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RGB Spectrum Gets the 911 Call RGB Spectrum's SuperView Processor Supports Chicago's Office of Emergency Communications With Multi-Input Display |
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Chicago's 911 Center, the Office of Emergency Communications, must deal with an increasing number of individual and mass emergency situations. The department's visual information systems needed upgrading so that decision makers could obtain visual information to make faster, more effective decisions, mobilize resources more quickly, and respond more efficiently. These mission-critical needs were the impetus for the creation of the "Emergency Situations Room." Similar in concept to a "war room," the Emergency Situation Room receives and presents important, time-critical data and visual information. Chicago's 911 Emergency Communications Center chose RGB Spectrum's SuperView™ multi-input display processors for their new Emergency Situations Room. OEC Executive Director, Greg Bishop, and Audio Visual Coordinator, Ernest Williams III, composed and obtained funding for the innovative Emergency Situations Room project. Williams enlisted the services of Ray Dal Lago, Account Executive and A/V industry veteran of 24 years, with VideoImages/ MCSi, a nationwide company with expertise in commercial audio visual equipment. After extensive evaluation, RGB Spectrum's SuperView multiple window display processor was the choice to meet their needs. According to Williams, the key objectives were to "1) increase the number of visuals simultaneously displayed from two to ten, 2) support visuals from a variety of computer and video inputs - including uplink satellite video feeds, broadcast signals, live cameras, VCRs, and multiple computers, and 3) have the flexibility to completely manipulate the images, making them any size, placing them anywhere on screen, and being able to overlay them." Williams recommended the RGB Spectrum SuperView because "It was a perfect fit - it gave us exactly what we were looking for. SuperView gives us all the image manipulation capability we need with optimum cost efficiency. It saved us from having to spend another $500,000 for extra projectors and AV equipment." The Emergency Situations Room is equipped with two Electrohome DLV-1280 projectors, side-by-side, each fed by a separate SuperView processor. The SuperView units receive input from eight computers, a number of local TV stations, a satellite video feed from a State Police helicopter, one live video camera, and a VCR. The control staff can manipulate and display visuals from all of these inputs simultaneously. Williams explained, "We wanted to reduce the time to visually analyze a situation by displaying "different" sets of multiple, overlayed images to different reviewer groups. This technique speeds up the visual analysis of a critical situation by exposing more information to more people simultaneously." With the two RGB Spectrum SuperView systems, up to 10 simultaneous images can be viewed in the Emergency Services Room. Decision makers can instantly see and evaluate current situations with on-site views from different angles and sources, together with applicable city maps, computer graphics detailing resource availability and response time updates, multiple TV broadcasts, weather reports, and other data from over one hundred PowerPoint presentations. Top-level city officials, including the Mayor, Police and Fire Dept. Chiefs, Public Works Director, and local utility managers, all have access to the Emergency Situations Room. According to Williams, "The SuperViews have made a dramatic improvement in the communication capability. Previously, we were only able to display two images. Now we can display up to 10! This enhanced capability has made a dramatic impact on our efficiency and effectiveness in handling and responding to critical emergencies." He goes on to say, "What really sets the RGB Spectrum SuperView apart from anything else is how easy it is to manipulate the images, to enlarge or reduce them, put them anywhere on the screen, and to overlay these images on top of each other. We are so impressed with its ease of use." Soon, the Emergency Situations Room will be video teleconferencing capable. It will have the ability to conduct video teleconferences with every Chicago Police station - eliminating worrisome delays in disseminating critical information. The SuperView processors will be used to implement this capability. Now in use for over a year, Williams praises the SuperView for its "excellent clarity and remarkable ease of use. It is an invaluable training and presentation tool. This leading-edge technology has made such an improvement in our operations and greatly benefited the lives of our community." The SuperView multi-input display processor accepts up to ten real-time inputs and displays the combined output on a single high resolution monitor or projector. The window inputs can be NTSC or PAL, Composite and S-Video, and high resolution analog RGB with up to 1280 x 1024 pixel resolution. Each window can be independently positioned, scaled to full screen, overlaid with computer graphics or overlapped with other windows. Additionally, the user can pan and zoom within each video image. RGB Spectrum® is a leading designer and manufacturer of videographic and multimedia hardware subsystems. Products include the View™ family of video windowing systems, the RGB/Videolink® line of scan converters, the DGx™ digital recording system, and SuperWall™, ComputerWall® and MediaWall® multi-screen display controllers. RGB Spectrum is based in Alameda, California, and can be reached at 510-814-7000 and on the internet at http://www.rgb.com. |
press contact: carol marcus for pictures in 300 dpi format |
