With any serious AV system comes a requirement to switch signals and send them around a room or building. Different formats and specifications all have different maximum cable lengths - in the case of HDMI this is often (practically) 10M - so devices are required (and thankfully available) to acheive our aim.

Signal Distribution

Often it is a requirement that one signal finds its way to many displays. For this purpose we use 'distribution ampliers' - specially designed devices which provide multiple, amplified copies of one or more input signals. Distribution amplifiers (DAs) are available for every format in use, from VGA, component video and analogue audio to HDMI, SDI and AES/EBU digital audio.

Line Drivers / Extenders

As mentioned previously, many (most) formats have a practical limitation in terms of the length of cable that be used. To over-come these limitations there are number of options:

• Line drivers - located at the source, these devices amplify the signal to better overcome cable losses and noise
• Repeaters - located between sources, repeaters are powered devices which copy and re-send the input signal
• CATx Converters - located at each end, CAT5 or CAT6 cable is used between these devices as a more resilient medium for sending some signals up to 300m
• Fibre Converters - located at each end, they use optical fibre to send the signal over distances of up to 5km

Presentation Switchers

For small presentation systems, training suites or similar, a number of manufacturers produce switches that can accept inputs in a number of formats and send the selected source to a display, connected via VGA or DVI. Typically they might allow connection of one or two laptops, a DVD player, video-conferencing camera and remote signal and a visualizer/document camera.

Scaling Switchers

Essentially a larger version of a presentation switcher, a scaling switcher allows connection of sources in varying formats to one or more displays at high resolution.

Matrix Switchers

Where a large number of sources must be routed to more than 2 different displays, a matrix switcher is required. Matrices can be configured in any size from 4x4 to 128x128. Scaling is performed externally - it would be impractical and expensive to offer scaling of so many inputs within one box.

Networked Audio / DSP Systems

A number of products exist which allow audio to be processed in the digital domain and transported between 'nodes' over a digital link. These systems afford great flexibility to the designer and operator. Our preferred systems are:

• Yamaha DME - Click here for more info
• BSS SoundWeb London - Click here for more info

Manufacturers and Equipment

Scaling and matrix switching in the digital domain are demanding processes. For this reason we are committed to using only the best equipment. The brands we typically use are:

• Extron - (link) - Professional
• Gefen - (link) - Residential
• Kramer - (link) - Professional
• TV-One - (link) - Pro & Residential
• Vision HD - (link) - Residential