformations using technology.”

He adds: “So far, the AV system integration industry has been very tactical. The SAM provides very long-term thinking, which enables the companies to think more strategically and more profitably about the integration business. The certification and the process of certification also help owners and senior management to reflect on the fact that the integrator truly exists in the business and provides a lot of value to the customers well beyond price.”

inspiring end customers to bring their installation vision and aspirations to life, PPDS Studios have officially been opened across Europe in Amsterdam, Madrid, Paris, Stockholm, Munich, Milan, and near Cheltenham in the UK, and in Charlotte, USA. More PPDS Studios are planned throughout 2023 and beyond.

Part of a significant investment and extending the company’s strategy to be available to customers wherever and whenev-

training in real time, whether via seamless video calling and content sharing between Paris and Munich, or remotely managing a network of dvLED, digital signage and professional TVs from London. The UK Studio also features a space for proof of concepting, perfect for third party partners, ensuring their products work seamlessly with Philips professional displays. In addition, PPDS Studios will be available as a high-end event

will have access to all the tools and information they require, in a single location. Coupled with our annual tradeshows and partner and end customer events, plus our continued engagement within local communities, the launch of PPDS Studios ensures we’re always available, wherever, whenever you need us.”

Ron Cottaar, Global Marketing Director, added: “Together is where we make things happen. And together is where we have

er – in person and online – the PPDS Studios provide a perfect setting for teams to come together, to innovate and co-create fully tailored solutions within a convenient, multidisciplinary environment.

Managed by local PPDS teams, PPDS Studios are fully fitted and equipped to showcase PPDS’ extended range of dedicated Philips professional display products and solutions – including third party hardware (such

space for partners, resellers and end customers, using PPDS’ extensive range of solutions to create unique, fully immersive digital environments, providing excellent communication and branding opportunities.The studios also provide a convenient alternative for those not wishing, able, or comfortable in attending busy annual tradeshows and events, such as ISE and InfoComm, providing a quieter,

the best ideas. At PPDS we know that it’s through great teamwork and partnerships, not just within our own organisation, but throughout the industry, that we will power evolution for our customers’ business vision. PPDS Studios are your space to come together with your customers to showcase your solutions.”

Vivitek launches new Optical System design

With hospitality venues and visitor attractions gearing up for the spring season, Vivitek - the visual display brand for all meeting spaces - has introduced the DU775Z-UST, a highly advanced Ultra Short Throw Laser Projector, perfectly suited to the needs of museums, galleries, educators, training spaces, immersive applications, hospitality and signage applications. Its compact footprint, large image size and 4K-UHD compatibility ensure it is well-suited to locations where space is at a premium but a large, powerful, projection image is still required.

The DU775Z-UST is designed with a new Tele-centric lens system to achieve a very low defocus range and flare value at large image sizes, while the Concave Reflect Mirror reduces any image distortion. It offers native WUXGA resolution and a high brightness of 5,000 lumens with 3,000,000:1 contrast ratio. The four pre-set Gamut Curves support the high contrast and enhanced colour spectrum.

For the various installation requirements, with image sizes up to 150 inch (100% focus), the DU775Z-UST features a lens system with a throw ratio of 0.25:1, which supports a large image size at short distance, omitting any shadows on the screen. The keystone correction and offset adjustment enable optimized image alignment with 360 degrees projection angle. For more user convenience, the DU775Z-UST can be upgraded with interactive functionality for IR Pen or Finger Touch use. Sound is added for convenience too, thanks to 20W (10Wx2) speakers with audio in/out for connection to external devices.

Network and IT Managers will appreciate the how simple the DU775Z-UST is to in-

stall. It is Crestron RoomView certified and the Vivitek PJ-Control ensures easy communications and remote control over an IT network. With the software, the projector can be controlled, automated and monitored for status and usage, which enables easy communications and remote control over an IT network. Connection of HDMI

offer power saving modes and a low noise level. Commenting on the launch of the Vivitek DU775Z-UST, Holger Graeff, General Manager, Vivitek EMEA, stated: “The DU775Z-UST is ideally suited to create the large powerful projection image thanks to our new optical design. Once again, Vivitek has brought to market a UST projector that

Introducing Riva 2- the successor to the beloved classroom companion., Riva

CTOUCH has announced the successor to the CTOUCH Riva The CTOUCH Riva 2 is available in two models ‘R2’ and ‘D2’. The CTOUCH Riva R2 is a state-of-the-art education technology solution, described as the perfect companion to the most modern of classrooms. The CTOUCH Riva D2 is the best choice for schools looking for a cost-effective teaching tool.

The teacher-friendly touchscreen models both offer: a smooth and accurate writing experience, courtesy of zero air gap combined with TrueBeam Touch+ technology, rich sound that easily reaches even the farthest corner of the classroom, the ability to run all different brands of teaching software, built-in 4 array microphone, built-in Wi-Fi 6 to easily connect to the internet, up to 40 touch points, allowing simultaneous use by multiple students and an eco-mode by default, saving energy plus an actively supported Android OS to enjoy security and app support for years.

time, giving them a next life. CTOUCH Riva R2 and D2 users are able to experience the full possibilities of the programme, as their

changes in the education technology landscape. Launching Riva 2 in two models ensures interactive display users in primary and secondary education are able to

Vivitek has introduced the DU775Z-UST, a highly advanced Ultra Short Throw Laser Projector, perfectly suited to the needs of museums, galleries, educators, training spaces, immersive applications, hospitality and signage applications.

based accessories like the NovoConnect wireless collaboration or NovoDS Digital Signage devices is made easy through the provision of the Power USB-A port. Given Vivitek’s long-standing commitment to sustainability, the DU775Z-UST laser source lifetime is up to 30,000 hours with a low decay and its eco-friendly design

combines quality with performance and flexibility.”

The DU775Z-UST is available now for £2,320 ex VAT. It has a five-year warranty on projector/five-year or 10,000h on the Laser Phosphor illumination source (whichever comes first).

Vision launches F25M floor stand for education

Vision has upgraded its popular F25 portable floor stand with a motorised version, the F25M, providing motorised height adjustment of over 500mm, for use by students and teachers at differing heights, standing or seated and in a variety of sized spaces.

The F25M packs a number of tweaks inspired by feedback from Vision installers, including a larger laptop shelf and the ability to leave off the feet for wall-mounting - wall fixing anchors are provided as standard. The laptop shelf fits below the display. A second shelf fits above the display to hold a video conferencing camera. Displays up to 100” or 80kg (126lb) with a VESA pattern of up to 800 x 600mm are supported.“We have designed the F25M specifically for UK and EU education tenders where quality at a great price is the key consideration,” explains Stuart Lockhart, Director of Vision.

The F25M makes it easy to equip any education space with inclusive collaborative learning technology thanks to the height adjustment, and the flexibility to share an all-in-one solution between spaces, thanks to its portability. “We’ve used high-quality 4-inch castors that glide over any surface making the unit easy to move, while also reducing vibration that might damage the AV equipment.”

The F25M launched at ISE 2023 in Barcelona with stock due early April. It will be available through Vision’s international network of distributors and like all Vision products, it is backed by a Vision’s Lifetime Guarantee.

Vision has announced a motorised version of its best-selling, portable education trolley which easily converts to a wall mount, for education installations

Included with every purchased model is the full license to EShare. EShare allows students to wirelessly share their device with OS-of-choice (Windows, Android, Apple) to the touchscreen. The CTOUCH Riva R2 and CTOUCH Riva D2 can be enrolled in the CTOUCH Heartbeat As-A-Service programme. CTOUCH Heartbeat provides a lifetime of safe and supported touchscreen usage. The programme includes a lifetime of security and functionality updates and access to remote management tools and trainings. Touchscreens in the programme will be repurposed at the end of their life-

The CTOUCH Riva R2 is a state-of-the-art education technology solution, described as the perfect companion to the most modern of classrooms.

purchase includes one year Heartbeat Safe for free.

“We’ve chosen to introduce two models of the Riva’s successor to accommodate

choose which model suits their classroom the best. The Riva 2 models’ distinct features give schools this freedom of choice.”

BrightSign enables world first kinetic digital experience

Technology from BrightSign, LLC has been used to power a continuously rotating 4m2 digital glass cube at Pixoul Gaming, a new state of the art virtual reality (VR) and Esports hub in Abu Dhabi. The impressive structure, which was created by Dubai

kinetics.

people at a time.

based digital media studio and systems integrator DigiComm, is believed to be a world first because of its size, weight and

It incorporates

38 BrightSign XD234 media players powering synchronised content across 123 55” and 49” LG display units.

As well as being fully encased in screens, the large cube houses a walk-in room that

is also lined on all sides and above with digital displays. The whole installation weighs around 4 tonnes and can carry up to six

The concept was devised by Pixoul’s General Manager Paul Hamilton and his team and realised by DigiComm after the customized media specialist won the project in a competitive tender. It dominates Pixoul’s atmospheric and colourfully lit entrance hall, providing an immersive storytelling experience to gamers arriving at the venue.

At CTOUCH, sustainability is not just a buzzword - it’s at the core of everything we practice. As the world’s most sustainable touchscreen manufacturer, we design highly energy efficient interactive displays with the lowest footprint in the industry.

See for yourself how our sustainable touchscreens can benefit your classroom and energy bill. Visit us at Bett 2023 and let’s talk about reducing your CO2 footprint!

BOOK YOUR BETT 2023 MEETING NOW!

Share, inspire, have fun! With CTOUCH by your side.

Continued from page 10

BrightSign enables world first kinetic digital experience

Because Pixoul is a VR attraction, it was important to create an impactful display that was representative of the games, which are themselves largely invisible. Exciting abstract sci-fi content created by DigiComm using BrightAuthor is displayed on the cube’s exterior, setting the tone for the experience to follow. On entering its interior room, players watch a looped three-minute audio visual production created by Pixoul’s game designers Robocom VR. A virtual robot guide explains what to expect from a visit to the unique world of the Pixoul Metaverse and how to engage in the activities on offer. When they exit, visitors face a different part of the space than when they entered.

Inside the cube, the location of the audio content is changed at different points on the timeline by the BrightSign players, so that it always comes from the robot figure, wherever it appears on screen, making people turn to look in the right direction. BrightSign players were selected not only for their special audio features but also for their exceptional robustness, ability to fit in an extremely compact space between two screens without any ventilation and the

ease with which they can be synchronised with each other. They also enable all the content to be stored within the cube itself, avoiding the need to transport media off the rotating platform via slip rings to a separate server room, which would have been far more complex and costly.

“The synchronisation works amazingly well and using BrightSign saved Pixoul around 300,000 Dirhams (USD 81,000),” said Abdul Bakhrani, CEO of DigiComm, who has worked with Hamilton on several projects. We’re very proud of this installation. As far as we know, nothing like it has ever been done before. A structure of this size and weight, rotating on a 6m platform with an error tolerance of 2mm, with all the transport of power involved and everything synchronised across so many screens – it’s quite a feat of engineering.”

The cost effectiveness of their proposed solution and the fact that they could provide an end-to-end service, including design, hardware and content, clinched the project for DigiComm, who then delivered it in just 45 days. The platform and the skeleton of the cube were manufactured in Dubai, while a seven strong DigiComm

Rako integrates Bluesound BluOS

Rako has announced that its control panels are now able to integrate with BluOS, the platform behind Bluesound and NAD’s hi res multiroom audio products. The BluOS ecosystem now includes over 50 products, including wireless speakers, single zone stereo systems, AV receivers and rack mount solutions. There are various performance and connectivity options, allowing integrators to fully tailor the audio system to the client’s needs.

Following the development of a plugin that gives playback and volume control, as well as preset selection from any Rako control panel via a user’s Hub,

team handled the system integration and content creation in-house.

Ann Holland, Vice President, Marketing at BrightSign said, "Abdul Bakhrani and his team have really smashed the bar with this stellar project, which is as impressive technically as it is visually. Their imagination is truly amazing, and each project they deliver harnesses the capabilities of our players to their most powerful potential.

We are excited to see how DigiComm has stretched BrightSign players to their limits in this exceptional installation."

“We’re so happy with this design,” remarked Hamilton. “DigiComm delivered exactly what we wanted with no changes at all. There were some seriously talented and forward-thinking people involved in pulling this together.”

Opened in November 2022, Pixoul Gaming aims to be a magical, immersive destination for gamers of all levels from across and beyond the Middle East. With 10 different heart pumping VR games and one of the region’s largest Esports arenas, it seeks to foster a world class gaming community, as well as enticing people to experience the excitement of virtual reality for the first time.

Is it time for a new approach to AV?

Everyone acknowledges that the workplace has fundamentally changed, but organizations are still scratching their heads and trying to figure out – changed to what? Rob Smith, Senior Director, Integrated Systems Sales for Western Europe at Shure Inc asks if it is time for a new approach to AV?

While some employees are ready (and sometimes eager) to return to the office at least part time, others have crossed the bridge to the other side. They’re not only content with working fully remote; they’ve rebuilt their lives around it. The time that used to be spent on the morning commute is now taken up by dropping the kids off at school.

While most people think about how a meeting room AV system affects the experience for inroom users, in some ways it is the remote attendees who depend on in-room systems the most. If the microphones send out poor audio quality from the room, online participants are the ones who have to struggle to keep up with the conversation.

powerful processing, allowing room noise and echo to contaminate the outgoing audio that remote participants rely on. Stateof-the-art array microphones can automatically find talkers anywhere in the room and balance speech levels in real time so that everyone is easy to hear.

Seeing clearly

Most conference rooms have only one camera that provides a single wide-angle view that isn’t very realistic. It can be difficult to pick up on visual cues like facial expressions or body language, and some people complain that they’re sometimes not even sure who’s talking. Active cameras can rapidly show a closer view of the active talker, using either preset shots or camera tracking based on real-time talker position coordinates provided by the microphones.

Rako controls now work with any BluOSenabled product. Peter Broome, Director at Rako, said: “We’re thrilled that Rako customers can now control their BluOS audio and entertainment environment with the simple touch of a button. With this integration we are improving compatibility and functionality, and helping to deliver a seamless, integrated experience for users so they can enjoy their homes the way they choose to.”

