Audio Video FAQ

#1 What is an audio system? #2 What is the difference between a commercial and residential audio system? #3 How do I choose the right speakers for a room? #4 How many speakers do I need for a room? #5 How far apart should ceiling speakers be? #6 What size amplifier do I need for my speakers? #7 How do I calculate amplifier power? #8 What is speaker impedance? #9 What is the difference between 4-ohm, 8-ohm and 16-ohm speakers? #10 What is a 70V speaker system? #11 What is a 100V speaker system? #12 What is the difference between 70V/100V and low-impedance audio? #13 When should I use a 70V audio system? #14 Can I mix different speakers on a 70V system? #15 How many speakers can I put on one amplifier? #16 How do I calculate the load on a 70V amplifier? #17 What is a speaker tap? #18 What happens if I overload an amplifier? #19 What is the difference between mono and stereo? #20 Does a commercial audio system need to be stereo? #21 What is a DSP? #22 What does an audio DSP do? #23 What is gain structure? #24 What is audio compression? #25 What is a limiter? #26 What is a crossover? #27 What is equalization? #28 What is a high-pass filter? #29 What is a low-pass filter? #30 What is a subwoofer? #31 Do I need a subwoofer? #32 How do I stop speakers from sounding harsh? #33 Why does my audio system sound muffled? #34 Why does my audio system sound thin? #35 Why is my speaker system too quiet? #36 Why does my audio system distort? #37 Why do my speakers have a buzzing sound? #38 Why do I hear a hum through my speakers? #39 What causes a ground loop? #40 How do I eliminate audio hum? #41 Why is one speaker louder than another? #42 Why are my speakers out of phase? #43 What causes microphone feedback? #44 How do I stop microphone feedback? #45 How do I make a microphone sound better? #46 What is the difference between a dynamic and condenser microphone? #47 What is a wireless microphone? #48 What frequency should my wireless microphone use? #49 How many wireless microphones can I use at once? #50 What is a ceiling microphone? #51 What is a beamforming microphone? #52 How do beamforming microphones work? #53 What is acoustic echo cancellation? #54 Why does my conference room microphone echo? #55 Can DSP fix a bad-sounding room? #56 Do I need acoustic treatment for my audio system? #57 What is the difference between acoustic treatment and soundproofing? #58 How do I reduce echo in a room? #59 How do I improve speech intelligibility? #60 What is speech intelligibility?

#61 What is Dante? #62 How does Dante work? #63 What is Dante Controller? #64 Why isn't my Dante device showing up? #65 Why is my Dante device showing up in red? #66 Why can't my Dante devices communicate? #67 What network switch do I need for Dante? #68 Does Dante require a special network? #69 Can Dante run over Wi-Fi? #70 What is AES67? #71 What is the difference between Dante and AES67? #72 What is AV-over-IP? #73 What is Audio-over-IP? #74 What is the difference between Dante and AV-over-IP? #75 How many audio channels can I run over a network? #76 Can I put Dante on my existing network? #77 Should AV equipment have its own network? #78 What is a VLAN? #79 Do I need a managed network switch for AV? #80 What is PoE? #81 Can PoE power audio equipment? #82 Why does my networked audio system keep disconnecting? #332 How many Dante devices can I put on one network?

#83 What is HDMI? #84 What is HDMI 2.0? #85 What is HDMI 2.1? #86 What is the difference between HDMI 2.0 and HDMI 2.1? #87 How long can an HDMI cable be? #88 How far can I run 4K HDMI? #89 Why does my HDMI signal keep cutting out? #90 Why does my TV say 'No Signal'? #91 Why does my HDMI work sometimes but not always? #92 Why does HDMI work with one TV but not another? #93 Does HDMI cable quality matter? #94 Do expensive HDMI cables make a difference? #95 What HDMI cable do I need for 4K? #96 What HDMI cable do I need for 8K? #97 What is HDMI bandwidth? #98 What is EDID? #99 Why is EDID causing my HDMI problems? #100 What is HDCP? #101 Why am I getting an HDCP error? #102 What is HDMI handshaking? #103 Why does my TV lose the signal when I turn another device on? #104 Can HDMI carry audio and video at the same time? #105 Can I run HDMI through Cat6? #106 What is HDBaseT? #107 How far can HDBaseT transmit HDMI? #108 What is an HDMI extender? #109 What is an HDMI splitter? #110 What is an HDMI matrix? #111 What is an HDMI distribution amplifier? #112 What is the difference between an HDMI splitter and matrix? #113 How do I send one video source to multiple TVs? #114 How do I control multiple TVs from one location? #115 How do I distribute 4K video throughout a building? #116 What is AV-over-IP video? #117 What is NDI? #118 What is SDI? #119 What is the difference between SDI and HDMI? #120 What is DisplayPort? #121 What is USB-C video? #122 Can USB-C carry video and audio? #123 Why does USB-C video work on one computer but not another?

