| reported
by: Christopher K C Yap Secretary (Term 1999/2000)
On Friday, 2 June 2000 at
7.00pm, 12 members and 20 guests of the AES Singapore
Section gathered at the
Singapore Subordinate Courts to attend a talk and tour on “New
Technologies in the Singapore Judiciary Courts” by
Mr Eric Wong from
CCW Acoustics.
| Wong
started by speaking on the challenges involved in introducing technology
in the judiciary courts. He stressed that although the addition of
modern technology will prove useful to the judiciary system, its
implementation has to be carefully executed for a host of reasons.
Firstly, the courts have a basic purpose of upholding the country’s law,
and its purpose must be held above all else. This means that the judges
and lawyers using the system need to learn and adapt to the changed
environment, ensuring that the new equipment will only aid their work,
and not hamper it. |
Mr. Eric Wong, one
of the founding members of the AES Singapore Section, presenting his
talk at the Singapore Subordinate Courts -
photograph by Robert Soo. |
Wong cited 3 main areas of
consideration – Acoustics, Video/Lighting, and Layout. The typical courtroom
in Singapore sits in buildings that were around since the colonial times,
with their architecture featuring high ceilings and big spaces, and thus
compromised acoustics. The obvious solution was to apply absorption, and
here, the challenge was to position the panels in a manner that will not
compromise the original appearance of the courtroom. Furthermore, these
plans have to be approved by the judges involved. So goes for the lighting
needed to provide sufficient coverage for good camera pickup in video
conferencing. On layout, the challenges were to place all equipment, such as
microphones, speakers and monitor screens, as unobtrusively as possible.
Wong was also faced with the task of finding hidden empty spaces for the
equipment racks, which was almost non-existent.
|
Eric Wong
conducting a tour showing the high-tech AV facilities at one of the
Singapore Subordinate Courts - photograph by
Robert Soo. |
Wong went on to describe
the key features of the audio system that was installed. An automatic
microphone mixing system was needed to provide maximum gain for the multiple
microphones in the system, and the usual gating systems could not be used,
due to its inability to switch on quick enough for recording purposes. Thus
a technique
|
Members and
guests during a demonstration session by the speaker, Eric Wong, at the
Singapore Subordinate Courts - photograph by
Robert Soo. |
called Gain Sharing was implemented. Gain Sharing involves determining
the maximum gain available with all microphones open, and subsequently
giving any person who talks that maximum gain, sharing the available
gain when more than one person talks. The technique is implemented using
DSP. As for sound reinforcement, Wong chose an all small speaker, all
near field reinforcement system. This effectively increases the gain
before feedback, especially in this multiple all-open microphone
environment. The small speakers also mean that they can be blended into
the furniture, eliminating ugly speakers hanging around the room. Each
microphone has a small speaker nearby serving the area. |
To further reduce the risk of
feedback, the Mix Minus technique was implemented. Mix Minus involves adding
the signal from a particular microphone, in reverse phase, to the summed
signal from all the microphones coming in to the corresponding speaker,
effectively subtracting the signal of that microphone from the output of
that particular corresponding speaker. This means that every one else will
hear the person talking through their corresponding speakers, except for the
person talking. This drastically reduces the risk of feedback. Other than
the near field reinforcements, there were two speakers for general coverage,
one placed way back for the public area, and the other below the video
conferencing screen, which only serves to output the far-end audio.
|
Members and
guests of the AES Singapore Section with Mr. Eric Wong after the tour at
the Singapore Subordinate Courts located at Havelock Square -
photograph by Robert Soo. |
Wong said that there were
many advantages to using digital systems. Multiple court rooms could share a
centralised DSP processing resource, and cabling was less in quantity as
signals were carried through data networking cables. The signals can even
ride on existing computer network cables. Wong went on to describe
the other systems, which included multi-camera pickup on a single image on
screen, the projection system, the video conferencing system, and the touch
screen central control system. He also touched on an electronic filing
system, where lawyers can file their papers directly through the computer
networks, moving towards a paperless court.
|
Chairman, Mr.
Jibby Jacob, presenting the plaque to Mr. Eric Wong, who is also one of
the founding members of the AES Singapore Section -
photograph by Robert Soo. |
The talk
concluded with a Q&A session, which was followed by a tour of the
courtrooms. The AES Singapore Section would like to thank the
Subordinate Courts of Singapore for the use of its auditorium, and also
their staff for the services and support to the AES during this talk. |
|
The cast for
the next season of the popular U.S. TV hit series, "The Practice"?
Members and guests of the AES Singapore Section at the Singapore Supreme
Court with state-of-the-arts AV technology. The speaker, Mr. Eric Wong
is standing in the front row, fourth from left -
photograph taken by Mr. Habullah of CCW Associates Pte
Ltd using the court facilities installed by their company. |
Biography of Mr. Eric Wong
Mr. Eric Wong Weng Kee,
MAES
Director, CCW Associates Pte Ltd
Eric Wong graduated
from Loughborough University of Technology (UK) with BSc (Hons) degree in
Electronic, Computer and Systems Engineering in 1984. From 1984 to 1992, he
was a Sound System design engineer with Rank O' Connor's in the Professional
Video, Audio and Lighting Department. In 1990, he then headed the
department, which later expanded, into a technical design center for the
company. In 1992, he joined CCW Acoustics as a Consulting Engineer to
further his field in Electro Acoustic and Architectural Acoustics. His
fourteen years experience has been on sound systems design and installation
ranging from airports, stadiums, churches, mosques, resorts, outdoor parks,
post production studio, hotels and auditoriums. He is currently a director
with CCW Associates Pte Ltd. |
