Duke University School of Law in Durham, North Carolina, recently refreshed the audiovisual systems in three lecture halls and a moot courtroom, upgrading to the latest Extron technology, including the NAV Pro AV over IP platform. The update resulted in immediate improvements to system reliability and flexibility.

NAV Pro now routes content to multiple rooms for overflow, offering more scalability than the previous point-to-point setup. The upgraded system also enables full streaming and production capabilities from a broadcast-caliber control room. AV staff can securely access the control system remotely from their office, home, or anywhere with internet access to perform maintenance and provide user support. The touchpanel interface retains the familiar layout, helping ensure a smooth transition for faculty and staff.

“We know that Extron has a reputation for smooth installation and reliable operation. When Kontek Systems recommended NAV Pro AV over IP, we said yes. We are more than happy,” said Miguel Bordo, manager of instructional technologies consulting at Duke Law. “I’ve been at Duke Law for 18 years, and I’ve worked with our integrator, Kontek, for that long. This was the smoothest install that I’ve experienced. Compared to the legacy AV system, the AV over IP topology requires fewer components, yet delivers more capability and easier scalability.”

The three lecture halls and moot courtroom now share a unified AV system design. PTZ cameras, guest laptops, Blu-ray players and Apple TV devices feed into the AV over IP network via NAV encoders. Each room features projectors and flat-panel displays driven by NAV scaling decoders. Additional decoders feed AV content into Duke’s Panopto enterprise video platform for lecture capture and sharing.

A MediaPort 200 scaling bridge connects conferencing PCs running UC soft codecs to the AV over IP network for video conferencing. Control is handled through 12-inch TouchLink Pro tabletop touchpanels and IPCP Pro xi control processors, which manage AV functions and room lighting.

Duke Law School has produced in-house AV content since the 1990s and maintains a sophisticated infrastructure for content creation, distribution and archiving. This lecture hall and courtroom refresh is part of the university’s ongoing effort to keep its AV infrastructure modern and reliable.