#124 What size TV should I use in a conference room? #125 How large should a conference room display be? #126 How high should a TV be mounted? #127 What is the best display for a boardroom? #128 Should I use a commercial display or a consumer TV? #129 How long do commercial displays last? #130 Can a commercial TV run 24/7? #131 What is digital signage? #132 What is the difference between digital signage and a regular TV? #133 How do I display different content on multiple TVs? #134 How do I control multiple displays? #135 What is a video wall? #136 What is the difference between a video wall and multiple TVs? #137 What is an LED video wall? #138 When should I use an LED wall instead of a TV? #139 What is a projector? #140 When is a projector better than a TV? #141 How large can a projector image be? #142 How bright does a projector need to be? #143 Why does my projector look washed out? #144 Why can't I see my projector during the day? #145 What projector do I need for a conference room? #146 What projector do I need for a ballroom? #147 How do I calculate projector screen size? #148 How far should a projector be from the screen? #333 How bright should a commercial display be? #334 How do you design a video wall?

#149 Why can't people hear me in a Teams meeting? #150 Why can't remote participants hear the room? #151 Why can we hear them but they can't hear us? #152 Why does my conference room echo? #153 Why does my Teams room have feedback? #154 Why does the conference room sound hollow? #155 Why does the microphone pick up the HVAC? #156 What microphone is best for a conference room? #157 What microphone is best for a boardroom? #158 Should I use table or ceiling microphones? #159 What is the best microphone for a large meeting room? #160 How many microphones does my conference room need? #161 How do I eliminate echo in a boardroom? #162 What is acoustic echo cancellation? #163 What is beamforming? #164 What is automatic gain control? #165 What is noise cancellation? #166 How do I improve Teams audio quality? #167 How do I improve Zoom audio quality? #168 Why does my Teams camera keep freezing? #169 Why is my conference room camera not working? #170 Why isn't my computer seeing the conference room camera? #171 Why isn't Teams seeing my microphone? #172 How do I connect a laptop to a conference room AV system? #173 What is BYOD in a conference room? #174 What is wireless presentation? #175 How do I wirelessly share my screen in a boardroom? #335 How much does a boardroom video conferencing system cost? #336 What camera should I use for a large boardroom? #337 How far should a conference camera be from participants? #338 What microphone should I use in a boardroom? #339 How do I eliminate echo in a conference room? #340 What speakers should I use in a conference room?

#176 What is the best audio system for a restaurant? #177 What speakers are best for a restaurant? #178 What speakers are best for a bar? #179 What speakers are best for a hotel? #180 What speakers are best for a retail store? #181 What speakers are best for a gym? #182 What speakers are best for a church? #183 What speakers are best for a school? #184 What speakers are best for a patio? #185 What speakers are best for outdoor areas? #186 How do I design a restaurant sound system? #187 How do I design a hotel audio system? #188 How do I design a multi-zone audio system? #189 What is a multi-zone audio system? #190 How do I control music in different rooms? #191 Can different rooms play different music? #192 Can I control the volume in each room separately? #193 How many zones does my audio system need? #194 How do I add paging to a commercial sound system? #195 Can I have background music and paging on the same system? #196 How do I play music and announcements through the same speakers? #197 What is a commercial paging system? #198 What is a background music system? #199 What is the best way to distribute music throughout a building?

#200 What is an AV rack? #201 What equipment goes in an AV rack? #202 How should an AV rack be designed? #203 How much ventilation does an AV rack need? #204 Why is my AV rack overheating? #205 How should amplifiers be installed in a rack? #206 How do I organize AV rack wiring? #207 What is an AV control system? #208 What is a control processor? #209 What is RS-232 control? #210 What is IP control? #211 What is IR control? #212 Can I control my AV system from an iPad? #213 Can I control multiple TVs from one touchscreen? #214 What is Crestron? #215 What is AMX? #216 What is RTI? #217 What is the difference between AV control systems? #218 How do I automate an entire conference room? #219 How do I make an AV system easy for employees to use?

#220 My TV has no picture. What should I check? #221 My TV has picture but no sound. What should I check? #222 My speakers have no sound. What should I check? #223 My amplifier is on but there is no audio. #224 Why is my audio intermittent? #225 Why does my audio cut out? #226 Why does my video cut out? #227 Why does my display randomly reboot? #228 Why does my HDMI signal disappear? #229 Why does my system stop working after a power outage? #230 Why do I have audio delay? #231 Why is the audio out of sync with the video? #232 How do I fix lip-sync problems? #233 Why does one speaker stop working? #234 Why does one zone stop working? #235 Why does my wireless microphone drop out? #236 Why does my microphone have interference? #237 Why does my AV system keep losing network connectivity? #238 Why can't my AV equipment see each other? #239 Why does my control system stop responding? #240 Why does restarting everything temporarily fix my AV system?

#241 Who installs commercial AV systems in Kelowna? #242 Who installs conference room AV in Kelowna? #243 Who installs boardroom AV in Kelowna? #244 Who installs restaurant sound systems in Kelowna? #245 Who installs commercial audio systems in Kelowna? #246 Who installs digital signage in Kelowna? #247 Who installs video walls in Kelowna? #248 Who installs projector systems in Kelowna? #249 Who installs distributed audio systems in Kelowna? #250 Who can troubleshoot commercial AV systems in Kelowna? #251 Who can design a conference room AV system in Kelowna? #252 Who can design a ballroom sound system in Kelowna? #253 Who installs AV systems in West Kelowna? #254 Who installs commercial AV systems in the Okanagan? #255 Who provides AV integration in the Okanagan? #256 How much does a commercial AV system cost in Kelowna? #257 How much does a conference room AV system cost? #258 How much does a restaurant sound system cost? #259 How much does a boardroom AV system cost? #260 What should I consider before hiring an AV company in Kelowna?