AV Design for Architects and Designers, Part II

Our previous article talked about the difference between Distributed and Centralized AV systems, and specifically addressed some of the issues with Distributed Systems. This article concentrates on Centralized Systems.

The thing to remember when deciding how to handle your AV system is that it usually represents a significant investment, and unlike set work and artifacts, most of the elements in an AV system will ultimately fail – it’s just part of reality. You therefore want to extend life time, reduce failure rates and do what you can to optimize ‘up’ time of the system, and minimize both the amount of maintenance work involved, and the disruption that maintenance (or indeed repair work) will cause. It is realistic to expect your AV system to give you a long, trouble-free life – but you have to put some effort into getting the installation done correctly in order to achieve this.

Think of when you buy a new (or a used) car. You expect to buy a SYSTEM, and not a collection of loose parts (unless you’re going for an antique, and most of us don’t want an ‘antique’ AV system). You’d expect that the car’s designer has made sure that everything works with everything else, and that the various elements are designed to be easy to use and easy to get to… after all, it will keep maintenance costs down… Guess what – your AV system, which is likely to cost more than that new car, should be the same. Remember – here’s a significant difference between the car and that AV system: the manufacturer designed that car, tested a huge number of them, and then built a lot of copies. Your AV system is not quite like that. It is most likely unique. There is likely to be ONE. It needs to last – so let’s spend some design time and effort on getting it right. It needs to be documented – so let’s make sure there is an allocation to do so. It needs to be maintainable – so be sure that we can actually get to all the parts.

Let’s talk about repair and maintenance – with the top venues in the world (think “Disney” and the like – the same applies for theme parks, museums and visitor centers), the very thought of having a technician doing work in the guest space that is visible to visitors is unacceptable. Exhibits with ‘sorry, this one is out of order’ are more than frowned upon. Pathways for technical staff are designed behind the set wherever possible, so that the ‘Magic’ of the venue is preserved at all times even if regular maintenance work is obviously required. This means that the bulk of the more ‘touchy’ equipment is not co-located with the exhibits, but instead centralized in places where the tech staff can get to them, work on them, analyze them, and do so away from the public and efficiently.

This is where Centralized Systems come in. Centralized Systems need proper planning. They are more expensive to buy than Distributed Systems, as there is more infra-structure, and the various audio/video and control signals need to be extended from the control room’s computers, video servers and amplifiers to the monitors, touch screens and other interactives, projectors and speakers in the space. Equipment is rack mounted, and those racks should be properly designed and built resulting in a nice, tidy system that is well cooled and easy to look after.

The main disadvantage is that you need to allow space for the racks that make up Centralized Systems – there are (relatively simple) guide lines for the design of Electrical Equipment Rooms (EERs) that need to be taken seriously to ensure that they will pass inspection, and also to make sure that they’re safe and accessible.

Again, power management is an issue and we’ve seen plenty of systems where it was ignored or forgotten, but at least maintenance and cleaning is a little easier when all the major sensitive equipment is in one place. With most of the equipment being hidden in an EER it means that you can do cleaning and maintenance during the day without anyone ever knowing that you’re working on the system.

Part of the EER should involve an analysis of the amount of heat generated, and working with the HVAC people to ensure that the air conditioning system for the EER is capable of keeping it cool, and that it removes dust from the air. This means that your equipment tends to be looked after better, and will head for a much longer trouble-free life.

Yes, your up-front costs might be higher, although the fact that the construction of the set will not need spaces to hide equipment and cooling fans, or the coordination to make that happen will offset some of that costs, but the longevity and stability of the resulting AV system will pay for itself.

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为建筑师和设计师的AV设计 – AV Design for Architects and Designers, Part II

我们之前的文章谈过分布式和中央式AV系统的不同，特别是强调了分布式系统的一些问题。此文章关注中央式系统。

当你决定如何做你的AV系统的时候，有件事要记住，就是实际上它代表了一个重要的投资，不同于制景或者人造展品，AV系统中的大部分内容最终都会失效，这就是现实。所以你想要延长使用寿命、减少失败率、做你所能做的进行喜欢优化、同时减少维护内容和维护（或维修）可能引起的损伤。现实中如果要让你的AV系统能提供长期可靠的使用寿命，那么你必须在安装上做出努力，让其正确的被安装。

想象当自己买了一辆新车（或二手车），你希望的是买全套的系统，而不是一批松散的配件（除非你希望要古董车，然而我们大部分人不想要一个古董的AV系统）。你希望汽车设计师已经确保车上的每样东西都能用，且这些不同的元素的设计都简洁易用，只有这样才能确保较低的维修成本。你知道吗，你的AV系统可能比一辆新车都贵。制造商设计了这辆车，做了大量的测试，然后他们批量生产。可你的AV系统却不是。它差不多是独一的。它需要保持长一些的时间，让我们花些时间设计并努力使它正确；它需要有记录，所以让我们确保工作上照顾到这点；它需要日后维护，所以让我们要确保所有部件儿都被掌控。

