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SEE ALSO: Want the Ultimate Home Theater Experience? Start with Design

Turn Your TV into Artwork

The Frame by Samsung is a sleek and innovative TV that features 4K resolution and QLED display technology when turned on. When turned off, the magic begins. The Frame transforms into beautiful artwork. The Frame’s Art Mode allows you to elegantly exhibit your personal art collection or any number of works of art from world-renowned institutions. From classic paintings to breathtaking photography, you can revitalize your everyday space with art as soon as you’re done watching TV.

Showcase Your Home Décor

The Frame complements large and small home spaces and blends in with photo or painting collages. You can showcase it as a centerpiece or hang it among your framed artwork and pictures. Say goodbye to messy wires that seep out from your TV to your devices with Samsung’s One Invisible Connection, a single wall-mounted TV cable that discreetly carries AV and power from your TV to the Samsung QLED Connect Box, which can be installed behind the wall in an AV back box or within a media cabinet.

The Frame comes with a variety of customizable bezel colors to fit the style of your room. Their built-in magnets make them easy to change out as you see fit. Choose a conservative screen size at 32 inches or make a statement with the 75-inch model.

Elevate Your Viewing Experience

The Frame isn’t just revolutionary digital art. It’s also an innovative 4K television chock-full of features. Samsung’s Quantum Dot technology reveals over a billion shades of color, bringing images to life from every angle. Its Adaptive Picture technology automatically senses surrounding light and adjusts the screen’s brightness and contrast so that your viewing experience is perfect at any time of day.

SEE ALSO: 3 Signs You Might Need a Home Network Upgrade

The Ultimate Home Cyber Security Protection

Sophos is a multi-layer security software solution that defends all your connected devices. From advanced ransomware protection to AI-powered malware protection with deep learning, Sophos protects your devices from a multitude of threats. Sophos not only secures your Windows or Mac computers but protects your tablets and phones, too.

Powered by artificial intelligence, Sophos is designed as a complete cyber protection system that is always up-to-date on the latest threats and is easily managed from one intuitive cloud-based platform. When you choose Sophos, you receive the same industrial-grade security that’s used by Fortune 500 companies—right at home. Sophos offers expert, 24/7 protection against frustrating phishing attempts, viruses, privacy threats, password theft, risky websites, hacking, and more.

Why It Matters Now More Than Ever

According to IT consultancy Intellectual Point, hackers attack a computer in the US every 39 seconds. Businesses face over 4,000 hacks every day via ransomware alone. As technology advances, hackers are turning to artificial intelligence and machine learning to trigger automated cyberattacks that can compromise secure systems without human intervention. That’s a scary reality to live and work in.

The glut of digital data and continued transition to remote work call for advanced cyber security measures now more than ever. When you sleep on proper cyber protection, you’re not only putting yourself at risk but your employees and business as well, leading to potentially catastrophic consequences. Ensure unwavering protection from cybercrime by working with a professional home network installation company like Avidia.

SEE ALSO: How Many Ways Can You Control the Lights in Your Home?

Tailored Lighting Solutions for Any Size Home

Start small in one room or integrate smart lighting control throughout your entire home with Lutron lighting systems. Lutron offers multiple lighting control solutions perfect for any space and budget. Plus, their control systems are easily scalable, so if you want to begin in the kitchen and bedrooms but expand to other areas later, you can.

Wired and wireless dimmers, switches, and keypads make commanding single or grouped lighting fixtures simple by replacing standard wall switches with dimming and integrated control capabilities. Lutron also works seamlessly with your Control4 home automation system so you can integrate your lights with other devices and control everything from the same interface.

Reap the benefits of tunable lighting that changes in color temperature and intensity to mimic natural light. Ketra tunable LEDs, now part of the Lutron portfolio, can be fine-tuned to color temperatures ranging from 1,400K to 10,000K, bathing your home in the perfect lighting for any task or time of day.

SEE ALSO: Comparing Two Popular Video Doorbell Systems: Ring and Control4

Stunning Video Quality & Adjustable Motion Zones

With Chime, you’ll never miss a thing. Its 5 megapixel HD camera captures sharp, vibrant, and detailed snapshots and video of all activity happening around your front entry within a 180-degree field of view. It also has built-in night mode so that picture is just as clear after dark as it is when the sun is out.

Chime features advanced motion detection with five adjustable zones that can be independently programmed for different actions when motion is detected in that zone. For example, instantly receive a snapshot notification to your smartphone when a visitor steps onto the porch but begin recording without notification when there’s movement in the yard.

If you missed a visitor, don’t worry. Control4 OS 3 makes it easy to go back and watch recorded video clips from the app. You can store seven days of event recordings in the cloud if you have a 4Sight subscription, or pair Chime to record to a local NVR.

SEE ALSO: Limited Space in Your Media Room for Big Screens?

A World of Display Options

Because media rooms often pull double duty as living rooms, installing a projector and screen isn’t always practical. But that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck when it comes to an immersive picture. Ultra-short throw projectors are a great alternative for a life-size picture in a flexible space. These compact projectors sit just inches from the wall atop your media cabinet and project an impressive 100+ inch display. Enjoy 4K HDR models that produce a super bright picture for rooms with lots of ambient light.

