Martin Audio has announced the release of DISPLAY 3 Beta 5, the latest update of its 3D prediction software that provides a new sub array tool as well as a host of additional features and workflow improvements.
DISPLAY 3 is designed for both live and installation projects, working with SketchUp for more sophisticated venue modeling. It incorporates many of Martin Audio’s line array, constant curvature and point source loudspeakers as well as subwoofers for cohesive system design and prediction in a 3D environment.
The new sub array tool is designed to enable more rapid design of ground-deployed linear arrays of subwoofers. Traditional techniques have been employed to determine the EQ required to approximate and steer far-field beams. Emphasis has been placed on the speed of design using a handful of parameters rather than requiring manipulation of individual loudspeakers and associated EQ elements.
In this version, two sub array types are supported with “Broadside Stack” and “Castellated” configurations. For Broadside Stacks, any sub can be selected while for Castellated scenarios, only subs that have cardioid settings available can be utilized—but more will be added over time.
Castellated arrays have three styles defined as presets: “Bookend,” where the end parts of the array are two boxes high; “Buttress,” where the array is one box high at the ends; and “Uniform,” consisting of an array of L-shaped elements. Beam width can be set from 1 to 180 degrees, where setting to 1 degree will generate the narrowest beam possible from the array, and by incrementing the width, users can get closer to the coverage required.
Research director Ambrose Thompson notes, “While it is the first iteration of this sub array tool, I believe it already sets a new benchmark in prediction software, and I’m delighted that user trials have also re-confirmed this.”
The Beta 5 release also includes other updates that include an early version of a tool to display the frequency response at any position on a surface; flown deployments of Martin Audio’s latest product, TORUS 8; a new control in the Loudspeaker Property Inspector to optionally constrain aiming angles to those available for the pin locations in the lift bar; default loudspeaker insertion heights; and the inclusion of BlacklineX point source and subwoofer solutions.
Thompson concludes, “This is a significant update to DISPLAY 3 that I’m confident our users around the world will relish. As with all things software, there are always new developments required and we are already hard at work on the next set of updates.”
