Residential Tech Today Sept/Oct 2018

PRACTICAL APPLICATION: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT VIDEO CONNECTIVITY

Rob

Corddry BRINGS DOWN THE HOUSE PLUS: The Health Benefits of Multidimensional Light Object-based Audio Formats in the 4K World CEDIA Says: Joel Silver’s ISF Video Calibration is Based on Facts…

Not Opinions Bandwidth-Hungry Smart Homes Require Networks That Can Keep Up

What should you believe?

The Evolution of Video – 4K, 8k, 10k, and Faux K

Sept/Oct 2018

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From the Editor The residential tech world is constantly changing to provide more intuitive tools for the evolving smart home, including new ways to access movies, TV, and music, as well as options for maintaining a more secure and healthy living environment. It’s an industry filled with innovators and visionaries who rarely lack for a good story behind the work that they do.

I love telling these stories.

Executive Editor Jeremy Glowacki

“ Our focus won’t only be on the nuts and bolts of residential tech integration.

We will also explore the lighter side of the business, with topics that are ‘tech adjacent’ and entertainmentcentric.”

Many of you may know me from my 20-plus years covering this business. After a very brief break this past spring, I found a new home with Innovative Properties Worldwide, publishers of our flagship Innovation & Tech Today. Before I joined, my new colleagues already knew they wanted to create a dedicated media outlet specifically for this channel, done in their unique style. They then hired me at the start of July to lead the editorial team toward our launch this month at CEDIA Expo in San Diego.

In this, our inaugural edition of Residential Tech Today, I hope you can see our proof of concept for a high-quality magazine that we like to call “new print.” Our target readers are primarily professional integrators, reps, and manufacturers who supply the highest quality products in the business to discerning homeowners, so we want to provide a print product that’s of the same quality. We’re also hoping to attract an enthusiast audience that is intrigued by the world of residential tech and wants to learn more from experts in the field.

If you aren’t already a subscriber, then you may have picked us up at a brick-mortar or digital newsstand. Either way, we welcome you to the magazine. Just be warned: this is a publication focused on the latest developments in cutting-edge residential tech. We’ll try to avoid jargon and lingo, but we won’t over-explain a technology that’s already established in the field.

In this issue, renowned video technology expert Michael Heiss serves as a guest editor, rounding up articles from respected writers and knowledge leaders about the latest screen resolution standards and predictions about what you should or should not prepare for in the future. Our writers also explain the role of object-based audio in the 4K world and the importance of proper wiring and connection standards.

But, our focus won’t only be on the nuts and bolts of residential tech integration. We will also explore the lighter side of the business, with topics that are “tech adjacent” and entertainment-centric. For instance, our cover story features an interview with actor Rob Corddry, known for his roles on The Daily Show and Hot Tub Time Machine, in which we learn not only more about his current role in the popular series Ballers on HBO, but also his interest in tech toys and work with custom integrators. We also turn to comedy writer Ben Rosenfeld, who wonders what it would be like if dating apps allowed ratings and recommendations like Netflix and Uber, as well as an exclusive behind-the-curtain look at how a new loudspeaker line was designed and executed in time for a major trade show.

We hope you enjoy reading our first issue. Let us know about your own insights and fun stories, as well. We look forward to hearing from you.

2

Residential Tech Today | Sept/Oct 2018

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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Power outages and dips occur regularly across the country.

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Automated.

Educated.

Integrated.

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Charles Warner cwarner@goipw.com

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Shane Brisson shane@goipw.com

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Jeremy Glowacki

MANAGING EDITOR

Dylan Rodgers

GUEST EDITOR

Michael Heiss

Looking for high-quality, in-depth

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Anthony Elio Alex Moersen

coverage of emerging trends in home

SENIOR WRITERS

Everin Draper Patricia Miller

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Brent Butterworth Nathan Holmes David Meyer Joseph Piccirilli Ben Rosenfeld Greg Tarr Darryl Wilkinson Ed Wenck

for smart home integration.

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Charlie Hernandez Dave Van Niel

Subscribe now for exclusive insights

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Bret Campbell Jonathan Easterling Matthew Garapic Steven Higgins Mike Kelly Robert Lorber Michael McGuire Nick Milano Sean Ortlieb

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

Caz Potts

OPERATIONS MANAGER

Kelsey Elgie Domier

OPERATIONS COORDINATOR

SALES COORDINATOR

CLIENT RELATIONS SPECIALIST

DIGITAL ASSET MANAGER

SENIOR VIDEO EDITOR

VIDEO EDITOR

automation? With inspiring innovator profiles, exclusive interviews, new product spotlights, and expert career and educational training, Residential Tech Today is your essential resource

into this rapidly growing field with the industry’s most comprehensive residential tech publication.

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SPECIAL THANKS TO: Bryan Jefferson, Derek Diguglielmo/LG, Adam Molnar/Neurable, Samantha Srinivasan, Nicole Marshall, Jennifer Shapiro, Fred Ampel, Katye Bennett, Dennis Burger, Chris Foreman, Olivia Kimmel, Danielle Klooth, Erin Phillips, Morgan Roush, Paul Muto, Micah Sheveloff, Orly Oxenhaut, Federico Varga This publication is dedicated to the dreamers, the innovators, the collaborators, and the doers – who can’t be bothered by those saying it can’t be done. Nicholas and Aria, the future is yours!

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David Marble Curtis Circulation

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Advertising inquiries, please contact: 720-476-4920 RESIDENTIAL TECH TODAY – Issue 1, Sept/Oct 2018 is published bi-monthly for $14.95 per year by Innovative Properties Worldwide, 3400 E Bayaud Ave., #280, Denver, CO 80209-9507. Periodical postage pending at Denver, CO, and additional mailing offices.

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All trademarks, service marks, photos, and logos contained within this publication are the property of their respective owners, and may not be individually identified in this publication.

4

Residential Tech Today | Sept/Oct 2018

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SEPT/OCT 2018

contents 54 Rob Corddry Brings Down the House

By Alex Moersen Cover photo

by Federico Vargas

Departments

Sections

10 By the Numbers 12 Quick Bits 14 Smart Devices 16 Beyond Installation 18 CEDIA Says 20 Connected Appliance 24 Science 70 Product Revolution 79 Events 80 Lighter Side

28 Green Tech: Protecting Sensitive Gear from Power Fluctuations

26 Innovator Profile Cloud9 COO Chris Smith

32 Audio: A Cascade of Innovations 34 Outdoor Tech: Building Tomorrow’s Connected Community 58 Health: The Ons and Offs of Human-Centric Lighting 64 Networked Home: Why Enterprise-grade Networks Matter

38 Featured From HD to 4K, 8K, and Beyond 42 T he Promising World of TV and Projector Displays 46 Audio Catches Up to 4K 50 Video Connectivity

76 Art & Tech The Design Behind Theory

6

Residential Tech Today | Sept/Oct 2018

CUSTOM INTEGRATION PROGRAM

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Contributors Greg Tarr is a 29-year veteran of the consumer electronics industry, covering the development, marketing, and sales of consumer TV and video products, cameras, and home theater equipment. He has been an editor with two consumer electronics trade publications and currently reports on and reviews new television and home theater gear as a freelance writer with several enthusiast publications. He is a member of the CTA’s Academy of Digital Television Pioneers.

Brent Butterworth has worked as a professional audio journalist and consultant since 1989. He has served as an editor or writer for SoundStage, Wirecutter, Sound & Vision, Home Theater Review, Home Theater magazine, and many other publications, and also worked as marketing director for Dolby Laboratories.

Michael Heiss, this edition’s guest editor, is a longtime observer of the consumer and professional electronics markets. As a product and marketing executive at Harman International, he 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, headed the Technology Council, and is a favorite presenter at CEDIA events around the

David Meyer is a 23-year veteran in imaging and AV. A decade of CEDIA volunteer contributions saw him establish a reputation as one of the most prolific subject matter experts, authors, and international educators on the topics of video and connectivity.

Having twice served on the board of directors for the former CEDIA Asia Pacific, and professional member of both SMPTE and IEEE, David is now a full-time member of CEDIA’s professional staff as director of technical content — a global role that he leads from Australia.

Joseph Piccirilli is an accomplished consultant, strategist, and speaker with a 40-year career that spans the consumer electronics, systems integration, and energy industries. In his current role at RoseWater Energy Group, he oversees the manufacturing, sales, and distribution of new technology for residential power storage and handling efforts.

globe. He was awarded CEDIA’s “Volunteer of the Year” award and is a CEDIA Fellow. He is also a member of the TV Academy, IEEE, the Society of Broadcast Engineers, and is a Lifetime Member of SMPTE.

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 Network’s engineering and sales departments.

Darryl Wilkinson is a veteran freelance writer in the consumer electronics industry, including as editor-at-large for Sound & Vision.

He’s written for Audio, Home Theater, Wirecutter, Home Theater Review, and others. He’s currently working on designing the perfect automated smart chicken coop.

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Residential Tech Today | Sept/Oct 2018

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e NUMB RS

by the

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

Television is dead. Long live television! A quick Google search of “television vs. streaming” will yield countless results of gloom and doom for classic television, with cord cutting becoming a popular practice instead of often expensive cable. From the rise of digital ad spending to millions of streaming subscribers, the entertainment world has seen major changes over the past few years. Let’s take a look at some statistics that show many households are changing the channel on cable television.

10.9%

Other multimedia device connected to the TV

Household ownership of selected connected TV devices in the United States as of January 2017 Worldwide digital ad spending beat TV for first time in 2017 Television Digital

23.3%

41.9%

Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Roku

$

Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo Wii, Sony Playstation

209 178 $

billion

Emarketer predicts cord cutting will increase

32.8%

28.9%

billion

6 in10

young adults stream TV

in 2018

Enabled Smart TV

Streaming video subscription revenue in the United States from 2011 to 2020 12

(in billion U.S. dollars)

10 8 6 4 2 0

4.6 2.4

2.79

2011

2012

2013

5.53

2014

6.41

2015

7.36

2016

8.17

2017

8.95

2018*

9.74

2019* *projected

The battle for subscribers

130.1 million As Of Q2 2018

20

million

As Of Q2 2018

As Of Q4 2017

Sources: Statista / Variety / Pew Research / Business Insider / Red Code

10

Residential Tech Today | Sept/Oct 2018

26

million

10.36

2020*

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QUICK BITS On Netflix, anything action-based around Luke Cage is about the best demo for streaming HDR and Dolby Vision. I also like Black Panther because it has action scenes and some pretty amazing wide nature shots. Justice League (the movie is horrible, but the overly dramatic scenes are gorgeous) too, and Ready Player One has been a staple because it combines cinematic qualities and gaming into one glorious HDR package.

– Joe Whitaker, President, The Thoughtful Home

WE ASK INDUSTRY INSIDERS ONE QUESTION

What movie scenes do you like to use to demonstrate the quality of an AV system or video display?

My product manager and I work closely together on tradeshow content so on Blue Planet 2, I defer entirely to him. My favorite, however, is Planet Earth 2 because it gives an awesome performance in either dark-room environments or with ALR demonstrations. This is great content to show your product’s color-saturation abilities. My product manager especially likes how the blues and greens “pop.”

– David Rodgers, Marketing Manager, Elite Screens

My favorite 4K video-only demo just so happens to be the Apple TV 4K screen saver.

Odd, I know, but it is stunning. The detail is outstanding and scenes mesmerizing, leaving you wanting to know more about the places where they’re shot. Also, there’s no need to ever worry about who else is in the room when showing them or waiting for a scene to load.

– Heather Sidorowicz, President/Owner, Southtown Audio Video We love the training scene in Wonder Woman, where young Diana learns the depth of her power after she blocks the blow of a sword. The first time we played this was at home and as she blocked the sword – with the deep bass surround – it blew a breaker in our theater.

Never had that happen before! We first thought it was an effect in the movie, but it didn’t come back on. We use this now as a test for power and low-end frequencies.

– Jamie Briesemeister, Sales & Marketing Director, Integration Controls

To highlight bright, vivid colors, I like to use a scene from The Shallows. Near the end of the movie, Blake Lively’s character swims out to get a camera while trying to avoid a great white shark that is stalking her.

Not only is the scene full of suspense, but the tropical waters feature virtually every shade of blue in the spectrum, and the skin tones are accurate and include incredible detail. A good display should be free of any noise or banding, which can be difficult with water.

– John Sciacca, Co-Owner, Custom Theater and Audio

The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 funeral scene shows a very good black level and star field and also highlights the tribute fireworks in the scene. Really the hallmarks of what HDR is intended to do. Also, in Passengers, the gravity failure scene has more of the brightest parts of the frame in the foreground and the darkness of space outside the window. Mix in the water effect and Jennifer Lawrence in a white bathing suit, and it adds contrast to the black level. This is very complicated to render.

– Frank Sterns, VP for AV Specialty/CI, Sony

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Residential Tech Today | Sept/Oct 2018

Currently we’re using the 4K Blu-ray of Mad Max and the digital 4K version of The Fourth Phase. The color and saturation of Mad Max only rivals the ridiculous textures of that film. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t recommend The Fourth Phase. It’s a documentary following snow from Asia up to Canada, and the visuals are absolutely stunning. It makes for a perfect and safe demo that will transport people to the mountains.

– Matt D. Scott, Owner, Omega Audio Video

In the movie Dunkirk, there’s a firefight scene where they have the guns firing on their planes. A 9.2 surround system just really cranks out the low frequencies to demonstrate the subwoofers and showcase the action and the dialogue in the center channel.

– Patrick Hartman, Director of Business Development, Diversified Systems International My favorite clip to show the strength of the audio and the subwoofers is the asteroid scene from Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

It equally distributes the sound between all of the speakers, and the subwoofer really booms during the explosion. I am a creature of habit and have been using this scene since the very beginning.

– Todd Anthony Puma, Owner, The Source Home Theater

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DEPARTMENTS

Smart Devices

THE NEXT EVOLUTION IN

Connected TV Devices

By Everin Draper

“ As more of these home video options became available, it became increasingly obvious that it was more frustrating for people to keep track of everything…”

Steven Schulz, CEO, Modulus Media Systems

In recent years, cable has begun to take a backseat to digital streaming platforms. In fact, the video streaming market has nearly quadrupled since 2011, according to Statista.

Additionally, according to BGR, “cord cutting,” referring to viewers cancelling their cable subscriptions, has tripled over the past five years. In this new TV climate, streaming devices have grown in popularity. Devices like Google’s Chromecast, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and Roku dominate the market.

However, the transition period that video media is experiencing has resulted in frustration for many users. “As more of these home video options became available, it became increasingly obvious that it was more frustrating for people to keep track of everything, to manage things, to jump from one thing to another, to just enjoy it,” expressed Steven Schulz, CEO of Modulus Media Systems. “They were spending more and more time entering logins and passwords and

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Residential Tech Today | Sept/Oct 2018

navigating different user interfaces and different remote controls.”

This frustration prompted Schulz to quit his job of 12 years and pursue his goal of fixing his entertainment woes. The result was Modulus, an all-in-one connected TV device. “We can be an advanced movie server. We can replace the set-top box. We can replace your streaming boxes. We can replace your Blu-ray player. We can replace all of those things,” he explained. In Modulus, users have access to video and music streaming apps, a DVR system, and their own personal media. With 20 terabytes of storage, their M1 unit’s capabilities are near limitless.