The move is intended to offer flexibility to integrators while delivering a better end product to users. As Peter Gibb, CI

CrimsonAV enhances QSR and retail offerings

CrimsonAV has added several QSR Menu Board options for fast-food restaurants and retail locations. Crimson’s new line of indoor/outdoor mounts offer a reliable method of communicating a brand’s products and services with their customers via a seamless mounting solution. “With more than 197 thousand QSR restaurants across the US, having a reliable digital menu board system is vital. Crimson has options to suit any environment. From free-standing digital menu boards, to wall or ceiling mounted menu board systems, we’ve got a proven

solution to meet your needs with plenty of options. Our product line can include a single display panel solution and scale up to as many displays as needed for your location,” says William Bear, VP of Sales and Marketing at CrimsonAV. “The outdoor Digital Menu Board (DMB) solutions make quite an impression, but are also quite robust with IP56 ratings for temperatures of -20f to 122f and are wind load rated up to 140 mph. Our QSR options were made to support Samsung 55” OHF displays within our high-impact steel structures.”

at Lenbrook International, said: “BluOS was designed for the purpose of making it easy for music lovers to access and control their content, integrating with Rako takes that a step further. Rako, like us, believe in creating enriching environments through our products, so we are delighted to collaborate to improve the user experience.”

Crimson realizes that failure is not an option when you’re dealing with digital menu boards, so they’ve equipped their systems with a 4-outlet quad box and a Zero Surge power filter to prevent power failures for their QSR series models. They also realize that many fast-food restaurants rely heavily on brand recognition, so all systems can be painted to match your brand identity.

CrimsonAV has added several QSR Menu Board options for fast-food restaurants and retail locations

The in-office lunch hour that facilitated impromptu brainstorming is now reserved for walking the dog. If you’re lucky, you can get team members to all agree to come in on the same day every week for in-person conversations. Maybe. This “new normal” of hybrid work has pushed the capabilities of traditional videoconferencing to its limits and exposed some weaknesses. These were easy to tolerate back when videoconferencing was something you did once or twice a day. Now that videoconferencing is for some people the majority of the day, they’re real obstacles. In the old days, people joined conference calls remotely because they were out of town or home sick. They were often just listening in or making a few brief comments or suggestions, so it was easy to overlook deficiencies in both audio and video quality. But now, a remote participant may be the most important person on the call. They’re the one giving the presentation, leading the discussion, closing the deal.

This puts them at a disadvantage relative to the people in the room. In addition, the clarity of a remote participant’s voice depends partly on the quality of the in-room loudspeakers reproducing it. Poor sound quality – either incoming or outgoing – can make meetings more frustrating and less effective for all.

For AV/IT managers, this means that yesterday’s approaches to AV technology don’t always adapt to the new hybrid workplace. It’s time for a new approach that recognizes the need for equity between in-office and remote employees and eliminates differences in the user experience based on location. These fall into three areas.

Hearing everyone

Some AV conferencing installations rely on outdated hanging or table microphones. These may not pick up everyone in the room fully, making more distant participants sound quieter than those closer to a microphone. Older audio mixers and DSP units may also lack the most

Better, faster, easier

In the past, implementing more sophisticated AV systems required a lengthy process to ensure that components from different manufacturers could work seamlessly together. Now, many AV products are certified for use with major collaboration platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or Cisco Webex out of the box. Certification guarantees interoperability and performance and eliminates time-consuming trial and error and guesswork in the commissioning phase, so AV/IT teams can deliver better-performing rooms faster and more easily.

True collaboration requires both in-office and remote workers to be on a level playing field when participating in hybrid meetings. By ensuring that AV technology provides an effortless, consistent experience regardless of the user’s location, AV/IT managers can deliver the full potential of productivity, efficiency, and teamwork.

Why CTOUCH is #1 on sustainability in the AV industry

CTOUCH is the world’s most sustainable touchscreen manufacturer. CTOUCH’s eco mission is to reduce our CO2 footprint by 60% and increase the circularity of our products by 25% by 2025. We’re well on our way to reaching these goals and we’re proud of what we’re doing for a more sustainable world.

Why commit to sustainability? Allow our CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer Remmelt van der Woude to put his planet-saving passion into words: “Sustainability is not something we off-handedly think of at the end of the year to get a tax write-off. Sustainability is in every fibre of our being. Keeping our planet and our people at the forefront is what we’ve been doing since founding the company. We want future generations to enjoy fresh air, clear water and green grass.”

Remmelt van der Woude, CEO CTOUCH: “Sustainability is in every fibre of our being.”

Our journey towards sustainability started in 2018. That’s when we introduced the CTOUCH Circle, the fundamental element that helps us give meaning and substance to our vision: add value for our customers. The CTOUCH Circle consists out of four themes: Customer Engagement, Future Proof, Safe & Secure and Sustainability. Let us dive into the last, but certainly not least, theme of sustainability.

Sustainability through transparency

CTOUCH is committed to making a positive impact on the future by focusing on each life-cycle stage of our products: from raw material acquisition to factory processes, and from the use phase to the end-of-life phase. Our progress does not stop at our products. CTOUCH goes to great lengths to practice Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

We put our beliefs into actions by introducing a myriad of initiatives within these areas. These initiatives are made transparent through tools. These tools provide insight into our products’ CO2 impact and empower customers to make environmentally-friendly choices. As a result, we’re building trust and triggering dialogue on (re)using our touchscreens. Internally, these tools empower us to make sustainable choices concerning future products, benefiting both the environment and our customer.

We are the first (and currently only!) touchscreen manufacturer with a sustainability passport for our touchscreens. To identify the environmental impacts and ethical risks of our supply chain and our products throughout their entire life cycle, we perform a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The results of the LCA combined with insight on our CO2 impact are at the base of our sustainability passport.

the long lives they deserve. Our promise is that at least 50% of our screens are still functioning to user satisfaction even after 10 years of use. The prolonged lifetime will reduce the annual CO2 impact of CTOUCH touchscreens by at least 12%.

To support this promise, we have introduced the CTOUCH Heartbeat As-A-Service programme. Heartbeat provides a lifetime of support, upgrades and training. These features massively extend our touchscreens’ lifetime and improve user experience. This leads to a much lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and at the same time helping users to reduce their footprint, as their products will last as long as possible.

As part of Heartbeat, we also refurbish end-of-life products. Ultimately, each product gets a new home. If a product cannot be refurbished, we look into re-using parts. If that’s not possible? No worries, 88% of the materials used in our products can be recycled.

Together we achieve more

Our sustainability passports contain a transparent overview of the materials we use, the CO2 impact of our solutions, as well as a showcase of initiatives we take to minimise our impact. The details of our passports come to life in our Sustainability Dashboard. Of course, all these tools are offered as eco-friendly as possible: digitally, on our website ctouch.co.uk! Produce, pack and ship with care

CTOUCH is transparent about the results, but also the process. We take care to practice as sustainable as possible when it comes to the production of our products.

We have set 15 sustainability requirements to ensure that all our strategic suppliers meet our standards in areas such as material use, circularity, recycling, repairability and renewable energy use.

Driven by our ambition to increase the circularity of our packaging, we initiated several pilots in 2022. Our starting point is to make positive impact, while still keeping (y)our precious products well- protected. By decreasing our packaging size, we transport more products per container, resulting in significantly less CO2 emissions.

Use responsibly

We help our customers use our products efficiently, greatly benefiting them by using less energy leading to lower bills. Through product innovation, the integration of a human presence detection function and eco mode settings in the Canvas, Neo and Riva 2, we reduced the average power consumption per screen (in operation) by 8% compared to our previous generation screens.

To help users consume less energy, CTOUCH touchscreens always come in eco mode by default. To show people how much money they can save on their electricity bill when choosing CTOUCH sustainable touchscreens over another brand, we introduced the Energy Saving Calculator on our website.

Full life, end-of-life, next life

Modular building and giving products a next life are part of our efforts to give our products

It’s not just our products’ CO2 impact that we measure and optimise. CTOUCH practices CSR to better the environmental and social impact of CTOUCH as an organisation. To give ourselves guidance, we’ve looked into the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. We have adopted four SDGs where we believe we can make a real difference: These SDGs form the foundation of our sustainability policy and community activities. For example, in 2022 our colleagues planted 2,500 trees, had crafting afternoons at care homes, gave office tours to school classes, and functioned as vocational university examination commissioners.

CTOUCH also takes responsibility for the impact of our suppliers on people and the environment. Therefore, we have mapped all important and impactful materials and their suppliers (Tier 2 and 3). Our key suppliers have signed the Social Responsibility Employment Statement to ensure that slavery and child labour do not occur in any part of our supply chain, and that a safe and healthy working environment is guaranteed.

Let’s talk about reducing your CO2 footprint at Bett 2023!

See the world's most sustainable touchscreens in person & let's talk about reducing your Download CTOUCH Impact Report 2022 Book your Bett meeting with CTOUCH now!

CO2 footprint at Bett 2023! On stand NL61 the CTOUCH team will be ready to showcase our newest interactive displays for primary and secondary education, the CTOUCH Riva 2 available in two models ‘R2’ and ‘D2’. Also showcased: the CTOUCH Neo, the easiest-to-use touchscreen with the most intuitive user interface on the market. Not to forget Heartbeat, which allows you to keep your screens safe and secure for a lifetime. We can’t wait to show you how CTOUCH is changing the touchscreen landscape. See you at Bett 2023!

Sustainability Innovation of the Year Award 2023 www.ctouch.co.uk

Technology update floor projection

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought unimaginable changes to our lives. Stay-athome orders, restrictions on shopping and dining, and other public health measures had a profound impact on how people carried out their daily lives. Organizations large and small had to adapt quickly to a new reality.

ganizations that have already adopted floor projection, primarily to display artistic images, provide entertainment content, or add excitement to an event. When the pandemic struck, however, many businesses soon began looking for better solutions than traditional signs, physical barriers, and floor stick-

using a projector to display a large image on a vertical surface. It presents several unique technical issues that need to be addressed, but like standard projection, it enables you to display engaging content on a blank surface. Floor Projection for Public Health Messaging The COVID-19 pandemic generated

used in a wide range of stores for a variety of purposes, including advertising, branding, traffic management, wayfinding, queueing, and other messaging needs. Retailers can use projectors to display images at the entrance to a store, at end caps, and even in aisles themselves. The projector can show advertisements, indicate the shelf location of seasonal or sale items, and provide information about other types of promotions. Floor projection provides a dynamic opportunity for retailers to partner with brands to promote their products. All of this information is displayed right at the feet of customers — providing the right message at the right time and the ideal place to drive conversions and sales. Transportation hubs

mation and provide a wide range of entertainment content. In higher education and K-12 buildings, it can convey messages and wayfindaring for students and visitors alike. Making It Work If you are considering floor projection, there are several considerations to take into account. Here are the key factors to keep in mind: Projection surface Any smooth, light-colored surface will work for most projectors. For the best results, we recommend using matte white (gloss-free) vinyl paint or similar. Your existing floor color may work well, but it will likely require making a color adjustment for your projector. Ambient light The specifics of your space will also influence a floor projection installation. The

above the floor. an ultra-shortthrow projector model may be ideal. This type of projector has a wide-angle lens and a mirror, which enable the projector to be positioned very close to the projection surface. For floor projection, this feature helps reduce the risk people of people obstructing the projected image by moving between the projector and the floor. Floor Projection Opens Up a New Dimension for Displaying Content ©2022 Sharp NEC Display Solutions of America, Inc. | All rights reserved. All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Sharp NEC Display Solutions of America www.sharpnecdisplays.us

Choosing the right partner There

Videoconferencing helped office workers stay connected to keep business moving forward. A wide range of technologies helped retail and other essential businesses keep their employees and in-person customers and visitors safe and informed about ever-changing health-related protocols, new operating hours, and other vital details. For many businesses, display technologies became integral to overcoming their communication challenges, helping them develop plans that included visual and digital solutions to encourage social distancing rules, mask mandates, and other guidelines. The critical need to find innovative ways to convey essential information focused attention on an underutilized surface for displaying images — floors. Floor Projection Opens

Up a New Dimension for Displaying Content An Overlooked Surface Floors are not a new surface for displaying projected images. Museums, malls, sports and amusement venues, and trade shows are among the or-

ers to more effectively promote social distancing, hand sanitizing, and touchless practices in their facilities. Their goal was to conduct business as normally as possible without placing employees and customers at risk.

Floor Projection Opens Up a New Dimension for Displaying Content Some organizations deployed digital displays, which offer the benefits of grabbing the attention of visitors and making it simple to change the content provided. Installed on carts, these displays could be moved to where they were most needed. Others realized that, in appropriate settings, using a projector to display navigation instructions, distancing cues, and other information onto the floor would be an ideal solution. The directions and information that floor projection provides are particularly effective because they’re hard to miss. Messages and visual cues are literary at viewers’ feet, making them unambiguous and easy to follow.

Floor projection is essentially the same as the familiar process of

demand for effective ways to provide actionable information. Floor projection emerged as a solution to consider for many messaging needs, including: • Providing protocol alerts: alert customers and employees entering a facility about active health protocols • Managing high traffic zones: help customers and visitors navigate safely in high traffic zones and narrow passageways • Action-intended messaging: enforce or encourage adherence to health protocol rules behavioral actions in specific locations or situations, for example using hand sanitizing stations • Service information: communicate new services and temporary changes, such as curbside pickup Innovative Uses for Floor Projection The use of floor projection to address COVID-19 issues has opened the door to new possibilities for using projection to display content on floors in many settings. Let’s take a look at some of the locations where floor projection can provide unique benefits.

Retail Floor projection can be

Wayfinding, traffic management, and queueing are major concerns in airports, train stations, and bus depots. Floor projection can help passengers easily navigate through the confusion of transportation facilities to buy tickets, find information booths, and locate their departure gates. It also provides transportation authorities and retail tenants unique opportunities for messaging and advertising. Offices Floor projection is a natural fit for reception areas, human resources, and other corporate settings. The reception area is usually the first place that visitors see, which makes it an important setting to make a good first impression. An image projected on the floor in reception and other appropriate areas can display corporate logos and other brand images to communicate a company’s identity. Messages can also direct visitors through security checkpoints or to specific reception desks or check-in areas when they enter the building. In human resources areas, floor projection can direct job applicants to the appropriate location and convey a sense of the company’s culture. Other locations Floor projection is also an inviting solution in other types of locations. For example, in hospitals and other healthcare facilities, it can display action-intended messages, provide wayfindaring, and help manage such high traffic areas as entrances and around elevators. Restaurants and malls can use floor projection to convey infor-

amount of ambient light in the space will help you choose a projector with the appropriate brightness level (measured in lumens) for your installation. The more light in your space, the higher the projector brightness rating you’ll need to ensure a clear, crisp image. Projector type The configurations of your space will also determine whether a laser or lamp projector is best suited for your installation and which type of projector is required. For many installations, a projector with interchangeable lens capability for more flexible long or short throw placement options will be a better fit than a projector with a fixed lens that will need to be placed at a specific height

are many other features and functionalities to consider when planning a floor projection installation. It’s best to work with a technology partner that offers a wide range of projector options and has the knowledge and expertise to guide you in optimizing your unique application. For more information about floor projection and other display solutions, visit us at https://www. sharpnecdisplays.us. For additional information about Sharp NEC Display Solutions of America products, call (866) NECMORE, or visit the website at www.sharpnecdisplays.us. Follow us on our social media channels: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Promethean’s all-new ActivPanel – the Talking Heads Q&A

AV News meets Jim Wallis, Head of UKI Market at Promethean, to learn more about the company’s all-new ActivPanel, and how, after five years, it remains the world’s number one education brand for interactive panels*.

