Blog

SEE ALSO: Tired of Uninspired Controls for Your Lighting?

Revolutionized User Experience

Crestron believes that the heart of control is the user experience. Through their development of Crestron OS 3, the operating system behind Crestron Home, they put the user first and designed a revolutionized app that’s more responsive, beautiful, and user-friendly than ever before.

From your smartphone or a dedicated Crestron touchscreen, you’ll enjoy a seamless room-based experience, with all devices in that room available at your fingertips. See the status of every room at a glance, tap on a room to make changes, or access custom room and whole-home scenes at the top of the screen to quickly set everything the way you want it at any time.

More Personalization

Add a personal touch to your system by using photos of your home to represent every room—and edit their names and photos when needed. Do you have a lot of rooms in your house but mainly use four or five of them? Room Favorites allows you to select your most frequently used rooms to display at the top of your rooms list for quick and convenient access. The app also features Quick Action items at the top of every room to display what you use most so there’s no need to drill through a bunch of menus.

Crestron Home makes it easier than ever to create and modify smart home scenes, with no programming experience required. You can also seamlessly manage and control multiple properties from the same app. Want to check the status of your vacation home or guest house? Just swipe to your property in the app and adjust the thermostat, check that the security system is armed, and more.

SEE ALSO: What Do You Need for an Epic Media Room?

Retractable TV Mount for Better Views

While it’s best to install your TV so that the center of the display is at eye level, some rooms don’t allow this because of impeding structures like fireplaces. If your TV is installed above a mantel, it may be too high for comfortable viewing. In this case, consider a TV mount, which allows you to pull down the screen manually or with a remote and swivel it to your desired position so that your TV is in perfect alignment with your eye level. When you’re done, a quick button tap puts your TV back in place.

Hidden Display to Keep Eyes on Décor

If your media room also serves as the dedicated space in the house for hosting friends and family, you may not like having a big black wall-mounted screen distracting from your interior design when you’re not watching TV. Instead, consider a TV that transforms into beautifully framed artwork when turned off, like the Samsung Frame. Or conceal the display entirely by opting for a motorized projection screen that hides in a discreet cassette in the ceiling and reveals itself when you’re ready to use it.

Custom Media Furniture to Store Components

AV components stack up fast, causing unwanted clutter and wiring beneath your display. What’s the point of choosing a hidden display if your cable box, Blu-ray player, media server, and streaming device are in plain sight? Media cabinets solve this problem by storing and supporting your gear in a modular, ventilated cabinet that features sliding or removable rear panels for easy access to components and wiring. All that’s left to see is a beautiful, custom-finished credenza.

SEE ALSO: What to Consider When Finding the Perfect Home Projector Screen

A 2.4:1 Cinema Format Screen

First and foremost, you need a projector screen that matches the aspect ratio of the content you plan to watch. For cinephiles, that means a 2.4:1 screen. Because most of the content you’ll be watching in your home theater will be movies and streaming television, you’ll benefit most from this screen size.

You may wonder what this means for 16:9 content, like sports and news. If you also plan to use your home theater to watch the Cubs or keep up with local headlines, you could invest in two motorized retractable projector screens if you want to avoid black sidebars for the occasional 16:9 content.

Plus, when paired with a projector that features an anamorphic lens, you can automatically move between aspect ratios with zero inconvenience.

A 4K Projector with an External Anamorphic Lens

Speaking of an anamorphic lens, what is it? And why do you need one to create a true 4K UltraWide cinema experience? First, “anamorphic” simply refers to the cinematic format technique of shooting a widescreen picture. An external anamorphic lens externally attaches to your 4K projector to stretch or compress an image so that it displays properly based on aspect ratio.

SEE ALSO: Get the Ultimate Control4 Home Automation Experience

What Does Pinnacle Status Signify?

The exclusive Pinnacle status is awarded to dealers who have developed long-standing partnerships with Control4 and have purchased $1 million worth of Control4 products to serve their customers throughout the lifetime of that partnership.

This proud achievement signifies our expansive and proven expertise in programming everything from one-room smart home systems to comprehensive whole-home solutions that meet the unique needs of Chicagoland homeowners.

“Our team at Avidia is proud to be a distinguished Control4 Pinnacle dealer and looks forward to continuing to use Control4 as our primary platform to provide personalized smart home experiences for our customers.” – Matt Cwiokowski, Sales Director, Co-Owner

What Does This Mean for You?

While many Control4 certified dealers are highly technically competent in delivering Control4 smart home solutions, Pinnacle dealers are especially committed to best-in-class design and programming work and have a reputation for providing unparalleled customer satisfaction year after year.

SEE ALSO: Now Is the Perfect Time to Install an Outdoor Speaker System

The Best TVs for Shaded Spaces

The Veranda 4K HDR TV series from SunBriteTV is perfect for areas that don’t see direct sunlight, such as a fully covered patio or outdoor kitchen. Like all SunBriteTV and Séura displays, the Veranda series is specifically built to withstand water, insects, extreme temperatures, and debris. Choose display sizes ranging from 43 to 75 inches and enjoy up to 50% more brightness than standard indoor TVs.

Séura also offers a TV line for shaded areas called the Shade Series 2. These 4K HDR TVs are available in sizes ranging from 43 to 75 inches and boast slightly higher brightness than the SunBriteTV Veranda series (700 nits vs. 400 nits). What’s more, a Séura Shade Series 2 TV comes with a 2-channel outdoor soundbar—though you can purchase a weatherized soundbar from SunBriteTV to fit their displays, too.