UNIQUE TECHNIQUE S Southwestern University School of Law prosecutor faces the Photo Courtesy of A traditional challenge of Southwestern Law School convincing the jury that the defendant on trial is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. But the courtroom housing the trial is not traditional by any means. In this forum, the prosecutor has the capability of exhibiting a crucial piece of evidence through an array of digital displays, positioned at key locations throughout the courtroom. Everyone present, particularly the jurors, views this Above: The building housing the Dixon Center was evidence close-up and with all originally the Bullocks Wilshire department store and of its native clarity. The result: a is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. highly compelling presentation Left: The jury trial and appellate courtroom features Photo Courtesy of plasma displays that remedy sight line problems. with maximum impact. Southwestern Law School room has been equipped for various A/V This high technology courtroom is A State-of-the-Art Legal Center presentation needs. The building housing this representative of an ever-increasing The Dixon Courtroom and Advocacy Center center was originally the Bullocks Wilshire de- number of state and local courts features an extensive lineup of Extron partment store (opened in 1929), and is listed throughout the US, utilizing advanced equipment, including matrix switchers, HSA on the National Register of Historic Places. A/V and IT functionality. One such facility (Hideaway™ Surface Access) enclosures, in an academic setting is the Julian C. distribution amplifiers, switchers, and video A central control room, directly adjacent to Dixon Memorial Courtroom and Advocacy scalers. Collectively these products provide a the courtroom, ties together the technical Center at Southwestern University School major portion of the underlying infrastructure operations and A/V signal distribution for all of Law in Los Angeles. Intended to serve as for the center’s highly sophisticated A/V op- rooms. Altogether, the legal center boasts the a model for jury and appellate courtrooms erations. following A/V and IT capabilities: of the future, this center will provide law • Audio and video distribution throughout students with the capability to leverage A/V The centerpiece of the Dixon Courtroom and the facility and IT technologies for effective advocacy Advocacy Center is the jury trial and appellate • Plasma displays for presentation of evidence, and litigation in tomorrow’s courtrooms. courtroom. Adjoining the courtroom is the multimedia content, videoconferencing, In addition to serving as an important jury deliberation room, as well as a small con- and camera feeds venue for teaching and training, the center ference room as part of the judge’s chambers. • LCD monitors at strategic locations for houses actual court sessions and is also a In addition, an Alternative Dispute Resolution personalized viewing of evidence, electronic community resource for attorneys, judges, (ADR) suite, comprising a conference room documents, and presentations and court administrators. and two interview rooms, is devoted to con- • Comprehensive audio systems and opti- ferences and settlement negotiations. Each mized acoustic treatments continued on page 6 www.extron.com 5 UNIQUE TECHNIQUE S Southwestern University (cont.) • Multimedia and Web-based evidence pre- sistent reliability and robustness. According to sentation ExhibitOne, Extron equipment was selected • Electronic distribution of legal materials for their “reliability, benchmark products, including appellate briefs size, price, and signal quality in meeting • Local computer-video, power, data, and specifications.” Gruen, who has specified phone connectivity Extron products for several other courtroom • Videoconferencing for remote testimonies, installations, commented, “I’ve been very depositions, court appearances, settlement comfortable with the overall performance negotiations, etc. of Extron products.” He noted further, “It’s The HSA 822 facilitates various A/V connections for a nice feeling to know that you can put the jury foreman. equipment into the system and know that Uniquely Complex and Sophisticated jury deliberations, settlement negotiations, it’s going to work properly.” A/V System Design and more. For the design and specification of the Dixon According to Gruen, the specific requirements Center’s A/V operations, Southwestern col- With the necessity to design the A/V foun- for the Dixon Center were unprecedented, laborated with Martin Gruen of Applied dation that would meet all of the needs of and therefore, particularly challenging given Legal Technologies and Fredric Lederer, instruction and legal proceedings, Gruen the sheer scale and