What is Smart Home Automation? For many years, films and documentaries about life in the future have shown us how our homes will be intelligent and look after our every need at the push of a button. Technology has now reached the stage where this is no longer a fiction, but actually a reality. A modern home can be equipped with the electronics to make almost every aspect of your life at home easier and more enjoyable.
Below is a list of just some of the features that can be integrated in to your home: - - Lighting control
- - CCTV and security, with global check up ability
- - Climate control and air conditioning
- - Computer networks
- - In-wall whole house vacuum cleaning system
- - Automatic blinds and curtains
- - Central music and video archives
- - Music and video distribution
- - Computer networks
- - Internet fridges and ovens that automatically order and cook food
- - Mobile phone activation of lights, security etc…
Although any of the above features can be installed very effectively in a home on their own, home automation really excels when the different aspects of automation are combined to form a single control platform that operates every feature.
Nexus uses Control4 control systems to allow us to fully integrate every single aspect of an automated home in to a simple touch screen interface. Typically an automated home would have touch screen panels in the wall of the kitchen, lounge, cinema and master bedroom from where you can browse the internet, choose a DVD or CD, check the temperature in each room and adjust it accordingly or view the garden CCTV cameras. Back to top What is a Smart Home and what are the benefits of Smart Wiring?A Smart Home is a home which has been wired to allow the inclusion of technology that will make the time spent at home easier and more enjoyable for the whole family.
The features that you would typically expect to find in a smart home can largely be found in the previous section on home automation. In addition to these home automation features a Smart Home would typically include energy saving features such as solar power and advanced climate control systems to minimize heat wastage.
Smart wiring a home has huge benefits and is a very cost effective way of adding value to a property that is either undergoing major renovation or a new build. Smart wiring puts all of the necessary cabling in place to allow the whole home to be linked by data networks at a later date, such that each room can communicate with every other room to allow sharing and control of computers, music, videos and images.
When a property is undergoing development, it is a very minimal cost to have all of the cabling for a full Smart Home installed without having to buy any of the more costly elements of the system. However in doing so, future component upgrades are then very straight-forward to install as all of the cables are already in place. This means no further disruptions within the house are required to add any additional upgrades - and this will be truly welcomed by the family.
Smart Homes also prepare the property for any new technologies not yet available, so any of the latest technology can easily be integrated in to the house - again without any disruption. Back to Top Wireless Systems - What are the Pros and Cons?It is easy to think of wireless technology as the answer to all our installation needs, but it would be wrong to consider wireless systems as anything more than a very useful addition to a fully-wired system.
The 802.11 G wireless standard has revolutionized wireless technology as its high data transfer rate and large coverage distance makes it very useful for a range of applications. However, even 802.11 G wireless connections are limited by their data transfer rate which is generally around 54 megabits per second compared to wired network connections which perform up to 1 gigabit per second. (1gigabit = 1000 megabits). This result of this is that wireless is much slower for transferring files between computers or streaming of music and video.
The other problem with wireless is that range is realistically limited to 300 feet in the average household before the signal strength falls off exponentially. It is possible to run cable to another wireless access point in the house and thus extend the range. It is also possible to wirelessly link access points but the technology is still not 100% and is prone to causing problems.
Wireless comes in to its own as an addition to the wired network. This will allow you to use devices such as laptops anywhere in the house, perhaps in the kitchen during breakfast to check your emails and browse the internet. Wireless networks also have the advantage that can provide complete control of your system from a touch screen controller from the comfort of your sofa.
Systems such as Control4 put everything from cinema systems, to lighting, air conditioning and security gates at your control - with every item controlled by the Control4 processor linked to the touch screen by the wireless network. Another example would be using a PDA with a wireless link to an Imerge CD archive displaying all your the CDs (including cover artwork) on the PDA screen so you can easily select the music of you choice to play anywhere in the house. Back to Top What is Multi-Room Entertainment?
Multi-room entertainment is the ability to enjoy any music or source video from any room in the house at the touch of a button. Multi-room systems provide a massive improvement to your enjoyment at home as you can now listen to your favorite CD, radio station or DVD in the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and dining room while carrying out your daily tasks.
