Residential Tech Today -- August-October 2020

HELPING THE WORLD ZOOMIFY | HEALTHY HOME TECHNOLOGIES | MAKING WAVES IN THE DESERT

RALPH MACCHIO KICKING UP THE CONTENT GAME PLUS: Home for the Holidays with Alexa Pros and Cons of Quarantine Tech The 5 Worst Home Networking Mistakes Private Cinema Content Quality Essentials Aug-Oct 2020

From the Editor When the COVID-19 quarantine began back in March, one of the more mundane changes in my life was the suspension of pro basketball games. Other sports followed, of course, and thus began the complete elimination or Zoomification of once-live, televised programming such as NBC’s The Voice, award shows, and even presidential conventions.

For sports fans, the void left by the lack of NBA games for the remainder of the winter, followed by Major League Baseball games in the early spring, had to be filled by an evergrowing list of binge-able Netflix shows, nostalgic movies, and even straight-to-streaming movies originally intended for commercial release. Then along came Disney Plus, which was like catnip for a family of Disney obsessives like mine.

Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki

“ Although the advantages of streaming are hard to deny, it’s also sad to see the demise of commercial theaters in the wake of the global pandemic.”

Some may recall that I struggled to cut the cord at the beginning of the year. Well, I finally did it, but only after crossing my fingers and putting my full faith in Hulu’s live TV package.

There was a lot that I was willing to give up, but access to live news and live sports were a musthave in our post-cable home.

Sports fans will understand that watching games is only as fun as the quality of your favorite team. So, when the NBA returned to a “bubble” of safety on the Disney property in Florida, I was all in on those weirdly staged games in a small gym with no fans, but only for as long as my Indiana Pacers were winning (that didn’t last long).

My favorite sport, however, is baseball. Unfortunately, the longer MLB delayed its start to the season, the less I really missed it. When the first pitch was finally thrown in mid-July (instead of the usual April), the only reason I tuned into to watch a Yankees game was to see how weird it would look and sound with zero fans in the stands. After my favorite baseball team won their first game, though, I was hooked again. I paid up for the MLB live streaming app and ended up watching nearly all of their games for the next two months.

Now, as I write this, the postseason is well underway. And with the games being broadcast only on cable channels, my Hulu live TV package is coming in handy again. NFL football is in the mix, as well, so I’ve pretty much lost track of what’s on Netflix at this point.

We are deep into the streaming era. There are some challenges as we learn to break old routines (channel surfing) but new conveniences like endless programming and universal search capabilities.

Although the advantages of streaming are hard to deny, it’s also sad to see the demise of commercial theaters in the wake of the global pandemic. As great as we can recreate that experience at home and often make it even better, I think I’ll always miss the experience of “going to the movies.”

2 Residential Tech Today |

Aug-Oct 2020

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Aug-Oct 2020

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AUG-OCT 2020

contents 40 Ralph Macchio

Kicking to Streaming Success with Cobra Kai

Cover Photo: Art Streiber

Departments 10 By the Numbers 12 Quick Bits 14 Connected Home 16 Audio 18 CEDIA Says

20 Art & Tech 22 Design Side 52 Product Revolution 56 The Lighter Side

24 Innovator Spotlight

Christopher Sterle, Acoustic Design Systems

26 Featured

Five Key Takeaways From the Z-Wave 2020 State of the Ecosystem Report

30 Tech Tips

Steps that will ensure a properly designed and installed home network behaves according to plan.

32 Virtual Assistance

Amazon’s latest Echo and Fire TV additions provide a head-start on holiday shopping.

34 Featured

Like fine wine in a private cellar, high-quality content is the key to private cinema satisfaction.

38 Tech Advisor Helping the world Zoomify

44 Issue Focus: Healthy Home Tech

Tech pros share their human-centric lighting experiences.

48 D igital Health and Medicine in the COVID-19 Era

50 Audio

Reviewing the Savant Smart Audio Soundbar Bundle.

6 Residential Tech Today |

Aug-Oct 2020

Contributors Mitchell Klein is the Z-Wave Alliance executive director, 2019 CEDIA Lifetime Award winner, and a lifelong Boston sports fan with 25 years of custom integration industry knowledge and wisdom. On page 26, Klein helps translate the Z-Wave 2020 State of the Ecosystem Report by offering his five key takeaways.

A member of the CEDIA Technology Council, Access Networks’ technical trainer Nathan Holmes is not only a networking subject matter expert, but also a seasoned executive who helps drive new business development through strategic planning implementation and tactical execution. He developed his technical trainer role to be a bridge between Access Networks’ engineering and sales departments. On page 30, Holmes reveals the five worst home networking mistakes and how to avoid them.

As a product and marketing executive at Harman International, Michael Heiss was responsible for many breakthrough audio and video products. On the entertainment side of the business, he was a promotion manager at NBC and was key to the development of hotel in-room movies and created the first nationwide movie rental service for Beta and VHS cassettes. A part of CEDIA since its founding, he served two terms on the CEDIA Board and headed the Technology Council. He was awarded CEDIA’s “Volunteer of the Year” award, is a CEDIA Fellow and CEDIA Lifetime Achievement Award winner. In this issue, Heiss writes about Amazon’s latest Echo and Fire TV additions and digital health and medicine options in the COVID-19 era.

Sam Cavitt is the founder and CEO of Paradise Theater, a company that provides comprehensive private cinema design, engineering, and project management. He focuses his efforts on maintaining the highest standard of excellence and sharing the pleasures of fine private cinema with the industry and the world. In this issue, Cavitt notes that like fine wine in a private cellar, high-quality content is the key to private cinema satisfaction.

Henry Clifford founded Livewire in 2001 to meet the growing demand for technologically integrated homes and businesses. In January 2018, he co-founded Parasol, a remote service support company. On page 38, Clifford explains how his company is helping clients Zoomify during the COVID-19 era and, on page 50, he reviews the Savant Smart Audio Soundbar bundle.

Mark Moody serves as product manager for Legrand | AV’s Vantage brand. He has been with Legrand in Europe and the U.S. for more than 25 years, working on areas as diverse as lighting control, user interfaces, and network initiatives. In this issue, Moody chats with home tech professionals about their experiences selling and installing human-centric lighting.

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Aug-Oct 2020

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e NUMB RS

by the

A look at the metrics shaping the technology market — and our lives

There was a time – say around 1967 – when it seemed like the post-World War II baby boom generation would be young forever. That revolutionary demographic has become the grandparents of today, but unlike their “Greatest Generation” predecessors, they’re used to making their own rules, even when it comes to healthcare. Long before the global pandemic made us reconsider how we spend our time indoors, the Boomers were already looking for new ways to avoid “the home” through home health tech. Now, Gen X and Millennials are exploring the benefits of wellness tech, too. Here are some useful stats related to a healthy home.

Aging in place. Generational ages by 2030.

Born And Between Generation Z 1997 No End Point

Age in 2019 ≤ 22

Age in 2025 ≤ 28

Adoption of Connected Health Products Age in 2030 ≤ 33

Millennials 1981 1996 23-38 29-44 34-49

Generation X

1965

1980

39-54

45-60

50-65

Baby Boomers

1946

1964

55-73

61-79

66-84

Silent Generation

1928

1945

74-91

80-97

85-102

Generation definitions per Pew Research Center. Source LinkedIn

U.S. Broadband Households

Wearables Connected Fitness Connected Medical Smart Sleep

Worldwide, the industrial air filtration market is expected to grow to around

Hearing Augmentation

$5 Billion (USD) by 2025

Source Statista

0%

Source Parks Associates

42% 15%

15%

30%

of US broadband households now own a connected health device,

including

that own a connected medical device Source Parks Associates

Adoption of Connected Health Products

by Smartphone OS

Heads of U.S. Broadband Households Who Primarily Use Select Smartphone OS

According to an Eco Pulse report,

66% of millennials

entering the home market are concerned about indoor air quality.

According to statistics from the Global Wellness Institute, wellness

$134 billion market globally and is projected to increase to almost $200 billion by 2022. real estate is a

Source Global Wellness Institute via New York Times

Own at least one connected health product Wearable Connected Fitness Device Connected Medical Device Smart Sleep Product

Android User iPhone User

Hearing Augmentation Product 0%

30%

60%

Source Parks Associates

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Residential Tech Today | Aug-Oct 2020

Graphics via istockphoto.com and vecteezy.com

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Full-color human-centric lighting is the first thing we discuss for all projects in conjunction with Delos Darwin solutions for air and water quality. We are typically called upon for AV, but the conversations quickly gravitate toward wellness once questions are asked of the client or architect regarding what they deem important for their new home. This has become a main focal point for our team, based on the amount of time people are spending at home and the importance of wellness as it relates to our current situation.

– David Freda, Gilmore’s Sound Advice, New York, NY

We believe everybody deserves a better technology experience. We present humancentric lighting as a crucial component of a comprehensive lighting design service with the goal of improving functional light quality, architectural beauty, and personal health and wellness. We have discovered that a personally curated HCL demo is the most compelling way to present the concept.

– Mark Hoffenberg, Audiovisions, Lake Forest, CA

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Residential Tech Today | Aug-Oct 2020

I give a thorough explanation of how incorrect LED lighting affects your hormonal balance pertaining to energy and sleep cycles. I also explain, that 90 percent of the time humans are indoors and how bad lighting affects the overall performance of the person in the space.

– Jan Vitrofsky, HEDSouth, Hollywood, FL

We show them. We have them sit in a space and we run through a curated program and experience the technology first-hand. We have found HCL has been essential for our clients in their private and relaxation spaces. We are able to energize and/or change the mood or feeling of the space at the touch of a button. We set up pre-scripted routines that follow the natural path of the sun and promote wellness.

– Kevin Flower, Acoustic Designs Group, Scottsdale, AZ One of the primary technology benefits is the ability to create lighting schedules on demand to mimic the rising and setting of the sun. This allows the system to adjust the color temperature of the fixture as well as the intensity of the light throughout the day thereby facilitating increased productivity and comfort. It also provides the flexibility to adjust the color temperature of the light after construction.

– Shannon Bush, Audio Visual Design Group, San Jose, CA To convey the positive impact of properly implemented HCL, we point to a special section of our website that is dedicated to Delos as a featured brand partner to share a brief explanation of the benefits. We reinforce these benefits with clearly laid out research from the Delos website. Finally, nothing makes the point better than the “art-of-the-demo,” which is really effective in our newly remodeled showroom.

– Jason Barth, The Premier Group, Carmel, IN

We show them. We have a dedicated HCL (Ketra) Experience Room, and lighting is really something you have to experience to understand.

– Ellie Doherty, Powerfull Systems, Los Angeles, CA

I always say the actual words “human-centric lighting,’ as most customers are unfamiliar with the terminology. As with introducing any new technology to a customer, you need to be very basic in describing the benefits and not dwell on the technology or terminology (tunable white, color temperature, warm dim, etc.), or begin a discussion of “circadian rhythms” (unless you happen to be doctor or clinical psychologist).

– Mike Thul, Xssentials, Avon, CO

If natural light changes color and intensity throughout the day, wouldn’t we want our homes to have the ability to do the same? With today’s technology, lighting can effortlessly adapt to our needs and create a variety of atmospheres to enhance our experience, even bringing the outdoors in.

– Brian Anderson, Cyber Technology Group, Scottsdale, AZ

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DEPARTMENTS

Connected Home

Zooming at a Higher Level Crestron Introduces Professional-Grade Home Conferencing Technology as a Standalone Solution

By Walter Joseph all Windows, Android, Mac, and iOS devices (Apple TV only works with Apple devices), homeowners can add web conferencing such as Zoom, Teams, and Skype for additional convenience.

Rather than relying on the audio and video quality of the TV or laptop camera, Crestron also offers an option to add a Smart Soundbar and USB extender for $4,000 MSRP. It delivers high-performance conferencing and installs cleanly beneath the room display or any computer with USB.

Crestron HomeTime is a unification of the Logitech MeetUp conference camera with the Crestron UC Engine that seamlessly integrates with Crestron control.

At the start of the 2020 global pandemic, video conferencing became the de facto remote communication tool, practically overnight, with the Microsoft Teams and Zoom platforms expanding beyond “enterprise” to become the platforms of choice for remote learning, family gatherings, and even Friday happy hours.

Back in the pre-COVID-19 days, before home conferencing was so common, Crestron was working with enterprise business clients to make these types of experiences the best possible. Combining that expertise and its home automation know-how, the New Jersey-based manufacturer is now offering professional-grade home conferencing technology as a standalone solution, including multiple options for a dedicated home office or learning space, a living room, in front of the TV, “anywhere you Zoom,” or integrated into a Crestron smart home system.

The Crestron Home Desktop solution brings enterprise unified communication (UC) technology to the home office, as an all-in-one

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Residential Tech Today | Aug-Oct 2020

conferencing solution that fits on a desk. It includes a four-microphone array, speaker, touch screen, wireless hub, USB/HDM, and Bluetooth. It has both a wired and wireless display extension to the TV. The system offers universal web conferencing – for Microsoft Teams, Zoom Rooms, Slack, Google meet, or whatever is running on the laptop or mobile device. It was designed to deliver amazing audio and video quality in a home office without using a laptop’s audio or camera. Instead, relying on an intelligent autoframing camera. With Bluetooth, it can pair with a mobile phone for calls and music. This solution can be an add-on to an existing 3-Series Crestron Home system, or it can be added as a standalone system with a simple processor.

