Overview
Extron is working together with PlayVS to support schools with the technology and expertise needed to build engaging and competitive esports programs. Extron helps to provide the professional AV products, designs, and expertise needed to deliver immersive, reliable, and scalable esports experiences. Their powerful asset management tools are helping technology professionals efficiently manage large numbers of audiovisual systems deployed throughout their enterprises and institutions. Extron AV technology solutions serve the diverse needs of organizations around the world and are deployed in a wide variety of corporate, educational, government, healthcare, retail, and entertainment applications.
View Extron to learn more.
Benefits
Whether you are a coach, an instructor, an event producer, or an administrator — when you incorporate audiovisual (AV) technology into your scholastic esports gameplan, you take your esports programs to the next level.
Vibrant video and enveloping sound are a big part of esports. Pro AV makes it even better. By upping your esports facility video, audio, and control game, you attract more students to your teams, get a competitive edge in coaching and strategy, your event producers gain easy-to-use tools to create polished productions, and your educational spaces work harder for you, functioning as high-tech classrooms and esports arenas.
Video
Professional-grade video equipment provides spectators the same energy players are experiencing. They include:
Webcams and PTZ Cameras
Capture images of action on the gaming floor, player reactions, team dynamics, and spectator excitement.
Large-format Video Displays and Videowalls
Show camera feeds alongside real-time gameplay, replays, player stats, and even sponsor messages.
All images are shown in sharp 4K (or even 8K) clarity with high refresh rates that minimize motion blur and lag.
Sound
Clear, powerful sound is as important as video for placing spectators at the center of the action, allowing them to hear every detail — from subtle footsteps to massive explosions. To achieve this soundscape, the esports venue requires:
High-wattage Speakers
Provides wide frequency response, low distortion, and well-aimed sound directionality, augmented by subwoofers.
Amplifiers
Must have power and frequency response specifications that match the capabilities of the speakers.
Broadcast Condenser Mics and Sound Mixer
Provides shoutcasters and event producers the ability to blend game sounds, player reactions, and shoutcaster commentary for results that match professional sports broadcasts.
Audio Digital Signal Processors (DSP)
Tailor sound to compensate for room acoustics and cancel unwanted echo, optimizing the in-room listening experience.
Facility Management with AV Control Technology
Professional AV systems are run by high performance control processors that regulate every aspect of AV system operation. They also have other functions which include:
Lighting
Window shades
Projection screens
Room dividers
Player assignment to gaming stations
Team groupings
Player matchups
All these are handled with ease by non-technical people from a simple button panel or from a touchpanel with an interactive graphical interface that is as intuitive as a smartphone.
Multi-Use Education Space
When schools invest in quality AV systems for esports venues, the advantages extend well beyond esports enthusiasts:
HyFlex and active learning environments where students can share their work via multiple screens, distance learners can attend lectures in real time or stream saved lectures on demand.
Powerful gaming PCs can handle demanding software applications used in Career and Technical Education and STEM classes — such as Adobe Suite, Blender, AutoCAD, and Unreal Engine, and Unity — that may tax the typical classroom PC.
Maintaining the hardware and software of every esports team is a technical and administrative support crew of students who perform jobs essential to the success of the esports program.
Technical Hardware Offerings
Video Delivery
Flexible AV switching, signal extension, and distribution devices with HDMI, twisted pair, and AV over IP transport.
Support 4K up to 8K video resolutions, ensuring that the esports facility's AV system can keep pace and adapt with rapidly advancing technologies now and in the future.
The AV system must be able to switch and distribute signals with pristine quality and near-zero latency without impacting PC video card performance.
AV Control and Automation
Simplifies the operation and management of complex esports installations.
Button panels can easily turn on or off the display, select which console to use, and control sound volume level.
Touchpanels bring control of various AV system options to your fingertips – for instructors and coaches, shoutcasters, reception clerks, and others.
Select which content to view, and which display(s) to view it on.
Optionally control room functions like lighting, window shades, projection screens, and more through the AV operator interface.
Room occupancy sensors tied into AV systems save energy and equipment wear and tear by powering systems up when rooms are in use and shutting them down when no one is present.
Video Scaling and Image Processing
Gaming spaces benefit from modular videowall and/or video signal processors that simultaneously display multiple video feeds on displays.
For example: Gameplay, scenes of the gaming floor from PTZ cameras, and player or shoutcaster reactions from cameras at each player and shoutcaster station.
Videowall signal processors must have the ability to preserve critical pixel detail, regardless of image size, while providing the flexibility to show multiple windows of content.
Real-time annotation facilitates coaching, feedback, and gameplay analysis.
Sound Reinforcement
Speakers, subwoofers, amplifiers, mixers, and DSP (digital signal processors) all shape the esports sound experience for spectators.
Subwoofers are included in the system, to be enabled when more excitement or more focus on the gameplay audio is needed.
Mix game audio with high-energy shoutcaster play-by-play commentary for the benefit of spectators.
Dante-enabled AV system audio components enable digital audio distribution over local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs).
Low Latency Streaming and Recording
Record gameplay video and audio for later playback for coaching, competitive analysis, and strategizing.
Streaming allows remote viewers across a campus, or around the world, to take-in the action via a campus network or the Internet, on all of the popular gaming platforms.
Additional Resources
View Extron’s Esports CompKit for all-in-one AV systems that supports up to 5v5 esports competitions. Designed for portable or permanent installation, it delivers professional-grade production, streamlines connectivity, and ensures a seamless gaming experience.
For more information on how to request free professional design assistance and resources to help you enhance your esports facility, visit the Extron Esports web page.