Collaborative Hardware

While hardware is becoming more powerful on one hand, there's also

development happening to leverage it more effectively. In this article, we'll

look at the latter, starting with technologies to share a single PC among 10+

users, and then moving to technologies to combine multiple displays, followed by

how an organization could connect multiple monitors to a single PC. All of these

can meet specific business requirements, such as enhance user productivity,

lower costs, enhance power savings, and so on. So besides telling you about the

technologies, we'll also give the key business benefits they can deliver to your

business.

Convert one PC to many



Today even entry level desktops are powerhouses with 2GHz dual-core

processors, oodles of RAM and 200+ GB of storage capacity. But do you know that

less than 10% of the computing power of your PC is generally utilized at any

given time? You might be using your computer for simple work like, word

processing, Internet surfing, sending and receiving mails, etc. What if you can

do hassle-free redistribution of the remaining 90% of your PC's resources to

multiple users simultaneously?

LG and NComputing solution enabling sharing of the strength of a standard PC with multiple users.

LG and NComputing have introduced the LG network monitor solution which

enables sharing of the computing strength of a single PC with multiple users,

enabling each user to perform quick virtual computing, as if they are directly

using applications on their own PC. Just install a PCI card and NComputing

vSpace desktop virtualization software onto the host PC to divide the host

computer's resources into separate virtual workspaces. Next, connect LG LCD

network monitors to the PCI card, with users connecting their keyboards and mice

directly to these network monitors.

Though all the computing tasks are done on the shared PC, the monitors,

keyboards and mice of the users communicate with the shared PC via the

connection device. The LG Network monitor, N Series can directly connect up to

11 users to the same computer, while the N plus series technology supports up

to 31 desktop LCD monitors. This solution is good, when it comes to performing

mainstream tasks such as office apps, email, and Internet browsing, but is not

intended for processor-intensive applications such as video editing, 3-D games,

and scientific computing, etc.

Apart from being eye-catching display solutions, video walls also enable quick collaborative decision making.

Since multiple monitors are operating on a single host PC, very less time

needs to be spent by IT personnel on repairs, patches and software installation,

etc. There is direct reduction in repair, maintenance and management costs. LG claims

that there would be reduction in upgrade costs by at least 60% per year,

reduction in system usage and maintenance & reduction in repair costs by 70% or

more. Also, the monitor being an ultra-low energy consumer, the electricity

consumption reduces by 90% compared to general PCs. Since all the information is

secured on a single PC, the security of sensitive corporate information is also

ensured. Also the IT department need not have special technical expertise as

the system relies on a standard computer as the host rather than a server.

Video Walls for Collaborative



Decision-making



Dynamic video walls might have definitely caught your attention in events or

in trade shows, displaying larger than life images and videos. But the utility

of such video walls, composed of individual large format display units tiled

against each other, is not just limited to form strong attention-catching

displays. They can be utilized within an office effectively and can play a major

role in increasing office productivity.

Where can video walls be used?

How would you like a video-wall in your boardroom which enables you to

control content from multiple PC sources, with a single PC in real time? A video

wall that lets you dynamically control the content by enabling selection and

manipulation of the content in the way you want? Be it the case of a boardroom

meeting, or defense or security and surveillance departments or the medical

field, deploying a video wall can save time and increase efficiency. Video-walls

can be of great use in various verticals like video surveillance apps, telecom,

defence, traffic, broadcasting, industrial process and control rooms,

energy/power industry, process control, security, radar signal visualization,

financial data visualization, CAD systems, etc.

Samsung Ultra Definition Series Large Format Displays (LFDs)



One such solution is the Samsung UD Series 46” 460UTn-UD and 460UXn-UD LCD

displays which allows for creation of video wall of upto 250 displays. With

ultra-thin bezels , these LFDs have a built-in network PC which includes a UD

software that enables selection and controlling of the content from upto 125

source PCs, in real time, with a single PC. Also the UD software enables dynamic

manipulation of the content by enabling zooming in, switching images, dragging

content, etc. Also included is the Microsoft Win XP and Samsung's MagicInfo

content management & delivery software that provides the users with a simple

tool to manage content over a LAN or WAN.

Delta DVS Series of rear projection cubes



Delta's DVS Series of rear projection cubes, available in both XGA /SXGA+

resolutions, is another video wall solution. These displays enable streaming of

inputs from different sources like work stations, video sources, etc. in a

variety of formats like DVI, RGB and Video and inputs from computers all over

the network. The videowall management software enables real time monitoring of

multiple locations at one go. The whole system comprises of the projection

engine, the cube system and the control unit.

The display wall engines are based on the DLP (Digital Light

Processing)technology which itself is based on DMD chip, the Digital Micro

Mirror Device. The controller, an ultra high resolution multi screen device

based on high end workstation/server architecture with Windows as the main OS,

drives multiple cubes/ monitors forming a single, wide logical area, the display

wall.

ATi Eyefinity



It's a simple but true fact that the bigger the display, the easier it is to

work on. However, purchasing a large screen television or projector for work is

not an option for everyone. There is the cost factor involved and then the issue

of finding a place large enough to set it up. So for now, even if you have

multiple monitors, you can at best connect two monitors at the same time for an

extended desktop setup without running in one or the other error. It is only

fair to say that having a large multi-screen desktop has much more to it than

just multimedia usage. It gives tremendous boost in terms of productivity to the

user as well. With its 5000 series graphics cards, ATi introduced a technology

called Eyefinity, ostensibly to help users with multiple monitor setups. And it

turned out to be a real treat for eyes.

You can see two monitors connected using Eyefinity, displaying the interface for different apps. Users can work on them simultaneously.

ATi's Eyefinity is an advanced multi-display technology that allows upto six

monitors to be connected via one single graphics card, to act as one huge

desktop. Currently, the technology is available with the 5000 series of graphics

cards that feature DirectX 11 as well as 40 nm fabrication processes and come

with GDDR 5 memory with over 1440 stream processors. Even the most basic of the

5000 series card, the ATi 5450 supports Eyefinity and can easily connect and

work with three monitors to get an ultra wide screen display.

It is fairly simple to setup and takes just about five minutes to complete

once all monitors have been connected to the graphics card. After the catalyst

drivers and control center have been installed, one simply needs to go to the

advanced mode and select display and desktop options. All connected monitors

would be displayed with their respective position number. Right clicking on any

monitor and selecting the create group option make monitors to be connected as a

single display. All a user requires to do is select if he wants the display

setup to be in vertical shape or horizontal. Once through with this process, all

connected monitors are grouped as one, and it converts to a single large

display.

Using a set of 3 full HD LCD monitors, we had a desktop setup with a

resolution of 5760 x 1080 pixels. Now with this resolution, the working space is

increased three-folds. A user can set various applications to launch at the

designated display area across the three monitors. This means that a user can

view a browser window, a word document as well as a video playing at the same

time. In a work environment, the setup can be great for productivity. A user can

have multiple windows opened across the desktop and would not have to switch

amongst windows to find and punch in data. The setup can be used to run various

applications at the same time for research and analysis as well. As it is a

single desktop stretched across monitors, it's easy to move around multiple

windows amongst monitors and keep the required ones in front for quick access.

However, the setup faces some niggles. The major one being that the third

monitor needs to be connected via a display port connector, otherwise the third

port cannot be enabled to be a part of the group. Overall, Eyefinity is a useful

technology from ATi, one that has the potential to increase productivity

manifold in office.

Next-Moving

to USB 3, SATA 6