BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Courtesy of Atlona
A t lon a p r e s e n t a t ion s w i t ch e r s a nd c om p a c t s w i t ch e r / ex t e nd e r s p rov id e a p rob l e m - so l v ing m e a ns fo r t h is p r e s t ig ious un i v e r s i t y. T h e m ul t i - fo r m a t CL S O
S w i t ch e r s e r i e s no t on l y p rov id e d a n e c onomic a l m e a ns to m e e t t h e B o s ton Univ e r s i t y Co l l e g e o f Com m unic a t ion ’s 4 K r e a d in e s s r e qu i r e m e n t , b u t i t a l low e d
m ul t ip l e ou td a t e d c om pon e n t s to b e r e p l a c e d w i t h a s ing l e c om pon e n t .
Education
COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION
2 Atlona—Boston University
Courtesy of Atlona
L ike most inst i tut ions of h igher education, Boston Univers i t y updates i ts technology inf rastructure ever y
few years to ensure i t of fers students and facul ty the ver y latest tools to a id them in the education process. Star t ing in the summer of 2015, the inst i tut ion turned i ts at tent ion to i ts h ighly-regarded Col lege of Communicat ion, where i t decided to conduct an overhaul of the AV systems in two rooms ser v ing advanced Journal ism and narrat ive post-production workshop labs, as wel l as a lecture ha l l and a c lassroom.
Whi le optimiz ing system per formance was i ts pr ior i t y, the univers i t y a lways needed to ensure i ts choice of gear and insta l lat ion process f i t into i ts budgetar y constra ints. Severa l years ago as a cost-sav ing measure, Boston Univers i t y’s Col lege of Communicat ion decided to manage the maintenance of i ts campus-wide AV needs internal ly wi thout the ass istance of outs ide integrators. I ts AV upgrade projects were handled by the col lege’s Technica l Operat ions Manager and Chief Engineer, Jake Kassen, and his super v isor, Technology Director Brad Fernandes.
Selecting High Performance Gear to Maximize Investment
“To keep up with the latest standards, we needed a l l spaces in the Communicat ion School to be 4K v ideo ready, but we are a lways mindfu l of maximiz ing the student’s investment,” sa id Kassen.
“Wherever we’re able to save money on AV solut ions, we can apply the sav ings to addit ional technology resources that d i rect ly improve the students’ learn ing exper ience.”
Connectiv i t y is key in today’s c lassrooms as instructors and students have a constant need to share content f rom many sources – Blu-ray p layers, laptops, te lev is ion programming and, increasingly, por table dev ices – as par t of the ir da i ly coursework. The computer/v ideo production labs, c lassroom and lecture ha l l spaces in BU’s Col lege of Communicat ion suppor t a wide range of courses, inc luding Advanced Post-Production for Narrat ive Stor y te l l ing, Broadcast and Mult imedia Journal ism, and Adver t is ing and Communicat ion research. In addit ion, these fac i l i t ies are of ten used for specia l events and guest speakers.
3Atlona—Boston University
Courtesy of Atlona
Before get t ing star ted, Kassen and Fernandes spent a good deal of t ime researching the gear they would need for the upgrade. A crucia l component in each set t ing was the mult i-format switcher, which would need to of fer h igh per formance and a range of inputs to cover each space’s connectiv i t y and work f low needs. In each case, they found Atlona models to be the answer.
“We were not ver y fami l iar wi th At lona, but we were impressed with the company’s abi l i t y to of fer the most features at the best pr ice,” sa id Kassen. “We star ted out us ing the ir gear on a tr ia l basis. As we proceeded through the projects, At lona gear quick ly became our go-to choice.”
Matrixed 4K/UHD in the Video Production LabThe f i rst project Kassen and his team tack led was the AV system upgrade of the Ezrat t i UHD lab ( room 301A), which was completed with 13 Mac computer stat ions and two 70” Sharp 4K v ideo screens fed by severa l sources, inc luding
Panasonic Blu-ray players. The Atlona AT-UHD-CLSO-824 4K /UHD 8x2 matr ix switcher was se lected for th is room, as i t of fered a mix of inputs, and the abi l i t y to suppor t remote sources throughout the room. One immediate benef i t of the new system is that i t enhanced the students’ abi l i t y to v iew content be ing edi ted with profess ional sof tware v ia a projector, whi le s imultaneously v iewing edi ted content on a separate display.
Dur ing the f i rst stage of the insta l lat ion project, i t was a lso revealed that the new LED/ laser projectors purchased to replace o lder lamp-based projectors had HDBaseT inputs, which were compatib le with each of the new Atlona switchers. This enabled Kassen to save money and insta l lat ion t ime without the need for HDBaseT rece ivers, as wel l as to keep se lect legacy gear in the mix without requir ing separate cabl ing to carr y RS-232 s ignals to the projectors.
