The Changing Mediums

Hewlett-Packard and Arizona University announced this week they have developed a paper thin, flexible, unbreakable display made of OLEDs. Wrap it, fold it, wrinkle it - the image does not distort! Amazing new medium for the new age. I can't wait till I get my first "flexscreen"! It is just another way that the developing technology is showing that all mediums are changing, both in practice and in theory, both in hardware and in software.

The Audio-Visual Integration and Installation industry can be summarized, for the most part, into a handful of categories: (1) Education/Classroom Technology, (2) Corporate Conference Room/Boardroom Technology, (3) Videoconferencing/Telepresence, (4) Digital Signage and (5) Large Venue Technology. Most of these categories have been around for 20-some years or longer - the ability to audioconference, videoconference, show a movie, review a spreadsheet, present a powerpoint, etc.

Most of these systems have a computer as the main source and typically one or two additional sources: DVD player, VHS deck (yes, really, still), BluRay, Videoconferencing Codec, etc. But the one trend I am beginning to notice more and more is how long will these multiple sources last?

We already have numerous ways to stream or download films, videos, etc from the internet: iTunes, NetFlix, Blockbuster Online... and now Google is talking about launching a video-rental site. On top of that, anyone with a camcorder (not to mention high-end production houses) can post their videos to YouTube, LinkedIn, their company websites, etc.

How much longer will the current technology formats last? When will it all change to being web-based? TV, video rentals, corporate communications - they can all now be run over the internet. Polycom, recognizing that in the future they will sell more software than hardware, has already begun marketing (and successfully selling) their PC-based software for videoconferencing over IP.

All I'm saying is that it's only a matter of time until we won't need the VCR, the DVD player, the Blu-Ray player or the videoconferencing codec in our systems. We'll simply need a Room PC and a laptop hook-up... and even that may be going quickly due to wireless! Who knows, by 2020, it may be that a conference room strictly consists of a 100% transparent glass OLED overlay that hangs on the wall and immediately comes to life when wirelessly connected to someone's blackberry. And from there, you will be able to review the P&L for the 2nd quarter, review the proposal for the new client, teach and train the staff on the use of the new CRM database, and do it all while in a multipoint videoconference to Malaysia, Japan, Canada and Brazil. Pretty cool - and it's coming quick.

Crestron Touch Panel Batteries - Death Trend?

8X and 10X Touch Panels
By the Spring of 2008, IMS had received reports from several customers that their touch panels were not receiving a sufficient charge. IMS began to collaborate with Crestron Engineering to determine trends and a best practice model. Through this process, IMS changed those customers’ touch panels to reflect the Crestron-recommended settings listed below. Please contact the IMS Service Department for more information on how to make those changes.



Best Practices
IMS’ leading control system partner, Crestron Control, Inc., recommends the following as a best practice for their 8X and 10X touch panels for optimal battery life. In most cases, customers can expect approximately 60 minutes of use per charge with these settings:

• Touch Panel Brightness: 50% to 80%
• Standby Timer: 1-2 minutes
• Shut-Off Timer: 2-5 minutes

However, touch panel settings are only part of the scenario. The antennae which transmit and
receive information to/from the touch panel and processor also utilizes the battery life. This activity depends upon how many different commands the touch panel receives from the user. The more often the touch panel is used while off the docking station, then the more the antennae are used; thereby draining the battery. This can drastically affect the length of a charge.

Battery Life Cycle
Crestron 8X and 10X touch panels utilize a lithium-ion battery, such as what you would find in a laptop or a cell phone. Crestron Engineering explains the life cycle of their touch panel batteries as thus:

• Each battery maintains its full life for approximately 300 - 500 cycles. A cycle is defined as whenever a touch panel is placed on the docking station or base and begins to charge.
• After 300 - 500 cycles, the battery life goes from 100% to approximately 80%.
• After 600 - 1000 cycles, the battery life goes from 80% to approximately 64%.
• After 1200 - 1500 cycles, the battery life goes from 64% to approximately 51%.
• This continues until ultimately the battery dies and needs to be replaced.
  

Crestron recommends that users should utilize as much of the battery charge as possible
before returning it to the docking station. As a best practice for optimal battery life, IMS recommends that customers should not return their touch panels to the docking station until 15% or less of the battery remains.

Once a touch panel is returned to the docking station, the touch panel battery is disabled and is charged until it reaches 100%. Once the battery reaches 100%, the charging mechanism is turned off. As long as the touch panel remains on the base, it draws power directly from the docking station and does not reactivate the battery until it is removed from the docking station.

