 I have a camera. I have a network switch (connected to a LAN or WAN). I have a computer.
I can take all three of these, link them together, and have them talking to one another like old friends. With a Ethernet cable, I can take the output of a camera, plug it into a switch, and have the camera’s output become a video and audio source on my network. But this isn’t your typical streaming video. This is Network Device Interface video. It’s broadcast quality video, perfect for live production and recording. Let’s say you have four cameras. Or maybe a bunch of cameras. And let’s say you want all of the cameras visible on different computers throughout your facility. Safe. Secure. Password protected. Plug all of the cameras into your local network switch, with the blessing of your IT department, and depending on user permissions, each computer can monitor, record, and control (i.e. a PTZ camera) the video. The beauty, in this case, is there’s very little bandwidth needed on the switch. No expensive video routing, no expensive HDMI or video cable runs. Plug in the camera, and it’s available to everyone with the proper permissions. Recorded video can be sent to production or further encoding. Monitored video can be used for quality control. And the PTZ cameras can be controlled remotely- every pan, tilt, and zoom. Whether you work in a post-production facility or with a government PEG channel, or any points in between or outside the norm, NDI is a technology you should be looking at now. It will revolutionize how your facility produces, records, monitors, and all-around wrangles your video. Network Device Interface (NDI) is a royalty-free software standard developed by NewTek to enable video-compatible products to communicate, deliver, and receive broadcast-quality video in a high-quality, low-latency manner that is frame-accurate and suitable for switching in a live production environment. For more information or to request a demo, contact Warren Baker, Post Production Specialist. ✆ 800 532 1099 ⓔ Warren@clark-powell.com
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IK-&FTM-S ADVANTAGES
   Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, colleges are presently deciding whether to stay remote or bring students back to campus in the fall. It seems likely that higher education will continue with virtual learning or hybrid learning.
Hybrid learning is a model where by the student spends a much larger part of the class time online rather than in person. A hybrid learning class for example might hold most of the curriculum online and then meet on campus at a couple of key points during the semester. We expect that many colleges will embrace the hybrid learning model for more of their regular classes because of the social distancing requirements. Many colleges are transitioning to using mobile-friendly tools to allow students more options for how and where they learn. This will make education more flexible and accessible to more students in more locations. Higher educational facilities need to remain savvy to the new technology available to them. There are a variety of virtual learning mobile apps and solutions like Screen capture, Zoom, WebEx integrations, video streaming, video assignments etc. In addition to online courses, colleges can make it possible for families and friends of the student body to participate in important events like commencement, academic awards, sports events, homecoming, lecture series and campus events through live streaming. Because most of the video content people see is previously recorded and edited before broadcast, live streaming events have a huge value to the audience because they are often interactive and it is the next best thing to being there. Colleges across the country are offering many courses remotely via live distance learning and we are here to help with the tech solutions. ClarkPowell supports all approaches to virtual learning solutions and live streaming of student events. We can help your educational facility with a cost effective yet quality equipment package that will enable you to meet the needs of your students and faculty in these extraordinary times. SPEAK TO A SPECIALIST TODAY CALL 800 532 1099 EMAIL info@clark-powell.com  Many State and Local Government departments are unaware that there is provision in the 2020 Cares Act to continue Government operations by live-streaming of city council meetings all while ensuring you include the public whilst following the social distancing requirements. ClarkPowell can help design and install a solution that meets your needs. If your event needs to reach a mass audience digitally then live streaming is the ideal option for communicating remotely and is suitable for a range of events, including General Council Meetings, Public Works Committees, Finance Committees etc. How to Reach Your Community with Live Streaming ClarkPowell offers technology solutions