EXTENSIVE AV COMPLEMENTS NAR'S "GREEN" HQ

EXTENSIVE AV COMPLEMENTS NAR'S "GREEN" HQ - Page 5

Boardroom

As a result of the building’s architecture, the 12th floor boardroom has only three walls with a pleasant view of the city. The two long walls, which come to a point, are comprised of floor-to-ceiling glass with only a four-inch perimeter for wiring chase. Then there’s a short interior wall with double doors for entrance. “So, the usual space available for screens, the usual wall plates and other normal AV accouterments weren’t available,” said Apter.

The huge glass walls affected projection, as well. Hence, a Christie Digital Vivid Blue 5800 lumen rear-screen projector was installed, which fired onto a 53"x67" Da-Lite screen mounted on the entrance doors wall. “The client wanted the AV to function fully without the windows being darkened,” Apter pointed out. “The windows were darkened for videoconferencing, where they didn’t want the cameras facing out, into a bunch of glass and outside light. But for all other presentations, they’ll keep the shades open.” The room is equipped with electric roll-down screens for the windows.

As you’re facing the wall from the boardroom table, you’ll see AV displays built into a beautiful rare wood housing. Mounted on the right side of the double doorway is a 61-inch NEC plasma that’s used as the primary screen for videoconferencing. A video camera is mounted there, as well. And to the left of the doorway is mounted the aforementioned rear-projection screen with the Christie projector, which is used primarily for room presentations. “Because this is a high-end room, the client wanted dual-screen capability,” said Apter. “So, during videoconferencing, they can bring up a computer briefing in full resolution on one screen. Then the other screen has the video. It’s an unusual situation to have the screens separated by a double doorway. But there was no other way to give them that capability. And, in videoconferencing, they usually only use the 61-inch plasma, often with a side-by-side display within the plasma.” The support rack is nestled into the rear projection room. “That got to be a challenge because the Christie projector is large and required a one-inch lens,” he said. “So, we had to sort of reconfigure the rack to fit around the projector.”

Three Cameras

Three Canon cameras are placed strategically for the videoconferencing system. One is at the rear of the room, so if someone is at the front giving a presentation, the camera will see them and the screen. In addition, one camera is centered over the doorway to get the wide table shot. And one camera is next to the plasma monitor built into the wall, at eye level. That’s the most commonly used videoconferencing camera. The multiple cameras run through a Tandberg 6000 videoconferencing codec.

On the audio conferencing side, Polycom does the echo cancellation and audio processing. The ceiling-mounted AV conferencing speakers are Klipsch. And program sound content comes from a pair of TOA speakers.

The boardroom table also was customized to provide a large well toward the back of the table that accommodates storage of such bulky items as videoconferencing microphones and computer cabling. “They can go from a completely clear table with nothing visible to a full VTC and laptop presentation in two minutes,” declared Apter. “We didn’t want mics built into the table with the little goosenecks coming out, or the flat boundary mics looking like little pimples going around the table.”

He noted it was a “trial-and-error process” to find the right mic “look” that NAR wanted, along with audio capabilities acceptable to the consultant. As a result, the English-manufactured Clockaudio microphones were chosen. Twelve of these short shotguns were used around the table. “The mic doesn’t arc like a gooseneck, but has a knee coupler that swivels at 45° angles. They also have short goosenecks that fit in clearly with the well of the table.” They put the mic into an Audio-Technica base with a mute switch.

In addition, the table has a full complement of laptop inputs and LAN connections. Summing up, Apter pointed out that the table design was a collaboration among AV, the architect, the client and the millworker, Jefferson Millwork.

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