Audiovisual Engineering for Ingham County Courthouse

CASE STUDY

Room Types:

• • Other

Applied Smart Solutions:

• • Video Conferencing
  • Content Sharing
  • Content Distribution
  • Commercial Audio
  • AV Control

Video Conferencing & Displays

• NEC E657Q 65″ UHD 4K Commercial Television Display
• NEC C861Q 86″ UHD 4K Commercial Television Display
• Barco CSE-200 Wireless Presentation System
• Polycom EagleEye Camera Digital Extender
• Sony SLV-N55 VHS Videocassette Recorder/Player
• Sony BDP-S6700 Blu-ray/DVD Player

Phase One

Phase one provided a new system to support audio amplification of all court participants. This phase was temporary and was intended to accommodate social distancing in the courtroom through a rearrangement of furniture and the location of court participants. The audio system included wired and wireless microphones, an audio processor, amplifiers, and speakers. Additional equipment was required to support the audio system – including a Crestron AV control system and an AV equipment rack. The equipment from phase one was utilized in the second phase when the courtroom returned to its normal configuration.

Phase Two

Phase two introduced video distribution, display, video conferencing, and also included the deployment of a hearing assistance system. Phase Two was implemented while the courtroom was in the temporary configuration. 

AV System Control

In phase two the Crestron audiovisual control system was updated to support the video system equipment.

Touch Screen Functions:

• System On/Off
• Video Source Selection / Video Mute
• Video Conference Mode with Camera Control
• Annotation On/Off/Clear
• Program Audio Level
• Microphone / Audio Mute
• Sidebar Mute with White Noise

Displays

• Jury Displays – Installation of two wall-mounted 65” television displays, one facing the north jury box and one facing the south jury box. One display is sourced from the AV equipment cart from phase one.
• Courtroom Display – Installation of an 86” television display on the north wall.  The 86” display required custom woodwork framing surrounding the display to match the décor of the courtroom.
• Council – Installation of a 22” video monitor, one each at each council table.  The council displays are fed content using Gefen wireless HDMI extenders.
• Judge’s Display – Installation of a 22” video monitor.

Video Distribution

Installation of a video distribution and routing system, including a Crestron Digital Media 16×16 matrix multimedia switcher and necessary input/output peripherals.

Media Sources

A Barco Clickshare CSE-200 wireless presentation was installed to allow the wireless display of evidence from the council tables.  Each table was equipped with a USB wireless transmitter for connection to a council laptop.

Annotation

Installation of a video annotation system based on the Crestron DGE-100 graphics engine. Two annotation touch screens were installed allowing mark-up of active presentation/evidence media.  One touch screen is located at the witness stand and required custom mounting.  A second touch screen was installed on the AV equipment/evidence cart.

Hearing Assist

Installation of a Williams AV FM Plus assistive listening system including one wireless FM transmitter, four belt pack receivers, four earphones, and two T-coil neck loops. The hearing assist audio consists of a balanced mix of all the room microphones.

Special Conditions

AV cabling was secured and concealed where possible to preserve the historic nature of the courtroom. Low-profile floor raceway provided by the AV contractor was required at select locations along with custom wire/cable concealment to match the furniture and woodwork within the courtroom.