With Crestron AirMedia (AM-200), custom installers can bring video conferencing to any Crestron residential system. AirMedia ($1,800 MSRP) is a universal presentation extender that attaches behind the TV and transforms it into a wireless laptop or mobile display extension. For

In June, the company debuted Crestron HomeTime, a professional solution for video conferencing in a Crestron smart home.

Crestron HomeTime is a unification of the Logitech MeetUp conference camera with the Crestron UC Engine that seamlessly integrates with Crestron control to deliver the optimal Zoom Rooms experience.

Crestron HomeTime ($6,100 for the HTCAM-KIT) provides one-touch access to a home’s automation system from a single user interface either on the Crestron remote or Crestron Home app. So not only can a user launch a video conference, but they can also drop the shades, set the lighting level, and adjust the thermostat.

If families have additional rooms where they want to gather, they can add HomeTime to more rooms with the HT-CAM-AUX-KIT. The add-a-room kit is $3,100. The video conferencing “engine” can be located remotely, and meetings can be routed to other TVs in other rooms of the home with the DM NXV AV-over-IP technology.

Crestron believes that delivering enterprisegrade solutions for home conferencing will elevate the experience from what it was before the pandemic to the way we will continue to work, learn, and connect with others from home. x

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DEPARTMENTS

Audio

A Premium Portfolio

For URC, Superior, High-Definition Audio Opportunities Drive New HDA System

By Jeremy Glowacki Premium sound quality is the prime driver behind High-Definition Audio in both content and system sectors. Content creators like Capitol Records and Sony, with Super HiRez service, launched a high-definition initiative years ago to defend listeners from sound compression. Compression minimizes file sizes and results by omitting ranges and layers from audio content. High-definition audio recaptures the full sound elements and allows louder volumes and greater sound fidelity.

Because HDA is an AVB-based system, URC also offers HDA IO, which is an input/output device to synchronize an AVR with the rest of the multi-zone system. It also can be used to add a source into the system by plugging it anywhere into the network.

Universal Remote Control researched audio offerings for premium home automation systems and realized an opportunity existed.

Many premium audio systems were missing features and benefits from expanding audio streams and a high number of zones. This opportunity led to the creation of URC’s HDA (High-Definition Audio) portfolio.

This platform is shining URC’s HDA (High-Definition Audio) portfolio. new light on URC’s Total Control 2.0 System which “By launching our new HDA line, URC boasts superior automation systems, best-indelivers on its tradition of continuous class support, easy installations, and the ability innovation and superior home automation to integrate with countless integration partners. solutions,” said Mr. Chang K. Park, URC

Led by the HDA 8100 Multi-Zone Amplifier, the product line features eight stereo amplified zone outputs or up to 16 single-channel amplified mono zone outputs. Any zone can be set to stereo or two independent mono zones.

Add 100 watts of power, 96kHz/24-bit streaming, 123dB range, and ducking capabilities for commercial uses.

URC’s HDA components are loaded with other features as well, like efficient amplification up to 1200 watts per channel, mic mixing, network audio sharing, 12-volt triggers, microphone limiting, phantom power full DSP, and parametric EQ. It is expandable up to 32 zones and can store up to 10 .WAV files per device.

In addition to the eight-zone HDA 8100, URC also offers a four-zone HDA 4100 and 70-volt HDA 1600. The single-zone HDA 130, which is the size of three stacked CD jewel cases, produces 30 watts RMS per channel but with enough power supply capacity so you don’t lose fidelity when the amplifier is driven.

16

Residential Tech Today | Aug-Oct 2020

URC’s HDA components are loaded with powerful features like efficient amplification up to 1200 watts per channel and 70 volts, 96 kHz/24-bit streaming, up to 8 stereo or 16 mono channel outputs, mic mixing, ducking, network audio sharing, full DSP, and parametric EQ. It is expandable up to 32 zones and can store up to 10 .WAV files per device.

Available in components that easily fit any residential or commercial environment, HDA includes: • HDA-8100 Multi-Zone Amplifier • HDA-4100 Multi-Zone Amplifier • HDA-1600 Low-Z/70 Volt Amplifier • HDA-130 Single Zone Amplifier • HDA-SW5 Gigabit AVB Network Switch • HDA-IO Stream Adaptor When combined with URC’s line of highquality, in-ceiling and outdoor speakers, the studio-quality, high-fidelity audio system is complete. URC’s speakers are professionally tuned and four times more efficient to install.

With our proprietary clamping system and easy wire connectivity, these speakers are truly toolless. Simply engage the clamps to drywall to lock the speaker in place.

founder. “Our goal is to deliver residential and commercial audio experiences that rival a highfidelity, concert experience.”

According to Lars Granoe, URC VP of product development, “Our development process combined the best listening features for consumers with easy installation and networking for our dealers. The rich sound, paired with the overall speed and performance of Total Control, is really impressing people and we couldn’t be more excited to bring it to market.”

“Our dealers are a driving force in our success and our product innovation pipeline,” Park stated. “Residential and commercial consumers will now have a simple and efficient one-stopshop for whole-house audio, robust networking, and best-in-class control.”

Authorized U.S. URC Total Control dealers can purchase HDA products on the URC dealer-only portal at www.urcportal.com.

International URC dealers should consult their local distributor for availability. Interested systems integrators can email totalcontrol@urcautomation.com to learn more. x

DEPARTMENTS

CEDIA Says

Taking in the Talks at the Virtual CEDIA

A Glimpse at a Few of the CEDIA Booth Talks Presented at the 2020 CEDIA Virtual Expo Experience

By Ed Wenke The CEDIA Virtual Expo Experience included, of course, a virtual CEDIA Booth, and the booth played host to 2020’s round of CEDIA Talks. Here are some of the highlights from Michael Cogbill, Alex Capecelatro, Nathan Holmes, and Joe Whitaker.

The Surveillance Show CEDIA Board Director Michael Cogbill began the Wednesday slate of sessions with a talk on “Trends in Video Surveillance.” The key point: It’s all digital now, of course.

“The sweet spot for cameras will be 4K very soon in the IP universe,” Cogbill noted. And, the technologies that are advancing in this realm make the images better and better.

“Low light images are improving dramatically, and WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) is a big help.”

The example he gives for the latter: If a camera is sitting inside a dark garage with a door open to the sunny outdoors, the camera can process the variance of light and give a good picture of what’s both light and dark.

Recording solutions and lens technology are making strides, too, as are video analytics. It’s an area that Cogbill finds incredibly interesting since analytics will ultimately replace a human’s attention span (which is limited) when it comes to monitoring a security camera system.

The Trouble With VUI Alex Capecelatro, the brain behind Josh.ai (and a CEDIA Board Director), knows the business of voice control. The Josh platform is, after all, just such an interface.

In his CEDIA Talk at this year’s “virtual booth,” Capecelatro tried to answer the question, “Why is Voice Control so Hard?” He covered the mechanical issues inherent in these controls, noting that a perfect VUI device environment would be free of dust, vibrations, ambient noise, and objects placed between

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Residential Tech Today | Aug-Oct 2020

microphone and speaker. Of course, that’s not possible.

The bigger problem here, though? ASR, or Automatic Speech Recognition. “ASR takes a word, converts to text, then translates it with a probability formula,” Capecelatro said. Of course, it’s easy to trip up those formulas.

“Think of words like ‘would’ and ‘wood,’ or even ‘we can’ and ‘weekend.’ Now think of a phrase like ‘turn on the lights.’ The lights in a room? Sure, but there’s a show called ‘The Lights,’ several songs called ‘The Lights,’ a band called ‘The Lights,’ and so on.” It’s why Capecelatro and the other folks developing these interfaces are working doubly hard to provide the perfect voice experience for the customer. It ain’t easy, but when it works, it’s a jaw-dropper.

Wi-Fi 6 Update Nathan Holmes, director of training and development at Access Networks, provided the latest news on Wi-Fi 6 – the new name of nextgen wireless was to eliminate consumer confusion. (“802.11ax” does seem a trifle clunky, after all.)

“Wi-Fi 6 has dual-band support: 2.4GHz and 5GHz,” Holmes said. “And, there’s some good news for IoT devices: Wi-Fi 6 includes something called High Efficiency Extended Range Single User format. Simply put, that’s a stronger signal for gear at the very edge of its range, which is especially great for outdoor devices at the perimeter of a property.”

Another advancement due in the next year and a half, Holmes says, is Wi-Fi 6E. “The FCC approved an additional 1200MHz of bandwidth for 6E, mainly in the 6GHz spectrum,” he explained. “This gives you up to

seven channels that are 160MHz wide. It’s the first time we’ll be able to achieve data rates that these standards are capable of.”

Company Culture and the Lifecycle of the Employee Joe Whitaker, who is also on the CEDIA Board of Directors and the owner of the firm Thoughtful Integrations, had some thoughts about how a company’s culture and the lifecycle of its employees are intertwined.

“Company culture is critical,” Whitaker said.

He cited a survey that found 39 percent of employees would leave a firm if they had negative views about that culture.

But what is “company culture,” exactly?

According to Whitaker, the components are values, ideals, and attitudes. Values are can be summed up with words like “honesty” and “integrity,” or the “moral center” of a company.

Ideals are what your firm does and what you offer to the client base. Attitudes relate to how your people work with each other; how do they do things for clients. Does the technician greet the customer with a smile?

“We sell a lot of the same boxes, and at the end of the day, most clients pick you based on your people,” Whitaker noted.

You can find all of the 2020 CEDIA Talks at the CEDIA HQ YouTube channel.x

Municipal power is NOT getting better As homes become larger, power infrastructure does not change

(Image of Palm Beach in 1950 vs Now)

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DEPARTMENTS

Art & Tech

An Elegant Pairing on the Wall

Leon Creates a Discreet, Ultra-Thin Soundbar to Match the Frame TV by Samsung

By Anthony Leo Brilliant AV’s technology consultants often lead with The Frame TV by Samsung when discussing home tech options with their customers. Starting the conversation with The Frame creates a dialogue that is about design, not technology.

Many of the Costa Mesa, CA, custom integrator’s clients care more about the look of their system than the specific features or technical specifications. Yes, they want it simple, but The Frame can look even better when professionally installed.

This simplicity also inspired soundbar manufacturer Leon Speakers to create FrameBar, a discreet, ultra-thin soundbar that was designed to match the width and finish of The Frame TV. It’s already a hit with Brilliant AV, as they add their custom installation skills to an already elegant pair of products.

“As a custom integrator, we can do a better installation of The Frame than a consumer can do for themselves,” said Steve Stary, executive vice president, Brilliant AV. “We have special tools and accessories at our disposal to hide the One Connect box behind the TV instead of having it sit out or running the ‘invisible’ cable.

The FrameBar from Leon Speakers is yet another one of those specialty tools we have in our arsenal to bring an elevated experience and aesthetic to our client’s homes.

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FrameBar is available in two models and is built to order to match the exact width of any model of The Frame TV, 43 inches and above. A variation of Leon’s popular HzUT soundbar, it features 2.5-inch audiophile-grade woofers and 22mm cloth-dome tweeters in an ultra-thin cabinet only 2.375 inches deep that mounts flush to the wall.

“Our dealers have been asking us to design an audio solution for The Frame since it first hit the market and we’re excited to finally have a soundbar that was exclusively designed to pair with it,” said Noah Kaplan, Leon’s founder and president. “We know that the appeal of The

Frame is that it doesn’t look like a TV at all, so it was important to our design team to give FrameBar an ultra-modern look with multiple finish options while also keeping the design as minimalistic as possible.”

FrameBar comes in four finishes: white, black, brown, and beige, to match The Frame finishes offered by Samsung, and it features flat molding with an exposed cabinet edge on the front of the soundbar. While FrameBar ships standard with a black fabric grille cloth, there is the option to upgrade to a collection of designer grille fabrics to give the installation an even more customized look. x

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DEPARTMENTS

Design Side

Making Waves in the Desert

Ketra Technology Enables Era-Specific Lighting in Renovated Historic California Landmark Home

By Walter Joseph The rebirth of Palm Desert’s Wave House, a mid-century modern dwelling in California originally designed by architect Walter S. White, turned out a master class by Stayner Architects in how public-private collaboration can not only restore but repurpose historic buildings.

Featuring a look from the past, but functions for today, this one-of-a-kind project is making waves in the desert and breathing vibrant new life into a historic home.

Prior to the renovation of the Wave House, four design goals were set. The first was to restore the dwelling to its period roots while improving sustainability and usability. The second was to honor the union between indoors and outdoors celebrated in White’s original design. Third, the designers wanted to re-create the light and overall feel of the house as it was in the 1950s. And, last, to create a space that was not only historically reflective but accessible to the public and useful to the city.

Ketra technology was key in being able to match the color temperature of both the tungsten-based incandescent bulbs as well as the much cooler fluorescents available in 1955 to create the actual effect of the era’s lighting.

When it came to the Wave House lighting, the architects needed to address both the technical and atmospheric challenges. Ketra technology was key in being able to match the color temperature of both the tungsten-based incandescent bulbs as well as the much cooler fluorescents available in 1955 to create the actual effect of the era’s lighting.

