Resources

In-Wall/Ceiling Speakers Continue to Play a Significant Role in the Evolving Residential Systems Integration Landscape

Facing the Challenges and Opportunities of Distributing 4K/60 4:4:4 HDR Video Over IP

A Q&A With Luke Amos, Senior Director of Curriculum and Learning

The Challenges and Opportunities of Integrating Security into Smart Home Systems

With lighter televisions (and an increased demand for networked home entertainment) has come smaller components. Subsequently, racks, mounts and enclosures, too, have moved away from their clunky roots to embrace lighter build materials and designs that acknowledge the shrinking of the electronic components they lift, support and hide.

Much of this first class will seem basic and remedial to many experienced techs, but it is by no means a cakewalk. In fact, there are several sections that cover less-familiar ground and include information that is quite technical, no matter how many networks you have configured. The last section of the near 2.5-hour class is especially fast and furious, and I STRONGLY ADVISE you to take notes on this section to prepare for the 20-question test that follows the first lesson. Not to “shame” my business partner, but he attended the week-long CEDIA advanced networking course over a year ago, and I had him take Pakedge’s end-of-course exam cold (without viewing the training), and he failed. I also failed on my first attempt (but nailed a 100% on the second try.)

This Integration Guide was sponsored by RTI as a supplement to Residential Systems, August 2017

Home integration is experiencing a renaissance that is difficult to ignore.

This Integration Guide was sponsored by Access Networks, Control4, Luxul, and Peerless-AV as a supplement to Residential Systems, May 2017

This Integration Guide was sponsored by Peerless-AV and RTI as a supplement to Residential Systems, April 2017

This Integration Guide was sponsored by James Loudspeaker as a supplement to Residential Systems, February 2017

The AV distribution ecosystem, comprised of its associate cables, matrix switchers, and extenders, has revolutionized residential integration.

We are pleased to honor exceptional products that were exhibited at CEDIA 2016. This digital Program Guide features all of the nominees in the 2016 awards program and highlights the winners.

The growing sophistication of security systems, especially cameras and door locks, is on track to revolutionize custom integration as a whole.

In the custom integration sphere, the slimming down of components has had a knock-on effect on newer models of AV racks, mounts, and enclosures—originally intended to be the nerve centers of once-behemoth components that powered equally complex integrated systems.

This Integration Guide was sponsored by Elite Screens, Grandview, Microlite Screen, and Vutec as a supplement to Residential Systems, October 2016

Home audio’s evolution in the past five years has been remarkable. Streaming music services, the move from physical media to near-universal digital delivery, and the shrinking of audio components have collectively redefined how we listen to music in our home space.

Arguably, beyond brewing a cup of coffee from the bedroom, IoT has generated the most buzz about the practical possibilities of remote management of lights and interior environments, including the use of voice control to achieve overall home automation.

Over the years, touchpanels, remotes, and more recently, control apps have served as the primary access point to programming and effectively engaging with home automation systems, which are now evolving into and underpinning the broader development of the smart home concept and its corresponding technology girdle, the Internet of Things.

How we listen to music these days has been taken over by tech-driven means, including numerous wireless delivery options with Bluetooth leading the way.

Getting from here to there is a basic aspect of every custom integration business, large and small.

Wireless technology continues to push the boundaries of where consumers can enjoy audio and video entertainment, but in the custom integration world, concerns about cable runs, product and installation durability, and future-proofing projects still dominate the backend conversation.

Moving lifts and mounts are mostly used to automate TVs and projectors, but they also find their ways into the iPad/tablet storage world as well.

This Integration Guide was sponsored by Atlona, DVIGear, Rose Electronics, Shinybow USA, and Zigen as a supplement to Residential Systems, January 2016.

Loudspeakers are arguably the most functional inventions of our modern age, showing as all classic products tend to do, a longevity extended by tweaks rather than wholesale reinvention.

Head-end rooms, usually a closet-size AV control center, have for years relied on racks and enclosures to discretely serve as the backbone of integrated AV and automation/control systems, in much the same way that mounts have literally supported the evolving frames of televisions and projectors.

Projector-centered home theaters have always been about the bigger, better picture.

The beauty of curtains has always been their simple, yet multifaceted functionality: block out or filter light while adding aesthetically to a space.

There was a time when the ultimate in home audio was a shiny, stackable stereo system—each component acquired after much obsessive research—paired with well-sourced and matched box speakers. Today, consumers have a depth of knowledge underpinned by near blasé expectations of wireless audio distribution systems that was practically unheard of just a few short years ago.

The past few years, with the proliferation of IP networking and the ever-growing dominance of mobile devices, home automation and by extension the role and functionality of remote controls and touchscreens has shifted, though the desire for dedicated control, no matter how it is delivered has not.