Crestron’s DM NVX® AV-over-IP solution provides an unparalleled experience for the most demanding clientele
April 17, 2024 - Arjan Kleinveld has a term that captures his approach to marine integrations: “We’re not looking for a Return on Investment. We’re looking for a Return of Emotion.”
His clients are not primarily interested in saving money — they’re almost always interested in creating what Kleinveld calls “seven-star” services and amenities, a nod to a superlative used by a hotel reviewer in the 1990s. They’ll always pay value for money for that level of service and, therefore, the best possible onboard experience for themselves and their guests. Kleinveld’s mission statement is a riff on the foundation of his company’s name, ONEXP: “That ONE eXPerience has to be flawless.”
Kleinveld has been in the marine business — as an AV and then an IT expert — for roughly a quarter century. His firm just picked up an award from Crestron, a trophy honoring an “Entertainment Everywhere” solution aboard a confidential project. And like the rest of his projects, this one relies on DM NVX® technology.
Speed and Flexibility
In his entry for the contest, Kleinveld and his team describe the solution thusly:
This system seamlessly integrates both consumer (satellite receiver) and professional equipment (theater-grade projector), ensuring secure transmission of content while optimizing Wi-Fi® communication coverage throughout the yacht. DM NVX technology served as the cornerstone of our solution, effectively merging and managing diverse video sources while mitigating potential security risks and optimizing network performance.
“Lightning-fast” switching times were another benefit that DM NVX AV-over-IP brought to the table, along with the system’s flexibility, which enabled ONEXP “to mix and match different video and audio sources, offering unparalleled versatility in content delivery throughout the yacht. Moreover, the implementation of DM NVX AV-over-IP facilitated the duplication of cinema outputs, enabling the owner to conveniently view the same content from the comfort of their office or any designated location on the yacht.”
That’s precisely the outcome the Crestron team was striving for when they coined the phrase “entertainment everywhere.” “The duplication of cinema outputs eliminates the need for the owner to be limited to a single location when a game’s on or a movie is playing,” says Crestron’s Senior Director of Residential and Hospitality Marketing, Michael Short. “Whether it’s a media room, a stateroom, or in an onboard office, the DM NVX system enables them to have the same high-quality audiovisual experience wherever they choose to be on the yacht.” That level of flexibility and convenience further enhances the overall luxury experience.
But there’s something else that the speed and flexibility of the technology allows for — the ability to mimic the client’s home experience, even when they’re on the water. “The last thing you want on a superyacht is an IP TV with a set-top box like you’d find in a hotel, or a GUI similar to what you might see on an airplane,” says Kleinveld. “It’s too slow, it’s too clunky, and it’s not the top-shelf experience the client expects.”
“If the owner wants to watch the Super Bowl at sea, we want it to feel the same way it does in their media room at home,” he says. Additionally, Kleinveld and his team note that silence is truly golden. “We love a compliment, but when a client has nothing to say to us, that’s often a very good sign that everything’s working just as intended,” he says.
A History with DM NVX AV-over-IP
Kleinveld has worked with all the technologies that have gone into yacht integration in the last three decades. “I went from RF distribution to composite video, to component systems, to HDBaseT, and then to IP-based solutions,” he recalls. As the technology progressed, Crestron began to set itself apart. “Crestron clearly took the path that we needed in the marine space: a professional, manageable infrastructure aimed towards consumer-type users.”
DM NVX AV-over-IP solved a lot of problems for Kleinveld, especially in larger installations. As distances increase — especially in vessels with a length of more than 60 meters — signal degradation was an issue in the analog days. “Noise, hum, poor picture quality, name it,” he says. And the pure bulk of non-Cat cabling took up more of the limited space for runs on a yacht — making the prevention of crosstalk another challenge.
In addition to a smaller physical cable, “DM NVX allowed us to split the audio path from the video,” says Kleinveld. “It gives us a great deal of flexibility when it comes to sources — and delays and the errors that audio processing devices can bring are eliminated from the signal path to the display.”
“With DM NVX technology, the assignment of sources to end-points has become virtually endless,” adds Kleinveld. “With our control overlay, an AV/IT officer can re-assign a satellite receiver or Apple TV within a few seconds in case of failure.” For Kleinveld, all of this brings the perfect blend of benefits one would get from a mix of consumer electronics and professional equipment: the convenience and ease-of-use of the former, and the reliability of the latter.
Perfect for Marine Applications:
Built for Boats
“We developed this technology so that it could address the unique challenges and requirements of marine environments, says Short. Crestron discovered that if a solution can handle a marine integration, it can easily tolerate the most extreme conditions one might encounter on land — the specs needed for marine installations become something of a baseline.
While the list of benefits that come with this technology is quite long, Short’s distilled the slate into four key areas:
Robustness and Reliability: “DM NVX AV-over-IP is designed to withstand the demanding conditions of marine settings and expectations,” he says. Top-quality components and built-in redundancy ensure reliable performance even in the presence of environmental factors such as vibrations, temperature variations, and humidity.
Optimized Network Performance: Superyachts have complex network infrastructures with multiple devices and systems that are often interconnected. “DM NVX technology’s been engineered to optimize network performance and ensure efficient transmission of high-quality audiovisual signals over standard network infrastructure,” says Short. “It minimizes latency, maximizes bandwidth utilization, and intelligently manages network resources to deliver a seamless viewing experience without compromising other critical network operations.”
...
CONTINUED