Busch Home Theater Expands Technical and Creative Capabilities of Global Design Company with Analog Way’s NeXtage 08 - 4K Seamless Switcher

When a San Francisco based global design and innovation company upgraded its multi-purpose marketing and event space, it acquired Analog Way’s  NeXtage  08 - 4K   for seamless switching and edge blending.

The design company decided to update its multi-purpose showcase space with a 25 foot-wide screen and dual projectors from Digital Projection. But the vendor who did the initial install did not deliver the performance and functionality they required.

Enter Robert Busch, owner of Busch Home Theater in Santa Rosa, California, who evaluated the new install and discovered a number of problems. First, Busch dealt with some structural issues related to the location. He repositioned the projectors, fabricated custom mounts to stabilize the wobbly projectors and calibrated them to color match each other.

Then he got in touch with Dan Benjamin, Analog Way’s Regional Sales Manager for Canada and the Northwest, to resolve a problem with edge blending, provide multiple inputs and expand display capabilities in the room.

“NeXtage offered one comprehensive solution that could output to the two projectors and create a blend zone for a seamless look across the large-format screen,” says Benjamin.

“It was important for our client to do nice seamless, cross-faded switching of different content on the screen,” he explains. “It was also important to take a wide-format native source and fill the entire screen with that material for an extremely high-resolution display. They also wanted to be able to put multiple layers of content on the screen at any given time. They needed more power than they had previously, the power of NeXtage 08 - 4K.

Part  of  Analog  Way’s  LiveCore   series,   NeXtage 08 - 4K is a high-end seamless switcher with dedicated live processing and a rugged, reinforced chassis and hardware. With two independent seamless mix layers per output as well as an independent native background layer included for soft edge blending or individual screen  modes,  NeXtage  08 - 4K  is  an  exciting tool for creating impressive shows requiring two independently-switched displays.

“The functionality of NeXtage 08 - 4K was a  very good match for this application,”  says Busch. “Without  NeXtage  08 - 4K  they  couldn’t have gotten what they wanted in the room.   NeXtage has  the  tools  inside  to  give our customer the displays they need. The flexibility of the system is outstanding.”

Before, they had a straight presentation system for keynotes, PowerPoints and video, all pre-produced. With NeXtage 08 - 4K they can have three or four different things cued at the same time; and can jump back and forth and put layers on top.

The client was “really impressed” by Dan Benjamin’s demo of NeXtage 08 - 4K and by Benjamin’s collaboration with Busch to “make sure everything was just perfect after Busch’s structural work was completed. Having someone from Analog Way with real knowledge walk them through every step was invaluable. He inspired confidence and answered our questions – it made all the difference in the world, especially after such a bad experience with the vendor who did the initial install."

The room is now busy 98 percent of the time and everybody who’s used the system is very happy with it. The team’s people have the skills to create amazing projects with it.