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In a lot of historic designs, lighting is merely used to pop the facade, but Stayner Architects wanted to honor White’s legacy by going beyond that concept to highlight the internal glow of the house. Historical research into the lighting available at the time helped shape the best way to replicate the look and feel of the light in the space, and nighttime archival images were especially helpful in getting a sense of the quality of the light.

be hung from the ceiling, so any hanging fixtures are cantilevered, such as the steel bar over the kitchen table, sourced from Holland and lit with a Ketra A20 lamp. Two areas of the kitchen that originally had fluorescent tubes, now have their effect replicated using linear tape light. Finally, a pair of built-in architectural box lights in the bathrooms over the mirrors were replaced with tape light.

The resulting interior lighting combines a recreation of White’s 1950s light with carefully sourced period-accurate fixtures. Nothing can

The remaining lighting consists of vintage 1950s table and wall lamps outfitted for modern living with Ketra bulbs. Ketra technology was

Residential Tech Today | Aug-Oct 2020

key in being able to match the color temperature of both the tungsten-based incandescent bulbs as well as the much cooler fluorescents available in 1955 and create the actual effect of that era’s lighting. As a final touch, strip lighting was added on the tops of some of the interior walls to enhance the sensation that the roof is floating.

A full sensory experience was completed with the incorporation of desert landscaping, ambient sounds, a period record player – and no TV – to create an immersive, mindful atmosphere. x

Email prochannel@ring.com to learn more and get started.

innovator spotlight

Solutions to Fit Every Lifestyle Christopher Sterle Guides Las Vegas-Based Acoustic Design Systems in Becoming Experts in the Services They Offer

By Jeremy Glowacki Christopher Sterle began his AV career in 1995 working for a local “big-box” retailer in his hometown of Mentor, OH, but one could make a strong case that he came of age as a custom integrator when he relocated to Las Vegas, three years later, to become a field manager for a local home AV company and, for two years, worked closely with customers and delved deeper into the custom AV field.

the services that we offer and not “jacks of all trades” that just try to figure projects out as they go. In business for nearly 20 years, we are proud to be a family-owned and operated local business. We only focus on the Las Vegas valley, and we love being part of our community.

Giving back and participating in our local community is very important to us as a company.

In 2000, he joined the Las Vegas show “EFX” at MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, learning more about professional AV gear and installations within commercial environments.

He left the show a year later and began planning and building the foundation to start his own company, and in 2003 launched Acoustic Design Systems.

As an owner, I truly care and treat the entire Acoustic Design team as a family. I believe that company culture is one of the most important aspects of running a business and because our company leaders respect and treat our entire team as a family, we know that they will always do the same in return for our clients.

ADS specializes in customizing solutions to fit every lifestyle including integrated room controls, audio and visual entertainment systems, security and monitoring systems, fire systems, controlled access, lighting and shade control, thermostat control, and acoustic panels.

The company offers seven-day customer support from start to finish, including design consultations, installation, and tech support.

Here’s what else we learned from our conversation with ADS CEO and founder Christopher Sterle.

Residential Tech Today: How do you think the tech integration business in Las Vegas, where you’re based, is different from and similar to other major cities in the U.S.?

Christopher Sterle: Because Las Vegas is a vacation and tourist destination, there are a lot of vacation homes with systems that need to be monitored and controlled remotely. People are not spending 100 percent of their time at their

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homes, so they want to be able to check-in and have peace of mind.

RT Today: Approximately what’s the percentage mix of your residential vs. commercial work?

CS: 80 percent residential/20 percent commercial.

RT Today: Generally, what’s the budget range of your residential projects, and how would you describe the types of commercial projects you do?

CS: The budget range on residential projects can be anywhere from $1,000-$300,000. The average residential sale is between $20k-$40k, with many projects in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Regarding commercial projects, we do many conference room presentation systems, access control, security, and surveillance.

RT Today: What value proposition do you present to clients when looking to get hired for a project?

CS: We have experts who specialize in all of

Our goal is to turn any project into a lifelong client relationship. Technology is changing every day, so we want to continue to help our clients stay on trend with the latest technologies and make changes as their lifestyle changes.

We offer support seven days a week from start to finish, including design consultations, installation, and tech support.

RT Today: How do you find new business?

CS: We have a six-person sales team, and our quality work yields us a high volume of referral business, as well as repeat customers. Our sales team is divided and focused on specific sectors including commercial, residential, custom homes, and production homes. Our systems designers handle sales for both custom residential and production homes. To accommodate our recent growth, we created new positions to handle sales for our two main divisions. These new roles include a commercial business development manager, who is responsible for developing new business for the

(Left) Christopher Sterle, founder and CEO of Las Vegas-based Acoustic Design Systems, is happy to have his company perceived as the most fun and exciting part of the home building process because, he says, custom integrators sell and install things that people really want and will help make their lives better and more enjoyable.

company’s commercial division, and a residential business development manager, who establishes and maintains relationships with production and custom home builders, generates new business, and fosters existing business relationships.

Coming out of the last recession, we saw an opportunity to develop a new niche working with residential production homebuilders.

Locally, there were not many integrators working with builders to offer smart home systems to buyers, so we began to develop relationships with a few key builders who saw the value in what we provide. Now, we are the exclusive home automation and security partner for Toll Brothers, providing new home buyers the latest innovations in the technology industry. We also have partnerships with William Lyon Homes and Jewel Homes.

RT Today: What advice do you give installers or hobbyist looking to start their own integration business?

CS: Focus on the process as much as the product to ensure the best customer experience.

Making sure your clients are happy with the outcome is of the utmost importance in order to earn their repeat business and referrals. Become invested in your employees and make sure they have the tools, support, and knowledge to succeed.

RT Today: What makes you happiest about being in this industry and what do you find most frustrating?

CS: We are happy to be perceived as the most fun and exciting part of the home building process. We sell and install things that people really want and will help make their lives better

In response to today’s environment, we also partnered with Parasol, the fastest-growing 24/7/365 remote support company in the United States, to launch a monthly service plan to proactively maintain smart home technology systems in mid-market homes, high-scale custom homes, and commercial facilities in the Southern Nevada area. We can now remotely troubleshoot networked systems without sending a technician out to a home or business, in most cases.

and more enjoyable. The thing I find most frustrating is when homeowners never consider allocating budget for technology or security. It’s something they will be touching and using every single day, will improve their personal time, and make their family time more enjoyable, yet people are more concerned with their budget for cosmetic aspects such as what color the floors are going to be.

RT Today: What’s your biggest challenge as an integration business owner?

Offering remote monitoring and service plans has been a priority for ADS since the industry concept was introduced years ago, however, we felt there were no strong solutions for integrators to develop an infrastructure until Parasol came along. Now with the current economic environment and social distancing standards in place, we decided to fast track our partnership with Parasol, becoming an early adopter of white label remote monitoring services.

CS: Finding qualified technicians in our industry. We offer top-quality services and products, so we very much expect all of our technicians to meet a certain standard.

RT Today: When you’re deciding whether to start offering a new product or technology, what are some of the most important criteria that you consider?

CS: Product longevity, user-friendliness, manufacturer support, and profit margin.

Offered as a monthly subscription, the service plan provides proactive and reactive remote monitoring and repairs, bi-annual firmware updates, app control, priority service visit scheduling, unlimited access to local technical support staff through Parasol, and 24/7 email, text, phone and chat support. For any issues and repairs that require hands-on assistance, on-site service from ADS is available Monday through Saturday.

RT Today: In what ways has COVID-19 changed the types of technologies or services that you’re either getting requests for or pitching to new clients?

CS: At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we began to offer virtual appointments to businesses or homeowners interested in upgrading their technology infrastructure to remain productive, safe, and connected. The virtual appointments allow sales consultants and technicians to address and discuss a client’s network, security systems, and audio video needs in order to remain connected, safe, and entertained while adhering to social distancing mandates.

RT Today: Looking ahead, what technology trend(s) do you expect to have the most influence on the work that you do?

CS: Looking ahead, I think our industry will be heavily influenced by AI (Artificial Intelligence), 5G, and IoT. x

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FEATURED

The Maturing Smart Home Industry of 2020

Five Key Takeaways From the Z-Wave 2020 State of the Ecosystem Report

By Mitchell Klein In 2020, technology has reached a point of maturity; adoption and consumer education have begun to see consistent growth, particularly with mainstream and new-totechnology consumers. Smart home technology has become pervasive in the way we all live our lives. We reach to digital assistants to help us complete tasks, smart security cameras and systems are a large part of our culture, and technology that was once considered to be reserved for the wealthy or tech-savvy experts is now found on the shelves in large sections of “big-box” stores and wide swaths of the internet.

This year, the entire global supply chain has seen an impact from COVID-19, including the smart home and consumer technology market.

Even though we’ve seen factories begin to reopen, products are still facing major delays in making their way to sellers and consumers. The entire logistics cycle has been impacted, and that is likely to have an impact on sales to an extent for some companies. But retail sales at big-box stores like Best Buy and Home Depot have remained quite strong amid socialdistancing, as many homeowners have opted for home projects. The integrator and installer community have also faced challenges in relation to the pandemic, with many reporting that business has slowed down and they’ve faced challenges in relation to not being able to get face-to-face install time.

One thing is for certain: The smart home, as well as pretty much every other industry, is facing unforeseen challenges in 2020. But there are still opportunities for growth and places for everyone in the industry – manufacturers, integrators, developers, retailers, and others – to contribute to building a better smart home experience for consumers and end-users.

In our recently-released 2020 Z-Wave State of the Ecosystem Report, we examined smart

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home and connected technology – from both within and outside of the home – and explored the smart home landscape as it exists today, current and future trends, data compiled, and new opportunities with an emphasis on the role Z-Wave technology plays in the advancement of the industry.

their experience with their smart home. Smart doorbells and other security devices have seen a growing popularity in recent years and smart water sensors are seeing growing interest in part to new incentives from home insurance carriers.

1. Z-Wave Smart Home Categories Primed for Growth In the report, we highlight current figures as well as projected growth for the Z-Wave ecosystem. We compiled data around the top-10 Z-Wave smart home categories primed for growth, according to ABI Research, who found that Z-Wave all-in-one devices, smart doorbells, and water sensors, are the top three categories predicted to grow the most through 2025.

2. Smart Home Growth Remains Strong in International Markets While the smart home has seen consistent, year-on-year growth in North America, it is in international markets that we expect to see some of the strongest opportunities for growth.

In the same data from ABI Research, it was found that the regions most primed for growth through 2025 were in Latin America and the EMEA regions. In Europe, strong economic growth, increased investment, and interest in solutions like smart lighting and water from public utilities, and rapid urbanization are all contributing to this anticipated growth.

All-in-one devices refer to smart devices with hubs built in, i.e. a smart security system or display that also functions as a gateway, which supports the desire for ease of use and installation that consumers cite as important to

In Latin America, the reasons behind growth include increased investment from highly populated countries like Mexico and Brazil in IoT and smart cities initiatives and policies, as well as projected economic growth.

Here are five key takeaways from the report:

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The Smart Home Industry in 2020 such as AI and contextual awareness, or the opportunity for technology to learn and execute routines or room occupancy, are also cited as important considerations for smart home growth.

5. In a Post-Pandemic World, the Smart Home Value Proposition will Evolve Lastly, the impact of COVID-19 cannot be discounted. While we began work and data collection for the report pre-COVID-19 at the beginning of the year, we recognized the significance of the pandemic and the ways in which it would impact the smart home market, along with the very way we live our lives.

3. The Smart Home Continues to Move Beyond the Home and into Vertical Industries Although it is predicted that more than 63M American homes will qualify as “smart” by 2022, the opportunity for smart home tech outside of a residential setting has also continued to expand and take hold, with connected technology taking shape and feasibility in new applications. Smart home and connected technology no longer refer to just the residential sector. Connected tech has permeated apartment buildings/MDUs, hospitality, offices and enterprise, new home construction and realty, as well as industries like healthcare and insurance.

The realty opportunity, for example, has shown that the value and interest in the smart home have impacted new home sales – 65 percent of U.S. homebuyers are willing to spend more on a home purchase that includes smart home technology packages. And for older adults opting to age in place in their homes, smart home technology adoption rates have more than doubled in the last few years, as it can be used to ease mobility and inform caretakers of activity around the home.

4. Industry Experts Agree: Interoperability, Ease-of-Use and Setup, Security, and New Technology Like AI will be Critical to the Continued Success of the Smart Home In our report, we surveyed (including Residential Tech Today executive editor, Jeremy

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Glowacki) industry experts and media across a wide range of verticals to get their take on the future of smart home – what they see as challenges, opportunities, and trends to come through 2020 and beyond. Of those quoted, most seemed to align on what the industry needs to prioritize to ensure continued growth.

Device and network interoperability remain a critical point, as many consumers cite frustration with device incompatibility, which can lead to high return rates and disinterest and also contributes to device ease-of-use and setup.

The professional install community can leverage these concerns as an opportunity to show the value of professional vs. DIY smart home.

Network and device security remain other important opportunities for manufacturers and developers to improve, and new technology,

We asked experts on their thoughts on how the smart home industry would need to pivot post-pandemic. Ideas included a rise in demand for smart entertainment devices, as well as a need for stronger network capabilities, with more people spending time at home streaming entertainment content, working, and learning, and a renewed focus on using smart home technology to keep people connected, both inside the home and at a distance.

