Create a cost-effective, fully automated AV system capable of broadcasting Western Refining’s daily meetings to 350 employees dispersed throughout a 555-acre facility in El Paso, Texas, including two large refinery complexes located across the street from one another.
Blake Larsen, Western Refining’s Manager of Information Technology, wanted a more affordable alternative to closed circuit television (CCTV). Western also required a fully automated solution to eliminate the need for a full-time AV technician. Because the meeting moderator changes almost daily, ease of operation was another high priority.
SOLUTION
Develop a speech-sensing, auto-homing camera package that utilizes the existing LAN infrastructure to broadcast and archive all company meetings. Howell Electronics’ Design Engineer Steve Waltman and his team based the system on the digital audio processing and logic control capabilities of Biamp’s AudiaFLEX Digital Audio Platform.
The greatest challenge was creating a systematic approach for directing camera coverage over a 1,700-square-foot conference room using only general microphone coverage as the sensory guidance control. To accomplish this goal, the system has to operate with virtual immunity to extraneous noise. To combat the noise issues, Waltman first established the basic audio system design using integrated control functionality within AudiaFLEX. He then applied parametric filtering, auto-mixer logic functionality and compression/ limiting processing, combined with time synchronized logic gates to achieve the final goal: a speech-initiated camera control system merged with local sound reinforcement. AudiaFLEX provides slight attenuation over the audience microphone system when speech overlap occurs.
SYSTEM SPECIFICS
The AudiaFLEX unit not only handles signal processing, but also provides the dry contact closure to guide camera selection based upon the active microphone zone. The cameras feed directly into a Pelco VA6220 20-channel sequential homing switcher. The switcher incorporates an alarm mode where a dry contact closure calls up a particular camera. The AudiaFLEX provides the control signal for the dry contact closure – based on its internal logic sensing each time it detects an active microphone – which facilitates rapid and fully automated switching between the moderator/panelists and audience response.
Seven Audio-Technica AT835b condenser mics suspended from the ceiling form a zoned grid pattern that enables the AudiaFLEX to activate individual cameras with fixed position coverage, allowing remote viewers to see a close-up of the person speaking.
Audio output from the AudiaFLEX and video output from the Pelco VA6220 are summed through an Ocean Matrix OMX-7001 video and stereo audio distribution amplifier and delivered to the company’s Windows® Media encoder and server for real-time LAN distribution and archival. Throughout the company, employees use the Windows Media Player to remotely observe the meetings.
CONCLUSIONS
The system’s greatest benefit lies in its ability to provide affordable and effective in-house mass communication. The Audia-based networked media system delivers automated, reliable conferencing for less than half the cost of closed circuit television. One powerful, flexible AudiaFLEX unit combines many functions in a single piece of equipment, from signal processing to sound quality to logic control for the cameras. With this user-friendly system, Western employees can stay well connected every day.
We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.
Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.
Essential Website Cookies
These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.
Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.
We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.
We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.
Other external services
We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.
Google Webfont Settings:
Google Map Settings:
Google reCaptcha Settings:
Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:
Privacy Policy
You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.