SVI Magazine

Beyond the number of visitors, the show itself filled more space than ever before – some 26,650 net square metres – spread across 10 halls playing host to 715 exhibitors. It was this writer’s first visit to the event, and despite being forewarned as to how big it is, the sheer size and scale of ISE 2011 was a real eye opener.

As show veterans will know, the event as a whole aims to cover every conceivable aspect of the professional systems trade, across both the commercial and residential sectors. As such, there were what seemed like dozens of advanced videoconferencing systems on show, several intriguing attractions given over to cutting-edge outdoor display technologies and an entire hall dedicated to digital signage solutions. Even with SVI’s focus on the residential side of things, it was a tall order to cover all the ground we wanted to and get a close-up at all the exhibits we wanted to see.

Indeed, the endless procession of visitors to certain stands made it occasionally difficult to have a word with representatives manning them. But what might be a minor inconvenience for us media types is surely an encouraging sign from a business point of view. Given the gloom and pessimism that has descended over certain parts of the industry in recent years – whether it’s because of the recession, recent closures of established companies and product lines or game-changing consumer devices eating into CI market’s revenues – ISE offered reasons to be cheerful. People were thronging the vast halls across each of the three days; deals seemed to be being mooted, discussed or made almost everywhere you looked and there were product previews and launches galore. So without further ado then, let’s crack on with our summary of the things we saw and the people we spoke to on our travels…

the power is on
Our first port of call on day one was the sizeable stand belonging to Belgian lighting and automation specialist Niko, replete with gleaming white surfaces à la the interiors of 2001. The company’s principal order of business was the unveiling of its brand new Niko Home Control system, which seeks to provide end users with a streamlined way of controlling their home’s lighting, HVAC and motorised fixtures from either a central touchscreen or smartphone. Beyond that, the system puts monitoring and efficiency features front and centre – elements of which include a detailed ‘eco-display’ function (when used with suitable third party pulse-based utility meters) and a one-touch ‘eco’ button, which can be used to terminate any unneeded appliances when the home is unoccupied.

Niko’s representatives were especially keen to show off what seemed to be a number of clever touches designed to simplify things for installers, ranging from the sliding contact method used to link the system’s DIN rail modules together, to its support for two-wire, non-polarised cabling. Basic functions can be programmed by hand using the hardware of the modules themselves; time- and context functions can be implemented via a laptop using the Niko Home Control programming software, which will come supplied with a number pre-loaded actions and commands. Needless to say, the system will be ready for use with Niko’s wide range of switching and control hardware, various examples of which were on show – a particular highlight being the motion-operated ‘Mysterious Wave’ on/off switch. Niko Home Control is set to land in August, and word at the show was that training is that installer training is due to kick off in May.

Over in Hall 1, NuVo was drawing attention to two items in particular – the Music Port Elite (MPS4-E) four-source streaming component and the powerline-based Renovia system. The former features the content aggregation smarts of last year’s standard Music Port unit, pulling together PC and NAS-stored music libraries and RadioTime-curated internet radio stations, and builds on them by shipping with 640GB of internal storage and an onboard ‘cloud synchronisation’ feature, which will allow users to maintain and access audio collections spread across multiple locations. There was also talk at the show of Spotify support making its way to the Music Port line in the very near future…

If the Renovia showcase was any indication, those tricky-to-fit multi-room audio jobs may have met their match. Able to support six sources, including NuVo’s own range of iPod docks and audio components of course, the main Renovia hub features a built-in AM/FM tuner and sends audio signals via the HomePlug powerline protocol to a series of dinky 50W zone amplifiers – one per listening area up to a maximum of eight – which can be installed in out-of-way areas, or even on ceilings. Moreover, distributor Habitech was using the show to announce the Renovia system’s official launch in the UK, and its availability as a package comprising a hub unit, NuVo iPod dock, six Zone Amps and six 2.7-inch OLED keypads for a list price (ex. VAT) of £4295.

One company making its ISE exhibitor debut was Surrey-based distributor AWE Europe, there to launch its own Kinetik Labs range of CI hardware into the wider European market. SVI readers may already be familiar the ‘KLIR’ surface- and recess-mount IR kits and the KISP family of in-ceiling speakers – appearing alongside those was the new KLIB-WB80A flatpanel mount for ultra-slim displays, complete with handy kickstand mechanism to allow access to rear side cable connections. AWE’s Paul Mott hinted to us that the company is considering plans to extend the Kinetik Labs brand to further product categories, with a view to potentially unveiling new items before the year is out. Ultimately, the take away message for those impressed with the offerings available so far was ‘watch this space…’

app-y new year
Paying a visit to Control4, we had a chance to chat with the company’s VP EMEA, Tony Leedham, who proceeded to talk us through what was on show. Attracting much attention was the new 5-inch InfinityEdge in-wall touchpanel which, like it’s 7-inch bigger brother, comes with a software-enabled intercom function – just in time for a Control4 ‘Door Station’ that Leedham suggested is set to launch in around four months time. The demo also served to highlight the App Store-esque 4Store, which Leedham explained was born out of a desire to let homeowners add extra functions to their systems themselves and help slightly lessen their reliance on trained installers.

