City of Chattanooga Community Room

For this Development Resource Center in a local municipal building, the scope of work included numerous equipment upgrades and enhancements.

We upgraded the sound system, video presentation system, projection system, video distribution system, microphones, teleconferencing capabilities, control system, lighting, TVs, and we added power conditioning, surge protection, and revamped the equipment racks.

Before you enter the community room itself, there is a lobby and waiting area. We removed the existing TVs and replaced them with four 1080P 48" LCD monitors. All four monitors are able to display any of the connected video sources. The new control system allows for the mirroring of content being displayed on the projection screen in the meeting room onto the lobby monitors when appropriate.

Once you enter the community room, the first noticeable upgrade is to the projection system. We installed a new 16:10 137" Draper motorized screen and paired that with a new Epson 6000 Lumen WUXGA laser projector.

At the dais, we installed 16 new HDMI monitors that were supplied by the customer and connected them to a 4K video distribution system. The monitors were programmed to view the same source as the projector through the new Crestron Control System, but they also have the flexibility to view independent sources as needed.

The new 4K HDMI video distribution has five inputs, but it is scalable to allow for future devices to be connected.

We replaced 17 existing microphones and connected the new ones to two Biamp TesiraForte audio mixers with digital audio processing, echo cancellation, and teleconferencing capabilities. We hardwired the microphones so they can't be moved easily from their stations, but we also added four new handheld wireless microphones and connected them to the audio mixers as well, giving speakers the flexibility to move around the room as needed.

We installed a new amplifier and connected it to the room's existing speakers, as they didn't require an upgrade at this time.

To control the various functions of the room easily, we went with a Crestron Control System. We installed a processor in the equipment rack and connected it to all of the audio distribution, video matrix switching equipment, video sources, and monitors. To actually control all of these things in a simple, user-friendly way, we placed a 15" touch screen controller on the center table to serve as the single point of control for audio and video. From here, users can also control the lighting, make microphone adjustments, control the projector, adjust volume, and turn the whole system on and off.

The new Crestron lighting system can also be controlled from a touchscreen installed on the wall. The system has various pre-programmed lighting scenes for expected scenarios that occur in the room, but individual lighting control is also an option.

Finally, we cleaned out all the old wiring and equipment from the two racks in the room and put all of the new system equipment in and added power conditioning, battery backups, and IP control for both racks.