AVNation TV

Tag: Kontek

  • Chapel Hill Public Library Serves Community Using Extron Technologies

    Chapel Hill Public Library Serves Community Using Extron Technologies

    Chapel Hill Public Library in North Carolina is more than just a book repository, it is a hub of activity for the town’s residents and the surrounding communities. The 80,000-square-foot facility includes four meeting rooms that are available for public use. The upgraded AV systems include a variety of improvements such as larger displays with enhanced image quality, overflow capabilities, and intuitive control for users with a wide variety of experience levels. KONTEK designed and integrated Extron switching, audio, streaming, and control systems to support each meeting space and a NAV Pro AV over IP system to link the four rooms.
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    “We had many discussions involving the best ways to create user-friendly environments that maintained some sort of conformity,” says Ryan Chamberlain, Library Experiences Technician at Chapel Hill Public Library. “Members of the community immediately understood how to operate the Extron systems, making the transition straightforward and relatively painless for everyone.”

    Members of the community can reserve any of the Chapel Hill Public Library meeting rooms, which are available for use during library hours. The two larger rooms are flexible spaces with multiple display devices and can seat up to 84 and 162 people respectively. The two smaller rooms are set up as a board room, with a conference table and at least one wall-mounted display. Any room can serve as overflow for another. KONTEK deployed an Extron NAV system, creating flexible integration across the rooms. The multiple NAV encoders and decoders create an IP-based video and audio switching matrix. All four rooms use a similar AV system design that is scaled to the space. To operate a room’s AV system, the design includes an Extron IP Link Pro control processor and TouchLink Pro touchpanel with a custom GUI. The control interface pages are available in five languages, with additional languages planned for the future.

    The intuitive nature of the installation allows the library patrons who reserve a room to take full advantage of the hybrid AV systems capabilities with virtually no assistance from the library staff. The library’s meeting rooms, upgraded with Extron systems and products, are in constant use and are so popular that they are often reserved months in advance.

     

  • Extron NAV Series Delivers AVoIP Throughout Allied Health Veterans Hall at the University of North Carolina Wilmington

    Extron NAV Series Delivers AVoIP Throughout Allied Health Veterans Hall at the University of North Carolina Wilmington

    ANAHEIM, Calif. – The new 145,000 square-foot Allied Health Veterans Hall at the University of North Carolina Wilmington – UNCW features a variety of AV systems that are carefully tailored for each unique space. The building houses UNCW’s first instructional spaces designed from the ground up as active learning classrooms, state-of-the-art health labs, problem-based learning rooms, and a variety of spaces for collaboration. Consultant Affiliated Engineers, Inc. designed the comprehensive installation, and KONTEK Systems, Inc. provided integration. Each room includes its own flexible DTP presentation system, with a variety of additional Extron audio and control products. For centralized management and lesson capture, the AV systems are tied into the Distance Education – DE control room over an Extron NAV Pro AV over IP enterprise network system.

    UNCW chose the NAV design to tether the rooms together for many reasons. Testing proved that NAV was stable, robust, and delivered a visually lossless signal. The system was easy for the support staff to administer from the DE control room, and all control system programming could be performed in house. Also, NAV provided the capability to control or limit bandwidth, if necessary.

    “Tying the cameras and mics to each room’s local system and the Distance Education control room has proven to be a major benefit in this age of COVID,” says Robb Mann, CTS-I, Manager, Integrated Educational Technologies, ITS at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. “We use the NAV AVoIP system to route lessons anywhere, as well as capture each session, which satisfies all of our social distancing needs and has huge positive implications for the future.”

    Extron NAV E 101 1G encoders and NAV SD 101 1G scaling decoders were deployed for each room and system with 10G uplinks to central aggregate switches. The NAV models are compatible with 10G endpoints, eliminating the need for additional devices. Control room operators are able to monitor all ongoing sessions and correct any issues when or even before they arise. Several remote operation capabilities are facilitated over the NAV system including audio mixing and control of the PTZ cameras. UNCW also appreciated NAV is an economical solution, which helped the project stay below budget.

    For more information on the UNCW installation, click here.