As well as downloading apps to provide news, weather and traffic and calendar updates, users will also be able to install a graphic equaliser for use with Control4’s 4- and 8-channel amps, an organiser/reminder app and a sophisticated energy app capable of measuring kW/hour usage and altering the system’s behaviour in response to the data received. Rounding out the product showcase was a display dedicated to its range of ZigBee-based wireless lighting dimmers and switchers, together with an early look at the company’s Euro-centric DIN rail hardware and control faceplates due for release later in the year.

From there, a hearty stroll across the expanse of the RAI brought us to Lutron, for a chat with Residential Sales Director John Niebel regarding three new developments, the first of these being the KNX integration support recently added to its GRAFIK Eye QS lighting/automation system, thus enabling Lutron-made products to be run natively on a third-party bus for the first time – a simulated demo of GRAFIK Eye system talking to a wall-mounted KNX keypad helped drive the point home.

With Niebel noting that window treatments had been one of the company’s biggest growth areas of late, the second point of interest was seeing two of its most recent Sivoia QS shading solutions being put through their paces – the Venetian Blinds with Intelligent Tilt Alignment, and for the first time on public display, a Roman shade mechanism incorporating what Lutron describes as ‘Cord Eliminating Roman Uptake System (CERUS) technology to allow for smoother, virtually silent movement. A crowded trade show floor may not have been the best setting in which gauge the latter, but it was indeed a struggle to hear anything above the brushing of both against the partitions they were mounted on when seeing them in action. The final attraction on show was a showcase of the increasing control options for its HomeWorks system, soon to take in an iPad-specific version that will enable end users to switch between separate lighting scenes and adjust individual lighting levels.

well connected
Day two commenced with a press event organised by Crestron, which was using its extensive presence at the show to present the entirely new, IP-based Core 3 home control platform. Due to land soon aboard the incoming MC3 and Prodigy PMC3 control systems, it sees Crestron tackling the concept of home control in the manner of a multitasking IT operating system, communicating as it does with various AV, HVAC and security apparatus through a series of device-specific programs, with the ability run up to 10 at once – a modular approach that will theoretically allow installers to make significant alterations to certain aspects of a system without having to first take the system as a whole offline. It also promises to put a number of new tools and options in the hands of GUI artists and programmers, with Core 3 control interfaces able to utilise multiple objects and device control apps on a single page, complete with full support for Adobe Flash, HTML5, H.264-encoded video and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

Elsewhere, the company was looking to flag up its DigitalMedia 8G family of 8-gigabit HDMI distribution products, consisting of four new room controller/receivers, two transmitters and two supporting 6x4 and 6x6 switchers. Building on the original DigitalMedia range, the new units are variously capable of carrying video (with support for 3D), audio and Ethernet communication signals over a single run of STP copper cabling up to 100m, or fibre up to 300m, without compression or requiring the use of repeaters. Also on show was Crestron’s Sonnex multi-room audio system, in the form of the 24-input (analogue and digital) SWAMP 24X8 central unit, which will supply 64-channel audio via shielded Cat5e to a maximum of eight accompanying SWAMPE-8 audio expanders situated up to 65-metres away, each of which add a further eight stereo zone outputs. At full capacity, that amounts to a possible total of 74 stereo zones.

Staying with distribution, Smart-e was showing off its new ‘Smart Digital Solution’ range of point-to-point digital Cat5/5e/6/7/8 extenders. Due for launch in Q2, the 3D-compatible transmitter and receiver units sport HDMI connections and are capable of transmitting video signals over a 100m run of Cat cabling in up to 4K resolution with full HDCP compliance. They can also be used for IR and RS-232 pass-through applications and will support 100baseT Ethernet connections, while the receiver unit’s standard in-line power function allows it to be powered by the connected Cat cable alone.

