Next-Gen Crestron DM NVX Adds Pixel Perfect Processing, ‘Ends 1G vs. 10G Debate’

With addition of Pixel Perfect Processing for image quality “as good as PC direct over standard 1G,” Crestron announces next generation DM NVX network AV via free update and new products.

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Nic Milani, executive director, commercial product marketing, Crestron, announces the next generation of Crestron DM NVX network AV that includes newly-developed Pixel Perfect Processing technology.

While the AV industry has been embroiled in an AV-over-IP 1G vs. 10G debate, Crestron product developers have been doubling-down on 1G. The result is a next generation of Crestron DM NVX network AV that includes newly-developed Pixel Perfect Processing technology.

“With Pixel Perfect Processing in the new DM NVX product line we really think the 1G vs. 10G debate is dead,” Nic Milani, executive director, commercial product marketing, Crestron, tells CI.

“We can get a quality image that’s as good as a PC direct over a standard 1G network. What more do you want?”

Attendees at AV tradeshows — such as upcoming Integrated Systems Europe (ISE 2019) where next generation DM NVX will be on display – have become accustomed to av-over-IP 1G vs. 10G side-by-side demos at Crestron competitors’ booths, but the Rockleigh, N.J.-based manufacturer maintains that Pixel Perfect Processing foils those comparisons.

Crestron press release on Pixel Perfect Processing:

Working with partners such as Intel and intoPIX, Crestron made image quality even better – so much better, you can’t tell the difference between DM NVX video and a direct video feed. Like the previous generation of DM NVX, there’s no latency, and it supports more video formats than any other manufacturer.

 

Crestron, with its next-gen DM NVX line, isn’t shy about addressing competitors’ criticism. It will even acknowledge that there were some issues with displaying static images, including spreadsheets, in extremely high resolution with the previous generation of DM NVX.

“If you can have flawless video in every format and run on existing networks, that’s a big flag to plant on the mountain,” says Crestron’s Nic Milani.

“Whether that’s a real-word application or not,” Milani says, “we’re going to respond to it.”

Pixel Perfect Processing, which essentially improves JPEG 2000 encoding and decoding, is that response. Crestron says it has raised the stakes for itself; rather than side-by-side comparisons with 1G DM NVX with 10G competitors, it invites comparisons with direct-to-PC.

“We did find that there were some deficiencies with 4K60 4:4:4 on still images,” Alex Peras, product manager, DigitalMedia, tells CI. “You’ve seen competitors pull out where deficiencies are in JPEG 2000 with the Excel spreadsheet and the static images.”

Now, however, “we have to be as good as the PC directly out to the display,” Peras says. “That’s our new comparison.”

Beyond that, Milani adds, is his contention that improving the performance of JPEG 2000 via Pixel Perfect Processing results in “the best motion video performance in the industry.” Being able to offer that in a 1G platform is a key differentiator, he says. “If you can have flawless video in every format and run on existing networks, that’s a big flag to plant on the mountain.”

DM-NVX-352_Beauty_RGB resized

New Crestron DM-NVX-352 with Dante audio networking and AES-67 audio

Next Generation Crestron DM NVX Line and Free Updates

The Pixel Perfect Processing is available on existing Crestron DM NVX products via a free firmware update.

“Over the last 18 months we’ve shipped 120,000 NVX units onto the market,” Peras says. “We expected it to ramp but it has scaled much faster than we foresaw.” All those units, he reiterates, get the free upgrade to Pixel Perfect Processing.

However, Crestron is also announcing new DM NVX products that include Pixel Perfect Processing and will be on display at ISE 2019.

Each support HDMI connectivity and analog audio, delivering additional flexibility for basic endpoints when only video, audio, and control are needed, according to the company.

The DM-NVX-352 with Dante audio networking and AES-67 audio is also now shipping.

“We have an unwavering commitment to make DM NVX the best network AV solution in every way,” says Fred Bargetzi, Crestron CTO, in the press release.

“This new generation is the culmination of an immense investment in both dollars and engineering man-hours.”

Crestron: DM NVX Will Continue to Evolve

One of the challenges with any network AV solution is anticipating evolving custom needs. Milani maintains that this next generation of Crestron DM NVX is developed to address the evolving demands for video content as well as IT infrastructure.

“Over the years we will be able to take this technology and evolve it with emerging technologies on the network to provide 8K over existing Cat 5e networks,” he says.

“We really think that at the end of the day that’s what a customer wants — a superior image with an unbelievably good quality output working with the infrastructure in the IT service and the support services that they already have.”

Is 1G vs. 10G Even the Right Debate?

Milani is clear that he doesn’t think the 1G vs. 10G debate advances the AV industry. In fact, he sees it as holding back an industry that is increasingly tasked with providing solutions for network administrators of large enterprises and campuses.

“It’s really simple. If the image quality is great, who cares how it got there?” Milani says. “Do you care what size pipe the hot water that came out of your faucet came from? No, you care if it was hot. We’ve got to get away from that debate.”

Crestron engaged with research firm Gartner, in part, to make sure it was on the right path in its network AV product development including its focus on 1G. “We figured, let’s talk to the experts on networks,” Milani says.

The company learned that the majority of AV-over-IP network deployments on campuses are 1G and “10G is barely shipped,” Milani says.

“If you look at the future, that’s where the really big ‘ah ha!’ is. Instead of 10G taking over 1G what we see is the introduction of 2.5G networks. We are a speck in the sea of this IT world and we’re not the only ones with bandwidth issues. The industry is responding, not by pushing everybody to 10G but with 2.5G running on existing Cat 5e cable. We know we can’t pull up the trillions of miles of Cat 5e cable that’s out there.”

Next-Gen Crestron DM NVX Sets Standard in Network AV (via press release):

More than just distribution of flawless 4K60, 4:4:4, and HDR video, DM NVX is a complete, infinitely scalable solution. It also pushes audio, control, and USB 2.0 through a single encoder/decoder, significantly reducing system costs and adding flexibility. DM NVX delivers all this over existing 1Gb infrastructure, eliminating the high cost and disruption of running new cabling.

Next-Gen Crestron DM NVX Offers Advanced Network Security, Easy Deployment (via press release):

DM NVX leverages 802.1x authentication, AES encryption, and Active Directory® technology to provide enterprise-grade security at the product level. And with the DM NVX Director network appliance, you can literally configure and deploy a thousand DM NVX endpoints in the same time it used to take to configure just one AV device the traditional way.

Learn more about next generation Crestron DM NVX network AV during ISE 2019.

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About the Author

Tom LeBlanc
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Tom LeBlanc is the executive director of NSCA. Learn more about NSCA and how to become an NSCA member at NSCA.org.

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Comments

  • Garth Leach says:

    I think it’s important to point out that there is no 1G vs.10G battle when it comes to AV over IP. It’a distraction. You have to ask the right question.

    “With traditional HDbaseT applications migrating to IP how do I find a solution that is going to give me the same quality, the same latency, and the same reliability of HDbaseT while giving me all of the benefits that distribution over IP can provide (flexibility, range, scalability)?” There is only one answer, and that is uncompressed 4K over 10G Ethernet. It is the only product set out there that is going to perform as well, and better in some cases than HDbaseT. 1G solutions no matter how good they say they are rely on compression which reduces image quality and color depth while introducing latency, which means it can never be a true replacement for HDbaseT. Integrators should be wary of trading in their Porshe for a Prius even though the sales guy is saying it has the same performance.

    HDbaseT vs 10G SDVoE is the heavyweight division while all the 1G AV over IP, the NXV included, are in a completely different weight class.

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