Have you ever asked yourself, “Where should I start in order to improve the overall quality of my AVL system?” 

In a world of ever-changing technology, this can be a difficult and overwhelming question to answer. Most people immediately ask what new equipment they need to purchase. However, in the initial phases, the quickest and most cost-effective strategy to improve your AVL system is likely right at your fingertips.

In grade school mathematics, we learned about the concept of the Lowest Common Denominator. While this concept helps when calculating fractions, it also applies to AVL Systems. The quality of equipment has gotten so good that in many cases, the skill of the user or the system configuration are often the weakest links.

As an oversimplified example, imagine you're at the helm of the world’s most advanced audio system, and all you need to amplify is a single person on stage speaking into a wired microphone. But you have a problem - the microphone isn’t plugged in. Regardless of how well the rest of the system is configured, or how phenomenal it could sound, the lowest common denominator is a missing cable.

All AVL systems are limited by the weakest link in the chain,
even though the system has the potential of sounding incredible.

Or you could have the world’s brightest, most color-accurate LED Wall. If you unpackage and plug in a camera straight out of the box and look at the image on the screen without adjusting the zoom, focus, or color in any way, you will be sorely disappointed with the picture quality. The LED Wall is not to blame - the new camera simply needs to be configured properly for the space before it will look the way it is supposed to.

When looking to improve any portion of an AVL System, start by identifying the lowest common denominator within the existing infrastructure. Look for individual components within the system that are not operating at 100% of their potential. This creates a limitation in the rest of the chain that affects everything else downstream. Start by assessing your system configuration and operational skills. Improvements in these areas almost always make a significant impact, and, best of all, there's no equipment to buy.

In audio terms, you may find that gain structure, compression, or thresholds need to be adjusted on a particular channel. In video terms, the color balance of a camera or projector, resolution, or bitrate might be the bottleneck that is holding everything else back. In lighting terms, color temperature, fixture focus, or even fixture placement could be negatively affecting everything you see.

You'll find that all of these changes will quickly add up. By making small tweaks and increasing the quality and performance of the gear that is already available, you will improve the weakest link in the chain and raise the bar for the entire system.