Audiovisual conference room technology

The overall atmosphere and comfortable stay in the conference rooms is created not only through design, but also through sound and presentation equipment. The main task of all the halls that are provided for presentations of new products, conferences, meetings and discussions is the high-quality transmission of information to all participants. Professional audio and video equipment for demonstrating various images and videos helps to implement this function.

The basic structure of the sound system of conference rooms is the same: there are several microphones that can be installed on the podium, as well as on the tables of delegates, and a radio microphone for the general hall where the audience sits. Video equipment consists of a main projection screen with a projector suitable for lighting power and additional television screens distributed throughout the hall to duplicate images for distant viewers.

But there are other tasks for sound equipment installed in a conference room! For example, the possibility of combining two rooms into one large one, or several rooms into one. With this task, the list of audio equipment for conference rooms changes; the possibility of combining and control functionality is transferred to special sound processors, which can be controlled using a simple wall-mounted control panel.

The intelligibility of music and speech in a conference room is influenced by the cladding materials and the location of the speaker systems. It is necessary to immediately determine the places where conference participants or spectators for presentations will most often be located. If the geometry of the room where it is planned to create a conference room is too complex, then an acoustic calculation should be made, using all facing materials and changes in architecture. Essentially, sound design is closely related to and should be co-developed with the overall design of the venue. It is possible that some details of the overall design may degrade the quality of the audio signal in the hall.

Sound equipment specialists can select various equipment for any hall and budget. We will provide some list of equipment.

The entire sound path begins with the microphone. Here the choice remains on the more top-end brands from Shure, AKG, Sennheiser and Electro-Voice. For the presidium, choose table microphones with a stand where the control buttons are located or without a stand built into the table. The leaders in this segment are the Shure MX, AKG CS, and Electro-Voice PolarChoice series. For the hall, radio microphones are chosen from the Shure BLX and SLX series, Electro-Voice R300, AKG Perception wireless.

The next step for the audio signal is through the mixing console or sound processor. The mixing console allows you to adjust the volume level of speech or playing music in real time. It is not even necessary to have a media player; modern digital mixing consoles have a built-in USB player, just for simple functionality, and a USB input for recording, this function is exactly required for many conference events. This function is performed by one of the most compact and easy-to-control mixers Soundcraft UI16, it takes up minimal space, can be installed on a 19” rack and has controls from any computer, tablet or phone with limited access via WiFi network.

The sound processor can perform the mixing function automatically, after fine tuning, and also distribute sound signals to different zones. Processors, such as the BSS BLU-101, have an automatic feedback suppression module that will prevent microphones from starting up. Processor controls can be displayed on the wall panel to select zones, control volume and select operating modes. If necessary, audio amplifiers can be controlled through the processor.

Power amplifiers are the most complex element of the entire sound path, which are selected based on the type and number of speaker systems in the conference room. There are low-impedance power amplifiers for high-quality acoustics and transformer amplifiers for acoustic systems, which have a built-in transformer for long-distance lines or a large number of small acoustic systems. Amplifiers also come with remote control. The number of amplification channels depends on the total power of all speakers, or one amplifier can work on two or more separate zones of the room.

The last stage of the sound signal passing through the music equipment installed in the conference room is, of course, acoustic systems, which are best selected and distributed depending on the upcoming events in the conference room. The geometric features of the hall directly influence the choice of acoustics, quantity and type. In some cases, it is better to use acoustic calculations in specialized software such as EASE 4.4 (Electro Acoustics Simulator for Engineer) from AFMG (Ahnert Feistel Media Group). Electroacoustic calculation is directly related to the design and architecture of the room. At the design stage of a conference room, it is necessary to model the acoustic properties of the room in the EASE program using all facing materials, identify shortcomings and propose to eliminate them. In this program, the engineer selects suitable acoustic systems and provides all calculations to the customer for approval of the audio equipment estimate. The type of acoustic systems is determined by the design of the hall and technical features. The conference room is installed as ceiling speaker systems, for example, Electro-Voice EVID C8.2LP (reduced depth), Apart Audio CM Design series, as well as cabinet (mounted or wall-mounted) speaker systems, such as the Electro-Voice EVID series 4.2, JBL Control 25, Apart Audio MASK, CVGaudio.
The final step for starting the sound system is setting it up. Audio professionals set their own settings for microphones and speakers, as well as customize the mixing console or sound processor. For halls with high reverberation times, this will be one of the most difficult stages of the entire project on the road to launch.

The main technical feature of conference rooms should be the unified operation of all audiovisual systems (sound and video); for this purpose, projection equipment is connected with sound equipment. Video screens are one of the main technical systems for displaying information to viewers. Projection screens for conference rooms are of large sizes and their location depends on the standard location of the audience.

Our company brought conference rooms of various sizes into technical life. Our company’s specialists will develop a complete technical estimate for audiovisual equipment for any conference room. To submit a request for the development of a technical part, you must send a plan with dimensions and an approximate technical specification to our email address info@acoustics.si; we develop the complete technology, offering our customers complex technical solutions that can fit into any budget!

+386 6 966 5245- Acustics Delta