Video issues with AVRs is common for all installers in the AV industry, every single day the AVPro Edge tech support department takes multiple calls that end up being an AVR as the troubled spot in the installation.

AVRs are built to handle the highest audio codecs on the market, Dolby Atmos, DTS-X, beyond 8 channels audio is a breeze for AVR’s from most brands. However, those same AVR’s often struggle with varying types of HDMI signals. Bandwidth is hard to manage and video bandwidth takes up much more data than audio, in turn some chipset’s inside the AVR’s are not able to process these 4K and HDR video signals.

When dealing with high bandwidth content the HDMI processing boards in AVRs have a hard time switching not only between different resolutions, but most importantly HDCP types. Customers often get a solid black screen or no signal to their display when switching between HDCP 1.4 and HDCP 2.2. Even the highest-end AVRs can potentially experience this issue. When a customer switches between a lower res source like a cable box or NVR camera system, to a higher res source like an apple tv, roku, kscape, they can easily lose picture and not be able to regain picture without power cycling devices in the video route.

An example of a great solution to separating video distribution from your AVR audio system is the AC-MX42-AUHD or AC-MX82-AUHD. These devices can handle up to 8 high bandwidth video sources right along side those less taxing sources. The two mentioned matrices have two HDMI outputs, one of which as the ability to downscale 4k to 1080p but leave the audio signals completely unimpeded. This allows the customer to send one uncompressed video signal to their display/projector, and the downscaled port can send HDMI bitstream audio to the AVR while keeping the resolution at a maximum resolution of 1080p to reduce bandwidth and give your AVR a fighting chance.

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AC-AEX-KIT

Extend Uncompressed High Quality Audio 100 meters over standard Category Cable including every signal type from 2 channel Dolby Digital and DTS.

• Engineered to deliver uncompressed audio 100 meters

 

• Ideal for bringing SmartTV audio to a distributed system
• SmartTV audio support from apps like Netflix, Spotify & Disney Plus
• Coaxial or Optical digital audio S/PDIF Signal Support
• Supports stereo and multi-channel digital audio (LPCM 2 CH through Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1 CH)

The AC-AEX-KIT professional audio extender from AVPro Edge allows integrators to deliver uncompressed audio signals 100 meters away from the source. The units can switch between Coaxial and Optical digital signals and can be powered by either USB or power adapter allowing users flexibility of choice between power sources. This extender works with any compatible RJ45 connection that has CAT5e or greater cable, and with POE you only have to power one side to deliver power to both.
This is ideal in modern installations when the customer wants to hear the sound from the built-in SmartTV apps, and you want to route them back to the head end for whole home audio distribution.
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APPLICATIONS

• Point-to-point digital audio extension (150M/500FT)
• Bringing digital audio from app (Netflix, Hulu, Etc...) enabled displays to the head end (rack) for further distribution
• Sending digital audio standalone and video separately to address legacy AVR's
• Retrofitting existing infrastructure with audio transmission

What is your Name and your roll at AVPro Global Holdings?  Brad Miller, Technical Service Manager AKA Expert of Fun !!

What's you favorite Color?  Gray  

What's your favorite food?  Cheetos

What do you like about working at AVPro?  Going to work and not hating it !! We have a great culture.  Everyone is able to communicate well and we have fun getting work done.

From your point of view, how is AVPro different from other places you worked?  Ownership/Upper management understands that everyone needs a good balance of work and personal life.  We are treated and taken care of the best a company could possibly do !!

What has been your best “moment” since working with AVPro?  Really hard to sum up my three and half years here with one moment.  I have many.  An experience that stands out would be my trip to ISE last year

AVPro Operates out of South Dakota, what the best and worst part of living in the 605?  We get a bad rap for our extreme weather which can suck, but also be awesome.  There are lots of restaurants and things to do if you put forth a little effort. But yes the cold blows 😊

If you had it your way, what is one thing you would change with the professional audio video world?  Knowledge and Effort.  There is so much going on that it's hard to keep up with all the advancements, changes and differences with equipment.  Doing it daily it's hard to keep up.  Doing a little research most things can get figured out.  A little help form everyone’s favorite pocket distraction….Google

What is your favorite Consumer Electronic? Pixel 4XL and Nintendo Switch

We hear you recently had your third kid, how do you balance being a dad, a husband and AVPro Tech Specialist? Yes apparently I can’t miss !!

