My name is Stuart Richardson - I installed the audio / video custom in Southern California for over 15 years (Los Angeles and Orange County) and have a lot of good and evil along the path. To read if you're interested in learning more about best in the whole house A / V and automation of lighting are to fill-up on the latest and greatest ...
Probably the best place to start is at the beginning with a description of some of the things that you should expect from a modern home completeSystem: The electronic heart of today's luxury home is the low voltage power distribution panel - this is a central wall housing (usually formed steel), the "home run", the TV, telephone and cable homes for the home network. When I say "home run" in the sense that each group of cabling, which begins in one place and the fans there - this is the preferred method of wiring for today's standards (though not all cables have to run home. ..). Together withWiring, this panel distribution, the termination equipment for each different type of signal: RG6 cable television splitter RF and / or amplifiers, telephone cables (usually CAT5) is used in a variety of other mobile units, and Ethernet cabling out (again CAT5 or CAT5e) will go to a network switch or hub (in conjunction with your router or gateway device).
Audio / Video cable is usually home to take another central point, usually in the vicinityHome to the main home theater system. This includes cables, many different areas, as you can imagine being in combination with different control cables (usually CAT5) for remote centralized A / V equipment Most systems are exclusively distributed home audio, but the current top-of-the-line also distributes video - this allows, for example, someone in one of the bedrooms on the upper floor of a DVD from the main system to see the bottom and simultaneously listen toIn-wall/in-ceiling speaker sound.
Of course, the home theater system is the key - the best systems is a projection or a plasma display function. If there is a projected image, the screen can be fixed (perhaps behind a motorized blind, as in most theaters), or one that is automatically extended when the projector is on. Any combination of speakers can be used in wall, ceiling or conventional cabinet-style speakers - this includes the latest in subwoofer loud (thealso be hidden behind walls or ceiling - or beneath the floor ...). The processor should be able to decode a variety of signals, including AC3, DTS, and a few other less common formats.
Remote controls have come a long way, and high-end systems should be what is now called "positive control": this type of system is actually feedback from the various components of the system (through a mesh of tiny wires for current measurement, signal detection, etc.) to determine the status of power available, thenif / then / else logic for conditional control. Here's an example: enter the room to watch a movie theater, just press 'Play DVD' on the remote. This sends the signal to a processor, which means that someone has discovered the TV tuner and the outside. Compensates for this by turning on the TV, switch the input tuner to "DVD" and press "Play" on DVD. Then the lights dimmed to 90%. This is what is known as an "intelligent" system, and can be found with names likeElan and Niles.
And this brings us to the light control - the big names is Lutron. This company offers several different methods and systems to dynamically control the lighting in every home - the most popular of which uses the controller RadioRa. These include high-end wall panels and / or remote desktop, RF (radio frequency) relay for lighting control wireless remote controls and can be controlled with audio / video distance for the true cinematic experience own. One of the otherThe benefits of Lutron's wall panels is the ability to control up to 5 switches in a single output device.
Other features of the latest whole-house distributed control systems: imagine playing in the back room of a very big house and the door. Rather than give up everything just to find a lawyer that is obvious, just look at the controller 7 "color wall in front of him and see who's there. Pick up the phone and talk to them (via a speaker mounted in the door)- Without even getting up. Then tap the touch screen once to see if the baby is awake in front of the camera 2, or view all four cameras on a single quad-view!
It 'obvious that we have come a long way since the volume knob controls one of the walls of many older homes to see - can still be useful and save some money if you are hungry for work.
