We recently attended one of the most interesting home theater trade shows on the calendar, the CEDIA EXPO 2011. Billed as "every overlapping technology of the integrated home," it really lives up to its name. Geared toward companies like ours who install home theater systems and other technologies, it's a great place to learn about how home entertainment, environmental control and security systems can make your home a safer and more relaxing place.

Here are some of the highlights of what our vendor, Control4, announced at the show: 

Control4 MyHome App for Android™
Currently in beta testing with select Control4 dealers, this app will allow homeowners to access, manage and control their Control4 systems from their Android-based devices built on Android OS 1.6 or higher. The Control4® MyHome family of software apps allows homeowners to access and control lighting, temperature, security, music, movies, and so much more from a wide range of devices in a Control4 enabled-home.

7" Portable—new way to enjoy dedicated control 

Our award-winning touch screen family is proud to welcome a new addition—the Control4® 7” Portable Touch Screen! With a capacitive full-color LCD panel, sleek look and dedicated control functionality that you simply can’t get from other tablet devices, this brand-new beauty brings you the best of both worlds: complete portability or an optional tabletop configuration.

Panelized Lighting—powerful lighting control for home and business

Enjoy total control over whole-home or commercial lighting systems with sophisticated keypads and touch-screen interfaces. The Control4 Panelized Lighting Solution is one of the first Ethernet-based and wired centralized lighting systems that also includes energy monitoring capability for each load. This allows energy management applications to monitor and control individual lights.

Commercial Support—Control4 is ideal for small businesses

Our partners are announcing new applications and drivers to support Control4 commercial solutions to keep your business humming. Control4 easily integrates with your existing business networks and enables communication between devices from virtually any manufacturer.

Sub-Zero—redefining “food network”
With Sub-Zero/Wolf, you’ll find fewer cooks in the kitchen and far more creative control for refrigerators, cooktops, ovens and a wine cooler in a fully functional kitchen. These products enable first-of-kind features like flashing house lights to let you know the refrigerator door has been left open or having Julia Child’s voice be broadcast over the speakers when the timer goes off.

To learn more about these Control4 technologies, contact us today.

There’s a lot of beauty in Blu-ray – literally. There’s a LOT of data on those disks, and the quality can be stunning.

You see, Blu-ray technology provides five times the storage available on traditional DVDs (which means more “extras”) and it’s designed to make the most of high-definition (HD) video by allowing recording, rewriting, and playback features with ultra-optimal visual and sound presentation. This means crystalline picture quality, fully enhanced audio, and space for director’s to pack in documentaries, interviews, extra scenes, and other premium multimedia goodies. 

It’s kind of a big deal. 

Luckily, some of the greatest cinematic films, both old and new, are being released in this new format – a major upgrade with all the HD trappings. This means you get the MOST movie-true experience for your purchase. Blu-ray also enables moviemakers to offer an improved version of the original, enhancing vintage films with the latest technology.

Many of our customers will ask us what movies we watch when we're watching movies on Blue-Ray. Here's our list. We guarantee these 10 Blu-ray editions will bring out the best in your home theater:

• Alien Anthology – Viewers claim these movies look better than when originally shown in the theaters.
• The Ultimate Matrix Collection – This features all three films in the trilogy together for the first time ever with a newly remastered picture and sound.
• The Social Network – You'll want to watch this for the music and sharp, dramatic cinematography.
• Lost – The Complete Collection – This includes lots of great bonus footage.
• Casino Royale (2006) (Collector’s Edition) – The Blu-Ray adds even more footage and outtakes to the Collector's Edition.
• The Dark Knight – The Dark Knight on Blu-ray is a great home-theater showoff disc. The detail and colors are tremendous in both dark and bright scenes.
• Toy Story 3 – This will amaze both kids and grown-ups. A perfect family Blu-Ray.
• 300: The Complete Experience – You'll want this for the cutting-edge Blu-Ray features such as picture-in-picture.
• Apocalypse Now – Lots of exclusive content and the movie is presented in its original theatrical widescreen ratios.
• Avatar (Extended Collector’s Edition) – James Cameron's sci-fi epic looks even better than you could imagine.

If you have any questions about Blu-Ray, or are interested in integrating Blu-Ray into a home theater system, be sure to contact us today.

You’re pretty psyched about your new home theater, and when you pop in the first film, the sheer size and clarity of the picture makes you pat yourself on the back.

But the sound… There’s something not quite right about the sound. It could be better. Bigger. Bolder.

And here’s how to make that happen.

Surf the setup menus – Sure, it seems obvious, but this actually requires a little bit of finagling. Use the Speaker Size guide (woofers 6-inches-and-up mean the speaker is “large”), and then make sure each speaker level is equal by using a test tone and adjusting accordingly.

Buy speaker floor stands or wall brackets – Something as simple as taking them off the bookshelf or out of a cabinet can make a huge difference.

Control the acoustics – Hardwood floors, windows, mirrors, and high ceilings can let the sound bounce around and get away from you, so use a thick rug and some heavy drapes to contain the sound. 

Strategically place your speakers – Front speakers should have their tweeters at about ear level, and the side speakers should be equidistant from the center of the room (or wherever you’ll be listening from). 

Invest in your cables – Higher-end cables make a world of difference – If you’re working with the free wires that came with your system, think about upgrading.

More power – If your room is particularly large, or if you just like feeling enveloped in the sound, look to see if your receiver has preamp-out jacks suitable for a separate amplifier – more power will mean more sound.

Matching sets  - Matched speakers tend to produce a more cohesive sound, and you don’t have to pay a premium for a set. Bonus: They’ll look nice together, too. 

If you need further assistance with your home theater's sound, don't hesitate to contact us.

