Videoconferencing

In today’s era of complex and fast-paced exchange of information, organizations ranging from corporations to universities to government entities depend on videoconferencing as a critical element of strategic communications.

Although a successful videoconferencing environment depends on a number of factors, among the most important components is lighting. For example, even the most sophisticated room design,cameras, and data-transmission networks will not produce images of sufficient quality if a room is poorly lit. However, combining these elements with effective lighting can ensure that the nuances of facial expression, gesture, and body language that make up such an essential part of physical and psychological communication are clearly presented.

Brightline is the industry leader in the manufacture of color-correct, low-heat, energy-efficient lighting fixtures for the entire range of videoconferencing applications, including corporate and governmental conferencing, e-learning and other educational/training uses, telemedicine and healthcare, and nontraditional studio lighting.

The Brightline Solution

Brightline specializes in enhancing the presentation of video images through lighting. We supply complete, turnkey solutions to ensure that our customers’ videoconference systems feature correct lighting–what we like to call “the right light in the right place.” Because lighting is so important to image quality, adding a Brightline package is one way to guarantee that any system will achieve its maximum potential for effective conferencing. Brightline’s recipe for successful videoconference results is based on controlling the following key elements:

• The placement of light within a three-dimensional space.
• The quality of light used.
• The intensity and balance of all lighting within the space.

For users, attaining proper lighting control–the kind provided by Brightline’s broadcast-quality, multidirectional, multitask T-Series or VideoPlus fixtures–greatly facilitates certain important characteristics of successful videoconference communications:

• Making a two-dimensional medium appear three-dimensional.
• Highlighting subjects in the correct hierarchy of on-camera importance.
• Enabling presenters to appear natural, healthy, and realistic.
• Maintaining optimal contrast ratios within a room.
• Eliminating signal-to-noise problems in video.

The reputation of Brightline’s products derives from a combination of refined aesthetics, superior performance, and an ability to adapt as technology advances. For example, using the correct specialized lighting is extremely important now that digital cameras are increasingly sensitive to light and high-definition (HD) modalities have begun to dominate the landscape of video capture and display.

Universities and other educational institutions were among the earliest beneficiaries of the rise of videoconferencing. Educators everywhere were quick to grasp the inherent promise of an interactive communications technology that could provide real-time visual contact between teachers and students at different sites, enlist specialists throughout the world, help to accommodate the requirements of handicapped or other special-needs students, and incorporate the use of diverse media as instructional aids.  Brightline’s involvement in e-learning dates from the introduction of its patented T-Series fixtures. The company’s experience in broadcast facilities–including many campus-based studios–and expertise in videoconference room design led to the development of products ideally suited to the arena of interactive education:

• Brightline products offer the best possible lighting for videoconferencing, whatever the sophistication of the other VC system components. The broadcast-quality illumination produced by Brightline fixtures can help to ameliorate the fact that, because of budgetary concerns, cameras in many classroom settings may be less than optimal.

• Brightline fixtures put the light where it’s needed–and only where it’s needed. The unparalleled degree of light-beam control offered by specialized screening accessories and by the T-Series’ unique articulation capability ensures that classroom teaching devices such as projection screens or white boards remain legible.

• T-Series fixtures are designed to install easily in the standard drop ceilings found in many classrooms, eliminating the need for heavy lighting grids or other extensive room renovations.

For streamlined programming, Brightline engineers can design automated or “one-touch” cue procedures to simplify operation.

Brightline systems are exceedingly safe–well fabricated, cool to the touch, and with no danger of exploding lamps.

Besides helping to reduce utility costs, the energy efficiency of Brightline products is in tune with the conservation ethos of many schools and universities as they seek to present their students with innovative and practical examples of responsible energy use.

Some of today’s fastest-growing applications for communications technologies can be found in the ongoing development of telemedicine, defined by the World Health Organization as “the practice of healthcare using interactive audio, visual, and data communication.” As a leading manufacturer of high-quality, energy-efficient lighting, Brightline is supplying the market for “synchronous” or “real-time” telemedicine, in which videoconferencing systems are used to create an interactive connection between an originating and a remote site for the purpose of patient consultations, specialist referral services, or medical education.

For telemedicine–as for other types of videoconferencing–Brightline fixtures provide the broadcast-quality illumination designed specifically to harmonize with digital video cameras and produce the best-possible images. Moreover, certain aspects of Brightline’s technology make the systems particularly well adapted for use in telemedicine:

• In many diagnostic procedures, physicians rely on an accurate impression of how a patient looks. This may sound obvious, but for applications such as teledermatology or telepsychiatry it becomes critical to convey a precise picture of a patient’s skin tones and other manifestations of physical appearance. The specialty lamps used in Brightline fixtures have a high CRI (Color Rendering Index), typically >85, for extremely accurate color rendition. Also, dimming the fixtures results in a negligible shift in color temperature compared with traditional dimmers and other light sources.

• Many patients find a doctor’s examining room to be a very stressful environment–which can be exacerbated by hot, glaring lights. Brightline fixtures produce a light that is cool and whose spectral emission is inherently less stressful to the eye, especially in combination with various control screens that further reduce glare. Brightline lights are comfortable for practitioner and patient alike.

• Easily installed in any type of ceiling, Brightline’s patented, articulating T-Series fixtures are ideal for examining/consultation rooms where space is restricted due to room size or the presence of other types of equipment. When space is less of an issue or portability is desired, SeriesONE fixtures can be specified.

• One of Brightline’s innovations is the creation of fixtures that can be assigned discreet IP addresses through a digital ballast interface and controlled remotely from a central location. This technology can be of great benefit in achieving standardization of lighting and ease of use for telemedicine networks with satellite sites in remote areas.

In addition to patient consultation rooms, Brightline systems are increasingly in demand in other healthcare settings, such as hospital or medical-school classrooms or the operating room, where more and more procedures are being captured on video for documentation or teaching.