LHS-1621 (also known as the Sun Life Auditorium) has a podium computer and an Audio Visual (AV) control panel that is used to control the projector, video camera, microphone and document camera.

View of LHS-1621 from the podium looking out over the room

Please contact any member of the Health Computing Office (Contacts) for assistance or to have a demonstration of how the room works.

Here are some of the things you need to know about presenting in LHS-1621. 

  1. Room Modes

  2. Using the Podium Computer

  3. Using your own computer

  4. Starting your Presentation in LHS-1621

  5. How to get presenter mode in PowerPoint from the podium computer

  6. Video Conferencing - Using the built in equipment

  7. Video Conferencing - Using the Vidoebar

  8. Adjusting the volume

  9. Using the document camera

  10. Lighting in LHS-1621

Room Modes

The AV control panel at the podium has a choice of two different modes that you can set for the room.

The first decision you need to make is what mode you want to have for your presentation:

Control panel with two modes - Center Image and Mic Only

Center Image: This is the most common room mode. It sends the computer, laptop or document camera image to the projector and (optionally) the preview monitor at the podium.

Mic Only: This turns on the speakers for the lapel mic stored in the podium. This is used for a talk-only session with no presentation on the screen.

If the wrong mode is set, you can switch to another mode by selecting (tapping) the Switch Mode option on the scrolling menu along the bottom of the control panel.

Using the Podium Computer

  1. Log on to the Podium Windows computer using your UW userid and password

  2. If your presentation is on a USB drive, you can connect it to the podium computer using one of the two USB ports on the podium below the control panel

    Podium with location of the USB input ports labelled

Using your own computer

  1. Connect the HDMI (white tape) or VGA cable at the podium to your computer. You may need an adapter if your computer does not have connections for HDMI or VGA. With VGA connections, you will need to connect the audio jack to your computer if you need audio in your presentation.

  2. If you are doing a video conference, you need to connect the USB cable to connect the video camera and microphone system to your computer.

Starting your Presentation

  1. Select the right presentation mode: If you arrive and system is powered on, it is recommended that you select the Switch Mode option to get back to the start to make sure the room is in the right mode.

  2. Send the Laptop or PC (Podium Computer) image to the screen and Preview monitor: Select the Laptop or PC option on the lower menu (if it doesn't appear, slide the scrolling menu to the right or left until the Laptop option appears).
    The control panel will then show the available options for displaying the computer image (see below): Projector, Preview Monitor as well as Classroom sound (for audio). When you have chosen the options you want (turned red x to green checks), hit the "Send" icon to send the screen and/or audio to the selected devices.

  3. For laptop only, choose the input that matches what you have connected (see below): HDMI (middle) carries audio and video, VGA (right) carries only video so you will need to select the audio jack also (and have it connected to the headphone output on computer). Tap the appropriate connection.

Control panel with display connection options shown

Note for Mac laptops: If you plan to present your desktop in an online meeting, you should disable the HDCP option on this connections screen. If you forget, your online viewers may see a green or blue screen instead of your shared content. You can come back to this page and disable HDCP if that happens. 

Control panel with HDCP option shown

How to get presenter mode in PowerPoint from the podium computer

  1. Tap the PC option and select all options so that green check marks appear below the Projector Image, Preview Monitor and Classroom Sound then Tap Send

    output to Projector, Preview Monitor and Classroom sound
  2. On the bottom row, tap the PC Extended option (not shown but located between PC and Laptop options)

  3. Select the “Projector Image” so that it has a green check mark below it while the Preview Monitor and Classroom Sound each have a red x below them. Tap Send. This sends the extended desktop to the Projector screen only.

    output to Projector for the extended desktop

  4. Tap the option to Enable the extended desktop (a check will appear beside the option) and after a few second, a second check mark will appear beside the “Video signal from extended desktop detected”. You may also hear an audio notification that another screen has been detected by the computer.

  5. Start your PowerPoint presentation and the speaker notes will appear on the preview monitor while the slide appear on the Projector image

Video Conferencing - Using the Built-in Equipment

  1. Connect to the Camera and Microphone. At the top of the touchscreen control panel, touch the USB Cam/Mic option and touch the icon for your presentation device (PC or Laptop) from the dropdown so that it has a green check mark. If the dropdown doesn't dismiss itself, touch the USB Cam/Mic option at the top again to dismiss it.

  2. Control Panel with USB Camera and Mic options visible

    Set up the lapel mic. In most situations, the audio for the remote attendees is captured using the lapel microphone.

    1. Insert batteries

    2. Turn on

    3. Attach your personal mic cord (obtained from your dept)

  3. Start your online meeting in Teams, Webex, Zoom, etc.

  4. From the devices in your meeting platform confirm that the room USB devices are being used for audio and camera. This will appear as USB-1621 (on the podium computer) or AV Bridge 2x1 (if you are using a laptop)

  5. Back at the touchscreen control panel, move to and select the USB Cam icon. 

    1. Choose the image source that you want to use:

      1. Use Camera

      2. Use Projector (whatever image is showing on the large screen)

      3. Use Both (split screen with camera and projector image)

    2. Then choose the appropriate camera preset for the video camera:

      1. Podium Close

      2. Podium Wide (best for multiple people at the podium or if you wander a bit)

      3. 2 Blackboards (zoomed on 2 whiteboards - then adjust the board by selecting left, centre or right)

      4. 3 Blackboards (the whole front of the room - good if you like to wander more)

Control Panel with video output options

Some extra things to think about:

Video Conferencing - Using the Videobar

Use the built-in video conference setup (above) to capture a single presenter at the front of the room with limited audience interaction. Any questions from the in-room audience should be repeated for the benefit of the online audience because the lapel mic won't pick up the question.   

Use the videobar if you don't have a lapel mic or for a presentation/seminar where the in-room audience will be interacting with online participants.  You can use videobar for the audio component (microphone and speaker) and video feed (optional). When you connect the videobar, it will be appear as another input device under the audio and video settings. You can mix and match the video source as needed. For the speakers, choose the videobar.

For full details on this setup, refer to Classroom Video Conferencing in Health.

Adjusting the volume

If the sound from the in-room speakers or the microphone is too loud, you can adjust it from the control panel by selecting the Audio option from the scrolling menu. Often, using the Overall Volume slider works best.

Control panel with Audio controls displayed

Using the document camera

The right side of the podium has a pull out shelf with a document camera that can be used to project hand-written notes, mobile device screens (turn down the screen brightness on your mobile device).

  1. Pull the document camera shelf out from the side of the podium, raise and position the camera arm

    Document camera on extended podium shelf
  2. Select the DocCam 1 option from the scrolling menu along the bottom of the control panel

  3. Turn on the document camera (power button should have blue accent lights)

  4. Turn on the document camera light (if desired)

  5. Tap the Auto-Focus button

    Document Camera controls