Another high-profile attraction at the stand was the new SmartCore2 Cat-based AV distribution matrix, which is based around a system of 16 in/16 out modules that can be equipped as needed on-site and requires a relatively modest amount of physical space – to the extent that a 64x64-configured unit will happily occupy a 6U 19-inch enclosure. Of note is its on-board inclusion of the company’s SmartiP browser-based control and configuration software, which a representative used to demonstrate the SmartCore2’s image error correction function, and its ability to automatically adjust the quality of images from various sources to compensate for differing cable lengths.

media matters
ISE attendees that paid a visit to the stand manned by Kaleidescape were able to witness its newly established Blu-ray movie server system, formed from combining one or more of the manufacturer’s storage units (the 6TB 1U or 20TB 3U) with an M500 or M300 player, to which is then added the final piece – 100-capacity Modular Disc Vault. Having previously seen said M-class players in action at last year’s CEDIA Home Technology Event, their startlingly swift disc start-up times – straight to the main feature from cold in what seemed like barely 10-seconds – lacked the shock of the new, but were still impressive to behold nonetheless.

It has to be said that the Disc Vault component isn’t exactly a looker – but seeing as its main function is to simply hold discs in place in order to authorise playback of content already imported on to the system (which can be done using the integrated drive on the more fetching M500 player), it doesn’t have to be. Ultimately, the combined set up will be able to deliver that fabled Kaleidescape experience - smooth UI, proprietary metadata and all – in HD from source to screen, while still staying true to the company’s strictly ‘by the book’ approach where copyright issues are concerned.

Also on show was Kaleidescape’s recently launched bid to broaden its market beyond its traditional user base, the fully standalone Cinema One unit. Set to retail in the UK for £4195 MSRP, it features 1.5TB of internal storage, an integrated DVD/CD drive, comes supplied with a ‘child’ remote that will automatically switch the onscreen GUI to display a list of pre-selected family-friendly titles and is effectively ready for use out of the box. Positioned as the successor to Kaleidescape’s Mini Player, it will furthermore play nice with the rest of the hardware making up the Kaleidescape ecosystem, for those wishing to add extra storage and players further down the line.

Paying a visit to multi-room audio specialist Russound, we were able to inspect the new DMS 3.1 Digital Media Streamer. Due to ship in May, it will add up to three digital audio streams to the company’s C-Series multi-room system, from a range of possible sources with an output for each, plus a fourth for its onboard AM/FM radio tuner. Said sources can include internet radio stations courtesy of vTuner, online music discovery service last.fm, and audio streamed from a Windows 7 PC or NAS drive via UPnP with MP3, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC and AAC file support. The unit also sports two USB ports on the rear and one on the front, for use with non-networked storage devices. We were additionally told that a firmware update provisionally scheduled for release in summer will enable the DMS 3.1 to act as a DLNA-compliant audio server, and that Russound control apps for the Android and Windows Phone 7 smartphone platforms were currently under development.

When asking some familiar faces we met at the show what kit had stood out for them, one name came up several times – AMX. The company’s HDMI UTPro matrix switcher was generating a great deal of interest, what with it being able to distribute eight uncompressed HDMI channels with accompanying HDCP authentication over 100m via a single UTP cable. Another item making waves was AMX’s latest addition to the Modero touchpanel family, the 9-inch MVP-9000i touchpanel – a key feature of which is its support for gesture-controlled interfaces and transitions, as illustrated by a demo unit on the stand that had been programmed with a custom calligraphic ‘book’-style interface, complete with ‘swipeable’ pages.

Also putting in an appearance was the NetLinx Power Distribution Unit, or PDU, a rackmount power management component that can be used to monitor the power relays of up to eight different devices and track the amount of energy they consume to within less than an ampere, instead of having to round up or down to the nearest whole figure. An AMX representative showed us the power readouts that it can route to various touchpanels around the home, and noted the way in which its discrete power outlets can be reset remotely, thus enabling installers to power down specific devices in the event of problems – say, a crashed Sky box – by simply dialling in to the system via an IP connection.

faces old and new
Turning to matters control-related, RTI was busy unveiling a host of new devices soon to be available on this side of the Atlantic, for which Invision UK will be handling exclusive UK distribution duties. These included the RTiDock due around May, a compact rackmount/tabletop-ready iPod enclosure with a sliding tray design that will happily sync with users’ iTunes libraries and output a GUI for device access to any connected video displays.

ISE was also serving as the launchpad for the company’s new XP-3 and XP-6 central control processors. The former, provisionally scheduled for UK release in July, will offer two-way communications with compatible RTI control devices with the aid of a built-in ZigBee RF transceiver and support the same library of drivers used on the XP-8. The XP-6 should meanwhile be landing on British shores around March, and will provide users with RS-232, relay, IP and routable IR control options. Both units also feature onboard precision clocks to allow for timed events and compatibility with RTI’s ‘Virtual Panel’ PC control application and the RTiPanel iOS app – the latter of which can be made to work with custom touch interfaces produced with the company’s Integration Designer programming software.

