Sometimes, a plan doesn’t come together as originally intended. When this happens in the hospitality/entertainment AV installation universe, the only real remedy is to completely change direction.

Such was the case at Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, where a recent AV upgrade in DJT, the establishment’s fine dining restaurant and lounge, failed to make an impression. Hotel management sought to enhance the guest experience, primarily during the broadcast of high-stakes sporting events, such as NFL, NBA and college championship games. Unfortunately, the installed system’s performance was limited by its existing AV infrastructure.

The hotel called upon Elite A/V, a Las Vegas electronics retailer and custom integration company, to overhaul the system’s backbone, and give the audio and video systems a facelift. Elite A/V felt that moving away from circuit-based switching to AV over IP distribution was the only way to drive impactful change.

According to Elite A/V, the existing cable set-top boxes were stacked under the previous TVs in an open environment, exposed to dust, without network connections of any kind in the surrounding area. So the company decided to pull all new cabling from the gear to the back-of-the-house to establish a robust backbone, and then built the new system from there. It then established Atlona’s OmniStream™ R-Type AV over IP distribution platform as the core of the new system.

While Atlona’s OmniStream Pro platform was designed for mission-critical commercial and corporate AV applications with advanced redundancy, security, and forward-error correction, the more streamlined OmniStream R-Type platform has increasingly gained traction in light commercial applications such as bars, restaurants and digital signage. DJT just happens to include all three of these applications, with a dynamic video wall now as the centerpiece of its AV experience. Importantly, Elite A/V’s integration strategy allowed the video wall to be moved to a more optimal location for sports consumption, than the initial system design.

Elite A/V also shifted control to the IP network, using Atlona’s Velocity™ platform. The Velocity control gateway integrates directly with the video wall and other displays around the restaurant. The sports bar experience is further amplified by a high-performance audio system that moves sports audio over Dante™ to ceiling speakers throughout the bar and restaurant.

“Elite A/V felt that moving away from circuit-based switching to AV over IP distribution was the only way to drive impactful change.”

Nothing but Net AV and Control Signal Distribution

OmniStream R-Type signals are routed around the restaurant via two 24-port managed switches at the system rack. The networked AV system includes four OmniStream 512 (AT-OMNI-512) rack-mountable, dual-channel encoders. The video wall is comprised of 49-inch Sony XBR49X900F screens positioned at the bar; each screen is mounted with Chief ConnexSys brackets and integrated with its own OmniStream 521 decoder.

Two Sony XBR485X900F flank the bar, with another four displays mounted in the lounge area. Employees control signal distribution and the set-top boxes with two VTP-800 eight-inch Velocity System touch panels: one positioned at the bar, with the second located in the equipment room.

While the touch panels offer simple, intuitive control of video and audio signals for employees, Elite A/V found the most value in their configuration benefits as the systems integrator.

The company programmed a couple of quick-touch buttons on the panel for the bar personnel so that they can easily switch the video wall content. The content can be switched from four separate screens over to a large video format, and staff can easily change the programming on the other screens versus dealing directly with the set-top boxes. Because of the smooth customization capabilities on the Velocity gateway, Elite A/V was able to add a sliding volume knob to the touch panel. Overall, the system is very simple for the staff to operate.

The panel’s locking feature is also activated to prevent unauthorized access. Management, in particular, likes this feature, because it prevents people or staff who are untrained on the system from hitting the wrong button and turning things on or off.

An ‘Audible’ Makes the Touchdown Run

The system upgrade also involved the integration of 12 new TruAudio CL-70V-6UL 70-volt commercial speakers into the lounge ceiling, in the restaurant seating area closest to the bar, and the bar itself.

The audio system is powered by a 70-volt QSC CMX300VA amplifier, with OmniStream’s AT-OMNI-232* Dante audio interface handling distribution of live sports program audio seen on the video walls and displays. [*Retired, see grid below]

The new speakers are integrated with an existing background music system that provides continuous music playback except during live sporting events.

4K Compatible

While OmniStream supports 4K, UHD and HDR content, DJT isn’t yet able to take advantage of higher resolution due to the limitations of the cable set-top boxes and delivery system.

Since the boxes can only handle up to 1080i, Elite A/V downconverted to 720p to stabilize the system with a progressive signal. When the cable company eventually upgrades to support better image quality, DJT will have the backbone to handle it as OmniStream is 4K-ready.