Essential Install May 2017 | Page 27

Essential Install | EI Live! 2017 Review A feature of the show was speakers that make a design statement. Redline was just one of the companies helping in this regard HEADLINE SPONSOR Now ble! Availa Now EI has to be honest, when it fi rst heard of the concept, with the top TV running as a normal screen and the bottom one operating as a virtual fi replace, we were not sure if it would work. However, (and this is the real value of shows) – in the fl esh it really does work. The system is versatile, so both screens can be TVs, meaning a TV/games console could be running on the bottom screen and something more grown up on the top. The virtual fi re place is just one example of what can be running to provide atmosphere on the bottom screen; pretty much any content can be loaded: fi sh tank, photo albums and so on. The unit comes mounted on or in-wall and screens can be mixed and matched from 27in to 65in. This year’s show was notable in the level of satisfaction expressed by exhibitors. At the show highlighting his company’s options in terms of intelligent rack and storage solutions, Sharafat Shah, MD, ALLRACK Enclosures Ltd, reported: “The fi rst day of the show was the busiest we have ever seen at the event. I lost track of the time – the stand was that busy and I did not even look at my watch until 3.30! The quality of the visitor was very high this year and the potential for follow up business is the best we have ever had from the show. We also took signifi cant orders at the show, so all in all a really successful event.” Distributor Alltrade took its largest ever stand and was rewarded with a constant stream of new and existing customers looking for info on brands like HDL, Ubiquiti, MaxxOne, Niles Audio and Sonos. Blustream, distributed by Alltrade, took the stand opposite and matched the stand design to show off its range of HDbaseT solutions. Alltrade’s managing director, Steve Simper, said: “We had a great turnout of existing customers visiting the stand and plenty of potential new customers looking into our growing portfolio of CI products.” Alltrade highlighted products such as HDL’s smart home platform controling lighting, heating and AV, networking solutions from Ubiquiti and a new range of CCTV equipment from MaxxOne. Blustream demonstrated its full range of HDbaseT components and system possibilities. Connected Distribution in partnership with Pulse-Eight took a larger space than in previous years to highlight the brands it offers and also to show some cool voice activated integration between Alexa and Pulse-Eight. Phil Hansen, marketing director for the company, said: “I can safely say this was our best experience yet at EI Live! Moving from a shell scheme to the dedicated Connected Distribution and Pulse-Eight Get Your Kit On Introducing the new H2A Matrix Kit from WyreStorm 4K HDR HDBaseT matrix with audio breakout and 4x PoH receivers MX-0404-HDBT-H2A-KIT • 4x4 HDBaseT matrix with 4x PoH receivers • 4K/60Hz 8-bit / 4K/24Hz HDR 12-bit • 4K/24Hz HDR 12-bit over HDBaseT to 40m • Internal audio de-embed from sources or HDBT • 4x Coaxial S/PDIF / 4x Stereo RCA analogue outputs • Mirrored HDMI output • SmartEDID™ manages mixed 2K/4K screens in a project • Bidirectional IR, CEC and RS-232 control • HDCP 2.2 wyrestorm.com May 2017 | 25