The classic phrase, "one size fits all," is applicable in many situations. Not so, though, in sound and video installation. Each project is unique depending on the architecture of the space, the needs of the client in terms of distribution of the sound and the purpose of the video. The challenges for Soundworks, an audio/video (AV) integrator of New Orleans on the installation of a sound and video systems at Yulman Stadium, at Tulane University in New Orleans, were very different than the ones faced by LAN-TEL Communications of Norwood, Mass., when they installed sound and video systems for schools districts and cities and towns in Massachusetts. Similar tasks, but very different applications and challenges.

“There were unique challenges at Tulane because the stadium site was on the west side of campus that backs up to a neighborhood. The university and the neighbors were concerned about how loud the sound system would be and how that would impact their quality of life,” said Gary White, of WJHW, Dallas, Texas, the company that designed the sound system.

WJHW used enhanced acoustic simulator for engineers (EASE), a computer prediction program that enabled them to create a three-dimensional model simulation of the stadium’s acoustics and predicted the acoustical performance of different speakers.

“We designed it so the sound was directed away from the neighborhood toward the east and included limits on how loud the sound system would be so that we could maintain fairly good control and the sound would be minimized as much as possible,” he said.

While there are several options for football stadium sound design, a “sideline cluster” design was chosen as the best option for Yulman stadium in terms of performance and budget. It called for speakers to be placed on top of the four-story high press box in three different speaker groupings: one at the 50 yard line and other groupings at each of the 30 yard lines, all tightly positioned in a vertical line called a "line array."

“In a line array speaker, all of the drivers are physically aligned with each other in a vertical line. The tight alignment, provides more control over the sound wave that exits the speaker," said George Picone, AV project manager, Soundworks, a company owned by and, on this project, a subcontractor to Frischhertz Electric Co., a sixty-four year old New Orleans company that was the electrical contractor on the project.

Sound levels within the stadium and the audio coordination with the video display on screens in the stadium were also addressed in the design phase.

"The sound from the PA [public address] system has to be loud enough to overcome the crowd noise, but we don't try to make the system louder than the crowd, which can't be done practically or financially," White said.
Instead, the PA sound within the stadium has to be contained.

"We do that as much as possible by using directional speaker components and having them placed properly according to WJHW’s design to stop the bleed over into the adjacent streets,” said William Barry, department manager, Soundworks.

While WJHW provided Soundworks with a functional diagram, specifications and an approved list of products to use, it was up to Soundworks to fill in the details.

“We had to take their one lines and add the detail—cable numbers, specific models of equipment to be used. We adjusted the one lines to accommodate the manufacturers of the chosen equipment—amplifiers, digital signal processors. Each manufacturers' piece of equipment can perform the same task but each has differences in the way they are configured in the system. Any AV project with a lot of technical directions will require that you produce your own shop drawings and have them approved by the consultant before starting work on the project. We did this with the assistance of our CAD department. They produced a shop drawing from marked up drawings that we provided to them that was more detailed and in a format our guys in the field are familiar with as opposed to generic drawings,” Picone said.

WJHW provided Soundworks with the coordinates needed for speaker placement and aiming. Again, the information was channeled through the CAD department that employed a Trimble layout system to determine the exact speaker placement on top of the press box. The Trimble Field Link Software was used to program the Trimble Robotic Total Station with coordinates from the AutoCAD drawing.

"The device will recall the coordinates in the field as they relate to a control point, which could be a building corner or column line and a laser locates the points one at a time. We used these points to recreate the footprint of the speaker in the field," Picone said.

While the main speakers are on the west side of the stadium, there are also fill speakers on the east side.

"The audio signal is transported via cobra net over fiber optic cable and amplified on the east side to power the under balcony speakers," Picone said.

Speaker management and control of the sound within the stadium was another challenge. Soundworks used the BSS BLU-800 system processor for volume control, equalization, and time alignment. For example, in the four story seating area on the east side of the stadium, the top balcony shadows the lower seating area and the sound is affected.

"That top balcony might be blocking the high frequency sound from the west speakers a bit so you hear only the lows and mid-range frequencies but not the high frequencies, which will cause the sound to be muffled. Anything you put in that line of sight is going to block those frequencies," Picone said. "This is corrected by installing a smaller speaker mounted under the balcony that is not obstructed. Since the new smaller speaker is closer to you, you are now hearing the same sound wave from speakers at two different distances from your ear creating an echo effect. This is corrected using a time delay circuit in the BSS processor. The BSS processor delays the signal from the closer speaker until the wave from the main speaker has time to travel across the stadium. It then releases the signal to the near speaker in timed alignment with the main speaker."