Modulus is the result of television’s current state of transition. Users can still access cable, DVR, and even watch their DVDs. On that same device, they can access the latest streaming apps and even upload their own media. Even still, there are a few keys that make Modulus stand out in the crowd. The device

allows users to automatically skip over commercials, making the process of watching recorded television even simpler than before.

Not only can users record cable programs, but they can also record anything they stream and store it on their box, allowing them to access those recordings whenever they want.

However, one of the most innovative components to the Modulus system is the remote. Featuring clear voice control, full keyboard for convenient searching, and an AUX port for personal listening, the Modulus remote completely changes the moviebrowsing experience. But the possibilities don’t stop there. It can become your own personal karaoke player, show off the photos from your latest family vacation, and even record your gaming and upload it to Twitch. The key to the future of entertainment is all-in-one convenience and that is what Modulus brings to your television. x

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Beyond Installation

Convenience

SECURING CLOUD

By Jeremy Glowacki Cloud-based remote access and service have been an essential part of the evolution of the smart home, as the industry seeks ways to reduce service truck rolls and enable end-user clients more control over their systems from mobile devices.

Unfortunately, however, along with the convenience and cost savings also comes the challenge of providing even better network security than before.

Savant, one the leaders in smart home control systems technology, has added new cloud-based software and services that provide answers to these challenges, by addressing client security and privacy policies, creating scalable programming and service teams, and developing auditing practices for field service, employee access, and system/software versions across all installations.

Central Management Savant Central Management is a cloud-based integrator tool (accessed by mobile device, PC, or Mac) that delivers secure access to every Savant deployment.

This includes software revision tracking, remote diagnostics, time/date stamped systems logs, host maintenance, and configuration capabilities.

At the core of Savant Central Management is the capability to protect integrators and their clients with permission-based secure access. With Savant Central Management, integrators can create internal access tiers—allowing limited access to a client’s home and data.

In addition, via the Savant Pro App, clients will be asked to consent to remote system access by the integrator for as little as an hour or as long as the project requires. All permissions are time and date stamped.

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Residential Tech Today | Sept/Oct 2018

Simplifying Deployments Savant Studio is an iOS-based field configuration tool for entry-level end-toend system design and deployment.

Utilizing Savant’s new S2 Host at the core, Studio supports the full range of features and services with Savant music, lighting, and climate.

Now system configuration can be done via Savant Blueprint software on a Mac or via Savant Studio on an iPad. With the introduction of Savant Central Management, all project files, configurations, and revision management history are stored in the cloud.

Configurations created in Blueprint can be accessed via Savant Studio and vice versa.

Integrators will be alerted to service opportunities, and they can provide many critical tasks remotely including software releases, firmware updates, access to revision history, and host logs. x

Savant Central Management is a cloud-based integrator tool (accessed by mobile device, PC, or Mac) that delivers secure access to every Savant deployment.

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DEPARTMENTS

CEDIA Says

Joel Silver and the Science of Images

A CONVERSATION WITH THE WINNER OF CEDIA’S 2018 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

By Ed Wenck Joel Silver is nothing if not humble when it comes to his backstory. The man who shepherded the concept of proper calibration in the home – making your TV set or your projector and screen combo look as good as possible in its environment – says simply, “I’m a hobbyist in video who decided to start a company.”

That company, the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF), “began in 1994 with the hopes of getting professional calibration practices that were common in the studios into the hands of the best custom installers in home theater applications,” Silver said.

Silver worked from the premise that audio setups were subjective when it came to an end user’s impressions, but video calibrations much less so.

“Most of us might have an opinion about what a TV is supposed to look like,” Silver noted. “At the Imaging Science Foundation, we have no opinions. We have facts. We have rules. We have standards.”

THE GENESIS OF ISF Silver had been writing for audio magazines on a freelance basis while holding down a day job back in the early ‘90s. When he got the notion to strike out on his own – to take the idea of providing reference-quality pictures to the public that could rival the quality of audio then available to the discerning consumer – he got a lot of pushback.

His accountant thought he was nuts, even after Silver gave the man an in-home demo. After sorting through the accountant’s confusion as to why his set “didn’t come this way” out of the

18

Residential Tech Today | Sept/Oct 2018

box, after explaining that televisions are set up for storage and sales in a shop, competing with dozens of other displays and lighting that can often best be described as, well, less-thanoptimum, Silver had to confront the accountant’s fundamental concern with his business model.

“This is too hard a concept,” said the accountant. “Hard to explain. Hard to write about. If you see it, you get it. But until that point, it’s rough. I think you’re going to fail.”

So, Silver set about evangelizing for video calibration in the residential universe. He held a press conference, buying lunch for his old pals in the magazine biz. The stories were hard to write, it was true, but slowly, one by one, Silver made converts.

“One deal at a time, we struggled, found the top dealers, the guys who came to the class for one simple reason, and that reason is the essence of what CEDIA represents,” Silver recalled.

The definition of that essence? “Those dealers spent money with me. They spent time with me for the simple intent of trying to do something really cool for their clients. And to this day, we go into someone’s house, we do what we need to do to make it better, and the look on their faces says it all. Because our job is to go someplace and leave it better than we found it.”

ISF ON THE MENU Silver traveled the world (and still does) training others, helping integrators achieve those stunning, reference-quality results. But there was another arena that would offer ISF a win: manufacturers.

“Finding the right people in the first TV set manufacturer we worked with was difficult,” Silver remembered. “The initial response from many people was, ‘You’re changing our TV. We like our TV. What you are doing is wrong. What we do is right.’ And rather than argue with those people, I just tried to find the engineers building the TV sets who knew what we were doing, who knew what we wanted to do, and who also wanted to make a superior product.”

“Finding kindred spirits in manufacturing levels was our hardest job. Once that got done, products started getting better. Reviewers started to recognize a potential for the product by calibrating it.”

But it was a conversation with one manufacturer that really cemented ISF’s reputation as an industry leader. Silver tells the story of a conversation he had with a particular television executive: “Your TV is even dumber than Microsoft Word,” Silver told the exec. “And he goes, ‘Oh, that’s not nice to say. Word is very dumb.’ And I said, ‘No, Word lets me save my work. I need to save my work. After we spend three hours calibrating your TV, I don’t want to hear that the dog stepped on the remote and wiped out all our work.’”

“And we shook hands, put together something, and our big break happened right then. Our little company’s logo made it onto the menu of a mainstream TV set – and one person at one manufacturer changed the future of our company.” x Joel Silver will receive the CEDIA Lifetime Achievement Award for 2018 on September 5 at Petco Park in San Diego.

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DEPARTMENTS

Connected Appliance

LIFESTYLE ANALYST

Toni Sabatino,

AWARD-WINNING INTERIOR DESIGNER

By Jeremy Glowacki

For this year’s CEDIA Expo, 15 design and construction professionals are participating in the first-ever Design Connection Tour series, led by integrator tour guides David VanWert and Joe Whitaker, to select exhibitor booths.

Among these hand-selected professionals is Toni Sabatino, an award-winning interior designer, cabinetry specialist, furniture designer, and spatial planner serving the renovation and new construction market throughout the New York metropolitan area and other resort locations. Sabatino currently serves as the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) Manhattan Chapter president, is a member of the Kitchen and Bath Business Editorial Advisory Board, and is

the designer of the Retro Collection of bath furniture for Baden Haus. We had a talk with Sabatino, who is also hosting a panel discussion at CEDIA Expo, about how she got to where she is today and why she believes tech is such an essential ingredient to kitchen and bath design.

Residential Tech Today: What led you to your specialty in kitchen and bath interior design?

Toni Sabatino: I was doing kitchen and bath design for many years; I ran a plumbing supply store. Everybody was having all sorts of economic issues, and I thought, with all of the people that have asked me to help them with their homes with things in addition to kitchen and bath, there was a good opportunity to go to work for myself.

RT Today: How do you begin the process with your clients?

TS: I do a lifestyle analysis and we create a plan from there. What do we have that works and what do we have that can work better?

RT Today: What role does technology typically play in your designs?

A kitchen designed by Toni Sabatino

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Residential Tech Today | Sept/Oct 2018

TS: Technology is entering into the kitchen and bath world in a very big way.

There are so many companies that have gone the connected appliance route. So, I think the intersection of the kitchen and bath community and the tech community is going to be big, and I want to be there

I AM “ All companies have access to the shiny black boxes, but having a pantry full of ingredients doesn’t make you a master chef. CEDIA educates our industry in the art of pulling all the ingredients together.”

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DEPARTMENTS

Connected Appliance

Lifestyle Analyst Toni Sabatino, Award-winning Interior Designer

enough to tell them that, for instance, these new TVs that you can put a piece of artwork on are available. Or that you can get connected appliances. So, as I’m listening to them talk about their life, I can make suggestions and see how they react. Then, as I talk to the integrator about the appliance lifestyle, they can tell me what else is possible and add it to the proposal.

Then the proposal that’s going to the client can be very lifestyle oriented. We’ve already established that there’s value in technology, that they’re interested in it, and understand that it’s going to cost money. But it’s going to cost money just like your upholstery, your countertop, or anything else.

RT Today: What are some of your other favorite connected appliances?

Sabatino’s designs are inspired by her clients’ lifestyle assessments.

for it. I’ve got a fireplace right now from a company called Flare, and it has apps and connects to the home network so you can preset it to go off when you’re going to bed. You don’t have to go fumbling around looking for the remote. There’s so much for all of us designers to learn about technology.

RT Today: How do you, as a designer, sell the idea of integrated technology into your designs?

TS: Technology is freedom. Luxury is freedom. The more things you have that you can operate from your phone, the more freedom you have, and that gives you a more luxurious life. As a luxury designer, I like to look at it from that standpoint. You can check to make sure your oven is turned off. You look into your refrigerator remotely to see if you need more eggs from the market.

There’s also the “aging in place” angle, where technology is not just a luxury, but it’s also a necessity for the aging population of people who want to stay in their homes longer. The more that tech can help them to be safe and to have more freedom with how they live within the home, the better.

Lastly, people often seek things that are high performance. They like high-performance cars

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Residential Tech Today | Sept/Oct 2018

and apps that create a high-performance life.

Technology integration gives interior designers the ability to create high-performance homes.

We need to embrace the tech community to give clients the best possible experience.

RT Today: Where do you draw the line in what you sell versus what you hand over to a technology integrator?

TS: I’m never going to pretend to be any kind of tech specialist. I like to do a lifestyle analysis with clients, and then get with someone who is a tech specialist so I can go through the client’s wants and desires and we can come up with a proposal together. I’m a proponent for paying someone well to do the right job. Paying somebody to connect your devices rather than fumbling around with it yourself makes a lot of sense. In my perfect world, I want to see tech professionals properly valued and compensated.

Even if the client wants technology and thinks they can just buy it themselves, I always advise the technology designer to buy it and be responsible for it.

RT Today: How much do you try to stay on top of the latest technology?

TS: Working with a technology designer is key for me. Clients might not know everything that’s available, so I try to make myself knowledgeable

TS: Dacor, a kitchen appliance brand that was acquired a couple years ago by Samsung, has the refrigerator figured out. They have put together a line with small logos that are very sleek and integrated looking. They have the camera hidden discretely inside the refrigerator. They also have the Discovery IQ smart range from a few years ago. At first, people didn’t embrace it, but now with people using their phones for everything, having the ability to turn off your oven from your phone while you’re upstairs reading a story to your kid sounds like a great feature. There’s value in these products that people are really starting to recognize.

RT Today: What is your motivation for attending CEDIA? What do you hope to learn?

TS: At CEDIA I’m hosting a panel on “The Impact of Technology on Lifestyle Design” and am part of the inaugural group of kitchen and bath designers that are going to be walking the show floor marveling at all of the things that we don’t know. As someone who is a kitchen and bath specialist and whole-home interior designer, I like to look at things from a holistic point of view and the hidden part and the high performance are of equal value to me as the aesthetic. The experience of living there has to be that good. I’m looking for anything that’s a mindblower. I want to be more valuable to my clients because of the experience. I want to be able to share that. x

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DEPARTMENTS

Science

IoT-Powered Independence

HOW AN INNOVATIVE HOME TECHNOLOGY COULD GREATLY BENEFIT THE LIVES OF SENIORS, THOSE AFFLICTED WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS, AND THEIR FAMILIES

By Anthony Elio

SmartCare co-founders Scott Mosher (left) and Bryan Jefferson (right) offered examples of the types of wellness reports (graphic on left) enabled by their smart sensors.

Connected home technology has undoubtedly improved everyday life. From the ability to control your home’s temperature from a smart hub to locks that can be opened with a device, smart home tech has ushered in a new era of convenience. However, while the everyday consumer may enjoy the benefits of utilizing smart tech throughout the home, it’s the medical field where this growing industry is really beginning to make a difference.

A perfect example of this is SmartCare, a health and wellness-focused analytics firm launched in 2012 geared toward improving the lives of seniors and helping to keep their caretakers alert of any possible warning signs.

Inspired by founder and CEO Bryan Jefferson’s own experience caring for his father suffering from osteomyelitis, SmartCare looks to dramatically improve the lives of seniors, especially those struggling with illness. Speaking from his experience with his father, Jefferson believes that, “Their generation is not geared to complain and really tell you the truth. We needed some data that allowed us to decipher how he was doing.”

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SmartCare’s technology itself revolves around utilizing pre-programmed sensors in everything from beds and couches to toilets and doors to collect data and track patterns in someone’s everyday life. As Jefferson explains, “Things like their sleep pattern – if they’re waking up, we look at days of the week. So, if somebody, on a Thursday, gets up later than they do on a Wednesday, there’s typically a pattern. You study to identify those in telling that story to the person that made the report.”

After approximately two weeks of learning the user’s habits, SmartCare then sends out alerts to family and caregivers from a monitoring dashboard if the user’s behavior begins to deviate.

SmartCare’s sensors can detect an incredible amount of discrepancies within a daily routine.

Everything from the timing of certain meals to the amount of pressure being applied to the user’s bed can be tracked. In fact, the program can even detect for potential dangers such as a garage door left open or a stove left on by accident. This is likely why Jefferson himself has compared the technology to a “learning thermostat.”

Interestingly enough, Jefferson claims that the rapid growth of the home automation market wasn’t totally beneficial to SmartCare’s mission.

“We were trying to find technology to allow us to baseline a person’s activity, and those technologies weren’t geared for that. So, we started looking toward IOD censors and cellular sensors that allowed us a more consistent information flow.”

The feedback from families has been a perfect example of the empowering nature of SmartCare. Jefferson recounted the story of a child living with autism who benefited greatly from the technology: “Now they can begin leaving him at home alone for 10 minutes at a time, then it goes to 30 minutes, and after several years he is going to attend college on his own. It is really the ability for the parents to have oversight and still be connected to him even when they aren’t right there, creating that independence barrier.” With the massive benefits that SmartCare provides for everyone from ailing seniors to children living with developmental disorders, that independence barrier has the potential to improve countless lives. x

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innovator profile

Some Business Advice from Cloud9

COO Chris Smith Shares How to Avoid NYC Parking Tickets, How to Partner with Architects, and How to Keep Good People

By Jeremy Glowacki

New York City’s Cloud9 Smart often comes up in conversations as an example of best-inclass business and service operations. The professional technology integration company, founded by CEO Fernando Zorrilla in 2000 as Everglades Technologies, is also unique in many ways. Many of its 30-plus employees have longer-than-average tenures with the company, it aggressively collaborates with the local architecture community through weekly training classes, and it has streamlined its project management processes in response to the logistical challenges of serving the NYC metropolitan area. We reached out to Cloud9 COO Chris Smith, who joined the company in 2016 after sales and training stints with Bowers & Wilkins and McIntosh Labs, to learn more about the company and its innovative processes.