For more than 25 years, Promethean has been at the forefront of technological innovation for education. Since the early days of interactive whiteboards, to the advanced interactive flat panel displays we see today, Promethean has consistently set the benchmark for quality and innovation. As they prepare to officially launch ActivPanel 9 to the UK market at this year’s Bett show, we talk to Jim about what this means for Promethean and what kind of opportunity it presents for the company’s growing base of channel partners.

AV News: Great to see you again, Jim. It doesn’t seem like five minutes since we last sat down at Bett to talk about the latest advancements to the ActivPanel! But, from what I’ve seen of the new ActivPanel 9 so far, it represents a major leap forward?

Jim Wallis: It does indeed. So much so that we’ve leapt from our earlier ActivPanel 7 to the ActivPanel 9 that you see today – it’s that much of a development. With our commitment to providing educators the ability to transform learning and collaboration, ActivPanel 9 really is our most innovative release to date. We addressed the challenges teachers, IT managers, and school leaders face by creating an interactive panel that is more secure, easier to use, and works better with other technology in their classrooms.

AV News: That’s quite a bold claim, can you substantiate it?

Jim Wallis: After listening to more than 1,300 customers across the globe, we designed ActivPanel 9 to facilitate navigating a changing environment. It’s the only interactive panel with ActivSync, Promethean’s patented technology. This eliminates digital barriers between devices and enables increased connectivity, customisable settings, and enhanced mobility

AV News: ActivPanel 9 has clearly been very thoughtfully designed for the education market then?

Jim Wallis: It has. So much so it’s opening new opportunities for us in the further and higher education markets. We’ve traditionally focused on the K12 space, but the launch of ActivPanel 9 gives us a solution that meets the needs of all education levels.

AV News: I’d be interested to learn more about that. What makes ActivPanel 9 a strong proposition for the higher education market?

Jim Wallis: As universities navigate the learning landscape in a post-COVID world, emerging hybrid-flexible (HyFlex) models are bringing unique AV/IT challenges. Interactive technology has a role to play in effectively deploying a HyFlex strategy, and ActivPanel 9 helps by supporting technical teams in establishing a robust, reliable, and secure AV/IT infrastructure. The intuitive functionality of ActivPanel 9 also supports collaborative learning and ideation across departments and campuses, while device integration enables lecturers to positively, and flexibly, shape the student experience.

AV News: Will you be showcasing these capabilities at Bett?

AV News: What are your plans for channel partners at the show?

Jim Wallis: On Where we have partners exhibiting at the show, we’ve made our ‘Bett in a Box’ support available. This has been successful for many years, as it makes it easier for partners to showcase the latest ActivPanel without having to ship and set up product themselves.

Bett is an ideal opportunity to meet with new and long-standing partners. We’ll be hosting a series of partner meetings during Bett, both on Stand NL41, in dedicated meeting rooms, and at our annual networking dinner.

We’re also eagerly anticipating the Bett Awards as we’re shortlisted for the Supplier of the Year (over £20m) category!

AV News: Will Bett be the first time that partners have seen ActivPanel 9 then?

Jim Wallis: On No, not at all! While Bett is our official launch platform for ActivPanel 9, it’s been available to purchase since January 2023. So, for the past couple of months we’ve been travelling around the country with our ActivPanel 9 partner roadshow.

As with all Promethean product launches and campaigns, our partners have been fully enabled with ActivPanel 9 sales and marketing toolkits. Demand for our demonstration

so that teachers can move around the classroom freely.

We also redesigned the user experience, providing a solution for instructional models, such as hybrid, synchronous, and asynchronous learning that integrate hardware and software in all scenarios.

AV News: So, does that make ActivSync the key differentiator for ActivPanel 9?

Jim Wallis: As patented technology, ActivSync is a major differentiator to other interactive panels on the market. But there’s a lot more to ActivPanel 9. We’ve introduced a whole host of new features that address the key needs of educators through simplicity, connectivity, security, adaptability, and longevity.

AV News: That sounds like a really nice marketing pitch, but our readers like to better understand the technical features that sit behind product innovation. Could you give us any more detail on what this actually means in practice?

Jim Wallis: Of course! So, for simplicity, ActivPanel 9 encompasses a simple user interface that requires minimal training, allowing teachers to use the panel from day one while streamlining their lessons and decreasing the level of support required from IT managers. When we look at connectivity, ActivSync facilitates connections to other classroom devices automatically, so teachers can sign in quickly to easily access files and other cloud platforms, such as Google Classroom.

Security remains a priority as devices increasingly move on to networks, so the ActivPanel now allows teachers to securely sign into the panels in multiple ways, including password, QR code, or near-field communication (NFC) card. IT managers can rest assured that teachers’ personal information and profiles will remain confidential, and all networked devices will get the proper security updates.

Recognising the need for adaptability, teachers can now record lessons and audio on the ActivPanel and share them with students in the classroom or at home to prevent learning loss and improve overall student engagement and achievement.

We’ve also looked at longevity, which means the ActivPanel’s high-performance and durable hardware now include robust capabilities, such as USB-C with 100 watts of power delivery and Vellum touch technology with pen/finger differentiation, palm erase, writing hand palm rejection, and 20-point touch.

Jim Wallis: On Stand NL41 our focus will be very much on how to use the ActivPanel 9 in classroom environments. We’re welcoming several teachers as guest presenters who will share practical examples of using the ActivPanel 9 in a range of teaching and learning scenarios.

As Bett expands into the higher education space with ‘Ahead by Bett’, we’ll be delivering a Tech in Action session on Wednesday 29th March at 12.35pm. Anyone who wants to learn more about the ActivPanel 9 for higher education should definitely attend this.

support has also increased, as partners recognise the benefit of us delivering ActivPanel 9 demonstrations on their behalf.

AV News: Thank you for taking the time out to get involved with this Talking Heads feature, Jim, I really appreciate it. For anyone interested in learning more about becoming a Promethean partner and adding the market leading ActivPanel 9 to your portfolio, please visit:

https://www.prometheanworld.com/gb/partners/ *As reported by Futuresource, excluding China

Retail

Leyard large indoor LED screen in H&M, Regent Street

At the end of last year, H&M unveiled its newly redesigned flagship store on London's Regent Street, featuring cuttingedge, generative artwork displayed on a double 4k resolution LED screen from Leyard Europe.

One of Europe’s largest indoor LED screens, it was installed by London-based LEDTek Solutions. The LED screen, which frames a set of escalators and fills the entire rear wall of the store, has been designed to showcase a series of progressive and stylish digital materials that complement the aesthetic of the brand and act as an extension of the H&M’s elevated architecture, encouraging people to enter the store when seen from afar.

Created by London-based design and technology studio Hirsch & Mann in collaboration with H&M and with the support of the Creative Coding company Variable, this unique system continuously evolves throughout the day by responding to customer activity on the escalator. This constant live generation of materials results in unexpected, beautiful and dynamic visuals dancing across the 4200 pixel wide by 3536 pixel high 2.5mm Leyard LED screen in rich double 4K detail.

“The artwork’s materials have been curated to be highly glossy in their aesthetic, allowing them to reflect lighting and colours of digital environments within their 3D scene, as well as have more depth,” explains Daniel Hirschmann, CEO at Hirsch & Mann. “Their appeal is also in their ability to behave as a physical fabric

might do when manipulated in real life, with the virtual, directional wind within the 3D scene allowing the partly-floating curated materials to gently move by default, and to become more dynamic every time an H&M customer uses the store escalators to move between the ground and the first floor.”

Hirschmann further notes that as customers move up and down the escalator, a series of 3D depth cameras attached to the store’s ceiling track each person’s position on the escalators, creating the effect of ripples and folds on the material behind the person, like a trail. “This subtle reaction to people’s presence creates a fun moment of surprise and acknowledges customers by passively inviting them to leave an ephemeral mark on the canvas,” he adds. Additionally, when more than three people use the escalator simultaneously and are standing in close proximity, the system smartly interprets their presence as a collective which can manipulate the material as a single force, further adding to H&M’s customers’ experience.

The artwork’s flexible content management system allows for various modes to be showcased on the Leyard LED canvas throughout the week. These can range from subtle grey and pink shades during weekdays to shiny silver and golden hues on Friday evenings giving “a chance to celebrate the start of the weekend with a larger number of customers in the store,” says Hirschmann. The system also caters for quick and easy updates to the generative artwork through

its live schedule and allows the H&M team to perform LED canvas takeovers through their content management system. This is especially useful for new campaigns or other special content is released and needs to be showcased on the large LED screen for a particular timeframe. “We are thrilled to see our LED solution as the centre piece

at H&M’s flagship store in one of the world’s most prestigious lifestyle destinations –London’s Regent Street,” says Leyard Europe’s Luke Marler-Hausen. “We were approached with a unique set of challenges that suited our products perfectly. The wall also had to be installed in a very tight space which was less than 30cm from the wall to

the escalators, so it needed to be bright, to be delivered in a very short time span and be super dependable. Our AT series was the clear winner here. It boasts a depth of only 29.5mm utilising the very latest in LED technology that we also manufacture in Slovakia here in the EU. It uses a fanless design with remote ‘hot swap’ power

supplies enabling seamless operation with very few moving parts. We are so confident in the product that we backed it with a lifetime warranty!”

All of these technology advancements deployed at the display reduced the instore power requirements, supporting H&M’s green ethos which Leyard are also fully committed to whilst delivering a stunning visual display in the centre of London. “We successfully delivered the screens ahead of the time, despite a very tight timeline,” continues Marler-Hausen. “This was made possible by Leyard Europe’s manufacturing base in Slovakia, which was further utilised by our customer, artists and design team, enabling them to visit and see first- hand before deployment. Previously. a long trip to China would make this a challenge and increased project risk. So, the ability to check before deployment on such a flagship store was really valuable. This project has enabled us to demonstrate our ability to manufacture and custom fabricate locally in Europe on a huge scale, which is now being proven.”

“We really enjoyed the collaborative spirit of this project and are pleased to see such great result, with both the client and the H&M visitors loving the generative artwork LED screen,” Hirschmann concludes. “The artwork is both a dynamic piece of evolving visuals that create an immersive experience and, at the same time, a platform for future artworks and artists to be invited to express themselves on a beautiful ultra-highdefinition LED display!”

Esprit Digital's "LUMOS" illuminates PUMA flagship

Orchard Road, Singapore has added another jewel to its crown in the form of the first and largest PUMA flagship store, not just in Singapore, in the whole of Southeast Asia. This unique retail environment, designed to mirror Puma’s brand essence of weaving sports into lifestyle, reflects Singapore’s vibrant heritage and Puma’s relentless energy.

PUMA chose the “LUMOS” LED display system, designed and developed by UK based Esprit Digital. Who together with Singaporean integration specialist PAVE, installed LUMOS throughout the flagship store. PUMA are the latest in a growing list of globally recognized retail brands to choose the LUMOS system, amongst them Adidas, Armani, Harvey Nichols, Virgin and Westfield for their stores and screen networks.

Colette Hilton, Head of Retail at PUMA UK/ IE told us: “The Singapore Flagship project was a really important one for Puma, as it is our largest and highest profile location in SEA (Southeast Asia). As part of the overall project, we decided to make digital signage an integral part of our marketing strategy, not only to communicate with customers and enhance their in-store experience, but also to attract passers-by into the store.

LUMOS LEDs delivered on every level –they can be updated live, look stunning, and they create a real vibe.”

James Wilder Sales Director at Esprit Digital added, “The whole PUMA experience starts before the consumer even enters the store, with a massive 19m x 2m 5,500nit

‘See-Thru’ LUMOS LED facing the street. This display blends seamlessly into the architecture of the building and grabs the customer’s attention from across the street, enticing them to cross over and explore the wonderful world of PUMA.

“The LUMOS ‘See-Thru’ LED is a unique product and the perfect solution for when a digital display is needed on a façade. As its name suggests, it is transparent and allows light into the store, but still has high

resolution to display powerful imagery to all passers-by.”

On entering the store, customers are transported into the very latest digital era with a striking double-sided 4m x 4m indoor

LED mesh, brought to life by the main attraction on the back wall - a stunning 4m x 1.9m display, situated directly behind the Customer Service Counters and a 3-sided 2m x 1m LED display pillar located just

in front, creating a visual impact, that customers simply can’t help but stop and stare at.

MOBO Awards rely on DiGiCo consoles

The MOBO Awards, which recognise and celebrate black music and culture, returned for its 25th year in October last year. With Craig David, Little Simz, Central Cee and Knucks among the artists recognised, the annual ceremony took place at the OVO Arena Wembley, where a star-studded lineup of artists including Nile Rodgers, Kojey Radical, Tion Wayne, Fireboy DML, Cat Burns, FLO and Eliza Rose all performing on the night. DiGiCo’s SD10, SD12 and S21 digital mixing consoles offering ultimate flexibility, sound quality and reliability to the technically challenging event.

Simon Purse, Head of Audio at Southwest Group Events (SWG Events), also acted as Audio Crew Chief at MOBO Awards, explains that, for the first year, SWG Events was sole audio supplier for the event.“The MOBOs is a technically challenging event to pull off,” says Purse. “It was also an extremely quick turnaround from when SWG Events won the project to when the event happened, so prep time was limited.”

The company’s own DiGiCo digital mixing consoles, including an SD10 and an SD21 were used at the event, with a guest SD12 deployed at Nile Rodgers monitor position and an additional SD12 at FOH.“DiGiCo is always extremely rider friendly,” continues Purse. “If you put an SD10 on monitors and an SD12 at FOH, you just know that whoever turns up they are going to

be happy. With the MOBOs being such premium production, and knowing there could be last minute additions to the lineup, we wanted to ensure we had the best audio equipment to work with.”