I t was a lso ear ly in th is project that Kassen found that the Atlona switchers enabled h im to replace mult ip le outdated AV components with a s ingle component. For instance, the AT-UHD-CLSO-824’s dedicated audio mix-matr ix for s ignals routed to the switcher’s outputs enables audio s ignals to be mixed f rom e i ther of the two se lected v ideo sources a long with both mic / l ine input s ignals. This e l iminated the need for an ex ternal mixer, which saved money, space and insta l lat ion t ime. In Kassen’s v iew, the piece a lso proved considerably less expensive, more capable, physica l ly smal ler and more re l iable than the competi t ive switcher i t replaced.
“AS WE PROCEEDED THROUGH THE PROJECTS, ATLONA GEAR QUICKLY BECAME OUR GO-TO CHOICE.”
–Technical Operations Manager and Chief Engineer, Jake Kassen
4 Atlona—Boston University
Courtesy of Atlona
Flexible Switching for HDMI and Legacy SourcesFor the nex t space upgrade, a seminar room the Atlona AT-UHD-CLSO-601 s ix- input switcher was chosen to suppor t the s ingle Panasonic LED projector conf igurat ion that needed to be connected to an assor tment of v ideo sources. This featured f lex ib le mult i-format switching of four HDMI and two mult i funct ion analog inputs to mir rored HDBaseT and HDMI outputs with bui l t- in 4K scal ing. This prov ided the f lex ib i l i t y for i t to be integrated with both new and legacy sources.
The AT-UHD-CLSO-601 enhanced the system’s ease-of-use with intu i t ive, turnkey features inc luding automatic d isplay contro l, which turns on the display automatica l ly whenever instructors and students connect a source, and automatic input se lect ion, which senses the presence of any v ideo s ignal. This e l iminates the need for a separate contro l system, reducing cost and complex i t y.
Dur ing the summer of 2016, Kassen’s team upgraded the col lege’s largest lecture room with a new Panasonic projector with an HDBaseT input and AV distr ibut ion components f rom a number of manufacturers. A l l are connected v ia
At lona’s AT-HDVS-150-TX 3x1 switcher and HDBaseT ex tender, which is powered by an Atlona AT-PS-POE midspan power in jector. Ideal for long distance transmiss ion and display contro l in th is educational set t ing, th is model of fered the versat i l i t y of two HDMI inputs p lus a VGA input with audio.
“NOW EACH ROOM OFFERS NEW CAPABILITIES AND WITH SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED SIGNAL QUALITY TO KEEP US AT THE HEAD OF THE PACK AMONG TOP-TIER COMMUNICATIONS SCHOOLS.”
–Kassen
5Atlona—Boston University
This switcher a lso enabled mult ip le o lder components to be replaced by a s ingle new component, as i t combines the benef i ts of a switcher, wi th bui l t- in auto-switching, and the advantages of long-distance HDBaseT s ignal ex tension. L ike the other two Atlona switchers used in th is project, i t enables auto display on /of f and auto-switching. I ts insta l lat ion with cost-ef fect ive and easy-to-terminate category cable prov ided addit ional cost and t ime sav ing benef i ts.
“The Atlona gear has been rock sol id,” sa id Kassen. “We have been ver y happy with the leve l of company suppor t f rom the t ime we ordered the gear through i ts insta l lat ion. ”
Looking AheadThis fa l l, the f ina l par t of the project wi l l be to complete a second lab space in a s imi lar fashion to that of the Ezrat t i lab completed last year. As th is four-space project draws to a c lose, Kassen, h is team and the community of professors, instructors and students are ver y sat isf ied with the resul ts.
“Now each room of fers new capabi l i t ies and with s igni f icant ly improved s ignal qual i t y to keep us at the head of the pack
Courtesy of Atlona
among top-t ier communicat ions schools,” sa id Kassen. “ I t is ver y sat isf y ing that we chose Atlona, a new resource for us, to rea l ize our fu l l v is ion in upgrading our state-of-the-ar t fac i l i t ies. We are ver y p leased with the ir products and suppor t, as wel l as the fact we have v i r tua l ly e l iminated the per formance issues and compla ints we used to hear.”
PRODUCTS FEATURED
F o r m or e s o lu t io n s , s e e h t t p : / / a t lo n a . c o m / s o lu t io n s - to u r /
F o r m or e a p p l i c a t io n s , s e e h t t p : / / a t lo n a . c o m / c a s e - s t u d i e s /
Model
4K/UHD 8×2 Multi-Format Matrix Switcher
with Dual, HDBaseT and Mirrored HDMI
Outputs
4K/UHD Six-Input Multi-Format Switcher
with Mirrored HDMI and HDBaseT Outputs
and Automatic Display Control
Three-Input Switcher for HDMI and VGA
Sources with HDBaseT Output
Power Over Ethernet Mid-Span Power Supply
AT-UHD-CLSO-824
AT-UHD-CLSO-601
AT-HDVS-150-TX
AT-PS-POE
Descr ip t ion More In format ion
http://atlona.com/product/at-uhd-clso-601/
http://atlona.com/product/at-hdvs-150-tx/
http://atlona.com/product/at-ps-poe/
http://atlona.com/product/at-uhd-clso-824/
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