Life is great !! I have an amazing wife who works hard and keeps me in line.  It’s a challenge with 3 kids under the age of 5 but we manage and do well in my opinion.  Wouldn’t trade it for anything !!

For this month's spotlight I am going to focus on a truly unique solution product that deserves more attention than it often gets, the AC-SC1-AUHD scaler. Like it's big brother the AC-SC2-AUHD-GEN2, calling it a scaler is selling it short. In fact, it checks so many boxes I'm not really sure what we should call it other than amazing. It is indeed a scaler, capable of taking a 4K signal and downscaling it to 1080p as well as upscaling a 1080 signal to 4K. It's also an EDID manager, which means that in addition to solving common EDID communication issues it can also be used to downscale a 4K signal to 1080p for a non-4K display while fooling a distributed system into thinking that the display is 4K, eliminating the lowest-common-denominator problem that exists with many 4K switching devices. When scaling a signal from a 1080p legacy source up to 4K there are three selectable levels of video enhancement to maximize older sources.  It re-clocks, re-equalizes and amplifies the HDMI signal helping to correct for deficiencies in the source's output signal. It is also an audio extractor, taking 2ch PCM audio signals and extracting them to an analog output, in fact it comes in at such a low cost that you could justify using it just for that!

But scaling, EDID management, signal correction and audio extraction are only part of the SC-1's magic. What really sets it apart are these two very unique capabilities;


HDBT-C Mode - The SC-1 can reduce the bandwidth of 9.1gbps to 18gbps signals (including 4K60 HDR) to 9g, automatically using the least destructive method based on the input signal. This will allow you to transmit a stripped-down version of a 4K source's output over legacy pipelines.


HDBT-C Mode 2 - This incredibly valuable feature requires two SC-1's, one at the source and one at the display. With this arrangement you can take a full 18gbps 4K HDR source and, using our ICT technology, compress the signal to 9gbps for transmission over legacy infrastructure (existing cable, extender, switch etc). Once the signal reaches the display the second SC-1 will expand the signal to its original specifications. This means that you can upgrade your customer's display to 4K and be confident that you will be able to deliver maximum signal quality, even if the path is a 10.2 gbps cable that is permanently installed in a non-accessible area. This ability can be the determining factor when it comes to whether or not your customer is going to invest in that new 4K projector. 

This is another one of those flexible solution items that deserves a spot on your shelf or in your install vehicles. For a very small investment it can help solve a variety of issues as well as allow you to avoid some common pitfalls in system design. Don't let legacy equipment or designs be a roadblock, the AC-SC1-AUHD can help!

Written by:
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Steve Baker, CTS
Regional Sales Manager
Residential West
AVPro

​The AVPro Employee Highlight section is a way for you to get to know our AVPro Family. Let's get to know Justin!

What is your Name and your roll at AVPro Global Holdings?
Justin A. Fejfar and I am an AVPro Technical Engineer.
 
Whats you favorite Color? Green
 
Whats your favorite food? Goulash
 
What do you like about working at AVPro?
I love everything about AVPro, but I think our family of people is the best part of the company. We are such a diverse group of awesome knowledgeable people that create the fiber of the inter-workings of this amazing company. If you have a question, an issue, or just want to understand something better, there’s always someone who can help.
 
From your point of view, how is AVPro different from other places you worked?
AVPro is so much different from any place I’ve ever worked. This company actually cares about its employees, that’s easy to see from the weekly lunches to the Christmas bonuses to just every day getting positive feedback from Matt Murray. There are some owners out there that are non existent in their companies, that couldn’t be further from the truth with the owners of AVPro. 
 
What has been your best “moment” since working with AVPro?
I think every day is better than the last because there’s always something new or more to learn. But I would say my best moment in my eyes is with the achievement of my ISF level 1 certification, the completion of the AVPro academy class, or the first call that I took when I solved the customers problem. It feels incredible to be able to fix a problem that someone has been struggling with and to feel the appreciation that the customer has when you do is amazing.
 
AVPro Operates out of South Dakota, what the best and worst part of living in the 605?
Obviously the worst part is the cold winters. I don’t mind the snow, it’s mainly the freezing cold winds that I don’t care for. 
 
If you had it your way, what is one thing you would change with the professional audio video world?
I truly wouldn’t change anything, other than doing away with installers and companies in this industry using the word Balun for Extenders, lol.
 
We hear you are a big fan of Gangster Films, what is your #1 favorite?
Heat is my favorite but it isn’t as gangster as Carlito's Way, so I’d say Carlito's Way #1.

