The Concept

The classic boardroom has taken a bit of a backseat in recent years to the newly popular huddle spaces.  It is now prime time to circle back with some clients and talk to them about giving their boardroom (and other large meeting spaces) a major tech overhaul. We are in the midst of a bona fide “boardroom renaissance”! All the trendy and fun tech that people have come to know and love in their huddle spaces now needs to be available in their boardroom, but with greater security, crisper images, as well as a heightened look and feel of prestige. Every piece of equipment must help deliver a hassle-free collaborative experience. It must also maintain the aesthetics and impact that the executive boardroom is intended to showcase. Our goal here is to create a a functional area for executives to get to business and make a statement. The technology must be intuitive, always work, and create a visual atmosphere and backdrop that supports getting down to business.

Putting it Together:

Collaboration Solution

Barco Clickshare revolutionized sharing and presentation with simplicity and elegance.  It got the cables off the table. No holes and no messes. Over the past few years, the feedback came in for improvements on what the true executive experience rooms required that the current version did not cover.

Enter the CSE-800

Based on real feedback from users, This new clickshare was designed to be the central hub of the boardroom. Simple sharing so that guests and execs alike can easily present and view work in crisp detail was key. Adding in annotation and collaboration brings it well beyond just sharing. Enhanced security means that even the most sensitive presentation or information will not be compromised

Viewing detailed side by side forecasts, comparing market trends, or reviewing prototype drawings for comparison and beyond are what needs to happen in this room. This is your hub for making these tasks and needs as powerful and simple as possible.

As a bonus, like its predecessors, it is truly wireless and keeps the technology from getting in the way of the users getting to business.

Let’s make it simple. The CSE-800 is your go-to solution for conquering the boardroom when you need one or more of the following…

Dual network connections (i.e. guest and internal)

Simple and secure presentation with Multi-level enterprise security

Auto and manual moderation

Touch panel support for blackboarding and annotation

The feature-packed CSE-800 is the de facto solution for a hassle-free, full-blown collaboration experience that goes way beyond basic screen sharing, it will maintain that prominence for years to come. The CSE-800 will accommodate up to 64 buttons, so add however many you need. And don’t forget, users can also connect from Android and iOS devices like phones and tablets via the ClickShare App with the same encrypted connections. With 64 total users, and up to 8 individuals on screen at the same time how to do you create the landscape that allows that much information to be viewed with the detail that is required? Let’s look at where to send those signals.

Projection

 For our next trick, let’s pick out the display products that are really going to show off what the CSE-800 can do, and that means two 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,400) resolution displays. Why not keep it in the Barco family and go with a couple of the F90-4K13 laser phosphor projectors? If you need a little help weighing the pros and cons of laser projectors vs. lamp based projectors, check out my previous article, Is Laser Right for You?. Otherwise, you already know that laser projectors will save you a lot of money and headaches since they are virtually maintenance free for at least 20,000 hours. This means much less of a chance of “down time” which we all know is not an option in this room.

Imagine dual 4k resoluion with this intense color saturation and now ask ‘Why’? Here is the reason – 8 screens can be displayed in full HD resolution at the same time so you can read and see everything without the loss of fidelity which is common when scaling images down. The color saturation means that logos and color samples come through spot on without any questions as to the accuracy of what you are seeing.

Now, remember, all of this is suitable and warrantied for 24-7 operation. It’s the ideal solution for mission-critical, jaw-dropping prestige applications like boardrooms. Remember, it is about impact. These will deliver.

We’ll need to eventually pick out some lenses to go with these projectors, but we’ll get back to that later after we have selected our screens.

Screen

You can spend big bucks on the best projector money can buy, but if you are projecting onto poorly matched screen material, your investment will be wasted. Key specifications you’ll need to consider will be aspect ratio, viewing angle, and gain.  You’ll also need to know what type of screen you want such as manual, motorized, fixed frame, etc. Once you have those factors nailed down, you can start looking for something that is aesthetically pleasing and of the right size and function for the room. For the F90-4K13 projectors, we will need screens with a 16:10 aspect ratio and we want them to be motorized, which means we can hide them in the ceiling when possible.

Based on those two things, we can quickly narrow down the search to the Elite Screens Saker Tab-Tension Series from their ProAV product line. We’ll go with two of the SKT106NXW-E12, which are 106” diagonal screens that are outfitted with Elite’s MaxWhite Fiberglass screen material. This screen material will provide an 180-degree viewing angle with a gain rating of 1.1, ready, meaning no matter what your vantage point is in the room, you can expect consistent image quality with little if any, hot spotting. On top of that, these screens are ready, flame retardant, complying with NFPA 701 standards (making the local fire marshal happy!), and are GREENGUARD® Gold Certified. Finally, the fiberglass backing of the screen material, combined with the tab-tension system of the overall screen will maintain a nice, flat projection surface.

Lens

Now that we have our screens picked out, we can get back to selecting the lenses we need for the projectors. The Barco Lens Calculator makes this a snap. By plugging in the screen ratio and screen dimensions, we can play around with the projection distance to figure out which lenses will fit our needs. This is important, because to maintain the visuals, you dont get to say where the projectors go. You are agile to put them where the architecture permits.

Control and Automation

For our purposes here and in the interest of brevity, let’s assume there is an adequate audio conferencing system in place so we can jump right to the last piece of the puzzle; how do we control all this stuff?  What if I told you there’s an affordable way to automate this AV system that doesn’t require you to have the equivalent of a black belt in programming?  It’s not too good to be true. I’m talking about Neets, specifically their Touch & TanGo bundle.

The Touch part of this bundle is the 7” touch control panel that can be either wall or table mounted, and the only connection it needs is RJ45 for both power and Ethernet communication. The TanGo part is the heart of this control system and configuring it is incredibly quick and easy thanks to Neets’ intuitive drag-and-drop Project Designer software. All devices, both video, and audio (Audio considerations we will address in a future Story!) can be connected to the TanGo either via RS-232 or LAN. Neets also offer a wide assortment of input panels, audio amplifiers, and keypads to round out your control system with everything the client needs to run efficient, hassle-free meetings.

And there you have it. This is how we will meet the visual demands of the boardroom renaissance. The final step is to use this list of equipment we discussed today as a rough framework that you can tweak in endless ways until you have a solution that perfectly meets the needs of your project’s venue and application.

Ask your questions below, and keep an eye out for our next look at Audio solutions for this same room!

Gear List:

1 x Barco ClickShare CSE-800 (R9861580NA)

2 x Barco Convenience Packs (R9861500P01)

2 x Barco F90-4K13 110V projectors (R9023465)

2 x Barco EN43 lenses (R9801230)

2 x Elite Screens 106” Saker Series Tension Screen (SKT106NXW-E12)

1 x Neets Touch & Tango Bundle (313-1001)