If your organization needs more of a charge out of your TPMC-8X touch panel than what the average expectancy is at optimal settings, Crestron has extended battery options as an add-on solution. Please contact your Account Manager at IMS Audio-Visual for more information. Unfortunately, this solution is not currently offered for the TPMC-10X series.

If you would like to replace your Crestron TPMC-8X or TPMC-10X battery, please contact the IMS Service Department for more information.

Disgraceful Practices by LCD Manufacturers

Sharp, LG, Chungwha Picture Tubes Plea Guilty

Today, in a Federal Court in San Francisco, LCD Display Manufacturers SHARP and LG plead guilty (along with a third Japanese manufacturer) to price fixing for LCD displays. The fine will be approximately $585 million among the three companies.

Just another example, in my opinion, of greedy, disgusting, careless and heartless corporate practices by major corporations. In the US, first it was Fannie Mae, Freddy Mack and AIG that drove themselves under by scrambling any way they could to make a buck. Now, 2 of the top electronics manufacturers are price gouging consumers and fellow corporate customers (Not just your Apple and Dell, but also smaller resellers like IMS).

Sharp and LG got caught, but I'm sure they're not the only ones that have partaken. What I would imagine this will mean is that other manufacturers, such as Sony, Toshiba, etc, will begin to drop their prices just in time for the holiday sale rush (given the economic downturn, this was probably going to happen anyway). The question is, are Sharp and LG now for sale given the expensive fine? Probably not.

Whatever Happened to True Customer Service?

Over the past two years in the Pro AV World, I have noticed that major electronics manufacturers have begun a new trend and a new approach to giving their clients (resellers) service: providing service when it's convenient for the manufacturer. On far too many occasions recently, I have reached out to our manufacturers to set-up return authorizations for bad equipment and warranty repairs or for simply some technical answers about their product. And what, to my surprise, has become the new method of manufacturers supporting their resellers? "We're sorry, but due to a high volume of calls no one is available to take your call at this time. Please leave a message at the tone and someone will be in touch with you just as soon as possible. Thank you for choosing and have a great day."

Now, some manufacturers have had this process in play for quote some time and have made it fairly successful (Crestron). But these other manufacturers who did not always perform this way are not handling this approach correctly. Not only did I not receive phone calls back the same day, in most cases I did not receive any communication back at all! This is unprofessional and inexcusable.

One manufacturer waited 24 hours and then sent me an email (obviously taking the time to cross-reference my contact info in their database in order to get my email address). The email stated that they were, and I'm paraphrasing here, too busy for me.

One manufacturer's message actually said that they only way they will process a proper return is if we sent them a copy of the original invoice along with a written description of the problem via FAX. Are you kidding me? You're an electronics company and you only accept RA requests via FAX? Like I am going to trust that...

So what does all of this mean? Well, I am interpreting it as a problem industry-wide with having the proper staffing in the customer support departments of the manufacturers. It is also a problem with launching new products before they are completely tested and ready for the market in order to recover some research and development losses early.

But the effects reach farther than to just the resellers. They reach the end users. And who does this hurt? Everyone. The end user is angry because their product doesn't work when they need it to work. Nine times out of Ten, they're taking out that aggression on the reseller because that's who sold them the product. So, the reseller goes back to the manufacturer, but we're being hit with the circus-like process above, so the resolution takes much longer than is necessary and certainly longer than that of our clients' patience for waiting on a repair. If the process continues, then the reseller will look for another manufacturer. That is when the manufacturer will get hurt. It's just a shame that resellers in the AV industry bounce from one manufacturer to another all too frequently - so the manufacturer may never get the message.

Of course, the up side is that certain mega-manufacturers are taking a completely different approach - including extended service free of charge as incentives for customers, offering free advance replacements for any failures within the first year, second year or even the third year on the rare occasion without additional charge. These manufacturers are the Cities on the Hills, in my opinion, to the other manufacturers. This should be the end customer service goal for all electronics manufacturers. Of course, do you think it is a coincidence that these manufacturers also seem to be the ones with the product lines that have the fewest failures in the Pro AV world? Hmm...

Hopefully the trends started by the mega-manufacturers will have the effect needed among the smaller houses. Our customers need and expect their electronics to work. And when they don't work, they expect service turnaround as fast as possible. I'm not saying that we need to give them brand new equipment within 24 hours, but maybe the manufacturers should consider adding to their customer support and technical support staff so that repairs only take 1 week for the client (from time of reporting the problem to the problem resolution) instead of the average 2 weeks we're seeing with our manufacturers. There's your finish line and I so challenge you.