Without too many specifics until just before the event, Purse notes that having Simon Honeywell at FOH and Mark Sunderland at monitors was a big comfort as he could rely on their skill sets to build the channel list as they went through it. “The nature of the gig meant we couldn’t be more prepared, so having experienced engineers like Simon and Mark was key to ensuring a successful outcome,” he adds.

With the DiGiCo consoles readily available and his crew representing SWG Events on site, the team was able to effectively manage all the technical and engineering aspects of the event. “What was really useful was knowing we had the Madi split options in the SD Racks. This gave us lots of different ways of splitting the signals to the OB truck, and we knew we would have plenty of I/O channels,” says Purse.

“Thanks to the Madi splits, we didn’t need to have tie lines to the OB truck, which gave us additional flexibility.”

With the MOBO Awards being heavily televised, reliability was key. “Whilst the outside broadcast was independent, they relied on our split being consistent,” explains Purse. “We had two Mac books

with two audio interfaces simultaneously running playback and time code. Both interfaces were then fed into the S21 which was setup to receive one unit as primary, the other unit as the secondary. This meant if any interruption to the signal of the primary unit should occur, an automatic switch to the redundant unit would kick in with no interruption to audio.”

With guest engineers including Tion Wayne’s engineer, Dion as well as Craig David’s engineer both working on the SD12, Purse recalls how smooth and seamless everything ran at the event.“It was a new gig for us, so we wanted to ensure everything was perfect, and it really was!” concludes Purse. “We walked into it and smashed it. Everyone was pleased with the result and how things were running on the night. Having DiGiCo as house consoles made our job much easier, as we know they’re rider-friendly, reliable, flexible and delivered great audio, which was exactly what was expected of such premium event. We are currently awaiting delivery of an SD12, so our arsenal of DiGiCo solutions will be even bigger and better, making us prepared for any exciting challenges lying ahead!”

Culture Club wows fans thanks to Caton Live Stage

1980s pop sensation Boy George & Culture Club celebrated the 40th anniversary of the triple-platinum Colour by Numbers album with a unique one-off show, streamed live to their worldwide fan base. Thanks to Caton Live Stage, the 25 February concert in California was experienced live in cinemas and venues from Brazil to Hong Kong, Bangkok to Dublin.

A revolutionary distribution system, Caton Live Stage allows live events to be streamed in digital cinema quality with extremely low latency and unparalleled reliability. The system's remarkable performance make it ideal for streaming events like this one, delivering an immersive and captivating experience to remote audiences while being practical, cost-effective, and ecofriendly.

Caton Live Stage is the result of Caton Technology’s cutting-edge expertise in AIbased intelligent routing, which enables unprecedented performance at a much lower cost than satellite and leased lines.

The cloud architecture known as C3 uses smart traffic engineered algorithms to generate multiple routes with selfoptimising capabilities between the source and destination, ensuring zero disruptions and quality impacts, even in markets with challenging connectivity. Caton Live Stage is the first-of-its-kind solution that moves connectivity beyond the legacy of fixed paths, revolutionizing the business case for digital cinema, broadcast, and OTT.

For the "One World, One Love" concert held at the Fred Kavli Theatre in Thousand Oaks, Monogram Media and Entertainment captured the entire show in 4K Ultra HD, including a short set by Berlin before Culture Club performed for close to two hours. Caton Live Stage ensured seamless distribution of the show from the production output to every single venue around the world. Many markets, including Japan, received the feed live, while others, like Europe, had a time-delayed stream. “We

are really excited that the technology has finally arrived which allows us to live stream our music around the world, giving our fans a great experience – nearly as good as being there in person,” said Boy George, Culture Club's iconic singer. “The show was truly amazing: enigmatic, beautiful, cinematic, sexy, 80s, 90s, now, then and everything!”

Caton Live Stage is built on the CatonNet Video Platform (CVP), which carries highquality video over the public internet, with proven bitrates of up to 100Mb/s and availability from “six nines” (99.9999%) to 100%. Caton Live Stage is a complete endto-end service that encodes at the event and provides guaranteed quality of service all the way to the projector at multiple

cinemas and venues worldwide, delivering a cinematic experience that rivals the traditional theatre setting.

“With Caton Live Stage, we're changing the paradigm for digital cinema, broadcast, and OTT. Our AI smart traffic technology and completely autonomous switching ensure users are guaranteed complete reliability and real theatrical quality over commodity

business broadband,” said Gerald Wong, Senior Vice President at Caton Technology. “The system is easy for the cinema or venue to deploy, with the decoder configured remotely, making it a simple plug-and-play solution. This is a game-changer for the entertainment industry, providing venues with a new way to offer high-quality music and sports to audiences and operators with

valuable sources of revenue.”

1980s pop sensation Boy George & Culture Club celebrated the 40th anniversary of the triple-platinum Colour by Numbers album with a unique one-off show, streamed live to their worldwide fan base.

House of worship

DMI-KLANG create a completely immersive worship environment

First Baptist Church Woodstock (FBCW) is no stranger to major undertakings.

Spanning three centuries, the church’s current 16,000-member congregation worship in a 7,500-seat worship center in its 435,000-square-foot building on an 80acre campus in the North Georgia town of Woodstock twice each Sunday.

Last year, FBCW became the site of the world’s largest permanent installation of L-ISA immersive sound technology, which is paired with DiGiCo Quantum338 consoles at front of house and monitors. Now, the church has embraced immersive mixing in the house and in the ears with

Director and the church’s regular monitor engineer. Hilsden is one of three fulltime audio professionals on staff there.

“Basically, monitoring for the choir is like a FOH mix, with active changes as the music dictates, tailored for the choir’s needs. The monitors themselves are a line-array system hung above the loft for the 150-plus singers each Sunday.” Each of the two worship services requires up to 20 unique IEM mixes. That’s up to 40 distinct mixes handled by a single engineer each Sunday. Beyond that, vocalists and band are on a rotating schedule, rarely appearing on back-to-back Sundays in

Extended reality

Plazamedia selects Alfalite’s LED panel technology for new XR studio

“Prior to having KLANG in our setup, we had to pause rehearsals for several minutes at a time to request mix changes,” adds Cliff Duren, FBCW’s Worship Pastor. “Now we’re able to give our full attention to music. The band has full control and the vocal team has access to our stage manager to discretely and quickly get their mixes right without pulling focus or interrupting the flow of rehearsal.”

Beyond personalized control, the benefits of KLANG’s immersive audio engine aren’t lost on the music team. “I’ve been amazed at how much more detail I’m able to hear throughout my mix,” says Trey Tanner,

Alfalite has supplied its Modularpix Pro VP XR panels with ORIM technology to build a 120-square-meter L-shaped LED wall in Plazamedia’s new Extended Reality (XR) Studio, which has just been opened near Munich. Plazamedia GmbH has been the leading sports TV producer in the German-speaking region since 1976. Its new “briXwoRk.studio” is located in AGROB Medienpark in Ismaning near Munich and will offer new and diverse application possibilities for innovative and sustainable productions with a unique combination of XR, AR and VR for film and production companies, broadcasters, advertising companies and event and creative agencies. briXwoRk.studio is one of Germany’s most innovative studios. It seamlessly combines real set architecture with virtual worlds via the 24-meter wide and 5-meter-high

and implementation of this project and integrated Alfalite’s LED panels with its products Startracker, Cinematic XR Focus and bMR. Thanks to Mo-Sys real-time render engine (Unreal Engine 5.1) integrated into briXwoRk.studio, parameters such as time of day and atmosphere – for example, sun, rain, snow, or fog – are reproducible at will and can be defined individually. “With briXwoRk.studio we are putting a big exclamation mark on the Extended Reality and Green Production field,” says Jens Friedrichs, Chairman of the Management Board of PLAZAMEDIA GmbH. “We will offer companies from all industries the opportunity to impressively stage their brands, projects, and topics sustainably. We thank the Alfalite team for their support and great solution. We are thrilled to see where this will lead us and foresee future collaborations with Alfalite.”

Luis Garrido, Executive Director of Alfalite, says, “It’s great to have joined forces with Mo-Sys to bring Plazamedia’s ambitious project to life. We are delighted that a prestigious company such as Plazamedia has trusted us as their technology partner for its different projects.”

The LED panels used in Plazamedia XR studio have ORIM (Optical Resin Injection Module) technology, a new termination system for LED panels through an injection of optical resin that improves precision between modules (<0.5mm). It also provides a magnified 175º horizontal and vertical viewing angle. LED panels with ORIM technology have superior antistatic electricity protection (ESD > 10kV), improved thermal dissipation parameters, and excellent resistance to impacts, liquids, chemicals, and fire (with UL94 compliance). Also, they are

its December addition of a DMI-KLANG module, supplied by the church’s integration partner, Diversified. FBCW’s monitoring landscape is certainly an ambitious one. Every Sunday, there are two completely distinct worship experiences. The first, starting at 9:30am, is choir-driven with a sizable individually mic’d front line backed by a full band and orchestra. After the conclusion of that service, a second 11:00am service begins that is band-driven with a completely different set of songs, musicians, and vocalists.

Nick Geiger, Account Executive, Worship Environments at Diversified, says the move into immersive sound for FBCW’s stage monitoring came about as part of the same conversation that saw the immersive audio move with the PA. “With so many unique audio sources, the need to expand the sound field to hear more distinction between the different voices and instruments is critically important. It was also equally important to maintain the high audio fidelity that the musicians have gotten used to having. With the native integration of the KLANG into their DiGiCo workflow, the changeover was simple and immediately effective.”

According to Geiger, KLANG also brought a practical solution to FBCW’s unique stage monitoring needs. “With the limited time each week to flip the stage, moving 16 of the monitor mixes to KLANG, where those musicians can adjust their own ears without the assistance of a monitor engineer, freed up time for the monitor engineer to focus on the mixes that are sourced from the monitor console. The overall efficiency of getting the stage monitors dialled in has increased tremendously with this change.”

“The church’s monitoring needs are on a scale I haven’t encountered anywhere else,” says Joel Hilsden, FBCW’s Technical

either service. The audio team has been utilizing every tool available to provide the kind of consistency that one might expect from a fixed cast or touring band.

“With limited rehearsal time, preparing the monitor console for rehearsals and services is its own challenge,” says Hilsden. “There simply isn’t time to build every mix on the fly from a generic start file. We have always relied heavily on the console’s mix presets to be sure we’re beginning each rehearsal with a familiar personalized starting point for every IEM mix on stage.

With our 11:00 band rehearsing mid-week, it’s mission critical that the console recalls everything precisely across all inputs and outputs during our 15-minute set change.”

Hilsden describes the introduction of the DMI-KLANG into their weekly routine as “completely seamless. We thought we’d be adding complexity to our workflow, but since the console is able to store and recall KLANG settings in its mix presets and snapshot system, it functions like part of the console, not an added piece of outboard gear.”

The backline musicians each use an iPad running KLANG:app. For vocalists, the stage manager has a wireless pack assigned to KLANG’s cue output. He walks the stage during rehearsals with the iPad in show mode with cue-link enabled, assisting the 12 vocalists one by one with their IEM mix. “We trust our musicians and stage manager to be able to handle mix changes independently of the engineer, and KLANG gives them full control to do just that. If anyone is struggling, the engineer can quickly step in to help. It’s remarkably efficient.” says Hilsden. “The band talkback microphones, previously dominated by mix change requests, are now just a way for the band to talk to each other about music, rather than mix requests to the engineer.”

Instrumental Pastor and band/orchestra director for 9:30 worship. “The majority of our Sunday worship involves a choir, full orchestra, worship team, band and soloists. The KLANG system has completely opened up the box and allowed me to place things so specifically that I no longer have to pick and choose what certain things I want to focus on. I can pay attention to everything, all while having a super clear and enjoyable mix.” “I realized how special it was when I finished building my mix in 3D, went back to the stereo mix I was used to hearing, and wow,” remarks Jake Holman, Lead Director of Music for the 11:00 service. “It’s a night and day difference. So much more clarity! I can finally hear it all, and it sounds so good.”

FBCW’s DMI-KLANG is installed in one of Quantum338’s two DMI slots, connected to an Apple desktop running KLANG software, which is securely hard-wired to the console for Console-Link, connecting to multiple iPads onstage over Wi-Fi.Holman adds, “The KLANG system required virtually zero training for the band because its operation is so intuitive,” he says. “And everyone has taken to the binaural immersive aspect of it. In fact, we’ve tried giving vocalists the option of setting their own voice cantered in the stereo space, where you might assume a singer would prefer to hear themselves, but the overwhelming response has been that it ‘sounds more natural’ in the binaural 3D space centered in front.”

“Overall, what KLANG has done for everyone onstage is to make our rehearsals more efficient while also delivering a clearer, richer, more personalized monitor mix for our band and vocalists,” Hilsden concludes. “There’s a clarity to the sound that can’t be achieved with traditional left-right panning. It really has changed everything for the better! There’s nothing else like it on the market.”

LED wall and can be expanded into a 360° space through augmented reality.

Alfalite’s Modularpix Pro VP XR panels feature 1.9-millimetre pixel pitch, optical parameters and cd/m2 brightness > 1,800 nits, providing outstanding viewing angle stability and enabling filming the LED wall even from extreme camera angles.

Mo-Sys, a pioneer in virtual production technology, oversaw the development

Regarding sustainability, Plazamedia´s new XR LED Studio aims to set standards for “green production”, helping its clients reduce their carbon footprint; this is another reason they chose Alfalite’s LED panels. This technology stands out for its low average power consumption (35 watts) and low levels of electromagnetic compatibility, allowing the displays to coexist with other electronic systems without interference.

easier to clean, suffer less deterioration and have the shortest repair time on the market. The Huelva-based company that has revolutionised the LED display market has 20+ years of experience designing and manufacturing LED screens for advertising, shows, events, broadcast and conference rooms with the most sophisticated technology.

AV and diversity

In this AV News Q&A, Gergely Vida, CEO, Lightware Visual Engineering tackles the increasingly important issue of diversity in the AV sector.

AVN: Does the AV sector reflect society as a whole?

Gergely Vida: No, it certainly does not. In terms of gender, the AV sector does not reflect the gender ratio that in 2021 was 101.68 males per 100 females. In the AV industry, gender discrimination is the most conspicuous.

But is this really discrimination? Or does it rather reflect the consequences of the deeply rooted stereotypes of fostering and education that are still shared by our society? Girls are wearing pink, boys are dressed in blue, girls get lovely dolls, whilst boys receive 3D printers and robots for their birthdays. In school, girls are expected to be good at arts, languages, and literature. Whilst boys have to be mathematicians and physicists by default. Society can be seen as the main culprit that channels and unconsciously narrows the scopes of young ladies’ interests well before they will make their well-thought-over choice of their education and future job.

