| My name is Stuart Richardson - I've been installing | | | | subwoofers (which can also be hidden behind walls |
| custom Audio/Video systems in Southern | | | | or ceilings - or under the floor...). The sound |
| California for over 15 years (L.A. and Orange | | | | processor should be able to decode a variety of |
| County), and have seen a lot of good and bad | | | | signals, including AC3, DTS, and a few other less |
| along the way. If you're interested in learning | | | | popular formats. |
| more about the best in whole-house A/V and | | | | Remote controls have come a long way, and |
| lighting automation, read on to fill-up on the latest | | | | high-end systems should include what's now called |
| and greatest... | | | | "positive control": this type of system actually |
| Probably the best place to start is at the | | | | gets feedback from the various system |
| beginning, with a description of some of the things | | | | components (via a mesh of tiny wires for current |
| you should expect from a modern whole-house | | | | sensing, signal sensing, etc.) to determine the |
| system: the electronic heart of today's luxury | | | | power status, then uses if/then/else logic for |
| home is the Low Voltage Distribution Panel - this | | | | conditional control. Here's one example: you come |
| is a centralized in-wall enclosure (usually made | | | | into the theater room to watch a movie, and |
| from formed steel) which houses the 'home runs' | | | | simply press 'Watch DVD' on the remote control. |
| of most of the TV, telephone, and network | | | | This sends the signal to a processor, which |
| cabling for the house. When I say 'home run', that | | | | discovers that someone left the tuner on and the |
| means any group of cabling that begins in one | | | | TV off. It compensates for this by turning on the |
| single location and fans out from there - this is | | | | TV, switching the tuner input to 'DVD', and |
| the preferred cabling method by today's | | | | pressing 'Play' on the DVD player. It then dims the |
| standards (although not all cabling needs to be | | | | lighting by 90%. This is what's considered a 'smart' |
| home run...). Along with the cabling, this distribution | | | | system, and can be found with names like Elan |
| panel will also contain various termination | | | | and Niles. |
| equipment for each type of signal: RG6 cabling for | | | | And that brings us to lighting control - the big |
| TVs will terminate into an RF splitter and/or | | | | name is Lutron. This company offers a few |
| amplifier, telephone cabling (usually CAT5) will | | | | different systems and methods to dynamically |
| converge into a variety of phone blocks, and | | | | control the lighting in any home - the most popular |
| Ethernet cabling (again CAT5 or CAT5e) will go | | | | of which uses the RadioRA controllers. These |
| into a network switch or hub (in combination with | | | | include high-end wall plates and/or table top |
| the router or gateway device). | | | | remote controls which use RF (Radio Frequency) |
| Audio/Video cabling is typically home run to a | | | | to wirelessly control lighting relays from a |
| different central point, usually within close | | | | distance, and can be controlled by Audio/Video |
| proximity to the home's main home theater | | | | remotes for that real theater experience. One of |
| system. This includes speaker cabling to as many | | | | the other benefits of Lutron's wall plates is the |
| different rooms as can be imagined, in | | | | ability to control up to 5 switches in one |
| combination with various control cabling (usually | | | | single-gang unit. |
| CAT5) for remotely controlling centralized A/V | | | | Other features of the latest whole-house |
| equipment. Most home systems are strictly for | | | | systems include distributed surveillance: imagine |
| distributed audio, but today's top-of-the-line | | | | being in the back room of a very large house and |
| systems also offer distributed video - this allows, | | | | the doorbell rings. Instead of dropping everything |
| for instance, someone in one of the upstairs | | | | just to find out it's a pushy solicitor, you just look |
| bedrooms to watch a DVD from the main | | | | at the 7" color wall controller in front of you and |
| system downstairs, and simultaneously listen to | | | | see who's there. Pick up the phone and talk to |
| the audio from in-wall/in-ceiling speakers. | | | | them (through a speaker in the doorbell mount) - |
| Of course the Home Theater system is key - the | | | | without even getting up. Then tap the touch |
| best systems will feature a projection or plasma | | | | screen once to see if the baby is awake on |
| display. If it's a projected picture, the screen can | | | | camera 2, or watch all four cameras in one single |
| either be fixed (perhaps behind a motorized | | | | quad-view! |
| curtain, like in big theaters) or one which | | | | It's obvious that we've come a long way since |
| automatically extends when the projector is | | | | the rotary volume controls you see on the walls |
| switched on. Speakers can be any combination of | | | | of many older homes - these can still be useful |
| in-wall, in-ceiling, or conventional cabinet-style | | | | and save you some money if you're not hungry |
| speakers - this includes the latest in thundering | | | | for features. |