“Historically people started buying connected devices for security, followed by a desire to save money on energy costs,” said Stacey Higginbotham, of Stacey on IoT. “The very last reason people bought smart home devices was for entertainment.” x Read more in Z-Wave’s full report, available for free download at https://z-wavealliance.org/zwave-state-of-the-ecosystem-report/.

TECH TIPS

The 5 Worst Home Networking Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Steps That will Ensure a Properly Designed and Installed Home Network Behaves According to Plan

Photo: iStockphoto.com/fatido

By Nathan Holmes We’ve all encountered some hiccups, glitches, and aggravation while downloading files, streaming video, and conducting a videoconference. What’s causing the issue? Is it the ISP service? Is there a line down in the neighborhood? Maybe your computer needs a tune-up?

Most likely, these Wi-Fi woes stem from the way a home network was designed and installed.

Maybe the techs from an ISP put in the equipment or perhaps the router came from an online outfit. That’s mistake #1. It takes a much higher grade of equipment installed by a knowledgeable professional to have a home network that’s fast, reliable, consistent, and maintains peace within a household where everyone can work, study, and play online at the same time.

Mediocre equipment installed poorly is only the tip of the aliment iceberg. Here are five other home networking snafus and how to avoid them.

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Mistake #1: Improper Planning (or No Plan at All) You wouldn’t dream of renovating a kitchen without first making sure there is enough room for the new appliances. The same goes for a home network. You need to make sure the home environment is accommodating, and if not, fix it or work around it.

No home or networking environment is perfect, so don’t be alarmed by the findings. A properly designed network comprised of carefully selected, correctly installed products can mitigate problems. But be aware: It will likely take more than one attempt to get the network right.

The construction, layout, and furnishings of a home can reduce signal strength and range; certain electronic devices can generate RF interference, and neighboring networks can steal bandwidth. These roadblocks are invisible to the naked eye, so it’s imperative that proper testing and planning take place before the installation of the equipment commences.

The composition of a home, as well as the Wi-Fi conditions, can change drastically as it’s being built, as furnishing are added, and as the family moves in. Consequently, a professional Wi-Fi design will include three phases – a predictive design prior to construction, site survey testing during construction, and validation testing after everything is installed in the home.

Conduct a “site survey” to analyze the current Wi-Fi conditions of a home environment. Using a variety of testing equipment and software, you can identify weak spots, measure data throughput, and identify sources of interference.

Mistake #2: Incomplete Lifestyle Audit Only when you know exactly which devices in a home will be connected to the internet, how they will be used, how often they will be used, and who will be using them can a home

TECH TIPS

(Left and Center) Admit One, in Edina, MN, uses Access Networks Wireless for every installation –from single-room, $5,000 media rooms to home automation and AV systems that span entire estates like this home. (Right) Oscar Coello, the owner of Fairfield, CT-based home technology firm Enviance visits the homes of customers who’ve expressed dissatisfaction with their current Wi-Fi setup. He conducts a side-by-side comparison of an off-the-shelf networking system and an enterprise-grade solution from Access Networks for every customer.

networking system be appropriately designed.

How many TVs, computers, tablets, smartphones, and other devices are connected?

Will kids be gaming, where, and how often? Are big parties and overnight guests on the agenda?

Does anyone work from home and if so, what types of devices do they rely on? Answers to these questions impact product selection, design, configuration, and support.

Unfortunately, this all-important step is often ignored.

Mistake #3: The Wrong Hardware Don’t let the housing of a router or access point fool you. Product A and Product B may look alike on the outside, but inside they are very different. Some have technology built-in that enables them to intelligently manage Wi-Fi traffic, but others don’t. Advanced firewall protection is built into some brands of components, but others don’t have it. This isn’t a bad thing; having options is always good. But all too often, it’s incorrectly assumed that what works well in one house will work equally as well in another house.

A basic wireless access point might suffice for a small house of minimal internet usage, but struggle to handle the needs of a larger residence with heavy Wi-Fi traffic. The objective is to match the products to the application – with some cushion built in. Household dynamics change (toddlers grow into teenagers, rooms are renovated, new mobile devices and AV equipment are added) so having a system that can scale easily to new demands is imperative.

All areas that house network equipment should have adequate airflow and cooling to prevent devices from overheating. Additionally, a double-online conversion online battery backup unit should be added to safeguard a home network and connected equipment against damage caused by power surges, spikes, and other fluctuations in the electrical voltage. A double-online conversion battery backup feeds a consistent 120 volts to the network, enabling it to perform optimally and preserving the life of the equipment.

Two practices to ensure ample overhead: Design the network to support 20-percent growth in the number of devices and install wireless access points that adhere to the newest Wi-Fi 6 standard.

Mistake #4: Overly Complicated Configuration Just because a system supports certain features doesn’t always mean you should use them. The ability to divide a home network into individual VLANs (one for the kids, another for the AV equipment, and a third for guests, for example) might seem like a very organized networking approach. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

Let’s say a device on VLAN A occasionally needs to communicate with a device on VLAN B. Sometimes that is simply just not possible due to the way certain devices and applications communicate with each other. Overengineering a home networking system can backfire, creating major problems that are difficult to diagnose and fix.

To users of a home network, a little information goes a long way to preclude future problems. Maintain a log of the devices on the network, anything added to it, or noticeable changes in performance. By staying organized, your network will, too. Should the network ever require maintenance or an update, you’ll have all the necessary documentation on hand to help streamline the process.

The addition of a high-quality network is a wise investment. It’s the foundation on which devices connect and communicate, enabling families to fully utilize the features of a wide variety of home technologies – laptops, smartphones, tablets, security cameras, AV equipment, and a host of other products. By watching for and avoiding common mistakes in the design, configuration, and installation of a home network, you can ensure optimal performance and enjoyment, making the investment of an advanced network worth every penny. x

Mistake #5: Lack of Organization, Documentation, and Protection It’s easy to plug in a router, switches, and access points and call a project complete. But are those components doing their job? Always go the extra mile by verifying and documenting their performance. For example, if a home network needs to support 10 gigabits, any wiring that’s installed should be labeled for easy identification, tested, and certified for adherence, and all test results should be documented and saved for future reference.

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VIRTUAL ASSISTANCE

Home for the Holidays with Alexa Amazon’s Latest Echo and Fire TV Additions Provide a Head-Start on Holiday Shopping

By Michael Heiss With autumn now officially here, it’s “that time of year again.” No, I don’t mean the time of year when you complain about holiday decorations because it is still October. It’s the holiday season, and though it will definitely be different this year, there will still be new products to consider.

Thus, we’re in the midst of new product introductions. This time, it’s Amazon’s turn.

Perhaps at the heart of Amazon’s home device strategy are the Echo devices and the Alexa ecosystem that drives them. If sewing is your pandemic therapy, I suggest making some larger socks to hang on the mantle, as these will be at the heart of many gift hints and requests.

Indeed, the fabric is a key part of the new Echo products.

As has been the case with both Amazon and Google smart speakers recently, the plastic body is covered with fabric. Much attention was paid to that and other sustainability features, such as a new low-power mode for all Amazon devices and a commitment that Amazon will eventually generate as much renewably sourced electricity as all of their devices consume.

The new, fourth-generation Echo devices use that fabric to cover a new globe-shaped design that looks like someone took a Google Nest Mini and pumped it up like a balloon. However, the new look is very pleasing, and it has room to include a 3-inch woofer and dual tweeters. Also on board is a smart home hub powered by Zigbee, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Amazon Sidewalk, and Dolby processing that adapts the sound to the room. For late sleepers, the new Echo adds the “tap-to-snooze” feature of the current Echo Dot with clock.

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Rather than be a static device, the base on the new Echo Show 10 has a brushless motor and mechanism that, thanks to advanced processing tied to the 13MP wide-angle camera, makes it possible for the screen to rotate and follow you as you move.

For smaller footprint uses, there are three new Echo Dot models with the same fabric-covered, spherical design. Sound emanates from a 1.6inch front-firing speaker, and the Dot models also have the LED light moved to the bottom of the sphere. There will also be a new “Dot with Clock” model as well as the new “Kids Edition” models. With the unit’s cover picturing a panda or tiger, the shape works nicely with the concept. Included with those models is a oneyear subscription to Amazon Kids+ that provides access to child-friendly books from Audible, interactive games, and more.

All-new Echo products are on pre-order today for delivery sometime in late October. The Dot will be $49.99 while the Dot with clock will be $59.99. Both flavors of the Echo Dot Kids Edition will also be $59.99.

Perhaps the biggest change to the Echo product line will be the all-new Echo Show 10.

The third-generation product in this screen size is more than just an update to the industrial design. While the previous generations sat flat on a counter or surface, the new model has the screen mounted to a cylindrical base that, in turn, sits on the counter. Why the change and what’s in the base?

Therein lies the power of the new Echo Show 10. Rather than be a static device, the base has the brushless motor and mechanism that, thanks to advanced processing tied to the 13MP wide-angle camera, makes it possible for the screen to rotate and follow you as you move.

Walking around the kitchen while following a recipe? Moving to show something in the room while on a video call? This sophisticated, yet

VIRTUAL ASSISTANCE

(Top left) The new, fourth-generation Echo devices use that fabric to cover a new globe-shaped design that looks like someone took a Google Nest Mini and pumped it up like a balloon. (Top right) Amazon introduced the new “Kids Edition” Echo Dot models, with covers picturing either a panda or tiger. (Bottom left) This rendering of the new Google Nest Mini shows that on this inside is a 3-inch woofer and dual tweeters. (Bottom right) Amazon previewed a prototype for Ring Always Home Cam, an indoor drone with an HD camera that roams around the home to patrol for a variety of problems.

transparent to the user, technology makes that happen. Even better, the sound also follows the camera direction for clear audio.

As will be the case for the other new Echo devices, there will be a new suite of available services such as Voice Profiles for Kids, Music Sharing, eight-person group calling, and more.

Along with that are two new features that will make the Show even more popular: The ability to search and watch Netflix and to join video conference calls via Zoom or Amazon Chime.

Particularly for the technophobe, this will be the most used communication link for personal, business, and educational content during the pandemic, without the hassle of a computer or tablet.

The new Echo Show 10 is available for preorder now at $249.99, with delivery later this year. For residential technology professionals and developers, there is a full set of developer tools that is available now.

After Echo devices, the most popular connected device in Amazon’s portfolio is Fire TV. Here, the news was on both the hardware and software fronts. While the 4K models, including the Fire TV Cube, remain unchanged, there are new entry-level HD models with HDR, a 50-percent more powerful processor, and an Alexa Voice Remote. The new $39.99 Fire TV Stick has a dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-

software services aimed at care for aging family members as well as more security services.

Fi, Dolby Atmos pass-through, and power and volume controls on the remote. A new Fire TV Stick Lite lacks those features but retails at only $29.99. Both are available now.

Again, these will be covered here at a later date, but of greatest interest will be a Car Cam that, along with crash sensing and other dashcam features, will be a special mode that will respond to your voice command to start video and audio recording when “I’m being pulled over.”

On the software/user interface front, Amazon will be rolling out a totally new user experience update, said to be the most significant since the Fire TV’s introduction. The Main Menu moves to the center of the screen along with other navigation, search, and selection improvements.

Those with Ring devices will be able to view the security camera in a PIP window, and Fire TV Cube will be able to do video calls via Alexa Connect when a compatible Logitech webcam is connected. Zoom call capability is also on the docket.

Perhaps the most interesting product of the lot, although again, something that you won’t see in the market until 2021, will be the Ring Always Home Cam. This was shown as an indoor drone with an HD camera that roams around the home to patrol for a variety of problems. It looked cool, but if this were the fist of April, one would think that it might be an April Fool’s prank. The press release did state that it is still a development product that “…has not yet been authorized…and is not and may not, be offered for sale…” That said, it is a developer’s dream, and we’ll all watch its progress together to see if it really does reach the market.

The new Fire TV Experience will start rolling out later this year, starting with the new Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite.

With the growing number of connected home products from Amazon, there isn’t room today to detail them all. As the rest of these products are due for very late this year or into 2021, I’ll leave them to when they are closer to release.

However, to tempt your smart home appetite, they will include new eero 6 and eero Pro 6 models with WiFi 6, Amazon Luna, a cloudbased gaming service with a “direct-to-cloud” controller for lower “click-to-shoot” latency, and a new range of connected car products and new

Yes, it is that time of year again. With Amazon’s announcements and demos, we all have a start on what to think about buying as the gift-giving season approaches or while planning new installations or ecosystem upgrades. x

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The Magic in the Bottle Like Fine Wine in a Private Wine Cellar, High-Quality Film Content is the Key to the Enjoyment of a Private Cinema

By Sam Cavitt A few years ago, a prospective client asked me why he should consider hiring us to engineer his theater room for high performance. He explained to me that he was adding this theater on the behest of his family (some of whom were in the film industry), but that he, himself, “didn’t know from average” when it came to audio and video quality.

Just as I was getting ready to hop on my technical and authoritative “high horse,” I stopped myself, recalling that a very nice wine cellar was being planned for the home. “Sound is like fine wine,” I suggested. “When we first experience wine, we usually won’t know the difference between an average bottle and a very good one. But, as we continued to explore wines and learn to discern the attributes of our favorites, our enjoyment of wine grows.”

I asked, “Would you ever want to go back to that time when you did not know the difference?” As we continued on with the project (we were hired), I would recommend acoustics and equipment, sometimes falling back in the habit of getting on my technical “high horse.” That’s when my client would stop me and say, “Sam, is this the fine wine?”

