It’s always convenient when a product’s name matches up with its use. A slicer slices. A brush brushes. A trashcan is a can that holds trash. If you’re wondering how to control your home theater, look no further than a control system. Although you can use control systems to automate your entire house (to lift shades, to turn on music, to lock doors, to turn on the heater, etc.), today we’re focusing on how they can transform one room of your home into a personal cinema.
How to Control Your Home Theater
First, to better understand the various components you will need to construct a fun, functional home theater, check out our blog post How to Build a Home Theater. In addition to a control system, you will likely need to purchase sound barriers, a sound system, a video projector, a screen, multimedia devices, and a receiver. Your control system acts like the conductor, orchestrating all of the elements so that they work together harmoniously.
Selecting a Control System
DESIGN
Let’s start with the basics. Although design isn’t everything, you can’t deny the appeal and convenience of an elegant, lightweight, and low-profile control system. Consider the flexibility of the mounting system and the difficulty of installation. In addition, the design of the system should improve your experience with it. It should be intuitive and user-friendly, offering a beautiful on-screen user interface that everyone can understand.
PROCESSING POWER
If you want outstanding performance, you need a control system with power. For example, the Control EA-1 from Control4 boasts a new ARM, multi-core processor that provides triple the speed of its predecessor. Its speed and performance ensure that you can rely on the system to handle whatever you throw at it.
INTEGRATION WITH OTHER DEVICES
Since the purpose of a control system is to manage all of the components of your home theater, be sure that your selected product can integrate with many other devices, particularly any devices that you already own and enjoy. The EA-1 integrates with all of the 9,500 devices supported by Control4’s controllers, so you shouldn’t need to worry about your various devices working together. You can hook up all of the following devices (amongst many others):
- TVs
- Blu-ray players
- Satellite or cable boxes
- Game consoles
- Any product with infrared or serial control
- Apple TV
- Roku
- Music streaming systems (Pandora, Deezer, Rhapsody, Tunein, and TIDAL)
- ZigBee (to control your lights, thermostat, smart locks, etc.)
Control4’s EA-1 system also features a built-in music server, so that you can listen to your own music library or stream from services like the ones listed above or AirPlay-enabled devices. This is made possible through the capabilities of ShairBridge, a reliable technology that eliminates your need for additional hardware.
By choosing a control system that can integrate with many different devices, you’re giving yourself flexibility in the future. If you want to expand your home theater, you can – and you won’t have to start over from scratch.
REMOTE
Finally, if you want to learn how to control your home theater, you will need to take a look at the remote. You should control your system with a universal remote: one remote that you can use to run everything. For example, in addition to your entire home theatre, the SR-260 System Remote from Control4 can control your thermostat, door locks, lights (Would you like them to automatically dim before a movie begins?), and more.
Some control systems will also allow you to use your own devices as remotes if you download an app. For example, you could control your home theatre’s EA-1 system with a tablet or smartphone if you get the Control4 App.
Ready to Get Started?
If you’ve been wondering how to control your home theater, contact Southwest Audio-Visual today. Our home theater professionals can help you create the cinematic experience of your dreams – starting, of course, with a control system.
At Southwest A-V, we sell, install, and program Control4 and Crestron control systems. If you need a single-room control system that only commands your home theater, you might be interested in the new Control EA-1 paired with Control4’s SR-260 remote, which has a total hardware cost of $600. As we mentioned above, this control system features a new ARM processor, three times the speed of its predecessor, and high-resolution audio playback. Plus, it can integrate with all of the 9,500 devices supported by the company’s controllers (source). If you want to learn how to build a home theater, you can’t go wrong with the Control EA-1.
To get started, please contact us online or give us a call at 417-887-4900 (Springfield) or 636-225-4327 (St. Louis).