InfoComm presents a new standard (Cable Labeling for Audiovisual Systems or CLAS) at a free plenary session during ISE 2016.
The new standard defines requirements for labeling cables used in installed AV systems and provides guidance for the easy identification of all power and signal paths in a completed system.
No one can argue with the fact proper cable labeling improves the operation, support, maintenance and troubleshooting of AV systems.
“Consistent, clear labeling of interconnected cables, which serve as the core of integrated systems, is very important,” says John Bailey, CTS-D, CTS-I, vice president of technology at Whitlock and chair of the InfoComm task group that developed the CLAS standard. “It is critical that cables are labeled in a consistent and methodical way, especially as large, complex and facility-wide systems become more commonplace.”
The standard marks a new milestone in InfoComm’s development of consensus standards that benefit the AV industry by raising the bar on quality and professionalism in systems integration and design. Unlike previously published InfoComm standards, which adhere to requirements set forth by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Cable Labeling for Audiovisual Systems, was developed independently of ANSI, using the same principles of openness, balance, consensus and due process. The new process, which is overseen by the InfoComm Standards Steering Committee and operates concurrently with ANSI/InfoComm standards development, allows InfoComm to release more rapidly standards that are specific to the AV industry. Potential standards are identified for development by the steering committee, chaired by Jason Brameld, technical director of Torpedo Factory Group.
“A primary driver behind the introduction of InfoComm-specific standards was the fact that a standard such as AV cable labeling would only be required by AV practitioners,” Brameld says. “It is not something that allied trades would necessarily refer to.”