People have things they love and pursue in their lives, things that add vibrancy and joy to life. There are many such pursuits. Fine art, automobiles, fine wine… The wine analogy is of particular interest because along with the joy of the wine is the greater pleasure of a shared experience. This is why I often use the wine connoisseur and sommelier analogies in reference to what we should be attaining for private cinema. Experiencing a fine private

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cinema is a pleasure nonpareil that is amplified when shared with loved ones.

In a recent conversation with my good friend, Luc Guillaume, of Wisdom Audio, he pointed out, “I realized our industry keeps talking about the ‘bottle’ and how the ‘bottle’ is clearer in 4K and sharper with HDR and how much more immersive it is with more loudspeakers, but we need to be talking about the contents of the ‘bottle’ instead.”

How true! While it is vital that we engineer the rooms to perform and outfit them with systems to support that performance, without compelling and quality content, our labor is in vain. The sole purpose of these well-engineered private cinemas with cutting-edge technology is to deliver the art – the film – to the audience as it was created, to achieve the experience that we all love and call “The Movies.” And, in light of recent events (pandemic and industry change alike), the conversation becomes even more vital.

Following up on the analogy, this article is all about the magic in the bottle: the content – the choices, the qualities, the changes, and the future.

To get a diverse perspective I have interviewed content providers and integrators representing varying perspectives and levels of access as well as a private cinema owner who is a self-proclaimed cinephile. The objective is to illustrate that the quality of our private cinemas, the performance of our cinema systems, the quality of the content we provide, and most importantly, the experience itself matters. Exquisite experiences like the movie theater experience are rare and fragile.

Let’s not lose this one.

The Vineyard If we were to think of the movies like it were a fine wine, then our journey might best begin at the vineyard. After all, this is where all of the work and artistry are accomplished that will result in our ultimate pleasure. Gordan Stroud, owner of Digital Bel Air, an integration firm that specializes in outfitting and servicing private and professional digital cinema screening rooms. Gordan, who also has roots in the film industry, gave an example of how much effort and importance is attributed to the quality of the final result.

“In the studio environment where there would be several screening rooms on the lot,” Stroud noted, “they would take a film from the dubbing stage and set up a screening to see how it translated. The mixers, directors, and everybody would be present. I can’t tell you how many times it came down to, ‘I don’t hear it the way I did on the dubbing stage.’ The nuance that didn’t translate had to be reworked so that when the film reached the theater it was just right.”

Digital Bel Air’s clients are those fortunate to be part of what is known as the “Bel Air Circuit.”

These are movie industry members who need to screen movies in the pristine form as intended by their peers in the industry. It is a prized privilege. It could be said they are the preeminent cinema connoisseurs. Intimately recognizing the qualities that would be lost in lesser formats.

When asked about the quality of a DCP (the format delivered to these private screening rooms), Stroud explained that you have the ability to view movies exactly how the director

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intended them to be seen, in regards to video resolution, color space, and uncompressed and discrete audio channels provided by DCIAtmos.

Returning to our wine analogy, when considering this year’s vintage, a predictably dismal scenario unfolds. What should have been a productive year has been essentially shut down. Films that were expected to be released with great fanfare in theaters (tentpoles in industry parlance) are pushed back or released in seriously compromised streaming formats to the home and were not available to the Bel Air circuit as a DCP. One such example is Disney’s Mulan. When asked if he thought they would ever release it in the theater or make the DCP available in the future, Stroud said that he doubted it would be.

The Winery Does this watering down of what would have been a fine wine in order to get it on the shelves portend the end of cinema connoisseurship?

Howard Kiedaisch, co-founder of Bel Air Cinema doesn’t think so.

“Regardless of what the theatrical windows are, there will always be the big-screen experience,” Kiedaisch said. “The cinemas that are essentially a flat wall and foldup chairs, that don’t offer a great experience… people aren’t going to come out for that anymore. But the cinemas that have invested in offering a quality experience will be around.”

stored, aged, and prepared for consumption.

Kaleidescape is one such company that fits this description quite well.

For those who want the celebrated vintages in their own home, Bel Air Cinema provides access to current-release DCP’s to film lovers who are not members of the film industry. This is the quality level that the director intended, and movie studios are also happy (in terms of copyright protection) because Bel Air Cinema is using the film industry’s own technology, which is usually distributed to commercial cinemas worldwide.

Cheena Srinivasan, CEO of Kaleidescape, exudes an inimitable passion for the cinematic experience that his company personifies. “The one thing I am so happy about Kaleidescape since its inception is this obsession we’ve had with content,” Srinivasan said.

A unicorn of sorts, Kaleidescape is both a component and a curator for the highest level of consumer cinema content. As Srinivasan explains it, “From 2003, the emphasis was not on the box, but about how a movie was presented on screen. I don’t think, even though technology has changed, that emphasis has shifted.”

Bel Air Cinema will provide their clients with the ability to access day-and-date native exhibition files (DCP), which justifies their clients’ investment in the finest video projection, immersive audio systems, and theaters designed to industry screening room criteria. When asked if these rooms can also playback consumer content, Kiedaisch explained, “To play consumer content through a DCI system, it will look great and sound great but if you run the DCI content, then the difference is night and day. For someone who can afford the best and wants it, there is no comparison, and those individuals should do this. With the current state of theaters, there are fewer options available. Those that have a DCI system and the access that we provide won’t have to go to all that trouble and can have the finest cinematic experience at home. It is a tremendous advantage.”

Srinivasan and his team are also champions of the true cinematic experience. Their stated mission is to bring the movie theater home.

As the industry has transitioned from Blu-ray discs to digital media, Kaleidescape has found a way to transition elegantly to providing an even more superior service. “We receive the master files from the studios, and before we offer a movie to our customers, we prepare each movie with great care, paying enormous attention to the sound and picture quality,” Srinivasan noted.

“That means, besides the technical aspects of transcoding and assembling all the necessary material in our format for delivery, we have passionate cinephiles review these movies multiple times for quality. We are the only

The Wine Cellar If a vineyard is where the grapes are grown and the winery is where the wine is produced, then the wine cellar is where the prized creation is

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The Magic in the Bottle

This private cinema serves as a great “container� for curated content, be it movies or music. Cinema Design & Engineering Paradise Theater. Construction - Big Canyon Homes & Fantastic Theaters. Integrator Argenta Solutions.

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company to provide metadata to support control integration, a feature that enables Kaleidescape to deliver a true movie night experience with trailers, shorts, intermission scenes, and so much more. It is truly a movie night at home.”

When asked what content Kaleidescape curates, Srinivasan proclaimed, “Film is always the number one priority. Followed by concerts and then by specially curated television.

Nothing is a commodity. It is not about speed or mass consumerism. Our society has become faster-paced, and the tendency is to reduce everything down to soundbites. Streaming is like that. Vast libraries you can choose quickly and forget. The cinematic experience is an event, a journey you will want to continue, wanting more as the end credits roll and you wish to cling to the experience.

As for the future of going out to the movies, Srinivasan acknowledged that “people want to get out,” so there will always be an audience for commercial cinemas. On the content side, “there will always be the tentpole movie.”

“It’s not just about catering to the theatergoing audience,” Srinivasan said. “It happens to be the biggest marketing push that content owners depend on. The question is, though, do we need 40,000 screens in America? The answer is probably not. Alternatively, with the increased interest in home entertainment, once the public becomes aware of the availability and advantage of a great home cinema, more and more will want to have a screen for themselves.”

What about day-and-date movies?

Kaleidescape VP of Engineering Mark McKenzie answered, “If we can do day-and-date or premium rentals that would be available for the home and provide a cinematic experience, of course, we will do it. Kaleidescape’s reason to exist, our why, is about bringing the movie theater home – taking that experience that the artist created, to be experienced in the movie theater, and doing that at home. So, when Kaleidescape goes all-in on this premium-rental, early-window offering, it’s going to be a true cinematic experience.”

The Sommelier Nascent cinema connoisseurs look to experts

to guide them. One such cinema sommelier is Kevin Cook, of Amplified Lifestyles in San Francisco, C, who has the challenge of navigating a shifting landscape. Nevermore than today, there is a demand for providing a movie experience in the home, and never have there been more mixed messages.

passion, some frustrations, and aspirations, as well. He is a second-time private cinema owner, and his new cinema represents a very purposeful journey to create an environment where he and his wife, Suzanne, can experience maximum enjoyment of the art form they love: film.

Erb identified with the wine analogy, and I asked what kind of content he would curate for his “wine cellar” (private cinema). After a thoughtful pause, Erb answered, “In a perfect world everything would be on Kaleidescape. For me – and not as a promotion for them – when I first became a Kaleidescape owner in 2015, I contacted them to urge them to expand their online store to offer more cinephile-, arthousetype of content. Kaleidescape is a group of engineers who are dedicated to creating an intuitive user experience with the highest quality of audio and video reproduction, but they follow the lead of the major movie studios for their content marketing. I believe the interface is great and easy to use, and the reproduction quality they deliver is excellent, but many of the titles they offer are more massmarket than my personal taste. To be fair to them, in the last couple of years they have worked hard to license content from more independent studios, and they also have a lot of great international titles.”

Asked about the current state of the movies and the impact on private cinema for their clientele Cook explained, “People aren’t going to theaters right now, and it seems the world as we know it is permanently changed. People are going to spend more time in their homes. New studios have popped up and provided a lot of alternative content that people can watch at home. From my perspective, the film industry needs to figure out a way to deliver content to the home. Private theaters are on the rise.”

Asked how his clients decide on alternatives, Cook noted that clients will make choices based on their desire for an experience, intended use, and price. “We offer alternatives that deliver different levels of experience based on our understanding of their goals, priorities, and past experiences,” Cook explained. “People make decisions a lot based on their experiences because our reality is based on what we know.”

Cook believes that his clients’ number one priority for their private theaters is a quality cinematic experience. “Thus, we recommend a Kaleidescape Strato 99 percent of the time,” he stated. “For the money, there is not a better way to deliver that quality experience.

Uncompressed AV quality and the user interface make that happen. In a recent theater we were delivering to our client, we played through preselected scenes for a lot of his favorite movies.

The sound, the images, and the entire experience were great. The client heard and saw so much that he had never seen before and had a great time! This is something the public needs to be made aware of. If consumers knew what a difference in quality meant, more would be inclined to choose this superior experience.”

Erb says that the Criterion studio is an example at the opposite extreme. “Their primary focus is on the curation of noteworthy films, and they are in a class of their own in that regard. I’m continually interested in what they’re doing. They have a long history of innovation – letterboxing started with them for example. So did supplemental features on discs. Somebody once called Criterion “film school in a box.”

Erb’s perfect scenario, therefore, is a marriage of Kaleidescape and Criterion. That would provide both major studio and arthouse films at the highest level of audio and video file quality, downloaded and stored on a cinema management system with a great interface.

The Connoisseur Vineyards, wineries, and wine cellars would have no raison d’etre without the connoisseur.

William Erb can be considered a true home cinema connoisseur. Seated in his newly completed private cinema, Erb shares his

Just like Erb, I urge you and our growing community of cinema connoisseurs to keep dreaming like this. And to the rest of us – cinema designers, content curators, integrators, and the film industry itself – let’s work a little harder to keep those dreams alive. x

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TECH ADVISOR

Leon’s Interactive FIT speaker bar solutions house webcams and speakers together in a very clean interface.

Helping the World Zoomify Improving the Way People Work and Play in Their Living Rooms, Home Offices, Classrooms, and Conference Rooms

By Henry Clifford

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As 2020 rolls along, it’s becoming more apparent that the COVID-19 pandemic may be changing the way we gather and communicate permanently. Any scenario where each of us sits in front of a computer or other device will probably continue along much the same way, with cloud providers like Zoom, Google, Microsoft, and others making incremental changes to their software platforms to further simplify the way we interact with each other.

What about scenarios where groups of people need to gather together around the same camera? Anyone who’s tried to huddle around a laptop knows the pain of trying to take a one-to-one technology design and adapt it to a group (many-toone) setting. We’ve decided to focus on this “Zoomification” phenomenon at my

integration business, Livewire, by helping people work and play better in their living rooms, home offices, classrooms, and conference rooms. We’ve divided up our focus into three key areas where we see immediate needs: Remote Learning, Take Me to Church, the Family Zoom Call.

Remote Learning Most schools are providing either fully virtual or a hybrid of virtual and inperson education this fall, which means that parents and teachers alike are grappling with how to best facilitate online learning.

For parents, it’s all about making sure the home network is solid with no dead spots and that their children have a decent device, whether it’s a laptop or tablet.

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We’ve seen Logitech and Barco team up to bring their solutions out in simple “small, medium, large” configurations, where cameras and microphones are sized to the room.

Teachers are focused on mastering the many tools available for online learning and dealing with managing their students remotely (especially behavior issues and younger children). We all had a small dose of remote learning earlier this spring when there was a bit of a honeymoon period. If things didn’t work, no big deal, it was the first time any of us had dealt with a pandemic. Months have passed and now there’s an expectation that parents will be able to manage their children, and teachers will have figured out how to deliver great coursework remotely.

For those learning scenarios that stay one-toone, existing laptops and tablets seem to be “good enough” as long as the network is stable.

