Which would you rather have???

THIS….

OR THIS?

The choice is clear….

cMany times when designing a system for a client, the question of control comes up. I would say that this is arguably the most important aspect of designing any quality Audio / Video System. After all, if we design and install the best Home Theater or Home Automation system in the world - and you can't control it… then it's worthless.
    The most common mistake we see in our world is inadequate control or a system design that does not take this into account. Consider this, when we installed systems with little or no control or just a universal remote, I would personally receive about two phone calls every day where the conversation would center around how to get the system working and what button the customer had pushed to cause the system not to work. Just think about the frustration this caused on both ends. The client was, instead of watching television or listening to music, calling me. I had to stop whatever I was doing and spend twenty to thirty minutes on the phone, all because of pilot error by either the babysitter or relative that was in town for the week.
    After a great deal of this frustration, we made the decision to design our systems in such a way that they could be run by the babysitter with little or no explanation. We wanted our clients to hand them the remote and go out on the town confident that they could use the system.
   "How did we do this," you may ask? Well, we enlisted the aid of such companies like Creston, AMX and Niles Audio. These three companies make remote control systems with "Status" or as it is more commonly called, "power sensing."
    This means that the remote control can tell what state(on or off) the components are in, and set all of them to the correct setting for what you are trying to do. They can also keep track of inputs, modes and other variables that can make the system tedious to use.
    In short, this really made things a lot easier for both us and our customers. Instead of having to call us, they were enjoying what they paid for… entertainment.
    Below are some examples of some good, commonly used remote controls. They range from remotes that you would use for controlling a small Home Theater all the way to controlling a whole home automation system. Enjoy…

Philips Pronto:

Available now in both color and grayscale models, the Philips Pronto is perhaps the best of the all-in-one universal remotes. By combining a touch screen with hard push buttons and great software, the Philips Pronto has become commonplace in large Audio/Video Installations.
    Its only major weakness is that it is a one-way device sending out an infrared command or a group of commands (a macro) to the device or devices it is to control, and doesn't know whether the devices are on, off or in some other mode. This means the remote must have line of sight, and the end user must know how to fix the system should they get it in the wrong mode. We generally use this for smaller Media Rooms and Master Suite areas.

For more info see www.pronto.philips.com

Niles Intellicontrol:

    This two-part remote control system from Niles Audio is quite clever in its design. Designed to control only a home theater or media room and nothing else, the designers of this remote kept costs down, but kept good, reliable control features high on the priority list.
    Also, by utilizing a tactile touch RF remote and a smart receiver, Niles has created the least expensive two-part smart system controller on the planet.
    The main remote (shown at right) is a one-way RF sender. When you push a button on the panel, it sends a signal to the main unit (shown below) that then initiates the commands you need to happen.
    For instance, when you hit the "DVD" button, the "dumb" remote sends out a signal to the "smart" brain unit, which looks to see if the DVD is on and if the Surround Receiver and Television are all on and on the right settings. If they are not, the brain sends out the appropriate commands to get the DVD player operating for you to enjoy. In this way, you don't have to worry about what happens behind the scenes - you just tell it what you want it to do, and it takes care of the rest.
    On the down side, it sometimes lacks enough buttons to do what you want, because it has no touch-screen. Also, the buttons have limited labeling capability, so you might have to remember what you called it when you programmed it. On the upside, it's relatively inexpensive, and it's smarter than the average remote and has two-way sensing capabilities.

For more information see www.nilesaudio.com

Crestron ST-1550C Color Touch-Panel Remote
w/ STS Central Processor

    The Crestron ST-1550C and STS controller has long been a favorite of Audio/Video Designers. By utilizing a touch-screen remote and a very powerful central processor with add-on modules, the Crestron ST-1550C touch-panel can be used to control almost anything.
    By having multiple different add-on boxes like current sensors, relay controllers, and serial expansion devices as well as on board Infrared and serial control, the STS system is a powerful approach to controlling just about anything from the whole house theater system to the whole house audio video system.
    Generally, once you go over about one or two rooms of control, you will want to move up to Crestron's Home Automation controller line instead of using the STS. This way you get more expandability and more control all in one box.

Lighting control and audio control page from one of the
Panja Viewpoint panels we have done.