Beirut’s Phoenicia Intercontinental Hotel Chooses Extron Matrix Switchers for Grand Ballroom Renovation

Beirut’s landmark Phoenicia Intercontinental hotel combines Old World elegance with modern amenities. Nowhere is this more apparent than in its famous Grand Ballroom. When the hotel decided on its first major renovation in thirteen years, it wanted to include a world-class AV system for the massive ballroom. It hired integrator HI FI Service, which had installed the hotel’s previous AV system. HI FI selected Extron twisted pair extenders and matrix switchers for the ballroom.

Amazing HD images were obtained, by using Extron twisted pair extenders and matrix switchers.

Oussama Mansour Abou Faraj, Managing Director, HI FI Service

Client Needs

HI FI Managing Director Oussama Mansour Abou Faraj was asked to design and implement an extensive HDMI, VGA, audio, and video system, connecting AV sources to five Sanyo PLC-XM100 HD projectors and the room’s speaker system. The system had to be HD compatible, flexible, future proofed, and set up to avoid extensive cabling in the ballroom during events.

The ballroom measures 1,300 square meters, seats up to 2,000 guests, and can be divided into four separate rooms. "The ability to create a variety of room combinations was of course a requirement," Faraj explains. "Choosing the proper matrix switchers and signal management devices was the core of the entire design."

Challenges

The size of the room and the vulnerability of the HDMI signals were what most concerned Faraj and his team. "The HDMI network was the one which needed the most attention and dedication," says Faraj.

The main challenge was getting a wide variety of digital and analog AV signals from wall inputs and floor boxes, across the massive room to the projectors, without signal degradation or excessive cabling. "Although the requirements were relatively few and looked simple," Faraj explains, "the design and implementation of systems fulfilling those requirements were complex."

Twisted Pair Transmitters

HI FI began by installing Extron MTP/HDMI U T A D universal twisted pair transmitters for HDMI, VGA, video, audio, and RS-232, at several points along the walls. These decorator-style wallplates have dedicated inputs to support a variety of digital and analog signals, routed through eight Extron HDMI 201 twisted pair extenders and four SW2 HDMI two-input switchers to an Extron DXP 88 HDMI matrix switcher.

HI FI also installed Extron MTP T 15 HD A AAPs in floor boxes around the room. These architectural adapter plate versions of Extron’s MTP T 15HD A twisted pair transmitters route high resolution analog computer-video and stereo audio signals to an Extron MTPX 168 twisted pair matrix switcher.

The plates and AAPs reduce the need for cabling and are located so that they can also route signals to and from the individual rooms created when the ballroom is divided.

Matrix Switchers

As is often the case, Extron matrix switchers form the heart of the signal routing system. An Extron DXP 88 HDMI digital matrix switcher receives HDMI signals from HDMI 201 receivers, as well as output from DVD players, routing them through HDMI 101 cable equalizers to the room’s five digital HD projectors.

The MTPX 168 twisted pair matrix switcher routes RGBHV, video, audio, and RS-232 signals, including output from the MTP T 15HD A AAPs, through MTP U R RSA twisted pair receivers to the room’s projectors.

Amazing HD Images, On Time

"Amazing HD images were obtained” says Faraj, "by using Extron twisted pair extenders and matrix switchers."

"HI FI Service was able to install the system in less than two months," says Faraj, "and the hotel guests will enjoy a state of the art AV system in one of the most luxurious ballrooms in the area."