Jordan O'BrienHDMI distribution is always one of the big attractions at any Essential Install Live! show, and Essential Install Live! South 2016 was no exception.
Triax showcased a number of new products including a tri-bit CCTV range, which features TVI analogue on IP, a number of NVRs and DVRS, with the DVRs supporting up to four channels.
The company was also keen to showcase its 4K UHD Home Distribution hub which features a three-year guarantee and is designed to make multi-room entertainment easier to install with all necessary components included.
The matrix is also HDCP 2.2 compliant and is fully compatible with previous HDCP versions for viewing on legacy 4K displays.
The Hub features the new HMX441 matrix, 4 x super slim receivers, 4 x remote controls, 5 x IR emitters and 4 x IR receivers which enable UHD content from four HDMI devices to be viewed and controlled simultaneously at four locations without the need for additional subscriptions.
The solution is suited to residential or pub and club sectors seeking an enhanced viewing experience.
The slim PoC receivers can sit behind TV wall mounts, while cable management is achieved with all inputs and outputs on the same side of the receiver.
The matrix features the most commonly used HDBaseT feature set and is compatible with RS232 / IP drivers for Control4, RTI, Elan and Demopad.
Directional PoC from the Matrix to the Zone and directional IR Zone to the Matrix also reduces installation costs.
Triax says the Matrix is hot pluggable and while competitively priced does not compromise on control. The solution also offers EDID management for setting up an AVR, enabling the matrix to become transparent and pass the highest possible audio format to the AVR.
An AVR mirrored output also offers simultaneous audio outputs 9.2CH, 5.1CH via Toslink, PCM L&R and designated AVR IR Out, to enable independent control by fixing the emitter directly to the amplifier. Operating distance is 70m@1080p and 40m@4Kx2K.
HDR is set to be a big buzz word in the AV industry in 2016 and HDConnectivity is throwing its weight fully behind the format. The company showcased Just Add Power’s latest 4K over IP solution including its ability to deliver 4K HDR content.
Dee McKeown, media and communications officer at HDConnectivity said: “We have it here right now and we can show it. So the same hardware that we released in Q4 of 2015 now does HDR, in Q1 of 2016.
“That’s possible because we have unparalleled control over our firmware builds, because we have our own codec. We’re also showing 4K HDR downscaled to 1080p, so the built-in scaler in our receivers will allow you to distribute 4K source, maintain it as 4K and 4K zones and downscale it to 1080p for 1080p zones.
“Also what really sets Just Add Power apart at this show vs any other HDMI over IP solution is how we handle audio for residential installers. We’ve really looked at the requirements that are going on right now for audio, we have two different models of 4K over IP transmitter. Both will work in the same network so you can mix and match them as you need.
Dee added: “The first model is 3G+AVP transmitter. That can take a Dolby Digital 5.1 source and retain the 5.1 audio format in multi-channel zones and in stereo zones it will instantly down-mix it. So essentially you have video with on-board 5.1 down-mixing.
“Our other transmitter is the 3G+HiFi and that basically can pass any audio format up to and including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. Finally, all of our 3G products are fully PoE.”
Pulse-Eight sponsored the Smart Building Awards 2016 which were given out at the show, but it also garnered a lot of attention on the showfloor, where it was showcasing its new neo:4 Professional HD matrix switcher with its HDCP2.2, HDMI2.0a and Ultra HD Premium compatibility for use with HDR sources and TVs.
Pulse-Eight uses CEC (Consumer Electronics Control), inherent within modern HDMI equipped products for selection, routing and control of connected sources using just the standard TV remote.
It also sports web-based control, remote monitoring so every hour the unit will phone home to a central server that the installer can log into checking cable length, cable quality, the routine configuration of the box, whether the TV is on or if there’s a problem with any of the HDMI cables.
One of the sponsors of the show, Blustream launched its new Multicast UHD solution exclusively at the show, which ensured a busy stand throughout, with the manufacturer getting lots of enquiries about the product, which will be available in September 2016.
Multicast will deliver virtually latency free distribution of HDMI video over a 1GB Network switch. Using lossless compression technology, Multicast delivers HDMI, Bi-directional IR and RS232 up to lengths of 100m over a single CAT cable. The products can be powered via PoE from the Network switch or locally should the switch not support PoE.
Toby Leader, product manager at the company said: “We are still a fairly new company and our distribution network has been growing in Europe and elsewhere.
“We have successfully been able to push the boundaries of what can be expected from video over IP solutions by including full 4K UHD support, vastly superior latency performance and features such as audio breakout, resolution scaling on each receiver and integrated video wall processing. Plus, it’s at a good price point and that’s why installers love it.”
Dan Winterton, technical sales manager, Antiference, explained: “There’s two main parts of our showcase, one of which is looking at our HD modulators – we can take a single source or a number of sources, put them onto a digital channel and the TV can be tuned in, thus giving you HD distribution over an existing coax network.
“We’ve got a single input option and we’re developing a twin input, so it’s turned out to be quite a big chunk of our business these days. It’s surprising how many people came round who aren’t aware of the concept and potentially what that type of device can do, as an alternative to say, HD distribution.
“The other side of the focus this year is the matrix system, which is the TruColour Neo product and we’ve had a demonstration of the 4×4 solution which we’re using with a Sky box, Blu-ray player and Amazon Fire, built into a rack with an AV receiver – we can showcase the inbuilt CEC control, enabling you to control multiple devices with the TV’s remote control.
“That’s been quite popular as we’ve had lots of people who come here who know what a matrix is, but they don’t know what CEC stands for, let alone what it is.
“As each brand has closed this communication portal off, so a Panasonic TV will only communicate with a Panasonic Blu-ray, for example, what we’ve done is change it slightly and we’ve enabled cross-brand communication, meaning your Samsung TV remote can control your Sony Blu-ray player, for example. And you’ve got the ability to switch the matrix with the TV’s remote as well, so we’ve had lots of interest in that.”
Dan added: “People have been liking the new point-to-point extender that we’ve got, which is just a single wire, non HT-BaseT – they like the loop through because it has a loop out on the top end.
“CEC control within a matrix – there’s only one other brand in this room that has that – so that’s not unique, exactly, but it’s an unusual feature, so it means that it’s not just another HDBaseT matrix.”