By Arthur de Jager, CEO of Niveo Professional

Building speakers in garages...

Our industry is filled with fantastic stories of Custom Installers having started their business by building fully customized speakers from their garages. Just because what the mass market manufacturers produced wasn't good enough. These pioneers of our industry added real value to their passionately created audio installations. I have never seen a industry with so much passion and I am proud to be working in that industry.

Topics: AV over IP, Cedia, Networking, IoT

100-Ohm twisted pair cabling has come a long way since the first launch of the 568 standard. Categories 1, 2, 4, and 5 are obsolete. Category 3 hangs on by a ripcord and Category 5e has already lost its market lead to Category 6. Category 6A is moving out of data centers and demand is increasing for even higher performing cables. Category 7 is officially skipped in the US market and Category 8 is in the ratification process.

Topics: UTP, twisted pair, cat 6, cat 6a, cat 7, cat 8, PoE, cat 5e, HDBaseT, STP, FTP

AV Technology in the classroom is no longer a phenomenon. Just visit your own child's school and classroom, and you notice how technology is playing a key role in K-12 education today. According to the U.S. Department of Education, computers are in 97 percent of classrooms every day, and the adoption of new easy-to-use technologies by teachers is growing.

Its not just K-12. Classroom technology is a perfect fit for higher education, training facilities and more.

Topics: AV, classroom AV, learning, K-12, higher education, classroom technology

With the convergence of AV and Networking continuing to trend upward, installation of networked AV capture and streaming technology is another opportunity for professional AV integrators to take advantage of.

Topics: Remote Workforce, AV, HD Video Conferencing, remote learning, av capture, streaming, lecture capture, distance learning, lecture recording, sharing, on-demand

Huddle rooms are one of the hottest trends in the AV industry today. Wainhouse Research estimates the potential for huddle rooms to be between 30 and 50 million rooms. As a professional integrator, you can provide great benefit to your customers by educating them on the flexibility and cost effectiveness of huddle rooms.

Topics: Wireless,, BYOD, video conferencing, remote working, Remote Workforce, AV, HD Video Conferencing, Huddle Room, huddle rooms

Topics: AV Integration,, AV over IP, bandwidth, Ultra HD, Digital Data, Fiber optics

Fiber optics has been heralded as the future of communications technology. It can distribute Internet data at record speeds, over 100 kilometers, compared to regular ethernet cables that transmit data only within 100 meters. Plus, fiber optic cables are as thin as a human hair and are known for their fault-tolerance capabilities. With rapid advances in technology and increasing worldwide market demand, fiber is shining bright in the communication spotlight, and fueling future trends for the technology. 

Topics: Digital Data, Fiber Optics and Telecommunications, Fiber Optics and Server Farms, The Future of Fiber Optics, Fiber optics

The effects of technology are everywhere. Along with all the benefits it brings us come specific challenges. How these challenges are addressed is what makes technology evolve. A recent change in live audio is the shift towards networked digital audio. You won’t actually hear the change since it doesn’t affect the final output. What will change is how sound makes its way to the amplifiers and speakers. With networked audio, “analog-to-digital conversion [takes] place at the stage box, with the audio signal staying digital until it hits an amplifier on the way to a speaker.” For live event producers, networked digital audio brings new waves in integrating sound with other digital elements. It also brings challenges in terms of design and installation. 

Topics: bandwidth, networked audio systems, LAN sharing, audio, AV, network digital audio, big event audio video

New trends in Technology and evolving business needs are leading organizations to retrofit their conference rooms. They are converting them from mere meeting rooms to workplaces of the future. These new technologies in conference venues lead to the current effectiveness of today’s meetings. Let us take a look at five of the most relevant technologies which makes your workplace future ready.

HD Videoconferencing Technology

The current business culture thrives on collaboration. This creates a new challenge. How do you maintain a proper balance between managing costs and delivering effective results? Equipping your conference rooms with effective HD Videoconferencing Technology makes this possible. High Definition videoconferencing is a perfect way to establish clear eye contact with your team. Members in different locations will feel as if they are in the same room because of the clarity of sound, picture, and content. That is precisely what today’s technology aims to achieve. 

Topics: video conferencing, Whiteboards, audio, Remote Workforce, AV, HD Video Conferencing

High Definition (HD), Super HD and finally Ultra HD - they all exist. The question is where do we go from here? As viewing quality exponentially grows, are we heading towards a point where our eyes will stop discerning all these extra pixels?

Technology evolves at a rapid pace. With mobile devices becoming the first-screen, users are demanding higher definition, especially in terms of video quality. Driven by such demands, new gadgets like 4K tablet computers and iMac computers with a 5K Retina display are making high-resolution a reality for large and small screen environments.

Topics: BYOD, video conferencing, mobile technology, Cloud Computing,, remote working, Ultra HD