ISE 2011 was certainly a big show for Opus Technologies. One year on from its first public appearance, the company’s new 6 Series home control system – comprising the MCU610 master control unit, VMX610 HD video matrix and a pair of 3.5- and 5.7-inch touchscreens - was receiving its official launch. Able to service six zones, the MCU610 can be equipped with three optional audio modules to add AM/FM, DAB radio and digital media streaming functionality and is ready for use with a wide range of third party AV, HVAC and security equipment, including the Apple TV and KNX-enabled devices.

Taking care of HD duties, the VMX610 will manage eight AV sources and eight zones and switch between them with impressive speed, due to its constant cycling of HDCP codes. Said zones needn’t have an Opus control installed either, thanks to the 6 Series’ system-wide user interface that can reproduced on Apple devices via the obligatory iPhone app and network-capable TVs. That’s not to disregard those aforementioned touchscreens, however – both of which feature built-in mics for potential intercom and whole-house paging applications.

As our time in Amsterdam drew to a close on Thursday, we found ourselves frantically doing a final few circuits of the RAI ahead of our early evening return flight. Our first visit was to the newly resurgent British media server supplier Imerge over in hall 9, whose representatives had apparently spent a good portion of the previous days greeting a number of their past dealers and acquainting newcomers with the company’s Blu-ray-compatible MS1-HD media server and the XiVA musicm8 1TB media server-cum-audio streamer.

While there, we had a chance to meet with Graham Boswell, Sales & Marketing Director, Cambridgeshire-based pro audio specialist, Prism Sound about what had prompted them to acquire Imerge last November, following its temporary closure by former owner Nortek. Boswell explained that Prism’s familiarity with Imerge actually preceded the latter’s initial founding in 1997, and that the move in part due to “Not wanting to be pigeonholed into high-end audio only”, and a desire to “do something more forward-thinking.” Taken together with his additional comments about wanting to expand beyond the recording studios that have historically formed a core part of Prism’s business and getting more involved with home audio, and factoring in the company’s recent Stateside distribution deal with loudspeaker brand PMC, it would seem that there’s definitely a masterplan of sorts at work here. What this might spell for future Imerge devices and initiatives will be interesting to see…

departure
With the clock ticking, there was just time to pay a visit to Imerge alumnus Charlie Mertz, now Director at Evolve Media, who was demonstrating the company’s sophisticated media server system to a steady stream of attentive visitors. With the aid of a large screen overlooking the stand, he talked us through the lifeStation central media player, lifeStore storage component, 2x120W amp-packing lifeStream zone unit and lifeStream-mini client player. At first glance, the system’s UI appeared to be a fairly straight take on Microsoft’s Media Centre frontend, with only a small Evolve logo in the lower right to distinguish it from a typical HTPC unit.

As Mertz explained, however, the system in fact runs atop the Windows 7 Embedded OS and includes a number of Evolve additions under the hood. Among these are a variety of navigation views (including an iTunes-esque ‘coverflow’ mode and Kaleidescape-aping ‘tiled’ view), IMDb-powered metadata lookups that will acquire cover art and the like relevant to users in various international territories and a 24p Blu-ray playback function that will automatically kick in when a compatible display is detected. Hardware-wise, the lifeStation’s multiple DVB-S2/DVB-T digital TV tuners, integrated Blu-ray drive and sleek enclosure seemed to have all the bases covered. In terms of storage, the lifeStore can be specified in RAID 1-configured 4TB, 10TB and 20TB versions that make use of enterprise-grade hard drives supplied by Western Digital – users will also have the option to access content stored on generic NAS drives.

And so it was that our ISE odyssey drew to a close, leaving us with the nagging feeling that there was lots more that we could have seen and examined – still, considering the size of those 10 halls, we can’t have been the only ones. As always it’s tempting to flag up the ‘trends’ that seemed to dominate at the show. Aside from the way in which iPads seemed to have become part of the furniture at almost every other stand, what struck us most this year was the amount of emphasis being placed on energy efficiency by a number of exhibitors, not least Niko, AMX, Rako and Control4. Whether it was the low operating power being trumpeted by some, or the user-friendly energy monitoring functions being shown off by others, it’s an industry development that makes perfect sense in these budget-conscious, eco-friendly times.

Contact: +31 (20) 240 2420 www.iseurope.org