complexity. The A/V in- Chancellor Professor of Law and Director noted that the audio and video needs for the frastructure for the Dixon Center would have of the Courtroom 21 Project at College of Dixon Center were pushing the envelope well to fulfill the needs of not only a fully func- William & Mary School of Law. ExhibitOne beyond that of previous, advanced technology tioning courtroom, but also a classroom. Corporation served as the systems integrator courtroom projects. “What we have here at Comprehensive audio and video processing for this project, implementing the equipment Southwestern is really unsurpassed through- and distribution was necessary so that the fa- acquisition, installation, set-up, and support out the country,” commented Gruen. of the A/V operations. cility could accommodate live proceedings and conferences, both within the center and with Extron Equipment Provides the remote participants via videoconferencing. Courtrooms augmented with A/V capabilities Foundation for A/V Distribution, Audio and video would have to be distributed require effective signal distribution and pro- Signal Processing, and Access to classrooms throughout the campus, so that cessing solutions to meet the day-to-day Essential to successful implementation of the students can remotely monitor mock trials, needs of mission critical applications with con- center’s A/V operations was the ability to flex- ibly route video, computer-video, and audio to any room, display, or recording/documen- tation device. Two Extron matrix switchers were selected for this purpose, the Extron CrossPoint Plus 3232HVA for distribution of computer-video, and the Extron MAV 3232 Composite for composite video routing of camera feeds throughout the center. Both matrix switchers are situated in the control room of the center. Each offers the ability to distribute any of 32 input sources to any of 32 output destinations. Top: Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) room Right: The judge’s bench and witness stand. 6 ExtroNews 16.1 Spring 2005 UNIQUE TECHNIQUE S Technologies Specialist for the Dixon Center. “In our very sophisticated world of A/V opera- tions, I feel confident in stating that Extron products are serving in many of the most important roles for our facility.” Video Displays Everywhere Perhaps the most visible aspect of the Dixon Center’s A/V operations is the nearly ubiqui- tous presence of flat panel displays. These displays can play a key role in the presentation The Extron CrossPoint Plus 3232 HVA is used to distribute computer-video throughout of evidence, as well as the shared viewing of the Dixon Center and to classrooms throughout the campus. documents. In the Dixon Center courtroom, six LCD monitors are located in the jury box, The matrix switchers significantly exceed the Plates (AAPs) facilitates various A/V connections each shared between two jurors. LCD moni- requirements of the Dixon Center, but the in- for the jury foreman, including laptop power tors also figure prominently in the ADR room, tention is to enable video and audio distribu- and data, as well as audio and video to accom- with seven displays on the conference table tion to classrooms throughout the law school, modate a document camera, VCR, and DVD for viewing of electronic presentations, docu- each of which features advanced A/V and IT player for viewing evidence. Similarly, an HSA ments, or evidence. A total of 23 LCD displays capabilities of their own, as well as additional 822 is used in the small conference room for have been installed throughout the center, areas of the Bullocks Wilshire building. The the judge. with three of them serving double duty in the matrix switchers enable evidence, multimedia courtroom as A/V system control panels and presentations, video, and live camera feeds In addition to the HSAs and matrix switchers, computer-video monitors. from the center to be shared with professors several Extron distribution amplifiers and VGA and students as valuable resources for educa- switchers are in the system. The Extron CVDA The courtroom also features a total of six tion, as the students monitor mock proceed- 6 MX Quad Composite Video Distribution plasma displays. In addition to the four units ings and conferences. Amplifiers are used for video distribution installed on the support columns, a plasma from 13 video cameras. The Extron SW VGA display is located behind the judge, and an Extron HSA products offer convenient con- Series switchers provide local autoswitching interactive display is situated on a mobile cart. nectivity so that the users (judge, counsel, for computer-video sources and document Plasma displays are also used in the judge’s students, instructors, etc.) can easily tie their cameras. Video signal processing to ensure chamber, ADR room, and