In Case of Fire, Choose Matrox Mura

“Our plan was to install two video walls to facilitate decision-making,” said SDIS 13 commander Didier Margotto, head of the emergency response center. “A large one in our action room to monitor ongoing interventions and operations, and a smaller one in our reflection room to focus on critical problems or manage additional crisis situations.” SDIS 13 favoured new large-format LCD displays with ultra-thin bezels. The control room installation would require a custom support structure for these displays, in order to fit them within a constrained space.

The winning video wall processing solution would have to capture and display a wide variety of video sources on both walls. Source content would include camera footage from Firewatch fire detection cameras, HD video from aerial forest surveillance cameras, Sony dome IP cameras, and video conferencing. A TV tuner input would provide breaking news and other updates. Météo Plus weather maps and maps showing physical features & roadways would also be shown. Hundreds of internet sources, data from virtual private networks, and video from remote PCs would need to be easily accessible. Not to mention SDIS 13’s dedicated software tools—automatic wildfire detection systems, strike team alert and dispatch, fire evaluation and monitoring, ops management, 2D/3D mapping, and localisation with data integration, etc.

The video wall processors were placed in an equipment room located behind the displays, together with some sources connected directly to Mura MPX boards. Additional sources found outside the equipment room are connected to the video wall processor using CAT6 extenders.

SDIS 13 controls their video wall layouts using a customized version of Agelec’s AGCTOUCH software running on touch screen displays. With so many video sources to monitor, video wall management is important. AGCTOUCH provides an easy way for SDIS 13 staff to position, switch, and zoom in on different content, using a 32” screen to control the smaller wall and a 46” screen for the larger one. The software also allows staff to control the video wall displays and other subsystems in the room with simple presets.

“Matrox Mura MPX input/output boards delivered universal input support, which was important given the variety of baseband and IP sources that we wanted to display on our video walls,” said Margotto. “Agelec’s video wall solution with Matrox Mura MPX inside helps us monitor a growing influx of real-time video and data, so we can make informed decisions more quickly during time-critical interventions. We are very happy with the results”.