Conference room AV checklist: display, speakers & mics

Record the room length, width, finished ceiling height, seat count and table layout. Add the window wall, the glass partitions, the HVAC diffusers and the door positions. These are the inputs that decide display size, loudspeaker placement and microphone count.

A divisible room needs a separate data set for each configuration. A room that can be split into two must work as two rooms and as one.

Display size is a sight-line calculation, not a diagonal-inch preference. Measure the distance from the furthest seat to the screen and check the text height. A 75-inch screen in a long room may be less readable than a 98-inch screen or a projection system.

For a hybrid meeting, add the camera position and the far-end view. The display is also the window to the remote participants; it needs to be visible from the table and from the presenter position.

Speech intelligibility is the target. Use ceiling loudspeakers distributed over the seating area, or wall/column loudspeakers aimed at the listeners. Avoid placing loudspeakers behind the presenter or above the first row only.

The number and tap setting depend on the ceiling height and the reverberation. A glass-walled boardroom needs more attention to the first reflection than a carpeted training room.

Count the people who need to speak, not the people in the room. A boardroom may need one microphone per two seats; a lecture hall may need a lectern microphone, two audience microphones and a wireless handheld.

Decide whether the system is discussion, voting or interpretation. Each function adds units and cabling. A paperless or voting system also changes the table layout and the control room.

The room should start with one button, not five remotes. Define the sources: laptop, wireless presentation, video conferencing, document camera and room PC. Then choose the switcher, the control panel and the wall plate.

For a hybrid room, confirm the camera, microphone and speaker path with the video platform. A USB room device is not the same as a full AV system with a matrix and a control processor.

Before the equipment is installed, check the room acoustics: reverberation, background noise and flutter echo. Hard parallel walls and glass can make a good system sound poor.

Use the room data to set the loudspeaker aim and the DSP preset. If the room needs acoustic treatment, raise it before the equipment order. A DSP cannot remove a long reverberation time.

Test the room as a meeting, not as a list of devices. Walk the far end through a call, sit in the last row, and check the display, the speech level and the microphone pickup.

Send the floor plan, the seat count, the table layout, the ceiling height and the use case. Add the existing display, camera and platform if the room is a retrofit.

With those inputs we can return a display size, a loudspeaker layout, a microphone count and a control concept. The final model list follows the room, not the other way round.