An outdoor screen at the flagship Sogo department store, measuring 230ft wide by 53ft high, has been deployed and to ensure that the audio is as impressive as the visuals two 12ft Renkus-Heinz IC Live Triple column line arrays have been installed.
Ian Harris, president and principal consultant of ihD Ltd, was engaged to advise on the project and realised the breadth of the noise issues facing the installation. He commented: "Down in the street we measured a standard level of 75 dBA to 85 dBA (weighted) of traffic noise, so we knew our main challenge would be to get the sound or speech across to people through this level of background noise, but without incurring complaints from other traders or the local authorities.”
The onus was therefore on Harris and his team to deliver clear, consistent audio, but to ensure that it only reached those to whom it was directed - namely pedestrians at street level. Harris commented: “For those reasons it had to be a beam-steered column array and Renkus-Heinz IC Live is really the only one that can offer extended bass for the low frequency content."
The installation took place over the summer, after which Harris and his team cautiously began to put the system into action. He said: "We started at a low level - not even 5dB above the traffic noise level - as we were very keen that the system should not interfere with the activities of other stores."
In addition to relaying a wealth of pre-recorded advertising content and messages, the new system is also expected to deliver live interviews from the shop-floor and the street below, and to this end the installation involved the provision of multiple camera and microphone feeds around the site.