Originally posted here:
http://letsdovideo.com/comparison-cisco-ix5000-vs-polycom-immersive-studio/
With the release of the IX5000 in November of 2014, it made
sense to do a compare and contrast of it versus its nearest competitor,
Polycom’s Immersive Studio. These will be the go-to immersive telepresence room
systems for 2015 from the two biggest players in video conferencing. Note this
is all subjective and opinions are those of the author only. Specs and features
can change without my knowledge.
I’ve provided my initial thoughts on the IX5000 here (http://letsdovideo.com/initial-thoughts-on-the-new-cisco-telepresence-ix5000/
) and the Immersive Studio here (http://hellarddesign.blogspot.com/2014/02/polycoms-realpresence-immersive-studio.html
)
Features
Display
Cisco: 3~70” 1080p
Polycom 3~84” 4k with a 55” (55”?) data display that sits a
mile away.
I don’t know if Cisco is planning on utilizing the small
table panels for data or just control. Other than that, they’re using the 70”
for data and removing participants from the meeting (because you can’t see them
when data is filling up the screen). Sitting close to 70” 1080p screens may not
be the best thing. Both products lose points however for being three-screen
systems.
Winner: Polycom due to dedicated data display and data in
the table, maintaining the immersive meeting – unless they throw data up on the
video screen then forget it. Of course, there’s no way you’re seeing any
content on a 55” display if you’re in the back row.
Score: Polycom 1, Cisco 0
Cameras:
Cisco: 3~4k camera heads in one enclosure above the middle
screen
Polycom: 3~1080p camera heads in one enclosure, placed in
front of the middle screen right in the chest of a person.
Winner: Cisco, due to over capture and the ability to
digitally manipulate some things. If my
review gave negative points, Polycom would get one for putting the camera in
the middle of someone’s chest.
Score: Polycom 1, Cisco 1
Room Requirements
Cisco 8’H x 19’W x 13’-8” D (six seat version)
Polycom: appears to be roughly 8’H x 24’W x 18’D (nine seat
version)
Both companies are touting limited room remediation which is
ridiculous. Cisco’s is much friendlier than Polycom, but I’m still betting they
are going to need room remediation in many instances. Cisco’s product may meet
various seismic requirements, while Polycom’s definitely will not as a
standalone product.
Winner: Cisco wins here due to smaller footprint and easier
installation/remediation
Score: Polycom 1, Cisco 2
Multi-purpose
Cisco: Absolutely not
Polycom: Yes, but most likely ineffective
Polycom’s table is over 18’-6” wide. For reference, go sit that
far away from a friend but don’t face him and have (or try to have) a
conversation. Cisco’s continued negligence toward being able to have a local
meeting in their flagship product baffles me. Negating the importance of making
rooms multipurpose will continue to hamper sales.
Loser: Everyone
Score: Polycom 1, Cisco 2
Can You Stand Up
Cisco: Yes with caveat
Polycom: Yes
Cisco now has a push button digital vertical pan to allow
stand up capture. How often this will be used is anyone’s guess. Polycom
remembered that people stand up in meetings and accommodated. This “feature”
was in the RPX, then eliminated in the OTX. Now it’s back.
Winner: Polycom
Score: Polycom 2, Cisco 2
Seating
Cisco: 6 or 18 with back row
Polycom: 9 or 21 with back row
I guess the nod goes to Cisco because in the Immersive
Studio the person in the first seat is so ridiculously far away from the person
in the ninth seat that it’s impossible for them to talk to each other.
Winner: Cisco
Score: Polycom 2, Cisco 3
Price
Cisco: $300,000+ from what little I found on the internet
($50,000 per seat)
Polycom: $425,000 ($47,000+ per seat)
Price does not include installation and the required
maintenance packages. I have an idea what Polycom charges for this but no idea
about Cisco.
Winner: Cisco – because “no one gets fired for buying Cisco
products”
Score: Polycom 2, Cisco 4
Aesthetics
Cisco: “Scandinavian simplicity meets Californian
approachability” whatever that means
Polycom: We outsource design
I’m assuming that the IX5000 was designed in house. At first
blush, it’s not a radically different approach from their previous TelePresence
offering. It looks pretty nice, though it seems they are heading in Apple’s
direction (lots of white recently).
Polycom made one big step forward by going back to its
immersive roots and allowing stand up, yet made some odd steps back. A 55” data
display that’s way up there? 18 feet between me and the guy I’m supposed to be
having a meeting with? It’s not a surprise that the Immersive Studio was
designed by an outsourced industrial design firm, yet they should have hired
one that specializes in furniture. The same firm created the OTX and their
Group Series codecs. I guess by outsourcing it forces no single person at
Polycom to be on the hook for design. And that is a huge problem.
Winner: Cisco
Score: Polycom 2, Cisco 5
Extras
Cisco: De-skew a whiteboard
Many people who know the company I work for and what I do
have asked me to comment about Cisco’s de-skew capability. I understand what
they are trying to do with it, but it’s flawed. A generic four point keystone
of an image may make a whiteboard look square on screen if you are
perpendicular to the display, but it will make everything else look off,
including the person in the capture. There are also limitations on where to put
the whiteboard in the room. I could also go into a long mathematical exercise
with drawings and fancy pictures but I will try to sum up my thoughts as
briefly as possible. When you sit at an aggressive angle to the displays as you
do in the IX5000 (the outer seats looking at the outer displays), you get a
natural skew of it. In many instances, a skewed on screen whiteboard will
actually appear normal to your eye in those circumstances. Keystoning, or
de-skewing it therefore INTRODUCES skew to half of the room, not fixing it. But
again, I see what they’re trying to do.
Polycom: Room within a room concept
I will admit that I am still a fan of the room within a room
concept when in a point to point situation. The introduction of BYOD, desktop
people and random video sources eliminate most of the benefits of this concept
though. In point to point meetings in rooms that are appointed alike, it really
give you the feeling that you’re in the same room. And that is what I consider
Immersive Telepresence.
Winner: Polycom
Score: Polycom 3, Cisco 5
There you have it, my run down on what really are the only
two immersive telepresence ‘products’ that are out there getting any publicity.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know your thoughts.
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