Jan 6, 2012 | Control Systems, Crestron, Distributed Audio, Distributed Video, Home Automation, Home Theater, Lighting Control, Security, Surround Sound
Step Six: Video Throughout Your Home
Most of us have cable TV, FiOS or a satellite dish. This means having a tuner-box for every TV in the house. Add in the DVD or Blu-ray players, again one for every TV. Now there’s internet-streaming boxes like the Roku or AppleTV, again one for every TV. Pretty soon you have lots of remotes and lots of “black boxes” in every room. What a big mess and hassle!
In this home electronics system, we designed centralized, or distributed video. Using Crestron’s DM (Digital Media) solution we can share a few video sources to every TV in the house, watching different things at the same time. Two cable boxes, two Blu-ray players, an AppleTV and an Apple Mac mini – all can be quickly selected from any TV in the house. This setup accomplishes a few things. First, each room now has just a TV and a remote control, that’s it! Second, movies or shows can be shared between different rooms. The bonus is the security cameras will pop up on-screen if someone rings the doorbell!
AppleTV and Mac mini are registered trademarks of Apple, Inc.
Jan 3, 2012 | Control Systems, Crestron, Distributed Audio, Distributed Video, Home Automation, Home Theater, Lighting Control, Security, Surround Sound
Step Five: Music Throughout Your Home
So you have some in-wall or in-ceiling speakers throughout your home or office, but how do you listen to them? Do your walls have to be cluttered with those ugly volume knobs? Can you listen to different things in different rooms?
These are all excellent questions. In this distributed audio system, we’re using an amazing new switcher from Crestron – it allows us to connect up to 24 different audio sources (think: cd player, iTunes, satellite radio, cable music, Pandora and so on). It can also drive 8 rooms of speakers, and you can have us tune the sound of every single room exactly the way you want! Instead of volume knobs in every room, you can use that fancy iPad to pick what to listen to, and of course, how loud to listen to it, if that’s what you’d like. Since the switcher does all the work, you can play holiday music in the kitchen while your teenager listens to whatever-the-heck-that-noise-is in their room and everybody is happy!
iTunes and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple, Inc.
Dec 19, 2011 | Control Systems, Crestron, Distributed Audio, Distributed Video, Home Automation, Home Theater, Lighting Control, Security, Surround Sound
Step Four: The Control System
A home electronics system is only as smart and flexible as the system that controls it all! In our experience, nothing is better for controlling home electronics equipment than Crestron. As a Crestron Dealer with a Certified Programmer on-staff, we are in a unique position to help you create almost anything you can think of! Would you like to have a color touch screen in your kitchen area so you can see the front door camera? How about your iPhone – would you like to control the master bedroom TV with that? Perhaps you’re in the backyard and want to use your iPad to turn on some music while you BBQ. With Crestron, you can do that, and we can make it all happen!
Here are some other systems in the home that can be controlled:
- HVAC – heating and cooling
- Sprinkler Systems
- Lighting – indoor and outdoor
- Shades
- Pool Pumps
- Security Systems
- Home Theater
- Music Systems
- Garage Doors
- Fireplaces
Especially convenient are automated functions where several things happen with the touch of a single button. For example your lights dim or turn off, garage door closes (if not closed already) and security system arms.
iPhone and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple, Inc.
Dec 15, 2011 | Control Systems, Crestron, Distributed Audio, Distributed Video, Home Automation, Home Theater, Lighting Control, Security, Surround Sound
Step Three: Networking
We’ve discussed the growing importance of a properly designed network. With laptops, smart phones, tablets, online streaming services, Wi-Fi and cabled networking are becoming a requirement in daily life.
While many homes are fine with a basic network setup, adding a control system or automation into the mix means the network product and design has to be robust in order to handle many more tasks. We used a mix of Apple Airports and Pakedge networking gear in this system. The Apple Airport Express is used as an AirPlay device, allowing anyone with iTunes, an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to play music wirelessly!
Pakedge is another Made In The USA company that offers a variety of different network routers, switches and Wi-Fi access points depending on the needs. We chose a Pakedge router, two switches and two in-ceiling Wi-Fi pieces for this system. This network keeps the audio/video gear communicating, while also allowing iTunes to play music, Netflix to stream a movie and internet research for homework – all at once!
Airport Express, AirPlay, iTunes, iPad, iPhone and iPod touch are registered trademarks of Apple, Inc.
Dec 12, 2011 | Control Systems, Crestron, Distributed Audio, Distributed Video, Home Automation, Home Theater, Lighting Control, Security, Surround Sound
Step Two: Power Protection
Often overlooked, proper power protection for your home electronics is essential for keeping your equipment safe and operating at their best! Of course this means not only being protected from lightning strikes, but also “cleaning” the electricity before it gets to your equipment. We chose SurgeX, which is a Made In The USA brand, due to the excellent build quality and circuitry involved – instead of being designed to sacrifice itself and blow up from a surge, the SurgeX simply absorbs any nasty power and filters it away, keeping your toys safe and happy! For the most important pieces, like a main house controller and networking, we use a battery-backup system. In the event that your home loses power, you can still operate the necessary functions like lights, gas-fired heat, things like that. You can also safely turn non-essential systems off, extending the backup battery.
Dec 9, 2011 | Control Systems, Crestron, Distributed Audio, Distributed Video, Home Automation, Home Theater, Lighting Control, Security, Surround Sound
What does it really take to build a “do everything” home system? It depends on what you want to achieve! Let’s say you want music in a few rooms of your home, 3 or 4 TVs that share cable boxes, Blu-ray players and an AppleTV, cameras for the front door and backyard. Naturally you have an iPhone and an iPad throw into the mix! You want everything to be easy to use, bulletproof and of course things have to look and sound great! We’re going to give you a photo tour of some products and the process as we go through the assembly and installation of a system! Comments are always welcome and we hope you enjoy watching the process as much as we do!
Step One – The Rack
We start by designing one place for your equipment to live. In this type of system, we were tasked with hiding the electronics as much as possible. We built an audio/video distribution system, which means all the music parts and cable boxes, etc go into a rack out of sight; this way your room has a TV, a remote and some speakers – that’s it! To pick the correct rack, we use an engineering program that allows us to enter all the client’s equipment to assign proper weight support, ventilation and electricity requirements. You can read a previous blog post about remote locating equipment here.