​Soundbars are continuously rising in popularity as additional enhancements to many home AV Systems.

​They provide a potentially inexpensive, less labor-intensive upgrade to a television’s sound when compared to a display’s internal speakers. But this easy upgrade can also become a stranglehold in your system, limiting control, resolutions, and even audio formats.

Today’s soundbars can vary slightly in the number of different kinds of inputs featured. Ultimately leaving us with a mashup of different capabilities of both audio and control.
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The Toslink Input

• Allows us to do compressed audio up to Dolby Digital+ 
• While some control can be done with Toslink, it is not guaranteed to work between devices (especially if devices are not the same brand)

The HDMI ARC Input

• Allows us to do compressed audio up to Dolby Digital+
• Additional control over Toslink; such as TV Power Toggle, Channel/Input Tuning, and more.

The HDMI eARC Input

• Improved upon the HDMI ARC specification, allows for ARC Fallback, display must also support eARC
• Allows us to do uncompressed audio such as Dolby TrueHD and object-based audio such as Dolby Atmos
• Same level of control as the HDMI ARC

Let it be noted that both Toslink and HDMI ARC can support Dolby Atmos within the compressed Dolby Digital+ Container. This audio format may be found within the internal app of some displays.

Additionally, just because a soundbar has a certain input does not mean that it accepts all formats of audio. For example, many soundbars can only take in up to Dolby Digital (Not DD+) and may produce distorted audio or no audio when an unsupported format has been used. Fortunately, many displays can limit the audio that is being sent to a soundbar.
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Lastly, soundbars that use HDMI ARC or eARC require the use of a singular HDMI Input to send digital audio, reducing the overall number of devices that can physically be connected to a display. However, many soundbar devices feature an HDMI Passthrough Port to make up for the loss of an input.

This HDMI passthrough port can be one of the largest constraints when a soundbar is added to the system. Some soundbars feature inadequate HDMI ports to reduce cost, forcing the user to either sacrifice HDR, and at times 4K resolutions, or lose use of said input for anything but audio.

Ultimately, crisis can be avoided by understanding the whole use case of an AV Zone as well as the video and audio formats supported by the sources; then pairing a display and soundbar based upon those specifications.
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So, are soundbars a convenience, a constraint, or both? That is for you to decide.
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In last month's webinar, John Tumbleson (The Mind Behind MXNet Mentor) and Tom Devine put together an entire AV over IP system using MXNet Encoders, Decoders and an MXNet Network Switch racing against the clock to complete the system as fast as they can! 

The goal of this video is to show integrators how easy it can be setting up a system with MXNet AV over IP Ecosystem. If you missed the live version, check out the video below. 

To learn more about the MXNet, check out the Ecosystem webpage or give us a call at 877-886-5112! 

The HDMI cable is a staple of any modern installer, connecting audio/video electronics and allowing the passing of Audio, Video, Power, Control, Content Protection, ARC, eARC, & EDID metadata. These signals combined equal an HDMI signal, and no one handles all these signals at once quite like Bullet Train. We know integrators can’t afford to take shortcuts with any of these signal types. With Bullet Train Cables, you will never find signal sharing through one connection or dropping a pinout because the cable manufacturer wanted to cut corners with a data lane they didn’t think was being used.

With Bullet Train, we have the top most audio video engineers assuring every aspect of the manufacturing process. We take specific steps when testing to ensure you will not have any problems with data flow. Here are the particular parts of the process we concentrate on:

• ​Zero Latency in Your Signal Flow: Getting your signal to the screen as fast as possible is a must. With Bullet Train cables, we use our own proprietary manufacturing methods to bring Zero Latency signaling to your installs. This allows you to bring repeated signals throughout your home, landing in each zone at the exact same time and place.
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• Easy to Find Serial Numbers at Both Ends: Integrators work with many HDMI Cables in the same area. With Bullet Train, we have labeled each end to keep track of which cable is connected to what source, sink, or repeater.
  
  
• High Margins for Integrators: We give our dealers almost 80% off MSRP pricing, allowing you to turn a good profit when installing our cables. Now you have an incentive to use Bullet Train besides how it will handle the job. Now you install Bullet Train cables to ensure you are installing profitable jobs.​

"When you install Bullet Train, you can be confident you are using the highest quality cables at the same time as giving your company the margins they need to survive in today’s market."

Learn more about Bullet Train HDMI Cables at www.BulletTrainCables.com or give us a call at 877-886-5112!