It is only recently certain movements in approaches toward K-12 education have been observed. Teachers start sharing the ideas of equality and encouraging young ladies into embracing natural sciences to make their pace towards engineering or computer science more confident and welcome.

Parents as well start to dream of a more versatile future for their daughters. Changes in fostering and education, encouraging girls in STEAM and engaging them in coding and design will certainly enable their future successful careers in the AV, engineering, and other industries.

AVN: Is the AV sector missing opportunities as a result of any imbalance?

Gergely Vida: Yes, it definitely does, and there several obvious reasons. The users of AV are both genders. This means creating products for customers, developers and designers are expected to make them comfortable and intuitively understandable for both genders which is in fact not quite always the case for genders and for older adults. Moreover, when it comes to creativity or innovation which are essential for a successful business, versatility in experience, background, and perspectives are immensely needed. Unfortunately, now the AV industry can hardly boast of having these essential conditions.

AVN: Where and how do these imbalances arise?

Gergely Vida: They come from parental influences and school. We are still very much traditional societies. But this does not exhaust the list of the guilty. Small and large corporations,

Gergely Vida, CEO

have to admit the criticism of their HR departments - and not them alone, for being unconsciously biased. For certain positions, certain genders are wanted. And of course, when it comes to sourcing an AV project developer or designer, by default, we are currently looking for a male for the role. Ethics or ethnics are in most cases, are not barriers to getting a job in corporations. However, a female applying for a position of an AV engineer will most likely surprise us.

Some corporations that have started realising the benefits of diversity shifted from scanning CVs. Now they practice the blind distribution of assignments among jobseekers with further blind assessments. This method has resulted in an increase in hiring females in various industries. Corporations that strive to achieve diversity in their workplace benefit from it. It has been stated in numerous research stisies that diversity fuels innovations and customer insights. Forbes’s best workplaces for diversity enjoy 24% higher revenue growth. Such companies are reported to be more successful in expanding their businesses and capturing new markets.

Diversity and inclusion are not the same things. Companies can mandate diversity, but they have to cultivate inclusion. Inclusion brings engagement and creativity which are basic conditions for business success.

AVN: How does diversity apply in your company?

Gergely Vida: Lightware is a multinational, multi-ethnic company. We embrace a lot of nationalities who work across the globe, and in the HQ in Budapest. Lightware supports talents valuing each team member and providing inclusive leadership. The number of women working in Lightware is growing. Of course, it has not reached 50% for the afore-mentioned reasons. Still, we are happy to state that more women join the team for various positions making Lightware more successful in innovations, creativity and overall business achievements.

Of course, the number of women in various departments varies greatly from ‘significant’ like in HR, financial and marketing departments to ‘very low], which in particular is sadly relevant to the product development team. Thus, Zsófia Pataki is the only lady holding the title of Product Manager. With her master’s degree being the Management of Innovation and Business Development at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, Zsófia is a valuable member of the team, having a passion for innovation, holding huge potential for creativity, and sharing her business experience for successful product development.

Zsófia leads the development of Lightware’s LARA (Lightware Advanced Room Automation) firmware that is first integrated into the flagship TAURUS UCX product family and expands its innovative features. With LARA, Zsófia and the team offer unique benefits for users and AV integrators, such as room automation based on the mixed approach that allows using pre-coded modules and coding for specific needs. The concept of LARA is friendly and encouraging for AV professionals. Innovation, usability and the absence of unwelcome complications are its key characteristics that ensure future success for the product and the company.

Zsófia’s experience in the company is exciting. One can only imagine how powerful the success of AV can be in a five-ten years span when more brave and creative women offering their unique backgrounds and perspectives populate the industry.

Zsófia Pataki is the only lady within Lightware senior management holding the title of Product Manager

Bett 2023 the best yet?

The organisers of Bett 2023 believe that this year’s show will be the best yet. Here’s why!

Bett will be held on Wednesday 29 to Friday 31 March 2023 at ExCeL, London. Louisa Hunter, Portfolio Director, EdTech, Bett explains why she thinks that the show at the end of this month will be the best toooo date. “To help people navigate the vast and often complex Bett show in the most efficient way, we’re transforming the way the community connects and collaborates by launching a brand-new meetings programme called Connect @ Bett.”

“Connect @ Bett empowers over 6,000 education buyers to discover the right solutions for their learners, from over 500 solution providers, in a fraction of the time. It allows technology providers to find exactly the people within institutions that can unlock the potential of their tech. All meetings are double opt-in and just 15 minutes, so you can tackle your strategic, pedagogical, and operational challenges in the most time-efficient way. Sitting at heart of the entire Bett experience, Connect @ Bett will see 5,000+ meetings take place at the show.”

In addition, Hunter would like to draw your attention to the following:

•35,000 global visitors will attend, providing THE meeting place for the whole Edtech community •500+ exhibitors will showcase the newest and most innovative tech across the global educational landscape, from start-ups through to EdTech giants

•There will be 80+ hours of strategic thought-leadership & CPD with sessions from 350+ industry leading speakers inc. Michael Rosen, Steven Bartlett, Anne-Marie Imafidon and Professor Damian Hughes

•There are countless opportunities to reconnect with old friends and make new connections

The Learnit event held alongside Bett in 2019 and 2022 to drive change in education and learning. The Bett team will be taking the Learnit mission forward as they redefine the way that this brave and brilliant community connects and collaborates, with the aim to drive more meaningful conversations that ever before.

State-of-the-art solutions

“How could we host an EdTech show without showing off our own?” asks Hunter “We’ve got the world’s best tech platform to connect attendees in ways they’ve never been connected before, facilitating 5,000+ in-person meetings as part of our ground-breaking new meetings programme, Connect @ Bett.”

Professional development also ranks highly in this year’s event: “We’re committed to hosting more meaningful professional development for teachers and leaders than ever before! Hear from 350+ industry speakers (inc. Steven Bartlett, Anne-Marie Imafidon and Michael Rosen) across 8 content theatres at Bett this year.”

Peer-to-peer networking is again one of the features of the show: “Bett is THE meeting place for the EdTech community. From TeachMeets and networking drinks, to catching up with your international PLN in person, Bett continues to offer countless opportunities to reconnect with old friends and make new ones.”

Edtech highlights at Bett

Clevertouch will be showcasing their innovative interactive screens and displays that are designed to revolutionise the classroom. Their products are designed to inspire students, teachers, and educational establishments to use interactive touchscreens as a piece of dynamic technology in the educational environment.

At their stand, they'll have a selection of products available for visitors to explore. This includes their award-winning IMPACT series of interactive screens which boast 4K UHD resolution and superior picture quality, allowing for smoother collaboration between students and teachers. Additionally, they'll also showcase their range of digital signage solutions, which offer an ultra-thin design perfect for mounting onto walls and reducing clutter around education establishments and their latest offering FrontRow, a classroom audio solution designed to support learning.

For those looking to experience more of what Clevertouch has to offer, they'll also provide demonstrations of their engaging LYNX Whiteboard platform. This platform allows users to curate their own multimedia content library with easy access through the touchscreen display itself.

Hear from Clevertouch’s ex teachers turned technology experts who will be on the stand NJ41 ready to inspire educators across all sectors! Clevertouch will be showcasing their innovative interactive screens and displays that are designed to revolutionise the classroom. Their products are designed to inspire students, teachers, and educational establishments to use interactive touchscreens as a piece of dynamic technology in the educational environment. Also a their stand, they'll have a selection of products available for visitors to explore. This includes their award-winning IMPACT series of interactive screens which boast 4K UHD resolution and superior picture quality, allowing for smoother collaboration between students and teachers. Additionally, they'll also showcase their range of digital

signage solutions, which offer an ultra-thin design perfect for mounting onto walls and reducing clutter around education establishments and their latest offering FrontRow, a classroom audio solution designed to support learning. For those looking to experience more of what Clevertouch has to offer, they'll also provide demonstrations of their engaging LYNX Whiteboard platform. This platform allows users to curate their own multimedia content library with easy access through the touchscreen display itself. Hear from Clevertouch’s ex teachers turned technology experts who will be on the stand NJ41 ready to inspire educators across all sectors!

guarantees your touchscreen will live a long life in optimum health. Healthy touchscreens are safe touchscreens!

How does Heartbeat guarantee your devices security? Two subscription types are available: the free Heartbeat Fit and the paid Heartbeat Safe. Heartbeat Fit includes CTOUCH Sphere entry level, allowing you to update and manage one device at a time. This significantly reduces security risks, as updated devices are less likely ched.rtbeat Safe includes CTOUCH Sphere advanced, allowing you to update and maintain all your devices at once. Also included in Heartbeat Safe is access to a supported Android version through either a physical module or software update. A Riva 2 with the latest firmware and thus the highest available level of security is guaranteed with Heartbeat Safe! In 2023 CTOUCH Neo, Riva R2 and D2 users are able to experience all the perks of Heartbeat Safe, as their newly bought touchscreen comes with one year Heartbeat Safe for FREE!

PPDS is, together with Philips Monitors, has announced it will be showcasing its latest ‘next generational’ across campus innovations for education – including breakthrough sustainable technologies – at Bett 2023 (29-31 March). Part of an accelerated commitment to delivering complete, site-wide solutions for educational environments – from classrooms to canteens – local PPDS and Philips Monitors teams will be on hand at ExCel London for Bett 2023 (Philips stand NH61) to unveil, discuss and demonstrate a variety of new and updated solutions, designed to support advanced interactive teaching and learning opportunities, while delivering more streamlined and tailored communications.

Hear from Clevertouch’s ex teachers turned technology experts who will be on the stand NJ41 ready to inspire educators across all sectors! Clevertouch will be showcasing their innovative interactive screens and displays that are designed to revolutionise the classroom.

CTOUCH is excited to be exhibiting at Bett 2023, which takes place at ExCel London from 29 to 31 March. Come and see us at stand NL61 to experience the Riva R2 and D2 first hand, hear more about reducing your CO2 footprint with our sustainable touchscreens and discover our CTOUCH Heartbeat As-A-Service programme. The CTOUCH Riva 2 is the classroom’s best friend. And best friends keep secrets safe, right? Riva 2 model ‘R2’ runs on Android 12 and model ‘D2’ runs on Android 11. Thanks to the actively supported Android OS, you will enjoy security and app support for years to come.

Both PPDS and Philips Monitors have made significant advancements in the education market in recent years, with their solutions – including digital signage, dvLED and interactive displays, as well as professional, home and gaming monitors – installed in a variety of teaching and learning environments, including classrooms, lecture theatres and auditoriums, libraries, reception areas, canteens, sports halls / stadiums, hallways, elevators, and student accommodation.

Working closely with the education market and developing specialist partnerships with leading hardware and software providers (including Logitech and i3 Technologies), the companies have continuously unveiled a growing and evolving range of timely solutions designed to assist students and tutors. This includes responding rapidly to unforeseen market challenges, developing and driving BYOD capabilities to support students’ unique needs in the classroom, as well as those learning remotely and distantly, ensuring they never miss out or fall behind in their studies.

Philips E-Line 4K interactive education displays (65”, 75, 86”): PPDS’ latest powerful Android 11 all in one solution designed to elevate the education experience and inspire creative minds with this best-in-class interactive touch screen on the market. The brilliantly designed Philips E-Line boasts an anti-glare and anti-reflection 4K screen, including blue light filter on 4052E models, to ensure content is always the focal point in any lighting condition. It’s equally impressive on the inside, with a plethora of features that enable students to design, invent, collaborate and translate their ideas for the real world.

Philips 6000 Series dvLED: A range of highly flexible direct view LED displays, designed exclusively for the creation of 16:9 or 32:9 displays and installations within educational environments. The 6000 Series guarantees uncompromised, smooth and judder-free viewing experiences with even the smallest details – such as words and numbers in presentations – displayed with crystal clear sharpness over distances of over six metres.

Best friends also don’t share secrets with others. All of Riva 2’s settings can be hidden or locked, including the Android source. This allows you to customise who can access what, when and how. There are several security upgrades available for the CTOUCH Riva 2. For example, the Fingerprint Scanner Module and the NFC Reader Module are compatible with the Riva 2 R2. However, the most important upgrade is our Heartbeat As-A-Service programme. Heartbeat

Philips Tableaux: No power, no problem. The Philips Tableaux was unveiled at ISE 2023 last month, immediately winning the Best of Show award for its pioneering approach to digital displaying. Allowing users to show a full colour image without using a single kilowatt of energy, these displays are ideal in areas where there is no power supply, for wayfinding, information and more.

Philips Evnia monitors: ‘Gaming beyond innovation’ the sleek and stylish Philips Evnia displays (42”-34” models) have been designed continued on page 23

Choosing an education display? Don’t waste your energy!

Martijn Vanderwoude, VP, Global Marketing & Business Development for Philips Professional Displays at PPDS, explains how, from classrooms to canteens, identifying and adopting energy efficient, remotely managed interactive and digital signage displays will help ease financial pressures, while enhancing sitewide efficiencies for smarter more sustainable teaching and learning. In the current climate, every penny counts, and every investment scrutinised. In education, and the role technology plays, the stakes couldn’t be higher. A poor buying decision could have a detrimental impact on the performance for both tutors and students alike, something which could even harm their future prospects and shape their lives.

As an AV/IT manager and a decision maker, you already know of the various considerations required when selecting and buying your visual displays, depending on how they will be used, where, and by whom.Is the screen big enough to be seen clearly at the back of a learning space? Is the pixel pitch sufficient that the screen can be viewed close-up? Is the bezel narrow enough to allow for multi-display installations?

All remain fundamental decisions in creating the desired teaching, learning and communications experience, whether it’s for a handful of displays or for hundreds of different display formfactors located across single or multiple sites. But the market and considerations have changed.

Take control

It may seem obvious, but it is also a good thing to remember that, if nobody is looking at a display, it may be an idea to switch it off, or at least to power it down. Easier said than done, of course. Or is it? Today, modern displays, such as the Philips professional displays from PPDS, have remote management capabilities, via either built-in or compatible software. Displays, be they dvLED, digital signage, interactive touch screens or professional displays, may feature ‘smart power’ tech, automatically adjusting based on use. Alternatively, these can be entirely micro-managed, down to the smallest detail, from switching off between specific hours (ideal for offices, public venues, or inside retail stores), to reducing brightness depending on the time of day. For environments, such as transportation hubs (including airports), or retail store fronts, the savings could be substantial. Standing still is a costly exercise.

