Murray Franklyn Gets the Big Presentation Picture
Apr 27, 2006 8:00 AM
The ceiling-installed ELMO HV-C1000XG digital video camera enables presenters at Murray Franklyn to display high-resolution images of large drawings, maps, and 3D objects for presentations and videoconferencing.
Murray Franklyn, a family of companies comprising one of the Northwest’s largest homebuilders, has been building award-winning homes and communities in the Puget Sound area for more than 30 years. Therefore, it follows that the firm’s executives incorporated the same high level of design and craftsmanship that they are known for, along with today’s most advanced presentation/telecommunications technology, into their recently remodeled conference room. After visiting one of the clients and seeing a room with capabilities similar to those they were seeking, the firm’s principals contacted Master Design, the Anacortes, Wash.-based company that had done that particular installation.
According to Tony Locke, the president of Master Design, the people at Murray Franklyn wanted the room to have simple, intuitive ease-of-use presentation system with videoconferencing, multiple displays, and input sources. They required two displays, a projection screen, and a plasma monitor—and, says Locke, they specified each to be “the largest we can fit into this room.” A document camera that would allow associates to display large documents, such as drawings and blueprints was another must.
After discussing the various needs and how they could be met, Master Design set out to design the room, which Locke describes as being “quite small and comfy with a jelly-bean shaped table in the middle.” He explained that due to the triangular shape of the room, the size and placement of the displays were limited to two walls. The solution was to install a 5’x7’ electric, tab-tensioned screen on the large wall directly in front of the table and a 47in. Sharp LCD display on a pull-out/swivel mount on the smaller wall to the right of the table.
The front wall also had moving partitions, which allows for large maps and photos to be attached, on sliding rails so it can be moved from one side of the room to the other during presentations. In order to retain these panels, the large front screen was installed high in the ceiling with an additional 30in. of black fabric on top.
The firm wanted to be able to project land plats, or maps, as well as other documents on the larger screen. This was accomplished by installing an ELMO HV-C1000XG digital document camera in the ceiling. This allows presenters to spread out 24”x36”-and-larger documents on the table and display high-resolution video images at 20fps on the front screen in the conference room and to other locations via videoconferencing. Presenters at Murray Franklyn can now display documents in sizes ranging from business cards to large drawings as well as 3D objects such as carpet, stone, or wood samples. The 24X zoom control allows users to zoom in and show specific sections of drawings, etc. in great detail. The images can also be captured and stored on a PC.
The Murray Franklyn conference room was designed with spotlights and speakers located in a suspended hard ceiling “cloud” above the table. Installed in an enclosure set into the cloud with the lens set flush with the ceiling, the HV-C1000XG takes up no table or floor space in the room and is for the most part inconspicuous.
A shelf attached to the LCD display accommodates a Tandberg 880 integrated videoconferencing system while two Extron Cable Cubbies in the table neatly house power, network, and VGA connections. A Sharp XG-MB-70 DLP projector, which projects clear, high-resolution images from the HV-C1000XG to the front screen sits out-of-sight on a soffit in the back of the room. An AMX MVP 8400 8.4in. wireless touchpanel control met Murray Franklyn’s requirement for an integrated presentation system that was intuitive and easy to use.
The PC can be used as a source for VTC (video teleconferencing) and images from the PC can be displayed on either screen. The lights in the room automatically change levels according to which function or source is selected. During videoconferencing, a dedicated VTC lamp above the VTC camera comes on while other zones (a total of six) around the room are dimmed.
The new conference room makes a wide array of technology available to users from every Murray Franklyn department. Along with the ELMO document camera, videoconferencing, three computer inputs, and two screens capable of displaying images from any source, the room also has satellite-fed HDTV. All in all, it is one of the most versatile and unique presentation rooms of its kind.
