Kevin Cho - Bloomberg.com - Feb. 8 - Samsung Electronics Co. and Sharp Corp. agreed to end all patent-infringement litigation against each other and cross-license technology related to liquid- crystal displays.

Samsung, the world’s largest LCD maker, and Sharp will drop all pending lawsuits and share patents on LCD panels and modules, the two companies said in separate statements today. Financial details weren’t disclosed.

The agreement ends more than two years of disputes between Samsung and Sharp, Japan’s largest LCD maker, over patented technology for LCD TVs. Each had won orders from the U.S. International Trade Commission banning imports of the other’s televisions into the U.S. market and both companies have been challenging those decisions.

Last month, Sharp filed a new patent-infringement complaint against Samsung over LCDs with the ITC. In December, the ITC said it would investigate Samsung complaints that Sharp TVs infringe patents related to the way LCD screens portray the black and white portion of images, minimizing the effects of static electricity and improving the image quality.

Samsung was the top seller of LCD TVs in the U.S. in the third quarter with almost 17 percent of the market, according to researcher ISuppli Corp. Sharp didn’t rank among the top five.

Darren Murph - We know good and well what kind of extravagant displays are available to gawk at in New York City, but now it looks like the locals will have yet another one to check out when they're taking a breather from the rat race. CBS Outdoor has unveiled plans to deliver two solid hours (from 11:30AM to 1:30PM throughout February) of 3D advertising on an expansive, high-definition video screen installed within Grand Central Station. Unlike the glasses-free solution that we spotted at Intel's CES booth this year, this one will still require onlookers to rock those heinous and soul-crushing glasses in order to "see" the "effect," and with around 70,000 commuters passing by each day, we'd guess that the spectacle manufacturer who nabbed this contract is feeling pretty good right about now.

Systemscontractor.com - FAIRFAX, VA - A new study is projecting that audiovisual products and services will become a $91 billion global industry by 2012.  The 2010 InfoComm Global AV Market Definition and Strategy Study, conducted by Acclaro Growth Partners on behalf of InfoComm International, is the first worldwide study of its kind aimed at sizing the commercial AV industry.

The growth of digital signage, videoconferencing, and command and control facilities resulted in an eight percent compound annual growth in demand for AV products and services between 2006 and 2009.  Despite a troubling economic environment in 2009, spending on AV goods and services did not contract.   The study finds that the audiovisual industry was a $68 billion a year industry in 2009.  A compound annual growth rate of 10 percent is projected for the three-year period from 2009 to 2012.

The fastest growing product categories are displays, AV conferencing equipment, streaming media and webcasting, wireless connections and software.  There is also an increasing demand for directional and cone speakers in digital signage applications, designed to create an immersive experience for the consumer.

"As the global trade association for the commercial AV industry, InfoComm International is a leading provider of market research that sizes the AV industry in terms of products and services to identify trends," said Randal A. Lemke, Executive Director and CEO, InfoComm International.  "While we are heartened by the findings of this study we are not surprised.  The audiovisual industry is growing because society relies on AV technology to provide essential communications solutions."

AV applications such as digital signage, videoconferencing and digitized high-end audio systems will continue to drive growth for the next three years.  In addition, the top AV control systems manufacturers' ability to provide total building automation will create additional growth because of emerging concerns relating to energy efficiency and building sustainability .

Contracts for service and maintenance of audiovisual systems are also increasing.  The fastest growing services are programming, maintenance and training and other services.  Technology managers have expressed a growing need for service contracts as AV systems have become complex and more mission-critical to the government, institutions and corporations.

The corporate, education and government markets are the three largest consumers of audiovisual products and services.  The growing need for communication and collaboration in these environments fuels reliance on AV technology.

The findings of The 2010 InfoComm Global AV Market Definition and Strategy Study, which include a global overview and information by regions including North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa-Middle East, were released at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), the largest audiovisual and systems integration tradeshow in Europe. The study can be purchased in its entirety or by regional section at www.infocomm.org/store or at InfoComm's booth, HCE 01, at ISE.

PRO AV News Service - Hitachi America rolled out the CP-DW10N 3LCD projector, which the company says combines short-throw capabilities with networking functionality and widescreen display, making it well suited for use with interactive whiteboards.

According to the company, the CP-DW10N features a short-throw distance of 3 feet, projecting an 80-inch image. The projector can be controlled and maintained via LAN connection.

The CP-DW10N features WXGA (1280 x 800) resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio, says the company, which makes the projector compatible with widescreen laptop computers and capable of projecting on an 87-inch-wide interactive whiteboard from 37 inches away.