Equally, remote management platforms, such as PPDS Wave, can help SIs and their customers manage this important element, with the ability to power down one, some, or all displays at the touch of a button, saving not only on energy consumption, but on truck rolls, fuel bills and time spent, too. All of these solutions can also extend the lives of displays, resulting in lower maintenance costs and less frequent need to invest in replacements. Less is more

Energy costs

With a growing focus on sustainability, coupled with the escalating pressures being faced due to rising utility costs, both the energy efficiency of displays and the running costs associated with them are become increasingly critical factors. Even with various recent government interventions and price caps introduced around Europe (and beyond), the outlook in the short term, and unpredictability into the future, is far from reassuring adding greater pressures on education. Managing costs and an eye on ROI have never been more in focus.

The needs for and reliance on these displays, whether a creative and eye-catching videowall in the reception area, or digital signage and interactive displays in school classroom, canteens, corridors and sports halls/stadiums, have not changed. Going backwards is not an option. To reduce the financial burden, though, AV/IT managers must, or at least should, now take a more strategic approach. There are several factors to consider…

Product efficiency

The first is to get a better understanding around the energy efficiency of the product itself. Perhaps in the past confusing, in 2022 new European regulation was passed to ensure greater clarity and understanding around the energy efficiency of electronic displays, supporting more educated buying decisions. An updated and simplified A-G measurement rating – with A being the best – has been introduced, also giving greater scope for energy efficiency enhancements and allowing manufacturers to keep pushing possibilities and differentiate with more power conscious products. A QR barcode also now features, bringing up extensive details stored on the EPREL database, allowing greater transparency for customers and easier market surveillance by national authorities.

The difference in running costs between a G- and an F-rated appliance could be substantial, with no impact on the desired result. Reducing the use of older, less efficient equipment is also worth considering for the long-term. It is currently estimated that up to 25% of products in the market do not comply with the previous energy efficiency labelling regulations and that around 10% of potential energy savings are lost due to non-compliance.

Finally, it is important to choose the right technology. Does the environment really warrant or benefit from 4K? Is LED or LCD the way forward?

Direct view LED displays, in many instances, when comparing like-for-like sizes. will consume less energy than their LCD counterparts. So, by replacing old LCD screens with dvLED displays could be an immediate cost saver for energy consumption, and the LED display is more modular, allowing for partial replacements for faulty sections, helping to make its lifespan longer, too.

With the rise of dvLED adoption, and a natural lowering of costs, Philips dvLED displays are designed to deliver proven low energy consumption – between 20%, and in some instances, as much as 50%, when compared to similar products on the market, without compromising on performance.

What do you want it for?

It’s also important to base any buying decision on what exactly the display will be used for. Again, it seems obvious, but we have seen numerous incidents where customers have invested in displays that have been designed (and priced) to offer far greater capabilities than they require.

You may have seen that PPDS recently introduced the Philips Tableaux, the world’s first full size and full colour (60,000, including blue) ePaper digital signage displays, each capable of providing vivid 24/7 content while running on zero power. Yes, zero power. For environments where digital signage is required or desired – from corridors to canteens –, perhaps replacing wasteful paper communications and where content is perhaps not changed at the same regularity as some digital signage displays, ePaper is game changing and energy saving alternative. What’s more, being remotely managed and requiring no physical power source, displays can be easily picked up, removed and relocated for use in almost any indoor location and for any purpose, be it for just a few hours or a few years.

Behind the stunning videos of flowers, animals, and cityscapes you might see demonstrating on displays of all types, shapes and sizes on a showroom floor, or an exhibitor’s booth during an event like Bett, it is always worth diving below the surface. When it comes to electricity, you’d be amazed to learn how much you can save.

Bett 2023 the best yet?

to create the optimal learning and gaming experiences, providing best-in-class set-ups for educational environments looking to seize new opportunities around gamification (see below) in the classroom. With an ultra-240Hz refresh (and blur reducing) rate, Evnia offers a virtual lag free performance, while the Ambiglow technology available on selected models creates a more immersive experience. Philips 5000 Series monitors: Showcasing in 34” and 27” models, the Philips 5000 Series are the perfect at home school solutions, benefiting from an integrated 5MP Windows Hello Webcam, delivering sharp images, and a noise cancelling mic ensuring communications between classmates and tutors is loud, clear and fully secure. Interact - Wireless presentation for the classroom makes it easy for teachers and students to wirelessly share their screens from any device onto the big screen, while also interacting with those in the room or connected remotely. Interact works with any device (Android, iOS, Mac OS, Windows, Linux) for instant connectivity.

Air Quality Sensor: A new complimentary solution designed to monitor and manage air temperature and quality in the classroom, including carbon dioxide and particulate matter, allowing classrooms

On Stand NL41, Promethean will be celebrating education with an agenda of Learning, transformed, bringing a host of special guests and powerful content that will equip visitors with best practice insights to transform learning.

Promethean is excited to be at bett this year (29th – 31st March) to introduce the all-new ActivPanel and share the best of what edtech has to offer UK educators. On Stand NL41, Promethean will be celebrating education with an agenda of Learning, transformed, bringing a host of special guests and powerful content that will equip visitors with best practice insights to transform learning.

Built for breakthroughs, the ActivPanel will take centre stage as we welcome a programme of guest presenters to address topics such as staff and student wellbeing, education inequality and access, the role of edtech in closing the learning gap, and much more.

The all-new ActivPanel

•Tech in Action – Wednesday 29th March, 3pm

The Tech in Action theatres are a hub for practical product demonstrations to deepen understanding and evaluated the efficacy of solutions. Come along to see Stuart Montgomery from Promethean on the Tech in Action stage, Wednesday 29th March, 3pm, and discover; Learning, transformed – using the ActivPanel 9 to teach with impact

This session will walk delegates through the features of the all-new ActivPanel, showing teachers how to leverage the potential of technology in the classroom – without having to worry about the technicalities of using a product. Focusing on the ActivPanel 9, learning outcomes include:

•How to make the most of device connectivity including ActivSync technology

ViewSonic will exhibit in the (North Hall, Booth NL21). Honoured to be named one of the BETT Awards 2023 finalists for ‘Company of the Year’, ViewSonic is recognised for partnering with teachers, enriching digital learning content, and developing innovative EdTech solutions.

At this year’s BETT show, you can experience ViewSonic’s comprehensive range of solutions, including a 24” touch monitor for smart podiums, the 105” ViewBoard interactive displays, and our industry-first 135” All-in-One LED Display Solution Kit with a foldable screen. Regarding software, experience our rich digital learning tools from the myViewBoard Software Suite which has over 8 million subscribers worldwide, and explore the UNIVERSE virtual campus, designed to enhance online learning.

Highlights of ViewSonic’s Showcase include:

•Engaging In-Class Learning with Interactive Digital Content ViewSonic provides a wide array of ViewBoard interactive displays up to 105” to fulfil various spaces, and diverse pre-made digital lesson content from ViewSonic Originals, creating engaging learning experiences in the classroom. Moreover, staff can access a management platform to update and control multiple devices remotely.

•Immersive Online Learning in a 3D Virtual Campus

Recognised by two distinguished EdTech Awards recently, the innovative UNIVERSE virtual learning platform introduces brand-new features, allowing participants to engage in interactive classrooms with 3D educational content.

•Efficient Hybrid Learning Powered by Advanced Audiovisuals ViewSonic’s myViewBoard supports hybrid learning for learners to attend class in person and remotely at the same time, and teachers can better manage the class with intuitive digital tools. ViewSonic also complements the latest 4K video conferencing camera with ViewBoard to deliver high-quality audiovisuals, ensuring the best learning outcome.

Esports at Bett

British Esports, established in 2016 as the UK’s national esports federation, has announced its continued partnership and collaboration with the world’s leading EdTech event, Bett UK 2023.

Philips E-Line 4K interactive education displays (65”, 75, 86”): PPDS’ latest powerful Android 11 all in one solution designed to elevate the education experience and inspire creative minds with this best-in-class interactive touch screen on the market.

to maintain the perfect learning conditions, while reducing risks of the spreading of airborne viruses.

Debuting in the education market at the two events, the newly available PPDS Wave, an evolutionary cloud-based display management ecosystem, brings a fresh and future proofed approach to controlling and managing display fleets of any size. In a continuing climate of rising energy prices, PPDS Wave Controller can play a pivotal role in delivering environmentally conscious, sustainable solutions for education establishments, while also helping to reduce total cost of ownership with energy saving opportunities and extended product lifetimes

Connecting with the features built into the hardware of Philips professional displays, PPDS Wave allows users to use power scheduling for their displays to automatically power down when not in use, for instance outside of core school hours. Brightness can be adjusted intelligently, based on the lighting conditions, again supporting energy savings and extended product lifetimes. If that wasn’t enough, two interactive Oracle Red Bull Racing simulators will also be open for competitive gaming on the booth, highlighting the opportunities and potential of e-gaming and e-learning.

It’s estimated that by the time children are 21, they have played 10,000 hours of video games – the same amount of time they’ve spent in school. Because of this, they are more likely to respond to the use of games in other settings, like the classroom. Applying game principles to non-game situations, gamification is more likely to be successful today because students are more willing to be active participants in its implementation, with students naturally gravitating to the aesthetics of games and immediately understanding and respecting their mechanics and rules.

Frank Trossen, Global Business Development Director Education at PPDS commented: “We’re delighted to be showcasing at BETT 2023 in London to inspire the market with some of our latest solutions, advancing teaching and learning both in and outside of the classroom. At this year’s events, we are proud to be showcasing our hardware, as well as the advantages of our in-house developed platform, PPDS Wave, which we will be demonstrating for the first time in Germany at the show. From pre-school, primary and secondary school, to higher and further education, we are committed to supporting and advancing the teaching and learning experience. We look forward to meeting the tens of thousands of visitors attending the shows on our booths.”

•How to create secure and seamless user experiences with roaming profiles

•Understanding the benefits of panel management and its role in energy efficiency

•Using the ActivPanel to support classroom, hybrid and remote learning

•Ahead @ Bett – Wednesday 29th March 12.35pm

Ahead by Bett provides a place for the Higher Education community to congregate and tackle the plethora of business and pedagogical challenges faced by the sector. Higher Education institutions around the world are working at a great pace to adapt to new approaches to learning, accelerate digital transformation and take advantage of new business models recently introduced to the sector. Join Promethean in our sandbox session and see how the ActivPanel can help deliver engaging content in a HyFlex environment using real life examples.

•What is happening on Promethean stand NL41?

Parental engagement charity, Learning with Parents, will be discussing ‘Can edtech help to close the disadvantage gap?’, in daily presentations which share best practice on supporting families in disadvantaged areas to engage in learning. The charity will also demonstrate how its edtech platform for primary schools replaces traditional homework with inclusive, hands-on family activities and provides a feedback vehicle from parent to teacher.

To support visitors’ professional development beyond Bett, Learning with Parents is also offering a fully funded training session for all primary school leaders who visit the Promethean stand.

•Guest speakers on NL41:

Be Top of the CLASS with your ActivPanel Basics – with Amanda Pickard, Digital Learning Officer, South Ayrshire Council and Jonathan Hull, Principal Teacher: Equity (Digital Inclusion), East Renfrewshire Council

The ActivPanel 9 comes equipped with the tools teachers and students need to support, and enhance, learning and teaching in the classroom. Sharing real classroom experiences and knowledge, Amanda will demonstrate why you don’t need to be tech savvy to use the ActivPanel in your classroom.

Be Top of the CLASS with your ActivPanel Extras – with Amanda Pickard, Digital Learning Officer, South Ayrshire Council and Jonathan Hull, Principal Teacher: Equity (Digital Inclusion), East Renfrewshire Council Mastering the basics of the ActivPanel 9 is easy and once its full potential has been realised it will become an indispensable tool in your classroom. Demonstrating how easily the ActivPanel can be used as the hub for digital learning in your classroom, Jonathan covers how it can be used with digital tools you are already familiar with.

London Design and Engineering UTC learners using Promethean technology to bring to life their employer-led projects – James Cully, Assistant Principle, Digital Innovation and Learning London Design Engineering UTC James and learners from London Design and Engineering UTC will share how they use Promethean technology across a range of projects to help teach technical and scientific subjects in a whole new way. Speak to the students to explore their perspective of using interactive technologies.

The global community for education technology, Bett, is the largest annual event of its kind, focused on delivering key insights from the worlds of education and technology. Bett is once again backing the rapid emergence of esports, through delivering hands-on ways for educators to learn, enjoy and adapt esports for relevant use in schools and classrooms.

Following on from the hugely popular Esports Village in 2022, British Esports is once again working in association with Bett to host Esports @ Bett. Featuring a range of keynote sessions and panel discussions focused on esports and education, as well as a showcase esports tournament, Esports @ Bett will offer innovative and exciting content sessions from schools already on their esports journey, as well as hands-on opportunities with the latest esports technology. Furthermore, those looking for an introduction to esports, considering setting up a programme in their own school or even seeking a deeper understanding of the skills and career pathways that esports can develop are encouraged to visit the Esports @ Bett Hub, a carefully curated range of assets and content aided by British Esports, from esports guides, to inclusivity in esports and the very latest on esports qualifications.

“Esports @ Bett will showcase how schools, colleges and universities can harness this ever growing industry to engage students, support teaching and learning objectives and identify future skills,” said Kalam Neale, Head of Education, British Esports. “Esports is a great vehicle to reconnect the education ecosystem and reimagine the potential of technology in the classroom.”

Hosted by Kalam Neale, Head of Education at British Esports, the Esports @ Bett stage will feature key stakeholders from the British Esports Federation, including;

Kalam Neale, Head of Education at British Esports, ‘Esports 101: Powering up your esports journey’ on 29th March at 11.00am – a talk with Nathan O’Grady, VR/AR and Esports Lead at Kings InterHigh, and Max Copley, Teacher and Esports Lead from DLD College London

‘Level Up Esports in Education’ on 30th March at 11.00am – a look at the internal and external factors affecting the development of esports facilities.

Alex Davies, Performance Advisor at British Esports will speak on ‘The Brain and the Game: Prioritising Player Wellbeing in Esports’ on 31st March at 11.00am – an exploration into the mental health challenges facing esports players.

Alice Leaman, Head of Operations at British Esports will chair ‘Esports is for Everyone: Exploring inclusion in your esports team’ on 31st March at 3.00pm – a fireside chat on the benefits of esports communities.

