Ensuring Flawless Events with Reliable Signal Quality

The Challenge

For the audiovisual experts at Alford Media Services, a successful show means being sure every seat in the house is a good one whether they’re using a single monitor, multiple screens, or a widescreen. To make that happen, Alford needs to send a clear video signal from the operator’s station to projector, across a ballroom, theater, sanctuary, or stadium each and every time. And the method of transmission is critical. “Maintaining the integrity of the signal, keeping it as clean as possible, is our biggest requirement,” said Bill Brady, Director of Video Services at Alford Media Services.

Along with having a clear video signal, the company has is another important priority. Alford competes in a fast-paced business where time is a critical factor, so it continually looks for ways to work as efficiently as possible. As a leading provider of staging solutions, Alford is always on the lookout for products and solutions that let it streamline operations without jeopardizing production quality. In particular, Alford seeks solutions that can help it pack up, set up, and strike quickly and systematically.

The Solution

Getting a clear video signal from the operator’s station to projector is an essential goal for Alford. And to make that happen, the company chooses Thinklogical and their fiber-based Velocitydvi Series of products.

Alford has been using Thinklogical products for a number of years. Why? “We started as a Thinklogical customer when the products were in their infancy. At that time, video over copper could only go so far and Thinklogical was one of the first to come out with a solution to send DVI over fiber optic cable,” says Brady. Since then, the company has stayed with Thinklogical solutions. “We love the product line and the capabilities it offers. The products are extremely reliable, meeting our needs and then some.”

With Velocitydvi Extenders from Thinklogical, Alford can maintain the integrity of the original image to produce the best image possible for their clients, whether it’s traveling a distance of 500 feet or 1,000 feet. That’s because products in the Velocity line enable you to send video, audio and computer data over fiber optic cable at distances up to 80 kilometers using either multi-mode or single-mode fiber. And, they’re powered by Thinklogical’s patented MRTS (Multi Rate Transmission System) technology, so every frame of a DVI video stream is transported seamlessly, with no compression, latency or dropped frames.

Using Velocity extension products with fiber optic cable lets you send a clear signal without picking up noise and ground interference. This is a great asset to Alford, which highly values signal integrity. You can avoid the pitfalls of copper-based solutions that use repeaters to transmit over long distances, creating multiple failure points and signal degradation. Velocity products support point-to-point transmission over long distances, so there are fewer connection points to worry about. “It’s a glorious thing; it doesn’t pick up any hum on glass. And the Velocity products let us run signals over a single piece of fiber with only one failure point. With this product we have a 100% non-failure outcome,” says Brady.

The Results

Providing a high-quality viewing experience in every venue for every customer engagement is Alford’s key goal and Velocity extenders from Thinklogical help the company achieve it. Even better, the products enable Alford to meet other requirements to make it more competitive by improving production.

Along with signal integrity, Velocity products help Alford streamline show control by allowing the transmission of Ethernet signals along with video over the same fiber optic cable. “A feature we love is the Ethernet connector,” says Brady. “Many of our projectors have Ethernet control. With this product, we can hook up over ten projectors via Ethernet and control all of them from the middle of the ballroom.” Since no additional wiring is required for a computer network connection, Alford can reduce set-up and strike time and save money.

The products help with audio set-up as well. Most Velocity products, including the ones used by Alford have audio inputs and outputs. Alford finds that this—along with the ability to transmit at long distances—makes set up of break out and overflow rooms much easier.

Alford also is known as an expert in packaging and staging solutions quickly and efficiently, and the ability to use fiber helps. Brady says, “The cable is small and light, so it doesn’t take up a lot of truck space or weight.”

Displaying clear, crisp audio-visuals that delight its customers—and doing it efficiently—is at the heart of Alford’s business, and Velocitydvi Extenders from Thinklogical help make it happen!