What about those schools doing both in-person and remote learning? Some schools are opting to take their virtual students and group them together into virtual classrooms, while others are attempting to have hybrid classrooms with in-person and remote learning take place simultaneously. These “many-to-one” scenarios are where high-quality audio and video conferencing solutions become a necessity.

We’ve taken a hard look at the various solutions out there enabling remote learning and decided to pursue a model supporting Bring Your Own Meeting (BYOM). This means the classrooms can run on Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, or any other meeting platform and the hardware becomes agnostic. We’ve seen Logitech and Barco team up to bring their solutions out in simple “small, medium, large” configurations, where cameras and microphones are sized to the room. We’ve wrapped simple package pricing around them and pushed it out

into our market to let our customers know we’re being proactive. These solutions are easy to install, configure, and support, so we’re optimistic that any K-12 programs deciding to transform their classrooms can easily test them to see if they make sense for the teachers, students, and parents.

house volunteers or AV staff to offer up higher-quality streaming. Remote worshippers want to take advantage of these high-quality feeds and most are currently stuck with using AirPlay or Chromecast, which tends to render horrible audio/video delay and lip-syncing issues when viewed on a typical family room surround sound setup.

Take Me to Church Every Sunday close to 40 percent of Americans attend a religious service of some sort, and most churches have been closed down since mid-March. Churches are rethinking the way they deliver worship services moving forward. We’re starting to see more attention paid to the quality of worship audio/video production as it’s become more apparent that we may be home for longer than we thought (as well as churches realizing they can add more congregants with compelling virtual offerings).

The Family Zoom Call One of my friends shared that we’ve been doing things during the pandemic we could’ve been doing all along. One of these “could’ve been doing all along” traditions in many households is a weekly check-in with loved ones via Zoom.

These comedic, sometimes awkward virtual gatherings lay bare our technical shortcomings for all to see. Mom’s on mute, Dad’s video doesn’t work, and kids are playing tech support.

Forget trying to get the whole family together around a laptop. It doesn’t work! Thankfully solutions like Leon’s Interactive FIT, combined with Logitech/Barco videoconferencing, mean that the whole family can sit on the couch and hang out with each other while socializing with grandparents on the other side of the country.

Most Sunday church services are in one-way communication mode right now, often held in a webinar format where it’s tough to communicate back and forth with other attendees. By Zoomifying both houses of worship spaces and family rooms, we’re paving the way for congregations to foster a sense of community virtually. The same Logitech/Barco solutions we’re offering to the K-12 community work just as well at home thanks to solutions like Leon’s Interactive FIT speaker bar solutions, which house webcams and speakers together in a very clean interface.

As we continue coming to grips with the notion that we might be kept apart for longer than we originally thought, homeowners and businesses are more open to adapting their spaces to these many-to-one gathering scenarios. I’m excited to see what the rest of 2020 brings because no matter what happens, some of us are never going back to the way things were and need to pivot into a “new normal.” x

Larger house of worship spaces with older broadcast capabilities has been using the pandemic downtime to upgrade their sanctuaries and pulpits to better enable their in-

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Cover Story

No Mercy Ralph Macchio Talks Tech, the Switch to Netflix, and Season 3 of Cobra Kai

By Joe Toppe Thanks to streaming technologies like YouTube and Netflix, what started almost four decades ago is back in a big way.

Ralph Macchio’s return to Daniel LaRusso in Cobra Kai is a culmination of the market’s continued interest in The Karate Kid movie franchise and the “Perfect Pitch,” according to the actor.

The series began on YouTube in 2018 and remained there the first two years. The show has since transitioned to Netflix and will kick off season three in early 2021. So far, nearly the entire original cast has made an appearance, while more are expected later in the series. With projects like The Outsiders, My Cousin Vinny, and HBO’s drama series, Deuce, under his belt, Macchio has enjoyed a career in the spotlight since the early 1980’s.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed the traditional movie business and an entertainer’s capacity to connect with fans through film, viewing technologies and the consumer’s ability to watch from anywhere are creating a tech-oriented demographic and demand.

How does Macchio watch movies now? Is he a tech enthusiast? What are his future projects?

What’s the release date for the third season of Cobra Kai? Will there be a season four?

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In a recent sit-down with Residential Tech Today, Macchio not only talked about Cobra Kai and the technologies he uses in his home, he told us where the idea for the show came from and how he learned all those fighting moves.

Residential Tech Today: Can you tell us how you pitched the idea for Cobra Kai? What were your initial thoughts?

Ralph Macchio: The pitch came to me as opposed to me coming up with the concept.

Over the last 30 years, everyone had their ideas on how to get back to The Karate Kid universe. But they were never that exciting.

In this case, they were writers who’d seen the movie a million times. It was their Star Wars.

They came to me last after getting all the other cast onboard because they’d heard I was the most resistant to going back to that well again. I wanted the legacy to stand.

But their pitch came from the Johnny Lawrence angle, William Zabka’s character.

They jumped 34 years in the future where two guys haven’t seen one another but a rivalry still percolates beneath them. And yet, they are telling a fresh story that is also relevant today with a next-generation cast.

Photo: Art Streiber

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Cover Story

After finishing the first two seasons on YouTube, the third installment of Cobra Kai will premiere on Netflix Jan. 8, 2021

Photo: Guy D'Alema/Sony Pictures Television/Netflix

Photo: Jace Down/Sony Pictures Television/Netflix

Photo: Mark HillSony Pictures Television/Netflix

Photo: Steve Dietl/Sony Pictures Television/Netflix

It was the right time because I felt these guys really cared about the franchise. Now, here we are from YouTube to Netflix and it is exploding all over the world.

RT Today: Have you ever trained in Karate or any other martial art?

RM: For the first movie I went through basic training if you will. It was like the Cliffs Notes version to look good while doing it without paying all the dues.

But it is fight choreography, like dance. You must learn the steps, and we designed it to mimic the Okinawan style, which is defensive and open-handed, but not aggressive like Cobra Kai. The style also lends itself to my body and lankiness.

When you think of the crane pose, it’s all arms and legs. I know Billy Zabka kept it up a few years after, but when they stopped paying me, I stopped wanting to get kicked in the face. It’s like riding a bike to a point, but the body now doesn’t respond like it used to.

world with season three coming out January 8.

The season is done and in the can. I recently watched it and it is the ultimate fan service, and yet, it was broader in scope than the first two seasons. I am excited to give the fans what they’ve been clamoring for, but not in the way they’d expect. The season will keep you on your toes.

RT Today: Can you tell us about the season three move from YouTube to Netflix?

RM: YouTube was high on the show and made the highest play to get it at the onset, but they changed their mandates for the platform and were going away from scripted entertainment.

We even went to Okinawa to shoot a few episodes as LaRusso returns to learn some of the origins of Miyagi-Do Karate. There are new things about the martial art and Mr. Miyagi that fans don’t know. It is cool this show can go back to legacy characters and reveal even more about them after they’re gone. It is a fist-pumping season.

Because we just completed the third season and there were no further commitments, Sony Pictures worked a deal to re-shop the show around. Netflix had always been in everyone’s crosshairs. It has now exploded all over the

We are writing the fourth season right now.

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Cover Story: No Mercy In season 1, Daniel LaRusso implements the many training strategies given to him

by Mr. Miyagi.

Photo: Steve Dietl/Sony Pictures Television/Netflix

RT Today: Already a trend before COVID19, streaming technologies have been pushed to the forefront during the pandemic. How critical have these technologies been to actors?

RM: In this current time, it is good to have these outlets to reach your audience. We didn’t have this option 20 years ago. While shooting the movies or shows can be tough in a [COVID19] world, it allows us to continue creating.

RT Today: With all that is going on with the COVID-19 pandemic and tech innovations in home entertainment, will “movie going” ever be the same?

RM: While streaming technologies allow

Photo: Steve Dietl/Sony Pictures Television/Netflix

actors additional opportunities to get stories to the consumer, we all miss the communal experience of being in a theater. In the future, theaters will be designed differently to accommodate things like upgrades in seating and ventilation.

In the foreseeable time, I am not running to a movie theater, even though I miss it, but the movie theater experience will return one day.

RT Today: Any future projects? What irons do you have in the fire?

RM: As you can imagine, Cobra Kai takes up a decent amount of time, but I am working on a couple projects behind the camera. I have done some writing and directing of short films and

producing some television.

And everything old is new again, so I am looking at recycling things I’ve had in development. I’d like to do a current spin on some young adult topics. During the first three seasons of Cobra Kai, I was also working with HBO on Deuce. I loved watching that show on Sunday nights with the Cobra Kai script on my lap.

The role on HBO was so different and allowed me to show a different range, so I would love to embrace another opportunity like that again.

RT Today: Do you consider yourself a tech enthusiast? What is your home entertainment setup?

Much like his own family, LaRusso begins teaching the Okinawan style of Karate to others.

Photo: Jace Downs/Sony Pictures Television/Netflix

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Photo: Jace Downs/Sony Pictures Television/Netflix

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Cover Story

While following the guidelines of Miyagi-Do Karate, LaRusso also applies his own training methods.

Photo:Bob Mahoney/Sony Pictures Television/Netflix

RM: No, but I am jealous of the people that are, so I aim to learn more soon. Right now, if I post on Instagram, I have to ask my kids for help, but I am getting better. The 12 on my VCR isn’t flashing anymore.

I have a Samsung system and I love sound. It is such a big thing for movies, and I like to use Bose headphones to recreate that movie experience. Although I have a great gym in the basement, there are times when I look around and think this place should be a home theater.

As I get older, I also think I need the gym more than the home theater system. But maybe I could do both and have a retractable screen

Photo:Bob Mahoney/Sony Pictures Television/Netflix

Just like anything else, the first time feels like a mountain. But after that, you get the hang of it.

around the weights?

RT Today: Did you use a custom installer for your home tech integration, or do you do it yourself?

RT Today: Is there any kind of smart home tech that you’ve got your eyes on?

RM: I always have my eyes on innovative security systems for obvious reasons, while also educating myself on all that is out there. I have had an alarm and security system in my home since the 1970’s, ever since I was a kid, but I need an upgrade.

RM: I did a few things for the television and sound system, but my son is good at it. Between the two of us, we can get it figured out. But like I said, I don’t have the full enchilada yet.

When I need things like Ring cameras installed, I simply purchase the items and hand them to my electrician. But when I had to change my Wi-Fi for them, the first one took me 20 minutes while the remaining cameras barely took me six seconds each.

With upgrades comes all the connected capabilities like lighting and communication channels throughout the home, but I am sure I will need a “Mr. Miyagi” to get me through it. x

After more than 30 years of not seeing one another, Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence's rivalry remains.

Photo: Steve Dietl/Sony Pictures Television/Netflix

Photo: Steve Dietl/Sony Pictures Television/Netflix

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ISSUE FOCUS

Healthy Home

Healthy Home: Seeing is Believing Residential Tech Pros Offering Human-Centric Lighting Systems Share Their Experiences

By Mark Moody

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ISSUE FOCUS

T

oday’s homeowners are growing increasingly interested in residential wellness technologies. After all, while a few hundred years ago most of our lives took place outside, these days we spend up to 90 percent of our time indoors. The result is that indoor environmental conditions have a profound impact on our health, productivity, and overall well-being. And since our internal clocks – or circadian rhythms – still take their cues from the Earth’s natural lighting cycle, nothing has a greater effect than indoor lighting.

Human-centric lighting (HCL) systems address this issue by rendering ideal natural lighting conditions indoors. Furthermore, an HCL system allows for customizable control over light color and intensity, regardless of the time of day. Set your “Awake” scene to mimic natural light before the sun comes up. Transition your dining table to a workspace by rendering cool, high-intensity light to help you focus. That’s the beauty of an HCL system – homeowners can enjoy natural light when and where they need it.

This technology has been used in commercial spaces where occupants have little to no access to natural light, and it is starting to make an impact in the residential space as well. As a result, more residential technology professionals are adding HCL to their line-ups. For those thinking of taking the plunge, we at Vantage thought it would be helpful to get in touch with some of our dealers who are already offering HCL systems and ask them to share their experiences. Our conversation was with Scott Abel, director of quality and customer, SAV Digital Environments, Bozeman, MT; Kevin Flower, principal, Acoustic Designs Group, Scottsdale, AZ; and Gabe Rivera, partner, Digital Habitats, Dallas, TX. Residential Tech Today: How long have you been offering HCL systems?

Scott Abel: A little over a year.

Kevin Flower: We’ve been offering HCL systems for the past two years. Part of the decision to design a new showroom was to demonstrate and live with this technology.

Gabe Rivera: We’ve been offering HCL systems for the past three or four years.

RT Today: Why did you add HCL to your offering?

Kevin Flower and Acoustic Designs Group, in Scottsdale, AZ, have been offering HCL systems for the past two years. Part of the decision to design a new showroom was to demonstrate and live with the technology.

Abel: Human-centric lighting is one of the most revolutionary technologies to hit the CI market for a long time. Learning about and integrating technologies as HCL arms us with the tools and the ability to offer even deeper integration solutions for our clients.

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Healthy Home

Gabe Rivera and Dallas-based Digital Habitats recently added human-centric lighting to its product offerings, as people have been focusing more on their health and their home environment.

Flower: I believe in it. I strongly believe there is a correlation between light and how the human body functions. With the fairly recent innovation of the LED light source, it was only a matter of time until we could harness its true potential as an optimum light source.