“British Esports is thrilled to be working with Bett to host the larger, more improved Esports Zone at Bett 2023,” said Chester King, CEO, British Esports. “We’re proud to be partnering with Bett at the biggest educational technology exhibition and fully support Bett’s renewed commitment to equitable learning for all.”

How CTOUCH makes, and keeps,your touchscreen safe and secure

It might not be as noticeable as your laptop or computer, but a touchscreen stores data and is often connected to a digital network. This makes an interactive digital display vulnerable to security breaches. As touchscreen manufacturer, CTOUCH’s aim is to make sure you are able to share your ideas and inspire your audience with no fear of sensitive data leaking. Having a solid security baseline is the basis for developing solutions and services. That is why security is one of the CTOUCH Circle core values. As a result, our products are designed to minimise the risks of unwanted access.

Together with cyber security expert Grant Thornton we’ve created a security baseline for all CTOUCH digital displays. Grant Thornton regularly performs independent security audit tests to make sure our products are safe in your hands.

In addition, CTOUCH is a member of Cyber Resilience Center Brainport Eindhoven. We work together with other companies in the tech industry to identify digital threats at an early stage, share knowledge about data protection and reach the highest possible security level. With all this in mind, just how secure are CTOUCH touchscreens exactly? We’ve listed the ways our products meet the highest security standards.

CTOUCH Canvas: The safest solution for large corporations

Canvas is the most secure touchscreen available on the market, even safer than a mother’s embrace. This interactive display is optimised for use in business settings where bringing your own device is the norm. With this use in mind,

we designed Canvas to have security at its core. Specifically in its core: no operating system. As there is no OS, data cannot be saved locally on the Canvas. This makes it impossible to leave any data behind after ending your meeting. The moment your device disconnects from the touchscreen, it’s over. Zero opportunity for hackers!

Physically, the Canvas is the dream of every IT administrator as it has fully configurable physical ports. Any port (such as network, USB or HDMI) can be enabled or disabled based on the company's needs. To further prevent unwanted access, two optional modules are available for the Canvas: the Fingerprint Scanner Module and the NFC Reader module. The Fingerprint Scanner Module scans fingerprints to see if the person attached is an authorised user. The NFC Reader module reads authorized NFC cards and unlocks the touchscreen in an instant.

CTOUCH Neo: Easy to use, hard to hack

Neo is developed especially for

use in higher education and SME, settings where we expect Neo to be used by a wide variety of users. Not all of these users are allowed the same privileges; only those with an administrator approved pin code can access Neo’s sensitive settings!

The interactive presentation screen’s interface gives you quick access to the four available options: whiteboarding, wireless sharing, web browsing and source switching. It is possible to disable the web browser. Regardless of the chosen option, after ending a session all data will be wiped. Once a session is ended, no sensitive data is left behind.

Neo has no additional security modules available for a good reason. You can’t add what’s already there: the NFC reader module is built-in. Also included is the Cable Lock, which keeps cables under lock and key. A practical security measure to

prevent theft or tampering with cables.

To keep Neo safe and up-to-date your touchscreen is automati-

cally enrolled in Heartbeat Fit, part of our Heartbeat As-A-Service programme. Don’t worry; Heartbeat Fit is free and comes with a variety of perks. Which

More on CTOUCH Neo

CTOUCH Riva 2: Modular & Future proof

The CTOUCH Riva 2 is the classroom’s best friend. And best friends keep secrets safe, right? Riva 2 model ‘R2’ runs on Android 12 and model ‘D2’ runs on Android 11. Thanks to the actively supported Android OS, you will enjoy security and app support for years to come.

Best friends also don’t share secrets with others. All of Riva 2’s settings can be hidden or locked, including the Android source. This allows you to customise who can access what, when and how.

There are several security upgrades available for the CTOUCH Riva 2. For example, the Fingerprint Scanner Module and the NFC Reader Module are compatible with the Riva 2 R2. However, the most important upgrade is our Heartbeat As-AService programme. Heartbeat guarantees your touchscreen

perks exactly? Please, do read on to find out.

will live a long life in optimum health. Healthy touchscreens are safe touchscreens!

How does Heartbeat guarantee your devices security? Two subscription types are available: the free Heartbeat Fit and the paid Heartbeat Safe. Heartbeat Fit includes CTOUCH Sphere entry level, allowing you to update and manage one device at a time. This significantly reduces security risks, as updated devices are less likely to be breached.

Heartbeat Safe includes CTOUCH Sphere advanced, allowing you to update and maintain all your devices at once. Also included in Heartbeat Safe is access to a supported Android version through either a physical module or software update. A Riva 2 with the latest firmware and thus the highest available level of security is guaranteed with Heartbeat Safe!

More on CTOUCH Riva 2

In 2023 CTOUCH Neo, Riva R2 and D2 users are able to experience all the perks of Heartbeat Safe, as their newly bought touchscreen comes with one year Heartbeat Safe for FREE!

Education: hybrid beyond the pandemic

Now that the worst of the pandemic is hopefully over and schools, colleges and universities have reopened, the issue has now moved to the longer-term consequences of the time lost to school and college closures. A further unintended consequence school and college closures is the potential future reliance on hybrid teaching solutions. AV News reports on the on the future adoption of hybrid learning by those who have sampled its potential.

When schools closed and learning switched to being predominantly remote at the outset of the pandemic, differences between groups of students based on a variety of factors were introduced, and existing disparities deepened. Probably the most prominent of these factors was socio-economic status, with the poorest students’ learning time being reduced to a greater extent than the richest. However, even when schools reopened, disparities remained as attendance varied between the most and least deprived areas. There was extensive variation behind the averages reported in the literature about lost time though, at regional, local authority, school and student level. Therefore, it is difficult to generalise across any particular group, as lost time is unique to each individual student.

To these government initiatives, the AV News piece examines any potential benefits occasioned by the pandemic that could offer positive impacts on future education practice both in the UK and overseas.

Unintended consequences

The pandemic resulted in worldwide school closures - during the peak of lockdown nearly 1.6 billion children were kept out of the classroom. The DfE study in the UK, and other research. Suggests that time out of the classroom has led to learning losses in subjects such as maths. At the height of school closures, in mid-April 2020, 94% of learners worldwide were affected by the pandemic, representing nearly 1.6 billion students in 200 countries. According to recent research, the impact of this time away from the

Microsoft Teams, Google Classroom) and open-source platforms (were also used to complement those national education platforms for the delivery of synchronous classes.

How effective did countries find the switch to remote learning? Globally, online learning platforms were rated as either very (36%) or fairly (58%) effective. The data has shown the effectiveness differs based on income group, likely due to the ability to fully leverage the benefits of remote learning based on network connectivity or other pre-requisite infrastructure, digital skills, and/or appropriate access to technology.

The developing role of edtech

As a lasting consequence of the move to remote or digital learning in a number of countries. They have adopted a mix of in-person and remote learning. Moving forward some pundits believe we will continue to see increased rise of blended learning. Learning will eventually combine asynchronous online elements with synchronous elements, enabling students to interact with each other, their teachers and learning content, all at the same time.

While the length and extent of pandemic disruptions to classroom teaching are still fully resolved, it is clear that technology will be more important to life inside and outside of schools. This has been reflected through growing investments in edtech in recent years, which brought in over $10 billion of VC investment across the world; global venture funding for edtech companies reached $4.1 billion, more than double the amount raised during the same period in 2019, and the highest amount raised in that time frame for the past five years. While there were significant deals in the US, including Course's $130 million round in July 2020 and MasterClass’ $100 million in May, the largest deals in 2020 were China’s Yuanfudao, which raised $1 billion in March 2020, followed by Chinese startup Zuoebang’s $750 million in June. A global investment firm also purchased shares of TAL worth $1.5 billion in 2020. Based on analysis of venture capital deals in this space over the last few years, there is clearly substantial interest in edtech investments, signalling strong future growth and quality of the sector.

While there are clearly tremendous opportunities in the field of education and in the technologies that bring these to light, leveraging these within the context of the broader wellbeing of children and

Hybrid learning with Promethean

While the actions of the UK government have largely dealt with the worst of the pandemic, the picture is not so rosy elsewhere in the world. But with so many new buzzwords and so many resources, it can be difficult to wade through to find what will work best for your in-person and virtual classrooms. Two phtases that are at the forefront of educators’ and administrators’ minds are ‘blended learning’ and ‘hybrid learning’.

Oftentimes ‘blended’ and ‘hybrid’ learning are used interchangeably, but they are, in fact, two different teaching methodologies.Blended learning is likely something that most classroom teachers have been doing for a while: it’s an approach that combines in-person instruction with supplementary online activities to be done out of the classroom on the students’ own time.

Blended learning is not to be confused with a flipped classroom; blended learning still has the teacher delivering most (if not all) instruction in-person with students. On the other hand, flipped classrooms usually require students to learn the majority of content on their own at home using instructional videos and texts and then come to class for a deeper dive with the teacher.

Both blended learning and flipped classrooms still operate under the assumption that students will, at one point, get some form of instruction in-person with the teacher. Given how schools might have to pivot in the fall to serve all students, hybrid learning might be the way to ensure that all students get the instruction they need whether they’re physically in school or tuning in from home.

Hybrid learning is the method of teaching students in-person at the same time as teaching students who tune in remotely with technology: students working from home are learning synchronously with those in the classroom. This would require the use of popular video conferencing apps like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, or other tools that your school has standardized on. By setting up a webcam or using the one built into your laptop, you can easily teach both sets of students at the same time.

classroom could have a lifelong impact to students’ earnings. One estimate suggests that global learning losses from four months of school closures could amount to $10 trillion in terms of lost earnings. Despite the impact to learning, and growing evidence that schools are not hot spots for coronavirus transmission, a number of schools around the world remain closed.

An average of 50 days of in-person teaching were lost to school closures, globally. Based on preliminary data comparing students’ academic achievement and growth during the pandemic to the achievement and growth patterns observed in 2019, this time out of the classroom has impacted learning. However, the majority of students made some learning gains in both reading and maths since the pandemic started, while some gains were smaller depending on the subject. Students in younger grades performed similarly in reading to same-grade students in the latter part of 2019. However, maths achievement of students in 2020 was about 5 to 10 percentile points lower compared to same-grade students the prior year.

The UK government and others are keen to understand the longterm impact of this prolonged disruption to students’ education and what parents, students, teachers and businesses are doing what they can to help mitigate the learning losses due to the pandemic. One of the key questions that needs to be addressed is: if and how the adoption of new learning methods, skills, and technologies may be able to address this problem in the future.

Remedial action

Almost every country introduced additional support programmes to remediate learning loss as schools were reopening, according to a survey of 149 ministries of education. Inclusion of remote learning in its education response using online platforms, TV/radio programmes and/or take-home packages were also among standard responses. In about 60% of countries, the relevant Ministry of Education created its own platform to display educational content for teachers and students in primary and secondary education. Commercial tools (e.g.,

students, considering online safety, the need for stronger connections and the new skills required for success will be key. Through partnerships, such as Quizlet and TikTok, new content and delivery mechanisms and consideration for the overall health of children, future generations have learned more than they have lost from the pandemic.

Closer to home, Promethean World PLC was purchased by NetDragon WebSoft Inc. At the time Promethean said NetDragon, which is listed on the Hong-Kong Stock, valued the acquisition at USD130 million. “In this context, Promethean confirms that the indicative terms proposed by NetDragon are for a cash offer for Promethean at 40.0 pence per share”. Promethean’s latest technology will be on show at Bett at the end of the month where the global and growing

But how can you engage them?

Engaging students sitting directly in front of you is hard enough, let alone students who are watching a video stream from home. However, you can leverage a solution that Promethean offers (and has offered since 2014) at no cost: ClassFlow.

ClassFlow is Promethean’s premier online lesson delivery system that can be accessed on any device your students may have at home. It allows for the student-teacher feedback loop to run even if students aren’t physically in a class by allowing teachers to send out quizzes, instant polls, and activities to students. Students can then send responses back instantaneously.

The easiest way to engage students during a lesson is through ClassFlow polling. ClassFlow polling allows teachers to ask 8 different kinds of questions: word seed, text, number, multiple-choice, scale, true/false, yes/no, and creative (which allows students to draw responses). During a poll, teachers and students both at home and in class can see everyone’s responses to the check for understanding which can lead to meaningful academic conversations to deepen understanding.

In addition, ActivInspire, Promethean’s lesson delivery software that runs on Windows or Mac computers, has a built-in screen recorder that will capture everything on your desktop, including ClassFlow polling. This functionality ensures that students not present during the lessons will benefit from seeing live polling responses alongside your instruction.

Promethean prides itself as being an education company built by teachers, for teachers. We provide solutions to help engage and empower students through technology and are here to help support you in your classroom during these unprecedented times.

Peoplewatch

Exertis UK, has made changes to its senior management structure as part of its ongoing commitment to growth and customer experience. Tim Griffin has taken operational leadership of the Exertis UK business, becoming CEO. In this capacity he will take direct responsibility for the entire Exertis UK, Retail and B2B operations and have oversight of other businesses in the UK and Ireland of parent, DCC Technology. Griffin will lead an ambitious development plan for the business in the UK to drive growth, innovation and market leadership.

Griffin says: “The size of the opportunity in the UK, both now and in the future, is a major prize and I’m excited to be taking the CEO role leading the evolution of our UK business as we drive it onwards to ever-greater success. The work we’re doing now will bear fruit for many years to come, and I’m incredibly proud to lead the amazing team we have here in the UK, who are helping me implement a vision that will keep Exertis in its market-leading role long into the future.”

UK Managing Director, Paul Bryan, moved into a new international role from January 1st 2023, leading DCC Technology operations in the Benelux, Nordics, France and Middle East. Having successfully led the UK business as MD for many years, Bryan will bring a wealth of success and experience to bear in driving growth in these key markets. He says: “I’m immensely proud to take up this new international challenge, and I’m very excited to start working with the amazing teams across these territories, to further develop the strong platform of success.”

The management changes support the continued growth ambitions of DCC Technology across North America, the UK and EMEA.

Nader Fawaz has joined LED Studio as Sales Director ME to manage the sales and operations process as the company continues to strengthen the global team. With over 13 years of experience in the AV industry, Fawaz is an experienced business manager who has a comprehensive background working with premium LED display manufacturers in the region.

Fawaz joins the expanding EMEA team at LED Studio. The company has been building its presence in the region and adding Nader to the team will accelerate growth, availability and support of LED Studio products. Nader Fawaz, Sales Director ME, LED Studio explains: “I am proud to be representing and further establishing this brand in the Middle East. The company produces products to a European standard, with design and assembly coming from the UK. The products represent the higher end of the LED spectrum and are ideal for digital signage, corporate and control room solutions.”