And then there's the scoreboard and screen for instant replays and advertisements. Daktronics Inc. of Brookings, S.D. designed, manufactured, and installed the scoreboard/video display system. The video scoreboard features a 15 HD pixel layout approximately 20 feet high by 95 feet wide capable of showing one large image to highlight live video and instant replays or be divided into separate windows to show a variety of images ranging from statistics to scores or advertisements. The company also installed two horizontal ribbon displays in front of the seating sections-- one measuring approximately 4 feet high by 128 feet wide and another measuring approximately 4 feet high by 25 feet wide. All interface with the audio system. Frischhertz Electric installed the infrastructure and power for the video display board and ribbons.

"Soundworks integrated the audio portion from Daktronics' rack that is fed into the main PA system through the main audio mixing console,” Picone said.

While the predominant focus for Soundworks at Yulman Stadium was on sound installation, for LAN-TEL Communications Inc. of Norwood, Mass., a company that offers a wide array of integrated communications and security solutions, the emphasis on several of their recent projects in schools, cities, and towns in the Boston area was on video.

On one four-month project, the company installed video and sound equipment throughout the entire Waltham, Mass. school district. Prior to the start of the project, LAN-TEL’s project managers determined the pathways from camera to the local IDF closet that was then uplinked to the server via a dedicated fiber backbone—a strategy that allowed scalability, time efficiency, and decreased disturbances to the school. During the project, in which most work was done after hours or during school vacations, LAN-TEL installed cameras around the perimeter of the schools in the district as well as within the schools and set up intercom systems.

"We installed cameras in common areas—hallways, the cafeteria, the gym, auditoriums, exits—to make sure those areas would be covered in case of a situation. If someone comes to the front entrance of a school, they are videotaped as they enter the front foyer and as they are escorted or given the right to enter a particular classroom. We want to make sure to get a good facial print of the person entering,” said John Bartolomucci, Security Division Director, LAN-TEL. “The recorded video is stored on a server with redundant backup. If a situation does arise, personnel can access and view the camera recordings from one of the facility’s video client workstations. Each school in the district uses its own switches and dedicated fiber backbone to the storage server for the video. Inside of each school there is an IDF [intermediate distribution frame] or MDF [main distribution frame] communications room where the network equipment and servers are stored for that facility."

On another LAN-TEL project, one in Auburn, Mass., the company installed the sound and video systems in all of Auburn's main buildings as well as in all of the schools.

“The stream of every camera in that town is routed to the police department,” Bartolomucci said. “As a result of this design, local law enforcement officers are able to view and monitor all of the buildings in the town, including school facilities, which allows for better communication and response-time in the event of an emergency."

Storing video in the cloud is another option yet not one chosen by many schools or cities and towns according to Bartolomucci.

“The consensus is to store the information in a separate facility or in storage servers at individual schools. Some cities and towns or school districts have their own fiber network throughout that city or town,” Bartolomucci said, “which makes it possible for the video to be routed back to one central location and stored there. Often the option chosen is dependent on the number of installed cameras. Some smaller elementary schools may have only three or four cameras.”

Most schools have a Wi-Fi network for use by a school population, but instead of running a video feed over that network, LAN TEL has often installed a private VLAN that is separate from the school or building’s network.
“The VLAN consists of completely separate switches. You have to make sure the switches can also support the video coming in which goes to the server and to be stored,” Bartolomucci said. “If the video we install goes into the school’s neighborhood WI-FI network, it would slow connection down.”

Installation of cameras has presented LAN-TEL Communications with unique installation problems, such as having to deal with rodents or bees when drilling the stone walls of older school buildings.

And then there's the issue of aesthetics versus function.

“In the Boston area, many of the schools want to retain the aesthetics of their older stone buildings,” Bartolomucci said. "They don't want a camera to stick out yet they want to get good coverage which can be difficult in terms of getting a camera in the desired position without putting in some additional piping or wire mold that would be an eyesore."

Another issue relates to whether people can determine what a camera can see. “If a facility owner chooses a clear lens cover, it is obvious where a camera is pointing," Bartolomucci said. “Some facility owners prefer that option over a darker lens, while others prefer a smoked lens which prevents observers from seeing where a camera is pointing and filming."

Whether an installation involves sound or video, contractors face a variety of challenges with each installation. One solution doesn't fit all installations.