Extron NAV facilitates activity in the Euro Auctions auction center

At the Leeds facility, the AV system has been designed with encoders and decoders Extron NAV, using the existing Ethernet cable infrastructure of 1 Gbps to send 4K video and control RS-232 devices over long distances.

Euro Auctions, headquartered in Northern Ireland, is one of the largest auctioneers of industrial machinery, construction and agricultural. It has offices in Europe, United Kingdom, United States, United Arab Emirates and Australia. In a normal year, carries out more than 50 billion-dollar auctions. The recent enlargement in Leeds (United Kingdom) has duplicated the zone, becoming the largest permanent auction facility in Europe. Extron NAV solutions have been used for the new AV systems.

The expansion included the construction of new workshops, an office and administration center, and three auction zones, each with a ramp for sale through which the equipment passes for the bidders to inspect.

Included in the expansion was the installation of AV systems, designed to provide bidders with videos of the objects to be auctioned, as well as instant updates of current auctions, with video and audio on the screens and loudspeakers located in the auction areas.

Euro Auctions went to Visavvi, an integration services division of the Saville global audiovisual technology specialist group, based in York, United Kingdom, to design, install and launch the new AV systems.

Visavvi accessed its wide and varied register of accredited manufacturing partners, including Extron, to create a flexible system, scalable and reliable to support the Euro Auctions business.

In an environment of accelerated auctions, latency in AV distribution is not an option. As bids quickly change the speed of the auctioneer's singing they have to be heard and seen instantly.

Extron's professional AV over IP NAV encoders and decoders form the ultra-low latency centerpiece of video signal travel, using the existing Ethernet cable infrastructure of 1 Gbps to send 4K video and control RS-232 devices over long distances within the facility.

The existing Ethernet cable plant also distributes audio, based on Dante network connectivity. Las interfaces de audio Dante AXI 44 Extron AT perform the input and output functions for the Dante network, placing audio inputs from auctioneers' microphones and computers on the network and transmitting audio from the network to the loudspeaker's active amplifiers and loudspeakers.

Flexible video routing and viewing

Extron NAV system provides different advantages that make it the right choice for Euro Auctions – Leeds. Transports video over existing Ethernet cabling to network connections, saving installation time and cost, and allowing AV content to be routed from any source to any destination.

When separate auctions take place in each area, three different auction booths and their presentation ramps transmit content to speakers and display devices in your own area. When combining different zones for larger auctions, the contents of a cabin are emitted to one or two of the other two zones.

The video can even be seen in the canteen, allowing bidders to monitor the auction while going for soft drinks. NAV's Pure3 codec provides the ultra-low latency required by an auction application. Equally important, is to provide flexible video scaling to accommodate the different resolutions of display devices, allowing to display high-resolution images of the products for sale, next to a clearly issued text showing bids.

Due to the harsh outdoor environment, display devices are housed in special housings that protect them from rain and dust. As NAV encoders have a thin and compact format and have PoE, are ideal to fit in waterproof housings for display devices.

Intuitive operation

At the center of the system is extron's NAVigator, a hardware device that manages, configures and controls the professional AV system over IP. This enabled visavvi's integration team to deploy nav encoders and decoders from target points quickly, using the intuitive web-based interface.

technicians can use the same interface to reconfigure destination points whenever necessary. The daily operation of the system is handled by an IP Link Pro IPL Pro S1 control processor, reacting to commands on the communications room's TLP Pro 1025M touchscreen and NBP button panels 100 of each of the three auctioneer booths.

Visavvi's experienced AV programmers have used the Python programming of the Global Scripter to adapt the human-computer interfaces and make the operation intuitive and smooth, both for an AV technician who uses the interactive GUI on the touch screen of the communications room to route AV content, as for an auctioneer hitting the button panel of your booth to activate the speaker or display device.

At Euro Auctions they are satisfied with the way in which the AV system of the new Leeds facility has improved the auction experience, both for tenderers and their staff.

Plans are being drawn up to expand the system and it is appreciated that professional AV NAV systems over IP are prepared for further growth and more screens within the existing design, and with minimal investment.

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