What are the best AV over IP switches for AV professionals?

AV professionals face a shifting landscape of data transmission and distribution. As organisations look to future-proof and invest in scalable, versatile and cost effective AV networking solutions, the transition to AV over IP is growing in popularity.

But with so many options available, what are the best AV over IP switches for AV professionals looking a flexible, modular and high-performance solution?

Introducing the M4300 & M4500 Series switches from NETGEAR. Midwich is always looking to provide its professional AV customers with the best technologies for AV installations, so we are delighted to announce our new partnership with NETGEAR, giving you access to their award-winning products that are design specifically for Pro AV deployments.

Designed for AV pros

AV over IP is a fast-growing market in verticals such as corporate, entertainment, healthcare, transport, retail, and high-end residential installations, so it’s important that you can offer a wide range of port and bandwidth options. NETGEAR M4300 and M4500 switches offer 1 Gigabit to 100 Gigabit speeds, with a large portfolio of copper, fibre and PoE, from 8 to 96 ports.

Just plug in the switch and play – NETGEAR Pro AV Switches are preconfigured, to take away unnecessary complexity from AV-over-IP deployments. Users just need to select their cabling requirements, connect the AV components and power on the switches.

NETGEAR is making the AV over IP transition easier for AV professionals, by offering managed switches that address the traditional complexities and high costs of distributing video and audio to any end point.

 - Lloyd Platt, Divisional Manager, UC & C

Why are NETGEAR Pro AV switches better than Matrix switchers?

• Scalability

Matrix switchers are difficult to scale and growing the solution would usually mean buying new hardware. The stacking capabilities of the M4300 and M4500 mean that scaling is much easier – you just need to add ports. 

• Out-of-the-box zero-touch installation

All M4300 and M4500 switches are pre-configured for AV-over IP-solutions, enabling AV and IT integrators to rapidly deploy AV over IP system installations. NETGEAR’s firmware is optimised for 4K60 video out of the box. Matrix switches meanwhile require complex programming and complicated firmware updates.

• Compatibility

Matrix switchers are often limited within companies, with no option to mix different brands. NETGEAR switches are more interoperable with other brands and products than standard point-to-point solutions.

• No compromise 4K video

The majority of Pro AV matrix solutions compress video (H264) to carry it on slow capacity networks, introducing issues such as artefacts, latency and jittering, that create huge problems for large Pro AV deployments like video walls, 4K movie projectors, concert halls, etc.

NETGEAR M4300 & M4500 switches offer zero-frame latency performance over off-the-shelf networking, with no degradation of quality, no jitter and no tearing.

Not all switches are the same

The M4300-96X stackable switch is the world’s only modular solution starting at £100 per port (an equivalent matrix switcher would cost £1000 per port), scaling up to 96 ports of 10G ethernet or 24 ports of 40G ethernet.

With streamlined audio-visual display solutions, the M4300-96X can replace up to 48x48 matrix switchers with just one ethernet switch.

The M4300-96X provides robust availability and failover resistance in case of master switch failure, ensuring operations can continue without any service interruption. It also offers high security and standards-compliance, so authentication is powerful and simple to implement with strict policies.

Flawless AV over IP switching

Discover the advantages of choosing an AV over IP solution over a traditional AV matrix switching.

NETGEAR M4300 switches are scalable, easy to install, and bring the high-performance that customers demand. Be ahead of the curve with AV over IP.
 
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