enabling you to broadcast your event live or on-demand to audiences of any size, from your location venue to your YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other physical locations. Having a live feed can be highly effective in engaging your constituents and ensuring that all audience members have access to all information. This is particularly important where maintaining audience participation is vital. What ClarkPowell Can Setup For Your Organization Our designers work with you to understand what you want to achieve and will provide professional experience to ensure your live stream will run smoothly and reliably. We are able to set the presentation up to be a split screen with the live camera feed and presentations and official documents, all being broadcast live simultaneously. Where the event is taking place in a large venue across different rooms, a live stream will allow audiences in different areas to access footage from the main room. Beyond this, live streams also allow your event to be broadcast to different locations. If you require the live streaming to be recorded, we are also able to offer record and post-production edit technology, whereby you will be able to further share the meeting with a broader audience. ClarkPowell have designed and installed hundreds of streaming solutions over the years and have the expertise that you need to protect your investment. Speak to a ClarkPowell Live Stream specialist today. Call us on 800 532 1099 or email info@clark-powell.com The CARES Act established the Coronavirus Relief Fund which is to be used to make payments for specified uses to States and local governments including: “Expenses for technical assistance to local authorities or other entities on mitigation of COVID-19-related threats to public health and safety. Expenses for public safety measures undertaken in response to COVID-19. Expenses to facilitate distance learning, including technological improvements, in connection with school closings to enable compliance with COVID-19 precautions. Expenses to improve telework capabilities for public employees to enable compliance with COVID-19 public health precautions.” Coronavirus Relief Fund Guidance for State, Territorial, Local, and Tribal Governments April 22, 2020.   To ensure that individuals entering a location are not running a high temperature, Aurora introduces the new infrared temperature sensor/detector. It provides alerts when a person is running a high temperature within 1 second. The system uses an advanced algorithm for detecting and calculating heat signatures. Based on technology developed in Germany, the highly accurate sensor measures with a tolerance of +/- 0.5 degrees Celsius (+/- 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit). Tauri tablets also come with a 2-year warranty. Why a temperature sensor?
Options:
Tauri Series Temperature-Check Tablets. 1 second scan from 3ft with +/- 0.5℃ accuracy.  Our engineering team at ClarkPowell have recently evaluated Barco's new ClickShare Conference. It is extremely easy to use and connects wirelessly to your meeting room equipment. You plug in the Barco puck, CLICK the button and in seconds you are Conferencing - whatever your choice of platform. It effectively and flawlessly then makes your meeting room display and camera available as options for your platform's hardware. The world’s workspaces are changing like never before & Wireless conferencing has arrived. As more and more people are working remotely and flexibly, office spaces and “meetings” are being radically transformed. It’s a workplace revolution that’s opening up new possibilities for working more efficiently and productively. But at the same time, it’s creating new challenges for business leaders who know future growth depends on making sure everyone across the organization can interact, connect and engage as easily as possible. We really liked the amount of flexibility it offers. It is compatible with your laptop, desktop, tablet or smartphone OS and it works with your conferencing platform (UC). When using the ClickShare Conferencing Button it connects instantly with your brand of speakers, webcams, or soundbars. We have full demo kits available. Contact your ClarkPowell representative or speak to a specialist today on 800 532 1099 or email info@clark-powell.com   When asked by a photographer which side of your face is your most photogenic, “The underside” is replied by no one - ever. Why is it then that many laptop manufacturers seem to have had a brainstorming meeting to answer the question “how do we make our laptop cameras get a better shot of double chins and nostril hair?” “I know, let’s put it as low down as possible, that would be the perfect angle, and we’ll also be able to get sponsorship from ceiling paint and lighting fixture manufacturers”. The guy is now probably VP of the department of idiotic ideas on a 6-figure salary.
