Yamaha enters telepresence arena with Projectphone systems

At last week’s InfoComm show in Anaheim, Yamaha showed its Projectphone line of teleconferencing systems for the first time in the U.S. All three compact, self-contained models — the PJP-300V, PJP-100 series and PJP-50R — identify and track human voices to deliver the realistic, natural sound quality required for successful telepresence systems.

The PJP-300V is a video conferencing system for flat-panel displays that uses 16 arrayed microphones, 14 arrayed speakers and three cameras in a sleek design. It communicates with its network via PC or through the optional PJP-VC1 IP Video Conference Codec. The PJP-100H is an IP audio conferencing system with built-in communication features that use existing LAN and broadband networks, while the PJP-100UH is a high-performance conference microphone speaker that can be used with a Web conferencing system by connecting it directly to a PC through the USB port, or as the microphone speaker in a video conferencing system through analog audio. Each PJP-100 series system boasts 16 arrayed microphones and 12 arrayed speakers. Lastly, the PJP-50R provides IP, PSTN and analog connections to fit all networks, legacy phone lines or PCs, 16 rounded arrayed microphone and four speakers.

First introduced to the Japanese market in 2006, the Projectphone design approach uses phased arrays of loudspeakers, microphones and intelligent sound processing to achieve the impression that all participants in a telepresence conference are in the same room. The arrayed microphones track the talkers and cut out ambient noise, isolating their voices and eliminating the need for additional external microphones. The arrayed speakers project voices clearly in any setting, including open offices. Projectphone systems also incorporate a high-performance adaptive echo canceller to eliminate echoes, a common problem with conferencing systems.

For more information, visit www.yamaha.com/projectphone.