Smith acknowledges that employee recruitment and retention are two of the biggest challenges in the custom integration industry, so Cloud9’s management team works hard to make sure they have the right people in the right roles before hiring anyone new.

Cloud9 “stack ranks” (best employee to the worst employee) by each department, taking a look at the bottom third of those people to assess if they can be as good as the middle third.

If not, they look for a replacement.

Smith has created a strict process for interviewing prospective employees as well.

The company starts by using a simple sheet called “A Player/B Player” where job candidates are graded on the key traits of success. “You’ll know an ‘A Player’ candidate because they’re matched up with a composite sketch of the best traits from all employees already in the company,” Smith explained. “You’ll know the ‘B Player’ because you built a sketch based on

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Residential Tech Today | Sept/Oct 2018

Cloud9 COO Chris Smith believes that his company’s work should not be an afterthought in a construction or renovation project. For it to be done correctly, he says, it needs to be conceived of and planned for in the design phase of the project.

the unacceptable traits of the employees that you let go.”

To find new candidates, Smith says, he’s looking everywhere at all times. “If you are trying to hire only when you need someone, then you are much too late, and you are likely going to make a quick (and poor) decision,” he noted. “If you are serious about building and maintaining culture, then you’ll need to hire slow and fire fast.”

Once somebody proves themselves to be a loyal ‘A Player,’ Cloud9 does a lot to keep them, like getting creative with their work schedule, job scope, and remote work capabilities. “We invite ‘A Players’ to design their ideal job and then, within reason, work with them to make it a reality,” Smith said.

Having a nearly limitless residential and commercial client base in New York City is certainly an advantage for Cloud9, but along with these benefits come logistical headaches that have led to creative solutions by the company.

“Parking is a nightmare and tickets are expensive, so we only have one van for an entire company of 33,” Smith said. “We utilize a delivery company that allows us to outsource the vehicle, parking, and driver. We then add those fees to the project at the end.”

Buildings can have service elevators and security protocols that can be prohibitive and shorten the amount of time available to work in a given space. “In one building, we are often only able to get six hours of work in a day,” Smith explained. “This limitation has

contributed to our decision to front-load as much of the work as possible in the engineering phase, so as to avoid curveballs that could suck up valuable installer time onsite. It also has added dimension consideration of the products we bring into buildings.”

Cloud9 believes that their work should not be an afterthought in a construction or renovation project. For it to be done correctly, Smith says, it needs to be conceived of and planned for in the design phase of project. As a result, they want to be incorporated into the architectural plans. For that to happen, they need to work well with architects.

“As we began to do more projects at that level, we found that the typical issues encountered by architects stemmed from a lack of documentation being offered by the integration community,” Smith said. “We looked at the way architects interact with general contractors. It starts with a thoughtful design, documented correctly, that allows for the bid set to be accurately quoted, and a project to flow smoothly. So, we stole the idea!”

The company also collaborates with the local architect community by providing training that contributes to their continuing education units (CEUs). Architects in New York that belong to AIA must earn 18 CEUs each year. Of those 18, 12 must be of a higher grade known as a health, safety, welfare (HSW) credit. That means they must spend 18 hours learning and 12 of those hours must be more meaningful.

So Cloud9 stepped in with a specialized course, “Blending Technology in Your Designs,” that they teach once or twice each week. “We visit architects at their offices, bring in lunch, and connect with them on their sore points

around technology,” Smith said. “We spend enough time doing it that we hired a dedicated person, our architect specialist, to manage the process.”

billable. Cloud9 also includes a bi-annual site visit to inspect, test, and perform any software updates that are better done in-person as opposed to remotely.

Cloud9 received such positive feedback that they began hosting an annual event to help architects get access to great content in great venues.

The company manages a ticketing system through its ConnectWise software platform.

“It was designed for managed services, and we use it to run the whole company,” Smith explained. “Tickets come into various boards, are assigned to a technician, the problem is solved, the ticket is closed, and the client provides feedback about their experience (we have a 50 percent response rate). We review tickets to determine if there are consistent problems and that informs engineering to use models that are more reliable.”

Cloud9 provides a diversified product offering, having begun in the commercial space and evolving into residential. This allows for flexibility based on market conditions and the potential for cross-selling between commercial and residential clients.

To add stability during economic downturns and to build the value of the business for future acquisition, Cloud9 has created several recurring revenue streams.

“We bring in recurring revenues from voice/ data circuits, VOIP phone systems, managed services (outsourced IT), and our SmartCare platform (AV maintenance),” Smith explained.

“All commercial and residential projects (audio, video, lighting, shades, etc.) include our remote access platform, including Pakedge BakPak and Panamax Bluebolt. This allows the client to participate in our SmartCare annual care plan.”

That customer service plan, which was implemented three years ago, ended Cloud9’s “break/fix” model, in which clients had an expectation that installed systems should be serviced for “free” when something goes wrong.

SmartCare, which is priced based on a percentage of the price of the installed system with a minimum of $1,500 per year, allows for unlimited remote support and covers standard warranty service. All additional hours are

Asked what advice he would have for someone just getting started in this business, Smith suggested looking beyond your company for guidance and surrounding yourself with quality leaders. He also recommended joining, and then actually participating in, a buying group and understanding what key performance indicators are important to your business as a whole, because “what gets measured gets done.”

Then look at what metrics are important to each department. Also, price your labor correctly.

“There are great tools to do this,” Smith said.

“Most firms charge far too little, don’t understand utilization, and aren’t factoring in the correct elements to understand what an hour costs them.”

Finally, Smith added, company culture comes out of the people in your firm, so hire slowly and correctly. “You set the tempo as a leader, so hold up a mirror and make sure you are setting the appropriate example. All of your team needs to be the same. Address issues quickly.” x Sept/Oct 2018 | Residential Tech Today

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GREEN TECH

Protecting Sensitive

Gear from Power

Fluctuations

By Joseph Piccirilli

Power fluctuations are becoming a more common occurrence in our country for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to aging infrastructure and the level of difficulty in building new power plants. Then, mix those with the growing trend of larger homes replacing smaller houses in desirable areas, and our future of power quality, even in the short term, doesn’t look good.

As we continue to add more automation to our homes, the potential consequences of poor power quality become more and more catastrophic. Most people are not aware of the problems created by poor power quality so, of course, our clients blame us, the integrators and manufacturers, for the problems, not the power companies.

So, what can we do to protect our clients and our reputations? There are two simple initiatives that integrators should begin to adopt. The first initative is more salesfocused, whereas the second can be done on the equipment side.

Integrators should no longer be thinking of power quality, power back up, and protection equipment as an add-on at the end of a sale. It is far too important to the overall performance and enjoyment of the equipment to be treated as anything other than an essential component.

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Residential Tech Today | Sept/Oct 2018

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GREEN TECH

Protecting Sensitive Gear from Power Fluctuations

“ The UPS you choose should have

zero transfer times, not

Photo iStock

milliseconds, not nano seconds, but ZERO.”

I recommend that during the initial consultation process you should approach your perspective client with something like the following: “I am going to ask you a few questions about the power quality in your neighborhood because poor power quality can seriously affect the performance, longevity, and ultimately the enjoyment of the equipment you put into your home. We want you to have a positive experience, therefore we must understand your power quality first.”

“Have you noticed that occasionally your lights dim or flicker? Have you noticed that occasionally your Apple TV or cable box go out? Have you ever had to reboot your network? Most often those events are caused by power quality issues in your area.”

“Based off your answers, I think you would find great benefit to a power quality device because as you add more automation and control to your home, the effects of poor power quality will become both apparent and annoying. In my design for the equipment in your home, I will be including a device that will eliminate most, if not all, of your power issues.”

Once you’ve introduced the concept, you’ll give your client the opportunity to either opt in or, ultimately, opt out. At that point, you have provided them with the information and background needed to have a positive experience. If they decided to opt out, then you cannot be blamed for the effect that power surges and sags will have on their system.

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Now, for the second initiative, it’s important to understand that the level of equipment is not a place to compromise. You should recommend the best equipment to suit your client’s needs.

The uninterrupted power supply (UPS) you choose should have zero transfer times, not milliseconds, not nano seconds, but ZERO. Once you have a zero-transfer time device, check the distortion specs on the output. It should never exceed five percent, and a very good one will be below three percent. Zero transfer time and low distortion equals high quality power conditioning.

And, lastly, the UPS should also provide enough battery run time to suit your client’s needs.

Depending on where your client lives, you might want to consider protection against lightning strikes. The average lightning strike contains 40,000 volts and if your device is not capable of absorbing that, it is not capable of protection.

Your final choice is whether to use a panel-level device, a rack-level device, or a device that protects an individual component. The benefit of a panel level device is the flexibility provided in the types of products and location of the products you want to protect. For instance, if lighting control, shade control, security, and networking products are not in a rack, as long as you can run a power line to the panel, you are protected.

The most important message I can offer is to always introduce the concept early in the consultation phase of the sales process. Make sure the equipment you choose is of the highest possible quality. x

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AUDIO

A Cascade of Innovations

By Jeremy Glowacki

Bowers & Wilkins Adds Flagship Materials and Features to its More Affordable 600 Series When introducing a new technical innovation to its loudspeakers, Bowers & Wilkins believes in the “cascade” approach, where a new, better-performing design technique or material is implemented first at the top of the line, embraced by dealers and customers, and then added later to other product lines at lower price points. Such is the case this month when the British brand revealed that the same leading-edge materials and features that were added from the flagship 800 Series Diamond range to the 700 Series last fall will now become a part of the company’s re-introduced 600 Series, which is sold at “a more accessible price point.”

I visited Bowers & Wilkins’ Boston-area offices this past summer, where a contingent of media were treated to demos of the beautiful-sounding new 600 Series, which will be publicly introduced at CEDIA Expo in San Diego.

The company’s new range is composed of four speakers and matching subwoofers that feature several improvements from their predecessors in the series. With advanced technology and discreet style, the new 600 Series sets a higher sound quality standard at a competitive price point. This range is targeted at vinyl enthusiasts as well as those looking to improve their 5.1 immersive surround sound experience.

The new 600 Series is the most affordable range to incorporate the Continuum Cone midrange driver, which was developed and exclusively manufactured by Bowers & Wilkins to

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improve upon the transparency and accuracy of the previously used Kevlar cone. Available in every model in the new 600 Series range, the Continuum Cone enables more clarity and realism from the loudspeakers by suppressing vibrations.

“Although our three ranges now use the Continuum cone, there is still a clear technical and performance differentiation between each range,” noted Andy Kerr, who leads the company’s R&D and engineering teams. “We want to be known as the best sounding loudspeaker range in its class.”

The new 600 Series also introduces an updated version of the company’s Decoupled Double Dome tweeter technology for even clearer and more accurate high-frequency performance.

This technology, paired with new paper cone low-frequency drivers in the flagship 603, are meant to provide rich, powerful bass response.

The new range is available in Matte Black and Satin White. As the flagship and largest speaker in the series, the 603 floorstanding speaker boasts a Decoupled Double Dome tweeter, an FST midrange

AUDIO

driver using the Continuum Cone, plus dual paper-cone bass drivers. (Price for each: $900) For stand or bookshelf use, the 606 is a compact speaker that combines Decoupled Double Dome tweeter technology with a 6.5-inch Continuum Cone. (Price for each: $400) Although the smallest in the range, the 607 compact stand or bookshelf speaker still offers outstanding bass response and clarity from its main 5-inch Continuum Cone mid/bass driver.

(Price for each: $300) A slim, dedicated center-channel speaker, the HTM6 produces considerable power and exceptional precision from the Decoupled Double Dome tweeter plus dual 5-inch Continuum Cone mid/bass drivers. (Price for each: $599) Completing the range are three subwoofers – the ASW610XP, ASW610, and ASW608 – which were carried across from the previous 600 Series with updated finishes to match the new range.

(Price for each ASW610XP: $1,200), (Price for each ASW610: $650), (Price for each ASW608: $500) x

Sept/Oct 2018 | Residential Tech Today

33

OUTDOOR TECH

Building Tomorrow’s Connected Community

By Alex Moersen

By integrating home automation, IoT, and sustainable initiatives, Sterling Ranch is propelling its residents into the future.

Just south of Denver, nestled against the mountains, adjacent to two state parks, lies Sterling Ranch, Colorado’s latest smart community. At face value alone, the developing neighborhood looks top-tier, seamlessly integrating its lavish homes with the surrounding nature. However, with deeper inspection, this burgeoning community becomes a tech hub – and Colorado’s latest development in “smart communities.”

In just over a year, Sterling Ranch has filled around 150 homes and continues to expand.

The progress they are seeing is a long time coming, according to Walker Hinshaw, CTO of Sterling Ranch’s technology partner Lumiere. “It was 10 years in the making to get to the point where we’re starting to put up homes,” he explained. “But now that the homes are going up, they’re going up like crazy.”

As of right now, only one section, Providence Village, has been fully developed, but expansion is set to take place over the next 20 years.

“It’s going to eventually be about 12,000 homes,” Hinshaw said. “As the community continues to be built out, schools, athletic

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Residential Tech Today | Sept/Oct 2018

centers, and even commercial retailers will become permanent residents.”

We had the opportunity to visit Sterling Ranch and speak with Hinshaw about how technology is being integrated into the homes to improve connectivity, sustainability, security, and the community as a whole.

Built-in Connectivity In Sterling Ranch, there are two components to their technology strategy: in-home and community infrastructure. First, each home comes equipped with a base package, which includes one light switch, a security system, a thermostat, and water heaters – all connected.

On top of that, in Sterling Ranch homes, residents will discover the Steward Home Automation System. Developed in partnership with Siemens, Steward acts as a connected hub “that will allow people to control their lights, lock and unlock their doors, control garage doors, TV, audio,” and much more, according to Hinshaw.

“I describe Steward as home automation technology, but it’s really a little more than that,” he explained. “Two critical components that

Steward has that aren’t really a part of typical home automation software are real-time feedback about utilities that you are using in your home and also an events and announcements portal that provides a community feel… It’s helping enable a community to grow, form, and get people out of their littles bubbles.”

Really, Steward is what users make of it. It can easily link to Amazon devices, allowing for complete voice control over the home. It’s paired with an iOS and Android app which gives residents control from a distance. The experience really is customizable, coming with the ability to design and set different “scenes” for different occasions, like “Welcome Home” or “Vacation Mode.”

Outside of the home, Sterling Ranch has extensive technological infrastructure that brings connectivity to the entire community. A major feature of this infrastructure is the community’s own fiber optic network, which delivers gigabyte internet speeds to every home.

“Owning that network gives us a ton of flexibility for the future,” Hinshaw said. “So, we

OUTDOOR TECH

Building Tomorrow’s Connected Community

can connect devices at the edge and actually bring that data back to a central command and control system that can process that data, make decisions based on that data, and then send out controls and actually change functions based on that input.”

