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Polar supplies Avonic camera systems for AV2000 installation in Northumbria University’s lecture rooms
Northumbria University in Newcastle, UK, hosts around 38,000 students, who study a wide range of subjects including engineering, computing, business, law, design and the arts. The University recently sought to invest in PTZ camera systems for two large lecture theatres at its £100 million City Campus East.
The theatres, in the CCE1 building, host up to 400 attendees and are designed for both teaching and commercial hire, supporting conferences, talks, and large-scale events. The camera solution was to provide automated presenter tracking and high quality capture for live-streaming and recording.
The University consulted with Yorkshire-based integrator AV2000, AV specialists in the education, healthcare, and corporate sectors, who recommended an Avonic solution supplied by Polar, its UK distributor. Over the course of its three-year contract as Northumbria University’s exclusive AV integrator, AV2000 has transformed and enhanced numerous teaching spaces across the campus.
AV2000’s Andrew Cripwell oversaw the project. “We recommended the Avonic product based on a hands-on evaluation of its qualities at ISE 2024 in Barcelona and its endorsement by Polar”, he says. “The University had expressed an initial preference for a different brand, but a further proof of concept demo by Polar persuaded us that the Avonic solution was best. The quality of its optics and strong reputation in the field convinced us that Avonic’s CamDirector Teacher Tracker software used with its PTZ cameras was a perfect fit for the Northumbria University project.”
Avonic’s CamDirector Teacher Tracker is AI software which tracks a lecturer with PTZ cameras, resulting in an automatic multi-camera registration of lectures. The software is trained to detect a single presenter in a lecture room environment, and autonomously switches between overview and close-up shots depending on their movement.
Northumbria University purchased the CD-Trac1 CamDirector Teacher Tracker Software Licence, and AV2000 equipped each lecture room with a CD500 CamDirector Teacher Tracker Software AI processing unit to process, analyse, and transmit video generated by two Avonic CM-70 20x zoom PTZ cameras it controls.
Each system includes a plug-and-play CAP100 HDMI to USB 3.0 converter, which converts any HDMI input into an H.264 encoded USB 3.0 stream. Any source connected to the CAP100 can be used in multiple applications such as video conferencing such as Skype for Business, Zoom.us, WebEx, and more.
“The hardware installation was straightforward, with Avonic providing guidance on optimal camera positioning”, continues Cripwell. “Their remote support sessions ensured that the project progressed with minimal disruption. Similarly, working with Polar has been a consistently positive experience. From early-stage recommendations through to deployment, they’ve been collaborative and proactive.”
(Photos: AV2000/Avonic/Polar)
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