How big should your display be? This is a seemingly simple question, but answering it gets difficult, quickly. We used to base the answer simply on task level and furthest viewer in the room. Then we based the answer on how large text would be on the screen. Most recently, we base it on how large the “elements” we need to perceive are relative to the screen size. I think all these different methods have their benefits and shortcomings. However, in the end, it comes down to the users’ needs. Let’s explore these different methods and perhaps come up with a new take to best meet our needs.

Why is being disciplined so difficult? The results of discipline are amazing. It feels great after you apply discipline, you feel like you accomplished something. It literally makes you a better person. So why are our brains wired to make it hard? I am sure evolutionarily speaking, there is some reason behind it. Lounging certainly allows you to conserve calories and stay alive longer when food is scarce. Adrenaline will get us going when it is absolutely required but being at a heightened state of activity is not sustainable for too long. And binge-watching Real Housewives of New Jersey is just so dang appealing! The draw to being undisciplined is always present.

Could you imagine blindly following a recipe in the kitchen without checking or tasting your food along the way? I remember my friend had a recipe for a Penne Alla Vodka dinner-for-four once called for five HEADS of garlic to go in the sauce! Not five cloves... five heads. We were in college, and he was a beginner cook, he didn’t think twice about it and chopped up an obscene amount of garlic (and I’m Italian) added it to the sauce, cooked it up, and served it without tasting it. We literally thought something was burning. It was the garlic. The entire pasta dish had to get thrown out...all that food...all that garlic...wasted. The dinner was ruined. We still had some salad, but there was no main course.

I love checklists. They are some of my favorite things. In fact, I start each day with a prioritized daily task list (which is basically a checklist of things I need to get done that day). When I take the scouts camping, I use a checklist to make sure I have everything I need. When I go to Costco? You guessed it. Checklists. When I get up to leave at a restaurant, mental checklist: wallet, phone, keys...good to go. When I want to make sure I delivered a quality AV system? Checklists out the wazoo! They make life so easy. Not only that, they make it possible to consistently deliver on experience.

Hello, friends! Welcome to the Qualiverse where we talk about all things quality, especially as they pertain to AV. My name is Jim Maltese and I have spent most of my career bringing quality to the AV industry, either as a system commissioner or instructor for InfoComm/AVIXA and AQAV or as VP of Quality Standards at Level 3 Audiovisual.