Taking the time to inlay this infrastructure now allows for the potential to add various features in the future. “We’ve got the infrastructure there so that we can take advantage of it later on,” Hinshaw said.

Connected street lights are one example that he highlighted. The connected lighting in the neighborhood has RGB beacons so that they can change colors. In practice, an example might be someone calling 9-1-1 in need of help. With connected street lights, they can actually light

Sterling Ranch has developed a sprawling community that perfectly marries technology and nature, bringing a direct connection to both the natural and digital worlds.

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Residential Tech Today | Sept/Oct 2018

up a path to that person’s house, making it easier for emergency services to navigate to the person in need.

own virtual private network (VPN) so that any data that is running back and forth is going through a secure connection.

Security: Physical and Cyber With all of this connected technology, it begs the question as to how Sterling Ranch keeps all of that data secure. The first line of defense is that the whole network is a closed system. As Hinshaw explained, “All of the infrastructure in the community is actually within a closed loop, so it’s not sending data out to the internet. It’s staying on those fiber lines coming back to our central server.” Having that closed network is ideal because the data primarily stays on site, requiring a breach of physical security to access.

Additionally, Sterling Ranch utilizes HTTPS encryption for their homes. Each home has its

Then, of course, integrated home automation enables upgraded physical security for individual homes. “Being able to put connected cameras on your home, being able to monitor that remotely, and then have that tied into your security system is a huge win for homeowners when it comes to the security and safety of their own valuables and possessions,” Hinshaw explained. The connected cameras don’t just stop at the homes; all community assets will be monitored for security purposes.

A Sustainable Connection The technology in Sterling Ranch isn’t all just for show. Rather, it’s incorporated into an

OUTDOOR TECH

kept this swath of land from being developed for decades was the issue around water conservation. To be good stewards of local water, Sterling Ranch teamed up with Rachio, a Denver-based leading irrigation company.

“Every home in Sterling Ranch comes with a Rachio Irrigation Controller,” Hinshaw explained. “It actually senses local weather conditions and can change its watering patterns based on projected soil conditions and moisture content.”

overarching goal of championing sustainability and preserving natural resources. In fact, Sterling Ranch is Colorado’s first rainwater harvesting pilot project. One of the keys that

Additionally, as mentioned before, each Steward home hub comes with real-time utility tracking, allowing users to see and adjust their usage. It allows residents to not only see their own consumption, but also the average usage of the community as a whole, so that individual homeowners can see where they might need to improve and conserve.

Touring Sterling Ranch, one might notice limited yard space. This, too, is a part of the overall strategy to conserve water as much as

possible. “Water in the home you can actually treat and put back into the environment,” Hinshaw shared. “But once you put water outside, you’ve lost it forever. That’s why outdoor water is super critical and we don’t want much green grass.” Alternatively, the community has partnered with the Denver Botanic Gardens to plant only native, droughtresistant plants. As Hinshaw outlined the partnership, “We have an approved plant list – plants that are very drought resistant and do well in this climate, so they don’t need a lot of water but still look very nice.” It’s Sterling Ranch’s focus on not only connecting its residents with technology, but also connecting them with the natural world and each other that makes this the community of the future.

Walker Hinshaw summarized it perfectly: “One of our real focuses here at Sterling Ranch is building a cutting-edge, technologically advanced city, while also playing up the components of nature that make this space and land so special and so great.” x

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T H E STAT E O F V I D E O

The Strange Trip from HD to 4K, 8K, and Beyond

T

By Michael Heiss

o paraphrase the Grateful Dead, video has been on “A Long Strange Trip;” and while the road that will take us into the future may not be strange, it will certainly be interesting. When that tune was first released in 1977, video (TV) technology was somewhat stable. Things were still very analog. We were still digesting the final stages of the color TV introduction, the VCR was in its infancy, TVs were CRTs up to 25 inches (often in hulking “consoles”), and cable TV was mostly a local service even as HBO and other “pay networks” began to gain traction. Two years later, a huge C-Band dish was the only consumer satellite TV option. Stereo TV broadcasts were five years away, and “small dish” TV was more than a decade away.

Things have certainly changed. The CRT and plasma are gone, replaced by LCD/LED panels.

“SD” (525-line interlaced video) became HD, which in turn is being superseded by 4K/UHD. Analog video has become digital and IP, HDMI rules the roost, and programming comes in from a wide range of physical and streaming sources.

That’s a quick look at where we’ve been and how that progressed to the present. But where are we exactly and where do we go next?

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VIZIO’s flagship 2018 P-Series Quantum 65-inch Class 4K HDR Smart TV

how it gets to the home, and what the options are to access and manage it.

While many correctly follow developments in the world of connected devices, voice control, and networking, according to CEDIA, 65 percent of the typical residential systems professional’s revenue comes from entertainment – where video is central to the ecosystem. Thus, this inaugural edition of Residential Tech Today will focus on many aspects of video. Guest experts will zoom in on displays and their various formats, audio for video, and the way that video and home entertainment are connected.

Perhaps the biggest change since the arrival of digital, high definition (HD) video in the 1990s has been the growth of 4K/UHD. While many still think of it as simply more pixels – four times as many – there is more to it than that, including more important benefits to the viewer. The increased resolution does make a difference as it enables the viewer to place a larger set at the same “couch-to-set” viewing distance while preserving video quality. That’s fine, but it’s the “better pixels” that make an even bigger difference than the notion of “more pixels.” As Greg Tarr explains (page 42), High Dynamic Range (HDR) is the best thing to happen to color TV since color itself.

To start things off, however, it is important to take the top-level view of what video is available,

Also coming soon are TVs with increased color bit depth that greatly decreases color

Residential Tech Today | Sept/Oct 2018

banding. New color standards, such as BT-2020, not only increase the palette of colors capable of being shown, but also the color volume and saturation. Did you know that the current color system combinations cannot accurately reproduce the true color of a London phone box, a New York yellow cab, or the red color of Coca Cola’s trademark bottle design? That’s why the industry prefers the designation of “Ultra High Definition” (UHD), rather than just 4K, to describe what the new TV systems offer.

Current industry trends show that virtually all displays above 40 inches are 4K/UHD. Yes, there are still some HD sets, but with the price compression that we see in the display market, 4K/UHD prices have come down to levels that almost make it crazy to buy a standard HD set.

That is, unless the installation requires a set under 37 inches for a secondary room. In those

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sizes you will see most sets at only 720p HD resolution. This seems counter to the trend, but it has to do with the economics of producing the large sheets for “mother glass” that are then cut into the actual screen size.

Given that smaller sets are typically used in less demanding situations, 720p should be fine for these applications.

Now that you know that screens (and projectors) will increasingly be 4K/UHD, the logical question is, “What is the content and how do I bring it into the home theater?”

While 4K content was sparse in the initial rollout, it is now picking up steam to the point where prospects may no longer use the excuse of, “Why should I buy a 4K set when there is nothing to watch on it?” To be fair, the vast majority of video content is still HD, but the first answer to that question is that any video fed into a 4K/UHD set, even old 480i reruns on a digital subchannel, are upscaled to 4K for viewing. The improvement is dramatic. Thanks to increasingly powerful video chips and the software they run, upscaling will even be the answer to, “What can I watch on an 8K set when they arrive before the end of 2018?”

More to the point, a great deal of current episodic television is shot in 4K, and any film or TV program shot on 35mm film has resolution equal to 4K. It’s up to the networks

and studios to release material in 4K, and, increasingly, they are doing just that.

course, any 4K Smart TV with the appropriate apps can bring in 4K/UHD.

The final link in the chain is to get that programming into the home and have a device capable of accessing it. It’s true that cable has been slow in offering 4K content, but it appears that is going to change as we move into 2019.

Sports, such as The Masters, the Summer Olympics, and more have been available in 4K for some time. Satellite services have been the big players, but cable is getting ready to offer 4K, albeit initially via apps, as Xfinity did for the Olympics. With the proper and often optional equipment, DirecTV and Dish even offer 4K DVR.

Don’t forget that even in a world where streaming seems to dominate, physical media playback is the benchmark standard by which everything else is judged. In the case of 4K, that is the UltraHD Blu-ray format. The number of titles is growing, particularly those with HDR, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and DTS:X. For the utmost in quality, or where internet bandwidth is slow or problematic, UltraHD Blu-ray is the go-to playback format.

For game-centric systems, remember that in addition to the standalone players, Xbox One X not only plays back UltraHD Blu-ray discs, but it will be upgraded to offer Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) features of HDMI 2.1 of better audio and video from video games.

Program services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Vudu, and Apple are the leaders in delivering 4K content, and there is a wide range of 4K content available for free on YouTube. Whether it’s The Crown, Black Panther, or many of the movies offered through Apple, there is now more than enough 4K/UHD content to win over any remaining doubters.

The last piece of the puzzle is how to access 4K content. Roku, FireTV, Chromecast, Apple TV, Nvidia Shield, and TiVo all have 4K-capable devices. All offer HDR-10 capability, with Chromecast Ultra and Apple TV 4K also delivering Dolby Vision. And, of

Now that we’ve made the case for 4K, you might ask if you should wait to recommend 8K. Yes, there will almost certainly be some 8K TVs available this year. Thanks to powerful upscaling, they will make any incoming video, regardless of the original format, render out in 8K and look better than 4K. However, despite the start of 8K satellite-delivered programming this year in Japan, there is no 8K content available here, and there likely will not be any for some time.

Sept/Oct 2018 | Residential Tech Today

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The Strange Trip from HD to 4K, 8K, and Beyond

ATSC 3.0 is on the Way: What This Change Will Mean for Cord Cutters To date, a significant amount of the content for 4K has been through “Over the Top” (OTT) streaming services. In a market where cordcutting is increasing, however, “Over the Air” (OTA) is not only making a resurgence, it is cutting into OTT. OTA had to go digital on June 12, 2009. That is what brought HD to traditional TV thanks to the ATSC 1.0 standard, replacing the NTSC system dating back to the early 1950s. Looking at that, it is logical to ask, “If ATSC 1.0 delivered HD, how will broadcasters bring free-of-charge 4K to the home, and when?”

Although a 16K image was displayed earlier this year at NAB, it took 16 screens and a lot of bandwidth to show it. NOT ready for prime time yet.

One of the biggest reasons is that to deliver 8K content on a single-wire connection, the increased bandwidth of HDMI 2.1 is needed. Despite the arrival of HDMI 2.1 and features such as eARC, VRR, and ALLM, 48GB transport is still a bit off on the horizon as of this time.

Despite the availability of eARC and some of the other components of HDMI 2.1 – such as the VRR and ALLM modes previously mentioned – the increased data speed of 48 GB needed to send 8K content is not yet available.

or distribution gear, it was shown on a video wall playing 8K content upscaled to 16K by powerful Intel-based computers.

It’s definitely still a “science project,” so don’t be concerned about this one yet.

Along the way, our video trip has sometimes been a bit strange, but as the Dead also opined, the best thing to do is to get the facts and keep on “truckin.”

We’ll help you with the former; the latter is up to you! x

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ATSC 3.0 offers a wide range of advanced features such as HDR video, both immersive and interactive audio, an advanced captioning system, accurate mobile reception in moving vehicles, an advanced, location-targeted emergency warning system, and much more.

Oh, and, yes, 4K is part of the standard.

It is, however, important to know that the implementation of specific features of the system, indeed its availability by a broadcaster, is optional, NOT mandatory. As you hopefully did during the first “digital transition,” it is a good idea to keep in touch with all of the TV stations in your market to see what their plans are.

Will the first 8K sets be worth recommending? For someone with a big budget who wants to definitely be “the first one on the block,” perhaps yes. For everyone else, the answer is probably to get the best 4K/UHD set and enjoy it instead.

A final note on the “strange trip” video is on. As HD has morphed into 4K, and with 4K looking over its shoulder at the pending arrival of 8K, cynics will undoubtedly ask, “What’s next, 16K?” To which you can answer, “It’s out there well over the horizon, but don’t hold your breath.” Yes, I’ve seen it demonstrated, but since there are no 16K cameras, displays,

The answer will come with the ATSC 3.0 set and approved standards. Regular ATSC 3.0 transmission is already available in Korea, and tests in the U.S. are underway in Dallas, Phoenix, and soon a few other cities. Just as the first ATSC standard broke ground with digital broadcasting, new ones will advance even further with the use of IP to transport the content.

Look for TV sets and “gateway boxes” with ATSC 3.0 to start appearing at CES in January with widespread availability timed to coincide with the full roll out by broadcasters later in 2019.

Until HDMI 2.1’s full bandwidth capacity is available, it takes four current HDMI 2.0 connections to deliver 8K, as seen here on an 8K set from Sharp. Not yet “consumer friendly.”

Is 4K coming to broadcast television for cord cutters? The answer is definitely yes, but be cautious about quoting an availability date in your specific market.

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T H E STAT E O F V I D E O D I S P L AYS :

The Complex and Promising World of TV and Projector Technologies

By Greg Tarr

The current and future status of custom home theater video display technology this year is both as complex and promising as at any recent point in consumer electronics history.

pixels, HDR widens the contrast range and fills those pixels in with more color and detail that is typically lost in clipped bright highlights or dark shadows.

Integrators and installers now have access to high-resolution, flat-panel screens that come in sizes rivaling, or in some cases surpassing, projection systems, with expanded brightness and deeper black levels that yield realistic color and dimensionality. At the same time, video projectors continue to advance resolution and brightness values for very large screens to keep step. And, moving into 2019, we are at the birth of yet another new video technology: direct LED and microLED displays.

Eyeing HDR HDR continues to evolve and advance, with more than a half-dozen different proposed “profiles” vying for use in today’s displays and content. The primary ones include: HDR10, Dolby Vision, Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG), HDR10+, and three separate Technicolor Advanced HDR applications. The aspirational ceiling for HDR is a peak brightness of 10,000 nits, but the best that mastering monitors can achieve today is 4,000, while some of the best consumer displays top out at 2,000 nits (some Sony and Samsung LED-LCD TVs).

This will change.

One of the most dramatic advances of the last decade has come from the addition of high dynamic range (HDR) to complete the 4K picture. Where 4K resolution enhances mostly gray-scale image sharpness by quadrupling

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In the custom installation market, where bestquality performance stands supreme, many

displays now meet or surpass what the Ultra HD Alliance has defined as “Ultra HD Premium” threshold performance for 4K and HDR, including peak brightness levels of 1,000 nits for LCDs and 540 nits for OLEDs. No similar standard yet exists for HDR projection.

In all but a few cases, the HDR profiles are based on the SMPTE ST.2084 (a.k.a. Perceptual Quantizer, “PQ” gamma) standard and use metadata flags. The baseline HDR profile used in all HDR-ready TVs today is HDR10 and almost any content (HLG versions aside) with HDR will default back to HDR10 if no other profile is supported by the display.

HDR10 uses static metadata, meaning metadata grading instructions are written to one set of parameters for the length of the program.

Most other profiles use dynamic metadata, which allows grading content with parameters that can change from scene to scene. This

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Samsung Class Q9F QLED 4K TV

approach is found in the HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and Technicolor Advanced HDR SLHDR2 systems.