While multi-room primarily means music and video distribution, the very best systems will also give you access to and control over lighting, internet, security and many other home automation features. A typical multi-room installation would include a home cinema system in the lounge and central CD archive, AM/FM tuner, DVD player and XM or Sirius Tuner in a cabinet. These outputs are then distributed to the reception rooms, kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, or any other area within the home. Each room would typically have in ceiling speakers, in wall control keypads and a wall mounted LCD screen.
Multi-room systems vary greatly in terms of the number of rooms and sources they serve and the degree of control they provide within each room of the house. The most basic system will still provide speakers in every room and the ability to send four audio and video sources to any room simultaneously. This would provide the ability to use a remote control from any room to change channel, skip tracks and change the volume independently in each room.
As you progress to higher quality systems, the audio and video quality will become substantially better as will the control options for the system. Great multi-room systems (such as Control4) provide in-wall control keypads with LCD panels that display the source you are listening to, the radio station you are listening to, and provide the ability to skip through tracks and channels from the keypad itself. When used in conjunction with Media Controllers, the keypads will also display all of the stored CDs so that you can browse through the entire CD collection from any room in the house.
The next level for multi-room entertainment would be a Control4 system which gives you complete control over every aspect of your home. Using Control4’s touch screen panels in the wall of each room or wirelessly, you can browse through your DVD and CD collection, archive your photos and home movies and access the internet. The Control4 system will also give you two-way feedback on the temperature, security level and lighting level of every room in the house. Back to Top What is Lighting Control? (Mood Lighting)
Most people would appreciate the ability to sit in your favorite chair and press a button on the remote to gently dim the lights to a warm glow while you enjoy your favorite film. Modern lighting control systems offer this and much, much more at a surprisingly small cost. Lighting control systems such as those by Control4 provide easy to use subtle control over the lighting within a single room to those that control the entire home.
A basic Control4 system will give you control over four individual light circuits which can then be set to four pre programmed lighting levels with a master raise and lower option. Nexus would generally set levels for entertaining (warm glow), reading (dark, but overhead lights lit), watching a movie (all lights very low) and watching TV (all lights on). This type of system would normally be integrated in to a cinema room, where the lighting controls would be programmed in to the cinemas touch screen remote.
At the high end of the spectrum lighting controllers will link to every single lighting circuit in the house and provide a whole myriad of superb features. For example, the system can be programmed such that a button pressed in the Master Bedroom will illuminate a path to the kitchen for midnight snacks! Another application would be a button in the lounge to slowly turn off the lights in the children's bedrooms.
Lighting control can also be used on LED and cold cathode lights to create lighting which changes color to reflect the mood you want to create in the entrance and receptions rooms. An additional feature of lighting control would be as a security provider, as the systems can be programmed to come on and off in different rooms while you are away to provide the illusion that someone is in the house. Systems can also be programmed to call or Email your mobile and flash every light in the house if the burglar or smoke alarm is activated. Back to Top What are the Differences in High Definition TVs? To the average individual, all the numbers, letters and terms associated with High Definition Televisions are more than just confusing. To possibly make this more understandable, we have provided the following: First, the numbers that you see associated with all types of TVs (480, 720, and 1080) represent the number of "Scan Lines" that are delivered to the screen on that model of TV. Each of these scan lines is comprised of numerous "pixels" - which are simply fractional portions of the overall TV image. The more scan lines that are present on a TV screen means more pixels are being shown - and that equates to more detail and greater clarity. Therefore, the higher numbers associated with a specific model of TV means that a better quality of picture will be produced. On HDTVs, the letter that follows the 720 or 1080 number will either be an "i" (for Interlaced) or a "p" (for Progressive). As an example, you might see a TV being described as a 720i, 1080i, or 1080p. Interlaced TVs were a forerunner to the Progressive models and they provide scan lines to the screen on an individual line-by-line basis. On the other hand, Progressive TVs are the latest technology available and provide the scan lines on an entire screen-by-screen basis. In simple terms, this means that the picture display is much smoother, clearer and more natural. The latest advancement in Progressive TVs involves the speed in which the entire screen is displayed and refreshed. The fastest of these is currently 120 frames per second and they are marketed with a "120HZ" label. These models display a picture that is the closest we currently have to a "movie quality experience" - especially when the show contains fast-action sequences.
