Video Vices

The esports industry has experienced tremendous growth over the years and, according to Statista, it’s anticipated that there will be 286M esports enthusiasts in 2024. That’s up from the 197M accounted for in 2019. Contemporary Research’s podcast host Gabrielle Bejarano spoke with Mike Rufail, Founder and CGO at Envy Gaming about how the Pro AV industry influences esports.

To begin, Rufail provided insight to listeners who may not be familiar with E-Sports, “we’re effectively a sport but a sport that is played in video games. Instead of a ball or a bat or a club, we are using controllers and mice, and keyboards and screens are effectively our playing field.” From there, the conversation turned to the significance of audiovisual equipment in supporting esporting events.

Rufail noted that visualization is essential to support the games being played at a very high level as well as help spectators understand what is happening inside the games. In fact, esports are prone to use AV equipment more than other sporting events and concerts, and so on since screens are what connect gamers with their audiences.

In this episode of Video Vices, Tyler Kern speaks with two global experts in the AV industry regarding security issues when utilizing AV over IP. Combined Mohamed Malis, Senior AV Project Manager of TAD (Technology, Architecture, Design) Associates, and Matt Boyer, CTO of Vistacom have over 48 years of experience in the audiovisual industry.

Malis began his career in computer science and eventually fell in love with everything AV. He has 18 years of experience in the industry and presently manages all of TAD’s AV projects throughout the EMEA region. Boyer has worked 30+ years in AV with most of those spent at Vistacom. He presently works with clients to find technology solutions to address business needs.

Both gentlemen agreed that AV over IP security is possible. Malis commented that “it is a simple question, yet complicated.” He also noted that “as technology progresses, new encryption, new authentication, it’s getting more and more secure. So, if it’s done properly, it’s definitely secure.”

Supply chain issues and chip shortages has been quite a pain for almost every business and consumer the past two years. Sameera Butt, Director of Operations for Contemporary Research, joined Host Tyler Kern to discuss the consequences of the shortages and what lies in store for the future.

Prior to the pandemic, the economy used to have a just-in-time supply chain with small margins for error, but now there are longer lead times. The chip shortage has created problems along every point of the supply chain process and can even result in a necessary engineering, hardware, or software changes.

The shortage has brought another issue to light—counterfeit parts. “Another problem is counterfeit parts flooding the market and people feel pressure for those deadlines, they’re more willing to buy from a vendor they don’t trust,” Butt stated.

To prevent counterfeit part purchases, Contemporary Research has rigorous internal testing procedures and a host of trusted vendors. Contemporary Research has all departments imperative to their manufacturing process onsite; from engineering to pcb assembly, to purchasing, and production. Parts Procurement has started shopping for parts much earlier in the manufacturing process than previously done as another workaround. By doing this, the engineering team can work on substituting parts if needed while the assembly team can achieve lead times and be available if something comes in late. “It’s nice for us because so much of our manufacturing is local. Wherever the pain point is, we can address it at any point.” Butt said.

Butt anticipates continued shortages the next couple years. “It’s just a matter of what companies can stay in the game. What companies can meet these demands regardless of the kind of the problems we’ve discussed,” she concluded.

To learn more about the shortages, visit the Contemporary Research website and subscribe to the podcast.

Many changes occurred during the pandemic as businesses pivoted to adapt. One of the primary industry trends accelerated by the pandemic is the adoption of AV over IP solutions. General use cases for audiovisual displays and collaborative videoconferencing and content broadcasting were all pushed to embrace AV over IP as a standard, creating a singular environment for crafting investment and use strategies.

Here to give insights on this episode of Video Vices, a Contemporary Research podcast, is Paul Briggs AV Product Support Manager with Contemporary Research, and Craig Brown, President of Shoreline Communications. Brown’s mission is to represent partner manufacturers in the Pro-AV community with a professional, ethical and personal sales approach built upon the foundation of offering outstanding service and support throughout the distribution channels and with the end-user in the effort to increase territory sales revenue.

