Polycom 2457-23216-002 User Manual

Page of 280
 
Room Design and Layout
Polycom, Inc. 
239
 
Interior Design and Finishes
Wall colors within the field of view of the camera have a significant impact on 
the far-end perception of the room video quality. Certain colors are better 
suited to video rooms than others. The electronics and software of the 
videoconferencing system “builds” the images at the far-end from a gray/blue 
reference image. When there is a minimal difference between the room 
background and the reference image color, the codec has an easier time 
turning the image into numbers, with the result that the far-end will see a 
much higher quality video presentation. In general, light gray with just a touch 
of blue seems to work best. For rooms that have marginal lighting, slightly 
darker colors are quite useful.
In keeping with these color recommendations, the acoustic panels (discussed 
elsewhere in this section) should be ordered in light colors such as silver-gray, 
quartz or champagne for panels within the camera field of view. For aesthetics, 
however, panels may be alternated in color along the wall.
Furniture
As we have noted, VC rooms should be slightly on the large side for the typical 
number of attendees. The placement of furniture should present a natural 
rapport with the videoconference system, but shouldn’t preclude the local 
interaction of conference participants. Doorways used for access to the space 
usually should be within the view of one of the camera presets to prevent the 
perception from the far-end that people could come into their meeting unseen. 
Doorways should not, however, be in constant, direct view of the camera 
system, as this may cause unwanted distractions and movement of people in 
the picture field.
Any tables within the conference environment should have a light top surface. 
Glossy tops should be avoided, as should strong colors or any bold wood 
grain. If glossy or saturated color surfaces are unavoidable, then proper 
lighting can help reduce (but not necessarily eliminate) their ill effects. The 
best table surface color is a flat satin finish, in neutral gray. In cases where the 
worst possible surfaces are present, the proper surface color effect can be 
achieved by using a table covering, put in place only when the room is being 
used for videoconferencing. This will, however, create problems related to the 
use of access ports in the tables or movement of end-user items across the 
surface.
Acoustics
Additional general elements related to the interior finish details for the space 
include acoustics. In terms of ambient noise level, the acoustic design goal for 
any conference- enabled room is at least NC-30 (NoiseCriteria-30). This level 
of specification dictates a very quiet space (somewhere around 40-dBCSPL