Concerning displays, what you need to know right now is that most of this year’s premium LG, Sony, Vizio, and TCL flat-panel televisions support Dolby Vision, as do most Hollywood studios and major OTT providers. HDR10+ is found primarily in 2017 and 2018 Samsung TVs and in Amazon Prime streaming content. The Technicolor metadata version is supported on some better LG 4K TVs, but no content is available yet. Most of the mentioned HDR profiles are part of the voluntary specifications for the Ultra HD Blu-ray format, except HDR10, which is mandatory in players.

The HLG system – which is expected to one day be widely used around the world for live broadcast HDR and is carried today in DirecTV’s live 4K special events programming – uses no metadata and is backward compatible with standard dynamic rage (SDR) displays.

The benefits, however, will only be viewable on HLG-enabled sets. This is becoming more widely carried in 4K/HDR displays this year.

Projecting Projection Higher peak brightness levels are easier to deliver through self-emissive and back-lit LEDLCD displays than projectors, which lack the same brightness capability. Nevertheless, manufacturers are advancing LED and laser light engine technologies for higher brightness, longer life, and a wider color gamut.

Implementations and performance, of course, vary widely. So far, mostly laser and LED

engines are offered primarily in step-up or premium-level video projectors. This includes some native DCI-4K (4096 x 2180) models from Sony and “faux K” versions from a few others. This refers to the ability to deliver “4K-like” resolution, which is produced using a pixel-shifting process to rapidly move a 1080p or similar resolution microdisplay chip back and forth to present what the eye and brain perceive as 2160p. Such techniques are done with 3LCD, LCoS, and DLP microdisplays sold in select projectors from Epson, JVC, BenQ, Viewsonic, Optoma, and others, to achieve 4K-like quality at a value price.

HDR aside, to many elite videophiles, projection remains the most authentic way of enjoying the movie theater experience at home.

LCD Keeps Evolving The biggest-selling displays are based on LCD screens, which today are back- or edge-lit by LEDs. The best LCDs use full-array LED backlighting with LED dimming zones to evenly cover the LCD back plane and provide localized dimming of backlight zones to precisely control black and brightness levels. New approaches coming soon will use Mini LED or microLED lighting that can densely pack in more LED zones for brighter images and greater control.

Some premium 4K Ultra HD LED LCD TVs, like Samsung’s QLED TVs, add quantum dot color enhancement film between the LED and the LCD layers to boost color gamut and color volume. This employs nano-sized particles of compounds that give off a quantum reaction in the form of intense colors when bombarded by a blue LED photon.

Samsung OLED TV in Ambient Mode

Sony VPL-VW745 4K Projector

Quantum dots will be applied to other display lighting technologies including OLED and MicroLEDs for greater performance dynamics. The Holy Grail still in development may involve self-emitting quantum dot panels with greater brightness.

Manufacturers are using other substances like phosphor coatings on LEDs to boost the color gamut in LCDs. LG is marketing premium Super UHD LED-LCD TVs that use so-called Nano Cell technology, which is described as offering quantum dot-type benefits with lower cost than quantum dots or LG’s OLED TVs, but OLED remains the company’s crown jewel.

OLED Advances Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) panels are self-emissive, meaning they create their own light. This enables shutting off light at the pixel level to create near-perfect blacks (0.0005 nits and lower), rich colors, and nearly paper-thin panel depths. They also afford the widest viewing angles.

OLED designs are taking on new dimensions.

LG’s current flagship, W8 OLED TV (65 and 77 inches), has a very thin screen that can be mounted to a wall with magnets. Coming from Sept/Oct 2018 | Residential Tech Today

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The Complex and Promising World of TV and Projector Technologies

The ultra-thin wallpaper design of the LG OLED65W8PUA takes tech to a new level by allowing the television to mount virtually flush with the wall so it seems to blend in.

LG in another year or two will be flexible “rollable” OLED screens designed for easy storage with a major “wow” factor. Also on the horizon from Samsung and others are hybrid OLED/quantum dot displays that use OLED backlighting and quantum dot filters for very bright and dark images with exceptional color volume (the range of brightness in a color affecting hue and tonality).

MicroLED Almost Ready for Prime Time From a display standpoint, MicroLED technology is the new kid on the block. Under development for more than a decade, the technology is designed to provide picture quality with the benefits of OLEDs without the use of organic compounds that can rapidly age and suffer burn-in. That means MicroLED panels will be thin, with deep black levels, rich colors, wide viewing angles, blazing fast refresh, and have bezel-less screen designs. Because they don’t rely on organic compounds, MicroLED panels theoretically will become cheaper to produce than OLEDs, and be both efficient and substantially brighter than OLEDs Some experts at Samsung believe MicroLED displays eventually will be capable of hitting peak brightness levels of 4,000 to 10,000 nits, have nanosecond response time, and 5,000 pixel per inch density. Samsung’s “The Wall,” which is due to ramp up production of commercial units

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in October, will feature modular panels that fit together almost seamlessly to create a bezel-less 146-inch screen size. The modular approach will soon enable assembling screens sized to the needs of the viewing space, but will require very rigid mounting surfaces with rearpanel ventilation.

Other manufacturers, including LG, have heavy investments in MicroLED development, but a number of obstacles remain before they are ready to compete with OLED and LCD TVs. One of the biggest challenges is to reduce the pixel pitch of current MicroLED panels. The Wall MicroLED currently requires a 146-inch screen size for full 4K resolution, which Samsung is working to improve for more “home-sized” versions expected in 2019. The company said pricing will be in a range that is “reasonable” for consumers.

8K is on the Way 4K is now reasonably well established as the high-performance standard, so, naturally, manufacturers are moving to 8K. Motivated by a mandate in Japan to begin 8K (7680 x 4320) broadcasts in time for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, large-screen display makers are gearing up their first 8K offerings. Sooner than you think, this will bring to market displays with four times the pixels of 4K. And, visible grayscale detail arguments be damned, this will offer discernible benefits through the use of HDR and wide color gamut technologies.

Samsung is preparing to deliver this year what is expected to be the first consumer-focused 8K Ultra HD display in the United States. The display, which was shown at CES 2018 in January, uses dense alignments of full-array LEDs (more like mini or microLEDs) as backlighting for high brightness and a wide dynamic range. It will also offer enhanced color volume from quantum dot (QLED) enhancement film.

It will take time for 8K to challenge 4K Ultra HD in the consumer market. Many questions that still need to be addressed include what sort of storage, inputs, content encryption, and compression systems will be used to handle the immense data volume? What will the new standards for picture quality involve and what will be the content business models?

Get ready. x

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Audio Catches Up to the Realism of 4K Video

By Brent Butterworth Anybody can see the difference between the analog 480i video of 1995 and the digital 4K/ UHD video of today. But even experts may struggle to hear the difference between the surround-sound systems of 1995 and a typical system of 2018. Until recently, the only improvements we’ve had in surround-sound audio were the moves from 5.1 to 7.1 channels, and from lossy-compressed formats to lossless high-resolution—both welcome, but relatively subtle, improvements. Fortunately, in the last couple of years, new audio formats have emerged to offer a dramatic increase in realism and excitement to complement the advances that 4K and high dynamic range technologies have brought to video.

These new technologies, called Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, employ what’s known as “objectbased” audio rendering. In a typical surround-sound system, a snippet of audio—

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Photo iStock

such as a sound effect, a dialogue clip, or a piece of music—is mixed into some combination of left, right, center, and surround channels. In an object-based system, the snippet of audio exists as an object, or digital audio file, that can be steered to any position around the listener.

Rather than being assigned an audio channel, the position of the audio is designated by X, Y, and, Z coordinates. A surround-sound system reads these coordinates and “maps” them to play on the available speaker configuration.

The main benefit of object-based systems is that they allow the addition of height speakers, so sounds can emerge from overhead and travel vertically, instead of just wrapping around the listener in a horizontal plane. A couple of ceilingmounted speakers can produce a huge jump in realism compared with conventional surround sound. This is why this technology is referred to as “immersive sound.”

For example, about 1 hour and 30 minutes into the movie Insurgent, the main character is tied up inside a simulator, while her tormentor speaks to her from a control room behind a glass wall. In the shots inside the simulator, a Dolby Atmos system uses height speakers to create a huge sense of reverberance and echo. But whenever it cuts to show the control room, there’s almost no reverberance at all, so it sounds like the listener is in a tiny room. Atmos thus transforms a typical listening room into whatever type of acoustical environment a movie’s sound engineers create.

Getting Immersed While there are technical differences between Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, both basically do the same thing, and most home audio products that feature Dolby Atmos also include DTS:X. Both can work with the lossless high-resolution audio provided by the Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio tracks found mostly on Blu-ray

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Audio Catches Up to the Realism of 4K Video

discs, so the consumer can get better-than-CD sound quality along with the immersive surround sound effects. Dolby Atmos also works with Dolby Digital Plus, which reduces the bandwidth of the digital audio data so that it can be streamed on services such as Netflix and Amazon Video.

Sony’s HTX9000F simulates immersive effects Dolby Atmos and using a standard 2.1-channel soundbar.

DTS:X deliver their most dramatic and realistic effects when used with a full 7.1-channel surround system plus in-ceiling speakers (usually two or four) for the immersive effects. This is called a 7.1.2 system if there are two height speakers, or a 7.1.4 system if there are four height speakers.

Of course, many homeowners don’t want to cut holes for speakers in their ceilings, and apartment dwellers can’t, so Dolby offers an alternative: Atmos-enabled speakers. These small speakers sit atop the front left and right speakers, and optionally the rear left and right speakers as well. They fire sound upward so it bounces sound off the ceiling, creating the illusion of ceiling-mounted speakers. DTS:X also works reasonably well with Atmos-enabled speakers, although it wasn’t intended for use with them.

The Atmos-enabled speakers don’t create the realistic sense of sounds coming from above you that in-ceiling speakers deliver, but they do create a nice, enveloping ambience.

Most Dolby Atmos and DTS:X AV receivers support only two or four height speakers. If two in-ceiling speakers are used, they should be mounted slightly ahead of the main listening position, with one on the left side and one on the right. If four are used, two speakers are mounted ahead of the main listening position, and two more behind, again with one speaker from each pair placed to the right side and the other to the left. Almost all Atmos/DTS:X systems use two or four height speakers, although Atmos can support as many as 24 front and surround channels plus 10 height channels.

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Anthem’s MRX-720 11.2 pre-amp/7-amplifier channel AV receiver features Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.

Soundbars: Immersive Made Simple Of course, many homeowners consider even a 5.1 speaker system too bulky and complex for bedrooms and small dens. Yet these same rooms will likely have advanced video technologies such as 4K and HDR. Soundbars equipped with Dolby Atmos and (in some cases) DTS:X are now available to bring immersive sound into even basic installations. Mount one of these below a TV screen, place the included wireless subwoofer on the floor nearby, and you have the simplest possible approach to immersive home theater—at least until they build Atmos and DTS:X into a TV set.

The speaker configurations of these soundbars vary greatly. The most advanced models include rear surround speakers with upward-firing Atmos drivers, as well as upward-firing drivers built into the soundbar. Many models incorporate all five or seven front/surround speakers plus two upward-firing Atmos speakers into the soundbar.

Some, such as Sony’s HTX9000F, merely simulate immersive effects using a standard 2.1-channel soundbar.

No matter what type of immersive sound system is added to a state-of-the-art video system, there’s no question that it’s the biggest advancement in surround sound in two decades, and that it’s certain to produce an improvement the average listener will notice and enjoy. x

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Bits and Pieces of Video Connectivity

By David Meyer

Photo iStock

Sir Isaac Newton was famously paraphrased in the classic adage, “What goes up must come down.” It’s a simple and eternal law of physics for life on our humble little planet.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for what goes in must come out, especially in the world of HDMI. And it’s not getting any easier, especially if you don’t know 4:4:4 from 4:2:0, or trimmings like deep color, HDR, high frame rate, and a bucket load of Gbps! Some ground rules need to be followed.

Firstly, we need to look at just what HDMI is needed for, as the way we consume video is changing. Cisco predicts that video will account for 81 percent of all IP traffic by 2021 as we move to the cloud to satiate our incredible appetite for streaming. While physical media will remain with us, some predict the “end of ownership” for content—both music and video—in favor of subscription-based services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime.

A decent internet connection is needed to get the content into the home, particularly for 4K video, but once it’s on the home network, there are three sets of related challenges. First is to move the incoming IP streams around the home to various “streaming devices.” Next is the task

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of sharing and moving video files that are already in the home. These may be kept on a network-attached storage (NAS) device, then managed by a client such as a Plex Media Server, and finally accessed at an end point via a browser or the app resident in an Apple TV 4K, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Roku, Nvidia Shield, Sling Player, an Android TV device, or directly in the smart TV. The third use-case, however, is where things get interesting for both audio and video. For example, if you use the app in the smart TV, the audio through TOSlink or HDMI audio return channel (ARC) is limited. Yes, it works, but for full multi-channel, bitstream audio, something else is needed. The solution to that problem is now breaking into the market thanks to an exciting feature upgrade delivered as part of HDMI 2.1: enhanced ARC, or simply eARC. This may well lead to increased use of eARCenabled smart TVs as the primary content source using integrated apps such as Netflix, Prime, Plex, etc., accessed directly over the IP network. Then eARC would deliver full hi-res immersive audio upstream through the HDMI cable to an AVR, surround processor, or soundbar, without the need for a jumble of external streaming devices.

Obviously, a robust home network is essential for IP delivery, particularly as the number of simultaneous users in a home and the resolution of the content increases. Wired is always best, with the capability of gigabit (1GbE) connections and even more delivering secure, robust connections without constant buffering.

To quote Geoff Meads, U.K.-based founder of Presto Web Design and prolific CEDIA instructor, “If it doesn’t move, plug it in!” That said, many homes simply don’t have the required hard-wired infrastructure, or the client/homeowner is unwilling to bear the expense of putting it in. Today’s consumers expect Wi-Fi in the home just like they expect air to breathe. It’s an omnipresence that they can’t see but take for granted to connect to the many entertainment, information, and communication devices that simply don’t have wired connectivity. The moral: if you are building a network for a client, make it a good one, and try to provision both wired and wireless networks.

Regardless of how the content is delivered, at the end of the day the video must be connected to a display. This remains the province of HDMI, which is still essential for sources such as cable, satellite streaming devices, and physical

ISSUE FOCUS

Video

Bits and Pieces of Video Connectivity

Video may be kept on a networkattached storage (NAS) device, then managed by a client such as a Plex Media Server, and finally accessed at an end point via a browser or the app resident in an Apple TV 4K, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Roku, Nvidia Shield, Sling player, an Android TV device, or directly in the smart TV.

media sources such as DVD, Blu-ray, and UltraHD Blu-ray. Your clients will expect maximum quality for the main theater/media room, but the demands will vary for secondary displays around the house. As such, the way you structure each could be quite different.

For the primary displays, native uncompressed HDMI signalling is best. Things to look out for in system devices are: 18Gbps data rate — The FULL capacity of the HDMI 2.0 standard is required for 4K video with 60fps frame rate, increased color bit rate, and full chroma sampling. Some standard combinations such as, “4K/60, 12-bit, 4:4:4,” are possible, but are borderline irrelevant if they don’t encompass HDR. It’s confusing, so best to just look out for 18Gbps, and make certain that all legs of the HDMI network don’t output video that is over the 18Gbps “speed limit.” That type of “speeding ticket” is one that will create problems for an installation.