Rivera: Lighting control in general has always been a big part of our offering. We’ve added HCL specifically because there’s been a higher demand for it over the last few years as people have been focusing more on their health and their home environment. And with a lot of people working remotely due to COVID-19, we’ve seen a significant uptick in people asking about it.

RT Today: Has HCL been a successful addition to your line-up?

Abel: We have integrated a few human-centric lighting systems over the past year and are confident that by offering HCL, we are showing our clients that we are a forward-thinking firm that is open to embracing new technologies, especially ones meant to improve the quality of life.

Flower: It has been very successful, but it takes a little bit of knowledge and understanding by

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both the consumer and our design team.

Rivera: Absolutely. And it really goes hand in hand with our offering of shading systems, so it’s had an impact there as well.

RT Today: Have your clients been asking about adding HCL to their homes, or is it something you’ve been selling them on, or both?

Abel: Very few people know about humancentric lighting, and it’s a tough sell unless it can be experienced, so we have strategically integrated it into our showroom spaces for others to come and experience for themselves.

Flower: We always start at the top and work our way down. With HCL, clients are guaranteed to have the right color, mood, and intensity at any time. It’s a lighting designer’s dream.

Rivera: It’s a combination of both. We’ve had a lot of previous clients reaching out about HCL, especially recently. Much of that has been offthe-cuff questions, but once we explain it – how it works with circadian rhythms and contributes to their overall wellbeing – people tend to get

really interested. Many start off small with HCL in their bedroom, family room, or kitchen area and then add on from there. Others prefer to have it installed in phases. We also work with a lot of new home builds, and HCL is a pretty easy conversation to have with homebuilders.

And interior designers love it for the lighting design aspect it brings to a home.

RT Today: When selling HCL to clients, how do you go about communicating the technology’s benefits?

Abel: Technology helps bring a space to life, give it a voice, make it comfortable, set a mood, and improve the overall aesthetic. All of these factors are crucial to the impact any environment has on the individual. HCL adds to this experience, giving people the ability to now mimic what’s happening outdoors, indoors, throughout the course of a day or an evening.

Light intensity, color rendering, color temperature, and so much more, human-centric lighting will help create spaces specific to individual needs. It has the potential to make a very meaningful impact on the overall wellbeing of other people’s lives.

ISSUE FOCUS

Scott Abel, SAV Digital Environments, in Bozeman, MT, strategically integrated human-centric lighting into their showroom spaces for others to come and experience for themselves.

Photos: Audrey Hall Photography

Flower: By showing them. We have them sit in a space and we run through a curated program so they can experience the technology first-hand.

Rivera: One of the ways we do this is to take new clients to previous clients’ homes and have them show off their HCL systems. Previous clients are pretty excited to do this and most of the time we pair new clients up with people that live close to them – so they get to meet someone in their neighborhood – and that have systems similar to what they’re looking for.

RT Today: What are the typical concerns clients have when considering incorporating an HCL system, and how have you addressed them?

Abel: Price, ease of use, and reliability.

Flower: The biggest concerns are price and control requirements. Most of the time when we are getting a client interested in HCL, we are able to trade off its costs by using controls such as Vantage, which streamline and limit the hardware necessary to run the HCL system. Having conventional lighting schemes with multiple switch legs running back to a lighting panel is costly. Being able to wire more lights together and have the technology in the fixture brings costs down.

Rivera: Ease of use is definitely the biggest concern, both for the client and us. If it’s not easy to use, they’re not going to like their system. And we’re not going to like rolling out for a bunch of service calls. So it’s in everybody’s best interest that the system is simple to operate. And we ensure that by being selective in the products we use, based on years of experience and testing things out. Another concern is whether or not having an HCL system installed makes sense financially. Is it going to save them money in the long run? What is the upfront investment? I’ve found that once we’ve demonstrated an HCL system for a client, budget questions often go away. And again, they can start off with a very basic system or have the installation done in phases if they want to. And the last big concern is reliability. People see that there are a lot of moving parts in an HCL system and worry that there will be issues due to that. But again, it’s in our best interest to make sure the system is perfectly reliable. Like every other integrator, we rely on referrals from satisfied clients, and you don’t get those by putting in unreliable systems.

Flower: Having a showroom is a necessity.

That way you have control over what your clients will be experiencing, and how they will experience it.

Rivera: Go for it! People really appreciate these systems when they’re done well — whether it’s for their wellbeing, overall convenience, or just to have something to brag about.

Conclusion For residential tech professionals willing to put in the work and educate themselves, HCL can make a successful addition to their offering that increases revenues and positions them as forward-thinking leaders. However, widespread adoption of any new home technology takes time and there are sure to be obstacles along the way; HCL is no exception. For homeowners, the most common concerns when considering purchasing a system include cost, ease of use, and reliability.

But seeing is believing when it comes to HCL, and all three issues can be addressed by wowing potential clients with these technologies in action, whether it’s through showroom demonstrations or having them visit previous installations. So, if you’re considering adding HCL to your line-up, the door to opportunity is wide open. Come on in. x

RT Today: What advice would you give a dealer considering adding HCL to their offering?

Abel: Educate yourself.

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ISSUE FOCUS

Healthy Home

Digital Health and Medicine in the COVID-19 Era Keeping a Handle on Your Health During the Pandemic and Beyond

By Michael Heiss Many things have changed since we all began to navigate the changes brought by COVID-19.

Think of it: “take out” is the new “dine in,” where printed menus and even touch screens have given way to “contact-free transactions.”

Meetings and events, from family visits to business meetings, everything from wedding celebrations to funerals and memorial services have gone virtual.

Telehealth is a broad category of health-related services, products, and devices that use remote communication to enable the dissemination and perhaps the collection of data allied with the health profession. Participating in a seminar about medical issues, transmitting a prescription to a pharmacy, and collecting data from a monitor are typically defined as being under that banner.

Some things, however, still require physical contact: blood tests, injections, dialysis and infusions, radiation therapy, dentistry, chiropractic visits, surgery, “touch-intensive” physical exams, and the like. You simply can’t “phone those in.” On the other hand, as people in remote locations or where medical professionals are not geographically close, what is generally put under the umbrella of “telemedicine” has been helping people and saving lives for years.

On the other hand, telemedicine is generally defined as a more direct communication between a clinician and a patient, regardless of whether it is video or audio-only. If a one-to-one “visit” is virtual, rather than in person, that’s telemedicine. Put another way, if you send data from a home medical sensor or device such as a blood pressure or EKG app, that’s telehealth.

When the clinician follows up with you virtually to let you know what the data means, that is telemedicine.

Thanks to “stay at home” recommendations, video conferencing and allied distance-medicine tools are being used by even the most urban city dwellers. Most of my own doctors are less than five miles away, as are four hospitals and a myriad of specialized out-patient surgery centers. Yet, other than a socially distanced cardiologist visit, my wife and I have had “virtual doctor visits” with some of our physicians.

A side note: I’m using the term “clinician” rather than “doctor” intentionally. These days parts of your health care may be taken care of by a nurse practitioner, a physician’s assistant, or an RN. These people deserve the respect they sometimes don’t receive as they are a key part of the health care team.

Yes, hopefully, things will change sooner than later, but what will the “new normal” mean for those of us who specify, install and maintain residential tech ecosystems as well as those who are consumers? What are the key things to know?

First, a few terms and definitions are in order as you figure out what to do and what to ask your own providers. At the top of the list is the difference between “telehealth” and “telemedicine.”

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There is another bit of nomenclature that you should understand when considering the data gathering side of telehealth: medical-grade devices versus health devices. Both classes of devices may do the same thing, but the difference is in the accuracy and repeatability of the results. A good example of that is using a “smartwatch” for reading blood pressure versus a product with a full inflatable sensor. That’s where the products you have seen in the doctor’s office with the “cuff ” on your arm, or a novel product such as Omron’s HeartGuide, differ from a sensor on the bottom of a watch.

The watch isn’t bad, and for many, it does the

The lights on the bottom of the new Apple Watch Series 6 enable it to measure your blood oxygen saturation.

Photo courtesy of Apple

trick. A medical-grade device just does it better.

As you shop for and evaluate products for health care measurement, it is also good to be aware of what is meant when you see the term “FDA Cleared.” This means that the FDA has evaluated the data supplied by the manufacturer to support any claims. However, this wording does not mean that the FDA has (in almost all cases, depending on the category “Class”) actually looked at or tested the device. It means that any claims for the device have been backed up, typically with peer-reviewed studies.

Looking at specific devices, I’ve already mentioned blood pressure monitors. They are key to helping you work with a clinician to adjust medicines and, perhaps, even more important, monitor for the activity that might lead to a stroke or other serious condition. In addition to picking a device that suits the individual, with these or other similar devices, it is always a good idea to take the blood pressure device to a physical clinician visit once to have your readings compared to a good, old fashioned, sphygmomanometer. You know that thing on the exam room’s wall with the glass tube of mercury that looks similar to an old thermometer. The use of mercury has put these out of production, but many offices have them.

ISSUE FOCUS just as the sphygmomanometer is a baseline for the true blood pressure reading.

combined with the Omron Connect app, gives you and your providers a combined EKG and BP reading for even better baseline information of two related and key health parameters.

One other type of telehealth device that has gained popularity in the past year or so is personal EKG (or, as some show it, ECG) The Kardia 6L takes readings both from your thumbs as well as your upper leg. products They give you the ability to have some idea of heart activity other than when you are in the doctor’s office. ALWAYS remember that at-home EKG recording is not a substitute for a true EKG taken with 12 or even more leads. It cannot, on its own, predict or warn of a heart attack.

Particularly in the era of the pandemic, another health measurement that is becoming important is blood oxygen saturation. This is not something to look at every day, as you might with blood pressure or perhaps a heart check for readings that might detect Afib. However, if you are in a front-line job or are disease compromised, it’s a good thing to know.

This measurement is something that you’ve encountered at your last visit to the doctor or clinic. That small device that looks like a chip clip with a digital readout is a pulse oximeter. It uses light technology to measure the oxygen, and the clip measures your pulse. Depending on the accuracy, these may be bought for under $20 to over $200. This one where it is best to check with a healthcare professional about, but if it is recommended it is an easy thing to do at home and then report the readings yourself or, in some cases, via an app. For the most recent product in that area, the new Apple Watch Series 6 has lights in the bottom of its case that perform the same functions as a “finger clip” device, albeit with a bit more panache and the ability to send readings to the cloud as well as see them on the watch face.

When used properly, however, these products warn you of atrial fibrillation (Afib) or arrhythmia. Those with this condition have a risk of stroke that is five times higher than average. With both watches and purposedesigned devices, do a one-lead EKG and record it. Some have algorithms built into the product that can warn of the possible irregular heartbeat so that you can seek medical advice or attention.

Most also use apps to record the readings so that you may send them to a cardiologist. Some devices such as those from Kardia or Omron even include an evaluation of the first reading by a cardiologist that helps the app further set a personal baseline.

Omron’s “Complete” measures your blood pressure and takes an EKG and not only keeps a record of the readings in an app, but it can also send the data to a doctor for analysis.

A Pulse Oximeter such as this one from SantaMedical is an easy way to check your pulse and blood oxygen.

By comparing your digital device to one of those, you have a mental calibration of the accuracy of your personal device. Even better, the clinician may then be able to help you take better readings on your own.

That advice for the use of digital telehealth devices is also worth remembering with regard to “touchless” digital thermometers. Whether you have one for business or personal use, every once in a while, take someone’s “skin temperature” with the touchless unit and compare it to a reading of the person’s “core body” temperature using a more conventional device that touches the person’s body. Compare the two and see if you need to figure any difference in the results. The “internally driven” core body temperature is the guiding baseline,

The reluctance of some to go to a doctor’s office for a physical visit has made these devices more appealing during the pandemic, they make sense in “normal times,” as well. Particularly for those with “at-risk” conditions, having solid data that you can view yourself, have stored in an app’s history, sent via the cloud to a monitoring service, or, of course, shared with your personal medical team, is a good thing.

Using them is simple: For watches, you touch the crown until the reading is complete. For other products, you place your thumbs on conductive pads. As with any product category, there are differences. For example, the Kardia 6L takes readings both from your thumbs as well as your upper leg. This gives you the equivalent of a “six lead” EKG, that while not as accurate as what you get in the doctor’s office or hospital, is a better and more accurate indication of heart activity than a single-lead device.

Having a handle on your health may well help you get through the pandemic, but also help you know your body and thus lead a better and hopefully longer life.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for informational and educational purposes only and it is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives. In the event that you suspect a life-threatening condition seek immediate medical assistance. x

Another interesting product is Omron’s Complete. This combines the sensors for a singlelead device with a cuff-driven, medical-grade, blood pressure reader into one product. This,

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Aug-Oct 2020 | Residential Tech Today

AUDIO

Reviewing the Savant Smart Audio Soundbar Bundle A Savant Dealer Can Take the Speaker Bar, Savant Pro Remote Control, Mount a TV, and That’s It

By Henry Clifford

Savant launched its Smart Audio Soundbar bundle earlier this year as a way to offer a complete home control and audio system solution integrated together. A Savant dealer can take the speaker bar, Savant Pro Remote Control, mount a TV, and that’s it. Nothing else required.

This type of approach is novel and designed to deliver a profitable, all-in-one solution during an era when true surround sound installations are much less prevalent and soundbar installations have become the norm.

