VARIZONE Is Used in White House Briefing Room
FAMOUS WHITE HOUSE PRESS CENTER EQUIPPED WITH DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE FROM
KLOTZ DIGITAL
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room Reopened After Major Renovations
Anybody watching a press conference broadcasted from the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room in the
White House may have noted the diversity of media
in attendance. Each of these press entities requires a clean audio feed in brilliant quality from the Presidential
Podium to interface with their recording, or broadcast
equipment, providing a perfect broadcast for their audience.
To fulfill this task, and handle the complex audio
routing, VARIZONE the digital audio distribution solution
from KLOTZ DIGITAL, was installed in the James S.
Brady Press Briefing Room, which was
recently reopened
after closing temporarily for major renovations.
A VARIZONE matrix controller, the core of KLOTZ DIGITAL’s PA system, has been installed to provide a digital audio distribution solution. It is computer controlled and configured to handle all analog and digital audio inputs and outputs, as well as DSP and mix functionality requirements. It accommodates all required audio sources, including the audio feed from the presidential podium, ceiling microphones for journalist questions.
It
also facilitates an outdoor press location just outside the
West Wing of the White House, an event feed from an
off-site presidential event and the central control at the
rear of the press briefing room receiving external audio
feeds from all over the world. Pick-up microphones and
new loudspeakers over the press seats balance the
sound and eliminate the need for boom microphones.
All incoming audio sources are processed, if applicable,
mixed and routed to various destinations, e.g. speakers
inside the press briefing room.
Primarily, the White House VARIZONE
infrastructure was designed
to interface with
destinations relevant
for media and broadcasting,
such as satellite
uplinks, recording feeds
and press booths. Each
press control room
operator can select an
audio source from the
VARIZONE eight-button
wall mounted controller
to assign source destination,
format and
level while monitoring
audio through a VARIZONE addressable digital amplifier module (PAM) driving an Atlas Sound loudspeaker.
Via an integrated press call, the White House spokesman
can inform journalists in the press booths when a
press conference will start. Installation was simplified by
the VARIZONE digital bus architecture. It allows 8 channels
of simultaneous 16 bit 44.1K digital audio along
with power for local amplification and a data stream for
system monitoring and control all on the same CAT5
cable infrastructure.
VARIZONE system is distributed and supported in
North America by Atlas Sound, a division of Mitek Corporation. “Initial reports back from press staff and White
House Press Corps have been all positive, as the audio
path is cleaner and system operation is much easier,
now,” says Dan Murphy, Atlas Sound’s digital product
specialist who assisted in the design and installation of
the project and was on the site for final system commissioning.
The VARIZONE system became operational in
the summer of 2007, when the White House Press Briefing Room was reopened after one year of closure in
which it has undergone major renovation. “Major aim of
the refurbishment was to provide journalists a save and
comfortable working environment equipped with most
modern, visionary technology to ease their daily business”,
states Thomas Klotz, CEO of KLOTZ DIGITAL
AG in Munich, Germany. “It is a great honor and excellent
reputation for us to see our VARIZONE technology
installed in a facility as famous as the White House.”
Pictures: White House Briefing Room - White House Press Booth- Dan Murphy, Atlas Sound