The planning of a sound reinforcement system implies the proper selection of all the three elements, particularly the loudspeakers.  This works intimately with the acoustical properties of the room.

As a pioneer of the sound system engineering, professor Ahnert has laid out a lot of sound reinforcement concepts.  His reference list speaks to itself and includes a large number of prestigious venues worldwide.  The renowned acoustical simulator EASE, designed by professor Ahnert and developed by our affiliate company Software Design Ahnert, has positioned itself to be the standard sitter and the reliable name in handling room acoustical issues as well as planning electroacoustical systems with its demonstrated power of auralization.

A recording studio is the facility, where sound is produced and recorded on media.  This implies the pick-up, mixing, processing, adding effects, etc.  A sound production system is thus somehow similar to a sound reinforcement system, however, building a studio requires more expensive microphones, more sophisticated electronics, more creative operators, as well as strong control over reverberation and noise, i.e. room and building acoustics respectively.

The technological breakthrough of the computer systems and presentation products in the last decade, made it possible for visual systems to invade our daily life.  We encounter them in educational institutions, board rooms, sport arenas, etc.

The main objective of a visual system, which works normally with a sound reinforcement system, is to play back or pick up pictures and display them on large screens or record them.  These picture may be originating from sources, e.g. cameras shooting the events taking place in the venue, a DVD player or a computer displaying presentation slides.  The pictures are displayed on large screens by means of video projectors or video walls.

Similar to the sound reinforcement system, switching and processing equipment lies between the sources and video projectors/video walls.  It also sends the signal of selected sources to selected destinations, e.g. OB vans or recording devices.

Building a successful visual system is not a simple job.  A lot of factors play their roles, e.g. cameras sensitivities and resolution figures, switchers configuration, projector capability, screen type and placement as well as lighting conditions.

In today’s world of globalisation, people from all over the world need to meet each other very frequently to discuss, negotiate and make decisions, that is where conference systems come to play.  We may encounter limited conference systems in small corporate board rooms as well as extensive conference systems in parliaments or international conventions.

In a typical conference system, each delegate will be able to request to participate and speak using his/her own microphone, so that all participants can listen to him/her and do the same, to exchange their ideas.  Conference systems may be also used to enable the delegates vote on resolutions and decisions without leaving their seats, and process and display the results promptly and accurately.

Furthermore, separate, remote conference sites could be linked together via communication channels, e.g. telephone lines, ISDN, or satellite communication, so that the participants here and there are virtually sitting in the same conference room.  Remote sites exchange not only audio but also video signals, to build what is called a teleconferencing system.

When conference participants are not speaking a common language, the use of several languages, and hence the need for interpreters, becomes indispensable.  Simultaneous interpretation systems work usually in conjunction with conference systems, so that a given number of interpreters, translate the speaker participation, the so-called floor language, into that given number of foreign languages, giving other participants the opportunity to listen in a headphone/earphone to the translation of the participation by selecting one of those languages through a channel selector.

When an auditorium or a boardroom is equipped with an audiovisual system integrated with other systems in the venue, e.g. lighting or HVAC, it is of a great importance to make the operation of these integrated systems, which work simultaneously together in an interactive way, as straightforward and efficient as possible.

This is accomplished by means of control and management systems, which make it possible to operate and control the systems equipment using a programmable touch screen.  User-friendly programs with menus, graphics and animated buttons will enable the operator to send control commands from the touch screen to the respective pieces of equipment, which is fitted with interfaces to interpret such commands.

Thus if a lecturer is teaching a seminar in an auditorium, he/she can, through the touch screen, select the DVD player in the equipment room sending the picture to the video projectors, control the lighting conditions in the room to suit the presentation, select which track of a CD should be played through the sound reinforcement system, control the levels and perform many other control functions, all from the podium without time delay or misunderstandings with the control room.