From boardroom executives to college professors, AV users in commercial applications are far more interested in what technology can do than how it looks.

In a perfect world, products themselves would be invisible. Or, at least invisible until you need them. How do integrators balance performance requirements of AV systems with the desire to keep it hidden? What products accommodate techsavvy clients while remaining invisible during meetings, lectures, seminars, or presentations?

Flush-mounted into the ceiling, these Architectural Series loudspeakers from Sonance appear as slightly darkened squares.

Industry manufacturers assist in the concealment with a variety of solutions. SoundTube Entertainment, based in Park City, UT, is frequently asked about loudspeaker installations where the speakers are “invisible,” or at least not easily spotted. SoundTube Entertainment's media representative Elaine Jones says that the company offers several options for customers, from paintable grilles, which can be rendered nearly invisible by creative painting, to transducers that convert hard surfaces to speakers.

“A clever paint job can make an in-wall or in-ceiling speaker almost impossible to spot,” Jones enthuses. “A contractor hired to do a custom paint job in a Florida church did a ‘marble finish’ on the church steps, where some small in-wall speakers were installed. It requires a very close look to spot the units.”

A disguise can also be used to make speakers discreet. A South African Holiday Inn installed SoundTube Focused-Point dome speakers over tables in the dining room, so patrons could tune in the TV program of their choice (video screens were mounted in the walls by each table) and have a comfortable listening level that did not spill over to other diners’ locations. “For aesthetic design, the domes were covered by lampshades, which gives the dining room an elegant touch,” she explains. It takes a careful look to realize that the individual table “pendant lamps” are actually speakers.

1. DOUBLE AGENT: LOUDSPEAKER DISGUISES

Technology imposters lurk just about everywhere. What you think is an ordinary rock, lamp, ceiling fan, or planter at the golf course may actually be a serious piece of AV gear.

The Hunter Concert Breeze Fan with an integrated Soundolier loudspeaker is one example. What appears to be an ordinary ceiling fan is also a sound system, combining the utility of a fan with the bonus of highquality audio.

Companies claim “weatherproof,” but what protects them from the elements? SpeakerCraft says the secret to its Ruckus is the durable U.V. and weather-resistant lacquer coating that sits on top of a reinforced, color-matched polyresin enclosure. If the outer coating is chipped or marred, the material underneath is the same color, just like a real rock.

Loudspeakers that appear to be pendant lamps are hung over tables in this dining room. This dome loudspeaker focuses sound only to those patrons directly below it.

Ceiling mounted lifts conceal the projector until you want to use it.

2. HEADS UP: DROP-DOWN PROJECTOR LIFTS

Drop-down lifts descend from ceiling tiles to offer total concealment of video projection systems. Whether the application is for an enterprise setting, boardroom, or educational venue, drop-down lifts are quiet and remote controlled, recessing when not in use.

Chief Manufacturing, a division of Milestone AV Technologies, based in Savage, MN, offers its SL151 and SL236 projector lifts, each capable of different drop distance degrees from the ceiling. For added value, the lifts can also be inverted to rise up out of a table.

A loudspeaker grille becomes nearly invisible after it’spainted to match the marble finish of the steps in which it is installed.

3. OUT OF SIGHT: REAR PROJECTION

Jeffrey Rausch, director of marketing and communications, Vutec Corporation, says that its Fusion-HD is a high-definition rear-projection screen, while the PRISMATEC is a projection screen with a gain of 5.0. Both rigid rear screens offer “sharp, vibrant images in controlled or uncontrolled lighting conditions,” he says.

 

Vutec also designs the Retro-Trac, a universal rear projection rail system. “Vutec’s one- and two-mirror systems offer an installer friendly, intelligently simple designed rear projection system that accommodates most projectors,” he states.

4. NEED A LIFT: FLAT PANEL LIFTS

Motorized lifts can conceal heavy displays within furniture.

Integrators have found ways to creatively hide flat panel displays with lifts that rise from below. These units can be automated, remote controlled, are “high-load capacity and extremely quiet.”

He points to the 180 lb-capacity flat panel lift with an optional floating lid that allows installers to attach their desired material directly to the top of the lift. Features include a steel three-hat channeled floorboard and two-speed lift mechanism. They utilize the same lift motors as hospitals for safety, silence, and reliability.

Display Devices, based in Arvada, CO, offers a variety of flat panel lifts such as the PL-2200i/PL-2260i, designed for seamless integration inside furniture. With the touch of a button, users can raise the lift (up to 160 pounds) with “whisper-quiet operation.” Cable management and safety guards are also included.

A rear-projection screen can be used in public spaces by suspending the projector from the ceiling behind the screen.

5. ARTFULLY HIDDEN: AN ARTWORK DISGUISE

Manufacturers such as Vutec offer custom images on screens behind which flat panel displays can be hidden.

