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A Breakdown of Home Automation Interfaces

Posted on: 10-15-2010 in: Blog, SoundVision Guide

URC MX 980 RemoteAs home automation technology progresses the options for Home Automation interfaces has grown.  Choosing the right interface for your family can be a tricky decision to make. We’d like to explain some of the benefits of each type to help clear up any questions you may have and keep you well informed of the latest technologies.Wireless Remotes – Wireless remotes offer customers the comfort of a familiar method of control in an ultra portable package.  An infra red universal remote is perfectly suitable for a simple home entertainment system.  As the home automation needs grow an RF or WiFi capable remote like URC will be needed to expand the range and usage of features like shading or lighting control.Touch Panels – A touchscreen can offer much more flexibility, including video surveillance, additional control options, internet access, and complete customization.   They provide graphic based control that covers  a broad range of devices and systems. Touchpanels can come as wired or wireless.Crestron wired touchpanel

  • Wired -   Wired touchpanels are often installed in the wall at a central or convenient location of the home.  They can be used in conjunction with wireless touchpanels and keypads.
  • Wireless – Wireless touchpanels can move from room-to-room and offer the greatest amount of flexibility of any home control interface.  Like your cell phone or other portable devices it does need to be charged on a regular basis.  iPad and iPhone software developers are quickly taking note and creating a multitude of home control apps, to even further expand the capabilities of home control.  Click here to learn more about home automation apps on the iPad and iPhone.

Lutron Radio Ra2 KeypadKeypads  - Keypads are a simple, but cost effective type of interface that compliments homes needing intelligent lighting and shading control at multiple zones.  They can range from simple on/off switches to multiple options based on events (entertaining, dining, movies, etc).  With keypads you lose many advanced features, but they are extremely easy to operate and maintain.If you or someone you know would like more information on what you read here or have any questions, feel free to call our office at (415) 456-7000, send me an email or visit our website today.

6 Awesome iPad and iPhone Apps for Home Automation

Posted on: 09-21-2010 in: Blog, SoundVision Guide

The iPad and iPhone are singlehandedly changing the world of home automation.  With its ease of use, popularity and unmatched usability, software developers are jumping at the opportunity to develop home control apps.  Here are a few of the very best apps we’ve found for ipad and iphone home automation.Crestron – Crestron Mobile Pro puts the critically acclaimed Crestron touchpanel user interface right on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, enabling all kinds of customizable control features.  Expect the same high level of performance you’re used to with Crestron home control, but completely mobile.DVR Remote – Forget to schedule your DVR to record your favorite show?  No problem. Set up the recording while you’re at the office, on vacation, or anywhere else. DVR Remote is designed for TiVo Series3 DVRs.   Also note that there are apps for DirecTV, DISH Network, AT&T and more.Lutron Home Control – This app allows you to interface with your RadioRa 2 lighting control system over a wifi network. Lutron also offers a Homeworks Light control app  that can connect to your Homeworks system lighting control system over WiFi, Edge or even 3G network.Sonos Controller for iPhone – This app is a full-fledged Sonos Controller that works over your home WiFi network. Simply touch the screen to pick a room, point and flick to choose a song, and hit play to enjoy.Off Remote - Off Remote is a simple app that can tell your computer to Sleep, Restart, Lock and Hibernate or turn off.  It’s designed to work  on any computer in your local network.   Great for energy management.Sherwin Williams Color Snap – This handy little app isn’t necessarily a home control app, but is very useful for the planning stages of a home theater remodel.   With Color Snap you simply snap a picture from your iPhone of a wall or decoration and the app matches the closest Sherwin Williams paint color.  From there you can create a custom color palette.If you have experience with any of these or other home automation apps please feel free to share!

The iPad and iPhone are singlehandedly changing the world of home automation. With its ease of use, popularity and unmatched usability, software developers are jumping at the opportunity to develop home control apps. Here are a few of the very best apps we’ve found for ipad and iphone home automation.

Crestron - Crestron Mobile Pro puts the critically acclaimed Crestron touchpanel user interface right on your iPhone, iPad oriPod touch, enabling all kinds of customizable control features. Expect the same high level of performance you’re used to with Crestron home control, but completely mobile.

DVR Remote – Forget to schedule your DVR to record your favorite show? No problem. Set up the recording while you’re at the office, on vacation, or anywhere else. DVR Remote is designed for TiVo Series3 DVRs. Also note that there are apps for DirecTV, DISH Network, AT&T and more.

Lutron Home Control – This app allows you to interface with your RadioRa 2 lighting control system over a wifi network. Lutron also offers a Homeworks Light control app that can connect

The iPad and iPhone are singlehandedly changing the world of home automation.  With its ease of use, popularity and unmatched usability, software developers are jumping at the opportunity to develop home control apps.  Here are a few of the very best apps we’ve found for ipad and iphone home automation.Crestron - Crestron Mobile Pro puts the critically acclaimed Crestron touchpanel user interface right on your iPhone, iPad oriPod touch, enabling all kinds of customizable control features.  Expect the same high level of performance you’re used to with Crestron home control, but completely mobile.DVR Remote – Forget to schedule your DVR to record your favorite show?  No problem. Set up the recording while you’re at the office, on vacation, or anywhere else. DVR Remote is designed for TiVo Series3 DVRs.   Also note that there are apps for DirecTV, DISH Network, AT&T and more.Lutron Home Control – This app allows you to interface with your RadioRa 2 lighting control system over a wifi network. Lutron also offers a Homeworks Light control app  that can connect to your Homeworks system lighting control system over WiFi, Edge or even 3G network.Sonos Controller for iPhone – This app is a full-fledged Sonos Controller that works over your home WiFi network. Simply touch the screen to pick a room, point and flick to choose a song, and hit play to enjoy.Off Remote - Off Remote is a simple app that lets Sleep, Restart, Lock and Hibernate or turn off any or all computers in your local network.   Great for energy managementSherwin Williams Color Snap – This handy little app isn’t necessarily a home control app, but is very useful for the planning stages of a home theater remodel.   With Color Snap you simply snap a picture from your iPhone or iPod of a wall or decorations and the app matches the closest Sherwin Williams paint color.  From there you can create a custom color palette.

to your Homeworks system lighting control system over WiFi, Edge or even 3G network.