There’s nothing quite like a big screen, a soft seat, a cold drink, and a good movie. However, considering the price, hassle, and possibility of annoyance involved in venturing out for a night at the theater, it’s worth looking into a better option – like investing in a home theater system for your home.

Think about it. No oversold shows, no odd show times, no kids tossing gummi bears at the back of your head, no empty toilet paper rolls in the bathroom. There are countless reasons – some practical, some personal – why the home theater idea should get a thumbs-up, but here are the top 10 reasons for getting a home theater.

1. Technology makes it possible to virtually recreate the movie-going experience at home. Crisp visuals, powerful sound, wireless options so that you don’t have cords snaking around the room – And from the comfort and cushiness of your own couch. 

2. Affordability – With ticket prices soaring and concessions seemingly charging per popcorn kernel, why not invest in a system that allows you to prepare and eat your own food at no cost. Over the course of a year, the savings could be massive.

3. Accessibility – You can watch a movie whenever you like, whenever it fits into your schedule, without making a big production of it by arranging meet-up times, finding seats together, and figuring out meal plans. 

4. No parking and no lines. Not for food, not for admission. Do people usually line up to walk into your living room? I thought not. And you can leave your Subaru in the driveway.

5. No pre-show ads and trivia quizzes. They don’t even give you enough time to guess the answer, which is usually either "Jack Nicholson" or <em>Splash</em> anyway. 

6. You can hit "Pause." Phone call? Bathroom break? Need to refill your drink? Dog begging for a walk? You don’t have to worry about missing a key moment in the film – you can always stop it and resume at your leisure.

7. Hang out with family and friends. It’s pretty easy to just invite people over or gather the family together in the evening and spend some quality time enjoying the movie and then relaxing and discussing it when it’s through. Plus there’s bound to be someone there willing to go get more salsa.

8. Any noise pollution is on your terms – You don’t have to deal with strangers on their cell phones, teenagers talking to their friends, or those people who always laugh at exactly the wrong moment.

9. Nobody likes using public restrooms. Do we need to say anything else about this?

10. You’re already home. If you fall asleep during the film, no problem. Just keep a blanket handy.  

CE Pro, a trade journal of the home theater and automation business, liked the coverage we received in Electronic House so much they also did a profile on Integrated Smart Technologies.

Thank goodness for great chefs. Not only do the owners of this home have the chef to thank for their meals, they have him to thank for their home theater.

The personal chef for the owners of this house also prepares meals for another client of Troy Cuvelier of Integrated Smart Technologies of Jackson and Kalamazoo MI. When the homeowners began looking for someone to design a home theater and automation system for their house, the chef told them about the excellent work Cuvelier had done on his other client’s home.

The theater in this particular home included a few challenges and plan changes, according to Cuvelier. First, the room’s awkward “L” shape and limited width (only about 12 feet at the back of the theater) made fitting in a large number of seats difficult. The low ceiling (about 7 feet) presented a challenge for the integrated fiber-optic star ceiling, and the large amount of wood in the design was an acoustic challenge. Thankfully Cuvelier and carpenter Mike Miller of Mike Miller Building were able to overcome all those issues.

While many people rightfully focus on the video and audio technology of a home theater as the features that make it most impressive, it’s the artful use of lighting, particularly the LED architectural lighting, that makes this theater extraordinary. Lighting was not in the original plan, but that, and the inclusion of acoustic panels, was added on after most of the design was already completed, making the lighting effects essentially a retro-fit job.

The theater uses about 200 feet of LED lighting separated into three controllable zones: baseboard, soffit and screen area. The homeowners merely have to press the Room On button on their Control4 controller to activate the lights and theater components, then the lighting will change to the appropriate scene depending on the activity.

The rest of the house includes equally impressive technology, including 12 TVs with 1080p HDMI distribution over IP, a complete Control4 system, a security system and multi-room audio.

This article was originally published by CE Pro on Feb. 11, 2011.

A combination of LED accent lights and a fiber-optic star ceiling help distinguish this theater.

Thank goodness for great chefs. Not only do the owners of this home have the chef to thank for their meals, they have to thank him for their home theater.

You see, the personal chef for the owners of this particular house also prepares meals for another client of consumer electronics (CE) pro Troy Cuvelier of Integrated Smart Technologies of Jackson and Kalamazoo MI. When the homeowners began looking for someone to design a home theater and automation system for their house, the chef told them about the excellent work Cuvelier had done on his other client’s home.

The theater in this particular home included a few challenges, and plan changes, but it was all good and made the process interesting, according to Cuvelier. First, the room’s awkward “L” shape and limited width (only about 12 feet at the back of the theater) made fitting in a large number of seats difficult. The low ceiling (about 7 feet) presented a challenge to for the integrated fiber-optic star ceiling, and the large amount of wood in the design was an acoustic challenge. Thankfully Cuvelier and carpenter Mike Miller of Mike Miller Building were able to overcome all those issues.

While many people rightfully focus on the video and audio technology of a home theater as the features that make it most impressive, it’s the artful use of lighting, particularly the LED architectural lighting, that makes this theater extraordinary. Lighting was not in the original plan, but that, and the inclusion of acoustic panels, was added on after most of the design was already completed, making the lighting effects essentially a retro-fit job.

The theater uses about 200 feet of LED lighting separated into three controllable zones: baseboard, soffit and screen area). The homeowners merely have to press the Room On button of their Control4 controller to activate the lights and theater components, then the lighting will change to the appropriate scene depending on the activity.

The rest of the house includes equally impressive technology, including 12 TVs with 1080p HDMI distribution over IP, a complete Control4 system, a security system and multi-room audio.



This article was originally published by Electronic House.

Welcome to the new ISTMI website. We look forward to sharing lots of great stories about home theater and automation with you.