Strangely, many laptop and tablet manufacturers do now place their cameras so low that it completely wipes out the face-to-face experience that they are trying to achieve, so to compensate for their total lack of common sense, here are a few tips to improve your face-to-face and face-to-many meetings that we are all having to endure during this lock-down. Firstly, it is ideal to get your camera to as near your eye level as possible, and a good tip here is rather than kneeling on the floor, prop up your laptop on a box or some books - when in doubt, higher is better than lower. Secondly, try to make sure that there is a plain background behind you, blue or grey works best for a good camera to skin contrast. You can also use the blurring effect that many software apps like Zoom or Teams offer because although these often remove your ears, this is still far less distracting to your audience than seeing your significant other in the background shampooing the dog in the sink. Lighting is also important, if you sit with a bright window behind you, you will look like a silhouette, which is fine if you are choosing anonymity to cover your crimes. Instead, try to make sure there is lighting falling on your face, so your colleagues can enjoy you in all your glory. Finally, background noise is very distracting, so try to set up in a quiet place and always remain muted until you talk. Headsets are good to use where possible, they not only improve the audio you send to your audience, but they also have the advantage of making your lock-down hair look far less stupid. If you follow these simple rules, you will find teleconferencing much more enjoyable for everyone. If you would like our experts at ClarkPowell to work with you on your remote communication needs, please reach out to our very photogenic sales team on 800 532-1099 P.S. Wear pants. Mike Parks (mparks@clark-powell.com)  HOW CAN CLARKPOWELL HELP YOUR ORGANIZATION ON YOUR UC JOURNEY? Businesses are increasingly adopting Unified Communications (UC) strategies. It enables your employees to be more productive through effective communications and advanced collaboration which is more important than ever in these trying times. UC provides mobility and removes your dependency on office-based working and communication. It will enable employees to create an office environment at home, giving them full access to their tools through a multitude of devices including PC’s, tablets & smartphones. UC integrates real-time communications services such as instant messaging & file sharing, voice and video conferencing, with non-real-time communications such as email and voicemail in a seamless user experience. WHY CHOOSE CLARKPOWELL FOR UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS? We've been specializing in helping organizations to plan and deploy Unified Communications solutions since the technology first became available. Our team of engineers and installation technicians have a proven track record of delivering communication and collaboration platforms to a wide range of organizations throughout North and South Carolina. We tailor each project to fit your needs with extensive planning and exploration and best practice to make sure the benefits to you are maximized. SPEAK TO A SPECIALIST TODAY! Let us help you build a UC and collaboration environment utilizing Microsoft teams, Zoom or whatever your preferred platform. Give us a call today on 800 532 1099 Or email info@clark-powell.com   Teens take a lot of heat for the amount of time they spend staring at their phones, but when it comes to effective learning, being buried in a screen might be more effective than being buried in a book. For example, by issuing a laptop to every student in 3rd through 12th grade, the Mooresville Graded School District in North Carolina increased the graduation rate from 80 percent to 91 percent over the course of three years.
Technology-enabled learning can streamline assigning, collecting, and grading work and help create a more personalized education experience. Here are the best software and hardware tools to bring your classrooms into the digital age. DIGITAL CLASSROOMS KEEP STUDENTS AND TEACHERS CONNECTED Smartphone ownership among teenagers is growing—in 2018, 89 percent of teenagers had their own smartphone, compared to just 41 percent in 2012. When you add tablets to the mix, 95 percent of teens have access to a mobile device. And smartphones, texting, chatting, and social media may offer more positives than once thought. For example, 25 percent of teens report that social media makes them less lonely, compared to just 3 percent who say it makes them more lonely. Educators can leverage students’ comfort with—and preference for—online communication to streamline classroom activities and create more personalized learning opportunities. Apps such as Google Classroom and Canvas provide integrated learning management platforms that allow teachers and students to access multiple digital learning tools in one place. Other apps, such as Klassroom and Seesaw help take the digital classroom home. With Seesaw students can create and post a portfolio of their best work to share with their parents any time. Teachers can also access the portfolios to demonstrate how students are meeting learning objectives.  NEW SONY DISPLAY MAKES A SURPRISE APPEARANCE Sony unveiled its new Sony Crystal LED display for the first time in North Carolina at Fusion 2019. Seeing this fantastic new display up close and in person was a terrific bonus for all the technophiles in attendance.
Why is this display ground-breaking? It boasts an outstanding 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio—far beyond the performance of conventional LED array systems—and features an array of ultrafine LED elements with a powerful light output to give you bright, immersive, super-size images with rich contrast and vivid colors. You can use the Sony Crystal LED display in a wide variety of spaces, including boardrooms, theme parks, and retail showrooms, as well as museums, corporate lobbies, and scientific research facilities. EXCELLENT TRAINING SESSIONS In addition to hands-on access to the latest AV technology offerings, Fusion 2019 attendees participated in a variety of classes and training sessions geared at improving the way they use AV tools and integration techniques. Topics included:
NETWORKING AND PRIZES ROUND OUT FUSION 2019 Attendees also had plenty of time to network with each other, sharing best practices and lessons learned, as well as time to talk one-on-one with dozens of vendors who exhibited at the event. More than 30 people walked away with prizes from the grand giveaway, including gift cards, a Sony 55” TV, Amazon Echo devices, and an iPad. HELP IS HERE FOR ONGOING AV SUPPORT This year marked the 23rd annual Fusion Technology Expo and the event is still going strong. We hope you’ll be able to join us next year in Raleigh. But until then, contact us to discuss follow-up questions from the show or any ongoing AV projects. Use this link to schedule a time to contact our team. |