HDMI 2.0a/b compliance — This is essential for HDR-10 support. Be certain that every product in the HDMI chain has this capability.

HDCP 2.2 — This is the latest copyright encryption system used for HDMI. It is also mandatory for virtually all 4K content sources.

Any terminated HDMI cable that you use has an inherent data rate limit, whether passive, active, or active optical cable (AOC). In all cases, investigate that limit to ensure it can support at least 18Gbps at the required length.

Higher is even better, as is compliance with HDMI’s “Certified Premium” program.

Taking all of these factors into consideration,

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always plan for redundancy when mapping an installation where cables run inside walls. Remember that any AV cable that you pull has two primary functions: 1) to reliably deliver the requisite signal without screwing it up, and 2) to serve as the draw wire for the cable that comes after it.

Of course, the most versatile path in planning for redundancy is to install a conduit, so whatever new cable comes along can be pulled through as required. But just make sure it’s big enough to accommodate the connector past existing cable fill, with elbows sized appropriately to easily navigate the bends. As a side note, even when running cables behind shelves, in cabinets, or in racks, always make certain that there is sufficient access to change cables or run new ones at a later date.

Which cables to run? For standard HDMI connections, again, use cables capable of carrying the full 18Gbps payload without degradation. For general network infrastructure or for HDBaseT use Cat6A, always make certain that any cable run inside walls has the proper “riser” or “plenum” certification rating. For fiber, OM3 is a great all-rounder and the most datascalable option by far, capable of supporting well in excess of the coming 48Gbps of HDMI 2.1, depending on the extender electronics. In any case, run at least two optical strands (eg; one duplex) to be safe.

As for distributing HDMI signals around the house, the two leading contenders are the HDBaseT matrix switch, and AV-over-IP. They both have the advantage of running over a standard Catx infrastructure, so one may even

be able to be swapped out for the other. AVover-IP is a strong emerging technology with a decentralized approach, as all the smarts are at the endpoints with sources and displays. It’s highly scalable, with different options available to operate on a 1GbE or 10GbE network. Either way, it’s best if kept completely separate from the main home network.

When distributing HDMI, be mindful to manage the EDID presented to any source devices. The use of many displays means many EDIDs, but the source wants only one. Taking control of the EDID that’s presented to the source is key to everything working properly, and may be as simple as a series of dip switches on the little black in-line box. Secondly, 1080p down-scalers are handy if you want to distribute 4K content, but some TVs are 1080p. Simply install a down-scaler behind each 1080p TV in the system, and distributed 4K content can be displayed optimally according to each TV. In conclusion, more and more content that we watch will be delivered via IP, whether streaming over the internet and/or in-home network, or distributed over an AV-over-IP system. HDMI will be relegated to a bridge into such systems for whole-home distribution.

But for the primary viewing screens, it will remain the high-end solution to deliver flagship uncompressed video, taking us into the next generation with 4K/120 and even 8K video. HDMI is not going away, it’s just going to be a matter of picking and choosing by application. x

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Rob Corddry

Brings Down The House Photo HBO

By Alex Moersen

“ I do want to say, this is the perfect place to announce that I’ve decided I’m going to take my company private for $420 a share … That’s a B+/B- Tesla joke.”

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There are two things that come naturally to Rob Corddry: comedy and technology. His comedy chops have been proven time and time again, most famously in Hot Tub Time Machine, Children’s Hospital, and HBO’s Ballers. His love for technology and innovation, however, might be something his fans are less familiar with. It’s a mixed bag for Corddry, whose appreciation for classic cars and listening to vinyl contrasts his love for virtual reality and Apple TV. The world has been in a state of transition, from old tech to new, and Rob Corddry is right in the middle, embracing both sides with open arms – as long as they don’t make him dumber.

Starting off our interview with an aptly timed Tesla joke, Corddry went on to explore smart home technology, the future of A.I., and some of his favorite pieces of tech.

Residential Tech Today: You’ve been on Ballers since day one. How have you seen the show develop from then until now?

Rob Corddry: It’s funny, I was just thinking about this the other day. The show has, I guess what you could call, a very loose formula. If I could boil it down, it would be Dwayne Johnson’s character, Spencer, embarking on this very ambitious mission. I’m the guy behind him

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very nice to look at, and they have very comfortable green rooms where we relax between takes, but I think it’s the cars that get me star struck. I’m a big car guy. Every season, our characters have new cars. This year, we were driving … I think it was an early 60s Jaguar.

I think the big challenge in writing a television show is that the next season has to be better.

And so, this season as compared to the first one has monumental stakes. A huge weight on the shoulders of not just Dwayne’s character, but mine as well. And it may not all work out in the end.

My favorite car that I have driven on the show, because I’ve had four of them now, I would say is probably the BMW i8. I don’t think I could ever pull that off in real life because it’s got that McLaren look to it. It’s a little flashy. But, it was a very fun drive. I immediately make friends with the guy that gets the cars and I won’t shut up. I talk his ear off. I love it.

RT Today: Every episode of Ballers features extravagant mansions and fancy cars. What is it like to film on sets like that?

RT Today: As a car enthusiast, what are your thoughts on the growing trend of smart cars?

RC: Mansions are just not my style. I think even if I had the money, I wouldn’t be a big mansion guy. No one can argue that they aren’t

RC: It bums me out. I don’t want to be one of those Luddites because I love technology and innovation, and it seems like the obvious evolution of driving. But I don’t know, driving to me is such freedom. When you’re driving, the act of actually driving, it’s like a semiconscious thing. You’re doing an action that you’ve done since you were 15 years old.

See, you don’t have to really think about it, but a certain part of your mind and body is engaged, so that it sets your mind free to think.

I’m at my most creative, I think, when I’m driving. I would definitely miss it. I understand the appeal, and I do think it would probably be a lot safer, but I will always drive.

RT Today: What kind of tech do you find yourself using on a daily basis?

RC: Of course the phones, first of all. I just switched to Samsung, I’m still trying it out. I have a couple of days left, I’m not sure yet. I’ve been an iPhone guy for

Photo HBO

Photo Adult Swim

trying to support him and he messes it up for personal reasons and then it all works out in the end because he’s a good human. This season, however, I was realizing, doesn’t fit that template. Over the years, over the seasons, the writers have flexed their abilities to allow for a lot of change.

awhile, but Apple can go f*** themselves, they’re really losing me. I’ve got an iPad and I just mostly read on that at night. I have a laptop, the latest Apple one, and those are my three main pieces of tech. I do, probably more than anything, use Sonos. That is one of the more perfect pieces of technology I’ve ever had the pleasure to use. It just works. And how many times can you say that about any new technology? Sonos works all the time. We have surround sound speakers for our TV that are Sonos. You don’t worry about it. Every time my wife tries to print something, I’m like, “Oh God, I’m going to be at the computer troubleshooting for half an hour,” because she’s got one of those, I swear to God, one of those magnetic fields that just interferes with technology.

I also have a Lutron smart home lighting system. So far, I’ve got two lights hooked up to it, and I can turn my lights on and off with Alexa. Oh, and Alexa, I guess that would be another omnipresent piece of technology I have.

RT Today: So, you’re not worried about Alexa listening in on your conversations?

RC: Oh ho, no, no. Listen, there are a lot crazier things that we should worry about. That Amazon’s listening to my lame conversations – they’re not, first of all. We all know how that technology works, and we also know that they are not allowed to do it. We just have a distrust for big corporations. The thing that we have to fear is Amazon’s, Google’s, and Facebook’s business models in general. We don’t think of them as – like Facebook and Google – we don’t think of as marketing companies, but they’re Sept/Oct 2018 | Residential Tech Today

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Cover Story

exactly that. They know who we are better than we do; that’s the scary part.

RT Today: Is there one thing you wished your smart home could do for you?

RC: Probably shower me. I hate taking 20 minutes out of my day just for the whole rigmarole. You have to take some clothes off and then you have to put new ones on. And drying yourself off? Forget it. I would like to just lift my arms and walk through some kind of vaporizer.

Like have the hallway from my bedroom to the kitchen be a vaporizer. That would be cool.

RT Today: For this issue, we’re focusing on television and entertainment systems. As a TV/movie actor, what is your entertainment setup like?

RC: I think I’m a pretty solid representative of my demographic in terms of how I consume TV.

I have Direct TV, which I love, but I mostly only find myself watching sports on it. Most of the time, if I’m watching TV or movies, it’s my wife and I, we’re just in bed watching Apple TV, which is great. The new version of Apple TV is awesome. If it’s a big movie, like if we’re watching Thor with the kids, we’ll watch it downstairs because it’s a bigger TV and the sound is better. I don’t go to the movies anymore. I’m the reason my business is struggling.

RT Today: How about music?

RC: See, I like Sonos for when I’m doing stuff around the house and you’ve got anything you want in the background, in any room you want, it’s incredible. But, when I’m actively listening to music, I listen on vinyl. I’ve got a great little setup in my office. I think I realized, this was around 2005 or so when I just started ripping; I

Photo HBO

In HBO’s Ballers, Rob Corddry portrays Joe Krutel, Spencer’s (Dwayne Johnson) friend and business partner. According to Corddry, Krutel “says the wrong things and really doesn’t know it until it’s too late.”

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got a membership to this site, kind of like a Napster site out of Amsterdam, and I was just ripping music.

I had anything I wanted for free, and then I realized I wasn’t listening to it because it was too easy. It was too ... I don’t know … there was something about it. I started to appreciate the tactile experience, actually having to get up and turn a record over. It makes you active, and I listened to the music and appreciated it more. So when I’m really listening to music, I’m all analog.

RT Today: You mentioned your kids earlier.

As a father, do you let your kids use technology or do you try to limit it? What’s your strategy?

RC: I looked into a lot of those policing apps … It made me realize, they’re not that good and

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you shouldn’t count on an app to police your children’s tech life. That’s something that will make you lazy and stupid as a parent. We’re very open and honest with them about the internet in general, that it is a minefield, and there are things out there they don’t want to see.

Their laptop itself never leaves the living room. That’s a big rule. They have iPads, but we only crack those open during vacations on the plane. It’s the best. They don’t watch a lot of TV at all. We watch movies on the weekends, but they don’t really watch TV. We starved them of video entertainment as little children so we could throw them an iPad on a plane and they’d be quiet.

In 2008, Rob Corddry created Children’s Hospital, a dark comedy which takes place in, well, a children’s hospital. For eight years Corddry wrote for and acted on the show and went on to win three Emmys.

So they do that. And they’ve got a few little games on there too. But in terms of a cell phone, my oldest daughter is in seventh grade and I got to tell you, I don’t know yet. A lot of her friends have them and we’re getting to the point where it would be more convenient for me if she had one, but I just don’t know. I think, now’s the time, like today, my wife and I really have to sit down and figure it out. So I’ll get back to you on that one.

RT Today: There’s no denying the fact, for better or for worse, that technology is growing and becoming more and more a part of our daily lives.

In your opinion, are we going in a good direction with technology?

RC: I think so. Let’s use AI as the example of the ultimate technology that people are working on right now. And you know, technology has evolved exponentially over the years. It gets faster and faster. I think AI, when that is finally cracked, will proceed at the speed of light, because once we have computers working on these innovations, that will be insanely fast. Now, in terms of quality of life, everyone is afraid of artificial intelligence because all of our movies that portray artificial intelligence do so in a negative light because that’s a good story.

Photo Adult Swim

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HEALTH

The Ons and Offs of Human-Centric Lighting HCL Extends Well Beyond the Basics of Dimming and Color Lighting Control

By Darryl Wilkinson

Philips Hue was an LED option long before human-centric lighting was “a thing.”

Photo courtesy of Signify

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HEALTH

As technology terms go, human-centric lighting (HCL) is one of the more warm-and-fuzzy sounding expressions. Indeed, warmth is an important ingredient in HCL – although fuzzy (i.e., flickering) lighting is definitely something to be avoided.

Despite the simple acronym, HCL is an expansive concept that can be difficult to define using anything other than vague generalizations, amorphous suggestions, plenty of caveats, and lots of “more research needs to be done.” To further complicate matters, important elements that fit under HCL’s sprawling umbrella, such as blue light, can be beneficial or detrimental depending upon the time of day.

Although traditional dimming and color lighting control are part of HCL, the whole notion of HCL extends well beyond those “simple” basics. To give you an idea of how far beyond, here’s how Lighting for People, an informational group for the European lighting industry, describes the notion of HCL: • HCL balances visual, emotional, and biological benefits of lighting for humans • HCL takes into account that light also stimulates non-visual effects on human psychology and physiology • HCL promotes good vision and simultaneously satisfies the emotional and biological needs of humans With so much of HCL being a gray area (pardon the pun) at the moment, if you’re an integrator, designer, employee, or homeowner, why should you care? Aside from keeping up to date with general industry trends, it’s important to understand the importance of HCL – or at least be aware of it – because our increasing reliance on Solid-State Lighting (SSL), otherwise known as LED lighting, brings with it a whole host of human health effects to reckon with.

Ironically, the potentially harmful characteristics of LED lighting can also provide welcome health benefits. In the former, for example, LED lighting’s issues with flicker, glare, and blue light emissions have been correlated with health problems ranging from mild discomfort and headaches to macular degeneration, sleep disorders, and cancer. On the other hand, the capabilities of LED technologies to generate light of varying brightness, colors, and shades, as well as improvements in engineering that minimize blue light exposure, are valuable tools for creating lighting systems that improve human life rather than negatively impact it.

Sept/Oct 2018 | Residential Tech Today

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HEALTH

The Ons and Offs of Human-Centric Lighting

Ketra’s integrated system of lighting, controls, and software allows for deployment of artificial light that mimics natural light in the built environment, like here in the company's New York City showroom.

Photo courtesy of Ketra by Magda Biernat

The HCL Trifecta: Visual, Biological, and Emotional The “Joint Position Paper on Human Centric Lighting,” the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), and Lighting Europe (an industry association of European lighting manufacturers, national associations, and companies) note that, although light is necessary for vision, “it has the potential to achieve far more than this.” Light, for instance, “facilitates powerful non-visual effects on humans. Light has the ability to improve cognitive performance, it can energize, increase alertness, or ease relaxation. It can improve mood, as well as stabilize the sleep-wake cycle of people. Therefore, it can be understood that light impacts people’s wellbeing and performance. In fact, the true value of light lies in the combination of excellent visual, biological, and emotional effects of light.”

For obvious reasons, the visual elements of HCL design are the easiest to, ahem, see, and these include the minimization or elimination of flicker and glare through judicious choices in lighting components and fixtures and their placement within the space. Adjustable light

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levels and color tuning are important, too, although the “best” implementation is difficult due to the multiple variables and innate subjectivity involved.

Biology The physiological effects of lighting, on the other hand, are primarily non-visual, and much more research remains to be done. At the moment, the most recognized effects of naturally and artificially created light involve its ability to regulate the human body’s circadian rhythm – the 24-hour pattern of rising and falling levels of hormones (such as cortisol and melatonin) that control the body’s spans and times of alertness, cognitive performance, relaxation, mood, and the sleep-wake cycle.