Sonos Controller for iPhone – This app is a full-fledged Sonos Controller that works over your home WiFi network. Simply touch the screen to pick a room, point and flick to choose a song, and hit play to enjoy.

Off Remote - Off Remote is a simple app that lets Sleep, Restart, Lock and Hibernate or turn off any or all computers in your local network. Great for energy management

Sherwin Williams Color Snap – This handy little app isn’t necessarily a home control app, but is very useful for the planning stages of a home theater remodel. With Color Snap you simply snap a picture from your iPhone or iPod of a wall or decorations and the app matches the closest Sherwin Williams paint color. From there you can create a custom color palette.

Will the Apple iPad Change Our Industry?

Posted on: 02-2-2010 in: Blog

Apple iPadLike many of you, those of us here at SoundVision HQ were tuned to our computers last Wednesday morning as Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the stage in San Francisco to unveil the company’s latest product, the long-rumored tablet computer that’s since become known as iPad. In case you missed the countless news reports immediately following the device’s debut, the iPad is Apple’s new tablet computer based on the iPhone’s operating system, but featuring a 9.7-inch multi-touch screen in a case that’s just a half-inch thick and weighing in at a meager 1.5 pounds.While we tend to agree with most of the experts who believe that the iPad will breathe new life into publications like magazines and newspapers, it’s also going to provide a new way for our customers to control their home’s electronic systems. Currently, Crestron, Lutron HomeWorks and Sonos all offer apps to control these devices from an iPhone or iPod touch. These apps will run out of the box on an iPad, but it’s hard to believe that these manufacturers won’t create an iPad-specific app to take advantage of the new device’s vastly larger screen real estate. While the iPad might not completely “change the custom electronics industry” as editors at CEPro magazine might believe, we do think that iPad will provide a great new way for SoundVision clients to control their media and home automation systems.The WiFi (802.11b/g/n)-enabled version of iPad is scheduled to go on sale in April, with a starting pricepoint of $499. A 3G-enabled version, powered by AT&T, will launch 30 days later. We’ll definitely post more about new iPad apps for home electronics once the announcements start rolling in.

TechNotes: Lighting Control Systems

Posted on: 11-18-2009 in: Blog, TechNotes

TechNotesFifty years ago, it was easy to control the lights in one of the rooms in your home. The switch on the wall controlled the one ceiling-mounted light fixture, and it was either on or off. Since that time, lighting designers and homeowners alike have discovered the benefits of layered lighting, where a given room may have multiple lights with each serving its own unique purpose. Good lighting design takes the following into consideration:

  • Ambient lighting to give the space a warm, well-lit feel
  • Task lighting for reading or to light work surfaces and tables
  • Accent lighting on artwork, sculptures and architectural details
  • Pathway lighting to ease navigation in darker areas

This layered form of lighting has made a dramatic impact on how our spaces both look and feel. But, there is a downside to all this lighting: it’s inherently difficult to control. The more lights you put in the room, the more switches must be placed on the wall–and in some cases, this can result in banks of four or six or even more switches and dimmers on the wall. In this case, you most likely spend some time flipping each switch on and off to find the right one, or you end up placing unsightly labels on the switch or dimmer to identify it out of the lineup. Not exactly an ideal solution.It doesn’t take a designer to appreciate a well-lit room, and most of us spend our time at home with the lights on than we do during the daytime. A good lighting system is one of the least expensive ways we can impact the look and feel of a space. The biggest complaint about modern lighting plans is that there are too many switches and dimmers, and since homeowners don’t know what switch controls what light, lights get left on all the time when rooms are unoccupied.

This single Lutron seeTouch keypad can replace a wall full of switches.

Lighting control allows you to replace a bank of switches with one keypad, like this seeTouch model from Lutron.

Unparalleled simplicityA lighting control system can help make your home a better place to live by giving you 1950s-style, push-button simplicity when it comes to controlling your home’s lights. Imagine being able to replace a huge bank of wall switches with one simple keypad, allowing homeowners to have customizable lighting “scenes,” one-touch recall of your favorite lighting settings, and a one-touch “off” button to turn off all lights in a space. These control systems allow you to control your lights based on your activity, not how they are wired.Energy savingsIn addition to outstanding ease of use, a lighting control system also allows you to save more energy through your lighting system than you ever thought possible. Keypads make it simple to turn off lights in areas that are unoccupied. By adding occupancy sensors to rooms, lights in unoccupied areas will turn off automatically without you having to do a thing. These systems are “smart,” meaning they know what time it is and will turn off unnecessary lighting during the day and turn on essential pathway lights automatically after sunset. We can even program a “vacation mode,” where the system recreates your daily routines, turning on and off lights around the house, giving the illusion that someone is home at all times.A lighting control system is the key to really getting the most out of your home’s lighting design, and SoundVision is the North Bay’s experts in lighting control. We have extensive experience working with a variety of Lutron lighting control products, such as HomeWorks, GRAFIK Eye, Sivoia QED shades, Maestro dimmers and more.