GREAT ENTERTAINMENT THAT’S OUT-OF-SIGHT AND OUT-OF-MIND

Treat Yourself to the Magic..... 

of a mystically-automated Crestron home this holiday season, and enjoy every festivity in a wonderland of whole-home lighting, music, movies and gaming nestled in a cozy, comfortable environment.

Now is the time to ready your home for the treasured festivities that will fill your hearts and photo albums with joy for years to come.  Planning and preparation are essential - especially when ensuring that your smart home technology is tuned up and ready for the trip.

A COMPREHENSIVE HOME TUNE-UP FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Before your flurry of holiday planning begins, take a moment to add these important items to the top of your to-do list: 

• Call AV Enthusiast to enroll in AVE Care, our touchless support service that launched October 20, 2023. This will give you the peace of mind that you crave for a stress-free holiday season
• Schedule a consultation with your AV Enthusiast Integrator to discuss home automation additions and/or improvements that will enhance your enjoyment of the holiday season, such as adding Philips Hue LED lighting for automated control of holiday colors anywhere in your home.

A FEW SUGGESTIONS

If you’re anxious to add the latest in AV technology to your home, we have a few suggestions that may satisfy your cravings.

First, if you’re a huge fan of both art and technology, maybe you would love to have the ability to turn the multiple TVs throughout your home into works of art when not in use. From the living room to the kids’ rooms to the home gym, any TV can display a work of art matching any décor thanks to Crestron’s reliable Audio-Video-Over-IP (AVOIP) technology.

At AV Enthusiast, we are dealers for several brands of TV frames and their associated software products that can be used to transform your TV into a work of art when not in use, essentially blending it into the aesthetics of the room.

For example, the Leon Studio Frame™ (seen above) is an exciting new framing solution designed especially for the 65” and 75” Sony Bravia XR X93L.  It is now available for pre-order, with shipping starting in November.  It features a contemporary profile in addition to an integrated light-and-motion sensor in conjunction with an exclusive TV app developed by Sony which includes a collection of 70 curated works of art.

If you prefer Samsungs, their “The Frame TV” (seen below) offers an impressive array of decorative frames to choose from and an “Art Mode” that allows you to display art that you have either purchased or subscribed to through the Samsung Art Store. In addition, you can upload and display your own NFTs, personal photos, and artwork collection.  Samsung has even gone another step forward to please all those Disney fans out there by adding a “The Frame – Disney 100 Edition” TV that comes with a collection of 100 images of cherished Disney characters.

If you prefer a TV brand other than Sony or Samsung, Media Décor offers size customization for more than 70 frame styles, for any TV. In addition, they offer more than 1500 pieces of art that can be used on their “Moving Art Screens” product. 

Alternatively, you could choose to conceal your TV with either your own artwork, decorative panels, or mirrors using one of Media Décor’s custom-sized Eclipse Art Lifts (seen here):

The TV would be mounted flush within the wall behind the mount, and the lift would slide up to reveal the TV and down to hide it; alternatively, it can be built to slide to one side or even to both sides, splitting your decorative wall art in two while the TV is in use.

And if you have a few TVs around your home that are situated such that they would benefit from being automatically angled down and perhaps out from the wall for the best viewing angle (such as the SunBrite TV below), we can install a motorized, articulating mount from Strong that can be remotely controlled by Crestron Home.

Motorized telescopic mounts can also be used to conceal an outdoor TV by a pool in a credenza when it’s not in use, or perhaps to hide a small TV above the ceiling in a room with limited space.

Our second suggestion for a possible upgrade would be to replace any outdated speakers in your home, whether they be part of your whole-home audio system or your surround sound system. 

This would especially be an advantage if you wish that all speakers in your home could aesthetically disappear into the décor of your home.  Crestron just introduced a new line of speakers, made by Origin Acoustics, that do just that while providing audio quality that meets the high standards of any audiophile.  Even the subwoofer(s) can be flush-mounted into the wall.

Third, we recommend that you consider updating your automated lighting.  Today there are convenient tunable LED lighting options from Crestron that allow for loads of daily customized lighting scenes.  In addition, with the release of its latest operating system, Crestron Home OS 4, third-party lighting systems such as Philips Hue wireless string and strip lights can now be added for easy customization of festive holiday scenes.

Last, may we recommend that you consider the latest upgrade to Crestron’s aesthetically redesigned QMT® 3 Series Shade Motor Décor Hardware Collection. In order to provide a highly upscale look, this collection includes a range of modern-style end caps, available in popular colors.  Along with black mounting brackets and a black motor head, these additions provide a sleek, stylish look combined with a durable and sturdy design.  Available for the first time this month (October 2023), they can be ordered and installed just ahead of the holidays.

KEEP THESE FEATURES IN MIND AS YOU MAKE YOUR PLANS

Your Crestron Home Automation System makes the holidays a breeze in many ways:

• It can automatically fill your home with tunes from your preferred holiday playlist
• It provides you with the ability to make pages to any room or group of rooms in your home
• It provides you with the ability to use chimes as part of making pages
• As discussed above, it can automatically showcase seasonal video and digital artwork on any TV in your home
• It can set your interior tunable LED lighting or outdoor lighting to match the holiday mood
• It can control your motorized window treatments
• It can control your HVAC system for the perfect comfort level
• It can control your fireplace
• It can control all outdoor automated systems, such as landscape lighting and light sensors, as easily as it controls those indoors
• It provides an easy way to greet arriving guests through your video doorbell
• It provides automated control of your home conferencing systems
• It provides peace of mind while you’re traveling during the holidays by providing you with an easy way to monitor for unexpected activity at your home
• It provides you with the ability to program one or more holiday-themed whole-home scenes
• With the Crestron Home OS 4 update, the Smart Scheduling feature allows you to create, schedule and automate tasks all on your own through your personal password access – no call to your dealer required

Questions?  Your professional AV Integrators at AV Enthusiast have the answers!  Please call us at 256.882.5081 or drop by the office during normal business hours (Mon-Fri, 9AM-5PM and Sat, 10AM-3PM).  We are located at 514 Madison Street in Huntsville, Alabama.