Back to Top Plasma, LCD or Projector?No doubt at some point you will have told that Plasma TVs are poor quality and LCD screens are superior - or that high quality projectors are only available for the super rich. Fortunately this is untrue. Each technology offers distinct advantages which make them more suitable to certain applications at varying price points.
Plasma screens are the most cost-effective way of achieving a very good quality 42” picture from a display you can mount on the wall. They provide superbly rich and vibrant colors and smooth motion combined with good depth of field when used with high quality sources. However, the cheaper screens (costing under a $1,000) are generally worth avoiding as serious compromises to their picture quality have been made to make them that price.
Ultimately LCD technology will overtake plasma as it has numerous advantages. They last approximately one third longer than plasmas, are lighter, produce less heat, and they do not suffer from screen burn (this is a ghost image left on the screen by a static image displayed on the screen for a long period of time). However, currently LCD screens are more expensive than plasmas especially in larger sizes, but if you want the best, a good LCD such as the Nexus or NuVision will produce the best picture quality from a wall mountable screen. If you want a true home cinema room, then a DLP or LCD front projection unit is the best option as they give by far the most cinematic image available and provide a real cinema feel. A projector is also the most cost effective way to achieve a big screen image and, for the same price as a good quality 42” plasma screen, a good quality projector will produce a seven foot wide image of superior quality to a plasma screen.
A projector can be mounted invisibly in the ceiling, but then descend at the push of a button when you wish to watch a film, making it the perfect complement to a LCD or Plasma. However, it must be remembered that projector will only give good results when viewed in relatively darkened conditions and they are not the best choice for every day television viewing. Back to Top What is the difference between Multi-Channel Music, Super Audio CD and DVD Audio?
The CD has been the dominant music format for many years now, but over the last three years higher quality formats have been developed which aim to give better quality music reproduction. The ultimate goal is to achieve the sound quality and open expressive sound produced by vinyl without the associated spurious noise, but with the convenience of CDs.
The new music formats DVD Audio and SACD both utilize much higher sampling rates than CD and also offer significant dynamic range and bandwidth. This allows far greater frequency responses with improved dynamics - which produces a more realistic and natural reproduction. Both SACD and DVD Audio also support multi-channel music mixes which are utilized to recreate the ambience and effect of listening to music at a live concert. Additionally, both require specific machines for playback but most manufactures now include SACD and DVD Audio decoders in their DVD players.
In our experience, the two formats have different advantages to suit certain applications. DVD Audio is fantastic for live multi-channel concert performances, especially when replayed through a good quality surround amplifier. DVD quality video playback combined with 5.1 digital sound quality truly makes you feel like you are at the concert. SACD is far better suited to high quality stereo reproduction where the huge sampling rate and dynamic range result in a highly detailed sound. The result is an extremely accurate and precise reproduction, capturing all of the ambience and harmonics of the original performance. The results from a top quality SACD stereo system are breathtaking and really show the vast improvement over CD.
Most SACD discs now come with both stereo and multi-channel mixes, but we have yet to hear a multi-channel recording that sounds anywhere close to the stereo mix. As a result, we would highly recommend leaving the multi-channel side to DVD Audio. Back to Top What do we mean by Future Proofing your home?Future proofing a home or office installation means designing the system to take into consideration the possible upgrades a client my want to add in the future. Future Proofing can be complex and exhaustive to cover all upgrade possibilities, or it can be as simple as running all of the necessary audio and video cables in a room to allow systems to be easily installed at a later date.
To effectively Future Proof, you first need to know what other types of technologies are currently under development. This ensures that you will provide the means so that future technologies can be integrated into the current installation at a later date. The key to good Future Proofing is installing all of the relevant cabling and hardware during a renovation such that additional upgrades can be made to the system without the need for further disruption within the home. This will ultimately ensure that all rooms can link in to the central equipment area and thus share all of the entertainment and automation provided by the system controller.
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