NEC held its annual Solutions Showcase in London. The location was not quite as iconic as some others, but was busy when we went along to see what was new. Over 1,500 people attended the event this year, a very positive result.
The main news from NEC themselves was a new range of LCD displays that fit between the V value series at the low end and the current P professional 500 cd/m² brightness range. The new C range will be available in 43″/50″ and 55″ and will have 24/7 anti-glare professional panels but with 400 cd/m² of brightness and fewer features than the P series.
NEC’s new C Series Adds a level between the V & P ranges Image:Meko
Also new is a lightweight LED system that was being shown for the first time. The modules are very clean and light weight and will be available with 2.5, 4, 6, 8 and 10mm pitch. The connections into the panels carry both the signal and power which keeps the design simple and the units will be usable for outside use, being rated to IP65. Luminance is up to 6,000 cd/m².
NEC’s New LED System has a very clean and light design Image:Meko
The company was also showing four different projectors set up with the same content in a ‘shoot out’ to show the differences in image characteristics between the different lamp and imager combinations that NEC has. One of the features of the NEC offer is that it has many options, to match the needs of its value added resellers.
NEC had a shootout to highlight the differences between its projector technologies. Image:Meko
NEC was showing the Infinity Board collaboration display which is about to start shipping, having been shown at ISE, and the company told us that it is seeing good interest in the system.
Partners
However, the main feature of the event is the work and collaboration with NEC’s partners, who come out to support. For example, Peerless was supplying all the mounts for the event and was a sponsor.
Adder has high end KVM systems for command and control centres. It also has KM systems that can use a single keyboard and mouse with multiple PCs. The system is sophisticated in ‘spoofing’ the host PCs into thinking that there is always something connected so that switching is seamless. The system also supports the use of a virtual desktop so that as a cursor is moved with the mouse from one display to another, the control can pass to a different host computer, so there is no distinct switching process.
The firm also has encoders and decoders for secure operation and has matrix switching available for control rooms. The systems can also be used over ip for remote operation of systems and have been used by the BBC for this in broadcast applications. Unusually, the company can also support the remote use of Wacom styluses, a big factor for creative users.
Adder had a KVM rack set-up to demonstrate the sophistication of its solution. Image:Meko
Dexon was showing its range of video wall processors. The company, which is based in Hungary, specialises in mission critical systems. At the show it was highlighting the DIVIP4K matrix processors which support from 16 x 16 to 64 x 64 configurations and was also running a 3 x 3 NEC LCD wall. The wall used the DXN5000 Video Wall Controller with 4K input handling and real-time video display. For systems that need the highest levels of security, Windows embedded is being used.
Matrox has been a partner of NEC for a long time and had a number of video wall controllers at the event, including the FIDs area and the projector shoot out. It was also showing its KVM over IP solution.
Matrox drove the FIDs at the event
T1V is a UK-based supplier of high end collaboration software. Most of the suppliers of collaboration systems (e.g. Prysm, Cisco et al) mandate the use of particular display hardware. However, T1V told us that its VuCanvas can use any display hardware including, of course, NEC Displays. There is support for FullHD or UltraHD resolutions in any size and the system can support standard professional codecs for video and audio conferencing. The firm has resellers around much of Europe although it is always looking for more!
Dalen is based in Cambridge in the UK and is working on developing huddle spaces and small group collaboration systems using Skype for Business. It has a box that can control Skype for Business meetings, connecting to client devices (using Miracast or Barco’s Clickshare dongles) and can connect to the display by wireless. The box (which is made in the UK) costs £2,850 ($3,700) and can also connect to a display using mini-Displayport. The standard camera is a Logitech device, but for high end solutions the company uses Sony PTZ systems. Dalen has support for cloud-based collaboration. The firm told us that it is the only native Skype for Business solution that is available.
ZeeVee was showing its ZyPer4K uncompressed 4K video over IP system, which can use a 10GB ethernet switch infrastructure and its ZyperHD HD system that can work with 1GB switches. There was a demonstration of how the 4K system could be used in a 4K video editing suite. The company can also support compressed video distribution.
ZeeVee has IP-based distribution. Image:Meko
