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The Control4 OS 3.2.3 Update Grants You More Control and Personalization

If you own a Control4 smart home, you know just how instinctual and enjoyable it is to use. Control4 is committed to providing personalized smart home experiences that give families simple control of every smart device in the home. Plus, they’re always making improvements to fulfill that commitment.

In their latest OS 3 update, Control4 has brought a wave of cool new features that grant you more control and personalization over your smart home system! Learn about these new features below and how to make the most of them in your Chicago, IL home.

CURB ROAMING WOES WITH PROFESSIONAL-GRADE ACCESS POINTS

Wi-Fi calling is an excellent alternative to making voice and video calls at home when the cellular signal is bad. When you enable this feature on your smartphone, your phone carrier routes calls over your whole-home Wi-Fi network instead so that your calls stay clear and connected.

While Wi-Fi calling should save the day when cellular service is weak, many homeowners in Lake Forest, IL, still suffer from dropped calls. You might not care if you’re chatting with a friend about weekend plans, but it’s detrimental when you’re on a sales call or talking to the authorities about an incident.

So, what’s causing dropped Wi-Fi calls? Let’s dissect the problem—and the solution—below.

Follow These Tips for an Epic Audio Experience in Your Home Theater

In an impressive home theater setup, a giant display is only part of the equation. If you want a movie-watching environment that rivals the cineplex, you’ll also need an enveloping, high-quality surround sound system to round out the experience.

We could talk about speaker selection and layout options in great length, but we’ll stick to the basics for those just getting started on a home theater system installation in their Highland Park, IL home. Read this guide to learn about common surround sound system configurations and get our top tips for ideal speaker placement.

You’ve Never Seen Home Lighting Like This Before

What’s the primary purpose of home lighting? Most would say functionality. After all, you need light to see and perform tasks. But to say lighting is only a mere utility would be selling it short. Lighting is capable of much more! It can add creative design to your interiors and even aid in wellness.

For light without limits, turn to Ketra lighting. Ketra is a leading manufacturer of tunable LED light solutions that are designed to enhance the human experience. Ketra, a Lutron company, pairs transformational tunable lighting with world-class controls to make home light personalized to you.

Keep reading to learn what’s possible when you bring Ketra lighting to your Chicago, IL home.

Let’s Break Down the Considerations for Each Display Option

When our team works oncustom home theater projects, we often hear: “Should I get a projector or TV?” This question used to be much easier to answer when the brightness, size, and price gaps were significant between the two options. Today, you can find projectors that are more competitive with TVs in brightness and price. Plus, some TV screen sizes have reached the triple digits.

The reality is that both display options are excellent depending on the environment and how they’re used. Below, we break down key considerations for each option to help you pick the right display type.

SEE ALSO: 5 Lighting Best Practices to Consider for Your Home Theater

When You Might Choose a Home Theater Projector Setup:

You Want to Emulate the Feel of the Cinema

If your home theater looks like a smaller version of a movie theater, then we recommend a 4k home projector. These spaces are meant to maximize the viewing experience with softer, more cinema-like picture rather than with an ultra-bright TV, which may need different brightness and contrast adjustments in a dark room designed for immersive viewing. Plus, you can watch film the way it was meant to be seen in ultra-wide aspect ratio as opposed to 16:9, perfecting your movie night.

Lutron Lighting Enhances Comfort and Convenience in Any Home

When it comes to home technology, smart lighting control is one of the most desirable solutions for homeowners who are interested in adding convenience, comfort, and energy efficiency to their life. Who wouldn’t love to automate their lights and control them from anywhere?

If you’re interested in smart lighting control for your new or existing home in Highland Park, IL, you’ll find everything you could need and more from Lutron, a leader in intelligent lighting systems since the 1950s. Learn about Lutron lighting by reading our beginner’s guide below.

Check Out These Expert Tips from Our Home Theater Designers

To create an epic home theater, you must think beyond the display and speakers. A well-designed theater room features many unsung heroes that help make it great: acoustic treatments, custom theater seating, strategic lighting, integrated room control, and more.

In this blog, we’re focusing on home theater lighting. When lighting is an afterthought, it can destroy an otherwise awesome movie-watching experience. If you’re building or revamping a theater room in your Chicagoland home, follow these key lighting tips from the home theater designers at Avidia!

Simplify and Enhance Your Entertainment Experience with Control4

Imagine having just one remote for controlling all your entertainment throughout the house. This universal remote offers you simple access to everything you love in any room. With just a few taps, you can enjoy your favorite music, movies, and shows wherever you roam at home.

We’ve just described the magic of a Control4 whole-house audio-video distribution system! If you crave a simplified way to access and share entertainment throughout your Kenilworth, IL home, Control4 delivers. Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of Control4 whole-home AV.

SEE ALSO: 4 Clever Design Ideas to Improve Your Media Room Experience

Good: Dolby Atmos-Enabled Soundbar

The simplest way to bring Dolby Atmos audio to your media room is with a Dolby Atmos-enabled soundbar. If you want a quick and budget-friendly solution that doesn’t require placing speakers all around your media room but still offers immersive sound, then you may consider this option.

Dolby Atmos-enabled soundbars have upward-firing drivers that help create a multidimensional soundstage. Of course, the performance will also depend on the quality of the soundbar.

The Sonos Arc is a great contender, packing 11 high-performance drivers for impressive clarity and detail. It also features Sonos’ Trueplay technology, which automatically optimizes the sound for the acoustics of your media room. For more booming bass, pair it with the Sonos wireless Sub.

Better: Dolby Atmos-Enabled Surround Speakers

For a more accurate and immersive surround sound experience, choose a conventional 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound setup featuring Dolby Atmos-enabled speakers. A nice alternative to installing speakers in your ceiling, Dolby Atmos-enabled speakers have traditional, forward-firing drivers but also direct audio upward so that it reflects off the ceiling and produces a realistic overhead sound.

SEE ALSO: Bring Movies to Life with MartinLogan Architectural Speakers

Audiophile Quality without the Audiophile Price

Electrostatic speakers are a rare breed of speaker, capable of extraordinary realistic reproduction of sound based on their meticulous and unconventional design. Anyone who’s heard the sonic purity of a MartinLogan electrostatic speaker can conclude that there’s simply nothing else like it.

As the top purveyor of luxury electrostatic speakers, MartinLogan set out to provide this same sound quality for audiophiles on a limited budget by introducing the Motion Series in 2010. Today, the Motion Series line delivers a richly detailed musical and cinematic experience at an unrivaled price.

MartinLogan achieved this through their unique Folded Motion tweeter technology. This thin-film transducer design packs the same accuracy and delicacy of an electrostatic panel into a small space by crimping the lightweight film transducer into an accordion-like structure to increase the tweeter surface area. The result is higher levels of sonic accuracy, extended bandwidth, and higher output capability, all with a faster and more efficient transient response and almost zero distortion.

This Folded Motion tweeter design paired with high-performance mid-frequency and bass drivers and hand-built, custom-tuned crossovers makes it possible to extend the signature MartinLogan sound beyond electrostatic speakers to a more traditional and affordable speaker line.