Innovative new MediaCento solutions reduce the costs and challenges of digital signage installation.
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, February 22, 2010 — Black Box Corporation (NASDAQ:BBOX), an industry-leading provider of voice communications, data infrastructure, and product solutions, announced today the introduction of MediaCento™, a new line of solutions designed to reduce the cost of distributing media to digital signage in large buildings.
The plug-and-play hardware solutions, set to debut at Digital Signage Expo 2010 in Las Vegas, include:
• The MediaCento IP, which uses video-over-IP technology to distribute HD video and audio over an existing LAN (or a qualified WAN). A single transmitter can deliver 1080p media, including Flash, DVD, and HDMI video content, at Gigabit speeds over CAT5e or CAT6 to an unlimited number of digital displays. By leveraging existing TCP/IP network connections to distribute multimedia content, businesses and organizations can avoid running expensive dedicated links from a back room to digital signage in lobbies or other public areas.
• The MediaCento RF, which uses low-cost coax cabling to broadcast video and audio to one or more HDTV screens. Supporting both VGA and Component video source input, it encodes and modulates signals for single-channel RF transmission over existing coax wiring. The HDTV’s QAM tuner enables the reception of the MediaCento channel, so no set-top box or other piece of hardware is required at the digital signage screen. The channel can even be combined with 133 other HDTV channels for broadcast to rooms throughout a hotel, hospital, or other building.
The new MediaCento products complement Black Box’s popular line of HD View products for affordable point-to-point multimedia distribution. HD View transmitters and receivers distribute video and audio over dedicated copper wiring—the ordinary, inexpensive CATx cabling already in many buildings—extending VGA video as far as 1000 feet and digital HDMI video up to 230 feet. The VGA versions also support bidirectional RS-232 control, making them ideal for interactive kiosk screens.
Black Box’s MediaCento IP, MediaCento RF, and HD View solutions will all be on display February 23–25 at Booth # 1046 of Digital Signage Expo 2010. Attendees can visit the booth to see live demos or contact Black Box for a free one-on-one demo at their convenience.
For more information on Black Box audio and video distribution solutions, visit blackbox.com/go/AV.
About Black Box
Black Box Network Services is a leading digital signage and multimedia solutions provider, serving 175,000 clients in 141 countries with 194 offices throughout the world. Black Box offers more than 118,000 products including media players and digital signage appliances for plug-and-play implementation of high-impact signage. The company’s premier digital signage offering, iCOMPEL™, gives businesses and institutions an affordable, easy way to set up high-impact signage. Black Box also offers LCD and plasma displays, assorted AV extenders, splitters, switches, and converters, as well as cabinets, cables, and data infrastructure products. All products are backed by free, live, 24/7 Tech Support, which customers can reach at 724-746-5500 or at blackbox.com. Black Box is also known as the world’s largest technical services company dedicated to designing, building, and maintaining today’s complicated data and voice infrastructure systems.
Black Box® and the Double Diamond logo are registered trademarks, and MediaCento and iCOMPEL are trademarks, of BB Technologies, Inc. Any third-party trademarks appearing in this press release are acknowledged to be the property of their respective owners.