AV system for Aqua Convention Center in Międzyzdroje
Aqua Convention Center in Międzyzdroje is a conference and events venue designed for congresses, conferences, business meetings and special events. It has six conference rooms that can be used separately or combined into larger spaces, plus the large Baltica hall with its shared area. PROAV designed a complete audiovisual system for the venue – Epson laser projection, Extron NAV AV over IP signal distribution, Extron sound reinforcement and audio processing, Shure SLXD digital wireless microphones and Extron room control – and then supplied the equipment, configured it, programmed the control system and commissioned the installation.
The biggest challenge was the venue's changing layout. The rooms work in pairs – 1 and 3, 2 and 4, and 5 and 6 – either separately or combined, so the system had to recognise the current room configuration automatically and adapt video, audio and control to it, without re-patching cables every time the layout changed.
We designed the system around the way the centre is used: several events at the same time, presentations shared between rooms and operation by changing event organisers. We selected solutions from Extron, Shure and Epson and integrated them into a single system, while the installation contractor carried out mounting and cabling, working with us at every stage.
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Flexible room division. Video, audio and control settings must automatically follow the current room layout – both when the rooms work separately and when they are combined.
Clear image in large rooms. High-brightness projection that stays legible in partial daylight and from the back rows, including on the 564 cm wide screen in the shared Baltica area.
Video and audio available across the venue. Any source should be available in any room, and a single presentation should be viewable in several rooms at once.
Simple operation. The system is used by venue staff and external event organisers, so the most common tasks must be available from a single panel.
Room 1 has two projectors: an Epson EB-PU2010W (10,000 ANSI lm) and an EB-L730U (7,000 ANSI lm). Room 2 has an EB-PU2010W, rooms 3 and 4 an EB-L730U each, and rooms 5 and 6 an Epson EB-L630U (6,000 ANSI lm). The shared Baltica area uses a 16,000 ANSI lm Epson EB-PU2116W with a 564 cm wide Adeo Max One FTS screen. The brightest projectors are fitted with interchangeable Epson ELPLM15 lenses.
Rooms 1–4 have 450 cm wide Adeo Alumid Tensio screens and rooms 5 and 6 have 350 cm versions, with side tensioning that keeps the projection surface flat. The projectors are mounted on Ravell W-1501 ceiling lifts and the screens on Adeo LiftScreen lifts – between events the equipment is hidden in the ceiling and lowers into position for presentations.
The backbone of the installation is the Extron NAV system, which transports video and audio over an IP network. Nine Extron NAV E 121 encoders take HDMI signals from the sources and eight Extron NAV SD 101 scaling decoders match the image to the projectors. Each room pair and the shared Baltica area have their own encoders and decoders, so any source can be shown in any room and a single presentation in several rooms at once.
The AV over IP network is managed by the Extron NAVigator system manager, which handles stream switching and device configuration. AV traffic runs on a Netgear GSM4230P managed PoE+ switch, and the remaining devices on a Netgear GS348PP switch. The IP architecture allows further encoders and decoders to be added without re-cabling.
Sound reinforcement is based on Extron SF 26PT pendant speakers – 25 in the conference rooms and 17 in the shared Baltica area. The shared area is complemented by two Extron CA 163 PT front speakers and an Extron SF 10C SUB ceiling subwoofer, which give a fuller sound for presentations and events with music.
Audio is processed by two DSPs: an Extron DMP 128 Plus AT with Dante and an Extron DMP 64 Plus C with acoustic echo cancellation (AEC). An Extron AXI 22 AT interface brings the shared Baltica area into the Dante network. The processors handle mixing, routing and tuning for each room separately and, when rooms are combined, for the whole space. The speakers are driven by two Extron XPA U 2008 FX amplifiers.
We equipped the rooms with a Shure SLXD digital wireless microphone system: six Shure SLXD4DE dual receivers provide 12 channels, two in each room. Presenters use six handheld transmitters with SM58 capsules, and speakers and panellists use six bodypack transmitters with Shure WL185 lavalier microphones.
Reliable reception across the venue is ensured by antenna distribution: two Shure UA844+SWB distribution systems, eight Shure UA860SWB omnidirectional antennas and UA221 passive splitters. Lithium-ion batteries with dual chargers shorten preparation for the next event. We also describe Shure solutions for meeting rooms in our article on Shure IntelliMix.
The whole installation is managed by an Extron IPCP Pro 255Q xi control processor. Staff and organisers operate the rooms from six touch panels based on Apple iPads – two for each room pair. From the panel they start projection, lower the screens and projector lifts, select the source and adjust the volume.
Six sets of Extron ECM S10 room-combining sensors, connected through an Extron EBDB eBUS hub, detect the current room layout and switch the video, audio and control configuration automatically. Screens and lifts are controlled by Future Now FNIP-8x16A modules, and a network-controlled Surgex SX-AX16Ei power conditioner switches the equipment on in sequence.
We designed the audiovisual system for six conference rooms and the shared Baltica area, selected and supplied the equipment, configured it, programmed the control system, commissioned the installation and trained the venue staff. Mounting and cabling were carried out by the installation contractor.
Aqua Convention Center now has a system that adapts to every room configuration – from small business meetings to large conferences and congresses. Rooms are ready for events faster, and attendees get a clear image and intelligible sound regardless of the size of the space.
The Extron NAV architecture allows the system to grow with further rooms and sources without re-cabling. We took a similar approach to divisible rooms at the Hotel Mercure in Mrągowo.
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