A messenger function aims to ease administration and maintenance by transmitting text data from a remote computer to the projector through the network and project the message. Hitachi says the tool is useful for campus notifications, school activities, daily schedules, and community news. The template function can display lines, circles, and a world map in order to ease writing on an interactive whiteboard. Partial magnification allows presenters to magnify part of an image up to four times.

The projector also features a hybrid filter that reportedly only requires cleaning every 4,000 hours. Security features include a security bar and PIN lock, which can be used to limit the number of authorized users. The CP-DW10N also provides a 10-watt audio output and an HDMI input terminal.

Stampede University recently offered dealer trainings in partnership with several ProAV manufacturers.  Several hundred Stampede dealers attended sessions hosted by Epson, Amplivox and Infocus.

Epson featured details on the Stampede proAv authorized dealer program.  Interested dealers can still apply by contacting your relationship manager.  Amplivox was introduced as a new supplier to Stampede and offers portable sound equipment!  InFocus detailed new product releases and a renewed focus on proAv sales and margin opportunities for dealers!

As part of the Stampede University Webinar series, attendees are eligible to win prizes offered by Stampede.

Congratulations to Stampede’s Latest Webinar Winners!

Dave Mueller – Stage Front Presentation Systems

WON an EPSON product credit at Stampede!

Marc Pierce – AVL Systems Design

Won an AMPLIVOX product credit at Stampede!

 

David Del Valle – Valiant Int’l Multi Media / VCom

Won an InFocus product credit at Stampede!

 

Stay tuned for upcoming Stampede University Webinars and training sessions from Mitsubishi and Hitachi Starboards!

 Complete details will continue to be communicated to dealers by Stampede!

 As the leader in value added distribution for the ProAV dealer, Stampede’s University programs for 2010 help educate dealers on opportunities to make more margin while improving the design-build process!  This helps ensure satisfied end users, manufacturers and dealers!  Stampede’s dealers also rely on the BIG BOOK of AV.com, Stampede Dealer eStores and www.BIGBOOKofAV.com to complete their marketing efforts.

PRO AV News Service - Gefen says it will make its debut in the digital signage market when it unveils its new Digital Signage Player and Digital Signage Creator at Integrated Systems Europe 2010 in Amsterdam next month.

The Digital Signage Player allows users to create playlists from their computers, upload pre-recorded video, customize scrolling text, and select music to accompany video displayed in HDMI format. A built-in 2 GB flash drive contains all of the content, which can be uploaded via Ethernet or USB connections. According to the company, scrolling text can be inputted and changed as often as needed. A selection of fonts and sizes allow a user to customize the content.

Gefen's Digital Signage Creator includes an intuitive layout program for customizing signage content. The Creator accepts both HDMI and VGA with L/R audio inputs, and outputs content in both formats. The company says users can writer their own scripts to control AV content, layer multiple videos, and pull RSS feeds off the Internet, among other features.

By Doug Olenick - Twice - San Francisco - After months of speculation Apple CEO Steve Jobs today unveiled the iPad.

A brief introduction recapped Apple's success with the iPod - 250 million sold - and then Jobs got down to business and rolled out the iPad. The iPad is optimized for Web browsing, email and multimedia applications, Jobs said, unlike a netbook, which is not optimized for anything in particular.

The iPad looks much like a vey large iTouch.It features a 1GHz Apple A4 chip with between 16GB and 64GB of solid-state memory.
Being an Apple product, it is fully integrated with all Apple software and apps. It can play back HD video and games.

PRO AV News Service - Kramer Electronics recently introduced the WP-561 and WP-562 active wall-plate, twisted-pair transmitter and receiver for HDMI signals. According to the company, the pair is capable of transmitting HDMI signals over two Cat-5 cables up to 266 feet at 1080i and 100 feet at 1080p. Both offer bi-directional IR support over a second Cat-5 cable with 3.5 mm jacks on each.

The WP-561 converts HDMI signals into twisted-pair signals that can run over shielded or unshielded twisted-pair Cat-5 cables. The WP-562 then converts the signals back to HDMI. Both units offer up to 1.65 Gbps bandwidth per graphic channel, says the company, and are HDCP-compliant as well as HDTV-compatible.

Kramer's WP-561 and WP-562 are standard 1-gang size wall plates and incorporate a red LED power status light, passing the EDID, HPD (hot plug detect), and CEC signals from the source to the display device via the Cat-5 cables. Both plates use the company's Power Connect System, which Kramer says uses a single connection to one unit–the transmitter or receiver–to power the system and transmits the required 5-volt DC power through the Cat-5 cable to the other unit.

The WP-561 and WP-562 each carry a list price of $195 and are currently available from Kramer Electronics sales companies.