David J. Danto
Principal Consultant,
Collaboration/ AV / Multimedia / Video / UC
Dimension Data
Director of Emerging
Technology
Interactive
Multimedia & Collaborative Communications Alliance
eMail:
David.Danto@DimensionData.com Follow Video &
Technology Industry News: @NJDavidD
(Read David’s Bio) (See
David’s CV) (Read David’s Other Blogs & Articles)
A
View From The Road Volume 7, Number 5
Highlights
From LDI 2013 & Collaborate New York
In This Edition:
·
LED is the present
·
Is it a Light or a Display
·
New, Small Instruments for Rapid Deployment
·
Luminescent Tape
·
Collaborate New York
Greetings from the 26th
annual LDI show in Las Vegas. This is the
2013 edition of the conference on staging, lighting and visual effects. Because it is mostly a visual show I’ll let
the picture highlights do most of the describing in this report.
This year’s conference
can be summed-up in three letters – L E D.
It’s very clear at this point that LED lamps and LED powered lighting
instruments are completely taking over the professional lighting space. The technology is better than it’s ever been,
and the benefits of low power usage, minimal heat output and very long life are
still very compelling factors.
GE was at the conference
showing-off how many lamps that that used to only be available in incandescent
versions are now made using LED technology.
What I found interesting
though is how the line between lighting instruments and video displays is
continuing to blur. Just look at these
devices from KSZLED.com.
Is the one on the left a
lamp or a video display – or both? Is
the one on the right a lighting ball or a video display? The process of mapping LED video displays
onto objects of all sizes is clearly a trend that will continue.
Speaking of odd-sized
displays, the Da-Lite screen company was
showing-off its ability to create custom screens in any size and shape.
Their design center will
create projection surfaces in any shape, as shown here in the form of huge
glasses.
There were a couple of
new, portable light instrument / systems at the show that are worth mentioning
in the context of easy set-up for both temporary productions and production
grade lighting additions to existing non-stage locations (offices, homes, etc.)
Fuel Lighting showed some new versions of
their Angle Light system. Each
instrument is battery powered and attaches to almost anything with a
super-powerful magnet. These could be
set-up in someone’s office in minutes - without needing electrical
outlets. They can be assigned to any of
six wireless dimming channels for control, and then they also could be removed
rapidly leaving no trace of disturbance.
Rosco
Labs (known for years as the preeminent manufacturer of gels and filters)
was showing their full line of Miro Cubes.
These are a series of LED wash lights that output
more than 3000 lumens from a compact 4 inch cube. They also do not require
expensive external power supplies or ballasts – each unit plugs directly into
the wall anywhere in the world, automatically adjusting to power sources from
90-240vAC, 50-60hz. And because each cube draws less
than one half an amp of current, more than 40 MIRO CUBES™ can be plugged into a
single 20A circuit.
Finally, I saw some
interesting luminescent strips made by a firm called Light Tape. They are not new but this is their first time
at LDI.
They are able to produce
this material in multiple colors and to multiple lengths. It is already in use by multiple firms in the
aviation, theater and motion picture fields.
I see it has having multiple purposes from enhancing digital displays to
assisting with safety in darkened areas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moving on, in New York
this past week InfoComm and the IMCCA held the inaugural “Collaborate”
networking and educational event for industry end users.
A hundred or so
attendees were expected and more than double that came to the Westin Times
Square to discuss the latest in industry technology and news.
The program included
some terrific case study presentations from Gary Schmid
of the New York Power Authority, Marc Cooper of Citigroup's Technology
Architecture Group, and John Tichenor of Chadbourne & Parke LLP.
Each gave their perspective on how they are handling their firm’s UC and
Collaboration challenges. The program
also contained a panel discussion moderated by the IMCCA’s Chairman Emeritus
Dr. S Ann Earon which included Anthony Diaz-Matos of BlackRock,
Howard Sebold of NYSE Euronext, David Nebral of Fidelis Care, Mike Cuccio
of Ralph Lauren and Steve Bleiberg of J&J discussing their thoughts on the
direction of industry trend and how their firms are planning to adapt to them. As was hoped, the discussion developed into a
conversation not just amongst the panelists but included the standing-room only
attendees.
At the conclusion of the
conversation (and the award of a $50 gift card, a Kindle Fire and Logitech iPad
keyboard to the attendees who most utilized Social Media that day) everyone
enjoyed cocktails and hors d'oeuvres while visiting with the events sponsors
(AVI-SPL, Cisco, ClearOne, Compunetix,
Crestron, Dimension Data, Logitech for Business, MyVRM,
Polycom, Teliris, Video Corporation of America, Vidyo, Williams Sound and Yorktel.)
In giving an interview
for media coverage of the event, I explained, “Certain regional areas of the US
contain very unique communities of interest in collaboration technology. New York - for one - has needed a formal,
independent end-user networking event for a very long time. Meeting under the banner of InfoComm and the
IMCCA – two vendor neutral non-profit organizations representing the highest
levels of integrity - was an incredible opportunity for end-users and industry
professionals to discuss industry happenings without any hard-sell or implied
obligation. The connections made today
will prove very valuable to the attendees for many years to come.”
Carol Zelkin, the Executive Director of the IMCCA, explained that
she was “ecstatic” about the response to the event. “Not only will we have another one in New
York, but we are working with our colleagues at InfoComm International to plan
a series of these ‘Collaborate’ events at multiple locations in the near
future.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That’s it for this View
From The Road. My next show review will
be from the 2014 International CES in
January. If you’re not already reading
my blogs you can always find them at Danto.info.
==========================================================
This article was written by David Danto and
contains solely his own, personal opinions. David has over 30 years of
experience providing problem solving leadership and innovation in media and
unified communications technologies for various firms in the corporate,
broadcasting and academic worlds including AT&T, Bloomberg LP, FNN, Morgan
Stanley, NYU, Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan Chase. He now works with Dimension Data as their Principal
Consultant for the collaboration, multimedia, video and AV disciplines. He is also
the IMCCA’s Director of Emerging
Technology. David can be reached at David.Danto@Dimensiondata.com
or DDanto@imcca.org and his full bio and
other blogs and articles can be seen at Danto.info. Please reach-out to David if you would like
to discuss how he can help your organization solve problems or develop a
future-proof collaboration strategy.