Instead of constantly flipping channels to catch all of their favorite sports and TV shows, this homeowner called in an integrator to get creative.
CE Pro Editors • February 3, 2020
With the size and resolution of today’s displays, there’s never been a better time to take in a live game in the comfort of your own home. But what do you do if you want to watch multiple games at once? For the owner of this luxury home in Mexico City, the answer was a living room video wall, and they called on Mexico City-based integrator Smartlab to provide it.
Smartlab installed nine 55-inch displays in the living room in a 3 x 3 arrangement, with video sources including Apple TV, Roku and four satellite receivers.
To deliver the ultimate viewing experience, the company knew it was imperative that the homeowner be able to easily send any source to any display and change the video wall configuration on the fly, whether it be one large image across all the displays, nine independent images, or any combination in between.
To achieve this, a cost-effective video distribution system with integrated video wall capabilities was required, in addition to an intuitive control and automation solution.
INTEGRATOR UTILIZES ULTRA HD VIDEO OVER IP
For video distribution, Smartlab utilized Just Add Power’s (J+P) 3G Ultra HD Over IP platform. Each display is equipped with a J+P VBS-HDIP-508POE 3G power over Ethernet receiver, while each source is outfitted with a VBS-HDIP-707POE 3G PoE transmitter.
In addition to support for 4K Ultra HD resolutions (the home has 4K sets from LG and Sony throughout), HDMI 2.0 devices with HDCP 2.2, and uncompressed lossless multichannel audio formats — including Dolby Atmos— the platform offers built-in video wall functionality for displays installed in portrait and flipped configurations, as well as image push, pull, and pop features. An integrated scaler on the receiver automatically adjusts the picture to fit the screen.
Designed with a modular approach to video distribution, the J+P platform also allows the homeowner to cost-effectively add displays, sources, and even emerging formats in the future with ease, explains Albert Mizrahi, CEO of Smartlab. Any additional screens or sources would only need another small receiver or transmitter, respectively, added into the system.
CONTROL4 AUTOMATION SYSTEM SIMPLIFIES SELECTIONS FOR VIEWERS
The homeowner has complete control over the viewing experience, as well as the home’s audio being piped in through Denon and Revel speakers, via a Control4 automation system. They can change any display to any source and select their desired video wall configuration with one touch using a Control4 touchscreen, remote control, or an app on their Apple iOS devices.
“With Just Add Power, we were able to deliver a state-of-the-art viewing experience that far exceeded our customer’s expectations, at a cost that didn’t break the bank. They couldn’t be more pleased and are recommending this set-up to all their friends,” says Mizrahi.
“And should they wish to add a source to the video wall in the future — or expand the video distribution system to other displays in their home — we can easily accommodate that growth
