There are always new ways to help make complex AV applications more understandable and relatable. At ISE 2024, Datapath, Absen, B-Tech AV Mounts, and Fountainhead converted the Datapath booth to a fully operational replica of a control room. The idea was to demostrate a modern solution featuring video processing and distribution, LED video wall displays, mounts, CCTV, and consoles, in an accessible real-world way.
The control room deployed Datapath’s Aetria solution, integrated with 6×3 Absen KLCOB 0.9 microLED panels for the main video wall display; 3×3 Absen KLCOB 0.9 microLED panels for two further demo video wall displays; BT9340- ABS Absen dvLED videowall mount from B-Tech Mounts; and two ELITE_AIR consoles from SPF and Fountainhead. A VSN 1172 video wall controller with Datapath capture and graphics cards installed will manage the video processing and content. Five Aligo QTXs and 18 Aligo RX100s managed the KVM operations, with four Arqa TX and eight Arqa RX units working alongside them to transmit and receive video data. A pair of Aetria network managers demonstrated the scalability of Aetria.
This gave ISE attendees a closer experience of a control room set-up and the chance to explore and experience other vendor control room-related products. With leading manufacturers coming together to provide complete user solutions, customers and end users have the convenience of seeing how all elements harmonize in a ‘real use’ environment.
With the vast increase in the volumes of video data now required in today’s control rooms, there are huge challenges around how critical information is made available to operators in and out of the control room, and equally large challenges in designing and specifying systems.
The booth demo room comes on the heels of Datapath’s innovative Online Experience Center which launched two years prior. It allows users to get virtually hands on with control room solutions in AVIXA-accredited training sessions and sales demonstrations, as if the user were at Datapath’s head office in Derby in the UK. Datapath’s global training manager Iñaki Viloria López explains: “With multiple camera feeds, displays and countless permutations possible, we can create virtually any control room management set-up for training or sales requirements.”
The Online Experience Center features Datapath’s Arqa and Aligo solutions, allowing for KVM and content sharing across the platform, and Datapath’s VSN1172 video controllers are used to provide the processing power needed for the classes.
With a trio of video walls spread out between two rooms, plus several operator terminals, Datapath’s Online Experience Center is able to showcase operations in real time due to multiple cameras. Users are able to see the room as an overview of any area and watch the content for the different screens.
“The requirements for today’s control rooms are highly complex, with ever-increasing demands for sources, data, and secure multipoint sharing. Add in diagnostics, management and security requirements and things can begin to look overwhelming,” said Iñaki. “With our Experience Center, operators, IT managers and integrators can see for themselves the benefits of using a powerful, single interface.”