让我们说说维修和维护——世界顶级的景点（试想迪斯尼或者同等的主题公园、博物馆、访客中心），不能接受在观众区域进行能被人看见的维修工作。比展品上贴上“对不起，机械故障”更让人讨厌。把技术人员的维修通道设计在展品的后面永远是必要的，只有这样，这个景点的“神奇”才能永久保存，即使那些日常维护一直在进行。这意味着大部分“可触及”设备并不是与其相应的展品紧挨一起的，这样技术维修人员就不用在公众面前接触这些设备、有效地在上面工作、进行分析。

这就是中央式系统的出处。它需要很好的规划。它们比分布式系统更贵，因为它要求更多的技术设施配合、需要从控制机房的电脑延伸不同的音频/视频和控制信号、空间里与监视器、触屏和其他互动装置、投影机、音箱相连的视频服务器和功放。设备为柜机式安装，这些机柜应被正确设计和建造，配以被冷却的整洁完美的系统，并便于日后照看。

主要的缺点是你需要空间放置这些装有中央式系统的机柜。设计电子设备间（EERs）指导准则可以让这项工作变得相对容易一些，严格执行这个准则可以确保设备和系统通过合格审查及安全使用。

还有，电力管理也是一个重要的问题。我们见过好多系统忽略或者忘记考虑电力管理，至少日常维护和清洁还是比较容易做，毕竟在这里都是重要敏感的设备。因为大部分设备藏在电子设备间，所以你能在白天就做清洁与维护，别人都看不到你在维护系统。

部分电子设备间应该进行排热量分析，然后和空调系统人员协调工作确保设备间的冷却和空气除尘。这样你的设备就会得到更好的照顾，并获得3倍或者更长的寿命。

是的，你的初始费用会高一些，但是这个空间的建设不需要额外地方用于藏设备和冷却风扇，一些便利的结果会抵消高出的费用，还有长时间稳定的AV系统都会赚回成本。

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AV Design for Architects and Designers, Part II

Our previous article talked about the difference between Distributed and Centralized AV systems, and specifically addressed some of the issues with Distributed Systems. This article concentrates on Centralized Systems.

The thing to remember when deciding how to handle your AV system is that it usually represents a significant investment, and unlike set work and artifacts, most of the elements in an AV system will ultimately fail – it’s just part of reality. You therefore want to extend life time, reduce failure rates and do what you can to optimize ‘up’ time of the system, and minimize both the amount of maintenance work involved, and the disruption that maintenance (or indeed repair work) will cause. It is realistic to expect your AV system to give you a long, trouble-free life – but you have to put some effort into getting the installation done correctly in order to achieve this.

Think of when you buy a new (or a used) car. You expect to buy a SYSTEM, and not a collection of loose parts (unless you’re going for an antique, and most of us don’t want an ‘antique’ AV system). You’d expect that the car’s designer has made sure that everything works with everything else, and that the various elements are designed to be easy to use and easy to get to… after all, it will keep maintenance costs down… Guess what – your AV system, which is likely to cost more than that new car, should be the same. Remember – here’s a significant difference between the car and that AV system: the manufacturer designed that car, tested a huge number of them, and then built a lot of copies. Your AV system is not quite like that. It is most likely unique. There is likely to be ONE. It needs to last – so let’s spend some design time and effort on getting it right. It needs to be documented – so let’s make sure there is an allocation to do so. It needs to be maintainable – so be sure that we can actually get to all the parts.

Let’s talk about repair and maintenance – with the top venues in the world (think “Disney” and the like – the same applies for theme parks, museums and visitor centers), the very thought of having a technician doing work in the guest space that is visible to visitors is unacceptable. Exhibits with ‘sorry, this one is out of order’ are more than frowned upon. Pathways for technical staff are designed behind the set wherever possible, so that the ‘Magic’ of the venue is preserved at all times even if regular maintenance work is obviously required. This means that the bulk of the more ‘touchy’ equipment is not co-located with the exhibits, but instead centralized in places where the tech staff can get to them, work on them, analyze them, and do so away from the public and efficiently.

This is where Centralized Systems come in. Centralized Systems need proper planning. They are more expensive to buy than Distributed Systems, as there is more infra-structure, and the various audio/video and control signals need to be extended from the control room’s computers, video servers and amplifiers to the monitors, touch screens and other interactives, projectors and speakers in the space. Equipment is rack mounted, and those racks should be properly designed and built resulting in a nice, tidy system that is well cooled and easy to look after.

The main disadvantage is that you need to allow space for the racks that make up Centralized Systems – there are (relatively simple) guide lines for the design of Electrical Equipment Rooms (EERs) that need to be taken seriously to ensure that they will pass inspection, and also to make sure that they’re safe and accessible.

Again, power management is an issue and we’ve seen plenty of systems where it was ignored or forgotten, but at least maintenance and cleaning is a little easier when all the major sensitive equipment is in one place. With most of the equipment being hidden in an EER it means that you can do cleaning and maintenance during the day without anyone ever knowing that you’re working on the system.

Part of the EER should involve an analysis of the amount of heat generated, and working with the HVAC people to ensure that the air conditioning system for the EER is capable of keeping it cool, and that it removes dust from the air. This means that your equipment tends to be looked after better, and will head for a much longer trouble-free life.

Yes, your up-front costs might be higher, although the fact that the construction of the set will not need spaces to hide equipment and cooling fans, or the coordination to make that happen will offset some of that costs, but the longevity and stability of the resulting AV system will pay for itself.

Leave a Comment