End-users are probably happy with the transition to AV over IP, which is a quality and scalable infrastructure for AV needs, offering the delivery of high-definition video over data networks with superior quality for video and data. It's proving to be cost-effective, as well. So with this mass validation of AVoIP, we wanted to get granular on why AVoIP is proving so useful regardless of use case and offer strategies for deploying an AVoIP network at scale effectively.

“It is pretty easy to add AV over IP to existing networks,” Briggs explained, “so somebody may already have the infrastructure in place that they can take advantage of without the cost and expense of new cabling.”

Deploying AV over RF often is a choice for locations that have coaxial cabling already in place. For a further understanding of the advantages of AV over RF, Video Vices tapped Scott Hetzler, President & Chief Engineer at Contemporary Research, and Dan Muckle, President of Muckle Sales, to put all the puzzle pieces together.

Hetzler said an AV installation could be as easy as plugging in a TV when coaxial cabling is available. Muckle concurred.

“One nice thing is you can take any type of signal and send that over the coax, too,” Muckle said. “Whatever signal type you’re dealing with being component, or HDMI, or SDI, you can use that as well. And you can mix those signals, and you have 125 different channels to choose from, so the capability is very, very high.” And Hetzler added that 2 HD channels could come from each channel, essentially doubling the number of digital channels available.

There is a misconception that RF is an outdated method. Still, with so much existing coaxial cable available, Hetzler and Muckle believe there are many opportunities for businesses to take advantage of what’s already in place.

“IP TV and CAT 5 cables have been overmarketed such that customers think that’s what they need, but in reality, it’s far overcomplicated, and RF just makes it so easy,” Hetzler said. “Because it’s just that one cable to the back of your TV, and the tuner is built into the TV. That’s you’re decoder. No other hardware is required.”

Sara Krybus, Sales Operations Manager, Contemporary Research, and Paul Briggs, AV Product Support Manager, Contemporary Research joined host Tyler Kern on this episode of the Video Vices podcast to remind businesses of the importance of their system’s emergency alert capabilities.
“Whether a venue has two or 200,000 people, it is important that venues are thinking about how they are communicating how to get to safety or what to do in an emergency,” Krybus said.
Emergencies in businesses take many forms, and alert readiness is a fundamental component of the planning process.
“A video alert messaging system is a great way to grab people’s attention in an emergency,” Briggs said.
Contemporary Research’s A/V products interface with existing equipment for ease of triggering and ending alerts. The system can also turn on video displays during an emergency and shut them back off once the emergency is over.
Krybus listed several examples of situations where video alert systems prove useful in emergencies, including arenas, stadiums, K-12 and higher education.
“Manufacturing distribution centers have a lot of employees around very noisy machines, and video is how they communicate with those employees,” she said.

On this podcast episode of Video Vices with Contemporary Research, Corey Dunn, Chief Creative Officer of Esports Stadium in Arlington, spoke with Tyler Kern about his personal journey from gaming fan, to eSports announcer, to Chief Creative Officer.
Esports Stadium Arlington opened in November of 2018 and is the largest dedicated esports facility in North America. Fully equipped with broadcast and production studios, premium hospitality offerings, retail and social spaces and gorgeous video distribution, the arena goes well beyond a training and competition space.
In the episode Dunn retraced his steps as a Counter Strike fan in 1999, and his experiences joining early cybergaming leagues. Dunn answered an ad in 2004 looking for esports competition announcers, and then began a ten-year stretch of professional competitive gaming commentary. Dunn’s commentary work took him around the country and around the world.
The popularity of esports is growing, and stadium competitions are increasing in popularity. Dunn sees the stadium environment as a way for gaming enthusiasts to gain camaraderie with fellow fans, get to be in the same place watching their favorite gamer compete, and get an experience unique from simply watching the event online at home. Dunn explained at Esports Stadium Arlington, they can use game data to create unique visual components to enhance an attendee’s experience.
It is important to offer fans a unique visual experience at the stadium to differentiate themselves from a home-viewing experience. From large-scale stadium monitors, providing multiple camera angles with map overviews and player information, to exclusive access to AR/VR, esports stadiums are deploying all of the latest AV technology that traditional sports have been integrating. The result: a more immersive and exciting viewing experience that brings fans to the stadium.