Our engineering team has been hard at work! In addition to doing installation for the Team Based Learning Rooms and AV system upgrades in many of the classrooms, they have been hard at work in the Media Center in the Modern Language Building. The highlight of this work is the installation of the stunning new 55", LG 4K monitors. They are organic LED (OLED) screens, and with some of the brightest, richest, and accurate colors on the market. For those who have never sat in front of a computer with a 4K monitor, it will definitely be an optical treat! Ok, you've got me — 4K video is only 3840 pixels wide so that's not quite 4,000 reasons, but it's truly a breathtaking experience the first time you see it and a joy to work and collaborate on. If those beautiful pixels aren't enough, here's a few more reasons to love the new setups in the collaboration rooms
More space to spread out and work on the collaboration room tables. In every room, the sound is now integrated into the displays, and the computer has been moved off the table into a rack. In many rooms, the TVs are now wall mounted for even more space!
Improved sound system that's easier to use. As mentioned above, sound is now integrated into the tv — no more work trying to figure out how get sound playing, it's all built into the tv. The sound quality is also much improved, with much better highs and lows, and of course a solid middle range for hearing voices.
A simplified experience. The only thing left on the table is the small Crestron touch screen control panel. This further simplifies the experience, allowing collaboration rooms patrons to simply plug into one of the three digital input cables (two HDMI and one Mini-DisplayPort) and press the appropriate button on the touchpanel. No more complicated remotes, no more fiddling with buttons to choose the correct display input.
Did we mention it's fast? The switch between inputs on the Crestron only takes about a second. This makes switching between multiple users much less of a hassle - just click and you're there!
Video cabling is now embedded into the surface in the middle of the table. Compared to cables directly plugged into the monitor which made it hard to tell with input you were using and didn't *quite* reach to every seat at the table, this arrangement makes sharing the cables among group members easy.
Come to the loan center to check one out or find out more information about the ISS Media Center in the Modern Languages Building, or contact us via phone (734.763.1104) or email ([email protected]). Here are the Media Center hours for this Fall:
Monday-Thursday 8am-10pm
Friday 8am-5pm
Saturday-Sunday 12-10pm
