As the official partner of InfoComm in the administration, selection, and awarding of the InfoComm/ Rental & Staging New Product Awards, we always have a difficult task of sorting out the good from the great new products for the staging market.

The 2010 Rental & Staging Systems/InfoComm Product Awards were announced and presented at the InfoComm show in Las Vegas, June 8th, recognizing the most innovative commercial AV products released last year. Many of the winning products in the Rental & Staging New Product Award competition were not radical innovations, but just good solid incremental improvements that help you do your job better. After all, in this market, unlike other AV verticals, you the stagers are the end-user. And so products must meet your demands, your rigorous use, and stand up to the road. So it’s not always the sexiest products that garner the most accolades. But it’s always the good ones.

This year, as stagers ramped up their equipment acquisition to address the rapidly rebounding market, equipment manufacturers met the challenge with a new crop of innovative products– for IMAG, digital signage, lighting, video processing, sound reinforcement, and more.

JBL’s VT4886 new passive three-way, high directivity subcompact line array element and VT4883 cardioidarrayable subwoofer are the smallest enclosures in the company’s award-winning VERTEC product family. Delivering predictable coverage and high output in a very small package, they are designed for stand-alone use or integration with other existing VERTEC models. With ten loudspeaker voice coils, the VT4886 offers the highest power density in its class.

Based on a two-in, six-out topology, the DC-One is designed primarily for users of small-to-medium sized sound systems in both mobile and installed applications. While the unit is an all-new development based on a powerful SHARC processor, it is 100-percent compatible with all settings from other Electro-Voice signal processors.

The Christie Roadie HD+35K produces the brightest, highest resolution HD image on the market. This newest Roadie shines with 32,500 ANSI lumens and features Christie’s unique, flexible split-body design and separate switching lamp ballast. Its rear air exhaust hood provides improved stackability and a new motorized lens mount enables users to focus and adjust lens position using a remote control.

The Sharp XG-P560W 3-Chip DLP Projector represents a price performance breakthrough, offering among the highest color accuracy, image quality, and reliability in front projection at a remarkably affordable price. Designed for rental/staging and other large-venue installations, the XG-P560W provides 5200 ANSI Lumens, HD compatible Wide-XGA native resolution, and 1800:1 contrast ratio.

The X461UN-TMX4 is a large-format display intended for video wall solutions, where its ultra-narrow bezel allows for a screen-to-screen distance between two neighboring X461UN displays of only 7.3 millimeters a near 500-percent improvement from NEC’s previously 34-millimeter large-format displays. The X461UN can be deployed in video wall matrices of up to 10x10, creating a total surface area of approximately 645 square feet.

AV Stumpfl’s newest line up of SC Media Engines now have the support for multihead output. The SC Media Engine Quad is a pre-production multidisplay system bundled together with Wings Platinum 4, now has the ability to output to four display devices and one mastering/confidence monitor. Add to that the ability to incorporate a multitude of input options in both SD and HD and anything in between.

Extron USP 507 is a one-box solution for all digital and analog video conversion needs. It provides high-performance video scaling and transcoding, as well as analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion in a single product. A seven input switcher supports analog and digital video formats, from composite video to high resolution DVI, RGBHV, and optional SDI/HD-SDI.

IntelliEvent is the leading supplier of rental software for event-focused rental companies specializing in Audio, Audio Visual, Hotel AV, Lighting, Theatrical, Staging, Back Line, Party, Tent, and Special Effects. IntelliEvent Express Software allows users to increase their profitability and grow their business.

The Indoor/Outdoor Universal Enclosure (GB-ENCL32) supports the safe and secure use of flat-panels in nontraditional environments within retail, hospitality, education, and luxury homes. Protecting flat-panels, indoors and outdoors, without compromising the integrity of the display quality or an intrusive mass, the Universal Enclosure’s 25-inch non-glare acrylic screen is virtually invisible to viewers and the mounting options tuck the display out of the way.

The Cyberlight 2.0 is a full-featured automated luminaire with a 2000-watt short arc lamp, producing over 30,000 lumens of output from a new electronic ballast. As the newest version of High End Systems’ classic Cyberlight, the Cyberlight 2.0 offers increased output, updated software capabilities, and fast mirror movements. In terms of control, the fixture includes new RDM and DMX protocol and addressing, 5-pin DMX connectors, and an intuitive LED menu for DMX addressing.

The MAKITO HD video encoder from HaiVision represents the first and only full-featured, high-performance compact encoder and decoder to combine the efficiencies of H.264 video compression and the image quality of full 1080p60 HD video within a very small form factor at a competitive price-point. The MAKITO family supports various chassis options, including a single-unit appliance, a 21-slot 4U system, and the 6 slot 1U system, delivering the highest density encoding platform available.

The biggest shows just got better: introducing the Pro-Trim Series 200/300 from Da-Lite. The curved Series 200/300 include Da-Lite’s Pro-Trim masking system to enhance appearance and absorb light surrounding the viewing area. Rental and staging companies can now specify curved Series 200/300 screens from Da-Lite in widths up to 90 feet for front projection and 40 for rear projection.

With most lower-cost controllers, end users typically get exactly what they pay for: bare-bones functionality and a very basic industrial design. The affordable T1-B, however, is not your typical controller. Designed to be an alternative to more expensive touchscreen devices, the T1-B is unique in that it packs amazingly powerful and intuitive control capabilities into a sophisticated design.