“The way LED Studio products are designed is perfect for the Middle East market. From both an environmental and a sustainability perspective, the focus on reducing heat emissions from the display, enhancing performance whilst reducing power consumption brings significant competitive advantage. The Edge range of displays are perfectly placed to replace LCD video walls that are coming to the end of their lifespan with a brighter and more sustainable display, without needing to change the existing bracketry and infrastructure.”

Rob Bint, CEO at LED Studio comments: “We are very pleased to welcome Nader on board to strengthen our Middle East operations. He will form a crucial part of our senior team and will work closely with our global team to further advise on product evolution and design features specifically for the needs of this market. Nader is an expert at introducing new technology to the Middle East and bringing additional value to product sales through accompanying services, we look forward to growing our presence with him.”

Later this year the LED Studio will enhance its physical presence in Dubai, launching an office and Studio showroom and will further grow the team by including local service and support personnel. The company will also be unveiling a training programme for the region and inviting integrators to become authorised service providers.

Nader Fawaz has joined LED Studio as Sales Director ME to manage the sales and operations process as the company continues to strengthen the global team. Nader Fawaz has joined LED Studio as Sales Director ME to manage the sales and operations process as the company continues to strengthen the global team.

d&b audiotechnik has announced the appointment of Mike Case to Vice President Global Marketing effective February 1st, 2023.

Sound Technology Ltd has appointed Steve Fay as the new managing director of the pro audio, pro lighting, and music retail distributor. Steve brings more than 20 years’ experience in IT and audio-visual distribution having worked for Midwich Ltd for the past 18 years, where he held a variety of roles including most recently, external sales and marketing director. As managing director, he will oversee Sound Technology’s overall operations while continuing to drive growth in exciting markets which offer great opportunity. Drawing on previous roles in sales and marketing, Steve will place customer experience as top priority, building on Sound Technology’s reputation and expertise in the market.

Speaking about his new role, Steve Fay said: “I am delighted to be taking on the role of managing director at Sound Technology. My predecessor, David Marshall, dedicated many years building the brilliant team and brand. He has handed me the reigns at a truly exciting time for the company and it provides us with a great opportunity to assess our practices to ensure that we are delivering what our customers need, while supporting our company growth as well as the development of our dedicated staff and the relationships with our brands.”

Steve will be working alongside Greg Niven, sales director; Ian Cullen, marketing director; and Kevin Morrison, financial director. He added: “It’s only February but we have some exciting product launches coming from our brands this year and numerous project opportunities in the pipeline. I look forward to working with the amazing Sound Technology team to build on our existing success, while steering the company forward in 2023.”

Tim Griffin has taken operational leadership of the Exertis UK business, becoming CEO.

Peerless-AV Appoints Robert Phillips as Product Manager EMEA

Robert brings extensive technical knowledge and experience in AV distribution and logistics

St Albans, UK, 8 February 2023 – AV technology pioneer Peerless-AV® today announced the appointment of Robert Phillips as Product Manager for the EMEA business. Robert will play a pivotal role in the development of key product lines while also supporting the custom dvLED teams in EMEA and the US. Responsibilities will include managing information flow, forecasting, assisting with product designs and engineering, project delivery, on-site installation support, and delivering internal and external technical training.

Keith Dutch, Managing Director – EMEA, Peerless-AV, commented, “Robert is highly regarded in the AV industry having spent seven years looking after one of the largest AV distributors in the UK. A very technical individual with attention to detail and extensive, specialist product knowledge, he will be a valuable resource for the global product management team, sales and marketing teams, as well as our partners and customers.” Prior to joining Peerless-AV, Robert held various product and team management positions, most recently at PSCo, part of the Midwich Group, acting as the sales lead on large video processing opportunities.

Peerless-AV has appointed Robert Phillips as Product Manager EMEA

d&b audiotechnik has announced the appointment of Mike Case to Vice President Global Marketing effective February 1st, 2023. The new role will also include continued responsibility for Segment (Market) Development and Artist Relations.

Case, who has over 30 years of experience in the industry, brings a strong business, brand and product knowledge to this newly-defined function. Previously, as APAC Territory Manager, he set up and ran the subsidiary in Singapore, successfully expanding the d&b footprint in the region.

“Mike is the perfect fit for this role,” says Stephan Greiner, Chief Operating Office at d&b audiotechnik. “His comprehensive knowledge of our industry, our technologies and experience with customers and users of our system solutions, along with his unconventional and creative approach, will support brand development and our sales enablement in new and exciting ways. I’m very pleased that he is taking over this new role and wish him and his entire team every success.”

“Here at d&b I know we are looking forward to a bright and innovative future. With the technology and creative trends that are reverberating through the music and entertainment industry there surely cannot be a more exciting time to be involved with this company, its people and products,” comments Mike Case. “I’m incredibly excited to be taking on this position which has such legacy in terms of d&b’s famous take on brand and marketing. Alongside this, leading a great team of talented and dedicated individuals whom I look forward to helping deliver yet more cool, passionate, quirky and visionary messaging to our global community of users and customers.”

Mark Lowe, Midwich managing director - UK and Ireland, added: “Steve has managed Midwich’s external sales team with great success, helping to drive our company growth. He’s passionate about developing business strategies, supporting staff, and has a customerfocused outlook providing him with a great basis to lead from. Having Steve at the helm is the perfect fit to lead Sound Technology in the next stage of its development and I wish him all the best in his new role.” Steve replaces David Marshall, who retired as Sound Technology’s MD of 21 years at the end of 2022.

Drawing on previous roles in sales and marketing, Steve Fay will place customer experience as top priority, building on Sound Technology’s reputation and expertise in the market.

NAB tops 1,000 exhibitors

The NAB Show floor will feature some of the world's leading brands and companies, as well as first-time exhibitors and innovation zones showcasing the most cutting-edge technology advancements for media and entertainment. The 2023 NAB Show will run April 15–19 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. More than 1,000 companies, including 140+ first-time exhibitors, will debut new products and offer first looks at trailblazing technologies through interactive exhibits and live demonstra-

Vislink, VizRT and Xperi.

• Capitalize (West Hall): Dell, ENCO Systems, Evertz, Planar, RCS and WideOrbit.

• Intelligent Content (West Hall): Amagi, Amazon Web Services, MediaKind, Microsoft, Telestream and Veritone.

“Companies, large and small, are turning out en masse to exhibit at NAB Show, including more than a few that skipped last year's show,” said Chris

sumer products and services, and the opportunity for broadcasters as ATSC 3.0 continues its expansion across the U.S. and the world.

• CineCentral is a learning lab for Hollywood’s cinematic trends and techniques. Attendees can explore CineLive – the burgeoning cross section of cinematic tools and multicams used to further viewer experiences in live, sports and broadcast programming, in addition to traditional cinematic storytelling

Experiential Zones in each exhibit hall – starting and check-in points where attendees can gain valuable insight into broader industry trends. Designed around themes of inspiration, innovation and implementation, Experiential Zones will offer a variety of activities, from free learning sessions to hands-on demos to unique networking opportunities, to prepare attendees before they dive into various exhibits on the show floor.

The NAB Show is collaborating with StoryTech to launch three unique attendees tour experiences. Tours explore three central themes: managing data, innovation in virtual production and the evolution of video. Group and individual tours are offered Sunday, April 16 through Tuesday, April 18 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

More than 1,000 companies, including 140+ first-time exhibitors, will debut new products and offer first looks at trailblazing technologies through interactive exhibits and live demonstrations.

About NAB

NAB Show, held April 15–19, 2023 in Las Vegas, is celebrating its centennial year as the preeminent conference and exhibition driving the evolution of broadcast, media and entertainment. It is the ultimate marketplace for next-generation technology inspiring superior audio and video experiences. From creation to consumption, across multiple platforms, NAB Show is where global visionaries convene to bring content to life in new and exciting ways. For complete details, visit www.nabshow.com.

tions. Exhibitors are expected to occupy more than 575,000 net square feet of exhibits space organized by distinct destinations throughout the LVCC’s North, Central and West halls.

Focused on four main verticals associated with the content lifecycle, the destinations and some participating companies include:• Create (North and Central Halls): Adobe Systems, ARRI, Blackmagic Design, Canon, Chyron, Comrex, FOR-A, Grass Valley, Riedel Communications, Ross Video, Sony Electronics and Wheatstone Corporation.

• Connect (West Hall): AJA, AT&T, Bitcentral, Harmonic, Intelstat, LTN Global, Nautel, Sencore, Verimatrix, Verizon,

Brown, NAB executive vice president and managing director of Global Connections and Events.

“Exhibit sales are already nearly 20 percent ahead of where we ended up in 2022. This is a testament to the power of trade shows to unite the industry, create connections and generate commerce. We are thrilled to see the tremendous momentum established at the 2022 event translating to healthy growth, excitement and what promises to be an incredible showing of the latest and greatest tech and some of the most influential companies on the planet.”

Other NAB Show floor destinations focus on specific themes and innovations and include:

•The ATSC 3.0 Pavilion will showcase deployments, con-

techniques.

• Futures Park is dedicated to presentation of today’s edgeof-the-art media technologies from research and development facilities around the world. The PILOT booth will showcase an Android Automotive Broadcast Radio Interface as well as ATSC 3.0 technologies including broadcast applications running on commercially available NextGen TV sets.

• The Streaming Experience is the largest showcase of its kind with demos of more than 50 streaming video platforms and devices. From smart TVs and streaming boxes to game consoles, attendees can test OTT services side-by-side and get their questions answered. NAB Show will also feature new

Diary and Events

Continued from Page 27

The National Association of Broadcasters is the premier advocacy association for America's broadcasters. NAB advances radio and television interests in legislative, regulatory and public affairs. Through advocacy, education and innovation, NAB enables broadcasters to best serve their communities, strengthen their businesses and seize new opportunities in the digital age. Learn more at www.nab.org.

The NAB Show will explore how the increasing adoption of

VR adventures, designed to give users a shared experience of watching a story unfold around them as they explore cinematic worlds, characters and creatures. He previously served in strategic leadership and creative development roles for entertainment ventures focused on television, radio, music, online and mobile productions. Ted Schilowitz: As the first-ever futurist-in-residence for Paramount Global, Schilowitz works with the company's technology teams to explore all forms of new and

based on applications. The presentations, at Central Hall booth C4920 in the Las Vegas Convention Center, will focus on simultaneous and hybrid approaches to SDI and IP test and measurement. These offer the versatility broadcasters need as they transit from SDI to IP, HD to UHD, SDR to HDR, onsite and cloud-connected virtual remote production, and volumetric production.

Leader offers a complete IP solution ranging from the LT4610 and LT4611 PTP generators plus the award-winning ZEN Series LV5600 true hybrid IP/SDI waveform monitor and its LV7600 equivalent rasterizer to the LVB440 IP traffic analyzer. The LV5600 provides the same monitoring and measurement resources irrespective of whether the video signal is IP or SDI.

That includes the ability to display and compare IP and SDI video sources simultaneously. They also give engineering staff the tools they need to monitor and analyze IP network activity. A key strength of many Leader and PHABRIX products is their

ability to operate on location under battery power as well as 110V/240V AC mains. The Leader LV5350 and LV5300A battery-operable waveform monitors will be demonstrated alongside the PHABRIX Sx TAG, QxL and QxP. Leader's LV5600 is a mains-pow-

ly in a hybrid operating environment. Engineering-related features include test pattern generation, eye pattern display, closed-caption monitoring, CIE color chart, HDR measurement, focus assist, adjustable screen layout, tally interface, 4K/UHD operation, 25 gigabit/s IP input

tools which are familiar to many content production staff. The PHABRIX QxP inherits the toolset and flexible architecture of the QxL rasterizer but in a 3U form factor with an integral high-contrast 1920 x 1200 7-inch multi-touch LCD screen and a V-Mount or G-Mount battery plate. It is ideal for workflows involving portable HD, UHD, SDR, HDR, SDI and IP, as well as conventional and remote productions. For real-time IP production, the QxP provides support for generation and analysis of HD/3G/UHD/EUHD 2110 payloads on generic SFP28/25GbE interfaces.

ered SDI/IP waveform monitor in a half-rack width 3U desktop chassis with a touchscreen front panel display. It provides all the facilities needed to monitor UHD/HD/SD SDI as well as video-over-IP signals seamless-

and 12G-SDI interfaces. SMPTE 2022-6, 2022-7 and 2110 protocols are all supported. The LV5600 also incorporates Leader's intuitive CINEZONE real-time false color exposure and CINELITE (built-in light meter)

The flexible architecture of the QxP offers in-field, engineering grade data view and ANC packet inspection tools together with optional upgrades for SDI-UHD/4K, 2110-UHD/4K 48-60p RGB (EUHD), PCAP, Dolby E decode, HDR, and AV test signal generation. A factory-fitted hardware option provides RTE™ 'Real-Time Eye' and jitter SDI analysis with the further option of a highly advanced SDI-STRESS toolset.

advanced technology is revolutionizing immersive storytelling experiences in a Main Stage session open to all attendees on Tuesday, April 18 at 1 p.m. at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“Immersive Storytelling: Expanding Audiences with XR in Games, Education, and Location-Based Entertainment” will examine the growing convergence between traditional entertainment and advanced technology, how nostalgia is fuelling this new technology adoption, and what is next on the horizon for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and extended reality (XR).

The session will feature panellists working at the leading-edge of advanced technology: Aaron Grosky, president and COO of Dreamscape Immersive and COO of Dreamscape Learn; Ted Schilowitz, futurist, Paramount Global; and Jake Zim, senior vice president, Virtual Reality, Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Aaron Grosky: Grosky leads Dreamscape Immersive and Dreamscape Learn's creation of

emerging technologies, including VR and AR. He previously served as consulting futurist at 20th Century Fox and worked on product development teams that have produced ultra-high resolution digital movie cameras, advanced hard-drive storage products and desktop video software.

Jake Zim: As senior vice president of Virtual Reality for Sony Pictures Entertainment, Zim oversees global virtual reality production and strategy for the motion picture group. He has produced a variety of interactive projects released across a spectrum of distribution channels. In addition, he works across business units to develop partnerships with technology and production companies in the emerging immersive entertainment space.

Leader and Phabrix test and measurement at NAB Leader Instruments Corporation will demonstrate Leader and PHABRIX products during the April 2023 NAB Show in a combined product display cantered on their respective strengths

a combined prod-