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Savant sent me their new Smart Audio WiSA Soundbar 55 bundled with two subwoofers, surround speakers, a Savant Metro Keypad, and the new Pro Remote X2. I knew this review would require me to strap on my toolbelt and do some serious custom installation work, but I felt up to the task. I wanted to make sure all their products were all installed and configured as intended.

All the gear showed up packaged in brown cardboard with each piece snugly cocooned in Styrofoam. I removed the Soundbar first. It’s

very well built and heavy. The top of the bar features a recessed track where the included VESA mount adapters attach. I proceeded to lay out the rest of the pieces and parts to get it ready for mounting.

Installation and Configuration I decided to pair the soundbar with a wallmounted 65-inch Sony 4K TV and Apple TV. Savant touts its Apple-approved Siri voice integration with the Pro Remote X2, and I wanted to put that to the test.

I know these products are meant to be

AUDIO

For the review Savant provided their new Smart Audio WiSA Soundbar 55 bundled with two subwoofers, surround speakers, a Savant Metro Keypad, and the new Pro Remote X2.

installed by Savant dealers, but I was surprised there weren’t any instructions included showing how the VESA mount adapters should attach. I eventually settled on a configuration that may or may not be Savant approved, but it’s not coming down anytime soon!

After fishing the cabling and installing the soundbar on the wall, I dressed all the wire and installed the source components. In addition to the Apple TV 4K, I added in an Xbox One and a gaming port for my kids’ myriad throwback video game systems.

Savant’s National Retail Sales Manager, Aaron Gutin, set up a call where he guided me through the programming process. I watched as he zipped through Savant’s RacePoint Blueprint software, digitally rendering my physical connections. After a few minutes, he asked me to test the setup and, voila! It all just started working. I’ve been installing technology for a long time and seldom do things just work seamlessly the first time.

I sent a test tone through all of the WiSA speakers after pairing them to the system and was impressed by how easy the setup process went. I pulled up a Dolby 5.1 surround sound demo and my jaw dropped. This simple speaker bar system with wireless surrounds and subwoofers produced an amazing sound profile, including a low end that shook my floor joists.

Aaron assured me the subwoofers would never bottom out, and the tuning capabilities of the system were on par with any high-end sound

system. I saw this for myself as we both looked at the speaker bar’s web interface, where channel level settings are easily adjusted. The Smart Audio Soundbar defaults to playing “all-channel stereo” unless overridden by another digital signal. I’m sure this was intended to drive down service calls where customers complain about the rear speakers not working. I demoed a few movies, including the Ready Player One, U2: Vertigo 2005 // Live from Chicago, and 1917.

The spoken dialogue was crystal clear and easy to discern with action scenes appropriately imaged to maximize true surround sound.

Savant has sound modes slated for a future release, which will come in handy for customers wanting to switch between two-channel and full-surround listening on the fly.

“Savant Scenes” within the app. A huge standout here appears that the homeowner can do a lot on their own without needing to call their dealer. I set the lighting, turned on some music, and chose to capture a scene based on those settings. Most other control systems make you program scenes from scratch, so having a way to capture current settings (like the way the lights and audio should be set before a party) puts a tremendous amount of autonomy in the hands of Savant’s end users.

Engagement is the key to ongoing enjoyment of any system, and Savant shows off its user experience design chops with features like “Savant Scenes.” I labeled the scene within the app and set one of the Metro keypad buttons to turn it on and off. It felt very empowering to accomplish all of these activities within Savant’s app without needing to “phone a friend.” Other control system companies would do well to take note.

I paired the Pro Remote X2 with the Apple TV 4K via Apple’s HomeKit and began testing the Siri integration via the microphone button on the handheld. A press and hold yielded fast voice recognition and global searching throughout the Apple TV. It is the first time I’ve seen a universal remote exclusive sold through the custom installation channel do voice search so well. This feature alone sets Savant in a completely different category from its competitors. When combined with Savant’s slick app user experience (the component iconography on the remotes is clean and well designed), it’s clear a new bar has been set (no pun intended).

Savant appears to be obsessed with the customer experience and usability. This obsession has paid off with the debut of the Smart Audio WiSA Soundbar 55. I highly recommend taking another look at Savant if it’s been a while. The company appears to be quietly going about their business and building a loyal following one raving fan at a time. This soundbar bundle (MSRP from $3,000) is a killer one-room solution, and I can see dealers using it to help their customers dip a toe into the Savant ecosystem and expand from there. x

Aaron also walked me through the creation of

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PRODUCT REVOLUTION

Distributed exclusively by SnapAV, the Clare Controls ClareOne Wireless Security and Smart Home Panel unifies smart wireless security and smart home control with a full line of encrypted security sensors and smart home integrations. And the all-new FusionPro back-end management and RMR platform create a single-point solution for dealers to install, manage, and monetize security and control systems. On the front end is a slim, seveninch ClareOne Panel touchscreen that connects to encrypted security sensors and up to 128 security zones.

Access Networks’ new Wi-Fi 6 lineup includes the Ruckus R550 and R850 wireless access points. Like the company’s previously announced A750 Wi-Fi 6 access point, these models elevate Wi-Fi performance from “gigabit” to “multigigabit” Wi-Fi to support the demand for better and faster Wi-Fi. Because networking requirements vary by the size of home, the number of users and devices, and bandwidth demands, the availability of three Wi-Fi 6 certified access points allows one to choose a solution that best fits home and lifestyle.

Bowers & Wilkins’ new 600 Series Anniversary Edition range of loudspeakers feature improved components, including upgraded crossovers and new and improved bypass capacitors to provide acoustic performance upgrades. A new oak finish joins the existing matte black or matte white finishes.

An additional red cherry finish is available as a special order. All Anniversary Edition speakers also include a new celebratory logo inscribed on the tweeter surround in either light or dark finishes, depending on the color of the rest of the speaker.

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PRODUCT REVOLUTION

Samsung may be a bit late to the ultrashort throw (UST) projector game, but with The Premiere line, they are entering with very competitive products. Both the LSP7T and LS P9T offer full 4K resolution powered by a triple laserilluminated light engine with the quoted peak brightness is up to 2,800 lumens.

The screen sizes are 120 inches and 130 inches, respectively. Both Premiere models are the first projectors with both HDR-10+ certification and the Filmmaker Mode.

With SurgeX’s new UPS + Isolation Transformers, a new neutral-ground bond is established at the rack, rather than at the main breaker panel, to ensure clean power is supplied to connected electronic equipment. The UPSs are designed to prevent high-frequency electrical noise and voltage from affecting performance. Each UPS + Isolation Transformer is suitable for both residential and commercial applications, with the flexibility and strength to manage environments from 1440VA to 2760VA. Virtually silent, they are an ideal match for home theaters, audio systems, and other sound-reliant environments.

Denon’s flagship AVR-A110 13.2-channel 8K AV receiver combines all popular 3D formats – Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, DTS:X Pro, IMAX Enhanced, and Auro-3D – and was developed with extreme attention to detail and tuned by a Denon sound master at its component level. The AV receiver’s all-black interior is housed in a limited-edition silvergraphite finish with aluminum front and side panels, custom die-cast feet, and a copper transformer plate for improved isolation. It provides 8K/60Hz passthrough or upscaling, 4K/120Hz pass-through for gaming, and support for the latest HDMI specifications.

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PRODUCT REVOLUTION

Epson is launching its new EpiqVision Ultra TV line with the LS500 4K PRO-UHD laser projection TV. Pairing an ultrashort-throw projector with a custom-built, high-resolution ambient light rejecting screen designed specifically for the LS500, this combined solution delivers immersive 4K HDR content up to 120 inches. Equipped with proprietary 4K PROUHD 3LCD technology, the LS500 is powered by Android TV to keep households connected with live TV through popular streaming apps and includes a simple-to-use remote with built-in Google Assistant.

Harman is now shipping the new JBL HDI Series, which is led by the flagship triple 8-inch, 2.5-way HDI-3800 floorstanding loudspeaker. The range also includes the triple 6.5- inch, 2.5-way HDI-3600 floor-standing loudspeaker, the 6.5-inch, 2-way HDI-1600 bookshelf loudspeaker with HDI-FS floor stand accessory, the quad 5.25inch, 2.5-way HDI-4500 center channel loudspeaker, and the 12-inch,1000Wrms HDI-1200P powered subwoofer. The four full-range models are based on JBL’s patented 2410H-2 compression driver and benefit from advanced research and applications from JBL Professional’s D2 transducers.

Hunter Douglas has introduced a new solution for PowerView automated shades with the Rechargeable Battery Wand, which was designed to bring convenient, long-lasting power to Hunter Douglas automated shading products. It fits discreetly behind the headrail, yet is easy to remove, recharge, and replace. The battery charge lasts up to one year, depending on shade use. When it needs to be recharged, homeowners get a notification via email or from the PowerView App indicating which shades have low batteries.

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PRODUCT REVOLUTION Sony’s three new native 4K (4096 x 2160) home cinema projectors feature SXRD panels for more improved processing and brightness. The new lamp VPL-VW715ES model and laser VPL-VW915ES model implement the new picture processor “X1 for projector,” which is based on the technology used for Sony’s top TV models. The new HDR feature analyzes scene-by-scene to deliver the best contrast performance. The flagship 4K SXRD laser projector VPL-GTZ380 can achieve 10,000 lumens and a wide color gamut of 100-percent DCI-P3 without any loss of brightness.

The Crestron 3-Series Control System now integrates with Delos DARWIN Home Wellness Intelligence Network to control lighting, shades, HVAC, and audio within the DARWIN platform to provide a more seamless experience that transforms a home space through intelligent scenes designed to help support immune health and reduce the transmission of airborne illnesses.

Advanced features like control of tunable lighting, circadian cycles, and Delos Dawn Simulation work with the Crestron 3-Series Control System to improve the home experience.

Josh.ai’s new Fiji OS configuration platform implements new user roles and permissions structures for granular privacy settings, IR configuration of set-top boxes for channel access and navigation of non-native video sources, an intuitive new portal layout, and a natural language scene editor that will transform how systems are programmed going forward. The update has been pushed to all active Josh.ai systems and will be the standard going forward, at no additional charge. Clients can now simply speak or type out what they want a scene to do.

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RELAX

The Lighter Side

Pros and Cons of Quarantine Tech

By Anthony Elio

COVID-19 has taken the world by storm. And unlike other contagions like disco fever or techno chlamydia, this hasn’t been near as fun. But there is a bright side. Because of this newfound quarantine, we get to spend 18 hours a day looking at screens instead of the usual 16.

This has led to tons of modern tech keeping us entertained and productive. But, unlike other people in the tech sphere, I’m not afraid to be critical of these new products. Here are my unabashed, uncensored views.

Note: This article has been heavily censored for incorrect facts and heavy swearing.

Zoom Video Conferencing PROS: • Employees will be more focused.

Meaning, they’ll start the morning with one mint julep instead of two or three.

• Opportunity to look down on your coworker’s decor CONS: • Have to clean spaghetti stains off your shirt before every conference.

• As a remote employee, I can no longer steal staplers and copper wire from the office.

Roomba Robot Vacuum Life Simulator VR PROS: •W ill clear dirt, dander, and Cheeto dust from your floor •S aves you the five minutes it takes to use a real vacuum CONS: •V acuumed up my cremated father •U nlike many robots, not designed for any form of personal or physical companionship. Trust me.

PROS: • Gives you an opportunity to relive pre-quarantine life, allowing you to go to work, visit relatives, traverse the dating scene, and anticipate the weekend.

CONS: • Will remind you how pointless pre-quarantine life was

Amazon COVID-19 Cure PROS: • Might provide relief for the novel coronavirus • Could end a global pandemic that has brought the world to a halt, leading to widespread death and economic turmoil CONS: • Listens to your conversations from within your blood to provide targeted advertising Anthony Elio is a ranch dressing enthusiast and can be followed at www.instagram.com/ants.tvg All photos: iStockphoto.com

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Residential Tech Today | Aug-Oct 2020

AVANCE

Rock-solid AV Performance

Versatile 4K/UHD HDMI Over HDBaseT Extension The Atlona Avance™ Series of HDMI extender kits are the latest generation of reliable HDBaseT extenders for 4K/UHD AV signals. Avance is made up of five kits to suit a wide variety of budget, distance, signal, and power requirements, all of which include powerful integration features that ensure video transmission integrity and quality.

Models now shipping!

AT-AVA-EX100CE-BP-KIT

FILTERING

STRETCHING

LINK TEST

EDID Filtering

Clock Stretching

HDBaseT Link Test

Prevents extension of unsupported resolutions to increase the integrity of video transmission

Improves interoperability with legacy and low-quality HDMI video sources

Enables easy verification of cabling, termination, and link quality at the point of install

40/100M TX

RX

IP/RS-232/IR

EXTEND 4K

Flexible Powering

Control/Data Options

Distance Options

Kits are available with either local power supplies, remote where TX powers RX, or bidirectional, BP, where power is supplied by either TX or RX

Avance offers kits with no control, extension of RS-232 and IR, or extension of Ethernet, RS-232, and IR

Extend 4K/UHD 60Hz 4:2:0 at distances up to either 40M (130’) or 100M (330’) over Category 6A/7

Visit atlona.com/avance

When you rely on working and learning from home, only the best network will do.

Keeping You Connected™ to what matters most.

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