Modernization of conference technology with Shure MXCW at the main headquarters of DIN e.V. Berlin

The Deutsche Institut für Normung e. V. (DIN) is the independent platform for standardization in Germany and worldwide. Together with business, science, the public sector and civil society, DIN makes a significant contribution to opening up future fields. By co-shaping the digital and green transformation, DIN makes an important contribution to solving current challenges and enables new technologies, products and processes to be established in the market and in society.

Customer Profile

In the course of the core renovation of the DIN e.V. conference center, the media technology was to be fundamentally redesigned and installed. In order to be able to distribute the video and audio signals across the entire DIN Berlin site, all 13 conference rooms in the building were to be equipped with new video conferencing technology. This also included the two conference centers in adjacent parts of the building.

Requirements included "bring-your-own-device" video conferencing capability and the ability to forward any source to any sink or output device. This way, important conferences can be transmitted to any room.

The Forum of the conference center, located on the 9th floor of the DIN Tower, offers space for 200 conference attendees. Each participant should be able to easily take part in a video conference from his or her seat. In addition to cameras, this called for suitable conferencing technology with a high level of speech intelligibility and sound quality. The system should be designed to filter out echoes and unwanted background noise, particularly due to the many different microphone paths.

Kuchem Konferenz Technik GmbH & Co. KG was responsible for the consultation, planning, product demonstration and installation on site.

Solution

For this purpose, a cross-campus 4K NVX system from Crestron with over 100 possible participants was set up initially. Enabling free signal routing of the AV signals throughout the entire campus. This system, together with 15 decentralized switches and Biamp Tesira servers distributed throughout the facility, provides the necessary capacity for processing audio and video signals.

With the Forum on the 9th floor, a perfectly equipped conference hall was created high above the roofs of Berlin. Thanks to the five-meter-wide LED 4K wall and the sound system from HK Audio, all required video and audio signals are reproduced in very high quality. The highlight here is the conference system with 91 wireless Shure MXCW microphone units, ensuring excellent speech intelligibility with numerous functions such as interpreter integration, speaking time management and voting functions. Additional options are provided by various Shure MXW handheld transmitters and, last but not least, the accessible lectern with front display and MXCW gooseneck microphones from Shure.

All MXCW conference units, MXW handheld and bodypack transmitters and the lectern microphones are Dante-compatible and can be used as microphones for video conferences. The systems are connected directly via Dante to the Tesira server, which provides the necessary computing power with additional AEC cards (Acoustic Echo Cancellation).

Each individual channel runs via an AEC module that reliably filters the reference signal of the remote station. The MXCW system is configured in such a way that only one participant is authorized to speak at a time. Two additional mobile MXCW access points can be set up in any conference room via Dante, so that the Forum's microphone units can be used campus-wide.

Three OneLink RoboShot PTZ cameras, which can be operated and mixed centrally via a video console, provide the transmission and recording of what is happening in the room.

The ten meeting rooms, equipped with large displays, digital PTZ cameras from Aver and Biamp loudspeaker systems, also offer the best technical conditions. With Shure MXW wireless handheld transmitters and Biamp Parlé beam-tracking microphones, perfect speech intelligibility for video conferences is ensured here, too.

Advantages

All conference rooms, including discussion equipment and built-in wireless microphones, can now be used with the usual full range of functions not only for on-site meetings but also for hybrid video conferences. All necessary functions such as acoustic echo cancellation run fully automatically in the background, so that the system remains easy to operate for the participants. Technicians are not necessary for operation.

Due to the specifically selected products, the system offers numerous advantages, including a high level of speech intelligibility and quality, flexibility in conference set-up through portable, wireless microphone units and the high level of security via encrypted radio transmission. Also particularly practical is the high level of user-friendliness as well as the easy, intuitive operability and central control of the entire conference technology.