TVs are undoubtedly a common choice for media rooms because of their ease of installation and ultrabright displays. The latest 4K and 8K models offer impressively large and detailed images from 55 inches to 86+ inches to bring your movies, sports, and TV shows to life. Choose a display that transforms into artwork to blend with your décor when turned off or make it the center of attention with custom-color LED backlighting. Motorized mounts can also adjust your TV to the most comfortable viewing position.

Discreet Yet Powerful Audio

If you want serious audio to go along with your display, you’ll need a better solution than the speakers that live inside your TV. Consider a soundbar to install below your display. Avidia delivers high-fidelity soundbars that feature Dolby Atmos surround sound, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth compatibility, auto-tuning and speech-enhancing technology, and voice control. We can also expand your soundbar with a wirelessly connected sub and surrounds for an even more immersive listening experience.

SEE ALSO: 8 Common Misconceptions About High-End Audio Systems

MartinLogan: An Introduction

MartinLogan was formed in the late 1970s by founders Gayle Martin Sanders and Ron Logan Sutherland. The two music enthusiasts met at a high-end audio store in Kansas and discovered their shared passion for electrostatic speakers, which were known for their impressive sonic purity.

Unsatisfied with electrostatic speakers’ formidable challenge to produce bass frequencies and deliver an even dispersion of sound, Sanders and Sutherland set out to reinvent the electrostatic speaker so that it could produce adequate bass, output, and sound dispersion while maintaining the sound clarity that made electrostatic speakers popular among audiophiles.

In 1983, Sanders and Sutherland did just that. The Monolith, a full-range hybrid electrostatic loudspeaker, came to life and was the catalyst that eventually launched MartinLogan to the top of the list of world-renowned high-end audio brands.

SEE ALSO: How to Boost the Holiday Season with Whole-House Audio

Tech Gifts Under $100

iPhone 12 Pro Wallet Case - $19.99

This ultra-light and durable wallet case protects your new iPhone 12 and safely stores your cash and credit cards so you have everything you need in one go. Just don’t forget your keys! Check it out here.

Sky Viper Journey GPS Drone - $99.99

Discover the Difference Gigabit Internet Services Make

A modern home can only be as smart as the internet connection that supports it allows it. Luckily, there is one solution that can bring a strong and reliable connection to any home. Gigabit internet installations, also known as high-speed internet or gig-speed internet, transmit data up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps). This means that you are downloading 1,000,000,000 bits per second or 1,000 Mbps. That rate of speed is 100 times faster than the average internet connection in the country!

Gigabit internet runs on fiber-optic cable, which transports data using light signals instead of electrical currents. Because light is faster than electrical pulses, fiber can transmit more megabits per second than copper cable and offers higher bandwidth. Plus, while signals over copper lines worsen as you travel farther from the source, distance knows no bounds with fiber.

Popular broadband internet providers like Xfinity and AT&T have made gigabit internet available for homeowners from coast to coast as a reliable connection in the home is becoming more of a necessity than ever before. So, what can you expect if you decide to make the switch to gigabit internet? Keep reading our blog to find out!

SEE ALSO: Interested in Control4 Home Automation?

Ring Video Doorbell Overview

Ring, bought by Amazon in 2018, manufactures several standalone video doorbells that offer the same purpose: to allow you to see, hear, and speak to visitors from anywhere via an integrated mobile app. As of now, homeowners can choose from six doorbells that increase in reliability and performance.

Most of Ring’s video doorbells are powered by a rechargeable battery but can also be hardwired into an existing doorbell system. These doorbells, which range from $99 to $249.99, feature single-band or dual-band wi-fi for connectivity, adjustable motion detection zones, HD video, two-way audio, up to 160-degree field of view, and cloud storage with a Ring subscription plan.

Ring also has a professional-grade video doorbell system at $349.99 that offers more reliability than their popular DIY-style solutions. The Video Doorbell Elite is hardwired via PoE (the doorbell draws power from the ethernet connection) rather than wi-fi enabled and features customizable motion detection zones, HD video, two-way audio, up to 160-degree field of view, and cloud storage with a Ring subscription plan.

SEE ALSO: How to Enhance Your Home Theater with Smart Lighting

Choosing the Room

Many homeowners may think that bigger is better when choosing a room for their home theater. And while size does matter if you want a fully immersive movie experience, the most important aspect of the room you choose is its dimensions. Square and oval rooms will distort your audio. The ideal room for balanced surround sound should be rectangular, with walls longer than they are wide, and high ceilings.

Placing the Display

Comfort and perception significantly enhance your viewing experience, which means your display must be placed in such a way that prevents eye or neck strain. The image on the screen should appear naturally as your eyes would see it in real life. While a general rule of thumb is to place your screen 24” to 36” inches above the floor and 1.5 to 3 times the screen height distance from your seating, the ideal measurement will be unique to your room dimensions, screen size preference, and seating options.