Adding a presentation switcher to your multi-purpose auditorium set-up is the best way to help you captivate attention and increase interaction. It enables the room to be used for high-end events with operators or for simple meetings driven by presenters themselves. With the right technology, you deliver a strong corporate branding, offer unique viewing experiences, enjoy seamless management, and a smooth workflow behind the scenes.

Solutions for any type of content

When it comes to bringing video, graphics, live cameras, pictures, and presentations on screen, you need to nail the viewing experience. The presentations in your auditorium need to be shown in high standards, especially when you add live cameras or streaming to the mix for your in-person, hybrid or virtual events. Colors should be exact, layout options should match your needs, transitions should be smooth and the experience should be unforgettable. In summary: you don’t want disruptions on-screen for the audience nor behind the scenes for the support staff.

Maximize the use of your auditorium and seminar rooms with Barco’s screen management solutions, and create a high-end visual experience in your auditoriums, higher education lecture theatres, or convention center.

Introducing a presentation switcher is key to stage a seamless corporate event

Barco offers the PDS-4K which helps you with all of the above! To support your brand image the PDS-4K can have a basic, personalized layout with background, share multiple 4K HDR sources, pass audio through or use the powerful DANTE™ system for audio. The PDS has many advantages, click here for more about this screen management solution or watch the video on PDS-4K functionalities for breakout rooms: PDS 4K in break out rooms - YouTube

When your auditorium is the place to be for high-end customer and internal events, adding additional capacity as well as control with the Barco Event Master E2 or S3 presentation switchers is the way to go. These solutions scale creativity, resolution and the number of displays. You can easily combine multiple displays into one large display. And you can also control remote displays like the ones in breakout rooms or from your lobby.

With Barco Event Master there’s:

• No visual latency between reality and display
• Multiple displays are in perfect sync
• No tearing: no visual artefacts in your content, no matter how fast and complex it is
• And the best in-class image quality

You’ll impress even the most critical of audiences with stunning image quality and leverage your screens for multiple purposes.

• In order to inspire investors, customers, suppliers or new talent, your image quality should always be flawless. This includes smooth and fast transitions, as well as extremely low image delay for perfect lip-sync, thanks to our propriety scaling algorithms. Enjoy a seamless flow from one type of content, layout or source into another. With perfect colors, impeccable image quality and perfect lip-sync, your 4K videos are sure to make a lasting impression.
• When dealing with multiple sources, reliability is key. When delivering live presentations, you want full control and zero risk of failure. No production switcher is needed when integrating a camera during a live speaker slot, as the system takes care of the conversion and synchronization, and generally will reduce signal delay for even better lip sync. The E2 is all you need to connect with the camera workflows in the room. The ‘automatic input backup’ with up to 3 inputs and a still image, makes it possible to assign back-ups to a certain input in case of signal loss without requiring any user interaction. This backup switch-over can also be manually activated when wanting to switch to backup for maintenance of the primary input, like loading a new presentation or video. That all makes the solution the most reliable in the market for live and 24/7 applications.
• With no limitations in layout, you get the highest flexibility in designing your stage and content. Create personalized presets for any occasion, have the screen layout custom-made for your product launch, executive training or keynote speech. The live compositor allows you to position and size layers anywhere on your screens to create your custom looks. Presets and cues save these compositions for flawless execution during your event. Make your brand the star of your auditorium and be creative with graphics, logo and text.
• Manage your tech as one solution and link all workflows into a bigger system in your workplace. Barco’s presentation switchers bring a modular and scalable system. They even allow for future expansion outside the room, if you want to add extra rooms from your convention center or seminar space. There’s one control room connected to every breakout room, reducing cable clutter and complexity in set-up compared to the typical conventional set-ups where you have isolated processors and workflows for every room and no inputs or outputs can be shared across rooms. Full bandwidth is preserved, and automatic input back-ups guarantee full reliability. With the E2 you actually have three devices-in-one: a video wall processor, a matrix router and a production switcher (or four if you would include a live compositor). You can use the EX as a stagebox for easier and cleaner cable management, link 2 E2’s or an E2 with an S3, the possibilities are numerous. And thanks to the multi-operator functionality, multiple operators can work independently from each other on one E2 system, switching their own shows without interrupting or blocking each other.

Setting up the most reliable solutions on the market

Adding a professional switcher to an auditorium, seminar room, or lecture theatre set-up does not equal making the set-up complex or more difficult to manage. A screen management system like the PDS-4K, E2 or S3 is typically placed in separate control room near the auditorium and can manage multiple screens in the main room, whether it’s projection, LCD or LED. It can be connected to multiple sources like ClickShare wireless collaboration solutions, tele-conference services, streaming devices for remote audiences, live camera, and PTZ camera's. Content is displayed on a main screen and/or several additional screens. And a downstage monitor is placed in front of the presenter to see what’s being displayed on the main screen behind him or her. Only one single fiber cable connects the EX as a stagebox, connecting all sources and displays on stage.

With E2 and S3 you have the flexibility to choose the control system how you prefer. For presenters, it can be done via an external (even custom) 3rd party controller (via JSON or Telnet APIs). For more advanced, faster and direct control the tactile controllers EC-210, EC-30 or EC-50 can be added at any point.

When you want to use more than presets at a large event, you can always hire a freelance technician who knows how to operate Barco’s Event Master portfolio. With a large number of external operators that have been trained to manage E2 installation and operation, your event will be in capable hands.

When it comes to reliability, Barco’s E2 Gen 2 and S3-4K presentation switchers offer customers the reassurance that their 24/7 applications are always-functioning. With thousands of units in the field at major brands and live events, our solutions are proven to function in even the harshest of environments. The purpose-built hardware with a redundant power supply is frequently updated with software releases including new features. Using a purpose-built Linux-based OS, blue screens or OS risk for your auditorium are a thing of the past.

Rest assure, your investment is also futureproof. With your flexible presentation switcher you can easily adapt to changes, reduce technical display issues and make an easy connection when new signal interfaces are introduced. Being a modular system, you don’t need to invest in a new box to support a new signal type. With the “Build To Order” modularity of the E2 you can design your own configuration. Start with a single chassis and 2 cards and go up to 8 chassis with a total of 96 cards lateron if needed. This all makes it the most scalable and modular system with growing capabilities on the market.

Want to know more about Barco switching solutions for an auditorium?

Discover more