These effects can’t be understated, either. In an article for Nature in 2013, “Casting Light on Sleep Deficiency,” Charles Czeisler of the Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School, wrote, “Light impacts on our circadian rhythms more powerfully than any drug.” (If you’re thinking, “Gee, if we could only bottle it and sell it, we’d make a fortune!” that’s exactly what’s already been done – starting in 1809 with

Edison’s incandescent light bulb and continuing to dimmable, tunable, energy-efficient SSL lighting today.)

Long before Menlo Park, of course, life on Earth evolved a 24-hour circadian rhythm guided by the light from the sun, specifically the short-wavelength, non-visual, blue portion of the spectrum. In human beings, whereas the peak sensitivity of the visual system is around 555 nm, the melanopsin retinal ganglion cells – a type of non-visual photoreceptor in the eye that sends signals to the brain’s master clock – are most reactive to light at 460 nm. The presence or absence of light at this wavelength is so important to regulating our physiology that the human circadian system has often been called a “blue sky detector.”

Coincidentally, LED lights often generate a peak output in that blue slice of the electromagnetic spectrum. Since people spend an estimated 80 to 90 percent of their time inside (as in, isolated from sunshine or night sky), blue light output is the good news/bad news of LED lighting. If you’re inside a building with limited exposure to sunlight, the blue light

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HEALTH

The Ons and Offs of Human-Centric Lighting

This kitchen is part of a fully connected home in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains featuring 77 LumaStream fixtures throughout, using four 12-channel power supplies connected to a single electrical circuit. Photo: Audio Intersection, Canton, GA

produced by artificial lighting can help keep your body’s circadian rhythm in tune (or “entrained”) with the solar day. Later in the evening, however, LED-emitted blue light can suppress necessary changes in your body’s circadian rhythm, a situation that can result in a variety of unpleasant and unhealthy conditions, including sleep-deprivation, reduced cognition and perception, mood swings, depression, and possibly – as some studies seem to indicate – higher rates of diabetes and cancer.

Psychology Although flicker, glare, brightness, color, and level of blue light are measurable – as are hormone levels in the body – the emotional responses that human beings have to physical and biological changes are much more difficult to quantify. There is a significant body of research indicating that HCL systems incorporating elements such as illumination levels, directivity, and color specifically matched to the job or task at hand, as well as conscious attempts to create a mentally stimulating “visual drama,” can improve workplace productivity. In fact, something as simple as providing the ability to easily raise or lower the brightness of the light

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in an individual’s personal space can help improve their productivity. But workplace productivity and emotional well-being are not the same thing, and the subjective nature of selfreported emotional health and states-of-mind make it much harder for those promoting the benefits of HCL to scientifically – and, perhaps more importantly for those involved in promoting the emotional benefits of HCL, legally – back up their claims.

How in the HCL Do You Get Involved?

It’s tempting to look at the amorphous and evolving nature of HCL and decide to sit on the sidelines until the details get sorted out. HCL, however, is a much-discussed topic among professionals in the lighting industry– and is quickly becoming mainstream in the trade press, consumer marketing, and social media. In other words, HCL isn’t going away any time soon, so it’s better to get involved early rather than be forced to play catchup later.

When you’re ready to start using humancentric lighting concepts, remember that lighting can have potent effects on human

physiology and psychology. “The right light at any time of day is like a cup of coffee,” says Mariana G. Figueiro, PhD, Lighting Research Center. As a result, it’s a good idea to follow the adage: First, do no harm. Take it step by step and beware of companies making bold statements about HCL without data to back up their claims. Stick with reputable, wellrespected brands that clearly have familiarity with HCL and sell products designed to implement it, such as Philips, Lutron, Ketra, Legrand, Crestron, Vantage, LumaStream, Colorbeam, and Smartika.

In addition to CEDIA, other organizations offer information and provide training and certification, including the Lighting Research Center (LRC), the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), the International Well Building Institute, Delos, the International Commission on Illumination (CIE), and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Above all else, remember that HCL is a process intended to create a balance of visual, biological, and emotional benefits of lighting for humans.

As a result, there isn’t any single one-size-fits-all solution. x

NETWORKED HOME

Why Enterprise-grade Networks Matter Today’s Bandwidth-Hungry Smart Homes Require Networks That Can Keep Up

By Nathan Holmes

50 billion.

That’s the number of internet-connected devices that we will be using by 2020 in our offices, vehicles, and our homes.

Nearly every device in our lives today can either communicate with other devices, store data in the cloud, automate a process, or permit us to communicate with each other in new and exciting ways. (Video over IP, anyone?)

Increasing Network Demands Require Robust and Reliable Networks As the number of smart devices in our homes grows to rival or even surpass the quantity used in enterprise-level organizations, our network requirements increase proportionately. Wi-Fi and Local Area Networks (LANs) in home environments have needed to become substantially more robust in a very short period of time.

Rolling a truck is costly, and customers don’t want to hear that their network won’t be back up for a couple of hours, much less another day or two. Today’s homeowners, especially those who have invested in luxury custom installations, expect 100 percent uptime from their network and the home technology systems connected to it.

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Photo iStock

Choosing a network solution not engineered for today’s increased requirements can lead to a negative technology experience – and that will reflect poorly on the integrator’s bottom line and, potentially, their reputation.

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NETWORKED HOME

Why Enterprise-grade Networks Matter

Learning from Large Enterprises Large businesses have had these needs and expectations for years and now, enterprise-grade systems easily meet today’s demands for robust, reliable, scalable, and secure residential networks that can be remotely monitored and managed to help provide an outstanding technology experience to the users.

Best practices for enterprise-grade networks entail designing a system that can evolve and grow with the client’s needs and incorporates hardware that provides the tools necessary for enterprise-level support. Having the ability to easily troubleshoot anomalies, modify the configuration through software, or install more product and/or better products to meet increasing demands ensures superior network performance. Today’s home integrators who follow these best practices and are willing to upgrade and service their customers’ networking systems as required will create satisfied customers for years.

Meeting Wi-Fi Requirements in Larger Homes Wi-Fi is a significant component of today’s networking requirements and a great example of why enterprise-grade networks are crucial in today’s luxury homes.

Most older homes designed in the 1950s and 1960s measure smaller than 2,000 square feet.

This represents many dwellings in use or on the market today. Most home networking devices are designed for homes within that bell curve.

But any home larger than about 2,000-squarefeet will require multiple Wi-Fi access points.

This encompasses a significant portion of the houses that hire custom integrators to design and install smart home technology, including control systems, security, distributed audio, and home theaters or media rooms.

Enterprise-grade systems are designed with multiple access points and are also easily expandable to meet the needs of hundreds of users across hundreds of thousands of square

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Photo iStock

Home technology professionals can take a page from the book of commercial systems integrators in providing an enterprise-grade network deployment for virtually every project.

feet. Consumer Wi-Fi devices can be overwhelmed by users attempting to join a Wi-Fi network during parties or small gatherings which can prevent a home owner from being able to interact with their home.

Many luxury homeowners want Wi-Fi capabilities pool-side, in their front yard, in garden areas, and even as far as adjacent land they might own and they want to ensure that the Wi-Fi will perform flawlessly at all times, not just when they are home alone. Only a properly designed and deployed enterprisegrade Wi-Fi network solution can support these requirements.

Businesses require a network that is scalable, 100 percent rock-solid reliable with zero downtime, and secure. To fulfill these requirements, an enterprise-grade system must have enterprise-grade hardware, enterprisegrade programming, and enterprise-grade support. If any of these are lacking, then it is not a true enterprise-grade solution.

Defining Enterprise-grade Network Requirements

The Difference in Enterprise-grade Hardware for Smart Home Projects

Wi-Fi capabilities are just the beginning when it comes to luxury home networking requirements. Just as critical is the ability to communicate with and control devices on the hard-wired LAN.

Many enterprise-grade products use more robust components and power supplies, some with lifespans of 10 to 30 years. This means your client’s network is less likely to go down due to a power supply failure or any other hardwarerelated issue.

Many manufacturers boast that they sell enterprise-grade products. But, even if the products they sell are durable enough to be considered enterprise-grade, it doesn’t mean they meet the requirements of an enterprisegrade network deployment.

Before choosing components for your next custom integration project, find out whether the networking system you are considering is genuinely enterprise-grade, with the support you need behind it.

Consumer- or Prosumer-grade networking systems are designed to be easy to program, with a simple web GUI which will only provide a limited set of features and tools. They sacrifice capabilities in exchange for this ease-of-use.

NETWORKED HOME

Why Enterprise-grade Networks Matter

Residential network provider Access Networks utilizes true enterprise-grade networking equipment in its installations.

Enterprise-grade hardware gives systems integrators deep visibility into the network and the tools to troubleshoot issues, locate any problems, and then solve them, remotely or on-site, through programming or network design changes.

Finally, enterprise-grade hardware necessitates higher levels of security requirements. As the amount of data homeowners store on their network increases and as they become more reliant on the network for functions from sprinklers and shades to door locks and security cameras, enterprise-grade security in routers, switches, and access points is absolutely critical.

How Enterprise-grade Software Provides Scalability Enterprise-grade programming means that engineers have followed best practices for commercial IT networks to ensure a highly scalable, highly stable network. If you don’t use best practices during your network installation – or hire a firm who deploys networks using best practices – a simple network change can lead to catastrophic failure.

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On the other hand, programming that follows best practices makes it easy to scale the network as requirements grow and new devices are added to the home. Combining enterprisegrade hardware with enterprise-grade programming makes it easy to scale the network without replacing components.

capabilities allow integrators to be proactive with service and support while reducing truck rolls and service costs. Enterprise-grade network solutions improve this support model by providing additional levels of monitoring and more robust tools to use when remotely diagnosing an issue.

Enterprise-grade Service Makes the Difference in Today’s Smart Homes

For instance, a customer may not realize the network is lagging because the hardware offers enough bandwidth to support increased demands, but the integrator or his service team may be notified about a change in performance through a remote monitoring service or software. The integrator can resolve the issue before it becomes catastrophic to the network – and before the client even notices.

Proper hardware selection and the associated programming, along with the application of best practices, is still only the beginning when it comes to providing an enterprise-grade network solution. Enterprise-grade hardware enables a greater level of visibility into the network and provides a higher level of performance, especially when properly programmed and configured, but you aren’t providing your clients with a full-fledged enterprise-grade solution without the service to match.

A well-functioning network should be virtually invisible. Your clients won’t notice it, because they can turn on any device and it just works. Remote monitoring and management

Ultimately, an enterprise-grade network is only as good as the hardware used and the team supporting it. Simply installing more expensive hardware does not mean that a client will have a better experience. Technology integrators would be wise to consider whether their network solution is truly enterprise-grade and if it offers the service and support the project requires – and their clients expect. x

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PRODUCT REVOLUTION

EPV Screens AcousticPro 4K eFinity – In-wall speakers represent a sizable percentage of custom installations. The AcousticPro 4K eFinity Series is an acoustically transparent, fixed frame screen that covers all the bases by handling 4K/UHD content while allowing sound performance with minimal attenuation, and it all comes in the latest “edge-free” design that’s in greater demand than standard frame screens. Tight, angled perforations negate the formation of moiré effect which is typically encountered on most sound transparent screen materials. Starting at $1,995

Access Networks and Crestron Enterprise-Grade Networking – Access Networks now offers preconfigured enterprise-grade networking packages optimized to work with Crestron’s DM-NVX Series of AV over IP encoders/decoders. The standardized configurations ensure deployments are seamless and efficient for dealers integrating Access Networks’ Core Systems with Crestron NVX products. The Crestron DM-NVX system is a secure solution designed to deliver 4K60, 4:4:4, and HDR video over standard 1gbps Ethernet. Access Networks Core systems provide the high bandwidth and low latency today’s video distribution systems need. Price TBA

IntelliVision Face Recognition Cloud Service – Face recognition is becoming a must-have security feature for access control in smart homes and commercial buildings. The latest version of IntelliVision’s facial recognition technology now runs as a cloud-based service as well as on edge devices and on-premise servers. It has been optimized for in-camera processing and is capable of detecting at least 10 faces in less than one second with only 25 percent CPU usage on an Ambarella S5L-based camera. As many as 20 faces can be recognized in a single frame. Price TBA

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PRODUCT REVOLUTION

miniDSP Streaming HD – Dirac Live, a patented room correction solution that not only corrects the frequency response, but also the impulse response of loudspeakers in a room, is making its “streaming debut” in miniDSP’s all-new Streaming HD (SHD) series stereo processor. With its floating point processor, 32bit converters, quad core ARM streamer, multichannel USB audio, and Volumio network audio support, the SHD series is designed to deliver natural, realistic, and transparent sound to streaming audio. The series includes an analog and digital All-In-One-Does-It-All full rack mount unit, and a more compact, all-digital solution that’s available at a lower cost and ideal for those who already own a DAC. Price TBA

Atlantic Technology’s Gatecrasher1– For luxury consumers who want all of their audio throughout the home with the convenience of streaming services and wireless connectivity, this new “smart speaker” combines high-performance sound and integration features. The compact 2.1 stereo wireless music system’s design, materials, and construction are meant to be a “step up” over typical mainstream offerings, with a wood cabinet that is constructed of high-density MDF shaped to reduce internal standing waves. Gatecrasher1 lets owners wirelessly play music using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and advanced DLNA audio sync technologies give Gatecrasher1 the ability to set up multiple Gatecrasher units for whole house audio or to configure Gatecrashers in groups to stream synchronized audio to selected zones in the home. $499

Blueair Classic 480i - Filtering out 99.97 percent of airborne particles, down to 0.1 microns, the Blueair Classic 480i is ideal for reducing the effects of athsma and allergies, and for anyone looking to improve the air quality in their home. The secret to the unit’s best-in-class performance is their patented HEPASilent Technology, which utilizes mechanical and electrostatic filtration that never clogs while cleaning more air, using less energy and producing less noise. Integrating seamlessly with your smart home via Wi-Fi and the free Blueair Friend App, this innovative air purifier automatically adjusts fan speeds to match the quality of your air while also being one of the only air purifiers to be Alexa certified and voice compatible. Price TBA Sept/Oct 2018 | Residential Tech Today

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PRODUCT REVOLUTION

Maximus Camera Floodlight – Maximus already offered a smart front porch light, and now the home security company is introducing a Camera Floodlight that allows consumers to see what’s happening around their property in real time and prevent burglaries and break-ins. The floodlight is equipped with smart event detection that begins recording 10 seconds before an event is triggered with a live 1080p video feed. Additionally, it detects movement within an improved 70-foot range in the front or back of the home and sends instant alerts to your smartphone. With an enhanced user interface, the mobile app allows users to sound a siren, see and speak to people no matter where they are, and call the police via 911 directly from the app in the event of an intruder. $249 Phase Technology HV Subwoofer – The HV subwoofers from Phase Technology are designed to provide highperformance audio at entry-level pricing. The line of subs, which includes the HV101-LP, HV101-II, and HV121-II, features treated pulp drivers with high-excursion rubber surrounds. Each sub includes on-board DSP smart limiting to monitor and adjust output for dynamic, undistorted bass, along with a gain control, phase switch, variable crossover, L&R inputs, and a dedicated LFE input. Starting at $390

Stealth Acoustics LRX-85 Invisible Speakers – As one of the pioneers in the “invisible speaker” category, Stealth Acoustics knows a thing or two about making speakers that are meant to be heard, not seen. The new premium-grade LRX-85 benefits from the company’s proprietary FidelityGlass technology. Durable UV protected radiating panels ensure pleasing spacious sound is produced in the full audio spectrum from 40Hz to 18kHz, as well as a 170-degree hemispherical coverage pattern.

