Part II of the CTS Exam Guide is based largely on AVIXA’s Essentials of AV Technology, an online course that offers a comprehensive overview of the science and technology of audio, visual, and audio-visual (AV) systems integration. It represents years of work by many subject-matter experts (SMEs) in the AV industry who grappled with complex concepts in an effort to refine them to their essence without losing their accuracy. It is the cornerstone for AV knowledge that applies to all of AVIXA’s subsequent works. The goal of Essentials of AV Technology is to document the fundamentals that AV professionals use on a daily basis and to illustrate the mechanics of how these AV fundamentals work. AVIXA’s training philosophy has always been that if you understand the fundamentals and their mechanics, you will be able to apply this knowledge to new technologies and the applications that follow. With this knowledge base, you are able to solve problems and meet your clients’ needs.
But Essentials of AV Technology does not exist in a vacuum. You cannot simply study the Essentials of AV Technology course material and expect to succeed on the Certified Technology Specialist (CTS) exam. As noted earlier, CTS certification is not merely a measure of technical prowess. Understanding these essentials is a key component of your CTS exam preparation, but it is only the beginning.
Duty Check
As a general overview of AV technology, the material in this part of the book pertains to many of the duties and tasks on the CTS exam. Much of the technical material in this part informs Duty A (Creating AV Solutions), particularly Task 5 (Design AV Solutions), and Duty B Task 1 (Integrate AV Solutions), as those exam tasks have the most to do with actual AV systems and account for 20 percent of the exam’s questions. This material may also aid CTS candidates in preparation for Duty C (Servicing AV Solutions). This part of the book focuses on the technical knowledge required of CTS holders, not soft skills.
What Is an AV System?
In its simplest form, AV is about helping people communicate an idea effectively. Whether it is a touch-screen display in a shopping center, a workgroup video conference, a musical production, or a wedding video on YouTube, AV tools and technology are used to help people relate to and understand one another. Adding AV to an idea helps people pay attention, learn, laugh, enjoy, make decisions, and remember.
How you define AV communication varies based on your interest and experience. For some people, AV goes back to black-and-white television and 35mm slide presentations; for others, AV is a video chat on a smartphone or the latest virtual reality video game.
AV technology is used to communicate ideas everywhere: to doctors in operating rooms, teachers in classrooms, students in dormitories, corporations in boardrooms, lawyers in courtrooms, marketers in retail stores, and performers on the stage. It would be a dull world indeed without AV communication.
The human being is an analog creature living in a digital age. If these terms mean little to you, after reading the following chapters you will understand their significance and impact. You will also learn about the science and technology of AV, where and how it is used, and why working in the multibillion-dollar AV industry is one of the best jobs around.
An AV system is two or more pieces of AV equipment designed to work together to meet a communication need. These systems can be connected by cable or with wireless. The equipment used in the system may be passive (not powered) or active (powered).
The markets in which professional AV systems are used include schools and universities, government, the military, businesses, healthcare, legal, retail, funeral homes, museums, houses of worship, sports arenas, entertainment, transportation, and many other areas—in short, everywhere. The actual applications of AV technology are often similar across markets, including presentations, conferencing (web, audio, video, and data), education, advertising, retail signage, dynamic displays, command-and-control systems, concerts, and public information systems. Sharing information using audio and video has become essential.
AV System Goals
Although an AV system consists of specific equipment, the equipment itself is less important than the system’s ultimate purpose. The purpose of an AV system is to meet a communication objective; it is the task that a user wants to accomplish—through AV—to communicate an idea. Here are some examples of an AV system’s purpose:
• To train a group of 100 people about sales techniques or new products
• To intimately engage an entire concert audience with a performance
• To facilitate changes to company policies globally
• To engage and educate visitors to a museum
• To monitor aircraft locations
An AV system allows people to communicate and share information. It can create or reproduce a complete experience using sound, images, and environmental control. It should fit in with its environment and not be the focus.
The quality of an AV system design dictates how well it meets the objective. Good integration requires careful thought and planning. Sometimes users buy individual pieces of equipment at different times and without forethought. Without a plan in mind, the power of a potentially good system may be lost.