On Conferencing Audio: Renkus-Heinz

Graham Hendry Strategic Vice President Renkus-Heinz
(Image credit: Future)

AVT Question: Please share insight into ensuring a successful and intelligible videoconference or hybrid learning experience. [July 2022]

Thought Leader: Graham Hendry, Strategic Vice President at Renkus-Heinz

It’s said that video without audio is a surveillance camera, and while that is a bit dramatic, it speaks to the importance of the spoken word in effective communications. Video and visuals are important, but the spoken word is what completes the communication and learning. Ensuring that the spoken word is delivered effectively is more complex than is typically appreciated in the corporate or education world, where TV speakers in suboptimal acoustic environments have set the performance bar for far too long. It’s amazing to think how ineffective communications and low engagement have been tolerated in commercial enterprises that are so tight in other regards.

The spoken word is what completes the communication and learning." —Graham Hendry, Strategic Vice President at Renkus-Heinz

Higher education has long held a strong appreciation for intelligible audio, and it’s been a pivotal market for Renkus-Heinz, where our steerable sound solutions have been the go-to solution. Beam steering technology allows loudspeakers to tightly control sound, placing it just where it’s needed—on the audience—while keeping it away from reflective surfaces that may excite the reverberant field. This greatly improves audio coverage and intelligibility, ensuring that every listener receives the best experience possible.

Digitally beam-steered loudspeakers provide a level of flexibility and versatility that conventional sound systems just can’t match. Coverage can be perfectly tailored to any venue and can also be adjusted on the fly to changing audience needs without requiring costly physical modifications. These slim, small-footprint column arrays can be easily and discreetly wall mounted, resulting in less aesthetic intrusion while maximizing sight lines for lighting and video.

From the boardroom to the classroom, the result is a happy audience that enjoys clear intelligible audio without distracting or fatiguing echoes or reverberation. Beam steering is a highly flexible and powerful solution that meets the needs of sound system designers and architects alike. No longer is there a need to compromise between sound quality and visual appeal.


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Contributing Writer

Macy O'Hearn has been a contributing writer to AV Technology since 2019 where her focus is working on the Technology Manager's Guides. In addition, O'Hearn has contributed articles to SCN, and the editor for the 2022 Digital Signage magazine.