A two-panel design allows for increased power handling, lower octave bass response, and reduced intermodulation distortion at outputs of over 103dB. Price TBA

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Planar 1 Plus Turntable – The Planar 1 Plus can be connected to any line level input via a standard pair of RCA cables. The Planar 1 Plus benefits from all of the advantages of its sibling, the Planar 1, such as the low noise 24v motor, precision hub bearing assembly, and hand-made RB110 tonearm with a factory-fitted Rega Carbon cartridge. Setup remains possible in as little as 30 seconds, making this the easiest to use and most flexible Rega turntable to date. It’s available in gloss black or white. $595

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PRODUCT REVOLUTION

LumaStream’s Parallux LSF14 LED Fixture – The Parallux LSF14 is an elegant suspended LED light fixture solution for any boardroom or conference room—and it provides the ideal combination of both subject and ambient lighting. It eliminates unpleasant shadowing by utilizing an optic that radiates 70 percent of the light downward and 30 percent upward. The LSF14 has also been engineered to work with the same power supply as the company’s downlight fixtures, giving integrators the most efficient “turnkey” complete lighting solution for their clients. Price TBA

MSE Audio OS-440 Weatherproof Amplifier – The OS-440 from MSE Audio is being marketed as the industry’s first outdoor smart amplifier. Featuring IP55 certification, the OS-440 is entirely weatherproof. It includes on-board Bluetooth and Wi-Fi functionality to wirelessly connect to an existing network and function as a Google Chromecast device, interface with DLNA servers, and provide multizone control. In addition, users have the option to hard-wire a source for analog and digital outputs, allowing it to work with any existing source or system. The OS-440 boasts multi-zone control, as well as voice-controlled audio control by pairing with an Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant-enabled device. Price TBA

Channel Vision’s A0351 Amplifier – Channel Vision’s new ARIA “Amp-Servant” features a built-in three-source auto-switcher that allows an end-user to seamlessly switch to an audio source (toslink, Cat-5, or RCA), in that room based on priority levels set by the installer. This brings the capability of listening to any manufacturer’s multi-room audio system with the Aria Amp in that room. By turning on the TV, autoswitching to the TV audio occurs using the same pair of speakers. In addition, a third audio source, such as an Alexa Dot, can be added to the Cat-5 input for voice control. $240

Beale Street Audio A220 Amplifier – Small and compact, Vanco’s Beale Street Audio A220 amplifier fits almost anywhere and is a seamless solution for even the most demanding subwoofers. The A220 is Class D, 220 Watts, and features a stereo/mono line level audio input that can receive full band audio from any audio amplifier, receiver or preamp, or an LFE input from an appropriately featured device. With an efficient digital design that runs cool under almost any load, the A220 also features a stereo speaker level input and passthrough, adjustable subwoofer crossover frequency, and adjustable phase settings. The A220 is a simple and efficient way for installers to add amplified in-wall or in-ceiling subwoofers to multi-room audio amplifiers that do not have zone-specific level outputs. Price TBA

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ART & TECH

The Design Behind Theory Behind the Scenes with Pro Audio Technology’s New Loudspeakers and Electronics

By Jeremy Glowacki It’s not often that a manufacturer provides a look behind the curtain of a new product line. But, thanks to veteran loudspeaker engineer Paul Hales, we received an advanced preview of Pro Audio Technology’s new “Theory” brand of residential loudspeakers and electronics. Hales, the owner of Pro Audio Technology (PRO), provided this unique look at his engineering drawings, wood prototype models, 3D-printed waveguide tests, exploded-view diagrams, and high-resolution renderings, for a line that will make its debut at CEDIA Expo, September 6-8, in San Diego.

Theory marries PRO’s acoustic performance standards with a contemporary design to bring large-scale professional sound to residential and commercial installations where aesthetics and compact size are essential. Speaker models under the Theory brand consist of three soundbars designed to match 65-, 75-, and 85-inch flatpanel TVs, three in-wall and on-wall loudspeaker models with dual 5.5-, 6.5-, and 8-inch woofers, as well as 12- and 15-inch subwoofers for dedicated theaters, media rooms, game rooms, or distributed audio systems.

The soundbars are built using custom aluminum extrusions with clean lines, rounded edges, machined aluminum accents, and configurable decorative trim to suit any décor, including the option for carbon fiber, white, gray, or black gloss, natural and black aluminum, brushed stainless steel, and matte pewter.

Under the hood of the 85-inch soundbar model (sb85) are ultra-high sensitivity components, including three one-inch aluminum compression drivers on proprietary Theory Impedance Optimizer

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Early sketches of the Theory soundbar

Wood prototypes for the Theory on-wall speaker

An exploded-view diagram of the Theory on-wall speaker

(TIO) waveguides, achieving 110dB of SPL with just 1W input. The sb85 offers an actual bass reflex design for more robust lowfrequency performance, including two high-power five-inch carbon fiber woofers per channel, which generate 95dB SPL per watt.

The Theory brand also offers two amplified loudspeaker controllers (ALC-1809BB) that combine the functionality of a multi-channel DSP processor, high power multichannel home theater and distributed audio amplifier, multichannel mixing amplifier, high-resolution loudspeaker processor, and a system that brings localized bass management, all fitted into a 1U package.

At the heart of the Theory ALC-1809BB lies a dedicated, 96kHz/24bit DSP engine for all Theory and Pro Audio Technology

loudspeaker and subwoofer processing, with more than 180 IIR filters, 8 FIR filters, intelligent power-limiting, and delay.

Additionally, the ALC-1809B can serve as a multichannel DSP processor, offering 80 userprogrammable parametric EQ filters (10 per channel), plus gain and delay of up to 75 msec channel for on-site system-wide optimization and calibration.

The ALC-1809B’s 8x8 matrix mixer with full 8x8 programmable audio ducking feature enables priority paging in distributed audio installations. In residential systems, this allows the new voice-activated control devices, such as Amazon Alexa, to “page” any or all audio zones within a distributed system, automatically without input switching or signal interruption.

A rendering of Pro Audio Technology’s new Theory soundbar in gloss black, with grille removed

The ALC-1809B’s BassDirector bass management system provides “localized” bass management of surround and distributed audio loudspeakers. Low frequencies can be “steered” to regional subwoofers within complex residential and distributed loudspeaker setups, right in the 1809B. With nine channels and 1,800W of amplifier power (3 x 300W plus 6 x 100W bridgeable), the ALC-1809B supports six surround sound system formats – 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 7.1, 7.2, and 5.2.2 ATMOS – from a single 12-pound 1U device. Theory products are engineered, designed, and assembled in the U.S., and the first seven models will be on display in Sound Room 14 (SR-14) at CEDIA. There will also be a Theory demo in the sound room so attendees can experience the sonic muscle for themselves. x

A rendering of Pro Audio Technology’s new Theory family of soundbars, on-wall speakers, and controller

Sept/Oct 2018 | Residential Tech Today

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FEATURED

Cover Story

Rob Corddry Brings Down the House (continued from pg. 57)

RC: I think it’s going to force people to be more creative … I went to Autodesk and had a little tour. It was this awesome day. They’re a very forward-thinking company. They hire artists to work with their engineers, and they’re very diligently working on AI. He told me a joke, the guy that was bringing me around, and he said, “The manufacturing plant of the future will have two living things in it: a dog and a man. The man’s job will be to feed the dog and the dog’s job will be to keep the man away from the robots who are hard at work.”

You’re not going to get people to go see a movie where a robot is just cool. It doesn’t interfere with you at all in a negative way. It’s fine, everything’s cool. That’s not a compelling story. I believe that AI will be revelatory and it might even completely change our society for the better.

RT Today: Maybe one day you’ll play Hollywood’s first chill robot.

RC: That would probably be boring. I don’t want to do that. I want to play the robot that takes everything over, destroying the world. But I don’t believe that’s going to be a reality. It’s like Jaws. Nobody went into the ocean after Jaws; suddenly we were all afraid of sharks.

RT Today: How do you think AI will most benefit the world?

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And so if you extrapolate from there, there are going to be a lot of people out of a job. And companies will have the opportunity to be Photo HBO more prosperous, which is good and bad. People will have to do something. And I think that, hopefully, when faced with that kind of situation, it forces people to think. People will have to change their business models. We’ll have to change our mode of thinking about how to be prosperous and what is happiness and what is hard work.

And I think that’s a good thing. I think that you’re only going to evolve with challenges like that. It won’t be such a bad challenge. We’ll have robots doing everything else for us, so we’ll have time to think.

RT Today: Are you afraid there might be robot actors one day?

RC: Well, that would be, I think, impractical.

Although you know what? If there’s some

humanized AI person that just decides that they want to be an actor, fine, f*** it. Welcome. But we wouldn’t be replaced by them. We’re being replaced by computer cartoons. Which are fun to watch.

RT Today: In what other ways have you seen technology change Hollywood behind the scenes?

RC: The first couple of movies I did were shot on film. People loved film, the analog experience. But I tell you, those things jam all the time. They only run for 20 minutes, then you have to reload them. Then there’s the whole processing rigmarole. With new cameras today, much to an editor’s chagrin, you can just leave them on, and you don’t even have to cut.

The other innovation that I love is LED lights instead of big halogen lamps. They are so easy for the crew to use, they can change the shade and the color and the tint and the white and the warmth and everything with just a dial. And the best part for me is they don’t give off any heat, which is really something.

RT Today: You’ve been talking about how you want technology to make the world better and more creative. As an actor/writer, are there specific pieces of technology that have helped you hone your craft?

RC: I think acting will probably always be analog, but writing for sure. We wrote Children’s Hospital on Google Docs and it was a revelation.

Google Docs is the easiest thing ever, and I don’t know how we would have done it otherwise because it’s a show that a lot of us had to do remotely sometimes.

I have been into a lot of the “to-do” apps, like the task managers. I think if they’re done right, something like OmniFocus, those are programs written to clear your mind. They help clear your mind so that you may have room for more ideas.

I wouldn’t have ever come up with Children’s Hospital if it wasn’t for one of those apps. That’s the main thing that I use every day and that I feel, at least it’s not making me dumber, if anything it’s making me smarter. x

MEET-UP

Events

OCTOBER 1-5

2 & 4 New York/New Jersey

10-12

15-17

29-Nov. 1

30

CTA Technology & Standards Forum, Los Angeles, CA

Southeast Technology & Business Summit, Atlanta, GA

HTSA 2018 Fall Conference, Dallas, TX

15

Arizona Technology & Business Summit, Phoenix, AZ

ISSUE 2:

ISSUE 3:

ISSUE 4:

ISSUE 5:

ISSUE 6:

The Intelligent Home. It’s time to stop talking about the Smart Home.

Most people want more than just a home that is smart.

They are looking to AI technology for a system that anticipates their needs and reacts in an accommodating way.

The Network Ecosphere. Now, more than ever, it’s essential that home networks provide both wired and wireless accommodations to create the best service for the enduser customer as an increasing number of intelligent devices are added every year.

The Power of Power. The electrical infrastructure of the home is more complicated than it used to be, with line noise, grounding challenges, and complications to the way power distribution and routing can be tackled according to the National Electrical Code.

The Commercial Crossover. With the Google-fication of the workplace, more and more corporate office environments are reflecting the same technologies found in the most advanced intelligent homes.

How Remote is Remote? The evolution of home control technology has involved not only voice integration and cloud-based infrastructure, but the incorporation of new security technologies and in-home health monitoring to allow an aging population to remain in their residences longer and more safely.

ISSUES

COMING

23-25

Innovate Celebrate (CTA and Established), Boston, MA

CTA-861 PlugFest Burlingame, CA

From Residential Tech Today

Rocky Mountain International Audio Fest, Denver, CO

NOVEMBER

Azione Fall 2018 Member Conference, Denver, CO

Coming Up

5-7

Technology & Business Summit 10/2 – Melville, NY 10/4 – Elizabeth, NJ

Sept/Oct 2018 | Residential Tech Today

79

RELAX

The Lighter Side

“ Didn’t pick up the ” check…

“Scheduled first date at uncle’s wake”

The Rating Game

By Ben Rosenfeld

“ We watch Diners, Drivee-Idn and Dives for 6 s, hours straight… ”

“Said Iher of d reminth her bro er”

Get married before it’s too late! Why? Because it’s only a matter of time until we get rated on every aspect of our lives, including how well we date. All of your past dates, one-off coffees, and long-term relationships that ended with hurt feelings are about to come back to haunt you.

Good luck proving that your “dating rating” is low because you went on a string of bad first dates, including a radical feminist who gave you one star because when the waiter asked her, “What would the lady like?” you didn’t scold him for reinforcing the patriarchy.

Nope. Nobody cares. You’re just a loser with a 2.2 star rating. Nobody will ever want to go out with you again. It doesn’t matter that your last one-star review was because your date mixed up Yelp with the dating rating app and rated the restaurant instead of you. Sure, it was technically your fault for getting adventurous and trying the new Ethiopian place, but nobody knew your date had an allergy to kitfo.

Maybe you were a bad date. You couldn’t keep a conversation going, didn’t make eye contact, and sweated profusely.

But, that was five years ago. Since then, you’ve bettered yourself by working on your social skills, getting older, wiser, and more comfortable in your skin, or at least having your startup go public. But now the algorithms put your dating profile on page 999 out of 1,000, and you’re stuck Netflix and chilling with your goldfish.

A few years back, an app called “LuLu” gained notoriety because it let women leave feedback for future women about guys they had dated. But, some Facebook authorizations were needed for it to work and guys couldn’t see that data.

Graphics via Vecteezy

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What happens when the rating data flows in both directions? Will people

think something must be really wrong with you if you’re not on it? One day, public dating ratings will become the new Gmail: If you’re not using it, you’re either a Luddite or in your eighties.

The technology is there. We already have dating apps that tell you how many mutual Facebook friends you have.

Amazon and Seamless let you rate your orders in seconds. Yelp lets you rate any business. What happens when we treat romantic partners like a lukewarm bowl of chicken curry?

When Uber instituted two-way ratings, it changed the behavior of both drivers and passengers, as everyone wanted to be five-star rated so that Uber’s algorithms wouldn’t punish them. Nothing makes you polite to your driver and fellow passengers like an Uber that won’t show up for 25 minutes as you stand in the pouring rain. Before that, eBay made auctions among strangers workable with double feedback to help prevent rip-offs.

What happens when this idea gets combined with the Netflix “recommendation” algorithm? Are you going to end up dating 10 partners in a row who look really similar? Or who all look different but have the same underlying personality? Perhaps the algorithm has determined that you have an inexplicably strong attraction to people who use semicolons; even if they use them the wrong way. Would you rather the algorithm think you have a shoe fetish? LinkedIn has skill endorsements. Dating endorsements could be next.

So take my advice before it’s too late and get married now! Then again, if this rating system comes to all aspects of our lives, isn’t it only a matter of time before my wife and daughter publicly rate my every action too? Quick, run! x

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