Auckland, New Zealand – February 2018… For large scale corporate and similar live events, efficient production is essential. Time is of the essence, the equipment must work flawlessly, and both sound and visuals must be first-rate. To help ensure clear, captivating visuals that engage and inspire the audience, AV Events relies on the rich feature set and proven performance of the IP Flash Caster (ARD-3001) AV Over IP signal distribution system from Arista Corporation of Fremont, CA USA.
Jono Pratt is the Head of Video at AV Events, a live events production company with offices in Auckland, Tauranga, and Wellington, New Zealand. Pratt’s responsibilities include managing the company’s video equipment and creating the various system designs that best facilitate signal flow from the control center to the various displays—be it LED walls, projectors, or TV screens. The ability to create and manage a setup that delivers the visual presentation today’s sophisticated clients expect is no small task, and this is precisely why Arista’s IP Flash Caster is such an integral part of the company’s equipment arsenal. Pratt discussed his reasons for selecting the Arista equipment.
“At a recent event for Lion, one of New Zealand’s largest food and beverage companies, our IP Flash Caster was crucial to the success of the project,” Pratt explained. “This was a large corporate event and awards dinner that took place at Skycity Auckland, a premiere entertainment destination in the heart of Auckland’s CBD. We used Arista’s ARD-3001 to get uncompressed 4K video signals from the control hub to the screens at the front of the audience. For projects of this nature, we typically have multiple screens up the front: for example, an LED screen, two foldback LCD TVs, and a computer send from stage to control.”
“Using the ARD-3001, we were able to run a single cable connecting into our 10G switches at both control and stage end,” Pratt added. “From these, we were able to run our screen in 4K and the three foldback TVs in HD from that one cable. We had a short amount of time to relocate control from the corporate event during the day to the awards dinner that evening. Being able to deal with only one cable for vision was a tremendous help. I have been able to trust the Arista IP Flash Caster with uncompressed 4K signals from our media server at control to the 4K Projector —taking 4K 60Hz without the slightest hiccup. The image is clean and crisp. Further, the client wanted the foldbacks swapped around for different presenter wanting notes, timer, and main presentation in different layouts. With the Arista system, I can do all of this from control using the supplied software.”
When asked to summarize the single most important benefit of Arista’s IP Flash Caster system, Pratt offered the following thoughts. “Using Arista, I could take an uncompressed signal from control to the screen at 4K resolution with no noticeable delay. Due to the IP nature of Arista’s system, I can put multiple streams down a single cable—saving valuable time in the process.”
When the show must go on and there is absolutely no room for excuses, the ability to get capable, responsive technical support is crucial should questions arise. Here too, Pratt rates Arista best-in-class. “Arista’s technical support is the best we have used in the industry,” Pratt reports. “Upon encountering some issues integrating the IP Flash Caster with our 10G network routers, their support team worked with the supplier of the routers we bought and came up with a solution very quickly. We then received a document—showing step by step—the exact settings to make the two brands work seamlessly together. With Arista manufacturing both the software and hardware for the IP Flash Caster, we trust that the system is robust, and updates are well-tested.”
Before shifting his attention back to the business of the day, Pratt offered these final thoughts regarding his experience with Arista’s IP Flash Caster, “Having done multiple events with the Arista ARD-3001, we find that clients are loving the ability to switch content on foldback TVs on the fly, along with having no delays or artifacts to the main hero screen. Arista’s solution for HDMI over IP in HDMI 2.0 is the best I have used. We now have a production rack full of Arista HDMI over IP equipment and will continue to deploy them on high profile and critical events.”
To learn more about the services of AV Events, visit the company’s website at www.avevents.co.nz.
About Arista Corporation
Arista offers products for a variety of professional audio-visual markets, including events, retail, residential, education, government, healthcare, and control rooms. Networked AV over IP has forever changed the dynamics of the pro AV industry by enabling installers and system integrators to replace proprietary AV matrix switches with off-the-shelf Ethernet networks that deliver dramatically better price/performance, flexibility, and scalability. Arista focuses on this market trend and has invested considerable resources on developing and expanding its networked AV over IP product families to help customers achieve their goals with the latest technology products. To learn more Arista Corporation, visit www.goarista.com.
