The Newseum in Washington, D.C., is using Wohler monitoring products to support its displays and hands-on exhibitions examining the history of newsmaking.
The newly opened museum of news is using 47 video monitoring systems, 17 confidence monitors and 18 audio monitoring systems to deliver audio and video to exhibits, theaters and interactive displays throughout the facility.
The 250,000sq-ft Newseum, located on historic Pennsylvania Avenue adjacent to the Smithsonian museums, serves as a forum for the media and the public to gain a better understanding of one another. The seven-story museum features a sophisticated master control room separated by a glass wall from a large atrium, which serves as the main control center where most of the new Wohler systems are installed.
The MON2-3W/HR video monitors deployed within the master control room feature dual 7in high-resolution color monitors capable of monitoring both SD-SDI and HD-SDI signals in either a widescreen or 4:3 format. Wohler's Direct Digital Drive design offers accurate color reproduction from the all-digital signal path that drives the LCD panel. The Newseum also is using the MON1-T/7W-HR half-rack HD/SD-SDI video monitor within a Tektronix half-tub equipped with scopes and other monitoring equipment.
AMP1-S8DA units and an AMP2-S8DA installed at the Newseum provide audio monitoring, offering eight-channel analog and AES/EBU digital multichannel audio monitoring and conversion as well as professional metering in compact 1RU and 2RU cabinets, respectively. A Wohler 1RU VMQ-4 audio monitor installed in the master control room permits simultaneous monitoring of up to four audio sources on four analog inputs with voice-quality fidelity.
The Wohler monitoring systems support a variety of dynamic exhibits that use video and audio to explore the history of news, the flow of news information and coverage of specific events in history, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Interactive exhibits use video and audio feeds and a blue screen to allow visitors to experience the pressure of putting together a story in a virtual newsroom. A 40ft LED screen in the Newseum's Great Hall of News displays video during museum hours and can be moved to floor level or raised out of the way for special events.
Newington, VA-based Communications Engineering (CEI) installed and integrated the broadcast and A/V equipment at the Newseum.
For more information, visit www.wohler.com.
