Extron AV Twisted Pair Provides Comprehensive Coverage for Fairmont Waterfront Hotel

Vancouver’s luxurious Fairmont Waterfront is ranked as one of Canada’s top ten hotels and features a full complement of guest amenities and services. The hotel wanted a high quality, flexible AV system for its 24,000 square feet of meeting and event facilities so that its sophisticated clientele can host upscale conferences and meetings. It hired AV integrator Genesis Integration, which in turn chose Extron twisted pair solutions for video routing and transmission. It was an easy decision, according to Ross Hazelhurst, Audio Visual System Designer for Genesis Integration. “I’ve used Extron for 10 years; I know it and trust it,” he says.

Extron is an ideal choice when designing systems, because I know I can send any video signal of any format to multiple locations without issue.

Ross Hazelhurst - Audio Visual System Designer

Client Needs

Conference and meeting events at the Fairmont can involve a single meeting room, multiple rooms, a ballroom, or even the hotel’s entire meeting/conference facility, so the hotel wanted a high definition AV presentation system that would adapt to the needs of its varied clientele, including small to large companies and organizations, and private functions such as weddings.

Displays were to be installed in ballrooms and meeting rooms, and convenient input/output connection points were needed for client PCs/laptops and client-provided displays.

The system had to be able to accommodate rental and staging activities, including matrixed audio and video, multiple, easily accessed inputs, as well as the ability for a rental and staging company to use their own systems should they desire to.

Ease of use was also a prime requirement. "My primary goal for the system design," Hazelhurst says, "was to allow hotel staff to easily set up a room for AV when an event was taking place."

Challenges

Cabling distance was an issue. The equipment closet is on the hotel’s third floor and it serves two large ballrooms on that floor, as well as six meeting rooms and ten meeting rooms on the second floor.

The system had to allow audio, video, and control signals to be routed from multiple sources to multiple displays. It was vital to find a matrix switching solution that could handle the complete mix of signal types while also simplifying cable routing.

Solutions

Extron’s MTPX Plus 3216 twisted pair matrix switcher is the heart of the Fairmont’s AV system. The MTPX matrix switcher has dynamic skew equalization on all inputs and outputs, which allows it to cope with the long cable runs—one hundred feet from the central rack to the ballrooms and up to 400 feet to the meeting rooms.

In addition, the routing of control signals to the various displays in the system were greatly simplified by using the MTPX Plus 3216 local RS-232 insertion ports. These enabled the control signals to be sent over the same twisted pair cable as the video signals, to the display. This reduced control system cabling, conduit space, and saved on installation time, simplifying the system integration. Local video and audio inputs and outputs allow video sources including signage PCs, cable television feeds and DVD players to plug directly into the switcher without additional twisted pair transmitters, saving on rack space, equipment, cabling and power.

Source signals in each room connect to MTP T 15HD A D wall mounted twisted pair transmitters which send the signals to the MTPX Plus matrix switcher. MTP RL 15HD RS and MTP R 15HD RSA D twisted pair receivers in each room receive signals from the MTPX Plus matrix and provide output signals to drive each local display. In addition, an Extron MTP 4T 15HD RS quad twisted pair 4-in-1 transmitter in the equipment rack is used to interface component signals from DVD players into the MTPX Plus. Because 11 audio outputs were needed and there were only 8 outputs available, Genesis Integration used MTP R AV Twisted Pair Receivers to provide the three additional audio outputs.

Extron MTP twisted pair transmitters and receivers in decorator-style wallplates were installed in ballrooms and meeting rooms, providing both inputs and outputs, for portable projectors and other AV devices. Some of the outputs are taken up by flat panel displays, while others are available for future uses and for client-supplied projectors or displays. Two of the meeting rooms also include HSA 400 Hideaway Surface Access Enclosures installed in conference tables for inconspicuous computervideo interface connector access and control.

Finally, there are four PS 123 VDC Rack Mountable Multiple Output Power Supplies used to power MTP transmitters and receivers in remote locations up to hundreds of feet away. The PS 123, the precursor to the new PS 124, provides better power management and eliminates bulky desktop power supplies.

According to Hazelhurst, "Extron is an ideal choice when designing systems, because I know I can send any video signal of any format to multiple locations without issue."

Benefits

The system provides maximum I/O flexibility; clients can choose the content and where they display it. Dynamic Skew Equalization greatly simplifies twisted pair installation for large AV systems. RS-232 insertion points simplify cabling requirements for control. Local VGA ports provide easy integration of input sources into a twisted pair‑based system. Local audio outputs enable direct interfacing into third party audio systems.

Worth the Wait

The Fairmont is host to a clientele that includes world leaders and movie stars, who expect the highest quality. "Extron equipment did its usual great job of matrixing audio and video throughout the facility," says Hazelhurst. "What is equally important is what is happening behind the scenes that no one notices, and that is where Extron really shines."