Testing and Assessment


Technitect offers a variety of testing and assessment services both as stand-alone tests and as part of a commissioning or an assessment suite. We have a wide variety of commercial and industrial grade test equipment for use in our testing, and we follow national and international standards (such as ANSI, ASTM, ISO, and IEC) where available for our test procedures and data analysis. When standards are not available, testing is based on industry best practices from a variety of sources including InfoComm, industry references, and our own 30-year experience in acoustics and pro AV.
Tests may be performed on existing facilities as part of an individual room or campus-wide assessment. Assessments are generally very detailed and cover all aspects of the facility encompassing the electronics and facility design, the installation quality, and the operational features of the technology and the space. The space plan, sight lines, room finishes, acoustics, lighting and furnishings are all part of the architectural review. Audio, video and control systems design and installation are all covered for the electronic systems.
Assessing System Performance
The scope of an assessment can vary depending on the client’s needs, but the effort generally focusses first on the endpoint performance of the systems for the users:
- Video and audio performance from system input to system output, including the effect of the environment on the user experience.
- Assessments also include a detailed review of the design and installation as it relates to the user needs for a given facility, and a look at the installation, its quality, and its effect on the system performance in addition to the design.
- Finally, a review of the control system interface design, implentation, and performance is conducted, since the control system is the generally the key to a system’s success or failure, often regardless of audio and video performance.
Testing Services
Testing and reporting may be performed for many reasons, including third-party commissioning services, existing system assessments, and general field performance of systems or facility design and construction. The suite of tests performed depends on the facility and purpose of the testing. Some of the tests that we can conduct are listed below.
Applicable Standards and References | |
---|---|
Acoustical Testing Sound Isolation: FSTC: Field Sound Transmission Class ASTC: Apparent Sound Transmission Class NIC: Noise Isolation Class NNIC: Normalized Noise Isolation Class Rw: ISO Sound Transmission Index FOITC: Field Outdoor-Indoor Transmission Class OINIC: Noise Isolation Class |
ASTM E336 ASTM E413 ASTM E966 ASTM E1332 ISO 717-1 |
Acoustical Testing Impact Isolation: IIC: Impact Isolation Class Ln,w: Normalized weighted impact sound index |
ASTM E966 ASTM E1007 ISO 717-2 |
Acoustical Testing Background Noise: RC: Room Criterion NC: Noise Criterion dBA: A-Weighted Sound Pressure Level RTA: Real Time Analysis / Spectral Measurement Leq: Equivalent Continuous Noise Level |
ASHRAE Guides ANSI S1.4 ANSI 1.42 Acoustical References |
Acoustical Testing Other Measurements: RT60: Decay / Reverberation Time in Seconds STI: Speech Transmission Index • Classroom Acoustics per ANSI S12.60 |
ANSI S1.1 ASTM E-1130 ANSI/ASA S12.60 Acoustical References |
Audio Testing
• Audio Coverage |
ANSI/InfoComm 1M AV Best Practices Audio Industry References |
Video and Lighting Testing
• Display Contrast Ratio |
ANSI/InfoComm 3M IEC 61947-1 Upcoming ANSI Standards IES Design Guide 17 IES Handbook AV Best Practices Video Industry References |
Control System Assessments
• Assessments of functionality, performance, and GUI user-friendliness. |
AV Best Practices Dashboard for Controls AV Control References |
AV and Conferencing System Assessments
• Documentation |
ANSI/InfoComm 2M AV Best Practices AV Industry References |