Another bright idea: transform an LCD or plasma display into a museum-quality work of art. Disguising a display behind artwork or a mirror until it is needed is not just practical, it’s another vehicle for creative expression.

Vutec’s ArtScreen, one of its most popular series, provides a diversified product line, and are custom made to order. Other ArtScreen versions include the Soundscape 360 for LCR speakers and surround bar speaker technologies, and the R Series offers a Robotic Arm System for complete viewing angle control (left, right, up, and down) with the touch of a button. The Studio Series is Vutec’s “low-cost” ArtScreen solution that converts flat panels into artful conversation pieces. It is a do-it-yourself, “one size fits all” system, with a selection of four frames and 12 art selections available.

At first look, this museum exhibit appear to be nothing more than a display table. But a look beneath the table’s top reveals a SolidDrive transducer that turns the table’s surface into a loudspeaker.

FSR Inc. offers a box that can conceal AV connections beneath the surface of a conference table.

6. LEAVE NO TRACE: CABLE MANAGEMENT

Beneath the circular 350 lb. marble tabletop, eight plasma displays are concealed.

In a retrofit install, integrators can conceal a TV’s pesky cables behind woodwork, under carpets, and even inside AV mounts and accessories, says Karen Mefford, marketing manager for Chief Manufacturing. “All Chief products contain cable management,” she explains. “Our swing arms and desk mounts have a ‘cabletrac system’ within the arm, while projector mounts like Chief’s RPA and RPM mounts have space built in to manage cables.”

If you want practical elegance, FSR director of strategic development, Glen Swanson, suggests you look to FSR’s table, floor, and wall boxes. The unique variety of boxes can handle stage, raised access, poured concrete, or retrofit flooring applications. FSR matches the décor of any installation with construction, carpet rims, flanges, and accessories.

While the White House Press Briefing Room is probably the most recognizable venue for FSR’s discreet products, Swanson says that projects using FSR products include the Las Vegas City Center, Hershey Convention Center, Tiger Woods Learning Center, Chicago Board of Trade, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the FBI.

7. SECRET SOUND: FLUSH-MOUNTED LOUDSPEAKERS

It seems every loudspeaker manufacturer offers in-wall and in-ceiling loudspeakers, but only a few of them are discreet enough to completely vanish when installed.

An equipment rack with a darkened or frosted front panel hides unsightly electronics, but allows IR remotes controls to function.

Two of those disappearing acts are the Invisible Series and the Architectural Series audio speakers by San Clemente, CA-based Sonance. Recently installed in the Mi Cocina Restaurant in Dallas, TX, the Architectural Series speakers are flush with the wall, instead of protruding even a fraction of an inch, like most in-walls models.

8. SMOKE AND MIRRORS: CONCEALING ELECTRONICS AND CONTROL DEVICES

No one likes to look at a rack of electronics and control equipment, unless you’re a AV or IT techie. Most AV users, however, would prefer it to be hidden. If the equipment must be in the same room as its users, then a credenza with built in rack often provides the idea solution. Raxxess, part of the same Milestone AV Technologies group along with Chief, offers their Elite Converta racks. These attractive racks have a locking smoked lexan front door that provides security and visibility. Infra-red signals will pass through the front door, so it’s not necessary to open it when in use.

9. POP UP VIDEO: TABLE LIFTS AND CUSTOM SOLUTIONS

Premier Mounts’ recent installation in the Wynn Encore in Las Vegas is another example of AV stealth. Wynn building contractors had a unique request: build a table with mounted flat panels that could ascend from the floor for meetings, then vanish when not in use. Not just the cubby or a screen, but the entire table had to lift from the floor.

The marble itself weighs 350 pounds. Compounded by the weight of the eight plasma screens, the unit had to offer super-strong lifts. Cole says that Premier “rose” to the challenge, and this experience isn’t uncommon. “Most Premier Mounts products start with a customer’s big idea, then we take it to the drawing board, noodle it, and bring it to reality.” In fact, customized solutions are some of the most common ways that people end up hiding AV products. “One-offs” are so popular at Premier, that Cole says they average one per week.

10. TRANSFORMATION: PLATE GLASS AUDIO ACTUATORS

Products are available to turn almost any flat surface into a loudspeaker, for true invisibility. The basic idea is simple: since a loudspeaker’s primary job is to move air — which in turn creates sound — almost anything that can be set into motion can be made to make sound. Even drywall, glass, wood, ceramic, or laminate surfaces can become a loudspeaker.

SoundTube’s SolidDrive transducers can provide sound without speakers. SolidDrive products are “hidden sound transducers” that transmit acoustical energy using neodymium magnets and dual symmetrically opposed motors to convert audio signals into powerful vibrations that are transferred onto solid surfaces by direct contact.