NEW YORK – When TAD Associates was asked to update two conference rooms for a major New York Financial Institution the AV Consultant chose Analog Way’s Ascender 48. The multi-screen seamless switchers drive new LED displays and edge blended projection systems.
More details from Analog Way (www.analogway.com):
Based on Analog Way’s LiveCoreTM platform, Ascender 48 switchers offer state-of-the-art processing, multi-output management, and 4K capabilities.
There is a boardroom and a ballroom, both of which are available daily for company-driven events and presentations. “These rooms are part of a building that’s more than 100 years old,” says Tim Plain, Project Manager and Systems Designer at TAD Associates. “They have been refreshed over the decades, and with this project they needed a design and maintenance upgrade. As we got into the process we realized that the client needed more ‘wow’ in these spaces.”
TAD Associates teamed with STUDIOS Architecture to come up with the design, with systems integrator Video Corporation of America selected for implementation of the new spaces.
“When there’s a need for video processing Analog Way has a very powerful solution,” says Mattias Allevik, lead Engineer at VCA, an Analog Way integration partner. “The Ascender is reliable and provides all the features that users need. It’s a product that fits well in the corporate environment.”
“We’ve done quite a few projects with TAD Associates,” says Seth Teates, Regional Sales Manager for Analog Way. “Our forte is high-end LED and projection processing. Our scaling engine is our core competency: We offer the fastest processing and best image quality in the industry. We also bring our expertise to the table helping consultants make educated decisions in the pre-design phase, supporting the integrator onsite and offering certification training for end-users from our Georgia headquarters.”
Teates also cites the ability of Analog Way’s Ascender to perform true seamless transitions, layering, windowing, and easy-to-use operator interfaces – all functions that were in demand for the upgrade.
The boardroom and its anteroom feature graceful arcades with original gilded plasterwork and pilasters. It was previously outfitted with three small TVs on the arcade side of the room and a front projection screen at the closed short end of the room. TAD Associates upgraded the displays to feature custom LED panels filling three of the arches and two large LCD screens at either end of the anteroom; the projection screen remains.
TAD Associates selected DetaiLED Solutions to craft the three arched LED screens that integrate with the boardroom’s architecture. “They are completely customized with a custom raster 2368 pixels tall and 1152 pixels wide,” says Plain. “They maintain the existing architecture and offer unusual displays for daily marketing / branding content, and for video presentation for events.”
To achieve this custom installation TAD Associates chose Analog Way’s Ascender ASC4806-4K-PL switcher with LOE048-4K-PL expansion module to accommodate additional outputs. “We knew that Analog Way would be able to drive all the displays in the boardroom and support the custom resolution of the LEDs,” says Plain. “The Ascender could take sources and, in real-time, switch and size them to the shape of the arches and layer images.” The LiveCoreTM output expander enables the Ascender to handle all the feeds required for the displays.
“The redesign has brought the boardroom to a level never seen before,” Plain notes. “Everyone gasps when they first walk in. The first thing people see is the arches’ LED screens filled with event logos, marketing and presentation content – there’s always dynamic content on it during the day.
“The AV team really likes the user interface and functionality of the equipment and the flexibility to change sources and display the content they want on the LEDs. Everything just works,” he adds.
The wood-paneled ballroom replaced three small front projection screens with a large, custom projection screen measuring approximately 22 x 7 feet. The screen can be pulled up to the ceiling when not in use; two ceiling-mounted projectors display multiple images on the single canvas.
“The Ascender can handle the projector edge blend and put different sources on the left and right sides of the screen,” says Plain. “It’s extremely flexible for content.” The Ascender is controlled via the VertigeTM control console. A Crestron DM matrix feeds the Ascender switchers in both the boardroom and ballroom.
Plain gives kudos to Analog Way for helping meet the challenges of the equipment installation and the third-party content management software. “For a system this complex we needed the whole team to come together and find solutions,” says Plain.
At TAD Associates Jon Reeves is the Founder and Lead Designer, Guy Lafontant Cofounder and James Utterback Partner and Lead Project Manager. Peter Stern was the Director of the Systems Group. At VCA Jim Opper was Project Manager and Mattias Allevik was lead Engineer.
